Ash Lake Prologue: Job Opening
Rain fell around the looming tower of the office building, Wren peeked out from under her umbrella to look up at it. The sign out front read "Ashlake Breeding Services;" A name which might have explained the twisting feeling of anxiety in Wren's stomach. She felt a torrent of water droplets impact on her nose and tugged herself back under the shelter she held. She shook the moisture from her muzzle, her nose crinkling in displeasure. "Why did it have rain today?" She muttered the words quietly to herself, bare paws pressing against wet ground as she entered the building. Wren shivered slightly as she walked, wearing a white blouse and black skirt, she lamented her professionalism and choice to wear her nicest clothing. She was greeted with a large lobby, marble floors melting into large glistening column to hold up a balcony above. The canine raised an eyebrow, her tail flagging out behind her in unease as she approached a security station, complete with what seemed to be metal detectors. She was greeted by a great mass of thick grey fur, the form standing to reveal the largest wolf she had ever seen. He gave her little bow before speaking, his voice
coming out as a deep growl that Wren guessed was supposed to be friendly. "Hello. Could you step into the detector for me?" Wren's only response was to nod before walking through the metal detector, not even wondering why he didn't take her umbrella or keys. She was stopped by a small metal gate on the other side. Before she had time to move, the walls of the detector began to quickly rotate around her. Wren stumbled out of the detector, her head spinning from watching the arms twist in front of her. She was steadied by a huge hand gripping her shoulder as an apology rang through her ears. "Sorry about that. I should have told you to close your eyes first. I'm new..." The wolf held her steady until Wren waved him off, leaving her to look at a screen. "Hmm, German Shepherd, Female. You're more than halfway through your cycle, estrus is in twelve days. Alright, you're clear to go through." Wren blushed deeply at the wolf's words, covering part of her body though she was still completely clothed. "You were scanning to see if I was in heat?" She asked, incredulous. "They told me to scan everyone who comes in. I think my boss is the only one who I haven't scanned today..." He trailed off while Wren sighed and shook her head, heading through the scanner and past where he had raised the gate. Wren saw a desk set into the far wall and immediately headed for it, ignoring the various doors and hallways leading off of the main lobby. To the side of the matching marble front desk was a set of elevators and on the opposite side, what appeared to be the bathrooms.A grey Otter sat at the front desk clad in blue knit dress and black stockings, typing away at her computer. She looked up immediately when Wren approached, standing with a smile."Wren Locke, I presume? You're right on time. Let me
just get someone to take you up to the top floor to see Miss Canonach." Wren's face screwed up slightly as she replied. "Take me up? I'm just here for a job interview, right?" The Otter nodded, still smiling and quelling some Wren's nerves with her friendly demeanor. "Yes, Miss Canonach will be conducting your interview personally. Apparently it has something to do with the department you will be working in.""They failed to tell me what kind of position I was being considered for on the phone. I'm not going to be one of the... uh... Breeders, am I?" The Otter chuckled and shook her head, reaching out to give Wren's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "That's not exactly how it works. All of the breeders here are male. We'll use female clients for male clients if both are willing. We do offer some other services but most of work is done with females. After all, there aren't a lot of males that can get pregnant. Just looking at you, my guess would be Customer Relations." Wren snorted to stifle a laugh. "I'm not sure I would b-" She was interrupted by a lithe, black feathered bird jogging up to her, cracking a smile as he met the Shepherd's eyes. "Wren, mind coming with me?" Wren tilted her head at the newcomer. "You know who I am?" She followed as he led her towards the elevator, turning to wave to The Otter before focusing on back on the bird. The Bird was had already called the elevator, glancing down to her as he answered her question. "I'm the one who sent you that email, I think I should know who I was asked to offer a job to." He turned over to grin widely at her, putting his hands in the pockets of the black coat he wore.There was chime and silver doors opened to an empty elevator, Wren once more following The Bird as he stepped inside. They settled next to each other once more,
Wren trying to keep a hundred questions from spilling out of her lips at once. She hesitated and finally settled on what seemed to her like a harmless one. "So... what job am I interviewing for? I don't have any experience at a place like this. I was very surprised when I read your email.." Wren tactfully left out the fact that she had been applying to places like a madwoman and would've jumped on any job that was not at a burger joint. "I think I'll let our boss explain. She's much more eloquent than I am."Wren was led out of the elevator and down a long branching hallway. There seemed to be various offices and meeting for other higher ups down each limb, but The Bird led her directly forward, towards a large oak door labeled, "Aisling Canonach, President and CEO." Just outside the office, the hallway opened into a small waiting area, soft black leather couches lining the wall. The Bird took his spot at an ornate desk to the side, gesturing towards the door. "Go right in, she's waiting for you." Wren did as she was told, taking a steadying breath before finally pushing open the door. She took a step, letting it shut behind her, too preoccupied with
the office in front of her to take notice. It was gigantic; a simple wooden desk sitting right in the center. Off to the side was a small table with chairs set around it, and to the other side was an area closed off by various bookcases, all filled shelf to shelf. The door was lifted slightly, stairs descending towards the desk in the center, which allowed Wren see another door to the side of the book cases, leading off to who knew where. Wren took this all in slowly before finally letting her eyes fall onto the person actually seated behind the desk, looking patiently, if not encouragingly up at her. Aisling Canonach was some sort of canine; Wren guessed in her head as to some sort of dingo or jackal, not knowing the second was correct. Her fur was a deep shade of blonde, tipped and laced with various shades of the brown. Even in the dim light of the office, the coat shined dully as Wren approached.. The CEO was tall and lithe, the black business suit she wore hugging her body tightly. Wren pulled back in shock as she met the woman's eyes. While one of Aisling's eyes was a beautiful hazel, the other was white and unmoving, obviously having been seriously damaged at some point in her life. Aisling's face cracked into a small smile at the reaction, standing and holding out a hand to Wren. "Wren Locke, good to finally meet you. Have a seat, won't you?""Of course, Miss Cano-" Wren was cut off mid sentence for the second time that day. "Please, call me Ash. I might as well be myself while I work. Now, I'll skip right to the chase. We want you as our newest hunter. Your job would be to hunt down paranormal targets and capture them for our use here. Do you accept?" Wren tilted her head at the jackal, mouth falling open as the German Shepherd processed the words. "You want me... for my ghost investigations? And you're willing to pay me for it?!" Wren was flabbergasted; the idea of being actually paid for her passion just too much for her to process this quickly. "Not just ghosts, anything we deem a worthy target. We've gotten police reports of some of your little adventures. You know how to handle yourself and the fact that you're still alive is proof of that." "But wasn't this company made for breeding? Helping women deal with their heats, giving both men and women a place to live out their fantasies, things like that."Ash's smile returned once more as Wren spoke. "It was originally, and to this day, our benefactor is still one of our most popular breeders. Women pay thousands and wait months for him. But at some point, we started getting more and more exotic requests. Not ones to back down from a challenge, both I and our benefactor did our best to fulfill these requests. And through our efforts, we caught the attention of the government..." She paused to turn her computer screen towards Wren, The Shepherd leaning forward to see. "Now we have beasties like this downstairs." The screen showed a of mass of tentacles, pushing forth from a black pool, under which Wren assumed was the rest of of it's body. "People want to fuck that?" Wren bluntly asked, settling back into her chair and blushing as she remembered this was a job interview. Luckily for her, Ash just grinned wider. "Oh no, not that one. That one would mash them into blobs of jelly and eat them sooner than have sex with anything from this world. But we do have some more eager tentacle beasts. Why? Are you interested? Employees get fifty percent off."Wren shook her head quickly, not wanting her potentially new boss to think about her that way. "No, I'm... quite vanilla myself, thank you." "Shame. Anyway, we're offering one hundred and twenty to start. We'll start you off with some small things and you can go up from there. The larger beasties you're able to capture or kill, the more we'll be willing to pay." "A hundred and twenty, per investigation? Per 'beasty'?" Wren's face fell at the thought; that was even less than she had been getting before she quit. "Per year, dear. One hundred thousand is the entry rate for your position and the extra twenty thousand is an apology from me."Wren's mouth fell open again, that figure cycling through her head as she flopped backwards into her chair. "You have got to be joking... Where do I sign?" She sat up once more, looking about excitedly. Even if she only did it for a month or two, that's more money than she normally made in a year. "You'll take the job? Perfect." Ash pulled out a small stapled stack of papers. "Sign the bottom of every page, right on the line. This is just the employment contract. We'll have a few more things for you to sign later. But before then we need to go meet someone." Wren had finished signing through the packet just to look up at Ash questioningly. "Who are we going to meet?"Ash's face morphed into a small rueful smile as she stood, already heading for the door. "You remember how I said that extra twenty thousand was an apology. Let's go meet your partner."