It was finally time for F to be discharged from the hospital. When he left the hospital and was standing outside, F saw B in the distance. She waved at him.
"Finally out of the hospital, I see.'' B said.
"What are you doing here, B?'' F asked.
''It's your first day as an extermintor, remember? I have to show you around the working place, I have to show you where to get your suit and the other important exterminator things.'' B said.
"Sure let's go, I have nothing else to do anyway.'' F said.
''Don't you have a party to prepare for?'' B asked.
''We decided it would be next week because Joey is working this weekend. Also how do you know about the party?'' F asked.
"I have my ways. Anyway let's go, we shouldn't waste anymore time.'' B said and started walking.
''Lead the way, boss.'' F said and follwed B to her car.
"Hop in.'' B said and opened the door.
''Sure.'' F entered the car and put his seatbelt on.
"Is the building far from here?'' F asked.
''About a 5 minute drive'' B answered.
''It's not that far from here, that's a relief.'' F said.
''How come?'' B asked.
''Well I hate having to drive to work in the morning, especially when it's a long drive. I hate having to put up with the other idots on the road, nobody in this damn city knows how to drive, including me.'' F said.
''It can't be that bad, right?'' B asked.
''Right?''
"It is exactly that bad, you haven't seen enough idiots forgetting what a turn signal is.'' F said.
''No way.'' B said.
''Yes way, they are that bad.'' F said.
''How? How does that happen?'' B asked.
''I would've solved the problem if I knew the source of their stupidity." F said.
"The final solution?" B asked.
"Yes that.'' F answered.
A few seconds of silence and slow realization later.
"No! Not that final solution! I would never do that!'' F said.
''Depends on your road rage levels.'' B joked.
''Even then I wouldn't!'' F screamed.
''Hey look, we have arrived, nazi boy.'' B said.
"That's a big building. I dig it. Also not a nazi.'' F said and got out of the car.
''Yeah whatever, let's go.'' B said.
B and F walked towards the giant, concrete building in front of them.
"Welcome to the Public Safety Paranormal Threat Extermination Company Building 5'' B said when they entered the building.
''Can I just call it the Extermination Company?'' F asked.
"Of course. Nobody calls it the long name unless we have some newcomers.'' B said.
''I noticed that the windows on this building are pretty small, is there a reason for this?'' F asked.
''Yes there is a reason for the small windows. This building was built in in 1956 when Brutalist architecture was still in its prime. In their eyes, big windows were just for decoration and brutalism is about showing the bare building materials over decorative design. That's why our building looks like this, or at least that's what I've heard.'' B said.
''I dig it, it's pretty cool.'' F said.
''Of course you do, newcomers like the big weird 50 year old building. I believe it's about time for us to discuss your duties as an Exterminator. Follow me.'' B said.
"DID SOMEBODY SAY NEWCOMERS?!'' A short girl with black hair and red eyes came running towards B and F when she heard them talking about newcomers.
"Hi! I'm Erika, I'm the armory person.I also make cursed clothing. Nice to meet you.'' The girl said.
''Nice to meet you too, I'm F'' F said.
''Oh, you're a curse user too?'' Erika asked.
"No, B told me that we all have codenames like that.'' F answered.
''It's not necessary unless you're a curse user or planning to be one.'' Erika said.
''I'm assuming you're not a curse user then?'' F said.
''It's complicated.'' Erika said.
''How come?'' F asked.
''I can't tell you yet, you're still new here and you probably don't know everything about curses.'' Erika said.
''Can you explain it to me then?'' F asked.
''I'd love to but I'm really bad at it. That and we have a person who's entire job is to explain curses to people.'' Erika said.
''So we can talk about your situation after I've talked to the curse resercher person?'' F asked.
''Yeah we can do that. I'll take you to her office right now.'' Erika said.
B stared at Erika for about 5 seconds before speaking up.
''I think you should help F with getting a suit first, he still doesn't have one and I believe he will need it very soon. Do you think you can do that, Erika?'' B asked, irritated by Erika's sudden arrival.
''Yes ma'am.'' Erika said.
Erika grabbed F and draged him to her department on the 2nd floor. She stopped in front of a black door and unlocked it. Erika opened the door, revealing a room full of many different suits ranging from office attire to hazmat suits, even a suit of armor. Erika and F entered the room.
"Welcome to the suit room, here we have bulletproof, stab resistant, fireproof combat suits. They also look fancy and work for any occasion from office work to dinner parties. That's the kind of suit that a beginer exterminator like you would wear on missions.'' Erika said.
''That's awesome, how did you make those?'' F asked.
''Cursed threads to make cursed fabric and then I turned them into clothes. It was pretty simple.'' Erika said.
''That doesn't ound simple, especially the curse part.'' F said.
''Putting weak curses into threads isn't difficult at all, we always use weak curses. The strong ones can posses the fabric and kill you or severely injure you.'' Erika said.
''That makes sense, but how durable are those suits?'' F asked.
''You can take direct hits from a monster and still remain in one piece.'' Erika said.
''That's good but isn't it a bit inconsistent because monsters have different powers and some hit harder than others?'' F asked.
"That is correct but here the Extermination Company we found a way to determine the power of the average monster. We took data from around 5000 monsters and after extensive research, we found out that the average monster hits with the exact same power as an M67 Fragmentation Grenade. After that discovery we made suits that can withstand a grenade and after some more research we made suits that can withstand up to 4 M67 Fragmentation Grenades before the person wearing it starts taking damage.'' Erika said.
''That's...'' F tried to find a word to describe whatever Erika was saying to him.
''Very impressive, isn't it? We even have more durable suits that can take twice the damage and still protect you from monsters, not to mention the grade 3 suits that the combat squad wear, now those can shrug off land mines. And the grade 4 suits can easily take RPG-7 rockets without taking any damage and the grade 5 ca- ''
''I'd love to chat about the suits and their durability but I have a mission assigned to me by B and she told me that I should be on it right after I get my suit.'' F said.
"Oh...'' Erika said and stayed silent for a moment.
''Of course, I'll get you a grade 2 suit now. Just remind me to give you a weapon afterwards.'' She said and started taking measurements for F's suit.
''Will do.'' F said.
''Please wait here for a moment.'' Erika said and wnet to a door in the back of the suit room.
F looked around the suit room to find a chair to sit on.
''Damn, there's not a singlechair in this room, I guess I'm not sitting anywhere anytime soon.'' F thought.
''I might as well look at the suits here.'' F thought and started walking around, looking at the suits he deemed cool. After a few minutes of looking at suits F got bored and sat on the ground.
''What should I do now?'' F thought to himself as he sat on the ground.
''How about I look around some more? I might find something that's cool and not a suit.'' F thought and got up. He walked around the suit room and looked at the suits again. After a few more minutes of looking around F found a cardboard box labled ''unusable'' and picked it up.
''What is this?'' F said and opened the box. In the box were a few suits that were shredded to pieces.
''Oh. Destroyed suits.'' F said and closed the box, putting it back on the ground.
A few minutes later Erika came backfrom the other room, holding a black suit in hand.
''I'm back. I found you the perfect suit for you. There was an exterminator with your exact measurements so I went to find his suit. It's a temporary suit but I think it will do the job for the few missions you'll get.'' Erika said.
"Thanks, Erika. Now I need a weapon.'' F said.
''Follow me.'' Erika said.
F and Erika left the suit room. Erika and F left the suit room and walked down the hallway until they reached a metal door with the sign "Armory'' on it.
''You can use anything that's in the room as long as it's between grade 5 and 4'' Erika said.
''I should've asked you earlier but what are grades?'' F asked.
''You don't know? That's fine I will tell you. Grades are used to show how strong something is. When it comes to suits and other armor, grade 1 is the weakest and grade 5 is the strongest. It's swapped for weapons and people, so grade 5 is the weakest and grade 1 is the strongest.'' Erika said.
''That kinda makes sense but I'll probably keep getting it wrong until I retire.'' F said.
''Don't worry about that, I also mess it up from time to time.'' Erika said.
''Even you do? You seem like the biggest pro in this area, well I'm glad to hear that even the best can mess up when the system sucks.'' F said.
"We all make mistakes from time to time, I try to learn from mine unlike most people.'' Erika said.
''We all should try to learn. Anyway I gotta go now, see you around, Erika.'' F said.
''Bye F.'' Erika said.
F waved goodbye to Erika as he walked away. F took the elevator to the first floor and went to B's office. When he entered the office, B was talking to another exterminator, one with black hair and blue eyes.
"I got my suit and wapon so I'm ready to go. Wait a minute, who's that guy?'' F asked.
"You know I can't send you on a solo mission this early, you're still a rookie exterminator. That's why I asked K from Division 6 to accompany you on your first misson. He's quite skilled so you'd be fine.'' B said.
F extended his hand for a handshake.
"I look forward to working with you.'' F said.
"Likewise.'' K said.
B got up from her chair and handed F some pictures of a big, purple worm monster.
"This is your target otherwise known as a Death Worm. Find it and exterminate it.'' B said.
''Don't worms live underground? How are we supposed to find it then?'' F asked.
''This one is a too big to be hiding underground, maybe a sewer at best.'' B said.
''So we're going to the sewers to find a big worm, gross.'' F said.
''Not likely, monsters usually hide in places close to negativity, so it's unlikely it's in a sewer. It wouldn't be able to feel the negativity and it would starve to death. So it's more likely that it's hiding somewhere in the city.'' K said.
''So we just have to look around, cause some trouble so it comes out, kill it and we're done?'' F asked.
''It would be better if we kill it before it can do anything.'' K said.
''True but what if it's invisible? How would we find it then?'' F asked.
''Monsters can be tracked by feeling the cursed energy from inside their bodies. They always feed on curses and negativity, finding it would be easy.'' K said.
''If you say so. I think it's time to go.'' F said.
''Yes, we shouldn't waste any time.'' K said.
"Good luck on your mission.'' B said.
''Thanks, B.'' F said.
''Thank you, ma'am. K said.
K opened the door and left the office. F followed him but B stopped him at the door.
''I almost forgot to tell you something very important, F.'' B said.
''What is it, B?'' F asked.
''From this day on, you're part of Division 0, which means that you work directly under me. That means that you give me your combat repeorts after every mission, unless my order is to give it to someone else.'' B said.
''I got it. Anything else?'' F asked.
''You can always talk to me if you need advice or if you just need to talkto someone. I'm always here and I willmake time for you if and when you need it.'' B said.
''You make it sound like you really care about me, I nut I'm sure you don't.'' F said.
''I care about the people I work with, F, it doesn't matter if they're newbies or veterans. Just because it's your first day here doesn't mean that you're not important. I know that the newcomers tend to feel insignificant compared to their superiors and that usually gets them hurt. I'm telling you this because I don't want you to compare yourself to K during your mission, that will only lead to injuries from you trying to prove yourself as his equal or superior. I assigned K as your partner because he's experienced and you will learn a lot from him if you watch him closely. Not only that but I believe that he could protect you from harm better than anyone else. That's why he's your partner.'' B said.
''You knew that I was going to try to do something stupid from the moment I asked you about him, didn't you?'' F asked.
''Yes and that is why I stopped you and talked to you. I can see when my employees are feeling upset and that's why I talk to them.'' B said.
''Wow, you're actually a pretty good boss from the sound of it.'' F said.
''I wouldn't say that but I do try to help my employees with whatever problems they have.'' B said.
''That's what a good boss does.'' F said.
''I suppose you're right.'' B said.
''I think I should get going now, I don't want K to wait for too long.'' F said.
''Good luck on your mission, F. And stay safe.'' B said.
''I will.'' F said and exited the office.
''I really hope so because you're the only person in Division 0 and I really don't want to look for someone to replace you.'' B said.
''Wait what?'' F asked but B closed the door.
''What took you so long?'' K asked.
''B told me that I shouldn't do stupid things on the mission so I don't get hurt.'' F said.
''She always says that to the newbies. Those who don't listen end up hurt.'' K said.
''But I won't get hurt because I promised her.'' F said.
''I see. Let's get this mission started then.'' K said and walked towards his car.
''Right, let's go exterminate some monsters!'' F said and followed him.
To be continued.