Chapter Text
Temenos had to admit, this place was excruciatingly dull. It screamed 'trust fund baby’ in a way he had never seen before.
Temenos inspected the waiting area. It was decorated with paintings, but they seemed to have soul in them. Nothing like the paintings one would find in a doctor's office or a hotel room. Although it was all to likely that their owner had no knowledge of their true meaning. They looked nice, and that was all that mattered to them.
The chair was comfortable. Not to expensive, not particularly cheap. The rug was worn, but not threadbare. One of the lightbulbs was out, but they were all clean. The walls had not been dusted in a long time.
Whoever owned this place put effort into making it look like it was cared about.
“Mr. Mistral?”
Temenos looked up. A young man, dressed business casual, stood in the doorway. He had brown hair, and a resting calm face. “Mr. Ku is ready for you.”
“Thank you, good sir.” Temenos got up, walking to the door. As he entered the room, he saw a large man sitting down, whispering something into the ear of a young woman. The woman nodded. “Yes, sir.” The woman made to leave, a frightened hurry in her gait. She bumped into Temenos on the way out. “A-ah! Excuse me, sir.”
“That’s quite all right.”
The woman thanked him, hurrying out of the room. “You’ll have to excuse Mikka,” a deep voice behind Temenos spoke. “She’s a bit of a klutz, but she’s quite reliable.”
Temenos felt the explanation wasn't necessary, but it didn't matter to him at the moment. “It’s no trouble at all, I assure you.” He approached the man, extending his hand. “Mugen Ku, if i’m not mistaken?”
Mugen took his hand, giving it a firm shake. “In the flesh. Please, take a seat.”
Temenos sat down. The chair was significantly more comfortable than the one in the waiting room. The rug was clean, with a diamond pattern adorning it. The walls were made of glass, save for where Temenos came in. A clear view of New Delsta graced the room through the large windows.
Temenos sat across Mugen’s desk. This man had an authoritative air about him. Temenos wasn’t sure he liked it. Mugen spoke up. “I hope you got here all right?”
“For the most part. I got stuck behind a student driver.”
Mugen barked out a laugh. “I feel your pain,” he chuckled. Temenos looked at him. He had a fairly large frame, and he was a bit bulky… no, upon further inspection that was all muscle. He had long dark hair flowing down to the base of his neck. And now that Temenos was thinking about it, Mugen’s hand engulfed his own during their handshake.
“But enough about that,” Mugen redirected. “Shall we get down to business?”
“Please,” Temenos replied with a wave of his hand.
“I need you to find some people for me,” Mugen began. “For each person you find, I will award you with ten thousand dollars.” Mugen let that figure hang in the air for a moment.
Temenos was not impressed. He got the feeling this man loved the sound of his own voice.
Mugen placed a couple of pictures on the table. “Throné Anguis and Hikari Ku,” he stated. “One is my brother, the other is a friend of the family. They both went missing at roughly the same time. They haven’t returned my calls or texts.” Mugen stood up and looked out the window. “I would take the time to find them myself, but my job leaves me far too busy.”
Temenos raised an eyebrow. “What exactly is your job?”
“I’m a stock broker.”
“Ah, of course.” Oh, would you look at that. My bullshit alarms just went off. He rolled his eyes internally. This man was a terrible liar.
“Those two are important to me,” Mugen continued. “I just want to know where they are so I can reconnect. I would have tried sooner if I could have.”
The question of “then why didn’t you” burned, but Temenos held his tongue. He would have received more lies anyways.
“This is what I offer you,” Mugen summarized. “20 grand for the locations of my brother and my good friend. What say you?”
Temenos pursed his lips. “...7.5 in advance. I'll take the rest when the job is done.”
Mugen nodded, reaching his hand over to a button on his desk. A moment later, the young man Temenos met in the doorway walked into the room. This time, however, he held a briefcase. The young man handed it to Mugen. “Good, Ritsu.” Ritsu stepped out of sight, and the subsequent footsteps behind Temenos faded away.
Mugen opened the briefcase. The inside was lined with hundred dollar bills. “Is this to your liking?” The giant asked.
“Indeed it is.” Temenos stood up, extending his hand to Mugen. “Mr. Ku, you have yourself a deal.”
“Please, call me Mugen.”
Temenos chuckled, closing the brief case and picking it up. “Mugen it is, then.” He collected his coat off the chair. “I will get to work straight away and let you know when I find them. Where can I contact you?”
“You have the number I gave you, correct?”
“Just making sure.”
The investigator exited the room, back into the waiting room he drew most of his assumptions from earlier. He pressed a button on the wall, calling an elevator.
Using the mirror on the inside of the elevator, he gave himself a good once-over. White hair, neatly combed. White trenchcoat, without wrinkles. Blue button-down, tucked into his black dress pants. Black tie. Black socks and dress shoes.
Temenos chuckled. It would seem that his style hadn’t left him yet.
He shook his head, refocusing on reality as the elevator reached its destination. Walking through reception, he opened the door and took a left. He kept walking until he was sure he wasn’t being followed, taking several odd passages and shortcuts.
He walked to a payphone, putting in some quarters. He was glad they hadn't taken the payphones down yet, old though they may be in comparison to the cell phones. He put the phone to his ear.
“Yellowil Telephone Company, this is Floyd the Receptionist. How may I help you?”
“Hello there, good sir. I would like to speak to one ‘Partitio Yellowil.’ Please tell him that Temenos Mistral is calling.”
A sigh sounded from the phone. “I’ll try, but I can’t make any guarantees. Mr. Yellowil is a busy man.”
Silence echoed on the phone. Temenos feared he may have to put more quarters in before a voice sounded. “Partitio Yellowil speakin’, who’s this?”
“Hello, Partitio. How have you been?”
“TEMENOS! Darn, it’s been a while! I’m hangin’ in there, thankee kindly! How ‘bout you?”
“Doing alright, thank you very much. As much as I would like to catch up, I actually called about business matters.” Temenos plugged his other ear to muffle the sound of car horns echoing around him.
“That so? What’s the matter?”
“I’m calling in the favor you owe me for the investors. I need you to pull up cell phone records for a few people.”
Partitio didn’t miss a beat. “Which few?”
“Mugen Ku, Hikari Ku, and Throné Anguis. How soon can you get this done?”
“At soonest, late this evenin’. Most likely gonna be done by tomorrow mornin’ though.”
“Thank you, Partitio.”
“Anytime, partner.”
Temenos hung up. He couldn't help but get the feeling that there was more to this 'Mugen' than Mugen would like him to know, and Temenos assumed he was correct (as he usually did). If Mugen wasn't going to tell Temenos the true motive for hiring him, there was no knowing what would happen to these people upon the completion of his job.
Temenos returned to the Ku office, retrieving his car. He could feel Mugen staring at him from his obnoxiously clear office. It was unsettling, at best.
No need for that, now. If the records wouldn’t be ready until tomorrow, he would busy himself elsewhere. Namely, at the bar. Lots of information to be had there. Temenos tossed the briefcase in the back seat. Besides, he would get to chat with a certain bartender.
He drove off, only half his mind on the road.