Greg was reading Sush’s profile. The first part, he already knew: only child; orphaned at age ten; stayed with maternal relatives until a few days shy of her eighteen birthday before the last of them - her uncle, passed on. After high school, she took up mechanical engineering with a full scholarship in her first year, partial scholarship in subsequent years while taking up jobs at restaurants, malls and two-day events that pay a lot. She graduated with a Second Class (Upper) Division and secured a job at a moderately reputable company but quit two years later and joined the hunters. Here was what he didn’t know: she took multiple courses in hacking; her parents were what they called Liabilities - non-hunters. Both died in road accidents, albeit separate ones. It was rare for a hunter to be born out of two Liabilities, but history did prove this was possible. In the midst of working, he heard a shriek, followed by a crash and an overdramatic, “Ouch! Ooooh! Help!” coming from somewher

Exiting the elevator, Sush drew in a greedy lungful of air. She loved the smell of the trenches, which she wasn’t sure whether was odd. Even before she was chief, her senses loved it here. She didn’t like the politics, the gossip, the need to please the higher-ups, but the work? God, she loved the work. She especially loved inventing things and tweaking inventions, drawing immense satisfaction from bringing her imagination to life, running tests, finding solutions to problems, improving designs and modifying structures. This was her place, her escape. Sure, there were bad days but even those days had good stuff in it.It was sad that she’d have to leave once she’d avenged her mother. It was the main reason she stayed, she felt - to linger around long enough to be entrusted with every piece of information within the headquarters. Deep down, she knew she’d love to stay forever if she could. But she couldn’t have it both ways. It wouldn’t be wise or feasible to stay by the end of her pl

“Did you know he threw the iced latte right down the sink?” Hazel whispered like a flood just swept away an entire village. “Really? I didn’t think someone like him would drain a cup before throwing it into the trash. Ow! Haze!” Sush flinched when her deputy struck her arm with a thick ring folder. Sulking in her chair and tucking the folder back under her tablet on her lap, Hazel said, “You’re usually funny when you’re mean, but not this time.” Rubbing away the sensation from the blow, Sush said, “Maybe the duke’s just here to work, Haze. How about you give him a pass? It’s not like you don’t have other offers. And pull up B-12 for me, please.” 

Back in the trenches, Greg popped from correspondence to system maintenance to weaponry maintenance when he heard her sigh. It was as if his auditory nerves had been programmed to listen for that sound. His ears perked, his skimming of the inventory list paused, his chin lifted. He watched as Sush dumped the clipboard next to the keyboard as she slumped into her swivel chair, brows furrowed and mouth downturned in a frown as she scrolled through her phone. Setting the list in his hand onto his chair, he strode across the space, toward the elevator, jabbed the number six, tapped his foot impatiently against the ground as he waited for the elevator bell to chime faintly, stepped onto the cafeteria floor and made a beeline for the coffee bar. Nancy looked up from her phone when Greg asked, “What does the Chief Octopus normally tak

The latter two questions had been answered by an autopsy report and confirmed by the eastern octopuses: the sprinklers were not turned on from the control room, meaning it could’ve only been switched on by an external source. They traced it to an unauthorized wireless device, suspecting that the intruder had a remote in his trousers pocket that managed the feat. As for the screaming, the sprinklers sprayed - not water - but zahar: an air-borne substance that tampers with its victim’s neurons. They’d feel as if a million needles were being pierced through their skin, causing momentary paralysis while their assailant struck. Zahar wasn’t lethal in open spaces, but it did buy time. Why wasn't the assailant himself affected? The octopuses concluded that either he had already ingested an antidote or he wasn’t