The Bureau, like the rest of the modern world, was flat white and featureless. A clerk signed him in, and directed him to orientation.

The winding, labyrinthine hallways of the building were all identical, no differentiation; wandering through, he simply had to trust that the instructions he had received were correct. Unlike most modern citizens, he was unalloyed, unmodified; lacking magnetics, he had no internal sense of direction.

But, as an observer, he had to exist in natural state. He had never particularly wanted modification, anyway.

The door to the new employee orientation was white and featureless like all the rest. His optic contact did at least give confirmation it was the correct one. He didn't know what he would do if he had wandered all that time just to end up at the wrong place.

It slid open for him, and he stepped in.

He took his seat behind a long white table, next to three other people. He had apparently been the last to arrive. Great.

The lights dimmed and a presentation was projected in front of them. It would be repeating things he already knew.

A crisply dressed android came forward, and began speaking in a chipper voice.

" Hi, and welcome to the Bureau of Unsolved Homicides & Disappearances! I'm your orientation officer. Starting today, you'll be assigned a handler and begin working cases here at the Bureau."

A slight pause as the presentation changed slides.

" As I'm sure you know by now, the BHD is very different from other government agencies in the modern world. We are a lifetime commitment, and no cybernetic modification is allowed for our agents. You will be expected to get along with your fellow observers, as contact with outside society will be minimal."

A change in slides.

" According to your studied specialization, you will be assigned to a pre-modern era. For most of you, this will be the 22nd to 25th centuries..." The android did a bit of a double take, seeing Allen's badge color. " Forgive me. We have an early digital era observer here today. Your specialization is the 19th to 21st. How nice! We have had a personnel shortage in that unit for a while now. Back to the presentation."

He could feel the other observers turn to look at him. They were probably baffled he'd chosen to specialize in such a problematic era. Oh well.

" You will have 24 hours prior to the last known sighting of the victim and 24 hours after the discovery of the body to investigate the circumstances of the crime. Your handler will have all case data and forensic analysis tools on hand. Your 48 hours can be repeated. They are full immersion travel with no world interruption. In the case that there is no body, or no sufficient last sighting, your hours will be transferred to equivalent evidence."

The slide changed as the woman sitting next to Allen yawned, checking her watch.

" You will be paid on a case-by-case basis. You may only work one case at a time, which will be chosen at your handler's discretion. You will start with low difficulty cases, and earn access to higher difficulties through promotion. You will reside here at the Bureau when not working. Cases will be considered solved when the culprit has been identified, their reasoning catalogued, and the final resting place confirmed."

The lights went up, and the presentation clicked off.

" You will be assigned handlers now. Please wait patiently until your name is called."

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