A Prodigy is not yet a Legend - Kyra's Introduction

It was in the middle of the afternoon. The sun was hovering in the center of the cloudy sky, the streets bustled with chatter and footsteps, and a cool breeze danced through Era. It was a city that was seldom silent, and like Era, the Rune Knight HQ was never quiet either.

Somewhere in HQ, the Combat Corps darted back and forth from room to room, and in the center of it all was a congregation of overtly athletic and deceptively tough-looking men and women. Many of them were sitting at desks and cubicles, while others were leaning against walls and hanging in corners. Most were occupied, and some were not. Among those people were two staff sergeants, holding paper cups and huddled in a corner.

"Did you hear about that case the Lieutenant Commander took on the other day?"

"The couple where one committed suicide and the other went insane? Pretty crazy, right?"

"Yeah. But you know, the weird thing about it is that when we went in to question him, the guy seemed happy for her! Kept talking about this "Soul Merchant" person. That's all he'd talk about."

"Poor guy. No wonder he went insane. His girlfriend just kicked the bucket. Just like that—"

"—Excuse me..." said Doppo, standing just between the two staff sergeants so they could allow him to pass by. He was an average-height, lanky man with messy red hair and baggy baby blue eyes. He had a perpetual slouch and noticeable bags beneath his eyes. He was somewhat skinny, perpetually lethargic, and always spoke in a low, quiet voice. It was hard to believe that such a fatigued man was the Major General at first glance. Meanwhile, frightened by the abrupt appearance of his messy red hair, both of the staff sergeants suddenly moved aside.

"Major General Suzuki! We didn't see you, sir!" said one of them. The other looking at the folder snug between his arm and armpit curiously.

"Going out, sir?" they asked.

"Smoke." Doppo slowly slid between them and made his way down the hall.

When he stepped outside, the first place he sat was on the first step leading down the plateau, overlooking most of Era. He placed the folder on his lap and quickly plucked a cigarette from its pack, lighting it, and blowing the small grey cloud out with a long, strung out puff. The man had a lot on his mind these days. He had been spending a lot of time looking for family homes in Era, or at least nearby, in preparation for the multiple kids he was going to have with Onida. The pregnancy wasn't planned, and the redhead didn't have any time to financially prepare for them either. Could he even afford a family as big as the one he was going to have? And what about Onida? Their relationship was founded on flings and if he was asked if he had loved her, he knew that his answer would be no. Even if they had tried to fill the gaps with romance before their kids were born, it probably wouldn't work out. Worst of all, he hadn't found the time or energy to tell a single soul about their pregnancy either. Not Sheldon, not Hilda, no one.

This headspace made his head hurt, but it was all he can think about. He rolled up his hand over his hair, massaging his temples as the smoke embraced him, stressing about his stress alone. Or, so he thought.

Scaling the stairs was a girl and a robot, making their way to their Headquarters. As usual, she was most likely here to join or to report a crime and judging by the way she carried herself, it was probably the former. She seemed like a chipper girl and seemed far more enthusiastic than he was feeling right now.

"Hey... can I help you...?" he said to her, sitting there and staring at her with his droopy eyes as she approached.

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The girl introduced herself as Kayla Forte, and she looked nice enough. Well, she looked it, but she sounded almost robotic. While he wasn't one to judge others for their way of holding conversations, Kayla spoke as if reading off of a script. The redhead noticed this, and as usual, he didn't care.

Kayla went straight to the point. In fact, she had been so prepared for this that she had even pinpointed the department she wanted to be promoted into, which was something the average new recruit took a little over a week to decide. Unlike people before her and likely many to come, getting her enlisted would likely be brief.

"Mm. Major General Suzuki... but you can call me Doppo, if you'd like..." he responded quietly, letting the last puff of smoke fall out of his mouth before tossing it on the ground and crushing it beneath his heel as he got up. He took the folder from his lap and tucked it back away between his arm, looking over at Kayla. "Follow me..."

The Major General led Kayla back to his shared office, sitting down at his unimpressive desk. There were a litany of odd and out of place things on it, like an unopened box of women's fertility tea, magnetic marbles, and a blue stress ball. He pulled out a familiar folder, placing it across from him with a pen to accompany it.

"Just some general information... you gotta fill it out, Ms. Forte..." he invited her lackadaisically, slouching in his chair.

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For the entire time Kayla was filling out the information, Doppo was slouching over his desk and watching her carefully. One of the first things people noticed about him was not only his eccentricity, but his lack of understanding social cues. Staring, speaking too candidly, and much more that only scraped the tip of the iceberg of his oddity.  

"Mm-mm. I'll take it from here..." Doppo shook his head, lifting up the papers and glancing at the text scribbled in between it. Needless to say, she wasn't lying. She had all of the credentials she needed, and if it was really all true, then she'd be a lovely addition to their Engineering Corps. "If you join us, you'll start out as a private... but I think you'll get promoted into the E.C. quickly if you do well..." he quietly explained, his voice droning on as if just waking up from a deep slumber, "You can look around too if you want..."

Doppo placed the papers back on the desk and looked at Kayla. Eighteen, was she? When he was eighteen, he was still working as a cook, building up his savings so he could leave Motor City and build a new life somewhere away from his mother. He used his skills and abilities to solve problems for other people, compensated for his work, and eventually joined Sabertooth to make finding those jobs even easier. That was how he expected his life to unfold—making end's meet, just enough jewels to put food on his table, and he didn't mind it. But now he was an officer in the Rune Knights, and while one might think that a man as lazy and inexpressive as him wouldn't be a nice fit for this job, he loved it more than anything—and he was good at it.

There was a long pause between them, and just before Kayla could take her leave, Doppo leaned back into his chair and closed his eyes. "It's good that you know what you want..."

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