As Max woke up, a deep hum filled his ears. As he cracked his eyes open, he was met with the sight of the pieces of his new staff floating around him. The walls of his room were illuminated with a warm red glow, and the segments seemed to notice him wake up. Not again, he started to think, before they all dropped to the floor, fading back to a dull gray. He sat up and stretched out his arms and back, shaking his head in irritation. This had happened every single morning since he'd initially gotten the staff, and it was starting to really tick him off. The morning after he'd gotten it, Max had been startled awake by a loud thudding sound, and it had turned out that the segments were trying to escape their case, rattling against the wood. Ever since that morning, he'd leave the case open so that they could roam free. He'd asked Devon about it, but he'd given Max the same old explanation of "Flux follows your intentions," and shrugged it off. Apparently, they'd settle down over time, but Max just had to get used to it for the time being. As annoying as it was to be woken up early every morning by floating pieces of sentient metal, it did feel as if they were trying to help in their own way. Max hadn't been late for a single training session since he'd gotten the staff, and they seemed to tense up right before an impact, as if they knew an attack was imminent.
Max rolled out of bed and waved his hand in the air over the scattered metal on the floor. The segments came to life again and snapped together, forming a solid staff again. Max looked down and frowned, noticing the dents they'd left on the wooden floor. Max got dressed, throwing on a black shirt and jeans. He rubbed his eyes, exhausted, and grabbed an unopened energy drink from his desk. Cracking it open, he sat on the edge of his bed and took a sip. Today was a big day for him. Max was being assigned a new partner for patrols, some newbie with no field experience. Max was fairly new himself, but he was confident that he'd be a good role model for the trainee. He stood up, throwing on his Association jacket and lacing up his boots. The jacket was standard issue for agents, laced with threads of tungsten filament, adding extra protection from blades, as well as from any Flux-related attacks. Apparently, tungsten is non-conductive and greatly dampens any Flux flowing into it. It's really heavy though… Max thought, as he shrugged his shoulders, reaching his arm out. His staff flew into his hand, and he chugged the rest of his drink, setting the empty can on his desk. Then he opened the door and stepped into the bright hallway.
As Max approached the main entrance of the Association building, he noticed a familiar face standing by the doors. Kayla stood there in an oversized puffy jacket with the hood down. Her blonde hair was tied up in a messy ponytail, and it looked like she was waiting for someone. "Hey Kayla, what's up?" He called over to her, and her face lit up. She waved and walked over to him. "Hey, Max!" She said, putting her hands in her pockets. "I heard you got promoted!" Max nodded and set the tip of his staff down on the floor with a heavy ringing sound that echoed through the reception room. "Yep, you're looking at an official Association agent now!" He responded, grinning. Kayla laughed and withdrew a small badge from her coat pocket. "Guess what," she said, smiling. "Oh, did you get promoted too?" Max asked sarcastically. "Not quite," Kayla responded, and the bright ceiling lights reflected off of her hazel-colored eyes. "I've been assigned to a patrol zone! With the supervision of a senior agent, of course," she looked up at the white ceiling and continued. "Keiji said I needed field experience, so here I am." Max looked down at the badge, intrigued. "Oh yeah? What zone?" Kayla frowned, turned the badge around to read it. Shouldn't she already know this? Max thought, before Kayla spoke up again. "It says on here that I'm assigned to zone 12K," Max looked up in surprise. "Oh, cool! That's my zone," He said, and scratched his head. "You must be my new trainee then." Kayla's eyes widened. "Really? That's… Cool, I guess." Max crossed his arms. "Disappointed?" Kayla shook her head and smirked. "No, not at all! I just didn't peg you for the wise teacher type." "Hey, I can be wise," Max retorted, and Kayla laughed. "Alright, we should head out," Max said, taking a deep breath, and they both stepped out into the cold air.
As they walked around the city, Max was lost in thought. Lately, the Association headquarters had been eerily quiet. Everyone was tense, and Max could almost feel the pressure in the air, as if something bad was about to happen. But nothing ever did. Devon was off chasing some rumor, and Ren was assigned to detective duty, looking into some missing persons case. The Ninth Ring had gotten bolder, targeting shipments of rare artifacts and sealed demons, and the Association's forces were spread thin. As Max watched his breath turn to steam, floating into the gray sky, he glanced over at Kayla. She was shivering and had her hands deep in her pockets. "Man, I hate winter," She said, looking up at the snowflakes as they fell. Max let out a short laugh. "You sure you're from around here?" He said, and she rolled her eyes. "Yep, born and raised in Sector Nine." Max raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Wow, you're just full of surprises, aren't you?" He idly spun his staff in his right hand and got a few odd looks from strangers passing by. "You don't really give off the vibe of a rich girl. How'd you end up in this shithole?" She scoffed and crossed her arms. "Not sure if I should be flattered or insulted, honestly." She said, then shook her head. "My mother was an agent, but she died in the field when I was really young. The Director took me in and gave me a home at the HQ," she pulled off a glove, inspecting the marks on her palm. "I've lived there ever since." "That's kinda… sad," Max said, looking down at the snowy sidewalk. Kayla went quiet for a moment, before brightening up again. "What about you? How'd you get here?" She asked, taking off her other glove and rubbing her hands together for warmth. Max sighed and thought for a moment before answering her. "My Flux manifested in public a few months ago," he said, and a dry smile crossed his face. "I was then kidnapped, and forcibly coerced into joining a shady organization." Kayla laughed awkwardly, then patted Max on his shoulder. "Yep, sounds about right. But hey, at least you don't have to go to high-school anymore!" She joked, and Max couldn't help but laugh. "Can't argue with that." He said, and they continued walking down the street, chatting about their pasts.
Hours went by, and nothing eventful happened. No calls, no incidents. Something pulled on Max's mind, as if he just wasn't looking hard enough, but he decided to push that thought out of his head. He took a deep breath of the sharp air, and a diner across the street caught his eye. "Hey Kayla," Max said, and turned to face her. "You hungry?" Her eyes lit up, and she grinned. "I'm starving." Max gestured at the diner, and they began to walk to the crosswalk. As they passed an alley, Kayla slowed down and peeked inside. "What do you think that's all about?" She asked, and pointed at something at the end of the alley. Max stepped back and looked into the dark passageway. There were two armed police officers standing in front of a metal door. The door was covered in bright yellow tape, and both of the officers looked worried. One was visibly shaking, and the other was devouring a burrito like he hadn't eaten in days. There was a sign on the wall with a biohazard symbol on it, and signs of a struggle scattered across the alley. Max shook his head. "Whatever it is, it's none of our business. We were ordered to investigate Flux-related incidents, and that's it." Then he nodded up at the sign. "Besides, who knows what's down there. I don't know about you, but I don't wanna catch any diseases." Kayla looked down, disappointed. "Fair enough, I guess." Max started towards the diner again and gestured for Kayla to follow. "C'mon, let's go get lunch." She perked up and ran to catch up to him.
The inside of the diner smelled like burnt coffee, and the dim ceiling lights flickered. An older woman approached the two at the door and scowled when she noticed Max's Association pin on his jacket. "Table for two?" She said, and pulled out a notepad. Max started to answer, but Kayla cut in. "Actually, could we get a booth?" The waitress sighed and nodded. "I'll show you to your table." She sat them at a booth in the far corner of the diner, below a buzzing hanging lamp. As she walked away, Kayla leaned over the table. "Is it just me, or does everyone around here seem to hate us?" Max let out a sigh and nodded his head. "You're not alone, I've been dealing with this for a while." He clasped his hands together. "This is a rough part of town, and the residents tend to blame their misfortune on the nearest figure of authority. The police in this sector get similar treatment as well, though not nearly as much." Kayla picked up her menu and skimmed through the items. "But it's not like it's our fault," She said, not looking up. "You're right. But to them, we represent the government that failed them." Kayla finally looked up from her menu, and she looked confused. "Why's Sector Zero the way it is anyways? All of the other areas in the country seem fine." Max flipped through his own menu, before deciding on a ham omelette. "Honestly, I don't know. The crime rates are insane here, and we've only really dipped our toes into the shallow part of the sector." He looked out the window. "The deeper into the city you go, the worse it gets. The Underworld is like a completely separate country, not bound by the laws of our nation, and even the Association stays out of there for the most part." At that, the waitress returned with her notepad, frowning at the two. "What'll you have?" She asked, tapping her foot impatiently. Kayla set her menu down. "Can I please get a stack of your classic pancakes, with extra whipped cream?" She paused as the waitress wrote it down, then continued. "Oh, and could I get some coffee? Thanks." Max smirked, and Kayla made a face at him. "I'll get a coffee too, please. And I'll be having the omelette with ham, thanks." The waitress nodded and walked away in a rush.
The food was alright. Not really great, but not terrible either. The coffee, on the other hand, was just awful. Max took a sip and grimaced. "Wow, this has to be the worst coffee I've ever had. And I've had bad coffee before." He said, and Kayla nodded in agreement. She took a bite of her pancakes and smiled in satisfaction. Max stared at the stack of pancakes and raised an eyebrow. Kayla had poured nearly half a bottle of syrup over them, and they'd turned to a sugary pile of mush covered in whipped cream. "How can you eat that?" He joked, and took a bite of his omelette. It was burnt on one side, and the cook had put too much pepper on it, but it tasted okay. "What do you mean?" Kayla asked, and wiped her face with a napkin. "This is how you're supposed to eat pancakes." Max stared hard at the plate, which had a lake of maple syrup in the middle. "You're… Supposed to drown them?" He said, and Kayla laughed. She took a sip of her coffee, frowned, and emptied two packets of sweetener into her cup. "So… I've heard some rumors around the HQ," She said, holding her mug. "Oh? About what?" Max replied, curious. "Apparently, there's some new big monster terrorizing the city," She lowered her voice and ducked her head. "They say it has the strength of ten agents combined, and it's targeting Flux users." Max shook his head. "You shouldn't believe everything you hear, y'know. Is there any proof that it's real?" Kayla rolled her eyes and took another sip from her cup of coffee. "Well, not exactly, but-" She started to say, but stopped. She looked down into the mug. "You're probably right, no sense thinking about it." Max sipped his coffee and smiled at her. "Exactly. Even if it is real, you'll just drive yourself crazy worrying about it. Better to wait for problems to come to you than to seek them out." Kayla took another bite of her soggy pancakes and looked up. "That… Sounds like terrible advice."
Later that night, as the sun began to sink below the horizon and the moon took its place in the sky, Max and Kayla started back to the headquarters. It was even colder at night, and Kayla had resorted to generating a small ball of flame in her hands to keep warm. "You shouldn't waste your Flux, y'know." Max said to Kayla, gesturing to the ball of fire in her hands. "Jealous much?" She joked, and stepped closer to Max, sharing the warmth. "It's not a waste if it helps us, right? Besides, it's been quiet all day." Max leaned closer to the heat, basking in the comforting warmth. She was right; it'd been an uneventful day, but if anything, that meant they were due for a disruption. "But still," he said, rubbing his hands together. "You shouldn't let your guard down; anything could happen." Kayla shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah, yeah, I know…" They walked in silence for a while, and the snow began to fall faster, with bigger and denser snowflakes. As they turned onto the street that the Association building was on, Kayla finally broke the silence. "Hey, Max. Look at that!" She pointed at a streetlight. Max stared at it, confused. "Why, what's wrong with it?" She sighed, exasperated. "No, look at the light!" Max looked up at the light fixture and raised his eyebrows in surprise. There was a bug on the glass, and a pretty big one at that. Is that a… Grasshopper? "Why's there a bug out here?" He asked, not really expecting an answer. It was a good question, though. This city was locked into a permanent state of winter; it almost never stopped snowing. It definitely wasn't the ideal place for any sort of insect, much less a grasshopper. "No clue, that's really weird." Kayla responded. "That's the first one I've seen in ages." Max nodded, and they continued down the street to the Association building. Max thought back to his time in high school, trying to think of the last time he'd seen a grasshopper. Oh, yeah, he thought. I saw plenty over at my grandparents' place! His staff shifted in his hand, as if it was responding to his thoughts. But grasshoppers are normally green, aren't they?