Anomalies are both the most fun part of this job yet the most frustrating part. The thrill of a good hunt or even just a job well done is exhilarating. Yet, it can be snatched away by the frankly petty and illogical decisions of the bureaucrats above.

The council is always too cautious or slow to make a decision. Plus, there's always the risk of men dying. Even with the multiple lives they have, it's still a risk, though no the greatest. The real problem is that all evidence of the supernatural had to be hidden from the real world.

No expectations were to be made.

That meant that we couldn't tell her about what was going on and have her reveal the information. If I did, I would most likely be heavily punished.

I wanted to simply jump into her mind and take the information, but that would be violating her human rights. AN act that the council took very seriously. She was, for all intents and purposes, untouchable. We could do nothing but wait. It was infuiritianting. Even after all these decades of service, it still left me seething.

There always some rule to tiptoe around. While the targets get to do as they please. The wife was a perfectly viable source of information even if she didn't directly know anything, but I wasn't getting anything concrete out of her.

Any attempt to do so would leave me with so much shit to deal with that I might as well just retire from the force entirely.

She just kept breaking down into tears and refusing to speak unless she had a lawyer. Valuable evidence was hidden in her mind, but none of it was accessible.

The only time we would be allowed to erase her memory as if we decided that we were done fishing for information. There was no way around it. At least not with the overseers here.

I ran my fingers through my hair as a sigh of frustration escaped my lips.

"I'm guessing not much progress has been made with the target?" I snapped around to face the owner of the feminine voice.

I got up and saluted the commander as she walked in. The metal door creaked behind her as she walked in.

"None of that now, Scylus. I'm just here for an update on the situation." She took a seat beside me and proceeded to look out the one-way window at the subject.

"Unfortunately, I don't have any good news on this end. You know how it is with civilians these days." I took my seat and allowed myself to lean back into it. Today had been too exhausting.

"Uncooperative as usual, huh?"

"Yup. She Doesn't want to say a word unless her lawyer is here." The commander shook her head a little. This was a response we were all getting much too used to.

" God, I miss the old days. They were a lot less of a pain in the ass to deal with." She looked away from the glass as a look of resignation marred her face.

I hesitated as I pondered what I would say next.

She most likely wouldn't agree to it, but I had to try. "I have an idea that could potentially work."

"Scylus, I know it's frustrating for you, but we do have to play by the rules." There was not a second pause as she replied. This was a dance we'd done one too many times.

"Come on, the plan wouldn't even put her in any danger." I was slightly miffed as I responded.

There were too many restrictions and much too harsh punishments. Even Commander Isabella was wary.

"I don't doubt that, but would it be violating protocol. "

She sent me a knowing glance that brought my hopes down. Another failed attempt.

"Well, it would only hurt only slightly."

There was silence as we watched the ongoing interview. This was the 5th person we'd sent in, yet none had made any progress.

"We can't do anything that hurts them at all. Especially not with human rights watch on our asses. Any violation is going to lead to another 2076 incident. And I don't want another one. Do you?" Her face was grim but as she spoke."

"No, I don't." The words were forced through my teeth. Nobody wanted another 2076. That year had been one of the worst years of the organization. A repeat of that, especially in this recent political climate, would lead to us being disbanded and replaced by a shittier version.

"Don't stress it too much. We'll figure out what's going on eventually." Quickly after that, the conversation was moved away from the awkward conversation.

"How are things looking on your end," I said in an attempt to steer the conversation. We didn't need to be talking about our limitations. Right now, we need to solve this case.

She shook her head lightly at my question.

"Not much better." Her voice that had once been neutral took on a serious tone.

"In fact, it's probably worse in some manners."

I groaned at the possibility. We were already overworked. We didn't need a new case; our hands were full right now.

"They have accepted to work with anomaly 01 for this case." I nearly tumbled out of my seat and looked at her in disbelief. This had to be a joke.

There was no smile on her face. Only a look of resignation and slight amusement was still present.

"You have got to be kidding me," I spoke again. That was such an unwise decision to make

"Does this look like the face of someone who is kidding?" She motioned at her face.

I just don't get some time. Oh, great.

They added a completely new and potentially dangerous individual into the organization how perfect.

This hadn't been the first time they'd done this, and while some had generally been successful. Many others had not been as fortunate. It wasn't the gamble we needed right now.

There was a slight snicker from the commander. The look of amusement on her face grew.

My heart sunk.

"Well, you're not gonna like what I have to say next then."

I was being bated, but I wanted the answer. "And what is that?"

"He's been assigned to help out on this case and will be here any time now." I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

This was going to be a long assignment. I could feel it already.

"Is there any good news?" I asked. My voice was low when I next spoke.

"We managed to slightly slow down our pollution speed by 1%."

"Oh really, how fantastic." My voice dripped with sarcasm. A fact that only ended her amusing her more.

At least one of us was having fun.

"You asked for good news." She shrugged her shoulder as she spoke before checking her phone.

"Yes, we're managed to fuck up our future just a bit less. What great news."

"My thoughts exactly."

"I'm being sarcastic."

"Well, I'm being serious. Any progress is good progress."

I looked at her in disbelief before shaking my head. I glanced back through the glass at the target that was currently eating some food.

"How's jin doing? I Hear that his brother got destroyed."

"Not too well. Had to give the man a break. He's taking it a bit too hard. He'll have to wait nearly a century for his brother to revive."

"Well, that's not too bad, right?" I wasn't the most familiar with the resurrection system.

"No, Jin doesn't have another hundred years in him. He'll be dead before then."

"Oh."

The was a loud knock on the door. Swiftly after, Overseer Davinci walked in, and behind him was a headless man with darker skin.

I glanced at the commander, who gave the headless man an annoyed look before turning to Davinci. So this was the anomaly.

He didn't look like much. In fact, he was on the skinnier ends of things.

In only a few seconds ahead appeared on the body. I stared at brown eyes and felt a shiver run down my spine. There was something wrong with them.

They weren't the eyes of the psychopath, but they were damn near close. There was curiosity in them that left me feeling naked.

Unknowingly my hand reached for my gun until DaVinci loudly cleared his throat.

"Scylus, do try and not to kill our newest member. He is rather valuable for this case." I nodded at him and removed moved my hands away from my gun. My eyes never left the anomaly.

It looked at me with amusement in its eyes. Dread filled my chest; this would not end in anything good. My sense had never been wrong before, whoever this man...this thing was, it would be a mistake working with it.

"Well, then that was a bit odd. I'm guessing I'll be answering to you? My name is Benjamin, by the way." It offered its hand. I did not take it.