What's a Hero in Underworld?

【 Chapter 1: In Between 】

"I'm not exactly a hero. I'm just a sub-agent at a hero organization. My job's mostly running errands."
— — —

Squeaky Squeak Squeak!

Riley quietly groaned, their eyes open and staring at the ceiling with a head full of thought.

It was only the morning, but she couldn't help but think ahead to that night — mostly out of wonder of what could happen.

Would they lose sleep? Riley figured not physically, but mentally could be a whole other thing.

Blink-!

"Maintainers' system in operation." Riley turned his head to look at the message being displayed.

"Verifying voice pattern. Say anything to continue."

Riley cleared their throat, "Agent -code- B-12, online."

"Agent B-12 voice pattern verified. You are now logged into the Maintainers' system."

Oh, it displays the recent news and messages now too.. Riley thought to herself. I guess I'll check them out later, though.

"Can't believe I have to get to work so soon already, give me a break, screw you..." They deadpanned.

"Bzzzt! Maintainers' Point deducted by one. Maintainers' Rule No.1 —"

"Every word said defines your end..." Riley sighed in exasperation.

"Good to hear you do remember, Agent B-12." Chief, Ash Gray, suddenly spoke up through the earpiece. "Are you ready to get to work?"

"Yep, anything you say, Chief." Riley answered.

"Your voice frequency shows that you are indeed awake. Good." Chief remarked, seeming satisfied before continuing, "SMAKS are still around and about, so we can not have any slacking off. Head to your designated area, Agent B-12. Agent C-12 is waiting for you there."

Before Riley could respond, Chief cut the connection.

She's the most emotionless person I've ever met... it's almost impressive.

Riley moved out of their room, mind fuzzy as they adjusted their backpack's straps while they headed towards their area, Standoff Street.

There's no cases here though... at least, nothing our squad Hero, Flare, can't handle in minutes.

Speaking of Flare, Chris was probably the hugest fan of him Riley knew. Said man was already at Standoff Street, a distracted look on his face as he leaned against a wall and held a half-eaten, excessively burnt kebab in one hand.

"... Hey." Riley called out, making Chris's head snap up with a blink of his eyes.

"Oh. Hey, Riley." He uneasily replied.

Riley continued walking towards their colleague until they were only a few inches away from each other.

I can't believe he's younger but this much taller. Riley absentmindedly thought to himself as he held his tongue, unsure of how to say her thoughts until starting off with an intelligent-sounding "So the Underworld Office..."

" — I'm a bit nervous, Riley." Chris quickly admitted, his hands dropping to his sides, "If we mess up in our dreams tonight, with whatever we're supposed to do, will they kill us, somehow?"

"Don't worry, because... worrying doesn't solve or help anything." Riley slowly announced.

"..."

Did I... say the wrong thing?