River

Chapter one.

"You are quite extraordinary," I say before taking a sip of my whiskey. Sweet and spicy, I like it. The man sitting next to me at a dingy café in a crappy town smirks at me. He's not in a great shape, really. He sits on the barstool like he's never left it except to pee. Also, he has grease stains on his shirt. 

But I don't wince. 

"You're a pretty bird," he says, ogling me. He's not exactly looking at me. 

"Yeah?" I ask him. I take another sip and look at him from the rim of my glass.
"Yeah."
I wouldn't exactly use the words 'pretty bird' to describe my exterior. I would prefer something like ravenous raven or angry chicken.
Aaron would definitely go for the chicken option.
"What's your name?" the man asks me. God, even his balding head looks greasy. Maybe he puts deep frying oil on his scalp to activate hair growth. I should try it.
"Clara," I say, tossing my leg on top of the other. I haven't told anyone my real name in five years.
He is gazing at me now.
"I'm Anton," he finally says. It's funny how the names Aaron and Anton are so similar and yet the persons are so very different.
"Well, Anton. You look like someone who has good taste," I purr. I love it when I purr. I don't love his facial reaction very much, but it is what I need, so I just roll with it.
I hop off of my barstool (because I'm annoyingly short) and look at him with a set of trained siren eyes and walk out the door at the back of the bar.
And I listen. And listen. A thump.
Yes.
"He's following me," I whisper while holding my earpiece.
"Took you long enough, birdy," he says. I sigh.
I hear the door creaking open and I swirl back with an alluring smile that's meant to dazzle the man called Anton.
"So, where are we..." he starts, but I'm already close enough to complete my mission. I put my hands behind his neck and giggle. He disgusts me, but I'm happy with my performance.
He looks flabbergasted. I guess it's been a long time since a woman's hands were on this man.
"You're done," Aaron grumbles into my ear.
About time.
"See ya, Anton," I say, and I stalk off.
"Pretty bird! Where are you going?" he asks, his eyes wide.
But I'm already walking towards the street. When I disappear into an ally, I look around an open the black door.
There is always a black door, but no one ever seems to notice. I walk in and feel the heat of the scanner over my body.
"That went excellent, Charlotte. They should give you an award," Aaron says with the usual mock in his tone. The same mock I use when I'm hiding my pain. My loss.
We all lost something when we started working for the Company. The place is as mysterious as the name makes it sounds. I always know what I'm supposed to do, but I don't know any of my colleagues, not really. We all get a buddy to do missions with. One of us is the man in the chair while the other goes on missions.
Usually, that's me.
There are some exceptions when we're on a mission together. But I've never seen his face and he's never seen mine. The Company makes sure of that.
The only thing we know is that we're doing good. We're fighting crime in our own, secretive way. But we're doing good, even when we're not working with the government.
I've seen it. I've seen that we've saved children by downloading terrorists' plans. I've seen it by tracking the earth for possible earthquakes and initiating evacuation plans. I've seen it when they saved me from a crashing plane that was hijacked.

The wall in front of me disappears and I enter the gray elevator.
"The information has downloaded onto your device successfully, but I need you in the building. The connection is not great," Aaron mumbles. I can hear him typing.
"I'm in the Sub. Send a Mag, will ya?" I say. There's barely a shock when the elevator starts to descends.
Then it stops and the doors open. The old subway tunnels have been abandoned for ages now. Except for us.
We travel through the subterranean to prevent civilians mingling into our business. The Company doesn't want us to meet people, not really. We can't have any connections other than with people from the Company.
Not that those are connections.
That doesn't matter to me, though. I've given up on connections after the accident anyways. Now it's just me and a man who makes fun of me and who's name is not really Aaron.
"I hope the Mag rans you over," he says. I can almost hear him grinning.
"And I hope you get buzzed for asking stupid questions," I bite back.
A chip was installed into our bodies. It's in a place we can't get to with a knife: in the middle of our backs.
Whenever you say something that is not within the guidelines of the Company, you get electrocuted. 
If you tell your partner something about your appearance, you get a medium strong buzz.
If you tell them your identity, well, you and your partner are unalive. 

The Company doesn't like using the word 'dead'. Makes them look like a bunch of murderers.

I like the concept. I think it's really smart. The Mag arrives. "It didn't run me over, sucker," I say, putting the suit on. Aaron snorts. "Better next time," he says. I can't survive without the suit. It protects me from the immense pressure underground. "See ya under da water," I say with a funny accent as I close the sturdy Mag's doors. 

Author's note: hi there, lovely people! What do you think of the story?  I'm just trying to write a bunch of stories and I was wondering if you'd like to see more of these characters. I'm just writing this for fun and I have no idea where it's gonna go. Well, I do, but not exactly. Most of the times my characters decide to create their own little personalities :)