﻿<strong>Director Petticox<br/>NestBreaker Exterminators<br/>Central Office<br/>Uptown</strong><br/><br/>Security cameras picked up the new arrivals milling about at the front entrance, and Sheila pressed the intercom to inform the director. "Sir, the new applicants have arrived. Shall I have them brought up to the office for interviews?"<br/><br/>"Negative! Send someone down to bring them straight to the briefing room. I'll join them momentarily." Petticox gathered up the files in front of him and stacked them into a neat pile, then began rummaging through his desk drawers until he found two of the most important items in his office: a carton of extra-strength antacid tablets, and a fifth of aged Scotch, one of which chased the other with great speed down the director's gullet.<br/><br/>"Maybe these assholes will last a couple days," he grumbled under his breath as he gathered the files and headed for the conference room.<br/><br/>**********<br/><br/>"Ladies, gentleman, welcome to NBX Pest Control. We appreciate your desire to join our company. Does everyone have their paperwork ready, documents available? Excellent. Please follow me."<br/><br/>The front doors had been opened by an unnaturally dull, utterly forgettable young man in a very plain blue suit, who welcomed the recruits inside. The building's foyer was very cold and austere, polished black marble floors and pillars with elegant stained glass windowfronts in the northeast and southwest walls. The young man pattered on endlessly about both the building and company's history as he led the applicants upstairs via one of the spacious elevators, but the unwavering monotony of his voice made his carefully rehearsed speech nearly impossible to follow.<br/><br/>After what to the applicants no doubt felt like an eternity, the elevator stopped on the fourth floor and the office drone escorted them to a very posh conference room, screens and monitors covering almost every inch of two whole walls. He gestured to the plush rolling chairs and stepped back out of the room.<br/><br/>"Please wait here. The Director will be in to meet with you in a moment," the drone said before turning smartly on his heels and vanished back down the hall.<br/><br/>**********<br/><br/>"The applicants are waiting in the conference room, sir."<br/><br/>Sheila's voice grated on Norman's ears through the intercom, and he scooped the files into his arm and marched out of his office down to the far end of the hall. Walking into the briefing room, he motioned for the applicants' attention as he stepped to the head of the table. The folders in his hand slapped down on the smooth mahogany, and he looked around the room at the new recruits.<br/><br/>"I'm Norman Petticox, Director of Operations for the NestBreakers. Any of you have any experience with exterminating? No, don't answer that; I don't give a damn. If you've got some, great. If you don't, you're about to get some. Congratulations, you're hired. No, I'm not gonna bother learning your names. You want to make my acquaintance, I'll learn your names after you come back alive enough times to collect your paychecks. Now, enough sucking each others' toes! Here's your contracts, ID badges, and your first mission briefing. Look them over, sign what needs signing and get to work. If there are any questions, talk to Sheila; she's just down the hall, and she'll get you stamped and authorized. Welcome to the NestBreakers. Try not to get killed."<br/><br/>Before any of the applicants could respond at all, Norman pushed the files in front of him toward the center of the table and left the conference room to return to his office. There were enough folders on the table for each new agent, each containing the same contents: several pages of legal and insurance paperwork, a directory of company employees, a small mag-card with a blank space for a name and photo, and a copy of the mission dossier.<br/><br/><em>*As the agents complete their paperwork and peruse the files, they learn that their first mission is rather simple, but also decidedly urgent: a mysterious and highly fatal virus has broken out among three smaller villages located near the northwestern perimeter of the Desolation Zone, almost seventy miles outside Neo-Atlanta. Medical officials have determined the virus is somehow related to the metabugs, but have been unable to pin down the specifics and are thus unable to develop a viable vaccine. The NestBreakers' assignment is to travel to the infection site, infiltrate one of the smaller nests within the DZ, and capture a minimum of seven metabug specimens -- dead or alive. The specimens are to be returned to the Center for Disease Control in Neo-Atlanta within 72 hours. NestBreakers will recieve double the usual going rate for each required specimen; standard rates will apply to all non-essential exterminations. Transportation has already been arranged, and an assortment of additional weaponry is available in the armory.*</em><br/><br/><span class="bbc_u">Good Hunting!</span>