After the bout of excitement, things seemed to calm down enough over the following days for the headlines to move onto more banal things like guessing what the Avatar’s next move was going to be, now that she seemed done with pro-bending. One day it was joining the metalbending police force, the next, an entry into radio entertainment as a pundit or host. The latest speculation now was whether she’d be jumping into politics, maybe seeking a seat at the council.
Things slowed dramatically, allowing Mozi to enjoy a far more relaxed working pace. No more dealing with last minute adjustments for vendors and venues, no worrying about the other Future Industries subsidiaries being on schedule, no liaising with the metalbending police for permits and security.
Sure, there was the big promo with the police force about the new Satomobile safety features coming up, but that wasn’t even a nagging worry compared to the logistical nightmare like orchestrating the marketing for the pro-bending tournament. Plus, one could cut down on a lot of frivolities when dealing with Chief Lin. Her having a positive disposition with Xing and Future Entertainment also cut through the usual protocols of repetitive paperwork and lots of waiting (which Mozi suspected was mostly a means for the police to deter less serious petitioners).
The considerable slowdown allowed Mozi to finally appreciate the inner workings of his workplace, like the performance workshops for contracted street performers and stage actors to share and refine their skills, or the recently instituted ‘Intellectual Property Development Department’ where writers and various graphic artists labored to create marketable ideas.
Perhaps most impressively of all was him now sitting in on a new radio production, being recorded into phonograph rolls for repeated playbacks.
Apparently Xing came up with a whole lot of stories when he was still in the White Lotus, presumably cooked up while he was idling. The tales he put into extensive scripts were based on familiar tropes, but their delivery was distorted from the usual opera musicals or streetside story telling.
Without the need to project as much, the stage’s crashing cymbals, sharp string instruments, and wailing choirs were replaced with a more diverse orchestra, with what looked like Satomobile exhaust pipes hastily hammered into shapes similar to court trumpets.
In an adjacent room, separated by glass and padded walls, a gaggle of casually dressed actors stood around microphones with scripts in hand, many showing half-present gazes as they fell into their roles, unlike the quiet but present desperation of street performers.
Mozi vaguely recognized the actor who took a step towards the microphones, one of the many theater workers who clung to the business for a long time but eventually (and perhaps inevitably) gave up on stardom as the years wore on. The man glanced at the papers in his hand, before shifting his attention to the conductor standing by the window in the next room, and then to Xing who stood beside Mozi in the aptly named ‘listening room’ that joined both rooms.
The young director was barely hiding his excitement as he gave both actor and conductor a nod. It was perhaps the most…jumpy Mozi had ever seen Xing. , and the actor began reading his lines with impressive gravitas, Xing looked more and more like a boy being shown his first fireworks show.
“Thousands of years ago, dark spirits and the sword ruled. It was a time of darkness, it was a world of fear; it was the age of Gargoyles.”
The drums thundered, and the rest of the orchestra came in with a gripping tune as the opening went on. Mallets struck metal sheets to simulate thunder, an earthbender slammed pitons into a wall of gravel and dirt to simulate pierced stone.
It all presented a far more vivid imagery than what Mozi was used to, not the sort of opening to give time for theater goers to get settled in, or for drama listeners to distractedly acknowledge.
“...now in Republic City, the curse is broken, and we live again!”
Mozi turned to see his usually enigmatic and reserved superior grinning with childish glee, fists trembling excitedly. The director finally let out a triumphant cackle once the recording for the opening scene was completed, and he turned to Mozi with the same boy-seeing-fireworks excitement.
“What do you think?”
Ever the dutiful assistant, Mozi gave himself a couple of seconds to collect his thoughts and frame his honest words.
“It was…quite stirring, sir. It would definitely catch the listeners’ attention.”
Xing’s face seemed stuck in his grin as he nodded. “We’ll need to make sure the first few episodes really keep them around of course.”
Mozi doubted it’d be too much of an issue. Li Ming had been allowed to read a few excerpts, and she excitedly made him promise to ask, persuade, and beg Xing for the chance to sit in when the series finally went live on radio. In the actors’ sound room the rehearsals for the first episode began, the first with the orchestra playing along.
The assistant trusted his girlfriend’s taste, and that of the staff who were volunteered to be a test audience.
Presently, Mozi offered Xing an encouraging smile. “The story has been well received so far, I’m sure it'll be a success, sir.”
The director’s grin finally faded a little, thinning into a wry smirk. “Ah, but will it be successful enough to make money from? Remember, the goal is to diversify our avenues of profit, which is currently strictly limited to advertising. I want toys ready to be sold out, and phonograph rolls to be fought over at auction.”
“After the Fire Ferrets, I don’t think you’ve much more to prove, sir,” Mozi said with a slight frown.
Xing shrugged lightly. “I do, if I want a free hand in turning Future Entertainment into a lucrative business. I need to build up a reliable reputation first, to trade for Mister Sato’s grace and patience for potential slumps or risky expansions.”
Mozi’s frown deepened a little. “Risky expansions?”
“I have…plans,” Xing replied with an enthusiastic nod. “Plans that require hiring or just reassigning more talented engineers from Future Industries. Try to imagine Mozi, being able to capture a moment as if you were there, and…projecting it for everyone to see as a moving scene. Taking pictures and animating them to life, in a way.”
And Mozi tried, and he ended up blinking several times. “Moving- How?”
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
He did not know whether to like or be disturbed by the gleam in the director’s eyes.
“I have an idea, but I need the right talents to figure out the details. Hence the engineers, and probably a factory or-”
There was a muted commotion before a junior staff burst through the main entrance of the listening room. Her frantic expression suggested a wrong sort of urgency.
“D-Director, the… Chief Lin is asking for you, sir. There’s a lot of police outside…”
Xing exchanged quizzical looks with Mozi, and the latter followed the former out to the main lobby. True to the report, Chief Lin was indeed waiting there, along with several squads of metalbenders. All of them looked far too tense to be here about the promo. A cursory look beyond the doors offered glimpses of several police trucks.
“Chief Lin,” Xing greeted politely, and the stern woman nodded curtly as she produced a piece of paper.
“Director Xing. I’m here to bring you in for questioning, and conduct a search of your premises.”
Mozi stared at the warrant in her hand, then glanced at the shocked staff who happened to be around, and finally returned his attention to his superior who still wore a calm, thoughtful expression.
“May I know why?”
It took a second before Lin replied. Mozi didn’t know where the distaste in her voice was directed at. “We’ve received credible information that Future Entertainment is being used by the Equalists as a tool to subvert the city.”
Mozi saw the subtle tension tighten in Xing’s posture, but otherwise his expression remained unchanged as he kept the police chief’s gaze.
“And I’m involved in it, somehow?”
Lin’s silence was all the answer they needed. Xing let out a soft sigh, and his head shifted slightly towards his assistant.
“Mozi. Kindly instruct the staff to cooperate with the police search. No obstructions, no distractions. Inform the Satos as well, obviously.”
Mozi blinked at the blunt order, then he remembered that Xing’s approach to public perception was different to the older families and their aversion to potential scandals. “I… Yes, sir.”
Lin’s steely expression softened with some relief as Xing offered his hands up to be cuffed. “Your cooperation is noted. Thanks for not making this harder than it already is.”
It was impossible not to hear the wry smirk in the director’s words. “And play into their hands?”
*****
With work easing up after the end of the tournament, Ren could settle into a more relaxed mood as they were finally going to move into a proper home. Asami had helpfully (and insistently) narrowed down the options and helped to negotiate for a spacious two-floored house with a view of Yue’s Bay.
With rooms almost twice as big as from their apartment’s, Ren struggled to figure out what to fill the space with. At least Xing hadn’t patronised her or Kai about converting dead space into a play area to fill with useless toys, like that pudgy realtor did. Instead, he simply recommended that they start looking into hobbies, and work from there.
Ren and Kai agreed not to relay that information to Asami, lest their overly generous employer start taking them across Republic City to explore each and every option.
The two of them were idly debating the merits of painting and pottery of all things, while Asami was going through the reports in her office, when Tarrlok personally walked out of the elevator to seek an unscheduled but supposedly urgent meeting with Asami and her father.
Ren did not like the poorly concealed smugness behind the councilman’s severe frown. Thanks to Xing’s lessons, the girl also noted the other hints that further enhanced her wariness.
Tarrlok’s eyes did not once waver from the two former urchins, not even to flicker towards Asami’s door. He was dressed too formally, with too many buttons for him to have ‘rushed here’ with all haste. There was a subtle sheen of makeup on his face, carefully applied.
He was here to make an impression, and whatever the impression was involved Ren and Kai.
The girl really wished Xing had let them keep their shivs.
Kai was the one who slid off his seat to knock and slip through the office door. “Uh, Miss Asami?”
An annoyed Asami Sato appeared seconds later, glaring a little at the councilman. “Councilman Tarrlok, it’s an honor for you to personally come.”
“Miss Sato-”
Ah, no wonder Asami didn’t like being referred to by her family name. The councillor made it sound sleazy.
“-I’m afraid I have…disappointing and potentially…heartbreaking news.”
With her back turned to her assistants, Ren saw how Asami’s shoulders tensed in an unfamiliar way. Something more than just annoyance.
“And what might that news be?”
There was a flicker of a smirk on Tarrlok’s face, and again his eyes shifted briefly to Ren and Kai. “I know we are pressed for time, but it’s best if I delivered the news to your father as well.”
Asami gave a curt grunt before leading Tarrlok to the elevator. Then with a sharp gesture from her fingers, her two young assistants fell into line as well to the councilman’s surprise. The heiress’ tone brooked no arguments from him.
“They’re my assistants. Is that going to be a problem, councilman?”
Ren didn’t know whether to be impressed or derisive when Tarrlok actually spoke back as they boarded the elevator car.
“Unfortunately, the topic is…sensitive.”
“Then you should have gone straight to my father, instead of putting on a show and coming here first,” Asami said bluntly. “Especially if the matter is so urgent.”
The water tribe councillor narrowed his eyes a bit, but otherwise kept his mask on. “I stopped by as a courtesy, Miss Sato. And my…reticence is due to the nature of the news. News that might affect your two young helpers here.”
Surprise filled the small space. Ren and Kai exchanged glances while Asami’s eyes went wide for all of a second, before her annoyance returned.
“Then all the more that they’re around to hear it.”
“If you say so.”
When they arrived at the top floor, Ren’s hackles were raised as she saw how…prepared Hiroshi Sato seemed to be, standing behind his desk. There was something about the way he nodded at their arrival, in the way he regarded his daughter, that made the girl feel that the scene about to unfold was rehearsed in some way.
But…didn’t Mister Hiroshi dislike Tarrlok enough to want nothing to do with him?
“Mister Sato.”
“Councilman Tarrlok. How can I help you today?” Mister Hiroshi gave a mild frown that mirrored Asami’s annoyance, but again it felt off somehow. Ren would have to relay what she saw to Xing later, hopefully he’d figure out more clues…
Tarrlok gave a short nod at the father and daughter, and again there was a glimpse of smugness before his lips thinned into a grim line. “Last night, my task force captured an Equalist cell.”
“What does it have to do with us?” Asami cut in impatiently, earning a glance from her father before he too gave a slight nod in agreement.
The councilman looked too prepared, as if he was actually waiting for the question. “During our questioning, the prisoners eventually…cooperated and gave up the names of collaborators and hidden sympathizers. Unfortunately, a rather surprising name came up, a prominent one embedded in Future Industries…”
Ren gripped Kai’s hand tightly when she saw the smugness finally reveal itself in Tarrlok’s smirk. Asami too, seemed to be kept back as Hiroshi subtly shifted to place himself between her and the councillor. The slimy prick was about to accuse the Satos, or someone close enough, like-
“...or Future Entertainment, to be exact.”
Shocked stillness took hold for a few seconds before Asami snapped ahead of Ren or Kai.
“Xing is not-”
“Director Xing-” Tarrlok cut in with too much satisfaction, “-has been consistently named by the prisoners we’ve interrogated. Now, I might have my…disagreements with him, but I can assure you that I was personally aghast and skeptical at such an accusation at first.”
No you weren’t, Ren thought even as she was stopped by Kai from taking a step forwards.
Mister Hiroshi gave a deep frown. “That is concerning. But…didn’t the Equalists attempt to vandalize Future Entertainment not too long ago?”
The councilman shrugged. “Apparently it was a ploy to garner sympathy from everyone by playing the victims. With the police looking outwards, it allowed the Equalist sympathizers to work uninterrupted from within.”
There was an irritating pause before Tarrlok added, “A rather…ingenious plan, I must admit. And one that, disturbingly, misuses the director’s brilliance.”
“Xing is not an Equalist,” Asami declared with cold conviction, unashamedly glaring at an unphased Tarrlok despite her father trying to play polite.
A small part of Ren wondered: Why wasn’t Mister Hiroshi even half as angry as his daughter? What happened to all the disdain that bubbled whenever the council was brought up?
Or was the head of Future Industries simply doing his best to be diplomatic to deescalate things?
Tarrlok shrugged again. “I hope you are right, Miss Sato. It would be a shame that such a keen mind be employed by the enemy.”
“I’ll call Xing up to question him,” Mister Hiroshi said, but barely managed to turn to his phone before the councilman interrupted like he was waiting all this while to deliver the line. Ren did not like the way Tarrlok’s gaze shifted onto her and Kai.
“Oh, it’s not required. The council has already sent out the order to investigate Future Entertainment’s headquarters, and bring Director Xing in for…questioning. He will, of course be afforded his right to legal counsel, though I do hope that he is cooperative.”
