Step inside

A warm breeze brushes against your bare skin. The familiar stench of tobacco is embedded in the carpets and the warm light reflects off the wooden furniture in a nice glow. It all reminds you of a time before the war. A much happier time. But before nostalgia can sink in much deeper you spot a man who stands eerily at the top of the staircase. He smiles as you awkwardly wave back.

"I see you're admiring the décor. Vintage. Hand-selected the furniture myself from an old 2020's collection. A rather romantic era, I think, with the Second Great Depression and the Great Uprising. 'Liberty, Equality and Justice!'" The eccentric man waved his fist in the air with great theatre. He continued down the stairs, motioning towards the many paintings on his ivory walls.

"And these, well, nothing really survived beyond the early 2000s but I do love a good classic portrait. Took me an arm properly restore them but for the art, no price is too small. Oh, of course, these aren't the actual paintings themselves, oh heavens no. Haha! The originals are kept in the White, but I just thought they'd fit so well in my new office here. It really brings the place together, wouldn't you say?"

The man was much taller than you expected now that he was standing in front of you. He seemed unreal at first, mostly because he dressed as someone plucked from a different timeline. But also because he moved in a way that felt unnatural. As if he was a caricature of an actual person.

"Ah, I haven't even introduced myself. I am Crowley, the working head of the Red Auction House."

"I'm Gael. Gael Oak."

"Oh, how interesting. You have a last name as well? Very uncommon nowadays but I recognized you as a man of tradition the moment you stepped through those doors. I feel as if we'll get along splendidly should you take the job."

You unfold the flier from your back pocket and show it to Crowley.

"So everything on here is true then? You'll pay 20 G.C for a day's work?"

"Ah, the flier. Thought it was a rather quaint idea. No one does an old-fashioned advertising anymore. But to answer your question, yes. 20 G.C for an honest day's work."