Ari's head whirred with questions during that night, but she stifled all of them and allowed the human, who hadn't offered his own name, to give her what information he could on this job. He gave her an address to meet with his boss the next day, cautioning her to be discreet.
Knowing exactly what that meant, she scavenged her wardrobe and wig collection for the most ordinary disguise she could come up with – a challenging task in a city where everyone looked wildly diverse. Luckily for this potential new client, Ari never shied away from a challenge.
After she had an outfit put together, she called Regan for the definitive statement. “How do I look?”
Regan tilted her head, “You look like you'd eat an entire meal at a restaurant, then complain to the staff that something was wrong with it, then demand to see the manager if they didn't comp your meal.”
“Perfect.” Ari looked at her reflection, wrapping the white cardigan around her navy blue top.
“You need a necklace, either pearls or something.... swoopy. And wear the blue lenses. Oh, I gotta go, my client just walked in.” Regan hissed, ending the call before Ari could utter a goodbye. She looked from her watch back to the mirror, satisfied with the look. The cropped blonde wig was thick enough to cover her pointed ears, and the blue lenses aided in the inconspicuous look of an entitled mother of three on the brink of a divorce.
Making her way to the address the human had given her, she was expecting a warehouse, a law office, anything other than the building in front of her, with neon lights saying, “OPEN TIL MIDNIGHT” and “DRIVE THRU HERE”.
Ari looked down at the paper he had scribbled the address on, furrowing her eyebrows. There had to be a mistake. Unless the client wanted to meet at a public place for his own safety. Warily, she opened the glass door and got one foot over the threshold when a high-pitched voice assaulted her ears.
“Welcome to Lady of the Plate!” A blonde teenager with a bright blue smock over her white button-up and black pants, behind the register plastered a pearly smile across her face, while her eyes remained emotionless.
Take it down, lady, you're in a burger joint, not a daycare. Ari thought, as her head pounded at the sound. The girl's face dropped immediately. Shit, she's a telepath. The girl's eyebrow raised. Few humans had abilities such as telepathy, but those rare ones existed, making them just as beneath the ordinary humans. If they revealed themselves, that is. The humans had even attempted to pass laws requiring identification for the Special Ones.
“Is there a Mr. M here?” Ari asked, wrapping the cardigan across her chest. The girl's smile returned to her face.
“Sure! May I ask who's inquiring?” The grating, upbeat voice pierced the air, as the employee's eyes widened. Suddenly, Ari understood, Mr. M was not a customer wanting to meet at a public location.
“You already know he's expecting me, so go tell him I'm here.” The girl's jaw dropped and she sputtered for a moment before turning around and rushing to the back of the store.
Ari knew well enough that any telepath working a low-level job would be very well aware of all the darker secrets, no matter what facade they wore. This particular telapthic teenager seemed to be pretty new to her ability if she was unable to mask her reactions to hearing Ari's thoughts.
Moments later, a rotund man with the face of a haunted teddy bear emerged from the back of the store, waddling towards her.
“Ari, pleased to make your acquaintance!” His voice boomed at her and she half expected her wig to fly off. Luckily, it remained secure on her head. “If you'd follow me.”
As with most of Ari's clients, Mr. M was a human. She was rarely called to work against Otherkind these days, which was a big part of the bland day to day. He spoke as he led her down the cool, concrete hallway until they reached the door at the end, with the sign Mr. Mammon in gold lettering.
“I've been swamped with this store. I own YUMM Corporation, see, and some of my locations require more hands-on work than others. It's terribly trying but we do what we must for the sake of business. As a business-person, I'm sure you understand.”
Ari had never been referred to as a business-anything, but his inflection on the word person made her wonder if he was attempting to be politically correct in her presence for fear of setting her off. Not that it bothered her much, she was used to most of the population looking at her sideways, so an attempt at hiding disdain was almost refreshing.
He held the door open for her and she eyed the room before stepping over the threshold. The office looked more like a closet than a place to conduct business. The only indication that it was the office, was the binders, piles of paperwork, retro computer, and of course, the steel desk. There was a comfy chair behind the desk and a plastic one small enough for a child in front of it.
Once he plopped into the chair behind the desk, he clasped his hands together and leaned forward.
“As a businessman, I make it my concern to know who and what is going on in my many restaurants. One place in particular has caught my eye.” His voice lowered. “Have you heard of Moody's?”
“The one with the blue and pink pastel logo?” Ari had never dined there, let alone most of the fast food joints, she preferred cafes and bakeries, or seedy bars in the rougher parts of the city. Places most people were afraid or ashamed to frequent. Moody's had a variety of food from hot dogs, burritos, deep-fried desserts.
“I own it. In the last year, I hired a new manager and... things have been a-miss.” Ari raised an eyebrow curiously. He took a deep breath before speaking. “The turnover has been alarming. Some of my former employees have gone missing. I don't subscribe to discriminatory tales about this kind or that, but my GM is a bog witch with an extensive legal history. She had gone through rehabilitation programs, so I thought giving her a chance would be good, but I just don't know... I need to get to the bottom of it, but I can't be in six places at once, you see?”
“Mr. M, do you know exactly what it is I do?"
“I know, this might seem the most pointless waste of your time, but my business is my life. Without it, I'm nothing. I take care of my employees.” He sighed. “I can offer you 10,000 Units right now, with more to come. You'd never have to worry about cooking another meal in your life, you could dine at any of my extensive restaurants free of charge.”
It was a tempting offer, especially given how little she already cooked, and there was genuine concern in Mr. M's blue eyes. She leaned back in the chair. “What is it you want me to do?”
“I want you find out why these employees have gone missing, and if there's any connection to my manager.”
The last place Ari would have guessed she'd end up was directly across from a hook-nosed, round-faced Bog Witch interviewing for a job. “I'm Kendra. Thank you for coming in, we're a little short staffed, so let's just get this over with.” Her voice was high-pitched and her bug-like eyes looked down at the paper rather than at Ari.
“What's your availability?” She readied her pen to the application.
“Fairly open.” The Bog Witch scribbled an illegible note.
“What are your strengths?” She inquired, still keeping her eyes on the paper.
“Efficiency.” It wasn't a lie, exactly. There had been many jobs Ari took that required quick results and maximum damage. It wasn't easy, but the best jobs never were.
“Mmk. How soon can you start?”
“Immediately.” Ari's eyes flickered to the counter where a squat ogre with a poorly trimmed bowl cut was standing, looking lost aside from the occasional glance their way. Ari was certain there wasn't a single thought behind those beady eyes of his.
The employees were dressed in black with a splash of pastels and the word Moody's across the backs of their shirts, some of them wore headsets over their visors. By deductive reasoning, it appeared that the lower level employees were the only ones required to wear aprons.
The entire restaurant looked like it came from another time where everyone was depressed and sought the simple things to keep that feeling at bay, until they were ready to return to their sad existences.
“Just a moment.” Kendra stood from her spot across from Ari, and walked through the door leading into the back. Ari watched the employees until Kendra returned, noticing two of the girls directing the ogre back on task, neither wore an apron, leading Ari to believe they were shift leads or managers. Both looked eerily similar, with dark hair, olive skin and cat-like eyes.
Thud.
Kendra returned with a five pound binder. As she sat down, she turned the binder over and opened it, flipping through the pages as she spoke, “In here, you'll find all of our policies, your code to clocking in and out, your username to check things like money balance, rewards. I wrote your schedule on this first page as well as the frequency of our channel on The Network.”
For the first time, Kendra met Ari's eyes. “Gotcha. You have a channel on The Network?”
Kendra sighed, “Yeah, it's the best way to get into contact with each other.” The Network was something Ari had always noticed on the billboards playing interviews of the Zimri and Bill Show, and sometimes NewsBreak would interrupt with an emergency message.
After bidding Kendra goodbye, the witch led her way back with her nose far too high in the air for someone running a mere restaurant. Hands full of the massive binder, Ari pushed her hip against the door to leave. Exiting the depression restaurant, Ari was met with the blaring sounds of sirens and flashing lights that made up the heart of the city.
“Before we introduce our guest, I wanted to take a moment to say...” Ari looked up to see the largest billboard on the center skyscraper, Bill from the Zimri and Bill Show, drumming on the desk, shaking his long golden locks into his lion-like face. Zimri, the shifter, had her head in her hands.
“God, Bill, please tell me you didn't.” Zimri groaned, pushing her brunette curls out of her face.
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ZIMOTHY!” Ari's lips turned upward as Bill raised his fists in the air.
“I hate you.” She wore a begrudging smile on her face. It was no wonder this show was top-rated on the Network. They were much more light-hearted in a city of immense darkness. As Ari walked home with an armful of policies, she listened as their enthusiastic voices faded. It was just what she needed right before starting one of the most monotonous jobs she had ever taken on. Or so she thought.