"As you heard…"
Evelyn said through the phone.
"You're hired to be an exorcist."
Noah was surprised by the announcement.
"Excuse me?"
Evelyn repeated exactly the same thing with the same tone.
Noah opened his mouth.
"Can I refuse?"
"No."
The answer came before he even finished the question. Noah looked at her for a second, searching for any crack where he could slip in a reasonable objection, but he found none.
"It's just that I don't have any experience in…"
"Don't worry, everyone starts with no experience."
"I don't even know what a…"
"Jake will show you the ropes… If you have any questions, ask him."
Jake interrupted.
"Actually, I didn't ask for a partn—"
"Shut up."
Evelyn replied, shutting Jake's mouth.
From a distance, Evelyn kept her gaze fixed on Noah, who looked at Jake, who was leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed. Finally, he looked down at the floor.
"Fine."
He said in the tone of someone accepting something he didn't really want, but couldn't reject.
Evelyn nodded with a slight smile.
The company's headquarters was a four-story building with the facade of a generic service company. The sign out front said something about management and consulting. Noah read it twice from the car without understanding what it had to do with exorcists.
Jake saw him reading it.
"Evelyn chose the sign."
He said.
"Nobody else likes it."
"Why does it say consulting?"
"Because 'exorcism company' gets you higher taxes."
Evelyn received them at the entrance with a folder full of papers for Noah, but Jake noticed that his new partner kept a healthy distance from their boss.
"No way."
Jake handed Noah the folder in a quick handoff while Evelyn informed him that from that moment on, he was officially assigned as Jake's field partner.
"I guess it's my turn to introduce you to the rest of the team."
Jake said.
"The rest of the team?"
Noah was led to the common room, where he saw a gray-haired man sitting in an armchair reading a printed newspaper.
"Who's he?"
Noah asked, to which Jake responded.
"That's Cornelius. The oldest one here. Picture this: when I joined the company, he was already this old, so he must've been born back in the Cretaceous period."
Cornelius calmly folded the newspaper.
"Glad to see you're still funny, Jake. One of us has to make up for the lack of results."
"You know what impresses me most about you? That you can still get actual printed newspapers."
"I have my ways."
"Do you also have ways to stay alive, like bathing in formaldehyde or something? But changing the subject…"
Jake pointed at Noah.
"This is Noah, my new meat shield… I mean, partner."
Cornelius looked at Noah carefully.
"Welcome."
He said.
"I hope you don't end up like his previous partner."
"Hey, don't scare him. This time I'll be careful."
Jake said, to which Noah replied.
"Actually, you already…"
"Well, time to keep moving."
Jake took his partner to a side office. As soon as they entered, they could smell new plastic, something vaguely sweet, and the specific sound of a figure being taken out of its box with great care.
Noah noticed that the office had shelves covering three walls from floor to ceiling, filled with anime figures of different sizes, editions, and levels of detail. Some even had their own lighting, and several were in individual display cases.
The young man looked about twenty-eight, with a somewhat unkempt appearance, and had the face of someone who hadn't expected visitors.
"Ryan."
Jake said.
"I'm introducing you to the new guy."
Ryan looked at Noah for a few seconds, then looked back at the figure he was holding and carefully placed it on the desk before standing up.
"Nice to meet you. My name is Noah."
Before Noah could even extend his hand, Jake interrupted.
"If I were you, I wouldn't shake his hand… it's probably sticky."
Ryan didn't seem offended; he simply ignored him.
"Do you know the genre?"
Ryan asked Noah directly.
"A little."
Noah said timidly. Ryan nodded with great satisfaction and then pointed to the main shelf.
"Complete collection of three series, and the fourth one is on the way."
He paused for a moment to take out some objects he had stored away.
"And I have all the Rina Sato merch."
Noah stayed quiet.
Jake looked at Noah and then at Ryan.
"Who's Rina Sato?"
"Only the best singer in the world. The woman everyone dreams about."
Ryan said this with the conviction of someone stating a one hundred percent confirmed fact.
"If you don't know her, you're wasting your time."
Jake crossed his arms.
"She probably already has a boyfriend."
"She does have a boyfriend."
Ryan said with an unsettling calm.
"I'm going to go kill him."
Jake burst out laughing while Ryan smiled with complete naturalness.
Noah let out a short, barely audible laugh, his shoulders slightly tense and his eyes looking slightly to the side.
"Alright, let's go visit the next social recluse."
They both went down the hallway where they found the last member, who was standing in front of the coffee machine, staring at his cup with the expression of someone contemplating something much deeper than coffee.
He was a man of medium build, with neatly combed hair and a face that conveyed deep sadness.
"Tyler, how's the happiest guy on the team?"
Jake said. Tyler lifted his gaze from the coffee.
"I came to introduce you to the boss's new slave."
Tyler looked at Noah.
"Welcome."
His tone of voice showed a complete emptiness inside.
"Tyler is the team's kamikaze."
Jake said.
"He's always looking for a way for something to kill him, but he's not even good at that."
"That's not funny."
Tyler said.
"Hey, cheer up…"
Jake put a hand on his shoulder.
"Life has its good things."
Tyler looked at the coffee.
"Who knows, maybe one day you'll meet a beautiful woman who will stay by your side…"
Jake continued.
"And who won't leave you for the cross-dressing neighbor like your ex did."
Tyler didn't respond and simply took a sip of his coffee while staring at the back wall.
Jake nodded as if the conversation had concluded satisfactorily and pointed toward the exit for Noah.
When they reached the car, both got in and Jake drove unhurriedly through streets Noah didn't know, in a direction he didn't recognize either.
"Work rules."
Jake said without preamble.
Noah looked at him.
"First: Collateral damage comes out of your paycheck, no discussion."
"What kind of damage?"
"Structural, civilian, medical, administrative. If you're not an S-class exorcist, you're paying those expenses yourself."
Noah processed that.
"S-class?"
"They're an elite group who think they're gods… As long as you don't pay them any mind, you'll be fine."
He continued.
"Second rule: We have a limit of three serious infractions before Evelyn starts docking pay for real…"
"We?"
"I already filled my quota for this month, so we only have your salary to survive on."
Jake turned a corner.
"Third: In the field, my decisions are final."
Noah thought about everything that had happened so far and decided to keep his opinion about that rule to himself.
There was silence as the streets passed by the window until Noah interrupted.
"Hey."
Jake glanced at him sideways.
"Are we the good guys?"
Jake looked at him for one more second with a face of absolute surprise, then let out a short, genuine laugh.
"You tell some good jokes…"
Noah waited for the answer, but Jake kept driving as the laughter slowly faded until the only thing left was the sound of the engine and the streets passing outside.