Task 0.1

"Hired In"

[Beginning of Episode]

Amy Keating Yearling is a light gold skinned woman with grayscale hair, She lives a double life as an adventurer. During most of her life, she works as a teacher under the title of Professor. Sometimes, she goes on an adventure, either as her own decision or something ordered by the university she's working in. For the next several years, she has gone to faraway places with a rich history to obtain ancient artifacts. Either or display or as requested by the locals, she is willing to do whatever it takes o get the job done. Except for wrecking towns and doing illegal activity.

The year is 2006, location is the Amazon Rainforest in South America. A local tribe has asked that she retrieved a prized artifact from hundreds of years ago. The temple was created to keep it from falling into the hands of conquerors who want to make money off of selling it. The defenses were then deemed unnecessarily as the period of empire expansion has long since passed. The locals really wanted to renovate the temple into the governing seat of the region, but so far no one has made it out alive.

Amy Yearling, knowing her own skills, agrees to this.

Yearling enters the temple while crowds of terrified locals watched from outside. As she walks, she looks around the corridor she's in. It is dimly lit, the light source being from torches that are nearly burnt out. She looks at one side and sees a scary looking mask. Turning towards the other, she finds another mask, this time there is something moving in the mouth.

Yearling takes another step and hears a click. She looks down and sees that she has stepped on a pressure plate. She looks ahead, and jumps out of the way of a boulder swinging in. Then, more swinging boulders appeared in front of her.

Yearling was sweating. She looks to the side and sees some bones laying there. Apparently, somebody did not live long enough to get out after being injured. She then takes a look at the swinging boulders, studying their patterns. With the timing memorized, Yearling makes her move. She jumps besides a swinging boulder after it passes by her. Then she slides under another one. Then sliding past a swinging boulder as it moves away from her. Then she finishes off with a jump and roll under another boulder.

First obstacle has been passed, and Yearling continues to make her way deeper into the temple. Along the way, she finds more obstacles and bones. A fire flares out of some grating. Large spikes pop up from the ground and ceiling. Arrows began to fire from the walls. Even in these dimly lit conditions, Yearling is skillful enough to maneuver her way through the traps. It's a good thing she took those flexibility lessons when she was in high school.

But that's not all. Yearling has found herself in the room of the treasure she is seeking. There it is. The Sapphire Stone. The very object she is tasked with retrieving. There was a problem. Separating her from the stone is a series of floor panels depicting various local wildlife. Yearling takes a step on one of them, and finds that several arrows are being fired from the wall to the other side. She does not want to find herself on the path of those arrows.

She then looks at the grid of floor panels in front of her. Each of the panels has a picture of an animal on them. She ponders for a moment. What could all of these animals have in common. After observing, she finds out the common connection. Every single animal is a predator, except for one. The rat. She steps on the panel with a rat, just to see what happens. Nothing happens. much to her relief. She then proceeds to jump on every panel with a rat on it, making sure not to accidentally step on anything else. With her agility, she makes it to the other side.

She reaches the Sapphire Stone and gets ready to grab it. However, this temple has one more trick up its sleeves. Upon reaching the Sapphire Stone, Yearling notices that the room around her is shaking, as if something heavy is coming. Suddenly, a boulder appears and Yearling freaks out. She grabs the Sapphire Stone and makes a run for it.

All the traps are disable, thankfully. If they weren't, Yearling would have gotten a hard time escaping from the boulder. She runs down the corridor, past all the traps this temple has to offer, and makes a break for the exit.

Yearling jumps out of the temple just as the boulder rolling behind her gets stuck between pillars. She rolls down onto the ground in front of her.

"Bravo!" someone praised from nearby.

Yearling lifts herself up and finds herself surrounded by both locals and several other people. One of which is a gold skinned man with blue eyes, wearing attire that is not very different from her green adventuring attire.

"What do you want from me?" Yearling asks the man. "Are you here to take my hard work away?"

The man shook his head. "No," he answers. "I am not here to steal your hard work. I'm here to congratulate you. I must say, I was impressed at how athletic you are."

"Wait..." Yearling asks. "So this was all a test?" She remained silent for a moment, stunned to see that this was set up to test her skills. She then looks back at the man. "Who are you?"

The man offered his hand out for a handshake. "My name's Cliff," the man introduces himself. "Cliff Drake. Experienced archeologist with over a decade of experience."

Yearling reluctantly grabbed Cliff's hand and gave him a handshake. "My name's Amy Keating Yearling," she said. "But...what was this a test for?"

Cliff pulls out a card. "You see, I'm one of the highest ranked members of the SGS," he said as he shows the card to Yearling.

"SGS?" Yearling asks. "What does that mean?"

"They're the initials of the organization I'm working with," Cliff explains. "They stand for Search Guard Successor. They're an organization that travels around the world dedicating to retrieving and preserving historical artifacts and treasures. Some of these are highly dangerous."

"Like what?" Yearling asks.

"It's...private," Cliff answers. "So, since you've proven yourself to be a capable adventurer, would you mind if you joined us? You are qualified to be a member, after all."

Yearling stares at Cliff. She then turns her back. "Look, being a part of a organization is cool and all, but I work alone," she said. "I don't need to be a part of an organization that specializes in the same field I'm working on."

"You don't understand," Cliff said. "Being a part of this organization has benefits. Such as not being in a conflict with members during your expeditions. You don't want to have a rivalry with much bigger organization, do you?"

Yearling thought about it for a moment. She is a lone explorer. They are a organization with dozens of employees. There is no way that she'll stand a chance against them. Reluctantly, she sighed. "Okay," she said. "I'll head to your headquarters to have a look before I officially join." A local person then takes the Sapphire Stone.

Cliff nodded, seeing that this move was successful. "Good," he said. "Lets go to our headquarters. They have once in Columbia. Come on."

Yearling stopped when she heard Columbia. "Columbia?" she asks. "That's my home! Are you saying that-"

"Yes," Cliff answer. "I came from the same country as you, though I reside in a different city. There's a headquarters near...well...you'll see where it is." He does not feel comfortable sharing confidential information to a group of strangers. "Now, come with me."

Yearling looks back at the locals, who thanked her for the success of her mission. Knowing that it's time to go, she leaves, following Cliff Drake.

Days later, in a secret location in Columbia, Cliff Drake drives his car up a narrow road that doesn't see a lot of usage. In the passenger's seat is A. K. Yearling. She peeks out of the window and saw the building up ahead, embedded in the hills.

"Whoa," she said, wowed at the sight of the facility. "So, this is your organization's headquarters."

Cliff scans his identity card into the scanner, the second one encountered to verify that whoever is entering is an official member. The gate opens, allowing Cliff to drive into the parking space at the basement.

"Finding this place is not that hard," Cliff said. "All you have to do is go high into the air and have a sharp eye. Getting here, though, is difficult. If it weren't for me, you'll never have a chance of getting here in the first place."

Yearling stares at Cliff for a moment. "Yeah. Pretty sure," she said, nodding.

The duo then enters the central room of the complex, with doorways leading to every branch of the facility.

A man, sitting at a desk, welcomes the duo as they arrive.

"Welcome, Professor Drake," the man said. "I see you've gotten the girl we had our eyes on for a while." He then looks up information of this newest member of the organization. "Let's see. Amy Keating Yearling. This is you, right?"

Yearling nodded. "Yep," she answers. "That's me."

"I see that someone has joined this organization," someone said as he approaches them.

The man looked like he came from a faraway place, as he speaks in a distinctive foreign accent. He wears a beige shirt with a red and white polka-dot scarf and brown pants and shoes. He is brownish-gray in skin tone and has gray hair, with a stubble beard.

Yearling was initially confused when she saw the man. "Who's that?" she asks.

"Oh. That's Rojo Caballeron," Cliff introduces the man. "He's an archeologist just like us. He came from the country of Iberia."

Caballeron bowed. "That's right," he said. "I had to travel very far just to get this job."

"He's one of the employees of this organization," Cliff explains. "He has a degree in archeology and history, so he has the title of Professor."

"It's Doctor, Drake," Caballeron corrects. "Dr. Caballeron."

Cliff pauses for a moment to look at his colleague in confusion. "Really? he asks. "I swear that when I saw your portfolio. I saw that you are known as Professor Caballeron."

"It's clearly a mistake!" Dr. Caballeron counters. "I'm Dr. Caballeron, and that is final. Don't listen to my portfolio. It's full of lies. Listen to me. My provider of that portfolio has made a mistake when processing my information."

Cliff was still unconvinced that this man's title is really doctor. "Really?" he asks.

Dr. Caballeron nodded rapidly. "Yes!" he replies. "Yes, of course! My portfolio provider was clearly full of confused people?"

Yearling was confused by this. "Um, what is his title again?" she asks.

Cliff looks at Yearling. "Trust me," he said. "We have this argument all the time."

Then, Dr. Caballeron gives up once again. "Know what?" he asks. "This is getting ridiculous. I'm heading back to my office to see if I have anything in my inbox. See you later." He then walks towards the office.

Amy K. Yearling was still confused over who this coworker is. "Okay, so who is this Rojo Caballeron?" she asks, whispering into Cliff's ear.

"Like I said," Cliff whispers back. "He comes from Iberia. Crossed an ocean and an entire continent to find his profession."

"He traveled that far?" Yearling replies, feeling a little stunned. "Man, that's one persistent man."

"A lot of the employees come from places far away from Columbia," Cliff explains. "But most of the employees come from around here, in this country. Including me. And you."

Yearling was surprised when she ears that she isn't the only one who came from the same country that this building is located in. "Oh," she said. "So people from around here is a common sight, isn't it?"

"Yes," Cliff nodded.

Suddenly, a woman comes running towards them. She doesn't look calm.

"Professor Drake!" the woman calls, stopping in front of them, gasping for air.

Cliff was wondering why his coworker has grabbed his attention. "What do you want from me, Minnesota?"

Minnesota brings herself standing upright as she reveals terrible news once again. "Another artifact went missing from our vault," she said. "Someone has stolen it again!"

"What?" Cliff shouted, stomping his foot in anger. "This is the fifth time that this happened. Seriously, who keeps on stealing this stuff? We have security measures that ensure that prevents any intruders from entering the building. The last time this happened was three years ago. Why are we losing artifacts several times in the past two months?"

A. K. Yearling stared at Cliff, confused about why he is making a fuss out of a missing artifact. "Wait what?" she asks. "Why are you so worried over an artifact?"

Cliff went right up to Yearling's face, causing her to lean back in reaction to his angry face. "Don't you understand?" he asks. "Some of the treasures we collected are highly dangerous. We call them Precious, due to how valuable they are in the right hands. We have a vault that stores every single one of them we retrieved so far to keep them out of those who want to use their powers for evil."

"What do you mean?" Yearling asks.

Cliff calms down, though not completely, as he asks his coworker a favor. "Minnesota, would you please guide us to the vault and show us what went missing?"

"Sure," Minnesota answers.

Cliff then looks back at Yearling. "What you're about to see are potentially the most dangerous artifacts created by past civilizations," he told her. "They're so dangerous that some of them can destroy lives, or even a city. Follow me."

Yearling shuddered at the idea that someone's lives will be ruined due to a powerful artifact. She saw Cliff following his coworker to the vault, and since he requested her to come with him despite being new to this organization, she goes after Cliff.

Beep! The vault door opens, and several employees entered the vault.

Yearling looks around, seeing the many artifacts the world has to offer. In this vault contains some of the most dangerous items humanity has ever created, all from this world. She couldn't imagine what these people in the past were thinking when they created these powerful items. Were they creating them just to see what happens? Did they fall because of them? Did they realize what a monster of an object they created and built temples to try and fend off potential...whoever? So many questions surround her as she looks at each item on display.

Some of those items went missing, as evidenced by a plague describing an item that is not there.

Cliff guides Yearling and several others over to the object that was most recently stolen.

"The Knockout Wheel," Cliff introduces, "when touched, knocks the toucher into a deep slumber. Only the point causes the knockout, the rest is fine to touch. It is used by a nefarious, jealous woman who tricked her rival into touching it. The rival's future husband was furious and sentenced the one who nudged his future wife to potential death. He went up to his sleeping future wife, and tried to commit suicide so that he can join her in the afterlife. At the last second, the woman wakes up, and the two soon married."

Yearling was amazed at this item's story. "Whoa," she said in awe.

"After this, the husband tried long and hard to find this item." Cliff continues. "Several people tried, only to get knocked out by its curse. They tried destroying it, but it won't break. Soon, it was sealed where it stood, where it won't be found until we came along."

"Someone clearly stole this item with a rich history behind it," Minnesota said. "Who knows what they're planning to use with this."

"Maybe, selling it off to an unsuspecting person?" one person suggested.

"Well, if the thief knew that, then they wouldn't have stolen it for that purpose, right?" another pointed out.

As employees were busy discussing why would the thief steal these items, Yearling wandered off into the back wall, opposite of the vault entrance. There, she saw, on a poster, two sets of gemstones. Each has seven members, each colored differently. One set has all its members be in the diamond cut, the second has them in the hexagonal cut.

Yearling recognizes them as the powerful artifacts from Columbia. "Wait, so you're considering those as Precious?" she asks. "The Chaos Emeralds and the Harmony Crystals?"

Cliff got a little tired of listening to everyone bickering, and so has caught up with Yearling. He observes that that poster has caught the eye of his most recently acquired coworker. "Yes, Miss Yearling," he said, walking up to her. "These are Precious that is found in this very country. Well, they were, but their location remains unknown to this day. Legend says that someone chosen will weld their power for good. Collect all seven and you'll undergo a powerful transformation. Trouble is, we were unable to find someone who fits the vague criteria. So far, no one has claimed these powerful items. Perhaps, they will only appear to the chosen ones, one they are deemed worthy."

Yearling looks back at Cliff. "Anyone in mind?" she asks.

Much to her disappointment, Cliff shook his head. "None that I know off," he said.

Yearling looks around, noticing that there are still more stolen Precious that have yet to be explained to her. "What are these other items that was stolen?" she asks.

Cliff frowns at Yearling's curiosity. "You'd better not know," he whispered.

The chief archeologist who is in charge of this facility has gotten word of another stolen artifact. "This facility has excellent security," he remarks. "No one can penetrate it. Yet, someone managed to sneak their way in and steal several Precious items. It has to be one of the employees. Only they could possibly have access to this vault."

His assistant looks at him. "Who could it be?" she asks.

The chief pondered for a moment. "I smell an interrogation edict with all the employees," he said.

Over the next few days, an investigation was launched looking at every single employee who worked at this organization. During this period, employees are not allowed to leave until their workday ends, and they must be present in hte facility no matter what. Should they come down with a sickness, they will be provided treatment on site.

Until the culprit is caught, no more missions will be assigned and everyone is encouraged to assist with the investigation at any possible time.

At the chief's office, he is talking with his security chief about the investigation.

"We can write off several employees off the list of suspects," the chief reported. "One is Amy Keating Yearling, who has just arrived and thus could not be the one who stole that Precious. Another is Cliff Drake, one of our most trusted employees. We can also rule off administrators, as we all know that abuse of power is not a good idea. Oh. Don't forget to rule out the security agents that we have."

"That just leaves us with regular adventurers and our office workers," the security chief concluded. "Say, how much employees do this organization have?"

The chief adventurer pondered, remembering his organization report on the number of members this facility has. "This branch has...about one hundred employees eligible for interrogation," he answers. "It's going to be a while before we find the culprit."

"How long will this take?" the chief security office wondered.

The chief adventurer stood up. "The time it'll take to interrogate every single employee," he answers. "Assuming we go through one employee every two minutes, it'll take us three hours to search for the culprit tops."

The chief security officer wrote down a note for himself on his notepad. "Adding the time it takes between these interrorgations...yeah, this is going to take a while," he concluded.

The interrorgation period is then launched.

One by one, the employees listed on the watchlist are being brought over to the office of the chief adventurer. Security officers stand by to take notes. On evey interrorgation, the employees are asked questions over their past activities from the last several days.

"No," an office worker said when asked about the vault. "I did not have access to the vault."

Another reminds the clief adventurer something important about the vault. "The vault has a secret code that only trusted members have access to, right?" she asks. "You remember that, don't you, chief?"

The chief adventurer stared at the woman with a suspicious gaze.

"I'm an office worker, not an experienced adventurer," a third reminded. "Do you really think I would go in there and steal some random artifacts retrieved by your adventurers?"

They had gone through around ten office workers, with each giving out almost the exact same responce.

"Who do you think I am?" an office worker asks. "Some sort of high ranking member of this organization? No. I'm a office worker who manages communications. What are the chances that I'll waltz into this building's vault unhindered, let alone steal one dangerously powerful artifact? Have you forgotten how hard it is to even get to that place?"

Frustrated by how unhelpful these employees are, and curtain that all the others will say the same thing, the chief adventurer gives up.

"Okay," the chief adventurer said, letting out a sigh of frustration. "So these regular employees aren't helping us getting over this case."

"What about our special employees?" the chief secutiry officer asks. "The adventurers and the ones who have access to the vault? We trusted them, right? Surely, one of them betrayed us and this organization's values.

The chief adventurer sighs, agreeing to this. "Well, this was a waste of our time," he said. "If these office employees say they're not the culprit, then let them slide by." He then sets his elbow on his desk, covering his face with his hand in embarassment. "Why do we even bother with interrorgating those who do not even have access to the vault..."

Soon after the tenth employee was interrorgated, it was announced that all office employees are clear of any suspicion, since none of them held a ranking where they can freely access the vault. They moved onto the higher ranking employees, the ones who they sent out on quests to ancient lands.

"Me?" the first adventurer asks, pointing to himself. "Anything suspicious? Nope. Not at all. I was away at the time for...community service."

A woman who was interrorgated questioned how compitent her supevisor is at checking their own workers. "We have five objects stolen from the vault at this point, and now you decided to launch an investigation? Isn't the first time enough to convince you that something is going on among your employees?"

The chief adventurer was pretty sure that after several cases of the Precious being stolen from the vault, there will be a high case of suspicion among the employees.

"You're not helping, miss," the chief security officer said.

"Okay. For the record, I did not steal anything," the third confessed. "At all."

With each passing employee stating that their innocent, the invesitgation has become more hopeless.

They eventually reach Dr. Caballeron, one of the last employees on their watchlist.

"Me?" Dr. Caballeron asks, pointing to himself with a confused look. "Of course it wouldn't be me. I'm one of the most trusted employees of this branch. I promised not to do anything suspicious when I was being hired into this building. Not at all. Nope. Nothing. I did not go into the vault and steal some artifacts. It's not me. I did not do it."

The chiefs are starting to have a strange feeling about this investigation.

After an hour of near constant pain and frustration, the results are in. And they do not look promising.

"Eightteen adventurers, none admitted into stealing them," the chief adventurer counted up. "This is getting ridiculous. We are getting nowhere into this investigation."

The chief security officer is starting to become worried. "If we don't find the culprit soon, all of the Precious will have been stolen and be put into the wider world," he said. "If they fall into the wrong hands..." He shudders as he though about the consequences. "Man, I just can't imagine what would happen..."

"We've already heard several incidents going on around Columbia just after the Precious got stolen," the chief adventurer brings up. "There has to be something going on behind our backs..."

Suddenly, A. K. Yearling enters the office.

"MIss Yearling?" the chief adventurer asks. "What are you doing here?"

"About the investigation," MIss Yearling said. "You said that this is getting nowhere, did you?"

The chief adventurer slowly nodded.

"Okay," Miss Yearling began. "This is the second day of the invesitgation, and also my second day here in this organization. Sure. How about I impressed you with my detective skills, just to show that you choose wisely. As one of the best adventurers out there, I can prove that I am worthy of a top position."

"But Miss Yearling," the chief adventurer reminded, "you just got here. You need much more than a few days to get a top position."

"That's what you said to me when I first got here," Cliff said.

Everyone in the chief's office looked toward the door, and there they saw Cliff Drake.

"She might've just been hired," Cliff said as he walks towad the chief's desk, "but behind her lays years of experience. Just like me. If I can make it to the top position in a few days, so can she." He grabs on to the shoulder of his newest coworker, and Miss Yearling looks at Cliff. "Come on, Amy. Let's solve this mystery together!"

A. K. Yearling pumped up her fists and nodded, agreeing with Cliff, her newest coworker.

Frustrated with the current direction this invesitgation is taking, the chief adventuer decides to do an announcement. "Attention staff of the SGS," he said. "All adventurers, report to the crime scene this instant. Security guards, review the security tapes. The sooner we can find the culprit, the more Precious we can save and the sooner we can go out and take back the stolen Precious. Time is getting vaulable, everyone." The chief adventurer remarked to himself how close he was to mentioning the term used for objects of a high hazard level again.

Back at the vault, several adventurers continue to search the area, looking for clues about who stole the Precious.

"There has to be something in this vault that can give us a clue," Cliff told everyone. "Keep on searching, everyone."

While everyone used a light to hopefully reveal any fingerprints, A. K. Yearling looks at the camera at the dark corners of the vault. As they in dark places, that make perfect places to install security camera as any potential thief will be seen by the camera before they see the camera itself. However, it doesn't look like the cameras are working. Upon further inspection, she finds that the security camera are broken.

"Wait, why is that camera broken?" Miss Yearling asks.

Cliff heard what his new coworker is saying. "Wait, did you say broken?" he asks. He catches up with Miss Yearling, grabs a flashlight, then shines it on the camera. Sure enough, it is broken. However, he doesn't seem surprised by this. "Didn't we just replaced that after the fourth time a Precious was stolen?"

"This isn't the first time these cameras have been broken?" Miss Yearling asks. Cliff nodded in response. This sends Miss Yearling pondering. "So, not only did the thief have access to this vault, they were also able to disable the security cameras placed all over this vault. Who did it must know that being caught will cause them trouble, and the only way to avoid it is to disable everything that can catch them during the act."

Cliff was left scratching his head. "Who could it be, again?" he asks. "No one has confessed to stealing them so far, so it could be anyone. We all have a feeling that one of us is the culprit. Nobody has access to this vault but us."

"True," Miss Yearling replies, remembering from her information handbook provided by this boss and manager.

"Someone in here must be responsible for all of this," Cliff said. "Incidents have happened that correspond to the Precious that was stolen. I suspect that whoever stealing these Precious must have the intention of selling them for their own benefit. Hmm...who could it be?"

While everyone was distracted scanning everything twice over, a cloaked figure approached a ring and snatches it, hiding it in their cloak.

However, this causes a sound that catches the attention of one of the nearby employees.

"Hey," someone said as they turn around. "Who made that-" Then, they stop when they saw a cloaked figure running out of the vault. They soon gasp. "Thief! There's a thief on the loose!"

"What?" Miss Yearling gasps, turning around.

"Another Precious stolen?" Cliff asks. "H-how did any of us miss that?" Then he shakes his head, snapping out of it. "Well, let's postpone this investigation until later. After that thief!"

Everyone soon runs out the vault, chasing after the thief.

To be Continued...

From the Author:

The grand adventure is about to start, but not before we get to the backstories of two of the main characters of this side series. This is the origin story of how A. K. Yearling (aka Daring Do) has gotten into this adventuring organization. Joining her is the one who brought her there in the first place, Clifford "Cliff" Drake.

Amy Keating Yearling is named after one of the then writers of Friendship is Magic, Amy Keating Rogers. Considering that they both share the same first two initials and that A. K. Yearling was supposed to be a reference to one of the writers, it makes since that the two share the same first and middle names.

Cliff is a character from Sonic Boom, the other show that Dave Polsky wrote episodes for a brief time at the beginning of season one. He comes from the boring video games. The surname Drake comes from Nathan "Drake" Morgan from the Uncharted franchises, which references the company that some of the developers of the Sonic Boom games came from. What's his real last name, I have no clue.

Written by TheAPPstore

Sonic the Hedgehog characters, property of Sega

My Little Pony characters, property of Hasbro

Series inspired by Super Sentai/Power Rangers, property of Toei Company/Saban Brands

Inspired by Super Sentai Season 30: Boukenger