Legendary Detective at the World's End (Volume 1) (16 page)

   “Get off me!” the girl shouted.

   “Thief!” Jade said pointing at the girl.

   “Why am I doing this?!” Lee asked as he held the girl while she kicked him in the back of the head with her shoes.

    “Because I asked you to,” Kirin smiled. “And she’s our ticket to the Union, sort of.”

   “You think she’s…” Jake said understanding Kirin’s train of thought.

   “Yes, now lend a hand to Lee and grab a hold of her.”

   “Alright.” Jake said rushing over to help Lee.

     Kirin then looked over to Jade who watched in wonder of what was happening.

   “Hey Jade, come here.” He said waving her over. As she meekly approached him, Kirin crouched down and wrapped his arm around her. “What do you think we should do with the thief? Should we splash her with water and wake her up?”

   “Maybe…” she chuckled. “What about a ball?”

   “A ball?” Kirin asked as he watched Lee and Jake pick up the girl.

   “You know, play kick ball, be nice. It’s not fun being taken by others.” She said with a slight frown on her face.

   “Yeah,” Kirin smiled. “It isn’t fun, is it?” Kirin stood up and looked towards Jake and Lee. “Hey, Lee, cover the door, Jake, let her go.”

     Lee shook his head. “Why am I listening to you again?”

   “Because you owe Jade the world.”

     Lee looked at Kirin awkwardly before looking down at the sweet smile of Jade. “Whatever.” He said letting go of the girl in the fitted cap and running towards the door.

   “Have a seat?” Kirin said to the girl as Jake also released his grip on her. Brushing off his hand, the girl in the fitted cap plopped down in the seat.

   “So?” the girl said crossing her legs. “What do you want from me, other than my money?”

   “Your name?” Kirin said leaning on the front of his desk. “Mind giving that to me and the very sweet girl by my side. Her name is Jade by the way. Her brother Lee stands by the door, and the handsome man standing beside you is my partner, Jake. And of course, I’m Kirin, the loveable detective. You know us now, how about you let us get to know you?”

     The young girl looked at Kirin with an upturned eye that leaped through the corner of her fitted cap. “The names on the cap.”

   “What? Really?” Jake said. “Yum Yum… That’s a pretty stupid name if you’re telling the truth.”

   “It’s a nickname.”

   “Now that’s a nickname.” Kirin said blushing as a warm smile wore on his face. “Such a cute name, I love it…” Kirin then looked to Jade. “Tell me Jade, what sort of person sews such a sweet name on a hat?”

     Jade bobbled her head in thought before popping it up in delight. “A person that loves that name, Rin Rin.” She smiled

   “That’s right.” Kirin said in a singsong voice before crouching down and picking up Jade, cradling her within his arms. “And tell me Jade,” he said tapping her nose with his finger. “What sort of person loves their nickname?”

   “Easy,” Jade said putting a finger on Kirin’s nose. “A person that loves who gave them that nickname.”

    “Ding, ding, ding…” Kirin said with a grin on his face. “I think we have a young detective in the making here.”

   “Please don’t brainwash my sister.” Lee said from across the room.

     Kirin smiled as he placed Jade back down. “Go guard the door with your lovely brother.”

     Jade nodded her head sweetly before running down to tackle Lee with a big hug.

   “Isn’t it beautiful, Yumi? The love of siblings, I mean.”

      The girl in the fitted cap raised her head with a look of wonder wearing on her face. “How do you know my name?” she asked.

   “Educated guess, that’s all. It’s easy to narrow down your name with a nickname like that and a bit knowledge of where you’re from.”

   “And where exactly am I from, Mr. Know it all?”

     Kirin began to pace the room as he eyed every corner of Yumi’s body, analyzing her clothes. Everything she wore seemed designed to hide the fact that she was not from here. From her blouse made of loose threads sewn together tightly to make a stylish dress of what seemed to be once tattered clothes, to her jeans dyed in black to cover their wear and tear, to her fitted cap that seemed to be made from a high quality seamstress, but had her nickname tacked on skillfully, but not of equal quality as her hat. Her style was of the Greater City of Teigen, but she was obviously not.

   “You’re an Outskirts girl, aren’t you?”

   “Duh…” Yumi said crossing her arms. “Anyone listening to Captain snooty and his guard could tell that.”

   “Haha…” Jake laughed at her words.

   “True, true.” Kirin nodded his head. “But what Mr. Snooty could not tell me, I could read on your worn out smile or the distant stare in your eyes. Do you know what they’re telling me?”

     Yumi flinched at his words.

   “It’s telling me you’re from a part of the Outskirts where dead things go to die and what’s lost there is never to be found again.”

     Yumi’s breathing turned heavy with his description.

   “A part of the world where there are no rules to abide by, but an unnatural law of nature, not to live by instinct, but to die by it.”

   “That’s every place in the Outskirts, It’s all—”

   “Bad.” Kirin and Yumi said at the same time. “I know.” Kirin continued. “It’s all bad, but some places are worse than the others, you should know more than anyone, you being from the
Wastelands
after all.”

   “
The Wastelands
…” Jake said. “I’ve never heard of the place.”

   “Of course you haven’t,” Kirin chuckled. “You’re a sheltered boy after all, and that place is not a land to be sheltered in.”

   “What’s so special about it?” Jake asked while crossing his arms uncomfortably at Kirin’s dismissive reply.

   “It’s a dumping ground for the Better Cities; they unload all their trash, waste, chemical toxins, and mostly unwanted children there.”

   “Children?” Jake leaned forward. “Why would someone dump their child there?”

   “Not enough food, not enough care, I don’t know why, but it’s become a place where people drop off unwanted children.”

   “Hahaha…” Yumi laughed. “Maybe because It’s a private and discrete way to throw away a child and not have the neighbors find out whether you sold them off or killed them yourself. Either way, mothers become creative when they try to kill their young.”

   “You sure don’t seem bothered by this fact.” Jake asked.

   “Of course not,” she crossed her arms. “I’ve been living in the wastelands all my life, I have nothing to do with the person who dropped me off their, for all I know, I might have been better off there than with a woman too scared to choke me out herself.”

   “That’s very understanding.” Jake shook his head.

   “Who cares about that,” Kirin said. “What I want to know is how do you plan on convincing me not to turn you into the Captain for breaching the city’s borders?”

     Yumi tensed up at his question. “Well, that’s tough to say… You already have my money,” she fidgeted in the chair. “And you got me cornered, but I do have something you might be interested in.”

   “It better be worthwhile or I’ll haul you down to City Patrol headquarters myself.”

   “Calm down, you’re already speaking like one of his troops.” Yumi smirked. “But believe me, I think you’ll find it worth your time.”

   “What is it?”

   “I heard you guys are interested in mysteries.”

   “So,” Jake said with interest. “You read the flyers then?”

     Yumi looked over her shoulder towards Jake. “Yeah…”

   “It’s already working.” Jake said excited as he turned to the aggravated face of Kirin. “What’s up? Jake asked, confused..

   “Jake,” Kirin said looking at him in disbelief. “You really wrote that down on the flyers?”

   “Yeah, what’s wrong with that? It’s what you were looking for, right?”

   “Jeez,” Kirin said annoyed. “No wonder they raided us just now. How many mysteries you think the Union has created in this town that they want to keep secret?”

   “I’m guessing… a lot.”

   “Yeah.”

   “But it worked.” Yumi smiled. “And I have one big mystery that just might rock your world.”

   “Then rock it.” Kirin turned to her. “But speak quickly, I’m losing interest fast. And guess what? You’re becoming dull quickly.”

   “Alright.” Yumi said feeling a slight pressure on her after listening to Kirin’s oppressive words from his almost strangely commanding demeanor. “I’ll tell you…” she said fidgeting in her seat again. “A certain mystery about the City of Teigen I’ve discovered during my travels from the Wasteland’s to here. You see, as an outsider, something about this city has become painfully obvious to me, something that a citizen could never see.”

   “On with it.” Kirin said pacing the room impatiently.

   “Energy.” Yumi said abruptly.

   “Energy?” Kirin replied. “What about energy?”

   “The free energy being used by the city, it has no roots.”

   “What do you mean by roots?”

   “There’s no transportation, no exchange, no power chords, no liquids, no material except for the power stations in every town, and those are not even necessary to charge this city.”

   “So what?” Kirin said with an impatient look on his face. “It’s called the Free Electric by the Golden Cities for a reason.”

   “But why is such a
Free Electric
used to control? The Nobles use it to slither their way into every city on this island, offering it like a drug that a community becomes addicted to, eventually bending over backwards to please the Nobles after they threaten to take away their new addiction.”

   “It isn’t. And they don’t.” Kirin scoffed as he walked to the light switch on the wall where he turned them off and on. “The new energy that powers this island doesn’t use poles or wiring like the old world or the Outskirts of today. It’s an energy without borders or limitations to its design, it can travel anywhere without containment. This entire city, for that matter is powered by such technology even with a few hundred miles separating here from the Golden Cities. It’s what they call a
Single Cell
technology and it’s flow cannot be broken lest you tear down the entire system.”

   “Wow,” Jake said with surprise. “You really know your technology, Rin. I never really understood what they call the new ‘Electric’, but it always left me wondering how we could use it to charge the lighting, radios, and especially musical equipment without any input or output chord.”

   “That’s its power, lest you’re in an electric car and need an accelerated charge, those are the only things that use the power stations. Other than that, there’s no use for the charging stations because everything is powered by the Cloud.”

   “That’s it though.” Yumi said with tense nerves. “The
Cloud
, how far does it extend? And does it only power electronics?”

   “What are you on about?”

   “The Golden Cities, don’t you ever wonder about how it extended its hand to parts of this island so far from it?”

   “No.” Kirin said blatantly.

   “It’s the
Cloud
…” Yumi said with desperation. “It’s the power of the
Cloud
and what it does beyond giving you free lights and easy farming.”

     Kirin raised an eyebrow at her last few words. “What is it?”

     Yumi smiled at the slight show of interest he gave her. “It’s something you should ask the Unions. They use the ‘Cloud’ the most, they permit its use in the city and slave over the needs of their rulers.”

   “What is it with liars?” Kirin abruptly turned towards her. “You never give up, do you? Always hoping the next lie will work, right? Well stop with your fantasies now—I’ve heard enough of them as a child.” He said with a cold stare.

     Yumi recoiled at Kirin’s unaffected demeanor and harsh words. “Fine then.” She said gritting her teeth. “But you won’t get what you want without my brothers.” She said defiantly. “The Captain asked for all three of us, remember?

     Kirin pulled back at her words. “Hahaha… Finally, we’re getting somewhere worthwhile. Tell me where they are?”

   “I’ll tell you when you drop dead.” Yumi said hardening her expression and loosening her sitting position.

   “Now here is the real you…” Kirin smiled. “I’ve been waiting to talk to you. Now tell me where your brothers are and I’ll consider your terms.”

   “What is that supposed to mean?” She said confused.

   “Lead me to your brother’s and I’ll consider letting you go.”

   “What type of idiot do you take me for?” Yumi scowled. “You think I’m going to lead you to my brothers for a useless promise that you’ll think about letting us ago? Please. I’ve seen better tricks done by street magicians.”

   “This is not a trick. Though, it’s an opportunity to save yourself from the guard.”