Conditions first

"I'll get to that in a moment. First, I want to impress upon you how serious you need to take this," the chief says. He signals to the man in blue, who grunts and leaves the room. He must have gone to get something, because the chief and the woman in red just stand there without speaking, and there's nothing you can do either but wait.

Eventually, the man in blue returns. Bizarrely, he's towing the leashes of 3 dogs: a poodle, a labrador and a bulldog. He hands the leash of the bulldog to the woman in red, who looks uncomfortable.

"Do I really need to be here for this part?" she asks.

"Yes. It's part of the job. And you're going to be his handler, so it's important that you're here for this too," the chief responds. He then fishes out 2 identical silver bracelets and a small silver key from his coat and hands them to the man in blue. The bracelets each has a tiny keyhole on them, which the man in blue uses the key on to unlock them. Then, he puts 1 bracelet around the neck of the poodle and the other 1 around the leg of the labrador. He gives the chief a thumbs up when he's done.

"As you might have guessed by now, the bracelets are magical items. Not dissimilar to your rings, but different. They are magically bound to each other. The origin story has something to do with a couple of lovelorn sorcerers a long time ago, and well, long story short, it was a tragedy. Anyway, they are particularly handy in situations such as yours. Now, as you can see, the dogs each have 1 on them and now they are bound together in life unless either bracelet is removed. But, if 1 of them dies, the other will too," the chief explains. Your eyes widen as you realize why the woman in red looks so uncomfortable. She must know what's coming.

Indeed, the man in blue pulls out a small pistol from his pocket and aims it at the poodle.

"No! Don't! I believe you," you say hastily.

"Maybe you do, maybe you don't," the chief says, not looking back at the dogs. "But I need you to know for certain that the bracelets do as I explained. Do it."

You close at your eyes at the same time as the surprisingly soft bang. You don't want to open your eyes again, but you understand you have to. The woman in red is shaking her head while the man in blue is expressionless. On the floor, the poodle is lying in a pool of red collecting around its head. Next to it, the labrador has just fallen lifeless on its side. Meanwhile, the bulldog is sitting down and scratching its neck.

"Do you know now?" the chief asks solemnly.

"...yes. I do. I'll do what you want me to," you respond shakily.

The chief nods to the man in blue, who removes the magic bracelets from the dead dogs. He places 1 around the leg of the bulldog, and then he comes up to you, putting the bracelet around your right ankle. Without another word, he pockets the key, takes the leash of the bulldog from the chief and leaves the room.

"He'll be in charge of the dog. If you don't succeed, he'll kill it," the chief states simply. He then turns to leave. "She'll be your handler and brief you on the mission. Good luck."

"And what if I succeed? You'll remove the bracelet?" you call after the chief but he doesn't respond. You're about to repeat your question when the woman in red steps up to you and starts whispering the now familiar incantation. You know what's next when she taps your forehead and says "sleep."