Chapter 2 : The docks
It was almost noon when the two friends arrived at the docks. As they used to do every day, they sat down on a bench to start their meal. Watching the passengers while eating was one of their favorite hobbies. That idea came from Bolin who had never had enough money to enjoy any vacation. Instead of going to destinations, he thought that destinations could come to him. The exotic clothes the travelers wore were enough to make him dream about adventures. He just needed to use his imagination to create stories from the sight of people getting out of dozens of ships. As they were eating, he couldn't help sharing his creative thoughts :
- Oh, look at her.
He showed a girl with a large blue hat covering her face.
- She was a good singer at the Ba sing Se Opera. She fell in love with the husband of a great diva and slept with him. The diva eventually knew about them and sworn to kill her. She couldn't live close to her lover anymore. After she broke up with him, she decided to go in exile to a little théâtre far from who has become her too powerful enemy. Now, she will perform anonymously as an actress.
Asami answered to this with a more rational guessing :
- Or maybe she comes from a hot city like Fayro and the station is too cold to her taste. That's why she covers her head with silk.
- You're ruining my imagination.
- Sorry... I like things that make sense. Though, I like your game.
- I dare you to do as well as me.
- Well... give me one second.
Asami was looking at the crowd to find someone interesting enough to create a story from. As she was eating a bun, she was supposing the origin of a man holding a big crate and dressed with eccentric black clothes.
- Him, he is a magician, he has worked for many year on his home world and eventually felt tired of his planet. He wants now to explore the verse and wants to practice his art on every land he could step on.
- Not really convinced. Answered the boy.
- You're showing off.
Asami swallowed what was in her mouth before pointing to a tanned girl. She had short hair with three tails and was dressed in blue clothes. The bag she was carrying was larger than her back but its weight didn't sem to bother her.
- How about that one? She asked.
Bolin was silent for a few seconds then gave his thoughts:
- I find nothing. She just looks like a girl from an ice planet. Very common. There are thousands like her.
- How could you know ? She might have an exciting life.
- More than mine in any case. I'm tired of being a guard. I've being doing the same job for four years.
- Yeh, I know. You've told me so much about becoming a bounty hunter.
- I'd like to seek bad guys. The little criminals here are not worth my big muscles. They are coward thieves, I want to hunt down murderers.
- And get yourself killed, I prefer you here and safe.
- I have the shape and the mindset, I'm fit for it.
He showed his arm muscles to prove his point then continued :
- One day, I'll get my license and I'll chase some bastards.
- Meanwhile try not to...
Asami couldn't finish her sentence. Her watch, also used as communicator, rang to alert her that she had received a message.
- Damn, I have to go. Mr Varrick needs me to fix something.
- Again, now ? You should take your time.
- Not really, it's an emergency. He is my biggest client, Although I don't like him, I should not keep him waiting.
She grabbed her last bun and stuffed her mouth with it. She shewed quickly and swallowed the whole at once. She stood up and left the place for a superior level. The problem she had to work on was in the hallway of a hotel. As she was reaching the place, she saw Varrick complaining:
- Ah, Asami. Finally! He yelled. I've been waiting you, you took your time.
- Yeh, sorry sire. I was...
- Shhh... don't want to hear anything. No water leaves the sink. Fix it. My customers living at the superior level are losing their patience.
After yelling at her, the man left the girl to enter his room.
Asami had a pretty good idea about why the sink couldn't work. No need to enter the room, the problem probably came from the pipes evacuating the water. She got a ladder from the hallway then climbed to the ceiling on which there was a plate. She opened it to inspect the pipes by hearing the sounds of her fingers tapping them. A few minutes later, she figured out what the problem was. Clogged, she would have to get some dirty things out of it. She couldn't help thinking out loud realizing that:
- I can fix ship engines and I'm stuck with those shits to repair. The common problems are not the funniest to fix.
As she was about to get down to grab her tool box, her attention was caught by a young tanned girl coming out of a room. She was hurrying to reach the elevator speaking to herself :
- Shit, shit, shit. I'm gonna miss it.
She caught Asami off guard running in the hall way. The girl's shoulder hit the ladder causing the engineer to loose her balance. Asami grabbed two pipes with her hand to control her fall but it didn't stop the ladder from falling. Asami was hanging 3 meters above the floor. Fortunately, the place was half lower gravity. She dropped the pipes to let herself fall twice more slowly onto the floor.
The tanned girl barely turned her head to apologize.
- Sorry... She said still running.
Asami swore mentally at that girl but she had been more afraid than hurt. She stood up to put her hands on the ladder. She was about to climb back when she noticed a little blue bag on the floor. She took it to inspect what had been dropped by the running girl. A little paper sheet glued on it gave the name of its owner : Korra. Although she didn't like the tanned girl's behavior, having respectful manners were some of Asami's habits.
She looked around to know if the girl was still in the hallway. She saw her entering in the elevator. Asami was going to yell at her but the doors closed too quickly. The engineer decided to run to it to check out where she would get out. On the screen she saw the elevator stopping two floors above hers. She used the stairs to reach that level. Arrived, she looked around to find where the runner was. She spotted her going to a boarding gate.
Asami followed her until the other girl eventually stopped at a check-in area. The girl in blue was starring a wide screen giving the times of departures. She was cursing in the middle of the place.
