Above the cool interior of the Coalint Cave Slums, the scorching heat razes over the badlands; almost serving as a (yellow) hot sign, warning you that no one could possibly live here.
That's why it is so exceptionally shocking that thousands of people live inside of the towering rocks taking control of the land.

The only thing above the residential caves? An altar for those who can withstand the tribulations of the shining sun. Foolishly enough, there's already one person who’s amassed so much guilt as to take trips daily. Only just enough to let the gods know how much he needs to atone.

When the stained glass shines on him, he quickly realizes that his hands have melted; only in protest of his existence.

Still, Clyde finds himself living the moment thoroughly from beginning to end. When he wakes up and washes his hands, only the blood of the innocent stays, and it refuses to wash off.

He is afraid of the future. He wanes as the colors stain him.

Still, Clyde understands. By the end of the day, This only leads into that, and then, only then, he'd have to make the decision of being himself, or succumbing to his grief.

--Himself being the opposite of what he preaches to, being the bearer of a curse of grievances, being alone in something many people still do. He killed someone.

There is no tomorrow, and if there was, it wouldn't come to him now. No, not when today will be the same as every other day.

-Which isn't to say he hasn't been living it.

There is, and always has been, routine to shit like this. As in: Get up. Go to work, come back, take care of the kids. Sleep as much as you can for two hours, because it wont end up helping.

There's nothing he can do about it, because the end result always comes close to violence-- if not totally eclipsing every other solution he could think of. In fact, what is 'just' has always escaped him. The only thing that matters is retribution; The only guidance that his god has given him is revenge.

Yes, that's exactly what it is. A deserved action worth taking is what he convinces himself of. It didn't take much; Her Justice only encourages such an act. He'd prayed for an answer. Why would she mislead him?

Even yet, the definition of "just" stands quietly before him. The perpetuity of the choice itches like a sunburn, and the closer it comes, the larger its cloud of doom grows. Effectively, this isn't something that makes sense, and it isn't anything that Clyde would dare try to explain to anyone else.

He has...

He took these children in for a reason. It would be shameful to become the exact opposite that they were promised. Its the only thing stopping him from heading face first into continuing that cycle of violence. The memory of himself in an alley, and the way he found them in the same position.

---

There is one thing, though.

That is.
This bar.

The poorer half of Coalint is underground. There are just about as many restaurants and stores within the walls of the cave, as there are rooms for housing.

It's quite different aboveground.
While the underground homes are sufficiently habitable, mildly pleasant, and affordable (enough), it's upstairs the rich tend to parade.

The rate at which the underground residents are looked with disdain for living "like cave dwellers" in the "basement" by upper Coalint residents is as concurrent as a sunny day. It's the same as having two ant piles in front of each other, fighting for crumbs.
For him, personally, he's gathered it's much easier to say he came from another city, than to risk irritation from the assholes living atop the badlands.

(All of this to say: Clyde has finally found a "downstairs" bar that he likes.)

Nevertheless, he can't enjoy it, because someone has decided to sit next to him, and that same someone is a woman he has never met in his life.

She has pitch black hair; short into a bob, and two ivory colored... buns? on her head. (He soon comes to realize these are actually horns on a less hurried look back.)
Black lipstick is currently in; more than ever, and it seems everyone, including her, is on top of the trend. That, and her lashes are curled neatly. Clyde thinks that she is a very pretty woman.

So why is she sitting next to him?

---

: I've been looking for you all day!

: ...?
(I have no idea who this is.)

: You must be... him! Clyde. Right?

She leans forwards, holding a picture of members of the private security company.

: ... No.
(Go away.)

: Listen, listen-

: I wanted to ask you for your help. I know you take requests. It would be good for both of us if you accepted it.

: ...

He clearly doesn't have much of a choice. ... If she already knows who he is,

: I'm here on account of the Arcoul Guild. I've got a lead on someone you might be familiar with. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?

then he'd rather take the job than go to jail.

It takes a few seconds for Clyde to decide what he wants to say.
The private security company wasn't. Isn't. Exactly legal in the first place.
The odd jobs are a front; The dirty stuff on the side isn't something he actively takes jobs for, despite his employer encouraging him. He's fine with a measly wage in return for a home, and the kindness of the residents.

And when he did take one of those jobs?

...

Either way, if this was about his boss, then she'd be right, wouldn't she? This is a big deal.
They took a job for someone. It led to disaster. It was cleaned up. It wasn't discussed again.
It was all that, and here he was, looking at the last trace left.

... That, and she's still staring him down; smile on her face, like she knows the answer she's going to get, like she's completely correct about the situation.

He leans back. For a moment, he forgets that he's sitting on a stool rather than a chair (which could embarrass him quite quickly!), but no matter.

Clyde doesn't know who this woman is,
but he knows that she's probably right.

: Okay.

: Then I'll be looking forwards to our arrangement!

---

It is 2 in the morning, and Clyde has learned that this woman's name is Nuru.
She talks like she knows you, and has the kind of conversation skills that you'd avoid if you wanted to preserve any personal information. It's a shame that everything about her is so interesting, because he knows he'll be wrung into another predicament he doesn't particularly want to indulge in.

...Especially because she was confident enough to hand him a leaf with an address engraved into its roots shortly before leaving.

So,
when he got home, it was all he could think about.

The woman who seeks vengeance, for reasons he doesn't know.

The private security company; Casey, Camille, Keanu, and their new recruit- how this is what he is now, and how this could be his fate.

How she found him,

That mission,

That man.

Something like a cemetery of ideas, filled with grief over the innocence he's killed.

...Yes, that's exactly what it was. To him, it was diving retribution nesting in his hands, soaking up the blood he'd taken. Forming a prayer, he would seek vengeance as a way to atone.

---

---