Introductions
Asami woke to early sunlight streaming through the gaps in her blinds, lighting up the bedroom in her apartment. She could hear the birds chirping outside, picturing them sitting idly on the railings of her balcony, enjoying the cool air and the calm before the streets of Republic City roared to life. She craned her head to read her alarm clock, 6.28am. Rather than doze off to blissful sleep again, she decided to get up, tossing her duvet aside and standing on her tip toes to stretch and shake the rest of sleep from her body.
So much for taking it easy, she thought as she made her way into the bathroom letting the shower run as the mirrors slowly fogged up. Despite the deep slumber she fell into last night, her hair didn’t have one strand out of line. Asami smiled to herself before climbing into the shower.
“For the record,” Korra stated as she trudged her way out of the dark, tinted van toward the entrance to her apartment building, tossing the last slug off her shoulder. It was still early morning and she was thankful that nobody would be awake right now to question the current state she was in; head to toe, completely covered in sludge, wreaking like a sewer rat, “next time we go on a mission, pick a route that doesn’t involve crawling through the sewers all night, okay Mako?”
He chuckled from the drivers seat, “you afraid to get your hands dirty Korra?”
“No,” she said hastily, “I would just prefer not smelling like shit all the time thanks to you. This,” she said gesturing to her once black jumpsuit given to her by the department, “is all going to get burnt. You at least owe me a large cup of coffee for that Mako.”
He snickered as he said, “Okay, okay, sorry. I’ll let you get cleaned up, see you in a couple of hours,” and began peeling out onto the quiet morning road.
Korra took another whiff of herself, “poof, I think I’m going to need a couple hours for solely cleaning myself” she said aloud as she strolled inside the lobby, leaving a trail of muddy footprints behind and into the elevator of her apartment building, putting her key into the lock and punching in the 8th floor number. She glanced at the time on her phone whilst she rode the lift, 6.28am.Well so much for hours, she thought, exiting the elevator into her apartment.
When you step off the elevator into her apartment, a small stretch of space marking the middle of the apartment also helps to separate the living quarters from her sleeping ones. On the left half of her apartment, you’re immediately met with an open plan kitchen and an island adorned with several bar stools facing in towards the kitchen. Just behind those barstools is the lounge; a large flat screen TV hung on the wall, beneath it a coffee table housing her DVD player, as well as her assortment of video games. An L shaped couch faced it, along with a separate lounger off to the side of it. On the right half of her apartment, was slightly raised onto a platform. Two large supporting poles connected to the floor and roof, came off as an entrance way into Korra’s bedroom. By the furthest pole, Korra had placed bookshelves to create more privacy. Stepping up, into the secluded space was the bed, bedside tables adorning either side, her makeshift wardrobe on the wall (Korra had grown a little lazy when redecorating and hadn’t bothered to build walls around her wardrobe so it sat in the open, her clothes visible) and a dresser next to it. Around the corner was her bathroom.
Korra’s favourite thing about her apartment however, was what you witnessed directly across the elevator. Full length glass windows and doors stretched along the entirety of the north apartment wall giving you a complete view of the city and harbour. Beyond the balcony doors lay Korra’s favourite place where she’d go to unwind after a long day at work. A small set up consisting of outdoor dining area, a cosy 2 seater couch, accompanied by a telescope angled towards the bay and open sea. She loved how the wind pulled the hair off her face and how being up that high, waded out the various, sometimes questionable smells downtown Republic City had to offer, and all she could smell was the fresh sea breeze, despite the docks being a fair distance away from her apartment.
Her apartment building was the kind where each resident received their own individual floor. Meaning that she didn’t have neighbours and by extension, wouldn’t have to worry about fumbling for an excuse about the extremely questionable states she consistently comes back in at suspicious hours after very late night missions, should she ever bump into said neighbour in a corridor. No, she instead thanked the spirits that the department had set her up with an amazing high rise apartment that overlooked the city, which also offered complete privacy (which is what every agent needs) and didn’t have a 24/7 lobby assistant. She’d been told that several civilians had eyed up this very apartment and one even managed to get so far as to lay a bond and pay one months rent up front, but one of the many perks of working for the CIA, are the numerous strings they can pull in your favour. So, here Korra was, in a fabulously large-for-a-studio apartment, with a stunning view she never really got the chance to admire, but still never tired from it - and all thanks to a rumour the department started about a supposed haunting - if that didn’t manage to scare away those potential residents, she didn’t know what would. Yanking the curtains open to let the first light stream into her apartment, her giant white husky, Naga, snapped her head up in surprise and excitement before yelping as she backed away from Korra.
“Hey! I’m not that smelly!” she said throwing her arms in protest to the dogs whimpering. “Okay,” her arms dropped to her sides along with her head in defeat, “I am a little smelly…" Korra slumped towards the bathroom whilst Naga went back to sleep.
Whilst the shower heated up, Korra managed to yank all of her clothes off and into a large garbage bag on the floor of her bathroom. She took one last look (and whiff) of her gear. “Yep. You’re definitely going to get burnt” she decided, staring down at the heap of sewer stained clothing as she shook the last sock off in the bathroom whilst the shower heated up.
Asami let the few water droplets run off her, not bothering to dry them as she wrapped her towel around herself and another around her hair, letting it sit atop her head. She exited the bathroom and tossed her clothes for the day onto her unmade bed, then strolled down the hallway, past her study, the gym room, and the spare bathroom through the archway that opened up to her living room. She made her way to the open plan kitchen at the back of the room, and flipped on the jug. Standing with her hands outstretched onto the marble counter whilst she waited for it to boil, she looked out to the window on the opposite side of the room, and the view it revealed. The sun had definitely made its presence known and lit Asami’s lavishly expensive apartment up. Sun streamed through the glass shedding light on the little fluff particles floating in the air of her living room. Asami made her lemon and ginger tea and settled down onto the couch, enjoying a few more minutes of peace and quiet that her early start had given her, before getting ready for the day.
Korra ran a hand through her short, wet hair, hoping to shake out as many water droplets as she could. She didn’t have time to dry her hair, as she didn’t want to be late today of all days. Chief Beifong had warned Mako and Korra yesterday about being “exceptionally punctual” today, which always meant showing up at least 30 minutes before they were meant to be due in at work, because of an important mission that’d suddenly come up. They hadn’t been told much at the time, just that it would require infiltration and the withdrawing of information from the target.
“This person better be worth me missing out on sleep” Korra muttered to herself as she straightened her uniform ensuring there wasn’t a single crease in it. Grabbing her keys for her motorbike, her phone and over the shoulder bag for the day she ran out, giving Naga one last sympathetic belly rub and a pat on the head, she leapt into the elevator avoiding her mud marks on the floor of it and made her way to work.
Asami always loved the drive to work. She had recently taken over her fathers position as CEO of Future Industries, and was now responsible not just for the designing of Satomobiles, Satocycles and Satoplanes as well as assisting in Republic City's big infrastructure plan, she also managed the chain of technological stores known as F.I Tech, that sold the smaller products Future Industries produced like phones, stereos, cameras, recorders and other devices. Safe to say, the company was in full swing. Meaning that Asami was also in full swing. It had definitely put her life into the fast lane - attending launch party after launch party, "grand opening" after "grand opening", and countless lunch meets with prospective business partners and investors. Truth be told though, she liked keeping busy, and somehow, despite how much she juggled on her plate, Asami always managed to fit everything in with time to spare. Though she felt she couldn't take all the credit - her father had gifted her with plenty of advisors to assist in any way possible should Asami need help. Asami had always loved a challenge thus, rarely using the advisors waiting on her every command, unless she felt like taking a day off (most of the time it was just a ruse to stay locked in her apartment to continue working on the blueprints she'd spent the entire night constructing). She had promised herself this year however, that she'd take it easy. She was only 25 and could've sworn her hair had already begun to thin.
She deeply inhaled, mentally and physically preparing for the day ahead, exhaled.
The drive to work always provided her last few minutes of peace and calm before the storm. She cast her eyes out the window as she cruised down the street to see that shopkeepers had already opened up, adorning footpaths with various food stalls, fruit stalls, drink stands and signs pointing to where one could find the best dumplings in Republic City. Children were already making their way to school, parents gushing behind them checking to see if they'd remembered everything before racing off to work. Hustlers had already put on street shows attracting small crowds, delivery trucks were making their rounds, busses were at full capacity.
She watching it all go down. Quietly appreciating the life in Republic City from the inside of her customised Satomobile, listening to the hum and roar of the engine.
She loved driving full stop. That much was always certain. She'd spent much of her childhood admiring the Satomobiles being tested in the track in her backyard, and eventually learning to drive and master with vehicle with far more control and precision than the other drivers possessed. Her father always told her, if she ever wanted to opt out of running the company, she could always switch to become a professional racer - she definitely had the skills - and the sponsorship was there.
However she knew that running the company was in her future. She'd been lined up and groomed for succession by her father. Despite his worries that it might not be something she wanted, that he may be forcing her into it, Asami gladly took it upon herself to follow in his footsteps. Simply because she loved creating, designing, constructing and helping to better the world, just like her father had strived to.
This morning, she'd warned her advisors that she was going to be working in one of the smaller chain stores, in the Republic City suburbs out east, overseeing the day-to-day run ins and how business was going for them, and jotting down notes on how she could improve aspects of the company for customers and staff. She'd made it her mission to get around to each of the chain stores, and this was her last.
Pulling into the reserved carpark out front, Asami stepped out dressed in her usual business attire; red shirt, tucked into a black pencil skirt, stockings accompanied with heels, a grey petticoat wrapped around her shoulders, and her long raven black hair let loose today, sitting slightly to the left. Her usual purple eyeshadow, mascara, eyeliner and dark red lipstick also adorned her pale and perfectly porcelain face. She was well aware of the three men unashamedly oogling her with chins dropped to the floor as she stepped into the store and ignored them, ready to start the order of business for today.
She was merely 2 feet into the door, when the manager, a small, timid looking man wearing a grey business suit in his mid 40's, the few hairs on his head slicked to the side, had crossed her space, coffee in hand, offering it to her.
"Ah, Miss Sato. So glad you could join us, it's truly an honour to grace us with your presence."
"For you," Mako said as he held the coffee cup out to Korra, "Venti Cappuccino just as you requested."
"Thank you Mako, you are too kind" Korra said as she gladly took the cup. The still hot beverage a welcome taste upon her lips.
"Well, y'no seeing as I made you trudge through sewage the entire night and miss out on sleep, it's the least I can do." He responded. Hands clung to his coffee cup, eagerly sipping away, hoping to erase the black marks beneath his eyes before briefing.
Korra noticed his hair, despite it's spiky wonder, was still damp too, and chuckled knowing they both felt the same way about their mission this morning. This person better bloody be worth it. They'd planned to trudge through shit an entire night, under the impression they'd have the next day off to at least recover, recuperate and well, not smell like shit anymore, until Chief Beifong had caught them just before they left requesting they be "exceptionally punctual" the next day.
So here they both were, looking half decent than they were supposed to, hair still slightly damp, bags under their eyes, coffees in hand, cursing under their breaths and even more in their heads at the person (who was secretly their mission) responsible for what felt like, hard labour.
"Good to see you both still alive," Lin said as she stomped her way into the briefing room.
"Barely," Mako mumbled at her entrance. Lin just cast a stern look his way, before he spoke up a little more to apologise.
"Now, I called you in this morning because of your mission. Infiltrating and acquiring information from the target. Now we've recently received reports that have led us to believe radicals in the area are attempting to capture the target, to use their vast knowledge and unparalleled technological skills to their advantage to hack into banks across the country, government agencies, military bases - you name it. Clearly it's a high risk case. That's why we've assigned you two." She asserted whilst her assistant set up the projection and begun the slideshow showing these suspected criminals, where they believe their base of operations is, and which companies, business and agencies are most likely to be targeted, should the criminals be successful in their attempts.
"Your mission is to protect the target, genius engineer and the CEO of Future Industries, Asami Sato." The board then light up with a picture of a beautiful girl with raven black hair, piercing emerald green eyes, clear pale skin. Her body, slim yet toned, to perfection. She was stunning to say the least, and instantly made the air in Korra's body leave her completely.
"Totally worth it." She heard Mako mumble from beside her, and she shot him a glance only to meet his smug little grin glaring down at her.
True. She was worth it. Hell Korra would go another day without sleep, trudging through shit storms to be in this girls presence, but Korra knew all too well that girls who looked like THAT were usually accompanied with terrible personalities. One of the outcomes from living such high-end lifestyles and being able to get everything you ever wanted with a snap of their fingers. Prissy, elegant, rich girl, Korra thought, whilst also trying extremely hard not to judge. She's just a mission, she repeatedly told herself, she's just a mission.
"So what do you want us to do Chief?" Korra asked trying to keep her attention on the mission.
"I want you two, to approach her, befriend her, date her - whatever. Find a way to get close to this girl to find out what she knows that way we can tell if she's at risk or not. Something tells me she is. She's the prodigal daughter of an already genius inventor. There will be people after her trying to use her knowledge and skills for their own personal gain. Your mission is to not let this happen. Stay close to her, protect her. She is your target, do you understand?"
"Yes Chief" they both responded in complete unison.