Late to my First Interview Part 1

Ruby Tanner was having second thoughts about her choice of a fiancee the day she met Todd Huang. 

"Oh, quit your whining, honey!" she said. "Have some faith." 

Sergeant Ruby Tanner and Captain Rodrigo Reyes had met in the US army; they eloped together to pursue a life following their own orders, leaving all the HR issues behind. Life on the run, however, was not as easy as they'd first imagined. They found only one general in Tokyo by the name of Eugene kind enough to take in a couple of strays with military experience and no documentation. Together, they founded Japan's first Hero Help Squad, an initiative aimed at assisting superheroes. After half a year of hard work, they were glad to have passed the trial phase and now secured enough funding for a crew expansion. 

"Why do you insist on doing it this way?" Rodrigo exclaimed at Ruby, who had kicked her feet up and was eating popcorn in the back of their surveillance van. 

"Ain't no better way to see what someone's made of than to put them to the test, is what I say."

Upon the Hero Help Squad's establishment, the partners agreed to let Rodrigo act as the official head of the team, under one condition — that Ruby was allowed to handle the recruitment process. This was a decision that Rodrigo would regret fondly until his retirement. 

"That girl out there is going to get herself hurt, or worse," said Rodrigo.

That girl was twenty-one-year-old Sayuki. And what she was up against was an invasion from a nest of giant insectoids. They emerged from beneath a quiet suburban street following a local earthquake. Larger than dogs, a bit smaller than the cars, their chitinous legs scraped on the concrete and trampled shrines and garden beds. Ruby and Rodrigo watched from the fuzzy monitors in their van as Sayuki was busy evacuating the quaint little houses of civilians, now scurrying here, now shooting a few shots there from her rifle. 

"She's a good shot," Ruby commented. "You should give her more credit."

"But this is her first mission, and it isn't exactly rescuing a cat from a tree, or the giant marshmallow man," said Rodrigo. "And where is that other guy who was supposed to show up? Maybe you could tell him to bring some more donuts and beer."

Indeed Rodrigo was right. As they looked to the sky, the hero they were supporting, Pyrocaloric, was busy gobbling down the last of the supply of donuts and beers, then breathing out fire down into the sulfurous hole which the bugs burst out of. One of three known superhumans endemic to Japan, Pyrocaloric was also capable of propelling himself into the air, though he never disclosed the details as to how. He had arrived looking like a sumo wrestler, but now resembled a middle-aged salaryman. Charred bug bodies littered the streets. Even still, stragglers would rampage through the neighborhood.

"The infestation is spreading at 3 meters per minute. Sensing increasing threat levels from the newly emerged hostiles," said a third voice inside the van belonging to a solemn teenage girl.

Out in the fray, Sayuki was starting to realize how much cardio it took to be a soldier. Panting, she escorted a mother holding her child to the safe zone set up by police. Sweat drenched her neon green hair, rolled down onto her neon green ski jacket, and evaporated under the bleak winter sun.

"But Mommy, what about Mr Dumpling? We can't just leave him!" the child bawled.

Then with one swift motion, the kid wriggled himself free from Mommy's arms and sprinted past Sayuki, shouting: "I'm gonna be a hero!"

Sayuki exchanged brief glances with the mother, laid down her assault rifle, and bolted after the 7-year-old, back into the sharp screeches of insects, back into danger. 

Meanwhile, Todd Huang, formerly known as Frederick Wan, arrived on scene wearing a beanie and sunglasses. He calmly walked into the van where Rodrigo and Ruby sat, handed Rodrigo a "sorry I'm late" along with a delay certification he obtained from the station, then picked up his temporary government ID badge along with the largest caliber sniper rifle he could find. Rodrigo, astounded, gaped as Todd strolled back out and across the safe zone boundary.

"Where do you source these recruits?" he asked Ruby.

"Believe it or not, darling, this one was referred to me by the General himself."