"I'm sorry but I don't have time for this Natsatsaya," Astra said as she forced Raskolnikov's body to rush down a flight of stairs into the yard. She looked around and saw a yard worker with an axe, took it, and without hesitation chopped her own head off.
She woke up back in reality and looked around frantically.
"What is wrong with you?!" Karaya said as her jaw dropped.
"I'm not wasting any time in there."
"How do you remember your favorite book but not your name?"
She raised an eyebrow, "Selective memory?"
Karaya sighed and rubbed her thumb on her forehead, "How are you going to have selective memory when you lost your memory?"
"I don't know," Astra shrugged.
Gatsdia chuckled and put her hands on Astra's shoulders, "So what do you say Karaya? Can she stay?"
She raised her thumb, "Yeah but she'll work alone in the detective sector. We don't know anything about her, and she doesn't know anything about herself, it'd be too dangerous to have her work in a group."
Gatsdia nodded, "That's better than nothing. Come on Astra! I'll show you where the detective sector is located."
Astra followed Gatsdia down the halls. They were nothing to gawk at, just your average hallway with a bunch of doors that lead to varying offices and cubical spaces. Yet Astra found herself staring at everything in this hall intensely, wondering why it made her feel so depressed.
Gatsdia opened a door and welcomed Astra in. It was a small room with a bunch of lockers on the walls. In the middle two benches back-to-back facing the lockers. In front of a window a desk was placed perfectly center to the back of the room.
"We usually only have one or two detectives at a time, so we kept the space that the detective sector took to the bare minimum," Gatsdia said with a shaky chuckle. "Maybe a little too to the minimum now that I look at it again."
"What's a detective?" Astra asked.
"I thought you maintained your vocabulary knowledge," Gatsdia raised an eyebrow.
"Most of it," she shrugged. "Now what's a detective?"
She pinched Astra's cheeks and pulled at them, "Nope, you're the real deal and didn't get replaced on our way here nor did you get replaced after your severely rushed test."
"What's the purpose behind this exercise?" Astra babbled through her stretched cheeks.
"This isn't an exercise; I was just checking that you were you. There's mimics out in the wild and sometimes after going through that test you just did the test taker comes out as a different person. I couldn't imagine if you lost yourself twice, that would've been terrible."
"I see. Can you tell me what a detective is now?" Astra asked as Gatsdia let go of her cheeks.
"So soft," she muttered before clearing her throat. "A detective is someone who looks into mysteries and serious crime cases. The documents on that desk are all of the mysteries that you'll have to take care of. Oh, and let me just warn you, they never stop piling up."
Astra nodded, "Will this help me get back my memories?"
"Your memories are a mystery to yourself and us. Take this little detective job as a way for you to find your memories or at least form who you are while simultaneously helping people. At least I think that's the best way to put it because calling it a job or duty sounds burdensome," Gatsdia laughed at that last part.
"A duty to help people, Astra sat in silence for a moment. "Yes, I must help everyone I can with their troubles. That is the most just and fair thing to do in order to assist them in their troubles and ease their worry."
Gatsdia smiled, "Where'd you get that sudden burst of inspiration from? And you're smiling too. I have a feeling you'll be our first good detective in a long time."
Without realizing, Astra had allowed a small smile to plaster itself on her face, "I'm smiling?"
"Yes, I'm glad you're happy with your job. Well, I'll catch you later. I'm exhausted," Gatsdia started making her way out but quickly stopped. "Oh, and if you're ever having trouble with anything just call for me and I'll be right there for you."
Astra nodded, "I'll keep that in mind. Thank you."
And just like that Gatsdia went on her merry way and Astra was left alone in the detective sector. Astra, being the amnesiac she is, opened one of the lockers and saw a change of clothes within it.
The clothes were quite out of fashion, but she didn't dislike them. A white gothic Victorian ruffle shirt, which she slightly loosened the ruffles around the neck area as she put it on and a black skirt of the same era and type, though it was cut down to just the knees for combat readiness, alongside the two vintage draperies, was a normal pair of sheer stockings and mountain boots.
Once she put all of these on, she threw a satchel over her shoulder, squeezed a purple flag into her skirt's waistline, which she could only imagine was used to show where she was from, and started her way out of the building with some documents in her hands. Making sure to grab a derby hat and umbrella on her way out.
D'Azarro whispered to Menti as she left, "How much do you bet she'll ide solo?"
"I'm not a betting woman but I'll put a crisp fifty on the table," Menti responded as she ate some cheeseballs.
Moreau stared at the door, "I don't know, maybe this one will make it."
"You said the same thing for the last thirty-seven!" Menti laughed. The other's joined her aside from Moreau and Gatsdia.