Santos was exactly the type of person you wouldn't expect to find in this kind of situation—he literally smiled constantly. It was a mix of sinister and genuine joy that seemed completely out of place considering his line of work.
"Nervous?" he asked with a wide smile as we left the hotel parking lot. "Relax, bro! Everyone gets nervous the first time. It's completely normal."
"A little," I admitted, surprised by his relaxed attitude.
"Perfect! Nerves mean you take this seriously. The key is staying calm and following the supervisor's instructions. He'll teach you everything you need to know. And trust me, Marcus is one of the best!" His smile widened. "You're going to love working with him!"
╔═══════════════════════════════════╗
║ FIRST MISSION - INITIATING ║
║ Destination: Residential house ║
║ Type: Cleaning job ║
║ Difficulty: Beginner ║
║ Status: EN ROUTE ║
╚═══════════════════════════════════╝
🍾「Your first real adventure!」
🍾「I'm so excited I could explode!」
🍾「Santos seems nice!」
"What can you tell me about tonight's job?" I asked.
Santos laughed cheerfully. "Ah, the typical anxious rookie! I love that energy. Look, it's a residential house, a slightly complicated situation, but nothing too intense for a beginner like you. Got a strong stomach?" He winked at me. "Because if not, I've got plastic bags in the glove compartment!"
🍾「HA! If you only knew what Daniela has seen!」
🍾「But remember, officially you don't know any of that!」
🍾「Act like it's your first time seeing something like this!」
"I think I'll be fine," I replied, unable to help smiling at his contagious enthusiasm.
"That's the attitude!" Santos exclaimed, hitting the steering wheel cheerfully. "I like your energy, rookie! You're going to fit perfectly into our little team."
After twenty minutes of driving (during which Santos told me jokes and anecdotes about previous jobs, carefully edited to not reveal specific details), we arrived at a middle-class residential neighborhood.
"And here we are!" Santos announced with the same joy as if we were arriving at an amusement park. "Pretty house, right? I love these neighborhoods. So... normal."
Santos stopped in front of a two-story house with the lights off. There was a white van parked in the driveway.
"Perfect!" said Santos, clapping. "Marcus is already here. Punctual as always. Let's meet your teacher!"
We got out of the car and walked to the front door. Santos knocked a specific pattern while softly whistling a cheerful melody: two knocks, pause, three knocks, pause, one.
The door opened revealing a tall man, maybe thirty years old, with brown hair and a serious but not hostile expression. The contrast between his seriousness and Santos's joy was notable—honestly, he reminded me of a doctor I knew and may or may not have had something with.
"Marcus!" Santos exclaimed. "Meet our star rookie!"
"You must be Alle, the rookie Jonathan suggested," Marcus said, extending his hand with a small smile. "I'm Marcus. I'll be your supervisor tonight."
"Pleasure to meet you," I replied, shaking his hand.
"First time?"
"Yes."
"Ha, how exciting!" Santos interrupted with a big smile. "I remember my first time! I threw up in three different places. It was quite the show!"
Marcus shook his head but smiled. "Santos, can you bring the supplies? And try not to scare the rookie with your horror stories."
"Hey! They're personal growth stories!" Santos shouted as he headed toward the van, laughing. "They all ended well in the end!"
Marcus let me into the house, shaking his head but with an amused expression.
"Santos is... unique," he said. "But he's the best at logistics and transport. And surprisingly, his cheerful attitude helps keep team morale high."
🍾「I like Santos!」
🍾「It's refreshing to have someone positive in this situation!」
🍾「Though it's a bit surreal!」
The interior was dark, but Marcus turned on a flashlight that provided enough light to see without being detected from outside.
He reminds me of someone, don't you think? He mocks other people's misery, I said mentally to Loki. I laughed because he really did remind me a lot of Loki.
"Before you see the scene," Marcus said, "I need to explain some basic rules. First: we never ask questions about what happened here. It's not our job to know, just to clean. Second: everything you see tonight stays here. You never talk about specific work with anyone. Third: always use protective equipment. Always. And fourth, if you find anything like drugs or something like that—"
He handed me a pair of latex gloves, a mask, and shoe covers.
"Understood?"
"Understood."
Santos entered at that moment carrying boxes, whistling cheerfully.
"Fresh supplies!" he announced. "The best chemicals money can buy! And Marcus, I brought those special wipes you like!"
Marcus guided me toward the living room. He turned on a more powerful portable light and I saw the scene for the first time.
There was blood. A lot of blood. Splattered on the walls, soaking the carpet, with patterns that immediately activated both Alleinad's forensic knowledge and Daniela's medical experience.
My first reaction should have been nausea. Horror. Shock.
Instead, my mind automatically began analyzing the scene.
"Whoa!" Santos exclaimed cheerfully from behind. "This one's colorful! Like a Jackson Pollock, but more... red!"
[AUTOMATIC ACTIVATION DETECTED]
[Medical-forensic knowledge: ACCESSING]
🍾「OH! Interesting reaction!」
🍾「Looks like your knowledge is working instinctively!」
🍾「But remember to act like a beginner!」
"Are you okay?" Marcus asked, observing my reaction. "Santos, maybe we don't need the artistic commentary."
"Oh, sorry!" Santos laughed. "It's my defense mechanism! If I don't laugh, I cry!"
I realized I'd been too calm. A real beginner should be more affected.
"It's... it's a lot," I said, feigning more shock than I actually felt. "What happened here?"
"We don't ask those questions, remember?" Marcus smiled slightly. "Though I must admit, you're handling it better than I expected. Most rookies throw up in the first five minutes."
"Or faint!" Santos added with a laugh. "Once I had a rookie who fainted and fell straight into a puddle of blood! We had to clean him too!"
🍾「Careful! You're being too competent!」
🍾「You need to seem more affected!」
🍾「But you can also use this as an opportunity!」
"After certain things I've been through," I said carefully, "I guess I developed a certain... tolerance for difficult things. Plus, I've been reading a lot about medicine and anatomy lately. As a... coping mechanism."
Marcus raised an eyebrow with interest. "Medicine? That's unusual for someone your age."
"Ooh, an intellectual!" Santos exclaimed with delight. "I love smart rookies! They're much more fun than the ones who just scream and throw up!"
🍾「PERFECT! Excellent use of the cover story!」
🍾「Now you can use your knowledge without suspicion!」
"Oh, a smart one!" Santos said, clapping. "I really like your style, rookie!"
"Interesting," Marcus said. "Well, that could be useful here. What can you tell me about this scene? Just from a medical perspective, of course."
This was my opportunity. I could use the fused knowledge without revealing its true origin.
"Well," I said, approaching carefully, "based on the spatter patterns, it looks like there was high-velocity impact. The drops on the wall suggest the bleeding source was at approximately... five feet in height when the initial trauma occurred. Plus I can tell he was doing illegal stuff from the scale on the table and the little baggies of weed."
"Damn!" Santos exclaimed with genuine admiration. "The rookie knows what he's talking about!"
Marcus looked at me with renewed surprise. "Have you studied blood pattern analysis?"
"Yeah, I was studying criminology at a good university before," I said, remembering when my life was simpler.
"SERIOUSLY?! You're a criminology student, so what are you doing here?" Santos said with a surprised expression.
Marcus elbowed him in the ribs.
"Don't ask," Marcus said uncomfortably.
Honestly, I was grateful. I didn't want to explain those things to people I might never see again. I only said it because I didn't want them to treat me like a complete rookie.
╔═══ FIRST CONFIGURATION ACTIVATED ═══╗
║ Situation: Real crime scene ║
║ Need: Analysis and cleaning ║
║ System response: ADAPTING ║ ╚═══════════════════════════════════════╝
🍾「Loki here! Time for your first official ability!」
🍾「You need something to impress without being suspicious!」
"Loki," I whispered when Marcus and Santos moved away to check supplies. "I need an ability to help me here without raising suspicion."
🍾「Of course! Your first official configuration!」
🍾「What do you need specifically?」
"Something for my stomach. I don't want to throw up if this gets worse. And maybe something to analyze the scene better without seeming too expert."
🍾「PERFECT! Configuring now!」
╔════ CONFIGURATION IN PROGRESS ════╗
║ 🤮⚡ ║
║ [IRON STOMACH] - Level 1 ║
║ Type: Physical resistance ║
║ Description: Suppresses nausea when ║
║ facing grotesque scenes or strong odors ║
║_________ PACKAGE_________________ ║
║ 🕵️🏥⚕️ ║
║ [MEDICAL INTUITION] - Level 3 ║
║ Type: Passive analysis ║
║ Description: Detects obvious ║
║ medical signs instinctively ║
╚════════════════════════════════════╝
🍾「Installed! You should feel more stable now!」
🍾「And you'll be able to make credible 'intuitive' observations!」
I immediately felt a difference. The smell of blood and other bodily fluids that had been subtly affecting me disappeared from my consciousness. My stomach settled completely.
"Everything okay?" Marcus asked, returning with a box of cleaning supplies.
"Yeah, better now. Just needed a moment to get used to it."
"That's the spirit!" Santos exclaimed, carrying more equipment. "I can already tell you're going to be one of my favorite rookies!"
"Where do we start?" I asked.
"With the fun part!" Santos exclaimed. "The treasure hunt! Then we clean. It's easier to search when you don't have to dodge puddles of blood."
Marcus nodded. "Santos is right. We start with recovery, then cleaning. Alleinad, I want you to use that medical knowledge of yours. Dealers often hide things in places that require anatomical knowledge to find."
"Anatomical knowledge?"
"Yes," Marcus smiled. "Like where exactly in a wall you can make a hole without affecting the structure. Or how to modify furniture to create secret compartments without it being noticeable."
We began the search systematically. I focused on the main room while Marcus and Santos checked other rooms.
Immediately, my mind began working differently. I saw the room not just as a space, but as a body with potential cavities.
"Marcus," I called after a few minutes. "This wall here sounds hollow."
"How do you know?"
"Same principle as using percussion to examine organs," I explained. "Different resonance indicates cavity."
We found a false panel behind which there were three large bags of cocaine and $15,000 in cash.
"Bingo!" Santos shouted. "The rookie found the loot!"
We continued the search for the next hour. In the master bedroom, I found an unregistered gun hidden inside a modified pillow. In the kitchen, I discovered that the bottom of the microwave had been converted into an improvised safe containing drug transaction documents.
"How did you know to check the microwave?" Marcus asked.
"I thought like a surgeon," I explained. "If I were going to hide something in a body, I'd put it in an organ nobody would suspect to check first. The microwave is like... the appendix of the kitchen."
Santos clapped. "I love the way you think, rookie!"
Once recovery was complete, we began the actual cleaning. But now there was an additional element: we had to clean not just the blood, but also any trace of illegal activities.
"Look at this," Marcus said, pointing to white residue on the glass table. "Cocaine residue. We need special chemicals for this."
"And this?" I pointed to burn marks on the kitchen counter.
"Ah!" Santos exclaimed. "Crack pipe marks! Good observation! We have a compound that can fix that."
They showed me how to use the special chemicals, how to vacuum without leaving residue, how to clean surfaces so that no traces of blood would remain even under forensic lights.
"The trick," Marcus explained as we worked on a section of the wall, "is understanding that blood behaves in specific ways depending on the surface. On painted walls like this, it absorbs slightly. You need chemicals that penetrate without damaging the paint."
"And if you damage the paint, you have to repaint!" Santos added cheerfully. "And trust me, I'm terrible at painting! Once I left a wall that looked like it had been attacked by a unicorn!"
He handed me specialized equipment: vacuums I'd never seen before, chemicals in unlabeled bottles, industrial rags, and what appeared to be additional protective equipment. I didn't waste time—I filled the bucket, grabbed rags and sponges, and started cleaning.
[MEDICAL INTUITION ACTIVATED]
[Detecting: Inconsistent blood absorption patterns]
I approached a wall where a lamp was attached—there was a blood stain, but it was old. The brown color indicated it.
"Marcus," I said after a few minutes. "This stain here looks different. Like the blood was... older."
Marcus came over to examine the area I was pointing to.
"Interesting observation. What makes you think that?"
"The color. And the way it absorbed into the wall. It looks more... oxidized. Like it had been there longer than the rest."
"Damn!" Santos exclaimed. "The rookie has super vision!"
Marcus exchanged a look with Santos.
"You have a very good eye, rookie. Yes, that stain does look old. If we hadn't seen that, it could have hurt us."
"Happens to the best of us!" Santos laughed. "That's why we always say: check twice, clean once! Or something like that!"
We kept cleaning and my abilities were leveling up. I started checking everything else for blood, and a new ability appeared.
╔════ NEW ABILITY UNLOCKED ════╗
║ 🕵️💦🩸 ║
║ [RESIDUE INSPECTOR] - Level 3 ║
║ Type: Environmental Analysis ║
║ Description: Allows scanning ║
║ spaces to detect different ║
║ types of chemical, biological, ║
║ and substance residues ║
║ Effects: ║
║ • Automatic drug detection ║
║ • Hidden blood residue identification ║
║ • Suspicious chemical location ║
║ • Contamination pattern analysis ║
║ Scan range: 15 meters ║
║ Accuracy: 85% ║
║ Activation time: 3 seconds ║
║ Status: ACTIVE ║
╚═══════════════════════════════════════╝
It was similar to intuition but broader. Intuition only let me scan a very small area—one or two objects at most—but this allowed me to scan an entire room.
While I was cleaning, they talked among themselves, thinking I couldn't hear them.
"How's our medical student doing?" Santos asked Marcus with a mischievous smile.
"Better than expected," Marcus replied. "Actually, I'm surprised. His knowledge is advanced. Maybe I can convince him to work for us."
🍾「Excellent! They're impressed!」
🍾「But don't get too excited!」
🍾「It's still your first night!」
And I hope it's the last. I really liked them, but I don't know, I thought.
We worked for the next three hours. Marcus taught me new techniques and I kept adding them to the ability functions while Santos kept the atmosphere light with funny comments and anecdotes (carefully edited, I should note).
"Look at this!" Santos exclaimed when we discovered spatter on a ceiling lamp. "It's like CSI, but in reverse! Instead of finding evidence, we make it disappear!"
But the most interesting thing was how my fused knowledge allowed me to make connections Marcus didn't expect.
"How did you know there was spatter inside that lamp while the others were out of sight?" Marcus asked after I suggested checking a ceiling lamp that appeared clean.
"Honestly, I'm something special with stains—I check everything twice," I said.
"Incredible!" Santos shouted. "It's like having our own Sherlock Holmes!"
Marcus looked at me with an expression that mixed impression with curiosity.
"Where did you say you studied all this?"
"I was a university student in criminology, but the medicine stuff online—I was always interested in medicine in that area," I said, giving it little importance, but I could notice Marcus's look full of curiosity.
Shit, I caught his attention, I thought, considering all kinds of problems I could have.
🍾「Perfect! You maintain the cover story!」
🍾「But clearly you're more valuable than they expected!」
🍾「This is going to open doors!」
When we finally finished, the house was immaculate. There was no trace that anything violent had happened there.
"Perfect!" Santos exclaimed, clapping. "Another masterpiece completed!"
"Excellent work for your first night," Marcus said. "Very excellent work, actually."
"What happens now?"
"Now we celebrate!" Santos laughed. "Well, not really. Now we take you back and tomorrow you get your payment and your new ID!"
"And if you want more work..." Marcus added, "well, I think there's demand for someone with your natural abilities."
"Thanks, I'll think about it," I said, thinking that maybe it wouldn't be so bad.
╔═══ FIRST MISSION COMPLETED ═══╗
║ Performance: EXCEPTIONAL ║
║ Abilities demonstrated: ║
║ • Scene analysis ║
║ • Trauma resistance ║
║ • Applied medical knowledge ║
║ Status: REQUESTED FOR MORE JOBS ║ ╚══════════════════════════════════╝
🍾「INCREDIBLE first performance!」
🍾「Literally couldn't have gone better!」
🍾「They already want you back!」
On the way back to the hotel, Santos was in an especially good mood.
"What a perfect night!" he sang. "Marcus was super impressed, you know? I haven't seen a rookie with such natural instincts for this. Usually beginners just get in the way and ask stupid questions!"
"Is that good?"
"Very good!" he laughed. "It means more work, better pay, and eventually access to more... interesting jobs! And trust me, some of those jobs are really fascinating!"
🍾「Your new career is taking off!」
🍾「And it's barely your first night!」
🍾「Imagine what you'll be able to do with more experience!」
When we arrived at the hotel, Santos handed me an envelope with a big smile.
"Your first payment!" he announced cheerfully. "Cash, as promised. And tomorrow morning, someone will come with your new ID!"
It was incredible—the envelope said 30,000. Amazing.
"That fast?"
"Of course!" Santos laughed. "When you prove you're valuable, things move super fast in this business. I'd like you to work with us, rookie."
I went up to my room with the envelope in hand.
"THINK ABOUT IT!" I heard him shout.
I arrived at my room feeling strangely satisfied. Not only had I survived my first night as a criminal cleaner, but I had excelled.
🍾「Congratulations, my agent!」
🍾「Your first mission was a complete success!」
🍾「And Santos seems like he'll be a good ally!」
🍾「How do you feel?」
"I feel... good," I admitted quietly. "Better than I expected. Like I finally found something I'm naturally good at. And Santos made everything less... scary than I expected."
For the first time, I felt like I had real control over my future. Maybe this job wouldn't be so bad.
I went to bed that night with a smile, eagerly waiting to see what new identity they'd bring me in the morning.