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The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/02321 on 2024-11-26 22:40:25+00:00.
Sometimes if two people accept a contract job, the pay gets split. I was a little weary going through with a request after I heard another person was going to be with me. When I heard who I would be working with I pushed aside any concerns about money.
There had been disappearances and odd sightings inside a large forest. Our job was to simply discover the cause. I arrived at the start of a hiking trail ready to have an easy day for once. I found my partner for the day and I couldn’t hold back a smile from seeing him again.
Ito met me with a wicker basket tied to his waist. He held a plastic grabbing tool in one hand. A basket and another grabber were at his feet ready for me to pick up. I didn’t understand the purpose of the items. It was nice to see a friendly face though. But what was an Agent doing taking contract work? I had always thought the contract jobs were ones The Corporation didn’t have time to deal with.
“What’s with those?” I asked as I mimicked the grabby claw.
“We’re picking up trash.” He half explained.
There was a snack wrapper at his feet. The wind blew more trash in our direction. He swiftly picked them up as I tightened my coat. The trees were bare, and the breeze was a bit too cold for my liking. He placed the trash inside his basket. I picked up the grabber and tied my basket to my hip.
“What does The Corporation want trash for?”
“Recently a Doll Maker discovered a way to make flames that produce magic. It’s a small amount but any little bit counts. Anything we place inside these baskets will go directly to be burned aside from living creatures, metal, and glass. Oh, and rocks, I think. So be careful not to place anything important inside.”
Ito started walking down the pathway. I was glad it wasn’t camping season because people would have stared at a man wearing a suit picking up trash.
“So, we can’t put glass, metal, and rocks inside?” I asked.
“You can. The glass and metal get sent to a different place to be recycled. I’m not sure what happens to the rocks. They may be sent to the recycling center because only things that can burn get sent to the fire. I guess don’t send too many rocks through to upset the recycling workers. Oh, and they’ll be paying us a dollar per five pounds of burnable trash we send through.”
I stopped in my tracks. Ito looked confused but he didn’t press me to keep going until I recovered. Would they really pay me for some garbage? There were so few wrappers and such along the trail. For once, I wanted to see litter.
“Can we take these baskets home?” I said hopeful.
“Actually, yes.”
The thoughts of the missing people and any sort of danger in this forest disappeared for a while. I would protect this basket with my life. Finally, I seemed to find an easy way of making money. Not much, but how hard was it to just pick up trash? I now knew what I would be doing when I couldn’t find suitable contract work.
“Sorry, I’ve only been asking about work even though we haven’t seen each other in a while.” I told Ito.
He waved off my words. We had sent each other a few messages since we met but with our busy lives, we hadn’t been in contact much. Somehow, even though we barely knew each other we acted like old friends.
“Do you have any ideas about what we should be looking for in this forest? I’ve heard that you’ve done jobs like this for a few years before your break. You may have more experience than I do.”
I had been too distracted by the easy money to think about the real reason why we were here. I frowned unsure of how I felt about Ito asking around about me. He appeared young but looks could be misleading when it came to supernatural creatures. I studied him for a moment and assumed he was most likely telling the truth that I may be stronger than him. It was an odd feeling.
Agents that had worked for a while carried a certain air about them. Even though Klaus acted kinder than most, I could tell he had a great deal of experience.
“I’m not sure. There aren’t too many hints about what it could be. Let me feel things out for a moment.”
He didn’t appear to understand what I meant but nodded. I took a few minutes to really look at my surroundings. The forest felt strange in a way I couldn’t place. It was cold and empty but not because of the season. I didn’t hear any animals. Not even a bird moved in the trees. I bent down to feel the cold ground with my palm trying to get a feel for what this forest was like. Each had a different vibe. There was a healthy amount of unseen magic around. Perfect for creatures to enjoy. But the air felt almost damp. A hint of a musty rotten smell that didn’t suit the rest of the surroundings hung in the air.
“The animals are spooked. I don’t hear any, and there is a weird smell coming from somewhere.” I told him even though it didn’t help us much.
“That’s impressive. Since my body is different from yours, I’ll need to rely on your senses. My eyesight and hearing are on the same level as a human, but I have no sense of taste or smell.”
That explained a little why he was helping on a contract job like this. Ito was a weaker Agent. Simple jobs like this may be the only thing he could live through.
I stood back up ready to keep moving. We started walking down the trail talking about what we had been doing since we first met. After a while of walking, I noticed a small path off to the side of a large tree. It wasn’t an official trail. Rather something a handful of people created over time. I nodded so Ito would come with me to see what was deeper in the woods.
I stopped a few steps in wondering how we could mark our way so we wouldn’t get lost. Ito solved that problem by showing me an almost invisible thread coming from his sleeve he attracted to the large tree we started from. I reached over to feel the thread only to have my hand go through it. It was made of pure magic so it wouldn’t get tangled as we walked.
The path ended at a rundown RV parked in the middle of the woods. It looked like it had been rotting out here for at least thirty years. From the beer bottles and cans scattered around the site, it appeared this was a popular place for teens to hang out. I bet a road had once led here at some point but had been overgrown over the years. The mystery of the random RV could have spawned local legends. The musty smell in the air had gotten heavier but this place didn’t have anything overly strange about it.
Ito picked up a beer can with his grabber, but I spoke up to stop him from putting it inside the basket.
“The cans are worth a nickel each. Can you put them aside so I could grab them later?” I suggested.
There might be a whole five dollars in cans and bottles just lying around. Ito made an expression I wasn’t too fond of.
“The Corporation will pay you the full value of any cans or bottles we send through. I’ll send you my share of what I collect as well. Are you really hurting that much for the money that cans are worth picking up?”
I looked away trying to avoid his eye contact. Even if I didn’t have a massive debt to pay off, it wasn’t as if I ever had a chance of getting a normal well-paying job.
Ito pulled out a set of latex gloves so we could dig around to pick up more trash hidden under leaves and dirt. He crouched beside me wondering if he insulted me with a question I hadn’t answered.
“Why don’t you become an Agent? Despite being human, you’re more qualified than I am.”
I shook my head. After living my life so directly entangled with the supernatural, I’d seen a lot of things I understood and yet didn’t agree with. I kept looking around cleaning up cans and bottles trying to get my words in order. Ito was an Agent, and I didn’t want to insult his job.
“I don’t agree with how The Corporation treats their Agents. They work them to the bone and treat them as more of a disposable resource. And don’t send me any money you might make from collecting trash today. You earned it. I don’t like taking things for free.”
He frowned at my answer, also trying to think of a response. I got up to head inside the RV looking for anything else to dispose of. Some newer yet somewhat dirty blankets were laid out inside. This place was more than just a place for teenagers to hang out to drink. I wanted it to send the blanket off to be burned but I didn’t want to touch it even while wearing gloves.
“I don’t mind the work. I just wish I could be more useful.”
I turned to face Ito in the small dark space. A tight smile appeared on his face as he grasped his hands together in front of himself. He didn’t look like an Agent. At that moment I didn’t believe he belonged in that suit.
“The Corporation isn’t all that bad. They provide everything I need.” He said while fidgeting with his hands.
“They cover medical and housing costs as well as spending money for anything else you may need. But they only seem to hire the kinds of creatures who don’t mind dying for the job. People like a friend of mine are forced into this against their will… If you keep doing this job, you won’t last long.”
I knew of far too many Agents that died in the line…
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