Crystal Salt walked down a government hallway with bland, pale, mint green walls, and well-worn white tile speckled with black, pink, and yellow flecks. She was pretty sure her grandmother had the same tile in her house when she was growing up. She probably still did. She told herself to call her grandmother later.

Knocking on the door at the end of the hall, she immediately heard "Come in," and she did so. Considering the hallway, the office stunned her. She took it in for a few seconds, and before she could introduce herself to the older man behind the desk near the door, he said, "Please take a seat." Crystal sat down facing him, and he said, "You Crystal Salt?"

"I am," she nodded. "How a--"

"--I'm Agent Heironymous. Describe the room." He sat back in his chair and waited.

Slightly perturbed at being cut off, she paused only a couple of moments before saying, "It's as wide as the end of the building, and the ceiling has to be the ceiling of the next floor, which is the top floor. Everything looks to be real hardwood- cherry, I'm guessing. Bookshelves built into three walls, full of books, the occasional small statue- all animals, ornate bookends, and knick-knacks scattered in front of the books.

"The eye-catcher is the Chinese dragon running across the shelves to your right. Kind of cool that its head angles over the edge, and appears to be looking at the horse rearing in its direction from the middle of the shelves. I assume that's intentional, since they both appear to be made of iron, and are both painted the same matte black.

"The last wall, behind me, is windows that go from waist-high to a few feet below the ceiling. There's a door in the far corner on that wall that goes out to a balcony that's about half as deep as this room, and just as wide. Fantastic view from both the balcony and the windows, but no shades, and I'm wondering how you tolerate the glare when the sun hits them, since you face the window."

At that, Heironymous picked up a small remote, hit a button, and the windows tinted to an opaque black. He smiled momentarily, which lifted the ends of his horseshoe walrus mustache, then hit the remote again, untinting the windows.

Crystal continued, "You have pictures hung over the windows of you and every sitting president since Lincoln. You appear to be the same age in all of them, so either you're an egomaniac with a penchant for Photoshop, or you really are a dragon, and not one of the Dragon Men as people have been assuming since they were outed at the Rhinodome fight between Supermodel and Superblonde."

Holding eye contact with Heironymous, she finished, "Your desk is the same dark, presumably cherry wood as the walls and bookshelves, and carved with dragons going up the corners. Glass to protect the top was a practical choice. The coffee table, three end tables, two chairs, and couch across the room, under the windows, are similarly carved, and upholstered in a plush fabric about the same color as the wood. I don't know fabrics very well, but it looks comfortable. The deep burgundy pile carpet is an odd choice for an office, but it is very cushy, and goes surprisingly well with the room. My only question is: how does a Secret Service agent rate an office like this?" She smirked, knowing she'd aced his test.

Heironymous looked at her unflinchingly for a few moments, then gave a brief chuckle in the form of a, "Hm." Sitting forward in his chair, he folded his hands on the desk, and said, "I rate an office like this, because as those non-doctored pictures on the wall behind you show, I have served every president since Lincoln. I have been around a long time, I am very old, and yes, I am a dragon. In some ways, this makes me more powerful than the president, and in some areas gives me more influence." He said nothing for a few seconds, and then said, "You took all that better than most."

Salt shrugged. "I've seen some weird things in this world, sir."

Heironymous chuckled, and opened the only file on his desk, looked it over momentarily, and said, "You were Navy?"

"Hooyah, sir," she said with subdued pride.

"Says here that you fought Humboldt?"

"That's not accurate, sir," she said immediately.

Heironymous looked up in surprise. "You didn't capture Humboldt, The Red Devil? That was the main reason I chose to interview you."

"Oh, I captured him, sir. I just wouldn't say it was much of a fight."

"Hm!" Heironymous chuckled again. He looked at her file another few seconds, then closed it. Standing, he extended his hand, and said, "You start Monday."

Standing and shaking the agent's hand, Crystal looked surprised. "We take the weekends off, sir?"

"Ha, no," deadpanned Heironymous. "We take off when we have time. You're taking the weekend to pack. Monday, you and I head to Indigo."

"Indigo," she repeated. "I thought that city was quarantined?"

"You're going to go a lot of places other people can't, Special Agent Salt."

Crystal smiled. "I like the sound of that, sir."

"Heironymous, or Special Agent Heironymous. 'Sir' is reserved for others."

"Special Agent Heironymous," Crystal corrected herself.

"See you Monday," he said.

"See you then," she confirmed, and headed for the door. Pulling it shut softly, Crystal smiled with some satisfaction, chuckled noislessly, and started down the hall. Pulling her phone out of her pocket as she walked, she dialed, put it to her ear, and kept walking to the elevators. Hitting the button, the car arrived fairly quickly, the doors opening as her call was answered. Stepping into the elevator, she said, "Hi, grandma... I got the job... I know! I'm pretty pumped," she said as the door closed.

In his office, Heironymous smiled, having heard every word Salt said in the hallway. Picking up his desk phone, he hit a button and waited. Almost immediately, he said, "I hired her. I think she'll do nicely. ...Yep. Thanks," and he hung up. He sat back and looked out the windows, thinking about the coming week, and the talk he'd just had with his new partner. Raising his eyebrows, he said, "It is a fantastic view."