Skia

Skia's name had once been praised by his old colleagues as having "quite the martial artist's spirit." Skia didn't care much for the supposed depth of his name. But he found quiet satisfaction in the act of writing it, each letter placed with purpose, each curve and line falling into place. It was neat, orderly, and well arranged. Just the way he liked.

However, whenever he signed his name with too much force, that scene would always reappear in his mind… That day when he signed his employment contract at his ex-company.

For that job, he completely embraced all the workplace etiquette his colleagues believed in as "standard practice," never questioning any of it. This included things like specialized signature training to leave clients with an elite impression.

It made perfect sense, really, if all it took to preserve one's dignity was to follow a visible, rigid set of rules, then the cost was laughably low for the rewards.

As for his current signature… the overall form remained rigorous, but a closer look revealed slightly hurried connecting strokes.

Had he stopped caring about these surface details? Had taking too much time off made him sloppy? Or perhaps it was the pressure from too many emergency missions piling up with all the cleanup…

Things weren't done the way he wanted. He felt he was the only one willing to maintain the system. Well… there was nothing he could do about that.

Despite that, he gradually got used to working at the BAC. And… how should he put it? He didn't mind the sincere jokes of his teammates.

On the other hand, there was a new cafeteria lady at the Bureau who was particularly enthusiastic about Skia.

When serving him food, though Skia hadn't said anything, she would ladle several extra bone-in ribs, then casually speak to another female staff member about how her son also likes chewing on those ribs.

The other woman lowered her voice, sounding embarrassed. "He… he's not an Oddity! He's the lieutenant from ETD-4!"

Skia quietly stared at the perfectly balanced, almost strict meal composition, topped with those extra bone-in ribs… then picked up his tray and walked away. In the end, he never asked about the "breed" of the lady's son.

At Leon International, Skia embodied the role of a regular office worker and was naturally suited for that kind of life.

In modern civilized society, the fact that awakening Esper Abilities could change physical appearance was already common knowledge. His transformation was indeed dramatic, and just one look gave him a worse shock than any he'd experienced in five years of work… but once he calmed down, there was nothing he couldn't rationalize. After all, it wasn't a job that depended on looks, so it shouldn't break his routine…

The truth was, his routine wasn't determined by his own mindset.

Back then, he'd stood up in the meeting room, unable to bear it any longer, forcing himself to remain polite as he asked why the projects he'd always handled weren't even going through him for reports anymore.

Sitting among the well-dressed elites around him, someone wrinkled their eyes forcefully. Skia later realized it was the kind of motion… like trying to squeeze out some murky substance that had fallen into their eye.

As the meeting adjourned, Skia raised his gaze, looking past the cracks in his self-imposed mask that he was forced to reexamine, his eyes meeting the massive silhouette in the center of the projection screen that rose with his standing figure.

Does he look like a monster to others?

Well, at least the price of gaining the Esper Ability's wasn't too high. Now he was a regular office worker in every way except appearance.

"It's like being a frog slowly boiled alive…"

While drinking, the man on his left complained to the bartender about his predicament. The man was troubled, trapped in a state where every fiber of his being couldn't relax due to workplace pressure. If he wanted to escape, he'd inevitably face brutal consequences. The man was deeply conflicted about this.

"Next time I see you here, I hope you won't be sipping your drink with such restraint… You can only break free if you break down completely for once. You don't cure alcohol by drinking a cure. You simply throw up."

The man sitting on his right, with a menacing aura and face of scars, responded across the space. His deliberate, unhurried way of speaking, which contrasted sharply with his appearance, caught Skia's attention.

Becoming friends with that person marked the beginning of Skia realizing that he had the ability to build a routine wherever he was.

If on that chaotic and dangerous path, there were rules, order, and clear objectives, then perhaps…

The imposing black hound poked its head out from the hole carved by the lighter's flame, keeping watch. Once it discovered the lighter had been replaced, its ears flattened, showing signs of dejection.

"Did the hound really prefer the original lighter?" Skia wondered. But giving an explanation like "I'm not switching back because that one had my ex-company's logo" seemed foolish, inefficient, and overly formal… Communication with his own Esper Ability should done internally. After all, the ability was a reflection of himself.

The issue was shelved, and the final result was a naturally acceptance of this current form.

A specialty coffee available for order from Ms. Fei.

Compared to the golden ratio morning coffee that Skia's ex-company mandated at 8:00 AM daily, this had… 3 extra sugar cubes, 25 ml extra milk, and… other ingredients that shouldn't appear in coffee. As for the coffee beans' origin… Well, perhaps it's from a different dimension. That was about the best way to describe the drink.

The coffee poured from Ms. Fei's head wasn't exactly brewed. The recipe isn't something one can expect, one had to taste it. But back then, Skia still tried to describe the drink with precise words.

Ms. Fei said she named the coffee after seeing Skia react to coffee she served him after he joined the BAC, it was as if he never had a real cup of coffee before. The look on his face was a mix of surprise and bewilderment, making it impossible to tell whether he was thinking it was absolutely delicious! or utterly awful!

Ms. Fei gave up asking about his preferences, and the long sigh that followed was enough to sum up all his thoughts.

If you ever eavesdrop on JTF members, you'd discover that Skia has quite a high reputation among them for being reliable, competent, and reasonable. They'd say that he has no weird temper and no strange hobbies, as well as other great qualities many of his colleagues lack!

"There are too many difficult people over there, honestly it's pretty scary. But working with Lieutenant Skia is incredibly easy. He's steady and skilled, he knows what documents I need to hand over better than I do. It's like he's been working for twenty years…"

"Oh man, Skia has it so tough. He's bears burdens alone; he acts as the only pillar of order in group of weirdos; he's the sole boat stubbornly sailing against the current; he struggles to impose procedures amid a raging tide of individualism…"

Their analysis of his role and development prospects in ETD… somehow has a bitter aftertaste.