"The trick is knowing when to dig, and when NOT to." Hal told her.

"Regardless, yes, if you'll accept, then you have a job here." he said further.

"Oh, yes." he then muttered.

"Also, if you're going to work here, then being essentially homeless will simply not do." he reasoned.

"You'll help her find a place to live?" Samson asked.

"In a manner of speaking." Hal replied.

"We have college-like dorms for those that need temporary lodgings, but we ALSO have dorms that are essentially one-bedroom apartments for employees that need a more permanent solution." he said further.

"With, of course, full access to our cafeteria, even thought they have a kitchen area in them." he added.

"Excellent." Hal replied.

"Now... one second..." he muttered, digging through a drawer, and pulling out some papers.

"The first one is your standard employment form to fill out." he told Peyton. "The others are a rental agreement, with you agreeing to have the rent deducted from your pay on a monthly basis." he said.

"And under the 'unit desired' field, just put 'LC', if you don't care about where, exactly you'll be living on site." he went on.

"LC?" Sam asked.

"Landlord's Choice." Hal clarified.

Sam raised his eyebrow at his daughter, but Hal cleared his throat to get the attention of all three of them.

"Now." he said.

"If you're going to work here, then you're going to need to be paid, of course." he told Peyton.

"Tell me, do you have ANY form of ID, at all?" he asked.

"And I mean anything. Any sort of identification of ANY sort?"

"Hmmmmm." Hal mumbled, before picking up the receiver of the phone on his desk. He punched a few numbers into it, and waited for a moment.

"....yes, it's Sharp. Send me an N3-L4... model... C." he told whomever was on the other end. "ASAP. Which is to say, NOW." he finished, before hanging up.

"You're going to need a bank account." he told Peyton.

"And I'm assuming you don't have one of those as well, am I correct?" he asked her.

Samson just sighed.

"Things are... difficult." he said.

"I can imagine so." Hal replied.

"Now, there's a bank down the road that specifically works with US." he told them. "They don't care about being different, if you work for me, they'll allow you to have a bank account." he went on.

"I'm willing to bet you could open an account there, if you visited with your parents." he continued, before there was a knock on the door. Hal beckoned them in, and the young man handed him a small black box, before excusing himself and leaving.

"Here." Hal said to Peyton.

"What's inside is for you." he told her.

"Temporarily, anyway." he then added.

"For now, it's a loaner to help you blend into society." Hal responded.

"Open it." he told her.

When she did, she found a very simple necklace, but it had an absolutely gorgeous blue marble at the end of it.

"Put it on, and grasp the marble in your hand for 3 seconds." he told her.

Peyton nodded and did so... which caused all of her vulpine features to suddenly... disappear.

Hal just laughed.

"It's no sorcery, I assure you." he said.

"Just very advanced, specialized cloaking technology, mixed with just a HINT of mana." he told them.

"Here." he then told Peyton, handing her a small mirror.

"See for yourself what's happened."

Hal shook his head.

"Never cared about looks, myself." he said.

"We'll just have to work on getting you some proper I.D... and registering you with the Triad." he told her.

"Triad?" Samson asked.

"A body that governs legal matters involving mythical beings, what could be considered non-humans, that sort of thing." Hal explained.

"Despite not being related to Japan in any way, you could be considered a mythical kitsune, for all intents and purposes." he told Peyton.

"You would be classified as non-human... much like myself." he then revealed to her.

Hal nodded.

"I am not." he said.

"What are you, if you don't mind us asking?" Sam asked.

"Ahh, there are certain things about myself that only my closest friends are allowed to know." Hal told them. "No offence intended, but I DO have my secrets." he said further.

"Secrets that not even Peyton will learn, or reveal she HAS learned, or spread if she has, indeed, found out." he then said in a vaguely threatening, extremely serious tone.

"...I... see." Sam muttered.

"Oh!" Hal then exclaimed, snapping his fingers, his tone far lighter and more jovial now.

"I almost forgot! The signing bonus!" he said, before digging in a shallower drawer for something.

Hal seemed to legitimately glare at Peyton for a fraction of a second, before sighing.

He then pulled out a chequebook, scribbled something on it, tore the cheque out, and handed it to her.

"Here." he said.

"When someone signs on to work for me, it's standard procedure to receive a signing bonus, considering who we are, what we do, and how we operate." he told her.

When Peyton looked at the cheque, she saw it was, legitimately, for $2000.