Chapter Text
Kit left the office, making sure to close the door firmly behind them while still maintaining their composure. A quick look around the corridor showed it to be empty, so they let their façade slip for a moment. A large smile spread across their face and they fist pumped, letting out a small excited squeal. It had been a long journey of failed job interviews and workplace discrimination, but they finally had a job within their field of expertise, and they hadn’t even had to pretend to be cis to get it. They started walking down the corridor, still on cloud nine. They were so lost in thought that they didn’t notice someone rounding the corner and almost walked into them. The stranger looked equally startled at seeing another person there, staring at Kit like a deer caught in headlights. As they looked at each other in silence for a shocked moment Kit took in their dishevelled appearance. They didn’t look like they were dressed for work at a presidios Institute. They were wearing a bright patterned shirt and what seemed to be pyjama bottoms, their short brown hair was standing in all directions and they looked like they hadn’t slept in the last month or so.
“Who are you? I don’t recognise you!” The stranger’s eyes narrowed suspiciously.
“Oh, I’m new! The name’s Kit,” Kit responded, holding out their hand. Kit’s mood was somewhat dampened by the borderline horrified look on the other’s face at that.
“Did you sign any papers?” the stranger asked, sounding like they were trying very hard not to freak out.
“Yes..?” Kit answered, feeling increasingly confused.
The stranger sighed heavily, sending a heavy glare in the direction of the closed office door. Then they looked Kit right in the eyes and put their hand on their arm as though for comfort.
“I’m so sorry!” And they actually sounded like they meant it. Before Kit could collect their thoughts and ask what the hell that had been about the stranger was off down the corridor again, leaving Kit to their confusion.
-*-*-
When Kit arrived to their first day as a researcher at the Magnus Institute, the incident from the day before was all but forgotten. They’d known the Institute had a bit of a reputation, but honestly, who wouldn’t want to work with reading horror stories? Yeah, it was weird that there was a whole institute dedicated to people telling stories and trying to pass them off as true, but rich people had been known to do weirder. It didn’t matter to Kit that what they would be researching wasn’t true, as long as they got payed for it.
Upon entering the building Kit was greeted by the same lovely receptionist as the day before, Rosie. She showed them to their office, wishing them good luck with their first day as she headed back to the front desk.
The office was large and held four desks. Kit squirmed uncomfortably under the curious gazes of the occupants of three of these.
“Hey,” they held up a hand in a non-committal wave. “I’m Kit Drake, nice to meet you.”
“Hello Kit! Welcome!” said the person in the desk to the right, getting up to shake Kit’s hand. “I’m Sammy Yong, she/her pronouns, and this is Fred Aitken, he/him,” Sammy gestured to the person in the desk opposite hers, who nodded in greeting, and then to the person next to him, “and that’s Charlie Sangster…” she trailed off waiting for Charlie to finish.
“He/him today,” Charlie muttered, peering at Kit through his long bangs. Kit smiled at their new co-workers.
“Ah, I go by they/them,” they declared.
“Cool,” Sammy said in acknowledgement, “love the pin, by the way!”
Kit glanced down, noting the non-binary pride flag on the lapel of their jean jacket. They hadn’t meant to wear it to work the first day, but now they were glad they had.
“Thanks,” they smiled as a light blush dusted their cheeks, before awkwardly making their way over to the empty desk.
“Let me know if anything is unclear or you need help with anything,” Sammy said, settling back at her own desk.
“Thank you!”
-*-*-
Kit had gotten used to the work pretty quickly. It was very similar to their last research job, except a bit more exciting and a friendlier office environment. They were very engrossed in a riveting story about a living mannequin when someone tapped them on the shoulder. They jumped, letting out a frightened yelp.
“Sorry, sorry, it’s just me.” Sammy was grinning at them, holding her hands in front of her as though in surrender. “We were gonna head down to the cafeteria for lunch if you want to join us?”
Kit very much did want to join them.
“Oh, I don’t want to impose…” Damn it, anxiety, this is why we can’t have nice things!
“Nonsense!” Sammy exclaimed and basically pulled Kit out of their chair. They grumbled about it but was secretly grateful.
“So, think the Archivers will be there today?” Charlie asked as Kit followed the group to the canteen.
“We haven’t seen them in a while, but I honestly don’t know if that increases or decreases the odds…” Fred responded thoughtfully.
“I saw the Archivist himself when I was arriving,” Sammy contributed, “he was complaining to Rose about forgetting his bag at home!” In Kit’s opinion, Sammy sounded a bit unnecessarily happy about that fact.
“And no bag means no lunch, so we’ll just have to hope they don’t decide to go out and eat.”
“That sure does increase the chances,” Charlie agreed, excited.
Kit was just about to ask what they were going on about when they arrived. The cafeteria was very big and looked a disconcerting amount like a school lunchroom. Kit hadn’t had the best experiences in their school lunchroom. They tried not to think about it. At least it wasn’t crowded, only a few groups of people were scattered throughout the room. Most of them looked as you’d think people who worked an office job would look. One group, however, caught Kit’s eye. They were, quite frankly, a mess. Among them Kit noticed the person who they’d run into after their job interview. Kit’s colleagues were whispering excitedly, also looking in the direction of the odd group.
“I’ll get us a table,” Charlie spoke up and headed off. The other three went to get the food.
-*-*-
They were sitting two tables away from the very weird people. Close enough that Kit could make them out in more detail, but far enough away that the other three still deemed it appropriate to gossip about them.
When Kit had been hired, they’d been told there was a dress code. They’d been informed that an employee of the Magnus Institute should always dress appropriately to such a setting and been given a paper of more detailed guidelines. Some of these included: covering shoulders, knees and stomach at all times, not wearing unprofessional clothes such as sweatpants or workout attire, and not wearing clothes with holes in them (something that Kit had wondered why needed to be specified).
The people the others referred to as “the Archivers” were breaking all of these. There was the person from yesterday who was clearly wearing pyjamas. They were sat with their arm around a person with flowing dark hair, wearing a tank top and shorts. Next to them sat the only person who didn’t seem to be guilty of any violations, wearing a denim jacket, jeans and a hijab. And lastly on that side of the table was a person in tracksuit pants and just a sports bra, their blond hair short cropped. Kit looked away pointedly.
Opposite them sat a person whose face was covered in scars. They were wearing a studded leather jacket and black, ripped skinny jeans, leaning on a person donned in a very worn and holey t-shirt. Kit could barely make out the words “What the Ghost?” across the chest. The last person at the table was by far the worst. They had bright purple hair and was wearing a crop top that read “Fuck you Elias!” in sequins above an equally glittery picture of a hand giving the finger.
They all looked like they hadn’t as much as looked at a bed for the last couple months.
Kit pulled their gaze away from the group and shot their desk neighbours an incredulous look.
“Who…? What…?” they tried but didn’t quite manage to form a question.
“We call them the Archivers,” Sammy leaned in and whispered conspiratorially, “because they work in the Archives.”
“They’re like our workplace cryptids!” Charlie added.
“It’s like none of the rules apply to them,” Fred cut in, “but they always look moments from death, so I don’t envy them.”
“Why would someone end up like… like that from working in an archive?!”
“No one knows,” Sammy said with a satisfied smirk, “but rumour has it that actual supernatural things go on down there.”
Kit raised a disbelieving eyebrow.
“Hey! I’m not saying I believe it,” she defended, “but the way they act… if you think that is bad, well, it’s nothing to the stuff they do when they think no one’s around.”
“Yeah,” Charlie concurred, “I once caught Tim and Sasha in the courtyard, pouring gasoline on a pile of books and then just light them on fire! That’s like the opposite of what archive staff is supposed to do!”
“I swear I’ve seen Melanie heading to Mr Bouchard’s office with a knife, before, on several separate occasions,” Fred added. “And one of those times I definitely heard her say, “I’m gonna kill that damn bastard!””
“And Jon used to be wanted for murder,” Sammy said in a way too happy tone, something Kit was starting to think was normal for her, “got cleared of all charges around the time Mr Bouchard went on that leave of absence…”
Kit’s head was spinning. They weren’t quite sure if they believed these stories, but if there were any people they would believe them about, it would be the Archivers.
“Okay, hold on,” Kit intervened before one of the others could tell another anecdote. “Who’s who? You keep saying these names, but keep in mind I don’t know who any of these people are.”
“Right, right,” Sammy agreed and turned in her chair so she could see the people they were talking about.
“So, first off we got the Archivist himself. He’s the one in the leather jacket. His name is Jonathan Sims. I actually knew him a bit back when he worked in research, and well, let’s just say I never thought I’d see him in anything other than that sweater-blazer combo, right prim and proper, he was back then. Really changed his style after Mr Bouchard returned. I guess that sorta goes for all of them, but his change was the most drastic. Honestly, it’s like they all just woke up one day and decided they simply didn’t give a fuck anymore.
Next to him is Martin Blackwood. If you ever need anything from the Archives, he’s the one you want to find. He’s very nice and helpful. Just as done with the world as the rest of them, I think, but he never takes it out on other people. He made me tea once and it was the best tea I’ve ever had.
The one with the purple hair is Melanie King…” Kit cut her off.
“Wait! Melanie King? As in Melanie King from Ghost Hunt UK?!” Kit was a big fan of the channel and had been very disappointed when it ended.
“The very same,” Sammy confirmed with a self-satisfied smirk. “She started here a little over a year ago. She seems to hate it, though, so we think it’s just a matter of time before she quits. I’d say, “if she doesn’t get fired first” but I think that if Mr Bouchard was going to fire any of them, he would have done so by now…” The others at the table nodded agreement. “Across from her is… I think I’ve heard them call her Daisy? She’s a bit of a mystery– well, even more of a mystery. I’m actually not even sure that she’s technically employed here. I’ve got a friend in HR and, apparently, she’s not on the personnel-list for the archives, nor, as far as she can tell, anywhere else for that matter, although that’s hard to know without a full name. You’d do best in watching out for her, I’m pretty sure she carries a gun.”
Kit stared at the mysterious woman, as though trying to make out a gun on her person, before realising that staring was rude, and they didn’t want to be rude to someone who might have a gun. They returned their gaze to their own table, scanning Charlie and Fred’s faces for confirmation. They both nodded solemnly.
“Next to her is Basira Hussain,” Sammy went on, disregarding Kit’s need for processing time. “Think she used to be a detective, or something. She first showed up back in 2016 to investigate that worm incident.”
“Worm incident?!” Kit interrupted again. A worm incident that needed police investigation sounded, quite frankly, like the worst.
“Yeah, there was a worm infestation. Didn’t seem all that bad, just a bit gross, until one day the building is suddenly evacuated and apparently the Archives had gotten completely overrun with them. Not only that, they had gotten violent, started attacking people, trying to burrow into them, real nasty stuff. Everyone made it out okay, though, and the CO2 fire suppressant system took care of the worms. Lucky we had one of those really…”
Kit shuddered, trying to supress the images that story conjured in their mind.
“Actually,” Fred cut in, “I don’t think she was really investigating the worms, was she? She was investigating the murder. The worms were just “possibly a related incident but not the primary target of the investigation”. Although, it beats me how they’d have any connection.”
“I’m sorry,” Kit felt like they were starting to reach their limit for revelations, “did you just say, “the murder”?”
“Yeah, the first one,” Fred agreed. Kit contemplated the benefits of passing out on the spot. They settled for a weak “first?”
“You probably should have googled this place before starting here,” Sammy suggested. “Whether or not you actually believe in the supernatural, this place is weird. The first murder was the previous head archivist Gertrude Robinson. She was… eccentric, but she seemed nice enough the few times I talked to her. However, I’ve heard some nasty rumours about her, and not to speak ill of the dead, but if even half of them are true I’m not entirely sure she didn’t deserve what she got. I don’t know much about the second one, though, probably just some poor bloke who ended up at the wrong place at the wrong time. That’s the one Jon was wanted for for a bit. Don’t think they ever found out who did it.”
“I heard,” Charlie joined the conversation, “that Mr Bouchard killed them both and during that time he was away he was actually serving his prison sentence.”
The other three looked at him with various expressions ranging from horror (Kit) to incredulousness (Fred) to amusement (Sammy).
“Yeah, that’s like the only person less likely to have done it than Sims,” Sammy got out as she was trying to suppress a fit of giggles. “Where did you even hear that?”
“The breakroom,” Charlie said confidently, “overheard Martin and Melanie talking – you know, that one time they were all using our breakroom because theirs had been flooded?”
“Hm, not sure if that makes me more or less inclined to believe it, to be honest…”
Kit decided they’d been off topic for long enough, and they wanted to put a name to the person who’d talked to them the day before.
“Who’re the last two people?” they asked, directing the others’ attention back to the Archivers.
“Timothy Stoker and Sasha James,” Sammy answered. “I knew Tim back when he worked in research, as well. He honestly hasn’t changed that much since then, used to always get in trouble for breaking the dress code or fraternizing with colleagues. Both of which he’s still doing. Just isn’t getting in trouble for it anymore.” Tim choose that exact moment to kiss Sasha on the mouth, perfectly illustrating the point. Kit looked away, embarrassed. “Sasha used to be in Artifact Storage,” Sammy continued, “I didn’t know her personally, but people say she should have gotten the position as archivist instead of Jon and that the only reason she didn’t is that Mr Bouchard is sexist. Not sure how much truth there is to it, but it sounds pretty par for the course.”
“That… that’s a lot to take in,” Kit noted faintly as she finished. After a moment they added, “One of them talked to me after my interview yesterday.” This was met with intrigued nods. “Tim, I think, he, um, seemed kinda upset? Asked if I’d signed the papers and when I said “yes” he just looked me in the eyes and said, “I’m sorry” like I’d signed my own death sentence and he had gotten there just too late to prevent it.”
Charlie snorted, “Yeah, that seems about right. I just don’t understand why they don’t quit, since they all seem to hate it so much.”
The other three murmured their agreement.
After that the conversation moved on to more mundane things and the rest of their lunch hour passed pleasantly enough. At least until the Archivers got up to leave. While most of them simply left two of them started heading over towards their table – Jonathan and Martin, Kit was pretty sure. They nudged Sammy, bringing her attention to the approaching pair. She turned excitedly back to Kit.
“Probably coming over to greet the new guy,” she said with a wink.
The two stopped next to the table. Kit felt slightly intimidated by the guy in the leather jacket. They didn’t think being “greeted” by someone who dressed like that would be a good thing.
“Kit Drake?” Jonathan said holding out his hand to shake. “Jonathan Sims, the Archivist.” Kit startled, both at being addressed by name by this virtual stranger and by the guy’s posh, British accent that thoroughly clashed with his attire. They hesitantly reached out and took the offered hand.
“Nice to meet you?” they didn’t mean for it to come out as a question, but they honestly weren’t sure it was nice.
“Tell m–“ the archivist started, but was interrupted by the guy standing next to him elbowing him in the side. He cleared his throat, “I mean, er, we just wanted to welcome you to the Institute, so welcome.”
The guy Kit recalled as being named Martin held out his hand in turn.
“Yeah, welcome, I’m Martin, it’s nice to meet you!”
“You too,” Kit said, slightly more genuinely.
“Don’t go through any yellow doors,” said Jonathan. Kit was pretty sure they were being pranked at this point.
“Huh?”
“Just make sure that whenever you go through a door, it isn’t yellow,” Jonathan repeated.
“Why?”
“Dangerous,” was the only answer.
“We gotta get back to work,” Martin remarked, starting to usher Jonathan away.
“If you ever want to make a statement you can come see me any time,” Jonathan said in lieu of a goodbye, then they were gone.
“What was that about?” Kit turned back to their friends – could they call them friends already?
“That’s the Archivers for you,” Sammy answered, “I’d follow his advice about the doors, though. Just in case.”
Kit had a hard time focusing on their work the rest of the day.