“So, Miss, I must say you interview quite well,” the man said, with the pleasantries already forming in in his head. There was nothing wrong with the woman. She was efficient, the executive supposed. She had a bachelors degree, and a little experience. All in all, she was a fine candidate.

 

She looked back at him with a pleasant expression.. Her glasses, hair, and clothes, for all the world, put him in the mind of a librarian. Her brown hair was pulled up in a bun, with loose hair or two escaping. It made her seem all the more pretty. The dress she wore was simple, and the white blouse completed the picture. All of this could be summed up in the word, “unassuming.” Still, there was something off putting about the woman. The man could not understand it, but it felt as he was not in the same world as her.

 

“I would really like to have this job” she said nodding, as if agreeing with something not yet said. ”I would like the change of pace of working in publishing, sir. I think you will also find I bring many other qualifications to the job.”

 

“Yes, I can see that” said the man with a somewhat wooden grin. He was, despite her qualifications considering not hiring her, because of this uneasy feeling she gave him. Qualifications aside, she was unnerving.

 

“Well, miss, I will consider your application, and get back to you in week.”

 

Her smile slipped a bit. He could see a change in her eyes, and assumed she realized he was not going to hire her. Some people became emotional about that, which is why he had planned on turning her down over the phone.

 

He began to say something to calm her, but as he opened his mouth she stood up abruptly. Her bag on her shoulder, she widened her stance, and put a finger to her lips, motioning him to be silent. Her eyes surveyed the office, as if she might see through walls. She looked over at him abruptly, and whispered, “ninjas!”

 

He was quite certain he understood now, what was so odd about her. It was crystal clear. She was insane, clearly.

 

“Young lady..” he began.

 

The throwing star hitting the desk near the intercom interrupted his thought. The two ninjas dropping from the ceiling ended any notions the executive had of sanity.

 

A beige clad assassin landed in front of him, standing on the desk. The ninja pulled a sword from its scabbard. The executive was confused. Ninjas wore black, didn’t they? He then realized the ninja was just the shade of ceiling tile, complete with little dots.

 

“Avast ye scurvy dogs!” The woman yelled as she pulled the flintlock pistol from her bag.

 

A loud crack and smoke flying stunned the executive. The ninja in front of him jerked once, then collapsed. The sword embedded in the desk a mere inches from the executives hand.

 

The remaining ninja charged with his sword held low, in what the executive imagined might be the standard ninja stance. The woman who had seemed some unassuming a few moments earlier parried a sword stroke with the pistol, and kicked out driving the ninja back.

 

She turned to look at the executive with a wide grin on her face. The executive blinked.He tried to shout a warning to the woman whose back was now to the ninja. Before the words formed though she stepped sideways, reached out her hand and grabbed at the ninjas wrist as he went past her. She spun, in an almost graceful manner taking the ninja where her hands lead. She flipped him easily and disarmed him of his sword.

 

The blade spun and twisted around her, and finally she brought it down, chisel point first, into the ninjas chest. He cried out for a moment, and then was still. Smoke still hung in the air from the flintlocks blast, with the sulfur smell that comes with it. The woman turned to look at the executive. Her hair was now hanging down. She looked less like a librarian now and more like a captain of pirates. She grinned a wicked smile, and now, strangely, he felt less uncomfortable with her.

 

“Did I mention I kill ninjas?” she asked quietly. The interview ended shortly thereafter.