Kay's shriek died with a choked gasp as the dragon stopped short, swept off its feet by the chain she failed to notice around its neck. Granted, she was occupied by other things.

She clutched her chest, willing her heart to cease its attempts to leap out her throat. Shaffer was absolutely unruffled.

"Are you alright, Ms. Oritz?" Not a single damn blond hair was out of place.

Kay sputtered a few incoherent noises and pointed at the dragon on a chain, now pacing with a restless flick of its serpentine tail. It stuck a forked tongue out at her and curled up on the concrete floor, its ridged spine to the two women.

"Sorry! So sorry! Didn't realize anyone was coming down here. Dorothy's pen needed some maintenance." A familiar figure emerged from behind the dragon in a sky blue uniform smeared with all manner of dubious substances. He mopped his sweaty face with a shredded orange rag and pushed his thick coke bottle glasses back up the bridge of his nose. A dark snarl of curls sat at a rakish angle on his head. This close, Kay realized he was younger than she first thought, likely due to those ridiculous glasses. He had to be nearly blind.

"Stanley, I've brought your probationary recruit," said Shaffer. "This is Kay Oritz."

Stanley blinked and did a double take at Kay. "Hey, welcome aboard," he said with an extended hand. It took her a little on the longer side of awkward before she finally detached from the wall and shook the man's hand.

She tried to get her tongue to form words again. "That's a dragon."

"Yes it is," said a solemn Stanley.

"Please debrief Ms. Oritz and make sure she is fully prepped to exit the building by the end of the day," said Shaffer. Kay found a slim hand and manicured nails pressing into the small of her back as Shaffer shoved her out of the elevator. The  doors slid closed behind her.

She was alone, with man and dragon. She flinched at the sound of claws scraping on stone.

Stanley cleared his throat. "Um, first things first. Why don't we get you a proper uniform?"

Kay wobbled a little as she turned around. "That's a dragon," she whispered.

"Yes, I'm aware of that," said Stanley.

"Dragons aren't real," said Kay.

"I assure you, they are," said Stanley, with a surprising amount of patience.

"No, they aren't," said Kay, despite evidence to the contrary curled up on the floor at Stanley's feet. "Someone would have mentioned it by now."

Stanley held up his hands as he took a step towards her. "Many well-intentioned and government sanctioned companies like this one have spent the last few centuries making sure nobody mentioned them."

"That's some Illuminati level conspiracy shit right there," said Kay. She sat down hard. The concrete was a cold stony slab beneath her butt and smelled vaguely like wet hay. Her breathing was a little too short, too fast. Great, first day on the job and she was already hyperventilating.

Dorothy the dragon peered at her over its curled up body and made an unmistakable eye roll. A hysterical giggle escaped Kay's mouth.

Stanley crouched next to her and squeezed her shoulder. "Ms. Oritz, look at me."

It was either that or stare down the unimpressed dragon. Kay looked up, Stanley's large brown eyes were calm. His gaze centered her, until she finally managed to take a full breath. She realized he was speaking to her, had been speaking to her for several minutes in low soothing tones until the vise grip of her panic finally released.

"There we are. Still with me, newbie?"

"I think so," said Kay.

"Ready to suit up?"

"Might as well. My butt's going numb sitting here," said Kay.

Stanley helped her to her feet. A thousand questions bubbled away in her mind, so Kay focused instead on the array of stains on Stanley's uniform. "Are those scorch marks?"

"This job is rough on clothes. Our uniforms are flame tolerant, Kevlar weave, and enchantment proof."

"Enchant--what?"

"I think you'd fit a medium," said Stanley. "Maybe a small, but you are fairly tall." He turned back down the hall, easily sidestepping the dragon on the floor. Kay edged forward, her arms held tight to her body as she tried to skirt around the lounging beast. She was halfway when Dorothy hissed and snapped. Kay shrieked and scrambled away. An odd coughing sound followed her down the hall. She turned to see the dragon convulsing--it was laughing at her. The damn dragon was teasing her. Kay's nostrils flared. She hustled to catch up with Stanley,

"Here we go, one medium uniform. What size shoe do you take?"

"A ladies nine," said Kay. Her head buzzed. She tried to ignore it and focus on Stanley as he found her a pair of uniform boots. 

"These might be a bit big on you, but wear some thick socks, you'll be fine. There's a ladies' locker room down the hall to the left. Why don't you go get changed and I will start you on the grand tour of the Grid."

The emphasis he gave the last word was different than when Shaffer mentioned it. Kay mumbled a thank you and clutched her uniform to her chest as she ventured further in. The ladies' locker room was, thankfully, not only clearly labeled, but empty. Kay tossed her uniform and boots on the first bench and plopped down to resume her panic attack.

Inside her head, a mental replica of her first year law professor had a conniption fit. Always read the fine print! She barely skimmed that damn NDA but she had a feeling she missed a doozy of a discretion clause. That was a hell worthy offense for someone educated in law, a negligent sin right up there with people who never read the terms and conditions before clicking 'agree'. Had she lost her damn mind in her desperation to land a job, any job? Kay glanced at her new uniform.

Yes, yes she had.

She stripped down to her cami and underwear. Her 'uniform' was basically overalls, but the material wasn't too heavy, and it didn't clash too badly with her skin tone. The boots were definitely on the large size but she laced them tight and hoped she didn't trip over her own feet in front of the dragon. Being laughed at by a scaly lizard twice in the same day was more than her ego could take.

Kay wondered which locker to tuck away her belongings but found them all vacant, so she shoved her stuff in the first one. She paused at the door, her hand pressed against the painted metal.

Through the entire act of getting dressed, and berating her failure to read through the NDA, there was a tiny screaming Kay running in circles in the back of her mind. She didn't acknowledge that freaking out midget because it didn't help the situation. Kay firmly shut away that part of herself, a strategic compartmentalization of 'shit she couldn't deal with right now' that she used to get through the worst periods of her life. She had many such boxes she developed over the years. It was a method of survival. So, Kay boxed away her panic and exited the ladies' locker room.

The hall was minus one dragon. Stanley waited for her, sweeping the area as he hummed a song she didn't recognize.

"Ah there you are. Find everything okay?"

"Yeah," said Kay. "Hey Stanley, how big is this department?"

"Well there's you," he said, his magnified gaze turned upward in thought. "And me. Yup that's it."

Kay frowned. "Just the two of us?"

"Well the last guy ran out of here screaming," he said, as he lazily scratched his chin.

"Ha, who does that?" Kay gave a nervous laugh.

Stanley set his broom aside. "Come on, we have a lot of ground to cover and time's a wasting"

Kay fell in step behind him. Minus one dragon, she had the mental breathing room to actually look around. Aside from the concrete floor and white washed walls, the doors were a vivid cherry red, while the trim and fixtures were a deep shade of plum.  The color was far more organic and lively than the grey and black shades of the upper floors. It was the most color she'd seen in the whole building. Stanley walked in silence until they reached the first fork in the hallway. He turned and straightened.

"The Grid was established in the 1850's by several government agencies to house and conceal beings of magical origin," said Stanley in a monotone tour-guide voice. "It is the mission of Fantasy Land INC to protect humanity from these creatures and to keep the truth of their existence a myth."

Stanley shrugged his shoulders. "Right, so down here, we deal with the care and general upkeep of the inmates."

"Wait, inmates?" Kay glanced up and down the hallways. There were dozens of numbered doors at unevenly spaced intervals. Now she noticed the steel rivets and reinforcement bands each door had, cell doors. "The dragon is a prisoner here? They are all prisoners here?"

"No," said Stanley. "More like interned citizens."

Kay made a face. Hoo, boy, that didn't sound any better. "Do they have rights?"

Stanley pursed his lips. "Not as such. But it's for the greater good. Now, follow me this way and I'll show you the unicorn wing."

Her mind stuttered at the mention of unicorns. She didn't believe in the bogey man as a child, but come on, what five year old girl didn't believe in unicorns at one point or other. It took a moment but her mind finally snapped back to what else Stanley told her. The Grid was a prison for magical creatures, and she was now a glorified warden.

Kay mentally kicked herself for not reading the damn NDA and kept going. There was nothing she could do about it right now, and besides, there were unicorns.

***

Kay sat on the bench of the ladies' locker room. It was five in the evening. Her new uniform and boots were neatly folded on the bench beside her. Her thoughts were a mess. Once Stanley began to open the cells to show her the residents, her thoughts went off the rails and stayed there.

Unicorns, real unicorns, occupied A Block. The centaurs occupied B block, great herds of them in pens. They stared out at her with resentful gazes. In C block, she recognized the tiny blue men and women fluttering through the air on iridescent wings. D block held all manner of water bound creatures in tanks, from mermaids to rusalkas, and sea hags. E block held dragons, where Dorothy sneered at her from her cage, and her shift came to an end. There were still four floors beneath them. Five floors of magical creatures and though they were now seared into her brain, she could barely recall what they looked like. Kay was dazzled and numb, still trying to process it all when the door opened and Shaffer Atwood entered.

"You survived," said Shaffer, without a hint of good humor. "The first day is always the hardest, but if you stuck it out, you'll do just fine." She handed Kay a packet of paper. "These are for your records. This also contains a list of company perks. You will receive your name badge and security clearance tomorrow. If you have any questions off shift, call the night desk at any time." She patted Kay on the shoulder. "Clock in by nine in the morning. Have a good night."

"Good night," said Kay, but Shaffer was already out the door. Kay scowled down at the paperwork in her lap.

Large sections of the text were redacted in bold black lines of sharpie. What parts she could reach made her feel like the biggest idiot of the decade. The non blacked out pieces did have the appearance of the average NDA, superficially, but the language exact and carefully worded for maximum impact. She stumbled over a line halfway down the page.

'...Shall not disclose the nature of the company under penalty of prosecution. Proven offenders will be terminated and all parties involved eliminated...'

The finality of the words made her skin prickle. Somehow, Kay didn't think a place that hid the existence of dragons and unicorns used a word like 'terminate' to mean 'cease her employment'.

Kay wanted to bang her head against the wall. She couldn't tell Jess about this place, since it might very well endanger her life. Peeved, Kay flipped to the company perks page.

The company offered complimentary breakfast and lunch in the second floor cafeteria. There was free coffee at all hours in the break room and a uniform budget specifically for her department. All employees received a free company lanyard.

Kay sighed. "Doesn't beat a free toaster with interview." Now she had a forty minute walk and a bus ride to figure out how to lie to her best friend.