Chapter 38 - Zephyr Courier Services

  As many strange looks as Alex had been getting for wandering the city with what appeared to be two animals, a faded soul moving through the city in well-practiced jumps garnered far more notice. At each point where he’d pause between intent-movement steps, at least one of the nearby pedestrians would do a double-take. Faded souls aren’t meant to move like that.

  Alex doesn’t mind the additional attention. He’s already started putting together a plan. From what Corvus told him a good while back, most ‘menial’ jobs are performed by the Faded. Someone with Animus likely wouldn’t bother doing a job unless the pay was going to be rather high. No one would pay that high of a cost for a courier. So if Alex could take advantage of having a stronger spirit, being able to use the intent-movement more freely, he could complete courier runs faster than others.

  Alex grins to himself as he crosses the blocks, pausing every few streets to check the signs. He overshoots to 14th-street, and has to double-back. But once he’s on 12th, the real trouble starts. He has no clue which direction Euclid street is in.

  Approaching a demon who’s leaning against one of the buildings, Alex speaks up. “Excuse me, sorry to bother. But could you point me in the direction of Euclid Street?” He asks the elf-like demon. The demon gives a non-commital grunt and thumbs down the road. “Thanks!” Alex says with a smile and starts off in that direction.

  Since he wasn’t aware of how far down 12th he needed to go, Alex decides to just walk again, rather than potentially miss the spot. Though there wasn’t a need to worry. Six blocks down, Alex encounters a flurry of activity. On the corner, right where the advertisement claimed, a building stands out against the others. Instead of having the typical entrance on the front, the building’s side just stands open with rows of counters visible inside, lined with parcels and shoulder-bags. The activity that had caught Alex’s attention are the people dashing in, looking at a chart, marking it, grabbing an item or two, then running right back out. Each one wears a sash with the business’s name on it. Zephyr Courier Services.

  On the end of the building, Alex spots a door where others move in and out, looking more like customers than employees. “That must be the office entrance.” He says, pointing it out to Corvus and Hara. On closer inspection, Alex notices the same advertisement hanging on the door. Certainly the right place.

  Stepping into the lobby of the place, Alex takes note of the clerks manning booths along the side of the wall leading into the workspace. Most of the booths have a sign above them that reads ‘local’, but a few appear to be labeled for ‘export’. Approaching one of the unoccupied booths, Alex clears his throat.

  “Excuse me, I’m here about the ‘couriers wanted’ poster.” He says as the imp-like demon behind the counter lifts her head. It was the first actually ‘demonic’ looking demon Alex had seen. Short, with a mop of unruly black hair, and acid-green eyes. That’s saying nothing of the leathery skin and the elongated and pointed ears. If it weren’t for the warm smile and unthreatening posture she adopts on hearing his request, she would be a bit frightening.

  The attendant sizes him up, making a little sound of surprise upon seeing his companions. “Door on the end, go on in. Knock on the door of the first office on the left.” She instructs, the voice a bit gravely but not unpleasant.

  Alex thanks her and heads for the door. It’s marked with a sign that escapes Alex’s ability to understand, but he assumes it must be something like ‘employees only’. It opens into a long hallway with doors on the left side. At the first one, Alex knocks, rapping his knuckles against the wooden door.

  From inside, Alex hears a solid thump, followed by low mutterings. When the door opens, a squat human stands on the other side. He’s a bit disheveled and shows the signs of someone who’d just been woken from a nap. “What?” He asks groggily, eyes seeming to have a hard time focusing. Alex adjusts his assessment from ‘nap’ to ‘hungover’.

  “I’m here about the courier job advertisement. The clerk out front told me to knock on this door.” Alex says, trying to speak softly so as not to agitate his potential employer.

  The short man blinks a few times, then grimaces and steps back out of the doorway. “Come in, have a seat.” He says, a little delayed. The office is nowhere near as nice as the one Corvus had conjured for the ‘orientation’. Just a desk, two chairs, and boxes of papers stacked nearly floor to ceiling along one wall. Alex’s guess of him being hungover is born-out when he spies several glass bottles almost hidden behind the bottom of the desk.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  Hara slips in behind Alex, with Corvus riding on her back. The man quirks a brow, but then just shrugs and sits down at the desk. “Just so ya know, we don’t pay extra for teams.” He says, then takes another look at the animalistic pair. “Or for people with Animus enhancements.”

  Alex smiles. “That’s not a problem. I’m the one who needs the job. They’ll help me, but I’m fine with accepting the normal rates.” He answers, seeing a relieved expression flicker across the man’s face.

  “Good. We get a lot of people thinking they can push for higher rates. But frankly, we’re running pretty tight margins. We don’t have the overhead to pay that extra bit.” The man says, visibly relaxing some. He takes a moment, sizing up Alex before leaning back in his seat. “I’m Dale, the Personnel Manager. And you are?” He says, offering a hand.

  “Alex. And this is Hara.” He says gesturing to the hound.

  “Do not introduce me. Simply claim me as a companion.” Corvus’s voice breaks into Alex’s mind as he’s about to mention Corvus.

  “And our crow companion that took a liking to us on our travels.” He says, motioning to the bird.

  Dale nods. “Alright, that’s the polite bit out of the way. How fast are you?” The man asks, leaning an elbow on the desk and fixing Alex with a steady stare.

  Alex considers for a moment. “I crossed from the Nexus Point near Last-Stop to New Europa in less than a week. That route took me through the Abyssal Grotto and the territory of Last to Burn.” Alex says, thinking over how to answer more specifically. As Alex speaks, the short manager’s eyebrows start to steadily climb his forehead towards the receding hairline.

  “I can use intent-movement fairly easily, so a few blocks every second or two.” He continues before catching the expression on Dale’s face. “Is that a problem?”

  Along with the raised brow, the man’s mouth hangs open as if Alex had just announced himself as a new Apex in town. Dale had a few stories float around the runners over the last couple days of a faded guy traveling the city using intent-movement as easy as breathing, but he hadn’t anticipated that the oddity would pop up right in his office.

  Looking between Alex, the hound, and the crow, Dale starts thinking. He could charge a premium for rushed deliveries with extra security. “Hey ah… Hara was it? Gimme your best mean face.” He asks, pointing to the hound. The stone hellhound cocks her head for a moment before giving the equivalent of a shrug. Then she bears her teeth and snarls low and dangerous, lips curled back to show off the metallic teeth. “Perfect.” He says, giving her a thumbs up. In a heartbeat, the snarl stops and she goes back to looking like a calm hound.

  Dale rubs his forehead, then chews his lip. “Tell ya what. I’ll offer you normal rates for normal runs. You can take as many as you have time to complete. On top of that, if your little posse is gonna be with you, I’ll arrange rush and security deliveries with you, and you’ll get double for each of those.” He explains, writing down the offer on a sheet of paper.

  “Most of our crew can manage three to five runs in a day. But they’re jogging or sprinting to do it. They made one coin for each. So three to five a day. You, I imagine you’ll be able to do that many by lunch-time, more once you’re familiar with the city.” He says, taking note of the grin that Alex starts to show.

  “Do you have a map of the city?” Alex asks, prompting the manager to fish around in the drawers of his desk and eventually pull out a folded map on old paper. “Yeah, here. I need to order more of these.” He says, tossing the map to Alex.

  “You can start tomorrow, be here by Dawn bell. Not after. By. Got it?” He asks, getting a nod from Alex. “I’ll have one of our long-term guys explain the process to you. For now though, sign this, then get outta here.” He pushes the paper he’d been writing on towards Alex. It was a simple agreement form. Most of it was pre-printed, with Dale having written in the pay rates and Alex’s name. Alex skims it over, then signs where indicated. Taking it back, Dale smirks. “I’ll see ya tomorrow kid.” He says, then motions towards the door. “You can find your way out, right?”

  Taking the dismissal for what it is, Alex heads out the way he’d come in. “That’s one less thing to worry about.” He says, stepping out onto the sidewalk again. “Lets take it easy for the afternoon, get a good rest. Then tomorrow, I get to work.” Corvus and Hara agree to the plan easily, with Corvus commenting that it sounded wise.

  Heading off in the general direction of the Hostel, Alex doesn’t bother with using the skill. Instead, he just walks. Using the time to think some things over, he does some mental math. If he can do enough runs to make eight to ten coins a day, it would take him so long to buy an Animus it wasn’t worth considering. But he’d easily make enough to ensure he can buy a ‘top-up’ from Hadricks whenever he needed it. On top of that, he’d have the income to support a decent life in the city. He’d focus on getting stable here first, and learn the city’s ins and outs. And all the while, he’d keep his eyes peeled for a chance to get an Animus again.

  Having the framework of a plan in mind, Alex feels more certain than ever that he’s in the right place. But as wrapped up in his thoughts as he is, he misses noticing the same boy from earlier leaning against a building as Alex passes. Or when the kid starts to follow him.