Amon looked at Ghost. "Zaizen wants to see you."
"And Zaizen is who?"
"Our boss. In there," Amon said as he pointed.
"Whatever," Ghost said as he walked through the door.
Zaizen was sitting at his desk when his door opened and Ghost walked in.
"You must be our new hunter. Have a seat," he said.
"You mean your hound," Ghost said as he remained standing.
Zaizen frowned. "If that's what you want to call it, go right ahead."
"How do I know she's alive?" Ghost asked.
"You just have to trust us," Zaizen replied.
"A day ago you wanted us dead. Now you're telling me to trust that you won't kill me or her."
"We didn't want you dead. We were going to give you to Factory."
"Do you think I don't know what goes on in Factory? I've seen too many of my friends get taken away by those people. How do I know we won't end up like them?" Ghost asked.
"By doing exactly what we tell you to do, you won't be sent to Factory," Zaizen said.
"And Rainalia?"
"Well, she's already there, but she's still alive at the moment."
"And to keep her that way I have to be your hound and chase witches while having their craft hurled at me. So I risk my life against other witches to keep you guys from killing me. I'd rather die at the hands of the witches than you people."
"And we can make it that way. Amon will be giving you your equipment today. You will be given a communicator, an orbo gun-"
"I refuse to use orbo."
"Then don't. But I doubt you'd last long against the others without its protection."
"You doubt my strength?" Ghost asked, anger rising.
"No. You managed to scar one of my hunters, something that has not happened in a long time. However, from today on, you are not allowed to harm my hunters in any way. Do so, and it's not your ass that dies. It's hers."
"Are you done yet? I think I'd prefer to be outside than in here listening to you," Ghost said.
"You will be broken of your attitude soon," Zaizen said.
"Bite me," Ghost said as he turned and left.
Back in the room with all the computers, Ghost looked at his 'fellow' hunters. His eyes glanced from Michael, listening to music loudly, to Karasuma, typing away at her computer, to Sakaki, staring back at him, to Robin, also typing, to Amon, sending Ghost a death glare. Ghost looked at Amon's cheek and smiled.
"Something funny?" Amon asked.
"Something's always funny, just some people don't recognize it to laugh," Ghost said as he went into the break room.
Amon's finger traced his scar. Robin got up from her computer and joined Ghost.
"He'll be like that for a while. You'll get used to it," she said.
Ghost said nothing, just staring at the wall.
"They're really not bad people. Amon seems cold on the outside, but he'll help you if you need it. Karasuma's interesting because of her ability to scrye. Michael is the genius behind the system you hacked. And Sakaki is a bit hot-headed and tends to rush in to situations without thinking about them."
"Just like I'll get to do. You said Karasuma can scrye. Which one is she?"
"She's the one with the short brown hair. Why?" Robin asked.
"I'd like to ask her to do something for me," Ghost said as he walked out of the room.
He was met with a series of glances upon exiting. "Are you Karasuma?" he asked as he approached the scryer.
"I am. What do you need?" she said.
"I would like for you to scry something for me," Ghost said.
"That's not unusual. What is it?"
"These," Ghost said as he put two daggers on her desk.
"Alright," Karasuma said as she reached out to touch the weapons.
Everybody in the room stopped to watch. As she touched the first dagger, an image flashed into her head. An alley. A boy. Then it changed. A feeling of depression. Another change. A sense of loss. Then, nothing.
"What did you see?" Ghost asked.
She told him.
"Alright. Thank you," Ghost said as he picked up the daggers.
"What did you want to know?"
"My past. I was hoping maybe these would know," he said.
"Hey Ghost. Can you come here for a second?" Michael called.
"What?" he asked as he walked over to the computer.
"Did you really manage to get into my system?"
Ghost smiled slightly. "Yes. You want to know how, correct?"
"I was hoping you would tell me."
"Stop looking at porn. Those sites have a bad habit of opening back doors."
Michael just stared. "That's how you hacked me?"
"Yup."
Michael sat awestruck for a moment then started laughing. "You're an interesting guy Ghost."
Ghost shrugged. "I guess."
"Ghost, come with me," Amon said as he stood up and walked to the elevator.
"Whatever," Ghost said as he joined Amon.
The elevator arrived and the two stepped inside. As it began its descent, Amon turned to Ghost. "Do you have any outside contacts you would like to say goodbye to? Starting tonight, the only time you will be allowed outside of the building is during a hunt, and even then I will watch you. Mess up once and I will kill you. Understood?"
"Whatever. I was told I would be given equipment. A phone of some sort?"
"Yes, you will receive one of them. You will also receive something else," Amon said as the elevator came to a stop.
The two walked into the hallway and Amon turned to the left. "Come."
Ghost followed Amon to what appeared to be a storage room. Inside were boxes containing orbo, guns, and a few phones. Amon pulled out a phone and what appeared to be one part of some handcuffs. He handed both to Ghost. "Put the phone in your pocket and the ring around your wrist."
As Ghost put the thing on his wrist, it closed around it. "The hell is this?"
"It's two things. One of its functions is a tracer. The other is for if you try to run. Inside that ring is orbo. Run, a needle injects the orbo directly into your bloodstream and you die. It won't come off, so don't bother trying."
"So you plan on tracking where I am so you know where to pick up my body from?"
"You could say that. We need to get back upstairs. Michael's probably found us another witch to hunt," Amon said.
"Whatever."
The pair returned to the computer room. As Amon had said, Michael had a witch. The hunters and their hound entered the briefing room.
"Antonio Masaki. Age 25. His craft is strength. His power seems to have just awoken. He has going around killing random people and needs to be stopped. He is currently located here," Michael said as a spot on the big board lit up, "And I expect him to move to somewhere around here." A path lit up on the board and went to a box outlined in small white lights. "The objective is to go in and neutralize him quickly and without injury to anyone on the team. Amon's in charge of teams."
"Sakaki and Karasuma, you go here." Two lights changed from white to red. "Robin, ghost and I will move here and wait for him. Should he escape us, it is your job to catch him. "He said looking at the pair. "It's time to go."
The group stood and filed out of the room. Michael sat down at his terminal and began surfing the Internet while the group was getting into position. Once they were, he closed out the window and began to track the witch's location. As expected, the witch was going down the expected path towards the hunters and their hound.
With Ghost, Robin and Amon"We will take him alive Ghost. We don't kill them here," Amon said.
"Not directly anyway," Ghost muttered to himself.
Ghost looked up as he saw the witch coming. "And this is the part where I jump in there and bend in half, right?"
"No, this is the part where you jump in there and we shoot him while he's breaking in two," Amon replied.
"Whatever," Ghost said as he walked into the witch's path.
"Hey you, want to fight? I'll kick your sorry little ass," Ghost taunted.
The man approached Ghost as if sizing him up. "Not worth my time," he said.
That was a mistake. Ghost's leg lashed out and tripped the man. Before h realized he was on the ground, Ghost had one dagger at his throat. "Are you sure?" Ghost asked.
That was Ghost's mistake. From his position on the ground, the man grabbed Ghost by the arm a flung him away. He hit the ground and rolled. He got up in time to see the man pulling his arm back. Fire sprung up in front of the man as Robin used her craft. The man turned around, exposing his back to Ghost. It was his second and last mistake. Ghost pulled out his daggers and slashed both of the man's shoulder muscles and the tendons in his legs. The man fell to the ground, unable to use his legs or his arms. Amon looked at him.
"I didn't kill him," Ghost said.
"True. I'll call factory."
"Whatever," Ghost said, casting a look at the witch on the ground.
"I'm sorry," he whispered to the man.