Protecting Mister Burke

Diana entered Shirotsume town limits and ran into a shower of cherry blossom petals that fluttered delicately in the wind, a shower which was strangely beautiful. She had been called here today to ensure the safety of a man named Mister Burke, a famous resident of this town. He worked for a company that designed body armor for the military and civilian markets as well as for mages... someone in that sort of business would be a good contact to make. In order to have the possibility of making a contact, she had to do some work for him and build up favors.

Wearing a navy blue jacket over her white button-up long-sleeved shirt to dress up a bit more than she normally did, she also wore her navy blue knee-length dress and navy blue dress shoes. She walked up to the gates of a large Oriental-style dwelling and was met by a young dark-haired woman wearing a pink kimono with floral patterns.

"You are Diana Winchester, yes?" The young woman asked.

"Yes." Diana replied, producing the job notice from her pocket. The young woman took it and read over it. She returned it to the blonde in short order.

"Excellent. Please, follow me. Mister Burke is waiting for you." She said. Diana wordlessly followed the young woman down a paved path lined with cherry blossom trees that were in bloom. The pair soon approached thick wooden double doors vaguely reminiscent of castle gates, which were opened from the inside. Diana wiped her feet off at the door and entered the domicile.

-Inside Mister Burke's home-

Having left her shoes on a mat just before entering the living room, Diana was escorted into Mister Burke's presence by the young woman, who bowed to a middle-aged blond man who wore a lab coat, blue dress shirt, and khaki pants without pockets. Diana followed her lead, bending at the waist and holding it to a count of five.

"Mister Burke, this is Diana Winchester, the mage that you hired for this job." The kimono-wearing young woman introduced Diana to her client.

"Welcome to my home, Miss Winchester." Mister Burke bade her.

"Thank you, Mister Burke." Diana returned courtesy with courtesy. Mister Burke raised a porcelain tea cup.

"You are just in time, Miss Winchester. Please, join me for tea." He invited her. It would be impolite to refuse his generosity. Diana could agree to have tea because tea did not carry the risks that alcohol did. Only amateurs drank alcohol on the job.

"I would like that. Thank you." Diana accepted the offer. She carefully took her place at the low table and sat down. A cup of green tea was brought to her shortly and Mister Burke's cup was refilled from a beautiful silver tea kettle.

"Thank you, Kumiko." Mister Burke thanked the dark-haired young woman who had introduced her to the client. Kumiko bowed and left the room. Diana sampled the tea and found it to have a fairly pleasant taste.

"Now, let us discuss business, Miss Winchester." Mister Burke said to her. Diana was on board for that. She was curious as to what the details of the assignment were.

"I am listening." Diana replied as she set down her tea cup to avoid any distractions during his explanation.

[Word Count: 550]
[Total Word Count: 550/1,500]

-Two hours later-

Diana was assigned to stay by Mister Burke's side throughout the course of his day. He was hosting several scientists from the company he worked for. As it turned out, Mister Burke was a high-level supervisor for the science division and was thus a company VIP, which was why a mage was called in to help protect him. He also explained that he had lost several loyal men to an attack by a clan of ninjas a few months ago and was still looking for replacements.

Diana, Mister Burke, and the dozen scientists involved in the project had assembled in a special rectangular meeting room on the third floor just for this meeting. Diana had been given an earpiece so that she could keep an ear out for trouble and hear if the other guards reported anything. With her was Mister Burke's head of security, a tall, dark-haired man who was slender but deceptively strong... in contrast to the other guards who wore red armor, he wore a black suit of old samurai armor that had been "modernized" with technology and fitted with servo-motors to boost strength and reflexes.

Diana was by necessity privy to classified information at these meetings, which meant that if she breathed a single word of what was discussed, she would be body-slammed into the dirt by company lawyers and be facing a high double-digit prison sentence. Rather than run that risk, she consented to taking a dose of mind wipe tea that would erase her memories of the meeting so that no one could abduct her and get the classified information with a mind probe. It would be easier and safer for everyone involved. With those arrangements made, Diana was standing by Mister Burke as he discussed the latest specifications of a new type of armor being made by the company. It was a technical discussion that had a lot of detail, but she understood that it could be custom-made for the wearer.

Diana watched as the scientists assembled discussed highly classified things that she could not even pretend to understand. Technical terms were rapidly exchanged between Mister Burke and his scientists, but one word, likely a codename, was constantly used. That word was "Hoplite."

The blonde kept quiet and let them discuss "Hoplite" in peace. She was not getting paid to ask questions. She was getting paid to watch over the meeting and make sure that no one harmed Mister Burke. That was all that she needed to know about the situation. Two hours in and everything had been quiet so far... no disturbances, no reports of trouble from the other guards.

A slideshow was projected onto a screen that rolled down from the ceiling. Diana switched to night vision mode to see through the darkness because the artificial darkness would be a good way for a hitman to slip in and do their work. Diana knew from experience because several of her past "jobs" had been performed under cover of darkness. If there was not a natural darkness, she made darkness by cutting power to the target's home, slipping in, and completing the job before anyone was the wiser.

[Word Count: 530]
[Total Word Count: 1,080/1,500]

-Mister Burke's home, four hours later-

Four hours later the meeting had ended. Diana switched back to normal vision as the lights came back on. The scientists filed out of the room and began to head back to company headquarters to resume work on "Hoplite." The guards escorted the scientists to the gates of the home, where they got into company vehicles and were driven back home without incident. She knew because Mister Burke received notification from company headquarters that the scientists had all returned safely.

The meeting had gone smoothly and without incident. That was the way Diana liked protection jobs to go. She had done a few protection jobs in the past and they were a lot dicier than killing someone was. It was funny to note that protecting someone took more effort than killing them did. The blonde did not think too much on that because that was the nature of the business she worked in.

"Well done, Miss Winchester. The meeting was a success and no harm came to me or my scientists. Now, do you still want to take the mind wipe tea?" Mister Burke asked as his head of security looked on.

"Yes, please. Your company secrets are none of my business." Diana confirmed. She had agreed to take the tea earlier and she would go through with it. Both Mister Burke and Diana would be protected that way. "Hoplite" would remain secret and the mage would not have to worry about its details being exposed if she were abducted and a telepath was brought in to probe her memory. Mister Burke nodded to Kumiko, who stood just outside the room with a cup of tea.

Kumiko brought in the tea in a porcelain cup. Diana took it into her hands and drank all of it in front of the three people. It had a mild bitter aftertaste that lingered after consuming it, but otherwise she felt fine.

"Do you remember anything at all about Hoplite?" Mister Burke asked.

"What is Hoplite?" Diana asked in sincerity. She had no idea what that was. Was she supposed to know about it?

"It is nothing, my dear. Now, I believe that I owe you payment for a job well done." Mister Burke said to her. The black-armored head of security brought to her a large bag of Jewels, which he handed to the blonde. Diana respectfully took the bag into both of her hands.

"Thank you." Diana said appreciatively to Mister Burke and his head of security.

"I will keep in touch, Miss Winchester. I may require your services again. Now I have some work to attend to. Miss Kumiko will escort you out. I bid you good day." Mister Burke said to her. Diana obligingly followed the young woman to the door and collected her shoes, then exited the home. The door was shut behind her and Diana found herself looking at the cherry blossom trees again. She had no recollection of what happened between the time the meeting started and just now... it was probably for the best that she did not remember anything about it. All she knew was that she had completed her latest job and kept Mister Burke alive.

[Word Count: 538]
[Total Word Count: 1,618/1,500]