12:20 p.m. at Station Square Park
He got an early start that morning. He had traveled to the beach and took the time to relax and reflect. He was surprised that he hadn't run into any of the others. He wondered what Sonic or Tails did on lazy days. He looked out on the ocean and took a deep breath. He could hear kids laughing and he turned towards the sound. There were two kids playing in the sand, one burying the other under the sand. He admitted that he did look like fun, but he turned away and stood up. He went back towards the town and spotted an ice cream truck playing a jingle.
His ears perked up at the sound and he went over to it, standing in line he finally got to order a waffle cone with mint flavored ice cream. After paying, he turns to walk down the sidewalk licking his ice cream.
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Luckily for them, Vector received a call from a client the prior night. Today Espio would gather information about the wanderings of a man with a worried wife. Infidelity rates seem high nowadays, but it's usually just a paranoid spouse... The man was supposedly at the beach where he'd meet with a co-worker. The husband refused to disclose said co-worker's name, so now it was Espio's task to reveal their identity. He was invisible to avoid any suspicions-just in case.
Espio spent a few minutes waiting, until he finally recognised a man with the description he was given. Tall and thick with blonde hair allll over. The man was a polar bear, after all. All he needed to do was record his encounter with a woman (or man?) and jot down the description for the wife to calm her down. He knelt in the sand under an umbrella by a sleeping body and watched.
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Silver went to sit down at a table that was close to the beach. While eating his ice cream he looked around at the people.
Mostly humans, he thought to himself. Wait, who is that? He strained his eyes to see there was a polar bear on the beach. Silver chuckled to himself, it was a strange sight. He stared at the polar bear for a while and continued to lick at his mint ice cream.
He looks down at the large two scoop monster of a treat. I don't think I can finish this, he thought worriedly.
He looks back up to find that the polar was gone. Silver kept scanning the crowds. Where did he go? He turned in his seat a little to the right and he spotted the polar bear again with a female... gazelle, he assumed.
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Female gazelle, short brown hair, slender frame, green swimsuit, arms looped with his and head pressed on his upper arm...Sometimes the reveal made him feel a little sick, especially imagining the spouse's reaction. He watched for anything else the two did to really confirm a relationship of sorts, other than friendship.
The two walked slowly across the sand, pecking each other periodically, and at some point, gnawing at each other's necks in some contorted giggle fit. It was enough proof Espio needed for the client. He stood from his viewing point and began to head back to the agency. Along the way, he caught sight of Silver, who caused him to take a double take. Better not to get distracted now...but it wouldn't hurt to say hi. He approached the hedgehog and turned visible again within a few feet. "Hello."
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While licking his ice-cream and staring at the couple he sees Espio literally come out of nowhere in front of him. He jumps slightly, almost losing his cone in the process and causing his ESP to flare for just a moment before the blue glow faded out almost instantly. Shit! He cursed mentally. "H-Hey, Espio," He let out with a small smile. He was glad to see him despite the scare.
"What are you doing here?" Something told him that Espio wasn't a huge fan of the beach. It might be detective work, he thought.
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"Just working. I'm sorry for frightening you, and, uh, that." He gestured at the fallen cone, ice cream dissolving into the sand. "Also, I wanted to bring you this." He handed him three dollars. "I'm glad I was able to meet you here. Take it."
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Silver looked down at the fallen cone then back at Espio. He shrugged, "It's okay. I don't think I could have finished it," He looked at the three dollars Espio extended to him. "Oh, thanks." He reached out to take the money and before he could take it and realize what had happened, a figure had bumped into Espio while running past both of them.
Before Silver could turn to see who bumped into his friend he had Espio shoved onto him for a moment.
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"O-Oh," Espio quickly pushed himself off the hedgehog whilst tightly coiling his tail. "Sorry. People are very rude nowadays.." He tried looking back at the pusher, but they had run off too far into the crowds. He always felt so uncomfortable getting too physically close to people, unless the circumstance made it absolutely necessary. It was just an incident, though, so he could quickly move away from those thoughts.
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Being caught off guard, his quills raised upward in alarm. He felt his face get flushed as he picked up the three dollars that had fallen into the sand. "It's okay," He turned to look into the crowds but he didn't see him either, "I wonder what they were in a hurry for?" He sighed and looked over to Espio again.
At this point, Silver had seen enough of the beaches of Station Square. He wanted to go somewhere he hadn't seen. He wondered if he could tag along with Espio, or if that would be inappropriate. He would like to visit the Chaotix detective agency but would that really be a good idea?
"Hey, I know this is uh- strange of me to ask," He paused. Unsure of whether to actually ask him or not. "Could I- check out the agency?"
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"Sure," the chameleon responded without hesitation, "However, there's really not much to see. You'll be lucky to find anything worthwhile, but please, feel free to come along." He'd be damned if Silver could find a single thing worth seeing in the office, but he understood the curiosity. He waited for the other to get up before walking back to the agency. "You don't have anything to be investigated, do you?"
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While walking next to Espio he thought about what he said. "No, not really. Not at the moment, anyway." He chuckled lightly. He felt excited to be able to go to the agency. It just felt great to be able to see something new in Station square other than the Casino that refused to let him in. He knew that he would be traveling to the Mystic ruins soon.
After a short walk, they reach the office. He opened the door and walked in to see a large crocodile.
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"Hello there! Welcome to the Chaotix Detective Agency. Take a seat right here and w-"
"He's not a client, Vector. This is Silver, remember? He just wants to visit."
"Huh. Well, don't touch anything unless you're willing to pay for it, hog. Did you get the dirt on the bear like the client asked?"
"Of course." Espio handed a notepad to Vector and sat in front of him to explain what was on it.
As Silver looked around, he caught the curiosity of a small bee who sat near the telephone.
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Silver's ears twitched to hear their conversation as he was looking at the wall that had newspaper clippings on their successes. "Bear? You mean the polar bear at the beach?" He interjected. He ignored Vector's comment on breaking things. He wasn't that clumsy. He slowly started to turn and look at the other wall until he saw a bee close by.
This must be the kid, he thought. He was about to greet him but was cut off.
"Hog? Really, he looks like a cockatoo!" He flew over to Silver and sat on his head moving his head quills around like he was hiding behind a bush. "Wow! These things are huge!" He started to laugh as he flew down to stand in front of Silver. "Nice heels, sir" He cackled.
Silver rubbed his head from the pulling and looked at the bee. He had dealt with children before, not very often but enough to know that if you give them a reaction they want they will keep acting up. He decided to go along with the teasing. "Why thank you," he chuckled. Charmy's expression changed to confusion but it was back to his usual happy expression soon after.
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"Charmy, stop bothering our guest!" Vector considered buying a harness to keep the bee restricted to a corner, but it would only make his business seem less professional. With a sigh, he looked back to Espio, "When we have enough money, we're putting him in a daycare-no questions asked." Espio nodded in agreement. "Anyways, good job on the report. No other clients for today, but I'll let you know when another drops by."
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"But, Vector!" The bumblebee squalled. "This guy looks so weird!" Charmy smiled again looking at Silver. He flew up to be eye-level with him. Right as Charmy was going to say something, he was cut off. Silver thought to himself that maybe it was for the best. He looked towards the door where a person had walked in.
A mint bat lady walked in, she was of short height and wore an old leather jacket, she carried a bag in with her. She looked around in the office and saw Silver first. "Hey, you!" Silver turned and his quills lowered on his head. Who was this girl?
"Yeah?" He furrowed his brow.
"I need help finding someone. Are you a detective?"
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Espio removed himself from the seat in front of Vector before he even asked. The crocodile immediately stood from his chair whilst whipping his head towards the female bat and slamming his palms on the desk. "He ain't no detective! C'mon, take a seat and talk to the real professionals." He sat back down and cracked his fingers back.
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The bat walked over to the desk and sat in the chair. Her demeanor was calm but there was a swiftness to her actions. She kept her bag close to her. "I need to look for someone." She exchanged glances to Vector and Espio. "And.. I think-" She stopped herself. Her eyes starting to swell with tears.
Silver started to eavesdrop on the conversation, he felt involved somehow. He knew he was just a guest in the agency, but he was curious as to what she was going to say next. He looked at everyone in the room, his stare lasted on Espio for a while before he made eye contact with him briefly.
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Vector crossed his arms and looked at her expectantly. He was used to having clients cry or have nervous breakdowns, but of course, they made him feel bad for them too. Thankfully for them, not bad enough to give them a discount on the case. He waited until she could compose herself.
Espio was avid on the information she'd give. It'd be interesting, considering it wasn't another family feud the Chaotix had to deal with again. He looked to Silver to pass the moment as she grieved, then the thought of him joining to help like their previous endeavor made him wonder. He turned back to the woman.
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Silver stood quietly and listened to the conversation. He knew he could just use his telepathy on the woman and figure out the problem on his own. He never liked the idea of doing that to people, he respected boundaries. However, he admitted to himself it would make things much simpler.
The woman collected herself and looked at Vector. She knew he was expecting her to say something eventually. "It's my dad," she said quietly. She felt this feeling of unease in her chest. "I haven't seen him since yesterday afternoon and I'm worried that Eggman is involved."
Silver's quills raise slightly. That got his attention.
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"Alright, can you give us a description of your father so we can know it's him?" Vector sat patiently.
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"Well, he's a bat. He's a bit older... He has copper eyes and has dark green fur." She pauses, "He smokes. If that helps. His name is Victor." She looks around and sees Silver again. "Will you guys look for him?" She turned her gaze to Espio, she had brown eyes and her hair was short.
"What's your name?" Silver asked out of the blue.
"Vivian." She replied.
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"Well Vivian, we will certainly try our best to find him."
"We won't try, we WILL find him." Vector huffed. "If there's anything us detectives can do, it's finding exactly what you want, and I know you want us to find your father safe and sound. Don't you worry, Vivian."
"We should look for him right away, then. Where is it that he usually stays?"
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Vivian pauses, "He visits the Casino a lot, he has a partner that owns half of the business. I checked in last night but the partner is gone." She looks to Vector. "Thank you, for your help." She stands up and puts her bag on the chair. "Do you guys prefer to be paid before or after?"
Silver looks over to her. He gets a strange feeling from this woman but he can't tell why he feels this way. Damn, he thought. Why did it have to be the casino? The one place that he can't get through to. He looks over to Vector to see what his reaction will be.
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The money signs were having a party in his head. He had to consider this choice carefully. Now, so Espio would definitely have to bring back the old man and he'd be on edge if he came back with nothing, or worse news? Or later, where the happiness would basically erase the limits to which she would have paid? What if she didn't actually have much...? No, no, her father spends his time in the Casino, so that would mean...
"After. But what is it you have in mind to pay?" His eyes crept onto the bag, then back to hers.
Espio sighed, "I'm going to head to the casino." He looked at Silver and gently jerked his head as if to say, "Let's go."
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Silver caught the gesture and walked out of the office with Espio behind him.