Forum Thread

♟️Laurence Walton's POV📖

"Geez. Look at him, you're scaring the poor kid. He's just a baby!"

I'm seventeen years old. He would have muttered it, but he resisted the urge, knowing it not wise to say such a thing out loud. Things were tense enough as is.

"Oh, to go back to the time when I was an intern, so young, and full of life... nah, no I wasn't."

Pfft. Comforting.

"No need to shift the blame on this poor boy, right? Nobody- except her- got hurt! So basically nobody important, right?"

Laurence felt the need to object. "She's still a person. I could have walked away, and... I didn't. I only escalated the conflict. I appreciate your defending me, but she isn't the only one accountable."

"PLus, it's this dude's first day! Give the guy a chance, he could probably end up being pretty rad."

Laurence couldn't think of anything to say to that. Of course he didn't want to wind up sent home. Of course he didn't want to wind up being a delinquent and a disappointment who never achieved anything with his life. But... he couldn't just not take accountability here. He was in the wrong as well.

So he just fell silent.

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Narcisse Michon

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He regarded the fool with the coldest look he could muster. "You are hereby assigned to public service- and Detective Mawer service for the rest of the week." Narcisse narrowed his eyes at Detective Konstantin. "If you are unable to control yourself, then you have no place as a detective of this Agency."

Narcisse smiled. "I will have your case load lightened."

"You'll certainly need the free time from our new and exciting cases to do some intern work. It's about time you had a refresher on the standards we set within our workplace, don't you agree? It might take a while, certainly, but I'm sure you'll see the benefit some day."

"No. It's alright, I am responsible. She provoked me, and I overreacted. It was my fault, not hers. It was incredibly undignified behavior on my part, sir, and I... I offer you my sincerest apologies. If you should have me banned from the internship program, or punished in any other way, I... Wouldn't blame you. In the least. It was... A pleasure meeting you all. Not one that I deserved. I'm sorry for everything."

"Very well, then. Do you understand you will not be let back in the agency? Regardless of your intentions, your actions today show that you have no interest in acting responsibly in a work environment. I could not in good conscience allow you to return here- or recommend you to any other field in law enforcement. You would be expelled from the Clockwork Detective Agency with a black mark on your record."

The girl blinked. Her mouth opened and closed. She looked weirdly unhappy- which was surprising. He'd figure the little Buivis girl would be smug at getting her way once again.

"No charges of assault will be laid against you," he told Walton. What a shame. The kid seemed like he might've had potential. Nepotism would always win out though, and Walton had none of the cards that Buivis had to play. "I will ensure it."

He tried to be kind. But the kid needed to learn the way the world worked, which wasn't nearly as kind as Narcisse happened to be.

"Wait, sir," the girl cut in. "But- he's kinda right. I mean, I was trying to provoke him." She frowned. "Or whatever. I just don't think he needs to be kicked out, if it's about me, you know? It was a fight, it wasn't like he was beating me up or something."

No, Narcisse thought bitterly. That was you. He knew he couldn't get away with it.

But he kept his face a calm, cool mask. "Are you offering up your place in the Agency to young Walton?"

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Niwa Atsushi

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Wow, Eloi had a pretty smile. That was interesting. It was really shiny... like really really shiny. Lotsa pearly white teeth there. Perfect smile. ...Too perfect.

"I... Wonder what the noise could have been. Let's check to see if um, anything's amiss. I-I guess."

"Yeah." Niwa thought for a minute. "Do you think they could've gone towards the bridge?"

A clattering sound. It rang out throughout the alleyway- something had fallen. He went stiff.

"Someone's moving!" he hissed. "Come on!" Niwa started dragging Eloi after him. Something was definitely moving- and fast. He could hear footsteps as they moved out of the alleyway and into the dimly lit street.

The two of them stopped. The square was empty, deserted. Strange for this time of night. Fog had settled over the place and oozed along, giving it an eerie feel, or so he assumed. The eerieness was perpetuated by the complete and utter silence that surrounded them.

"Where'd they go?" he muttered, scanning the road. He'd figure it would be obvious spotting someone in a place as dead as this happened to be. But...

He blinked twice. He spotted a figure in the dark alleyway across from them. "Maybe they went into an alleyway?"

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"Oh, come on, head! After last week, I've been keeping my head down! I did all the paperwork! I scrubbed the paint off my desk! I tried to stop those two!"

He just seemed upset that he was given public service.

"I did nothing wrong!"

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Third Person POV

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Narcisse smiled at him. "Two weeks."

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Adrik Volkov

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"Yep, that's me. The one thing keeping this Agency from the terrible boredom that robot Michon wants to inflict us with. Honestly, sometimes I think there's metal and wiring in that man. No place for a heart in all that mess."

Her eyes twinkled, a coy smile toying with the edge of her lips. He unconsciously tried to imitate her and sent a terrified grin back.

Or was it a grimace? He wasn't really sure.

"You need someone to walk you kids back home? The city can get mighty scary at night. You sometimes need a big bad detective to protect you, don't you?"

He opened his mouth to say yes, but hesitated. Something to that glint in her eyes make him not trust her. As if he turned his back on her, she'd plunge a knife right through him.

And she would, he realised.

Adrik didn't want to owe her any favours. Even this walk home... he would have to thank her, right? And she'd smile at him and... next time, he'd have to betray someone for her.

He wasn't sure where this spark of intuition came from... but as he stared into Mawer's friendly, smiling eyes, he saw a monster staring back, ready to devour him.

"No thank you," he said politely. "I'm sure I can find my way back on my own."

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"Two?!?!! This is an abuse of authority! I am hurt! Wounded! Offended! How could you! I was doing so well!"

Aleksandr seemed outraged by this.

"Oh, you're evil, Head! How could you!"

He crossed his arms, huffing.

"I am so hurt!"

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Narcisse Michon

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"Three."

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Adrik Volkov

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"Aww, are you sure?" He thought he caught a flash of disappointment in her eyes for a second, but then it was gone and she was again all smiles. "Well, too bad! I like getting to meet the new interns. You guys always have fresh perspectives. New ideas and all that."

"I'm sure -" he fumbled. "That you do too! And... Michon." Was she referring to the Head Detective? If she was... it was kinda weird that would do so in such an informal fashion. The Head Detective would be a rank above her, wouldn't it?

"Aww, aren't you sweet." Detective Mawer chuckled, tucking a stubborn curl behind their ears. "Well, just know that if you ever need some perspective... I'm here."

Perspective... He shuddered at the emphasis they put on the word. In a sense, it felt like they were warning him... though about what, he wasn't sure.

"I'll keep that in mind." Ha. No. He would be putting that in a cardboard box and shoving it to the back of his mind. Where it would ideally stay. Forever.

"Hmm... what's he doing here?" She mused, and then glanced at Adrik. "I'll see you kids later, hmm?" She waved them off, clearly already thoroughly moved on from their conversation. She strolled into the din of people by the Main Entrance and vanished into the crowd.

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"Thre- Now you're just being mean! You're so cruel!"

Aleksandr sobbed in mock distraught.

"Keep this up and you might make me resent you and use my time to build an army of interns who just piss you off!"

Aleksandr was still grinning.

"Eh. Public service, the only problem I have with it is that I don't get paid for it. But, you know, not a big deal."

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Narcisse Michon

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"You're a slow one, aren't you?" Narcisse leaned across the table, clasping his hands together. Very, very sweetly, he whispered, "Four. And counting."

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"Four and counting, huh? Make that five!"

God, he was a moron. How could someone so smart be so stupid?

He pointed a finger at Narcisse.

"No, Six! That's a musical, by the way."

He chuckled, putting his hands in his pockets.

"If I want to do it, is it a punishment?"

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Narcisse Michon

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"If you want to make it a challenge..." Narcisse's lips quirked up in a grin. "I respect your committment to your foolishness. How about a year? Detective Yu will surely appreciate the chance to work with you. Imagine how much fun he would have talking about his senior when you're scrubbing the office floors with a toothbrush. Making them nice and perfectly clean."

Ah, but wait. It was really time to drive the knife home.

"I'm sure you'll also appreciate the modules on customer service I am sending to you. They even have math in them. You haven't seen that since you dropped out of grade school, correct? It'll be quite the refresher. Everything from algebra to precalculus. Why, after, you could even transfer into the forensic analyst department. They're always looking for someone to do exciting research on fingerprints with. You'd fit right in, though of course you may have to start by cleaning the microscopes... all three hundred of them."

He sighed.

"Really, with how much you love to run your mouth, such an exercise would be nothing to you, I'm sure." Narcisse chuckled. "What do you say?"

This kid was an idiot. His arrogance combined with the obliviousness- it was itching at Narcisse. Who promoted this fool? If this place wasn't so biased to human incompetency; he'd have been fired on day one of his internship.

If only I'd been in charge then, he internally sighed.

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"Then again, head detective, I also, statistically, work at a much higher efficiency rate than most of my peers! I usually get through maybe 1.75x the average worker's paperwork, even with my breaks! Can you really afford to send me away?"

Aleksandr laughed.

"And I know what you're thinking! 'Oh, this guy is an idiot!' I'm not, really, just a burnt out gifted kid. And I never dropped out of grade school, I dropped out of college. Big difference. And honestly, math isn't hard."

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Narcisse Michon

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Narcisse nearly snorted. How arrogant could this kid be? As if the whole Agency depended on him- it was infuriating.

One of the kinds with a mechanical enhancement, he suspected. They lost their humanity, for the selfish wish for more power and privilege. Without a conscience, or recognition of those around them, they became self absorbed.

He hated them. The whole lot were a bunch of cowards.

"Then you can pack up and leave," he said calmly. "If you can't be an adult, regardless of your 'gifted' status, then I have no choice but to remove you from the Agency. You have disrespected me, disregarded consequences, and proven yourself to be a detriment to the workplace. From your little 'comments' I can see you do not hold your coworkers in any more regard than you do me. That is unacceptable."

He met Detective Konstantin's eyes. "Do you agree with my assessment? I will concede that, on occasion, you apply yourself. That you can be an asset to our Agency. If you are willing to accept my initial consequences, now would be the time to bite your tongue. But if you can't, then this will be the termination of your employment."

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Adrik Volkov

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Adrik ran a shaky hand through his hair. "Alright then... off we go, I guess."

He picked his way through the crowd, and soon enough was out into the cold night air. He wished he'd brought his scarf, or at least a toque. It was chilly.

Even on the train, it was freezing. And for some weird reason, he felt as if every person on there was staring. An older woman was hiding her face behind her knitting- but even through the carefully woven threads- a pair of blue eyes was watching him.

He froze.

She lifted her knitting and he saw her old lips turn up in a smile.

A jolt ran through him and he yanked up his hood. For the rest of the ride he stared at his lap. And when he got home, he took the long way 'round.

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"....jesus, did I forget to take my meds? Why the flippity @#$@ did I say all that?"

He blinked a few times, shaking his head.

"Oh, jesus- one moment, head."

He rummaged through his pockets, plucking out a small bottle of pills.

He poured them into one hand, counting them out.

"Oh, yeah, definitely forgot. Is there water anywhere?"

He'd calmed down significantly, glancing around.

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Narcisse Michon

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How convenient.

It was as if the kid was putting on a show. He would play a role until it no longer suited him... but above all, he could never admit to his own faults.

"You recognise that what you have said is disrespectful?" Narcisse raised his eyebrows. He picked up a cup of water and daintily sipped from it. When he placed it down, he levelled Detective Konstantin with a serious look. "Detective, I need you to tell me that you understand what you have done wrong."

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"Yeah, fire me if you want, go ahead. I just need a glass of water. I get what you're saying. I understand."

He put the pills back into the bottle, leaving two.

"I know that I'm a disrespectful brat with no respect for anyone around me, and that I'm so incredibly self absorbed to the point that I insult and degrade the people around me."

He glanced around.

"I do seriously need some water though."

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Narcisse Michon

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Melodramatic little- He barely restrained himself from rolling his eyes. "And?" he prompted. "You're...?"

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Abryn Soelare

...Y'know what? He didn't need to do anything. Abrn just found that sitting in the back and watching the chaos ensue was good enough. Maybe if he was in a good mood he would've actually done something but... Eh.

Well, the meeting was canceled, looked like everyone was going home. The guy felt a little bad for the kids, the horror of being expelled was a different kind of fear to say the least. But this dumbass on the other hand...

Abryn liked him, Aleksandr and Michon's exchange was funny as hell to say the least. He walked up to the former, who was just taking their pills, and gave him a pat on the shoulder, a devious grin plastered all over his face. Well, hope Narcisse was prepared to deal with yet another stupid one's comments.

"Awww, c'mon chief! Can't just set em up to a back and forth like that then finish him off with such a dumb blow, is chivalry dead to you or somethin'? Now, obviously I'm in no place to be talkin', but y'know..."

Huh. Weird, the kid just pulled a 180. Eh, whatever.

"Loosen up a bit, wouldja?"

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Cassidy Louvin

"Hmm... Well yeah, I guess I wouldn't..." She said thoughtfully, for some reason. Actually most of the men she knew were either old and innocent, children, or not a problem. Let's just say she was a little innocent and had an overfilled glass of that life juice. There seemed to be a tinge of sorrow in her voice, like the ideas Andrea threw out made her look at a perspective she wasn't quite fond of seeing.

Rohypnol... Scary stuff, but hey, got the job done, right? Hm... Yeah no, Andrea totally wasn't scary. Anyways, the light immediately returned to her eyes as Andrea proposed a fair exchange. Spending more time alongside her while she was free? Getting a little sneak peak at the lab while they were at it? "Ooooh, sure! Count me in!"

"And try not to fluster and stutter. It’s cute, that’s for sure, but won’t leave a good impression on your work partners."

Cass suddenly faltered, the whimsical air that surrounded her attitude drastically dropped in a second.

Ah. Right.

Composure. Can't get too caught up in things, can't get ahead of yourself, don't get carried away, remember how to act-

Yeah, yeah she knew. Right. She may have been in a decent position at this place for some time now, but she knew that even here her personality didn't exactly clash with some very well. Yet another reminder she still had work to do.

Cass's eyes landed on Andrea's hand as she nodded in understanding, starting with a deep breath. "...Yes ma'am, I'll keep that in mind. I 'preci-"

Huh. While they were talking, people had begun to leave already. Looking out the windows, it was...

Already dark. Oh well wasn't that lovely. Cassidy checked her watch as her eyes widened. "Oh shoot the time- I need to cook dinner soon! Sorry to leave so abruptly Alia, but I'm glad we met. I'll definitely take you up on that offer though, thank you for the fun conversation!"

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"And...? Oh, you want me to say sorry. Yeah, I'd rather be fired <3"

He made a little heart with his hands, his tone sarcastic.

Aleksandr glanced around.

"For real, though. Sorry. Wasn't my intention to piss you off. Don't know what my intention was."

He sighed.

"So therexs no water?"

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Narcisse Michon

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He withheld a sigh. That was probably the closest he'd get to an apology, right now. Oh well. "There's a cooler by the bookshelf. You can find a cup in the cabinet below it."

Then another person came up. Inside his office. Without knocking.

Narcisse's eye twitched. "I seem to be handing out pink slips rather often today," he said pleasantly. "Is it Valentine's Day perhaps, or is today simply dedicated to pissing off one's seniority?"

It was unprofessional to curse at work, but his temper was holding on by a thread as it was. Ah, how he longed to murder.

"Don't you have somrwhere else to be, Soelare?"

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"Valentine's day is once a year. That second one comes every other day."

Aleksandr quickly grabbed the cup, and got himself some water, downing it with the pills rather quickly.

"Awe, man, I have no idea what happens when I don't take my pills, but from the way my psychiatrist talks, it might, like, end the world."

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