Start your first day at the Auction House.

JULY 28, 2154 / 9:32 A.M

"You look nervous."

The guy you see in front of the Auction House is smoking a rolled-up cigarette. He has an easy-going face and a stout, bulky frame. As you shake hands it's like having two gritty pieces of sandpaper rub against each other. You assume he used to be a Grey worker as well by his generally rough attire.

"The names Mitch."

"Hey Mitch, I'm Gael."

Mitch

He offers you a tin of more rolled up cigarettes' to which you decline. He nods and after taking one more pull on his, he steps on the stub and motions towards the back.

"From what 'ol Crowley told me, you're going to do most of the writing. I'll tell ya now, I'm an upfront kinda guy. I have this thing where I can't read too good so you'll be in charge of the paperwork. From what the other guy told me, it's all self-explanatory but hell if I know. He seemed to be pretty good at it and he was as sharp as a bowling ball. Y'know what I mean? Haha."

You feign a smile but he doesn't seem to care or notice your poor acting skills. As you both near the back door, you realize the steps head down towards a cellar. As Mitch fumbles around his jacket for the right key, you ask him,

"So there was a guy before me?"

"Hm? Yeah, yeah. He didn't have a name so I just called him Chubs. Not much of a talker that one, always fidgeting too. I'll be honest, the guy freaked me out a bit so I'm glad he quit."

"He quit?"

"Hm. Actually don't know, don't care either. He just stopped showing up, which was an ass move. Left me waiting at the steps for an hour until Crowley called me saying he wasn't coming back."

He finally opens the cellar door which leads to more stairs and a long hallway. The cheap fluorescent lighting hurts your eyes for a bit but you soon get used to it. You already know the constant buzzing will get on your nerves sooner than later. Mitch leads you hallway after hallway which makes you question how large this Auction House really is. He then clicks his tongue and winks to the door labeled "Inspection Room 12-3".

"This is your stop bud. This is gonna be your spare key here." He unlinks a plain silver key labeled 12-3 and hands it over, opening the door with his copy. "Ahh, good man, Crowley. He cleaned the place up for us. Chubs was a messy son-of-a-bitch. I'll tell ya."

There's an old-fashioned computer placed neatly on a long steel table. But your attention immediately goes to the entire half section of the wall behind it that's thick, reinforced glass. On the other side of the window is another room with a single chair placed dead center. Mitch lightly taps the long table and points to a device equipped with a speaker and several buttons.

"This is where you'll spend most of your day. I'll be handling the detainees and bringing them in on your mark. Press the first button to let me know to send them in and the second one to open coms with them. This yellow button on the side is if you need to comm me and I'll have my headset on at all times. And this here big red button is for emergency, just in case things get hairy, which they rarely do."

Mitch turns on the computer and you both watch it hum to life. The screen soon goes to a black screen with the words, A: Hello, Gael. typed in bold neon green. You look at Mitch and he shrugs while scratching his beard.

"Well, I don't know what it says. I told you I can't read good. Chubs said he just typed stuff into the computer and it typed back what he needed to do."

"Umm, ok."

You hesitantly hunch over to the computer and type,

G: Hello.

Immediately lines of text appear right below your answer.

A: I am your virtual assistant A.V.A. I will be working with you to complete the necessary paperwork to finish your shift. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask. Let me know when you're ready to begin.

You turn to Mitch who just stares back at you blank-faced. "It's asking me if I'm ready."

"Good shit. We're good to go then. Give me a minute to get ready on the other side. I'll let you know through the speaker when I'm ready and you can buzz them in."

He gives a good pat on your back and leaves you alone with A.V.A inside Inspection room 12-3.