As Assad sauntered into her office, he plopped down into one of the two empty chairs opposite the edge of her desk and waved his hand.
"Can we forget about office talk for a bit?" He asked.
She raised an eyebrow.
"Why’d you bring me here, and tell me where the hell I am right now?"
Shuren leaned her face against her palm and stared at him with disbelief for some time. For a moment, he actually believed she had lost interest in their conversation.
"I think it's time I answer those questions," Shuren said.
Assad sat up straight in anticipation of the answer, his expression suddenly becoming serious.
"You are currently in the Kurayamiya Sweepers Agency," Shuren replied.
"Wait what?"
"The Kurayamiya Sweepers Agency, the purpose of this place is to solve everyday problems that arise throughout Kurayamiya. Things like kidnapping and murder; missing people, and sometimes even locating lost pets. If it is an everyday issue, and you need help, the Sweepers Agency provides a solution."
She shrugged her shoulders.
"So to put it simply, you guys are basically cops," Assad replied.
Shuren frowned at him as though he had lost his mind.
"Okay now that you answered where I'm at, now you need to answer another question"
"I was just getting to that, idiot."
Assad clicked his tongue as Shuren took a drag from his cigarette before continuing.
"Do you remember the illusion you're trapped inside of?"
"This was your second test?"
"Huh?"
"It was your second test and it was made specifically for you."
Assad's eyes widened and the words coming out of Shuren's mouth made no sense.
'A test and a second one?! Shuren has never even mentioned a second test! She mentioned a previous test of mine when I beat up those people who owed her money, but now she's saying there was a second test and it was also an illusion!'
As memories started to flash in front of him of before he came to the agency, and of when he met the old guy who said something really strange to him, and also of the vision he saw of the crimson red room, and the notebook he saw of exactly how he arrived in this world.
Assad was slowly losing his mind over this one measly test!
"That's such bullshit."
Shuren was caught off guard and nearly dropped her cigarette. She turned to Assad, who had a fierce look of anger on his face.
"A test, seriously you never said that. I was in that illusion. Many things happened and I almost lost my mind because of it and you say it was a test."
Shuren just nodded her head; this in turn made Assad even more agitated with her.
"I don't know how you saw the 'things' you did while in the illusion; however, the purpose of creating the illusion was to allow you to explore your true self; you accomplished that well."
"True self? Then explain why I still don't know who I am." Assad said.
Shuren smirked.
"You already have a way to find who you really are".
Assad tilted his head slightly.
"...What does that mean?" The smile faded slowly as Shuren rose from her chair.
He felt an odd pressure coming towards him from Shuren's rising body - It felt like an invisible wave washing across the room.. The bookshelves shook slightly due to this force, and the smoke from Shuren's cigarette was no longer drifting freely, but was now twisting around her and almost appearing to be obeying her movement.
Assad, without knowing it, took a half step backwards away from her.
"What the hell..?"
Shuren was at the side of her desk with one hand in her pocket and the other holding her cigarette.
She held his gaze at that moment.
"Assad, have you ever heard the term 'Sionel'?" Shuren asked.
Assad shook his head.
"I expected that"..
Shuren exhaled slowly, a cloud of smoke filled the upper area of the room before it slowly started to spread.
"A Sionel is an individual who has transcended the average human being. A Sionel follows a path no weak person could replicate. A Sionel searches for answers to questions that no ordinary person would ever find".
Assad listened quietly.
"Assad, are you willing to become a Sionel?"
Assad's eyes opened wider than they had a second ago while he demanded answers; at that time he felt as though Shuren had opened a door to something far more significant than he was. The room was quiet; only the faint wisp of Shuren's smoke from her cigarette could be seen as she waited for him to respond.
An average individual would have inquired about the nature of a Sionel prior to offering a response concerning the probable dangers associated with it and, in all likelihood, would have taken the time necessary to reconsider the matter as well.
Sadly, Assad had never been like every other person.
"Asking questions about money upfront is appropriate in this case," he stated.
Shuren's jaw dropped halfway to her feet in astonishment.
"Wait, what did you just say?"
"If I'm risking my life, then I'd like to receive some type of compensation for that risk."
Shuren shut her eyes tightly while running both hands through her long hair and pinching at the bridge of her nose.
"Why do I even bother?"
Assad pointed to himself as if verifying who he was.
"Just yesterday, I didn't have a home."
"How's that my fault?" Shuren said, raising one eyebrow.
"Don't judge me for having to steal food when that was my only option."
"I certainly will since you stole my food."
Shuren sighed.
"Enough already," she said, "Give me your answer."
Assad opened his mouth but closed it again.
What is a Sionel?
He still could not comprehend this term, but from what Shuren had said, Sionels had transcended beyond what any ordinary human could accomplish in this world and had found a path of their own, one that a normal person would never have the ability to follow.
It sounded crazy to him.
Then again, waking up in someone else's body certainly sounded crazier than that, and while he was looking out the window behind her, he could see Kurayamiya. If there was a chance, no matter how small, that he could become a Sionel and find out what kind of being he really was and what kind of being he could truly become, he would take the risk.
With his head bowed down, Assad was searching for answers, his identity, and how he got to this point in his life, as well as a way back home.
After many long minutes, he finally looked up
"...Fine, I'll be a Sionel."
After a prolonged period of waiting for an answer, there was nothing but quiet on the other side of the desk. Shuren remained still; the only sound was the ashes from her burning cigarette floating into the air, as she stared at him through the smoke. Without saying anything, she opened one of the drawers in her desk and withdrew a single sheet of paper, then slid it across the table at him.
Assad frowned and picked it up. He looked down and saw that at the top of the page were big letters that read:
**KURAYAMIYA SWEEPERS AGENCY**.
"You want me to join the agency?"
Shuren nodded.
The nonchalant response almost made Assad think he had heard wrong.
"That can't possibly be your amazing proposal."
Shuren nodded again.
"That's what all that was about; lots of talk about Sionels, true self, and a path to true; it's for me to be recruited?"
"Pretty much."
Assad felt something in his head twitch as if it were trying to get attention.
"You could have started with that."
"I did."
"No you didn't."
Shuren expertly pulled on her cigarette, watching the smoke roll about and then become lost within the room. He let his eyes linger at the paper for a short while; then he looked back to Shuren.
"If I sign this..."
Shuren reclined in her chair.
"You will be part of the Kurayamiya Sweepers Agency, and this is a first step towards becoming a Sionel."
With that, Shuren pulled a pen from her desk and extended it towards him.
"Sign here."
Assad picked up the pen and looked at the paper. He had yet again raised the pen but then drawn it down. He felt an unusual sensation about this; he didn't really know Shuren since he had stolen from her just yesterday and she had reacted violently to his actions.
Shuren had lured him into her agency without explaining any details upfront and he stated he passed a couple of unknown tests, and now she is offering him a job.He had no idea why she would trust him, or that he wasn't a total lunatic for all she knew.
Assad looked up for a moment. Shuren was smoking at her desk as though this were all perfectly fine.
He contemplated.
'Perhaps she's the crazy one.'
A tiny breath escaped him.
By now he did not feel it was worth his energy to ask her questions, nor did he have another choice of destination. With this in mind he began lowering his pen again. After a moment's pause, he lowered his pen. As he wrote he could hear the sound of the ink scratching on the paper, softer than before.In just a few seconds, the last of his name was finished and he slid the piece of paper back across the desk to her.
She took the paper and looked it over, with her eyes stopping at his signature.
"Huh."
He raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
She held the paper up to him.
"You write better than I expected, it's not very normal for a person like you."
He frowned at her.
"What does that mean at all?"
"It looks like it was done by a person of wealth, not just an ordinary person."
He rolled his eyes.
"What a stupid compliment."
With that she shrugged and put the paper down. But he could not help thinking about what had just been said. On Earth he had the worst handwriting in the world.People at his workplace compared his handwriting to that of Pablo Picasso and said it was awful and unreadable. But the way he had signed the document was very legible, clean and classy.
There is no way that he brought over his bad handwriting from the other world.
Originally, this wasn't his body.
'Was Assad ever a good writer before he dropped out of school?'
Assad was reminded again that the person who occupied the body he was in was a real person.
Shuren interrupted Assad's thoughts.
"We're done here, let's go."
Assad lifted his head.
"Where are we going?"
Shuren stood from the chair and put her hands in her pockets.
"I want you to meet someone."
Assad followed Shuren to the door.
"Who?"
"Well, someone who is going to turn you into a 'Sionel'."
Assad stopped walking.
"...I don't like the sound of that.*
"Good; but there is a chance you'll really not like the gent."
She went through the door and into the hall.
Shuren left the office ahead of Assad without uttering any additional words. The two walked along the hallway of the agency, they were at the end of the building after several minutes. A lone door was at the end of the hallway against the wall, and without any hesitation Shuren opened the door.
The bottom of the staircase opened up into a world unlike anything he had ever seen before. The underground level looked nothing like the agency above. Black stone walls stretched through the corridor, illuminated by faint blue lights. The neat and orderly atmosphere from upstairs was gone, replaced by something colder and far less welcoming.
All of these things seemed to be true to Assad.
"Are you sure this is still the agency?" Assad asked.
"Yep."
"It looks nothing like the agency."
"That's because no ordinary person comes down here."
As Shuren and Assad continued through the dark corridor, Assad noticed an open door to his left, and he was curious enough to look through the doorway to see what was inside. Assad immediately regretted this decision when he saw a male using a metal table to work on something lying on the table while maintaining a calm demeanor and working with the same disregard as if he was performing a task in a normal everyday office environment.
Assad stood frozen.
"What is that guy doing?"
As Shuren peeked into the room,
"That's Zoren Aarav, and before you ask me, yes, he has a very odd hobby of collecting dead bodies."
Assad blinked in disbelief.
"Is that even a job?"
"That is just a part of what being a Sionel means."
"Right, of course it is."
After her answer, Assad ended up with even more questions than he had before.
They continued down the long corridor.
At the end of the corridor, they made a few minor turns until they saw a woman carrying a small stack of documents tucked under her left arm. The woman stopped walking and gave Shuren a simple nod in greeting.
Shuren returned the greeting with a lazy wave, as if greeting an old friend.
"That was Camomila Yasudaira."
Assad looked over at her.
"Is she a co-worker of yours?"
"Yea, what do you think? ."
Camomila looked over at Assad for a brief moment, and her gaze lingered for a second before she continued walking without saying anything. Assad continued to watch her as she rounded the corner.
"Do all of you around here act so strange?"
"You're asking me that while you're walking next to me."
"That's a good point."
Finally, they arrived at a large solid wood door at the end of another long corridor; and, unlike all other doors up until this point, this door was closed.
Shuren walked up to the door and knocked on it.
"Who's there?" A voice on the other side replied instantly.
Shuren observed the entrance.
"Seriously, you're gonna ask me that?"
Pandemonium was heard from behind the door. The door immediately opened and a young man was viewed through the door looking shocked.
"My apologies!"
He bowed, so far and fast that Assad figured he would hurt himself somehow.
"I didn't know it was you, Ms. Shuren!"