It has been a month since the first time I've met my superior, Miss One. From day one, she has been a pretty hands-on leader which cares about my development in this company. There's a lot of things that I have learned about this facility, including all of the confidential technical knowledge that seems limitless to me.

About four weeks have passed and the first thing that I've done as soon as I got into that dusty old room was to clean it up. I'm not even kidding, three days passes by with me and One just tidying the room with brooms and duster. I have also pushed One to request better office equipment and computers. Although it was a slow and quite frustrating administration process, we eventually get to play with some equipment and work essentials. Basically, they are planning to give Miss One a better accommodation to be used in her duties, mainly research and experiments.

I could not shake her happy and relieved expression out of my mind, once the equipment was brought here by crane. The crane basically used to transfer a wooden crate and both of us slowly brought it in by "catching" it from outside of the window. I should remind you that this office is currently only accessible by that narrow spiral stair case because the elevator won't be functional for at least another two months.

Turns out, she has been churning out useful data and research paper out of the outdated and often imprecise measurement system that they gave to her some years ago. I asked her how does she eliminate biases of the equipment when it's so unreliable. She just nods and laughs in a forced manner, with a glints of tear coming out of her tear ducts.

That's what happened on my first and two weeks of being here, including the countless hour of her just being with me every step of the way when working on something. Sometimes Parmadita is a bit jealous of how much time I've been spending with another woman, but I'm sure she will understand soon enough that we are here for the long run. It's important for me to build up trust and sense of community if I'm going to do any espionage in the future.

The third and fourth week was spent on finishing up on some experiments that Miss One has been working on for quite a while. A year of work to be exact. The new and upgraded equipment that we requested sure was one of the reason why this particular project is finished in time for a presentation event. This presentation event will highlight every single departments and teams achievements in the past months and I'm quite sure it has bring some light to Miss One's team good reputation.

Miss One was researching about the behavior of Mana when it interacts with microscopic objects. Specifically, we are trying to entice a very small rock with a custom magic circle that has a lot of observable properties such as momentum. The momentum of the rock then will be recorded and the research basically talks about the magical effects when it's micro-dosed with mana. It's nothing extraordinary nor it will change the future anytime soon. But it will certainly be a foundation for a more robust magic based technology to come.

This morning, we presented our research to all of the other members of the company. Right now, it's twelve o'clock and we're on recess, in a cafe waiting for more review by the upper echelon.

Lukman

Did you see their faces when we gave our results? None of them comments on it and everyone is flabbergasted by how much we can achieve with so little equipment!

One

Yeah, it's kind of surprising that we don't have a lot of effort on researching magic based technology even though right now we have the ability to create microchips.

Lukman

Yeah that's true. It's probably because of how mana inefficient it is to manipulate very small things, with our current understanding of magic.

Wait, that's not the point. The point is that they are underestimating our ability to bring good result to them, to a point where they didn't do anything towards your equipment issues, for years!

I'm glad I stare that young man in the eye every time we're talking about the stuff we use back in the office. I hope he realizes that what he's done to you is unacceptable.

One

Thank you for that Lukman. I wouldn't imagine myself having the guts to do anything about my situation. You're right that it's a miracle I could be productive for years with such unreliable equipment.

Lukman

Shucks, don't worry about that, we are a team aren't we?

I have to say though, the other RnD team sure hog all of the budget for their own benefit. I mean, how could they be so brash to eat more than 90% of the budget and spare you only with so little you can't even change the chair that you're using!

One

I guess the higher ups have their own priorities. The other teams are researching very profitable and promising knowledge paths after all. Like that one time they made a magic circle that's 5% more efficient in processing money transaction, yielding them a lot of profit in just a year of it operating.

Meanwhile, most of the path that I took interest in yield only a small profit or none at all. Sometimes I wonder whether they need me or not. As if I'm just some bad scientist, hired because of their nationality quotas.

Mana as a way for processing a transaction sure sounds ridiculous, but all you need to know is the government trusts magic based money because it's reliable and has been in operation for thousands of years. More on that later.

Lukman

I suppose we just need to search for more application for our research then. Lets see...

As I sip the coffee that's placed right beside a folder of paper, One stares at me with some amount of expectation. An expectation that I could find a way to turn her team around so that we could get more attention from the higher up, and therefore more funding for our duties.

Lukman

What about this, it seems that you have made discoveries about a method to detect mana leakage in a closed environment. We could use that as the basis for the next project to improve the safety of our mana extractor! That should at least put the name of our team on the board.

The positive reputation of this RnD team is essential towards gathering more good impression from the executives. This will eventually give me an edge when I need to lobby them for information regarding the abnormal amount of mana extraction that happens a while ago. At the very least, I could get access to more data around that time and see the anomaly that's happening behind the scene.

She responds with a single nod and a smile.

One

Thank you Lukman. I don't think I could manage finding that perspective without you. I have to tell you, this is the first time ever that I have seen them happy when I present any kinds of result from my work.

I don't really know how you convince almost all of them about the benefit of our research, but you did.

I want to say that the skill is called "lobbying", but I wouldn't want to spoil the mood and explain too much things to her. It is no secret that she's quite bad at interacting with other people, but I wouldn't expect her to be this good at science yet so bad at interacting with others. It makes me wonder how come she became a leader of a team with this below-below-below-average communication skills.

Lukman

Man...

Speaking of money, transaction, and profits, how much have we spent in this cafe now?

One

I don't really know, let me see...

I bought some coffees, you too, some bread here and there, then if we total it up, we should get about 0.754 La.

As I have said before, this girl is a genius. She is able to calculate our lunch just by looking at it for a fraction of a second. What's more surprising, those 0.754 La also includes taxes. Thankfully there is no service fee, unlike in The Federation of Peace and Freedom.

As you can see, La is the name of the currency that's accepted everywhere. Even in Milium, a country where everything is being controlled, this currency still have some relevancy there. The way we use this money is also quite ancient, knowing that one of the only thing that survives throughout the history of this currency is its name. Probably quite far before the modern language that we use today even exist. I will demonstrate how it works right now, as I'm paying my meal for the afternoon.

First of all, you get your government issued mana bottle and then open it up. Then, you should write the amount of money you want to give to another person on a piece of paper, usually placed near the cashier for people to use. You should also write the name of the receiver, then drop just a tiny drop of mana on the paper with one of your finger resting on top of it. Let the drop of mana penetrates you, which after a brief moment the writing on the paper should be gone as the process completed.

The receiver of the money could check the amount of balance by imagining it in their head which would also list all of the transaction that goes in and out of the person. Not the person's account, but the person itself. As we have known, a person is considered alive when a soul is detected within their bodies. The way a person's money is stored and protected in this magical system is by linking it to a person's soul.

The company that I just paid to doesn't really have a soul but it seems like our ancestor found another way to create a new "bank account" without linking it into a soul. The process is a bit more complicated, but it involves a lot of security measures and a full bottle of mana. The content of the mana in the bottle should be manually added as the amount of money that's stored in it grew.

After each of us paid for our own lunch, we went out of the front door and starts to walk towards our own office. That afternoon is filled with a lot of boring and menial work about experimenting and documenting everything that we have found. But I suppose a good work will eventually be repaid by something better in the future. As the saying goes, of course.

It is evening right now, right around the time that the sun goes down into the horizon. As I opens the door to my apartment, I can hear Parmadita flipping through her books, probably some light reading, waiting for me to come home. She sees me taking off my lab coat and throwing it into a bucket full of dirty clothes. I can feel her playful aura just by the warm breeze that touches my neck.

Parmadita

A month of marriage and you're already having an affair with another woman.

She's sitting on the bed, resting her back against the wall while reading a coverless book. Parmadita welcomes me home with a smile on her face and a warm food neatly placed on the table. We have been living together for a month and it seems that we're going with a more "traditionalist" rule. It is a rule where the husband goes out to work while the wife does all of the house keeping and gossips in the mean time.

Lukman

Do you really think I'm cheating on you?

Parmadita

Of course not, silly. But I wouldn't say that I'm not jealous. Spending most of the daylight with her, five times a day. Must be nice having such a good looking boss for a change.

Lukman

Don't let Agent C hear that, he surely will get angry.

Parmadita

You wish they can hear us. Not with all of the protective measures done so we couldn't get access to the outside world. I mean, we even need to use a special equipment just to contact them after all.

Lukman

Yeah, the pendant. So I guess now you have more information for me about the state of the art communication barrier that we have talked about?

Parmadita

No, I don't have anything new to say about that. But I do have something a bit more interesting to say about your new boss. Have you heard of the Section 1.11?

Lukman

I'm not familiar with it. Sounds a lot like something that I have read before though. Are you talking about the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), Section 1.11?

Parmadita

Yes I'm talking about that particular rule. Come and sit beside me.

Before I even got close near the edge of the bed, Parmadita stops me midway and told me to do something about my clothes.

Parmadita

Look, at least don't get up here with that filthy clothes and pants. You're making me uncomfortable. Just take off your things and use boxers or something.

Lukman

You want me to take a shower first?

Parmadita

No it will take too long. Just strip until its just your boxers and shirt. I'm just iffy looking at you with those baggy pants, looks like you'll be sweating just by being near me. I mean, see here?

I'm wearing over sized clothes with just pants and headband with snacks and good ass books on my side. Don't you dare mess with my good vibes Lukman.

She contradicts herself not even two sentences apart. She said that she doesn't like my baggy clothes, while bragging about her over sized clothes. Over size clothes which Parmadita definitely stole from my drawer. But I digress, after all I want to hear more about her new found intel. Also, I don't want to mess with her good vibes.

I strip myself into the essentials and sit beside her, occasionally munching on the snack near me. I should have eaten the already made dinner first, but I think she doesn't want me to do that yet. With me sitting beside her and all that.

Lukman

So, what's the findings that you've found in that SOP book?

Parmadita

munch

munch

gulp

So, if you turn to page 21 and look at the second paragraph of the page, you could see that there's an operational standard when handling private information of all employees. Including your boss, Miss One.

Can you read me what does it say?

Lukman

Okay, it says, "All personnel personally identified information must be protected with the highest level of discretion, archived, then disposed of after a significant time has passed since the time of recruitment."

I don't see anything wrong with that, even our agency did something quite similar to this. I mean, we even met on the incinerator room remember?

Parmadita

That's correct, but the thing about that standard procedure is the unspecified amount of time it takes until disposal. Turns out, they kind of bend the rule a bit and made sure that it's never disposed of. I heard about this rumor by overhearing the talk between the housewives. These people sure talk a lot, huh?

Lukman

You should also realize that you're one of "those people" now. So, what does that information have anything to do with the mission then?

Parmadita

My point is that the circumstances of your boss seems to be very suspicious, and I think we can get to know her better by doing a little espionage. Spy stuff, my darling.

Lukman

Spy stuff huh?

I don't think we should raise any suspicion toward ourselves right now. Remember, we are working here for the long run. We are not going to get anything deep without having a deep cover, you know.

Parmadita

Who said that we are the one that will steal those documents? While you're gone having a date with your hot goth girlf-

Lukman

She's my boss babe. You know me by now that that's out of the question right?

Parmadita

Because she's your boss?

Lukman

Because I'm married to you dummy.

She smiled and hugs me, with force. I'm having difficulty breathing but I held on until she eventually let me go. She continues her line of story after that.

Parmadita

As I say, while you're gone working with a hot female boss, I was reaching out to our headquarters to see what they will do next now that we have this intel. Because of the need to know basis, we shouldn't be able to know a lot about what's happening behind the scene-

Lukman

As usual.

Parmadita

Indeed, but Agent A said hinted at me that someone from our side with a deeper cover in this facility will take care of it. Who ever this person is, they will probably need to get through a lot of security measures and homework just to make sure no one's cover is blown.

Lukman

Yeah, gotta be a lot more undetectable than an ant.

Parmadita

What do you mean ant?!

After that sentence was uttered, we argue for hours about ant. Our argument, or as I would call it "mildly engaging conversation", goes everywhere. We talk about how ant isn't really that stealthy, the way ant create their bases, how our bases back in The Republic compared to ants', eventually we went into another direction and starts talking about cheese.

She could act dumb and cute sometimes. But mostly, Parmadita tries her best to be a good wife for me. Laundries, warm food at least three times a day, spotless house, and well managed financial. Sure we have a lot of money given to us by the government back when we first got here. But all of that would probably goes up in smoke if I'm the one who's managing it. Although some people would look at as a very traditionalist couple, I wouldn't mind being a traditionalist if it gave me this kinds of moment. Where she's free to think whatever she wanted to think. Where she's a partner instead of someone doing a 9 to 5 job.

It's quite fun having her as my partner. It feels like having a friend that you can get intimate with. Although sometime we argue about things that we regret later for arguing, but all of that is worth it. In the future I will probably remember this as one of the nicest memories we have. A glimpse of us, having a good time.