cyclicality | [open] introduction to advanced relocation

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[open] introduction to advanced relocation

She doesn't remember anything.

It's a jarring feeling, to have no recollection of the series of events that have led up to this moment - to her standing in Republic City, near the Spirit Wilds, still as she always is among the throng of people going to and fro. Could this be one of Varrick's ridiculous plans? Some transporter that had the unintentional side effect of ruining her memory in the process? No, that didn't sound right. She can clearly remember what they'd been working on in Zaofu. The gap in her memory seems to have started one night when she went to sleep and ended here, with absolutely nothing in the middle.

She needs a moment. Just a moment to duck her head, to push her glasses up, to try to force herself to recall something from the past... period of time. She doesn't even know how long she's been like this. When nothing comes to mind, she comes up with a second plan, just as she always does.

Straightening and feeling for her notebook (breathing a sigh of relief when she finds it where it always is), she approaches the nearest person she can find, tapping them on the shoulder. Brisk and efficient as always. This isn't a problem she can't fix. "Excuse me. Do you happen to know if Varrick is in the city?"

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A scruffy detective in a trenchcoat turns to face the girl. Doesn't she look familiar, from some kind of records or case files... especially when he thinks of the name she mentions.

"Varrick... Hey, you don't mean that one guy, do you? Who ran that whole company and tried to kidnap the president. He's supposed to be behind bars!" He pauses for a moment, before confusion settles in and he scratches at his head. "Or he was supposed to be and then he wasn't. ...Tell you the truth, pal, thinking back on it even I'm confused! Am I supposed to arrest the guy or not?"

What was the question again...

"I'm referring to the leader of Varrick Global Industries, sir," she deadpans, adjusting her glasses once more. Sure, some of the other facts are true, but there's no need to bring attention to them. "There's not a warrant out for him currently." Of course, she doesn't even know how she got here, or how long she's not been with Varrick, but if she says it confidently enough, she's sure this man won't argue. "Do you know of his whereabouts?"

"That's the guy alright!" He points excitedly as she says that, as if she's brought some vital evidence to light. "No warrant, huh?" He takes a moment to peek inside his trench coat, then he looks back at her with a sheepish smile. "Looks like you're right, pal! If there was one, I'd have a sticky note for it on me. His whereabouts, huh... I know he's somewhere in this city! On top of that, I heard he spends a lot of time in that fancy-shmancy yacht of his."

Edited 2015-01-06 07:56 (UTC)

"He's back on his yacht?" Since when? What's happening here? Zhu Li can't help a slight frown as she tries to piece the various fragments of information together. "Is it still in the Republic City harbor?"

"Should be! I haven't heard anything about any of those rich people cruises going on. And he's got a studio somewhere in the city, too..." He scratches at his head. "Just can't remember where! We might have some info back at the station." Because, you know, it might be a bit wise to keep tabs even on pardoned criminals.

"I would greatly appreciate any information about him. Could you take me to the station?" Psh, that stuff's not confidential, right? She has a feeling that even if it is, she can weasel her way into accessing it.

Edited 2015-01-06 18:20 (UTC)

"Sure thing, pal! We might need some kind of clearance to see the files... but we'll figure that out when we get there!" And he turns to start to lead the way.

“I’m sure the clearance can be obtained without any trouble.” She follows after him promptly, not seeing the need to fill the silence with any unnecessary conversation. She needs to find out what exactly has been happening between Zaofu and now.

"Good to hear!" And then, silence. It's a very awkward and uncomfortable silence as they make their way towards the police station, and it's brutal on Gumshoe's nerves!

At one point after several minutes, he coughs. After a beat, he meekly adds, "That was just a cough."

"Yes, sir." It was. She's not used to having to be the one to provide inane chatter, to be honest. Her small talk is woefully inadequate, let alone talking for the sake of filling silence.

That being said, the man does seem incredibly uncomfortable. After some time, she says, "my name is Zhu Li Moon. I apologize for not introducing myself earlier."

Yes, really good small talk here.

He smiles lightly. "Gee, nice to meet ya, Miss Moon! Uh... No need to apologize. I didn't introduce myself first!" He spares her a sheepish glance. "The name's Dick Gumshoe. Detective Dick Gumshoe! You can call me whatever you like, just don't call me late for dinner!"

She bows to him, then straightens. “I’ve no intention of doing so, Detective.” Or, likely, calling him to dinner in the first place, but she’s not about to say that out loud. “The station, then?”

A bow?! He clumsily tries to mirror it. Then he looks up sheepishly towards the station. "Right! The station. That's it! Right this way, Miss Moon!" He scurries ahead to hold the door open for her.

"Varrick?"

Satoru gives her a thoughtful once-over. He's only ever heard of one Varrick, and considering the mark the guy has made on the world, that Varrick must be the one. It's not surprising to find someone actively looking for him and Satoru figures if she's looking for a job, she'll probably be in luck.

"Yeah," he says gently as he runs a hand through his hair. "The owner of Varrick Industries, right? He's here. Well, I think he's here. Not here-here but... here in the city." Hopefully he's not hanging upside down again.

"He's been in the city?" She raises her eyebrows delicately, then glances around her, half-expecting to see him appear out of thin air. "For how long?"

"Well, I... don't actually think he ever left? Not for long periods of time, anyway."

Satoru frowns thoughtfully as she glances around. What is she looking for? It doesn't seem like she's going to be in trouble, at least, so that's a relief. Varrick's been here forever, so if she knows Varrick then she must be from this place. Or, at the very least, from this time period.

"If I had to take a guess, I'd say he's been here for at least three months. Maybe a little longer? Boss Man Varrick's pretty established here and everywhere else, so it's a little hard to tell."

"He was in Zaofu for a period of time." That has to be true. She can remember all of their work there, after all.

Though as the other man continues, her eyebrows rise. Three months? He's been here three months without her? "With all due respect, sir, are you sure he's still alive?"

"Zaofu," he echoes. The tone of his voice implies he has no idea where that is. "I don't know if he's been there in particular, but I do know he's been wanting to trade with the other nations. Republic City is a... limited source of income? Or something like that.'

Although Satoru is initially taken aback at first by her question, he quickly realizes that she does have a point. In his experience, Varrick has always been a little eccentric. Was that the right word? Seriously, hanging upside down is dangerous but that didn't stop Varrick from doing it like a wolfbat.

"Wh-Why would he be dead?" he finally stammers. "Is someone trying to assassinate him?"

They’d always talked about that when they were in the city. Or, at least, Varrick had always brought up discussions of expanding their trading. It’s a little heartening to hear it – almost as if it verifies that it’s really Varrick they’re both talking about.

“No. His genius simply causes challenges in other areas of his life. Such as having the presence of mind to take care of himself,” she says, as sarcastically as she ever gets, though to the inexperienced ear, her tone is still serious. “I’m his assistant, but I seem to have been…”

But she can’t say it. It’d sound too weird. So she trails off, before finishing, “we’ve been separated unexpectedly. I’d like to get back in touch with him.”

"Oh, I..." This woman has a point. He's seen Varrick less these days with the work he's been doing, but back when they first met, it did seem like Varrick was a little lost. The guy could take care of his company, but he spent so much time doing it that... "I see," he says quietly.

Satoru supposes that if she's telling the truth then Varrick will be ecstatic to see her. If she's lying—which he highly doubts for naive reasons rather than logical ones—then she needs a job and Varrick, with his kind heart, is likely to give her one. She seems to have her act together so far, so it'd be easier for her to either get a new job or get her old one back.

"Sure. The Spirit World's been acting up, so it's not too surprising. Varrick will be really happy to see you, I'm positive." To back up his statement, he offers her a smile. "I can take you to his yacht, but I can't guarantee he'll be there. Sometimes he takes strolls to get his brain in gear."

Satoru tries not to let his face fall, and manages a pretty good job of it. Varrick was a nice guy; he wouldn't toss him onto the streets just because his secretary came back. Right...?

"My name is Satoru, by the way. I work for Varrick. You know, as long as he'll have me. Can I ask your name...?"

The Spirit World? But wait, she has to be polite first before she can ask questions. "Zhu Li Moon. It's a pleasure to meet you, sir. I'm familiar with Varrick's habits - as long as you drop me off at the yacht, I'll be fine." She nods before continuing. "I'm sorry, but what exactly did you say about the Spirit World?"

Jin jumped a little when she felt someone tap her shoulder. She was really easy to surprise. She turned around and smiled at Zhu Li.

" Mr. Varrick? Yes, he's here! He's probably on his boat or something. That's where he spends a lot of his time," she paused and tilted her head before continuing on. " Are you a friend of his?"

A friend? She's silent for a moment before answering, rather blandly, "I am his assistant, Miss. Are you sure he's in the city?"

She nods her head happily and gestures in some direction that might be close to some water? She wasn't quite sure though since she still didn't really get the layout of this place.

"He's definitely here. He gave me the job of a secretary for now." She paused and her eyes seemed to light up. "You're his assistant? He's really been missing you!"

Zhu Li never uses filler words in her speech. But now, confronted by a young girl who is everything she wasn’t at that age, telling her that Varrick really missed her?

She reserves her right to be less than perfectly efficient in her speech. “Um.”

Just for a moment. Her brain works at twice its normal speed to come up with something, anything to say, and in a matter of seconds, she continues professionally, “being a secretary with Varrick Global Industries is an… impressive career for someone as young as you, ma’am.”

She flushed a little and couldn't help but smile at her words. Zhu Li was the one that was incredible. Not her.

"I'm not as impressive as you are. Honestly Varrick kind of just tossed the job at me because all of his employees kind of just vanished. Poof! I didn't get the job because I'm any good," she gives her a sheepish smile.

Oh spirits, she really doesn't know what to say. Good thing she has another thing she can focus on. "His employees vanished?"

She nods her head with a sad smile. It really seemed to upset Varrick which made Jin sad too. He was a really nice guy after all.

" Yeah, something happened with the spirits around this place and it made a lot of people disappear and a lot of other people just appear."

“Has he rehired many people to make up for the loss, then?” In other words, how many new people does she have to acquaint herself with now that she’s here?

"I'm not sure how many people he hired, but I know a few of us new to the city are now employed with him. He was holding interviews a few months ago."

[It's nice enough outside that Varrick's decided to spend the day playing mini golf on the bridge of his boat. Because why not, he's got nothing else to do today. And it's also endlessly amusing every time he gets to 'accidentally' hit a ball in the direction of one of the dock workers. Whoops, guess he isn't as good at this as he thought, silly him!

Hours of entertainment, really.]

((He's oddly... calm. Or, at least, he seems to be unaffected by her lack of presence. Maybe he's gotten used to her not being around, after three months. Maybe her memory has gone sideways, and she's been here all along. She allows herself a moment of indecision, watching Varrick quietly before she forces herself to approach.))

Your form is as impeccable as always, sir. ((Oh god, she's nervous.))

Of course it is, Zhu Li! I'm a complete natural at this.

[varrick fires off two more balls before his brain catches up with his mouth. Wait, he just said something to Zhu Li. But Zhu Li's not here, he's been looking for her for MONTHS. But if he's speaking to her that must mean...

He turns around slowly, eyes wide. ]

... Zhu Li?

[this is not how this was supposed to go. There was supposed to be a daring rescue (not by him, obviously, but by someone) and a huge dramatic moment with Zhu Li breaking down about how much she'd missed him. And huge orchestral dramatic music playing, he was certain there was supposed to be music. Instead it's just him sanding there with his mouth open holding a mini golf mallet looking like an idiot.]

You're... You're back!

… yes, sir. ((She can’t help letting the corners of her mouth turn up lightly at his response. Aha. He needed her after all. After the brief moment of expressive emotion, she pulls out her notebook, flipping to a new page.))

I hope I haven’t inconvenienced you too much by my absence. ((She says calmly, pen poised at the ready as if she’d never been gone.)) It was unintentional.

Wasn't intentional! Zhu Li, it's been three months!

[He takes a step forward, but stops himself half way. Stop it, Iknik, you don't touch Zhu Li, that's not what you're supposed to do. He tries to turn his half-way poised arms into some kind of intentional dramatic gesture. It is somewhat effective.]

The kettle!

[He swears this was a normal thought process. The gold club gets flung to the side dramatically.]

You know, the one I invented that just plugs in so you didn't have to go to the kitchen to boil water? How the hell does it turn on, I've been staring at it for three months and it's never turned on once I have to get the guy from the kitchen downstairs to try to bring boiling water up and it's been TERRIBLE!

I'm glad to see you managed to survive during that time. ((Her voice is blander, slightly dry as she preemptively raises her notebook a little in front of her face. ~~He's not going to actually touch her, is he?~~ After a slight pause, she explains further, her tone becoming more serious.)) I... didn't know where I was.

To be completely honest, I still don't know where I was. I have a bit of a gap in my memory. ((She's surprised to find herself speaking more quietly as she goes on. It's a scary thing to admit for her.))

What do you mean you have a gap in your memory?! But you remember everything!

[Yeah okay this time it's panic Varrick is coming over and grabbing her around both arms, giving her a good firm shake. Because isn't that how prompting someone's memory works?]

What's your middle name? wait, don't answer that, I don't know what your middle name is anyway so you could make it up. What's MY middle name?

Blackstone, sir. ((And she's definitely going to push him off as soon as she can do so without being too obvious about it.)) I haven't lost my memory. I simply can't remember anything between being in Zaofu and being here. And I don't think shaking will help very much, sir.

Correct me if I'm wrong, Xhu Li, but you not remembering anything between three months ago and right now kinda qualifies and losing your memory. Actually don't correct me, I'm totally right about that.

[Okay, shaking doesn't work. Should he... feel her forehead? Those are really the only two ideas he can come up with.

Her forehead feels... normal. Really he has no idea why this is a thing people do when someone's unwell. Also her bangs are in the way.]

You know you've had me worried SICK. I have no idea where anything is around here any more and you weren't there for me to ASK.

It’s just a gap. ((She says, and Varrick can probably tell the stubborn look in her eyes as she reaches up to pull his hand away from her forehead. She doesn't want to make this into a bigger deal than it is. Now that she's back, can't she just be useful again?)) If I could’ve returned-- here earlier, I would have. And I’m here to assist you now. You have no reason to worry anymore.

I'll worry exactly as much as I want you, thank you very much Zhu Li.

[Jeez, it's like a guy can't even react to his assistant disappearing for several months any more.]

...did you get shorter since you were here last?

It isn't a surprise to hear people asking for Varrick, when the man's been in the city for months now and hasn't caused any trouble. Yet. It is a surprise to turn around with an answer on her lips and find Zhu Li facing her.

"Zhu Li!" Korra exclaims after a second of staring. "Did you just get here? Varrick's going to be happy you're finally in the city!"

It's kind of a miracle that Varrick's lasted this long without her, honestly.

"Avatar Korra." Ah, good. Maybe she can help. Zhu Li nods to her respectfully before she speaks. "I did just arrive in the city. Unintentionally. Would you happen to know why that might happen?"

Boy, does she ever. Korra returns the polite nod before she dives into her explanation.

"There's been a lot of spirit trouble around here lately. People have been disappearing and reappearing," she says before pausing for a moment. "Actually, no one's seen you in...months. Just like some other people."

“… ah.” Shit. Zhu Li adjusts her glasses before continuing. “And this has all been happening completely randomly?”

"Yeah..." There's a pause as Korra frowns a little.

"I'm still trying to work out what's going on. The disappearances aren't just in Republic City. They're happening everywhere."

Bolin just happens to be hanging around the pier heading up to Varrick's yacht. He's pacing a little bit back and forth, more than a little antsy since Varrick is currently in the middle of some business meeting that's going far over time.

As he spins about, turning back to the land, he happens to look up and notice a familiar face around... especially one that he hasn't seen in a while. "Zhu Li?" Bolin asks with a bit of surprise. But then it eventually broadens. "Zhu Li! Oh man, Varrick has been missing you like crazy!"

It doesn’t matter how many times she’s heard it. Every time, it gives her a little… something, in the pit of her stomach. Zhu Li is many things, but she certainly isn’t eloquent. ~~He needs her. He needs her.~~

“So I’ve surmised.” There’s something both adorable and infuriating about Bolin’s familiarity. A part of her likes it, but she has no idea how to respond to such an affectionate greeting. “I’ve been told I’ve been gone for a while.”

Granted, Bolin isn't as intimately familiar with Zhu Li as he is with Varrick, but certainly he can appreciate that Zhu Li is finally back if only because... well...

"You have no idea!" Bolin says with a little exasperation. "I mean, how in the world do you know which thing he's talking about all the time?"

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[open] introduction to advanced relocation

I guess you can have a real tag too

beautiful. just... beautiful.

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ain't no party like a Varrick yacht partaaaay

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