"Well, first and foremost, let me say that it's good to see all of you back and in one piece." Deputy Chief Theo Mubele said to the trio of young sorcerers from behind his desk.
Today was one of the rare days in Station Nine when the 'lightning magic' user was present, and Chief Chandler wasn't. Since Lionel had a doctor's appointment today, the brunette woman wouldn't be able to make it. This, of course, meant that the station's second-in-command was running the show.
"Thank you, sir." Maria, Cyrus, and Valerie all said in unison.
"I hope all of you had fun while you were away." Theo then continued. "But more importantly, I hope that you all learned a lot."
"We definitely did!" Valerie announced cheerfully.
"Agreed." Cyrus then added.
Instead of verbally responding, Maria simply nodded her head.
"Good, good." The 'lightning magic' user gave the three a slight smile. "I got the rundown of what y'all did while you were gone from the notes that I received from Chief Conley, Chief Blair, and Mrs. Zharia. They all had nothing but good things to say about you three. And that you definitely showed some improvement."
"Glad to hear that we didn't disappoint." Cyrus then said.
"You didn't. In fact, I was so impressed that I was planning on having a sparring match against the three of you to see your progress for myself. But, as you can see, I'm stuck behind the desk today since Chief Chandler isn't here. So…we're gonna have to skip over that for the time being."
All three of the junior agents quietly let out a sigh of relief after hearing that. Even if they had improved a great deal as a result of their training, neither of them was particularly in the mood to try and fight the third strongest sorcerer on the planet right after coming back. Whether or not it was a three-on-one match, none of them were foolish enough to assume that they actually had a chance at winning. Even Valerie knew she wasn't quite at that level yet.
"Anyways…" Theo continued. "I've been told that the three of you are going to be pulling bodyguard duty for the twins at Elaine's concert in a couple of weeks."
"Yes, sir." Valerie answered for the group.
"Cool, cool. You guys should count yourselves lucky. Concerts aren't really my scene, but me and Robin went last year, and we actually ended up having a good time. We also got to eat a ton of free food since we were part of Elaine's personal entourage. And since you're going with the twins, you should get the same treatment."
"Now you're just making me more excited!" Valerie smiled.
"You should be! It's actually really a fun experience." Theo replied. "In any case, do try to remember that you three are going to be on the clock while you're there. So try not to do anything crazy, or else you'll make our station look bad. Me and Robin will be there too. But since we're both working that day, we won't be showing up until pretty late."
"Is anyone else from the station going, sir?" Cyrus then asked.
"Unfortunately, no." The 'lightning magic' user answered. "I tried to see if I could get some more VIP passes and tickets for everyone else who wanted to go, but you know how hard it is to get those on such short notice. As far as I'm aware, it's just going to be you three, me, and Robin. But I don't know if anyone else managed to get in."
The trio was certainly glad to hear that. Having their Deputy Chief and APS Vice-Captain on the scene in case anything happened would be greatly appreciated. Although Elaine's free concert had never experienced any serious issues since she started doing it a few years ago, you could never be too careful these days. Plus, having one of the strongest human beings alive as backup was always a good thing.
"So…is there anything that you need us to do?" Cyrus then asked.
"Not at the moment, no." Theo replied. "The radar hasn't picked up any cryptid activity in our assigned area. And we haven't been alerted to any rogue sorcerers causing chaos, either. For now, you guys can just head back to your areas and relax. It's looking to be a pretty slow day today. So just find something to do until you're needed."
"Sounds good to me."
"Actually!" The 'lightning magic' user then perked up a bit. "There is something that I wanted to talk to you guys about."
"What is it?" Maria spoke up for the first time in this conversation.
"Since Agent Moore already has his overdrive skill, I was wondering if the two of you were interested in obtaining yours."
Maria and Valerie both looked at the man with confused expressions on their faces before they finally rationalized what the man had said.
"Seriously?"
"Yeah."
"Why?" The raven-haired woman asked.
"As things stand, we only have eleven people who have theirs." The man explained. "Which is pretty much in line with most other stations around the country as far as percentages go. But I've been wanting to get that number higher for a while now. And since you guys are now on Commissioner Eugene's radar, since you're the ones tasked with guarding his kids, I think that it would be good for you to have them."
"Is that really necessary, sir?" Cyrus couldn't help but speak up after hearing that. "Don't get me wrong, I see the logic in what you're saying. But I had to get beaten half to death by Elaine and Quintin just to get mine. And that was after an entire month of non-stop training."
"No…but you can never be too careful these days."
"Is it really that hard to get one?" Valerie asked.
"It is." Robin then said as she suddenly appeared in the office while holding a stack of papers. "Most of us who do have them nearly had to die in the attempt. Or in Theo's case, he had to literally die once just to get his."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Maria looked at her squad's captain with a raised eyebrow.
"A story for another time." The man then said with a cheeky smile.
Maria took a moment to think about what she had just heard.
The young woman would be lying if she said that she wasn't at least interested in the whole idea. Since she was a 'beast magic' user, she had a pretty good idea as to what kind of overdrive skill she would obtain. It was almost guaranteed to be a metamorphic type, unlike Cyrus, who had a domain-type. However, she wasn't too keen on the idea of having to put her life on the line just to get one. The risk alone was enough to make her think twice about it.
"Can we get some time to think about it?" The raven-haired woman then said before Valerie could blurt out her answer.
"No problem!" Theo replied. "Give it some time to think it over. You don't have to do it. But hey, it's always good to have one."
The dark-skinned man then directed his gaze toward Valerie.
"Plus, I'm pretty sure that Commissioner Eugene would be greatly impressed if you two were to do so this early in your careers."
Maria and Cyrus could practically see the gears beginning to turn in the 'fire magic' user's head after hearing that. They both knew that Valerie aspired to become DPA Commissioner one day. Hell, she had said as much nearly a dozen times ever since they all started hanging out together. So they had a pretty good idea as to what her answer might be.
"Anywhos…" Robin then interjected. "Sorry to cut this little meeting short, but our glorious Deputy Chief here has a mountain of paperwork that he needs to start working through. Mainly, all of the performance reviews that he's been putting off for the last week. So, if you three don't mind, he needs to get started on that."
"Understood." Cyrus nodded before he started making his way to the door.
"No problem!" Valerie smiled as she put her hands behind her head. "Who are we to get in the way of important DPA paperwork?"
Maria simply nodded as she followed the other two junior agents out the door.
The three were already halfway down the hall when they heard their Deputy Chief start complaining about all of the work that he had to do. And needless to say, none of them envied the long day he had ahead of him. That being said, it was nice to finally be back in such familiar territory after being gone for so long. And since there weren't any pressing matters for them to attend to, they were more than happy to just rest and relax until it was time to go home.
'Man, it feels good to be back.' Maria thought to herself as she and the others made their way to one of the station's lounge areas. A slight smile on her usually stoic face as she listened to Cyrus and Valerie talk about their time away from the station.
-(o)-
Info Card: Most Common Sorcerer Occupations
Across the planet, sorcerers often work in careers where their skills and magical attributes can be used in ways that would normally be limited in standard occupational areas that are typically dominated by normal humans. Many of these areas often provide sorcerers a level of secrecy and autonomy to operate at their full capacity without fear of being discovered or reprimanded for their use of magic.
A 2020 survey conducted by the Clock Tower has identified the most common professions among sorcerers across the planet to be the following:
-Magical Agency Operative
-Government Agent
-Military
-Private Security Operative
-Professional Athlete
-Scientist/Researcher
Note: Civilian law enforcement is the least popular profession for sorcerers to pursue. This is mainly due to the need to interact with normal humans in a capacity that many sorcerers find to be difficult due to their inability to legally use their powers to handle disputes.