afutureformyself:

Even after the few nights Clive had already spent in limelight City, the new place still fascinated him. It was a far cry from the pleasant little life in London that much was assured, but even more surprising was that he was here. After all he had done, this was his method of atonement..? Living out a contract in this town? The City of Tolerance… He supposed he could follow the logic behind that decision as weird as the circumstances truly were.

Funny how no one was even sent to watch him. Openly at least, but it would be remiss of the good detective to give him such room to roam. Not that he intended to instigate any more trouble, of course. Perhaps this was the restart that he desperately required, a new life, indeed.

Well now, as puzzling a thought process as that was, there appeared to be no point to following it to its true answer. Rather, he had a bartender shift to attend to later in the day. Buttoning up the uniform’s vest, he finished up with his usual blue cap. It didn’t match in any way shape or form, but it was a bit comforting to have on as he walked about town, even if its original purpose was impersonation. But that was a past to place behind him.

Time to face the day then! Perhaps he’ll run into some of the new residents of Limelight on his way to the Asphalt Jungle Club. It didn’t take much of a puzzle master to figure out there was a large influx of people coming in. Now how many would be out and about like he was?

Xian Mei’s terms of reassignment were certainly a little hazy, but she was sure that her superiors definitely did this for a reason. Maybe they’d gotten wind of Banoi’s infection, and moved her someplace else for her own safety. Or, there wasn’t enough information coming from the island. Perhaps they wanted her to be in the heart of the country they were taking that information from. Whatever the case, their star officer was enjoying her new mission.

Now wasn’t any time to be slacking, however. The Chinese private investigator, as her job description now read, was walking through what the locals called Uptown, one of the fancier parts of the city. It wasn’t overbearingly flashy, but the atmosphere of the region was duly notable. On a small writing pad, Xian made a note… In Chinese, of course. If Americans got a hold of her notes, they most certainly wouldn’t be able to read them.

> 住宅区。家庭的富有和著名。

Focused so much on her environment as she moved through the streets, Xian couldn’t help but notice someone a little… out of the ordinary. It was fortunate for her that the other was moving in her direction. If this was to be her first meeting with a Limelight arrival like her, it might as well be a little staged. After all, one always had to set up the suspect before closing in for the arrest.

So, with the grace of a swan… she forced herself to trip, colliding with the stranger and falling to the ground.

“Ouch…”