A Shitty Love

(1.1)

Rain streaked down the windows of Simone's sedan as she sped through the early morning streets of southern San Francisco, back towards work. She huffed and her caramel face darkened with a scowl, irritated by this odd situation.

"We need you to come back in, tonight."

2:17 AM. She squinted in disbelief when she saw the time on her phone. "Why? What is it that it can't wait until the sun rises?"

"It's an emergency and we need your skills. Be here within the hour."

So, here she was, pulling into her parking spot with only a meager ho-bath to pass for cleaning. Her reflection in the rear view mirror didn't betray her, though. Her tightly coiled black hair shook over her shoulders and back, threatening to obscure her wide brown eyes and full cheekbones. She wiped excess oil off her rounded nose, rubbed lip balm over her full pouty lips, and winked at herself. Out she stepped, looking anything but professional in the skinny blue jeans containing the subtle jiggle of her thighs and hips as her flats beat the concrete. A graphic white tee stretched across her ample belly as she dug for her ID.

The automatic doors parted for her and she greeted the desk woman with a polite "Hello!" Despite her unwillingness to be here she was never one to take it out on others.

After affixing the badge on her hip in the elevator, she wondered what warranted such haste. Confidence in her abilities as a psychologist and biotechnologist aside, she hesitated to imagine how terrible the situation could be. Simone was one of the few people in the company who had a psychology degree and, like the others, she only utilized it when other employees needed in-house therapy; those sessions were few and far between, her company's HR department being as involved and well run as it was. Hopefully nobody has imploded and started making suicide bomb threats or something, she mused, half joking. Seriously, please don't let that be it.

The elevator doors slid open and there was Everett-another psychologist in the company- standing in the hallway, peeking curiously into a room with a large window. What looked to be a metal box with straps and a handle attached leaned on the adjacent wall. He caught sight of her and waved her over, face brightening.

"They called you, too?" As he asked his hazel eyes took in the words on her top. "I guess 'Shit could be worse'," he puffed, quoting her shirt as he raked his hands through his blonde hair. "Did they tell you what happened, though? I was with my girlfriend for the first time in weeks..."

"No, they just-"

At that moment, Claire exited the room they were standing by and walked briskly over to them, her usual long black bob pulled into a haphazard ponytail. Simone assumed that she was the one who'd made the call that had drawn her from her cozy bed, Claire being the floor supervisor and all. "Okay, guys, thanks for coming. What I'm about to say is a bit... outlandish, but bear with me-wait, James and Ferric aren't here yet." As if summoned, they appeared, hustling out of the elevator, both of their brown hair disheveled and tired faces looking hassled. "Alright, listen up... I found these guys in my neighborhood, coming from the direction of Mountain View on horseback, with these..." she held up the box of metal by the straps.

Simone, James and Ferric each took a quick glance into the room and counted 10 people, each dressed in a tan cropped jacket, white trousers, knee-high boots, and a harness that crisscrossed up the thighs and torso. There were grey metal boxes lying around the room; two for each person, minus the one in Claire's hand. They all bore the same white and blue winged emblem on their jackets. Some of them looked quite young.

"They must be LARPers," reasoned James.

"At one o'clock in the fucking morning?!" Claire whispered.

"Yeah, most LARPing is near the Bay anyway," chimed in Ferric. "Pretty far to go from Mountain View on horseback."

"Even if they were, guys, what were they LARPing?" Simone asked. "I watch a shit-ton of anime, I've never seen their outfits!"

"That's not all, they didn't say they were cosplayers--or whatever," Clair said hastily before Ferric could interrupt. "They said they were from a place enclosed by circular walls, and when people go outside the walls they get eaten by giants. AND they fight these man-eating giants."

All was silent except for a clicking sound in the distance as everybody processed what Claire had said. "Are they European?" asked Everett.

"The fuck, Everett?" Claire said as everybody turned to Everett with looks that clearly said "what is wrong with you?"