From a distance, Brayden and Zain observed the warehouse; it looked normal overall, with nothing really of note standing out to Zain. From an outside perspective, it all seemed pretty legit.
In order to infiltrate the warehouse, they were required to assume new identities: For Zain, he was now known as Corey, who was a 15 year old foster runaway. Brayden was now Phillip, who was a 16 year old runaway and Corey’s fellow foster sibling. It was kinda weird to Zain that he was aged down, but maybe there was a reason for it.
Their clothes were much cheaper than he was used to; both of them wore simple t-shirts (Zain’s had a few small holes in them even), shorts, and old sneakers. They weren’t given socks for some reason either, and Zain dreaded smelling his feet later.
For their disguises, they weren’t given any translating stones. This detail in particular was confusing to Zain as he knew that everyone was given a stone when they entered Merverre. So, in his opinion, this was an oversight. Hopefully, they wouldn’t need to read any foreign languages.
“S-s-so, what now?” Zain asked, shaking slightly as the cold made his teeth chatter. The fabrics of their disguises were so thin, keeping warm was impossible for him.
“I guess…go to the front. But let's make sure we have our story straight…”
The story was that they both hated their foster home and their foster parents, so they had decided to run away in order to get away from the terrible conditions. It was vague, but adding too many details was not an option at the moment.
‘Approach the warehouse and try to obtain employment’
A voice buzzed in Zain’s ear, urging him to hurry up. The informant’s construct took the form of his earring. Since he was the only one with a piercing, he was chosen to wear it.
Loitering would arouse suspicion, so they could not dawdle for too long.
Both of them took short, hesitant steps towards the warehouse, uncertainty slowing them down. Who knew willingly entering a place of suspected criminal activity was hard to do?
They walked to the side of the building, which looked to have an office used for receiving customers. On the other side of the fogged office door was a young man, who was reading some documents on the desk, clearly bored.
The boy had not noticed them yet, so they huddled one last time.
“So…we’ll just walk up and ask for a job. Just like that? Just coming in raw? No resume or anything?” Brayden looked nervous; coming in completely unprepared was not something he was confident about.
“That’s the jist of it…Hopefully they’re hiring…” Zain wasn’t sure that they could get this job, but he wasn't too distressed about it.
Brayden looked at the floor, ruffling his hair as he inhaled deeply. Then, after bracing himself for rejection, he stood and opened the door.
Zain got up as well, albeit less energetically. To be frank, getting this job for the both of them did not seem worth it. Would it be so bad if they failed here?
‘Remember the deal.’
A voice whispered into his ear, almost too low for him to hear amongst the dissonance of heavy machinery in the background. Hearing this voice sent a chill down his spine, and immediately made him sweat profusely.
It was this ominous threat that made him move his feet into the office, with much more motivation to get this job than before.
Inside the office, the young man was still looking at documents at the desk, completing forms and filing them away despite hearing the bell indicating the arrival of a customer. It would appear almost as if he was ignoring them intentionally.
They waited a bit of time for him to look up, but when it looked like he wasn’t going to acknowledge their presence, Brayden decided to clear his throat.
“Um…excuse me?”
The boy looked up, annoyed and almost rolling his eyes as he answered. “Do you have an appointment?”
“Well, no. But-”
“We don’t do walk-ins. Make an appointment online or through our phone line if you require our services.” Then he looked back at his papers, fully intent on ignoring them as they stood there.
“Wha- No, we’re not here for services. We’re looking for jobs.”
The boy looked up again, giving them a quick up-down, silently scrutinizing before he answered again. “We’re not hiring. Sorry. “
Both Zain and Brayden looked at one another, confusion clear as they had been rejected so casually. Brayden turned back to the boy again, concern growing on his face. “Are you sure? Can’t you ask?”
The boy groaned, dropping all formalities as he answered. “Yes I’m fucking sure! You can fucking leave now! Or do I gotta bring someone to take y’all out?”
This blatant threat made them both jump and Brayden was the first to turn around. “N-no. We’ll leave. Come on…Corey..”
He lightly pulled on Zain’s sleeve, ready to call it a day. However Zain didn’t move.
Perhaps he was imagining things, but it was as if he could feel demonic eyes boring into his skull; a venomous presence began looming over him as he faltered, his body felt as if it was unable to turn around. What would happen to him if he failed here?
Something in his gut told him that it wasn’t anything good, and his whole life practically flashed in his mind. In his time of need, he searched his memories for something, anything useful.
His breath hitched, anxiety collecting in his gut as he desperately looked for something to help him.
Then, clarity.
In the deepest folds of his mind, he recalled a faded memory of a friend he grew up with when he still lived in the city. They didn’t grow up in the best household, and they would vent to him whenever they felt frustrated.
Zain inhaled, and readied himself.
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He pulled his hand away from Brayden, not moving from where he stood.
“No. I ain’t going back there.”
Brayden gave him a look of concern, not really sure what he was doing. Zain didn’t have time to explain so all he could hope for was that he would catch on. “They treat us like fucking animals there. I can’t go back, not for another fucking second.”
The boy at the desk narrowed his eyes, but said nothing.
“But they’re not hiring here! We can’t -” Brayden started to plead, but Zain wouldn’t let him leave now. He grabbed him by the shirt, hoping to get the point across as he ramped up his acting.
“No! We go back, and they WILL fucking kill us! Remember last time?! They beat you within an inch of your life, just for ‘stealing food from the fridge’. They fucking starve us and gorge themselves on food using the welfare meant for us. I ain’t going back!”
Brayden searched Zain’s face for a second before flashing an understanding look. He grabbed his hand, then started to play along. “What do you expect then?! If they call the cops on us, then they’ll just take us back! We can’t cause trouble here! He said they’re not hiring!”
Zain let go, then started to ruffle his hair in frustration. At this point he was just playing it by ear, but his acting could only take him so far. .
He turned back to the boy, who had not interrupted them during this whole time. He was just watching with critical eyes, observing what they would do next; it was as if he was waiting for them to say something in particular. As for what that was…Zain didn’t have a clue.
All that was left to do was appeal to the boy. He went on his hands and knees, hoping that he could say whatever the kid wanted to hear.
“Please! We ain’t got nowhere else to go. No one cares if we live or die…I want to live for myself. I’ll do anything! Hard labor! Dirty work! Whatever!...Just don’t make me go back there…” He looked down at the floor, hiding his expression from the kid.
The boy let out a long, drawn out sigh, then rose slowly from his seat. Zain was still looking down at the floor, so he couldn’t really see what he was doing. Hopefully, not calling security.
He could hear his footsteps approaching, until the boy stood right in front of Zain.
“Okay. I’ll see what I can do.” The boy said from next to Zain, then he crouched down, lowering his voice to a calmer pitch. “I’ve been where you’re at. So I get it. You just need someone to give you a chance to do things for yourself. Ain’t no shame in admitting you aren’t getting the support you need. Takin’ things into your own hands…that’s admirable.” He gave a hardy pat to Zain’s back, trying to console him in a weird way.
Zain looked up, then nodded. “Thanks man. I appreciate it.”
The boy gave a toothy smile then disappeared into the back.
As soon as he was away from earshot, they both let out a breath of relief.
“Damn dude! I didn’t know you had that in you!” Brayden praised in a slightly hushed tone.
To be honest, he didn’t know that he had it in him either.
I guess when the devil is at your heels, you can do anything…
“Do you think he is going to get security or is he really getting someone who can give us work?” Zain really didn’t know what to expect, so he didn’t want to be too optimistic now.
“Eh- Actually, I’m not sure. I wouldn’t be surprised if he actually did that…”
They both sat diligently, eyeing the employee door and the exit, just in case they needed to run.
After a few more minutes, the boy returned with another teenager.
The new teen wore glasses and carried a clipboard as he approached the two. In his hand he held a pen, which he was listlessly tapping on the edge of his clipboard. The boy gave a quick glance before motioning to the room next to them.
“We can do your paperwork in this room. I assume you at least brought your IDs.” He said in a flat tone.
Both of them nodded, then followed him into the room.
The room they were in looked like a break room of sorts, with vending machines and a water fountain within. There was no one currently inside, likely because of how early it was.
Zain and Brayden offered their fake IDs, which the boy studied thoroughly. He wrote the information down silently for a few minutes, before speaking again.
“Luckily, we are short staffed, so we can offer you two a position. I have a few questions first.” He stopped writing as he turned his eyes back to the two of them. Using his free hand, he lightly traced the rim of his glasses, narrowing his eyes a bit as he appraised them. “Does one of you have any skills with attributes? Or any experience manipulating mana?”
The two of them turned to look at one another before answering.
“I do not…”
“I do. I have a water attribute and I have some dexterity with it.” Brayden replied, then he hovered one hand over the other. It took a few seconds before a water droplet formed at the center. After materializing a small amount, he stopped his demonstration, slightly spent.
The boy with glasses silently looked over the two, flicking his gaze between the two of them, before nodding his head.
“Unfortunately we don’t need water attributes at this time. I was hoping one of you would have wind attributes so you could gain a specific certification. Maybe it will manifest later.” He looked back to his papers before continuing. “For now, you two will be working in the warehouse starting this afternoon. Is that alright with the two of you?” He looked up at them, raising a questioning brow.
They both nodded, giving slight juvenile smiles in response. All according to plan so far.
The boy with glasses remained unfazed, continuing on. “I hear you are runaways. We can give you refuge here by using the Babineaux act, however, it will take some time before the paperwork will be processed. I will have to keep your IDs until it is confirmed. Once it is, you will have autonomy over your personal accounts and your guardians will no longer have access to them.” He turned to the boy who was watching the front desk. “Navin, you will watch them until then. They can bunk with you since your room is pretty empty.”
“Aw, what?! Fucking hell, man!” Navin threw his hands in the air, then crossed them in irritation.
“Well, you vouch, you watch. Now, give them a tour while I process their paperwork. I’ll have Gavin watch the front while you do that.” After his stern instructions, the boy with glasses took the fake IDs then left the room promptly, leaving no room for argument.
Navin groaned in annoyance, then turned to the two of them. “I’m Navin, if you couldn’t fucking figure that out for yourselves.”
Brayden and Zain looked at one another, before introducing their fake personas.
“I’m Phillip…” Brayden introduced himself shyly.
“And I’m Corey.” Zain continued, not sure if he should shake his hand or be more formal. It was probably too late for that.
Navin hardly paid them any mind, as if their names meant nothing to him. “We’re gonna go to the room where we’re all staying. You can leave any of your things there.”
Without waiting for their replies, he started walking out of the meeting room. Brayden and Zain both followed, trying to match his quick pace. They passed a few boys who were operating heavy machinery, each wearing safety equipment as they directed one another.
Shelves lined the inside of the warehouse, as far as the eye could see; There seemed to be different areas dedicated to specific merchandise and storage. Some boys used hover trolleys and carts to load smaller packages onto shelves, while others needed cranes to handle larger storage containers into specific compartments. All in all, everything looked to be operating with safety protocols in mind.
“So this is the warehouse. You’re not going to be operating any heavy machinery or anything like that at first. Maybe if you get your certifications, but for now you’ll probably just be loading and unloading trucks for now. Wherever they need you.”
They walked for a bit longer, before they finally exited the warehouse. Along the side of the building were a few trucks in the loading bay, being serviced by a few boys.
Next to the warehouse was the dormitory that all of the boys were housed at. The appearance looked similar to the dorms at the college, however, there seemed to be more security surrounding the complex and more surveillance observing the perimeter of the premises. A key card was needed to enter the building along with a pin number.
In contrast to their dorm, there didn’t seem to be a front desk receptionist; Inside was a communal living space that had a large living room and kitchen available to all inhabitants. Rules were framed on the walls, mainly stressing the need for cleanliness and quiet.
No one was currently in the lobby area, likely because they were all working at that moment. Navin walked to the elevator, one that actually worked. He pressed a button which led to the fourth floor, and once they were all inside, the doors closed.
The ride upward was a bit awkward, but fortunately, it did not last long. Once the elevator came to a stop, Navin exited then made a beeline to the room.
There were four naming slots which were next to the door, three of which were empty for this specific room. The only name present was Navin’s.
He swiped his dorm card then typed in his pin number. After the buttons flashed green and the door mechanism could be heard unlocking, was he then able to open the door.
He swung the door open, nearly slamming it against the wall as he welcomed them in. “Welcome to your new shithole!”
