Part 01: Introduction

ACT 1: Introduction

"Ilyas, welcome to the DEA. I am Keaton Chee, and I am looking forward to working with you."

"That was 2 years ago, when I started to work at the company. Keaton took me into the role as he thought I had potential." Ilyas thought to himself, as a meeting had just commenced. He darted around the table to see some new faces. But he knew surely that they were not going to be friends. His mind has already made that perception.

A knock on the door was heard as a boy with a fringe down one side of his face sat next to him. It covered up a nasty scar that had formed across the left side of his face, and Ilyas thought he was terrifying to look at. He introduced himself as Jun Cheng in a friendly manner. Although he had hid his scar, he definitely had a rather positive personality. He was loud, obnoxious, and seemed full of life. Ilyas was already uncomfortable around him, but knew exactly how to cover his own social anxiety.

Ilyas was an expert at manipulating his emotions, which he called his "brighter self". His brighter self was good at socializing, better and confident in every way, a sort of identity he puts on whenever he needed it.

A tall man was sitting with a stern expression, tapping his pen on the table. He constantly checks his watch, as the lady behind him seems to be watching closely at his every move. He was Christian, a former proprietor of The Trizon, but fell from grace after being in debt. He had his own company that could not retain its value in the market, and he gambled his family expenses away. He also murdered his wife using a Corrupted Dozer weapon after catching her cheating with another man in his own bedroom. Because of that, he became infected by what was known as the Dozer virus, which can slowly deteriorate a person's body.

"Sorry man, the train was crowded as usual." A voice cried out from outside of the office, as he made his way in hurriedly. He was Josh Chan, the leader of the Dozer Elimination Association or DEA for short.

"Josh, who is this woman that keeps bugging me?" Christian demanded an answer, as the lady pointed at herself in awe. She wore modest and formal clothes, and had an elegant charisma to her. Her uniform was different from the rest, which signified her importance.

"She is Margaret Tan. The head secretary and mission advisor of the International Dozer Elimination Unit." Josh introduced her to the rest of the team. "Because of your criminal records, she is placed in our team to monitor and assist you in your investigations."

"Tch. Those guys at HQ really raised it up a notch." Christian said sarcastically. "You do know my missions are dangerous and none of the previous dog watchers survived."

"And what makes you think she will be any better of a support? A secretary? What are they thinking?"

“She is trained to handle herself against Dozers." Josh responded firmly. “She knows of your criminal records and has been assigned to make sure you will do your tasks accordingly. You are still on the police's watch list after all."

“Watchlist? I already said it was the Dozer’s doing-”

“Hey Christian!” As the serious conversation was happening between the two, Margaret was forcefully trying to peel off the plastic wrap for her pudding with her teeth. “Do you happen to have a spoon?”

“What in the world is she doing?” Christian thought, with his palm to his face.

“There is one in the pantry room.” Jun Cheng said, as Ilyas darted his eyes away from second hand embarrassment. “I’ll retrieve it for you.”

“Why, thank you.” Margaret said, as she finally pulled off the seal. “What were we talking about again?”

“Can we begin?” A girl with long twintails was staring at her phone as she spoke. She was clearly unamused by the commotion. Beside her was a man sleeping on his desk, and seemed disinterested in being there.

“Where is that clueless girl anyway?” She asked, still tapping on her phone.

“Clueless?” Margaret asked, as Josh knew very well who she was referring to.

“She is probably late, but Neva, would you be so kind as to put your phone away? We are beginning our meeting.” Josh said, taking out his notes while setting up his laptop. “We will start the meeting without her… again."

Josh took out a photo of a culprit. He was Randall Tang, a man who murdered his wife two nights ago with a Corrupted Dozer weapon. He also attacked a convenience store cashier, and was caught red-handed by passers-by. After a struggle which required the assistance of three proprietors, Randall was disarmed and put into an interrogation room in the Punggol Police Station.

"Until now, this man has not spoken a word about where he got that weapon from. But suspicions have been made on someone who calls himself the Wolf Tamer." Josh replied as the door swung open.

"Sorry, I'm late! I missed the alarm this morning-" A girl with a long ponytail barged in, as Josh simply sighed as if he had seen this many times before.

"Take your seat, Edelyn. We just started." Josh said as Jun Cheng followed suit.

"Here's your spoon, miss… Margaret?" Jun Cheng grinned and got back to his seat.

Josh was barely able to hold his composure, directing this team full of unusual people. He coughed twice and continued to explain about the current mission.

"As everyone knows, the current situation has worsened. Does anyone remember what the DEA was made for?"

"Get rid of Dozers." Jun Cheng spoke, fidgeting with his camera.

"Exactly." Josh snapped his fingers, as he pressed the next presentation slide. "Our mission in the DEA is to eliminate all Dozers. The government wants us to save these things to be used for experiments. They think they are animals and should not be hurt."

"However, our association believes that preserving these monsters is risky and they must be eliminated on sight." Josh said firmly, pressing his fist tightly to his chest. "We are merely tools made to serve the people when troubles rise. So do not expect anyone to give you the same respect."

"Because they most likely don't."

As Josh finished his speech, Edelyn raised her hand silently. He pointed at her and let her speak to the group.

"What are Dozers? I just joined not too long ago and have only been doing paperwork." Edelyn asked as Neva was clenching her teeth.

"Dozers are monsters! Don't you know that?" Neva screamed loudly. "They are roaming this very country and are threats to us! Typical of someone from HQ who does not know these things!"

"Sorry, I was just-" Edelyn felt Neva's anger towards these creatures, and believed that she was acting harshly because of it. "I only know what they looked like in pictures."

"Do you not see them outside? What are you? A shut-in?" Neva cried, as Josh ordered her to calm down.

"Looks like it's time for a history lesson." Josh said calmly. "In the year 2110, Singapore was the first to have found a way to compress radiation from uranium rods. This meant to cover it up until it was impossible for any harmful effects to leak. They created a new alloy made from lead, that was 98% harmless and would not cause poisoning. These new crystals were called radiation crystals, mainly used in buildings to give off power."

"But after three months of testing, the radiation caused animals to go berserk and they formed a weird lead coating from inside its body. They are highly attracted to large amounts of radiation." Josh ended his explanation, and sat down on his chair. He crossed his fingers and rested his head. "Instead of stopping the use of these crystals, the government believed in being able to revolutionize this. It isn't an unrealistic goal, but it has caused many sacrifices. Hence, the DEA was established alongside the proprietors of every HDB and condo to fight against these monsters."

"Then what kind of benefits do we gain from such sacrifice?" Edelyn asked.

"Nothing." Josh replied, leaning back on his chair. "You are all here because you had nowhere else to turn to. It's not an obligation, it is inevitable."

"So what now? Are we going to start destroying some monsters?" Neva asked.

"Wait, like right now?" The man who was sleeping all this time awoke from his desk. "Time to get some scraps!"

"Rahul, had a good rest? Good." Josh clapped his hands. "Alright, time to go. You will be breaking up into teams so try to get along. The mission will be sent to you through WhosApp, and you are all dismissed."

The DEA group was frequently assigned different missions to handle. These missions vary in lengths of time, but would usually depend on how difficult they were to be carried out.

Ilyas, Jun Cheng and Edelyn were sent to Hougang Hibiscus, a HDB block near to Punggol Park. Their mission was to assist the proprietor, Lee Chen Kwang, in the increase of Wolf Dozers in that area.

Christian handles most of the investigations for crimes related to Corrupted Dozer weapons. Hence, he was sent to investigate a new case that happened recently regarding a suspect who killed his own daughter with a Wolf Claw, another Corrupted Dozer weapon. Margaret was tasked to tag along and ensured that he had done his job properly.

Josh, Neva and Rahul headed to Punggol, to meet with the proprietor of Flo Residences. Josh received reports of wolves killing 5 of the proprietor's men, and that the wolves were having "no real intent" and "simply acted on their own". These reports seemed worrying, which Josh wanted to investigate directly.