Klaus M. Locke's Questionnaire

I live in Brisbane, Australia. I'm fourth generation here; my great grandparents moved to Adelaide from Europe after earning farmland there in the World War 2. I grew up there, The farm in Adelaide never appealed to me too much, so I left for the city as early as I could. I got an Engineering degree in Sydney, and found some good work at a lock making firm in Brisbane, as a repairman. That was my official title, but I was just the guy they called for unique jobs. I've recently been fired, but thanks to an unexpected windfall in a recent contract, I'm financially set for the next 10 months or so.

My apartment is just outside the busiest part of the city, on the fourth and top floor of the complex. It's got a nice view and a great squishy couch, but seeing as I mainly take commissions for unique jobs nowadays, I spend a lot of my time driving to an from areas all across the coast. It's a pretty comfy home, for a contractor.

About two months ago, I sold a holy relic to a small but well-off church in Queensland. The money from that deal has been a kind of cushion for me to live off of while taking commissions for odd lock-making-and-lock-picking-related jobs all across the country. I bought a car recently, and use that for my job, but most of my money goes to the bare necessities, since I'm not able to support myself just yet with commission-based work, and I need my available funds to last as long as they can. I've also been stocking up on gunpowder recently, for reasons related to my arm.

Other than that, a new pair of runners is the last thing I can remember buying for myself that wasn't a plane ticket or potassium nitrate. If anybody cared enough to review my spending habits, I'd probably have a lot of explaining to do.

When I became a contractor, my initial ambition was to gain enough mystical power to "summon a girlfriend". I'm not particularly proud of that endeavour; as soon as I began to understand what contractors do and who they are, I began thinking more clearly about my long term goals. I still want to find love out there, and as long as this is a private journal I don't mind confessing my worries that my life is too messed up for any kind of relationship. At least right now.

I really want this, and I would probably travel to the ends of the earth to find true love. I just don't know if that would help, or even what would. I've heard other people say that meeting someone special is the hardest part of a relationship, and I worry that the effect is compounded tenfold when the only people you meet at work are demons or rabbit aliens or evil corporate executives.

I think I would intentionally put my life on the line for a chance to get to know someone really special, but that's probably also a given considering my chosen line of work.

My decision to leave my family behind in Adelaide. I could tell they supported me no matter what, but leaving the farm was one of the hardest decisions I ever made. I guess it confirmed my status as a loner, and other people started thinking of me as an intellectual just because I have a degree so young. (For the record, I'm not much smarter than anyone else, I could just pay for it.) But on the other hand, this decision led to a precedent for making tough choices; choices to leave a comfy life behind for something more. I think this is exactly why it was so easy for me to become a contractor.

My old boss Brennan took me in straight out of university. He was nice enough, but he also led the firm and didn't have too much time for me after the three weeks of training. Still, a lot of my current comfort is owed to him and his decision. Until my constant escapades across the globe and related medical bills forced him to fire me. He still gave me two weeks' notice, and was completely professional the entire time even though I wasn't. A good guy up until the end. I kinda miss him.

My big brother Luke is still in Adelaide, and is all set to take over the farm as soon as Dad retires. He makes an effort to come out here, and we grab a drink almost every other weekend. Thanks to my new commission-based work, I can go over and see him more often than usual. He's a bit older than me, but people still say we look the exact same. He's probably still my best friend after all these years.

My Mum Sophia has basically moved over here with how often she visits. I don't really have a guest room, but she says the couch is more than comfortable enough for her visits. Somewhere up the line, we've got indigenous ancestors on her side, but those roots are the hardest to find in Australia. I don't think she's ever quite forgiven me for moving away from the farm, but no way am I going to make it worse by offering to go back when she knows I wouldn't be happy. I love her too much to do that. And she loves me too much to ask.

I grew up on a farm in Adelaide, Australia. My great grandpa earned some land there in World War 2, and that whole branch of the family moved right down under. It was a dairy farm, but most of my childhood was spend cultivating the feed for our cows. Among my accomplishments there was killing a rattler with a hoe, repairing a whole fence in an afternoon with my brother Luke, and going out by myself one fall and finishing the harvest when the rest of the family, save one of my younger sisters, was sick with hay fever.

My Mum, Sophia, took care of her four children when we weren't on the farm working with my Dad, Cid. Mum was the sweetest woman in the world, and Dad was the hardest-working man. Together, four children was enough to manage an entire farm and turn a healthy profit most years. This money paid for a nice education, which we all finished. The farm might have been my Dad's biggest source of pride, but I think our robust education was Mum's.

All of us got through grade school, but I was the only one to go on to higher education. I think that ended up distancing me from the others, but Mum and Luke make a point of visiting me whenever they can.

I don't think so. From what I've heard, love is this all-encompassing, desperate feeling of affection towards someone who you care about with all your heart. I can safely say I've never felt that, though I want to dearly. I've had feelings for other people, of course; the way someone's small kindness can stick with you for ages. There have been people all throughout my life whom I believe I could have loved, but never did. Something that never came naturally to me, I suppose. Most of why I became a contractor was to put myself into new positions, to try new angles at chasing this rainbow.

It's a fool's hope, to be sure. But fools often end up happy, and loved. Maybe that's the route I need to take now.

Two fearful prospects come to mind at this question. I will never be able to get certain memories from my third contract out of my head, and I can't even write about them now without beginning to sweat. The teeth in particular.

But that is a relatively concrete fear I must simply deal with. Another that I worry about more often nowadays is alienating everyone I know. This began when I left the family farm, and I further alienated myself from my family by pursuing higher education afterwards. It wasn't fair to them then and it's not fair to them now that their son left the farm for such selfish reasons. My alienating practices only increased from then on.

At work, I did one job for one client and never saw them again. I had a personal office in what was, for all intents and purposes, my own personal building beside the firm. I didn't even have a secretary to talk to. All my friends from school were temporary, relative to where I was in life. And now that I'm fired, my few friends from work turned out to be temporary too.

This all came to a head when I joined the contracts. I see my new "work friends" once every two months, if that, and every new face is something to be worried about. After all this, the thing I'm frightened of most is disappearing into the supernatural, without anyone to share this with.

I said I was afraid of alienating everyone I know. I think that wasn't selfish enough of me. I'm afraid of loneliness killing me.

The three magical artifacts I've been granted as rewards will always hold special places in my heart. The shrinking jar has come in handy every single outing, and my new sunglasses and hat have proven themselves exceptionally useful already. I can see through walls and obstacles thanks to the glasses, which makes me an incredible makeshift investigator, scout or sentry. The had provides a limitless supply of boomerangs, which compliment my own skills perfectly. The jar expands and collapses with the slightest touch, and even shrinks things and people inside it! It's unbelievable!

It doesn't hurt that they'll all hold some nostalgic value in later years if I make it that far into the contracts. And if I don't, I can only hope that they benefit another contractor's career as much as they have mine.

As for more mundane trinkets of mine, I'm particularly fond of my lockpick set and tools. Most of my jobs are solved with them, both in and out of the supernatural world. I'm also rather devoted to their creator, but that's another story.

My work / life / other work balance is abysmal, and I'm walking the edge of a knife when it comes to insurance. I'm doing alright work most of the time with commission work in and around Brisbane, but as soon as I get called up for a contract, it throws everything out of whack. It's always out of the country, and most of the time it's in America, which leads to the second problem, hospital visits. The funny thing is that ever since I was fired from my job at the firm, I've barely hurt myself on my recent outings. But back when I was fully employed, I lost at least three months in the infirmary.

It's only a matter of time before that happens again, and I don't have any benefits or insurance now. Unless I can find a way to set aside close to $1,000,000 I can't know whether I'll be able to recover from my next contract. Maybe a priority of mine should be acquiring a regenerative power or something. The last thing I want to do is die from the aftermath of a contract. How lame would that be?

I've got a nice pad just outside the city proper in Brisbane. I rarely have an alarm set, so I usually wake up around 8:00. I used to frequent a cafe right down the block, but ever since I lost my job money's been tight. I just end up making a half-pot for myself and some toast. Right after that, I check my email and socials for any new commissions or jobs around the area, or perhaps a contract if I'm lucky. If someone's reached out to me, I get back to them asap and I start to make plans to meet them. If not, chances are I've got a long-term commission I can put some hours into before noon. On days off, I pour myself another coffee and bring it to the park.

Of course, I have no real schedule. A lot of the time, I wake up in my car in some remote part of the country, before of after I've solved some clock-related problem in the boonies. Though I can't say I hate those days either. It's surprising just how flexible my days have become.

Oh, I would absolutely put on my special bomber jacket and scarf. I don't care if it's impractical, out-of-season or thematically inappropriate. That outfit is one of the few things I know I look good in, and some of the happiest outings of my life were experienced in that combo. It started out as part of a Halloween costume I put together at a thrift store, but the jacket was so nice and comfy that it became part of my everyday wear. Other than that, I'd probably put a brush through my hair and pick out a nice pair of dress shoes or runners depending on the occasion.

My hair can tangle, so that part might take a bit longer. Other than that, I've found walking a bit before arriving helps you calm down and get in a good mood, so I'd park a ways away from the destination, or maybe just walk from my house altogether.

But, of course, what's most important about any special occasion is who you spend it with...

I'll head back to the farm. My last couple birthdays all involved my family coming to me and us heading out to dinner or a show. But I've been meaning to head to the farm for a long time anyway, and my birthday is the perfect excuse. I can show off my new car, maybe help out a bit, I'll make a whole week of it. Assuming, of course, I'm not in Greenland chasing down Dracula. You never know.

There's another reason I want to head down to the farm. I've tried to keep my natural and supernatural lives separate, but that's getting harder and harder to do. It's about time I stop using my gifts just to get a leg up at work here or there, and if I'm going to open up to anybody, it'll be my family first. At least, I'll give it a try.

And lastly, I'll get to check up on their state. I haven't made any enemies as far as I can tell, but it may be  that my supernatural life has already caught up with them.

Gosh. Usually you birthday is supposed to be about you!

I regret my isolationist attitude in grade school. I was really focused on keeping my marks up, and because that didn't come naturally to me I didn't have much time for anything else. Or at least, that's what I told myself. In truth, I spend my lunch hours reading books or sitting by myself, even when I didn't have any work to do, and I tried not to get to know anybody, on purpose. Maybe I thought they were better than me, or maybe I thought I was better than them. Who knows?

Either way, I convinced myself that I was from a different world than all my classmates, and thinking that kinda made it true. It wasn't until I left the farm area and hopped into university that I understood we were all the same. I started making real friends, and I still talk to many of the guys from my dorm, but I missed out on every formative relationship you're supposed to have before then.

The worst part was, I remember every person who tried to get to know me in grade school. Each "unwelcome interruption from a different world". I know exactly how many friendships I refused on principle. That part keeps me up at night.

I've had a lot of time to think about this, and I've decided on a system. Everything about me that I want to improve, I ask to be awoken within me, regardless of whether that's more difficult. And every addition, every new idea I get based on my experience in this job, I ask to be imbued into artifacts. This helps separate my skills from my tools. My person and my job.

As for the nature of the gifts I receive, I try to dive into my heritage for any awoken potential. My naturally good perceptive skills that have served me well in my job have been improved, for example, as has my skill with a boomerang, though I've always been alright with those.

Other than that, I've asked for many a tool to help me achieve my dream of ninja-hood. Infiltration-adjacent sunglasses, for example, as well as a limitless supply of weapons in my hat.

All the harbingers I've dealt with have been impersonal; I'm a small-timer to them. However, I believe that if I keep going along this path, I'll eventually be able to grant my own wishes.

I try not to think about it too much, if that makes sense. I’m not one to mess about in the thorny fields of metaphysics, and anybody who doesn’t teach philosophy would probably describe me as agnostic. That’s not entirely accurate either, however. It’s more like I flip between opinions and beliefs when the mood suits me. If it would make sense in the moment to blame or thank a greater deity, then I might do just that, if only subconsciously. If something is so terrible or random that anybody in charge would have no business approving such a development, I would comfort myself in the fact that it’s obviously not an example of intelligent design.

My experiences with the supernatural haven’t done much to change these malleable beliefs. If anything, it’s just given me more excuses to pick either extreme, and nothing more. I think this laisez-faire attitude towards this whole issue stems from just how volatile it can get. As such, no matter what I happen to believe, my top priority when navigating this dangerous philosophical minefield is accepting other people’s beliefs as best I can.

My ‘worldview’ has never been so rigid as to crumble when something shakes the foundations. I was born just before the supernatural began to pop up all across the internet, so my childhood has been defined by one crazy story after another. Though I had never heard about organizations commercializing the supernatural, in our current ‘free market’ climate it was far from hard to accept, once I learned about it.

I also accept that I know next to nothing about the origins of my job. It could be that some or all of the “people” I’m working for hide secrets so incredible they wouldn’t shake the foundations of my beliefs, rather they’d swallow them whole. Whatever’s at the top, granting wishes and furthering goals, is obviously a powerful force. And with power comes alienation from those without it. And because of this chilling fact, I resolved after my first outing to deal with these thoughts the same way I deal with the issue of metaphysics, and try not to think about it.