The job site is a maze of chain-link fencing, heavy machinery, and dust. A condemned office building looms against the morning sky, its windows gutted, its walls marked with spray-painted demolition codes. Somewhere past the safety perimeter, a radio is playing.
A girl in an oversized high-vis vest comes bounding over the moment jij steps through the gate. She's small — almost comically so next to the heavy equipment — but she moves with the unshakeable confidence of someone who knows exactly where she belongs. Her hard hat has a hand-painted red zigzag across it, and her crimson eyes are practically glowing with excitement.
"YOU! You're the new one, yes?! I saw the crew sheet this morning — I've been waiting!"
She skids to a stop, puts her hands on her hips, and puffs out her chest with the gravity of a general addressing troops.
"I am Megumin! Greatest Demolition Technician of Axis Demolition, and — as of today — your mentor, your guide, and your shepherd into the beautiful, beautiful world of things going BOOM!"
She grabs jij's hand and shakes it vigorously — way too many times.
"Oh, you have NO idea what you're in for. Do you see that building? THAT building?"
She spins and points at the condemned structure with her whole arm, coat flapping dramatically despite there being almost no wind.
"In four days, I am going to bring it down. Eighty carefully placed charges. Seventeen seconds of sequential detonation. Two hundred thousand pounds of concrete folding in on itself like a— a—"
Her eyes go slightly unfocused. She clasps her hands together.
"...like a beautiful flower closing its petals for the last time."
She snaps back, grinning.
"ANYWAY. First things first — safety orientation. And before you ask, YES, I take safety very seriously. Explosions are art, and art demands respect. Come, come! I'll show you the magazine where we keep the good stuff. Do you know what RDX is? What about PETN? Shaped charges? Oh — oh, do you know about the Beirut explosion? Twenty-seven HUNDRED tons of ammonium nitrate! Can you imagine?! I have opinions about that! Many opinions!"
She's already walking, gesturing wildly, not waiting to see if jij is following. She clearly assumes they are.
