Barcrow's: Codename K9

Chapter two - Fortune or misfortune

The door opened and Mike looked out. 'Conan, the boss wants to see you.'

Conan followed Mike into the office.

Is this real? This is just a normal office in a normal... Well... Very big, but normal mall...

'So, your Conan?' The man behind the desk asked. He was a typical middle aged man.

'Yes, sir.' Am I meant to call him sir?

'I'm Robert Claustein... I'd like to ask some questions, if that's ok with you?'

Conan nodded, he kept his face emotionless but inside, his thoughts were in turmoil.

The boss turned to the other three, 'You can go now.'

Once they left he let out a sigh, 'Sit down. I guess I should start with the basics, what would you do if you were allowed to... just walk out of here?'

'I'd do the same thing I would if I wasn't.'

'And that would be...'

'I'd like to ask for work.' The boss smiled, 'Conan, do you even know what we do here?'

'Well... From what I've seen, I'd say pretty much everything and anything.'

The boss laughed, 'Haha I like your attitude kid. Ok, I'll explain some things, let you decide if you still want to work here or not, then I'll ask you some questions and we'll see if we can make a deal. You know, there are always unknown deceptions and evils behind peace and stability. So, first of all, we have all the shops and other facilities downstairs. Then, we also have the detective agency on the other side of this floor, our staff over there help clients with all sorts of quarries they may have, from pet sitting to, for our more... Trustworthy clients, robbery, murder, disposal of evidence, etcetera. Although our shopping center seems quite impressive, with almost anything a human could ask for, but, believe it or not, our main source of finance comes from these... unpleasant jobs. With all the tax nowadays our normal businesses are just about enough to keep this place running, but with our extra income, we can afford extra materials for extra jobs and extra money. Any questions?'

'Um, well isn't it illegal? These "unpleasant jobs"?'

'In our case it isn't as simple as legal or illegal, we have permission from the government to take on such jobs but only as long as the public doesn't know it's us. In other words, if one of our employees is uncovered or caught in the act by the police, there's nothing we can do about it, but it also means that even the police ask for our assistance sometimes. Still wanna work here?'

'Yes sir.'

'Alright, then it's time for the questions.' He took a sheet from one of the shelves behind himself and clicked his pen. 'Full name?'

'Conan...' Should I really say my real name? '...Mondro' Too late now...

'Age?'

'Eleven'

'Birthday?'

'30th of November'

'Tell me about your family, do you have any siblings?'

'I've a younger brother.'

'Previous place of residence?'

'I... Don't know the address...But we lived with our aunt.'

'Skills?' Conan stayed silent for a few seconds, 'I don't think I have any...'

'Alright, previous job experiences?'