Chapter 27

Mako sighed as he stared at the doors leading into Future Media. Not for the first time, he was beginning to question his love for pro-bending and the circumstances that led him here, that maybe he’d be doing better back in the Triple Threat Triad. Or working a lowly but honest job.

He shook such thoughts away, and forced his legs to bring him to the security post. It took only a few minutes before a sharply dressed, stony-faced man appeared, and Mako was led into the building.

“Director Xing is currently busy,” the man who introduced himself as Mozi helpfully explained as he guided Mako up the stairs and into a small but rather cozy waiting room. “Please wait here, he’ll meet you as soon as he’s done. In the meantime, would you care for some tea?”

The wait wasn’t too bad, and neither was the tea. Mako only sat around kicking his legs for maybe ten or so minutes (he had to get himself a watch one of these days…), looking out the window occasionally to see the sunlight turn more orange as evening came, before Xing came in.

Mako spied the flitting image of Asami moving past from behind the director, and immediately had to reign in a stupid remark about Xing’s meeting. He was not here to piss off the man.

“What brings you here, Mako?” Xing asked in way of greetings. Rising to his feet to shake hands, the Fire Ferrets captain stamped down his nerves and got right to it.

“Look, uh, sir-”

“Just Xing is fine.”

“Right. Xing, you know about Korra and the task force, right?” He waited for the director to nod before continuing. “Well, do you think you could…get her to not go?”

Xing’s head tilted a little to one side in mild surprise, though it didn’t bring Mako any relief.

“Look, I know Korra’s the Avatar and all that, but she’s going to get herself into some serious harm out there.”

“Which would affect the team.”

“Well, yeah,” Mako bluntly admitted. And more to the point, Bolin was seriously considering tagging along with her as well. “But facing who knows how many spirit blockers is gotta be a bad idea as well, isn’t it?”

“She’s not going in alone,” Xing calmly pointed out before shrugging. “And Avatar or not, it’s her choice.”

Mako tried again, using a different angle. “But it’d be bad for business? I mean, if she gets hurt…”

“I’ve got it covered,” came the easy reply. Too easy, in fact. Was that a good thing or not?

“But what-”

“Mako,” Xing interrupted with too much calmness. “Is Korra aware of my…new position?”

The captain let out a heavy sigh as his shoulders slumped. “Yeah…”

“She didn’t take it too well then.”

“No she did not.” It was what made her storm off to search for Tarrlok instead of going through team practice. The moment Korra heard that Xing got promoted and was now holding power over the sponsorship, her jaw tightened and her eyes went hard as she marched out of the gym.

A smirk flashed across Xing’s face. “And after that, you expect me to intervene, to stop her?”

Mako blinked. Well, when he put it that way…

“If anything, I’m more surprised that you’re the one who’s shown up. I was expecting Korra to be here, actually.”

Mako let out a humorless chuckle. “To what, shout at you?”

“Probably,” Xing admitted with a light shrug.

Well, too bad for him (and Mako) that Korra seemed to prefer focusing on her new role as Avatar of the task force.

“Let Korra involve herself in the task force,” Xing said, almost placatingly. “Councilman Tarrlok wants publicity, so he’ll aim for an easy target to show off. Korra will be fine. If she sees action, it’ll help clear her head.”

“You know where they’re hitting?”

The director shrugged. “Not a clue. But I think I know how politicians operate. Tarrlok won’t risk being the one who put the Avatar in mortal peril. He already has a task force of benders to do what he wants, Korra’s involvement is mostly to drum up support, really.”

“If you say so.” Even with that reassurance, Mako couldn’t help scowling at the thought of the Avatar being used for a…a stunt.

Xing suddenly raised a finger to bring up a final point. “And besides, I do not have any power to do anything as far as the Avatar is concerned.”

Huh? “But the contract-”

“The contract only covers the obligations the Fire Ferrets’ members hold towards Future Industries, and vice versa. So long as the team does not endanger its reputation, and fulfil its contractual responsibilities to Future Industries, then no intervention is required.”

The director then leveled a hard gaze at Mako, making him shrink back. “Future Industries is your sponsor, Mako, not your manager. Hanh is there to manage anything relevant to the sponsorship. The only one in charge of keeping the Fire Ferrets in order is its captain - you.”

A brief pause settled between the two men before Mako managed a meek “Oh…”

He did not like the sudden disappointment that bubbled up in Xing’s gaze. “And as team captain, you outrank Korra. If you can stomach it, I suggest you wield your rank to get her in line - whatever that line of yours involves.”

“B-But she’s the Avatar!” Mako instinctively blurted, and the disappointment in Xing’s eyes flared up.

“And yet she’s in a pro-bending team. Your pro-bending team.”

“I…”

The other man let out a soft sigh as he shook his head slowly. “It’s your team, Mako. She’s your teammate. Talk to Korra, preferably as adults…” Something was muttered as the words trailed off, but Mako’s ears couldn’t pick it up. “You might not completely dissuade her, but you might get her to withdraw from the task force after a few showings and focus back on the team in time for the tournament.”

“I…I understand.”

Xing regarded him for a silent moment, and then nodded. “Good. Now if there’s anything else?”

“Uh, no. No sir.”

Xing rolled his eyes and began to turn to leave. “I suggest you go back and have that talk with Korra. The faster you get it over with…”

Now it was Mako’s turn to interrupt, though he did so with far less confidence. “Uh…I can’t?”

The director stopped his movement, and then turned back to face Mako with some confusion. “Why not?”

“She’s already left to see Tarrlok, earlier this afternoon, and hasn’t come back yet.”

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Xing stared at him for several long seconds before sighing aloud. “I suppose you’ll have a harder task at convincing her then, if she’s already going on a raid. If you’ll excuse me, I have paperwork to tend to.”

*****

Chief Lin Beifong of Republic City’s Police Department sighed as she signed off on the last piece of paper for the day, restraining the annoyance that had been bubbling ever since Tarrlok roped the Avatar into his task force last night. It wasn’t the girl’s fault, Lin knew, but it was hard not to begrudge Korra’s presence as being the catalyst to let the water tribe councilman get his way.

The council could have assigned more resources to the police to allow for a more dedicated response to the Equalist threat. But of course that’d be too unbeneficial for them. Tarrlok wanted and got his spotlight, and now a completely different entity worked ‘in parallel’ with the metalbending police to root out the Equalists. And typical of narcissistic politicians, he hogged the intelligence, refused any cooperation or coordination with the police department, and wielded his authority to reroute the metalbender patrols so that they wouldn’t come across whatever hotspot Tarrlok had in his sights.

It was utterly frustrating, but Lin had soldiered on through a similar state of affairs before, back when the Azulan extremists popped up like a rash across the United Republic. Lin had taken umbrage back then at being left out of the decision making as the police was leached of men and resources to fuel the anti-extremist task force. If she hadn’t already broken up with Tenzin, it’d have easily triggered a relationship meltdown between them.

Now, an older Lin was more resigned about the Equalist task force. Let the politicians squabble for the spotlight, at least this time Tarrlok wasn’t compromising the police department to feed his ego.

The chief of police let out a long sigh as she rose from her desk, and easily restrained the urge to march and scream at the council. Better to spend the time and energy at maintaining order. Every second snapping uselessly at Tenzin and his peers was a second not spent in capturing mobsters and criminals who were threatening the lives of the innocent.

That’s what Lin told herself as she left her office, it’s what she kept telling herself as she left the building to get some dinner, it’s what she convinced herself as she heard the excited murmurs from the people she walked past.

“With the Avatar joining the task force, the Equalists threat is as good as dealt with.”

“I’m glad someone’s doing something about the madmen!”

“We need more decisive people in the council like Tarrlok…”

With patience long honed from dealing with her family, job and Tenzin, Lin bit down on the impulse to reply to the inane comments around her, and managed to reach her usual noodle stand without incident. However, Lin immediately noticed an oddity in her usual dining spot.

Sitting by the far end of the stall was a familiar face, the young former Avatar minder Xing, dressed too sharply for a mere socialite. The way he wore his suit, it was like he was trying to make it as utilitarian as possible. Streamlined, as some might say. Lin knew a few people who liked such a minimalist fashion choice.

She personally locked a few of them away herself.

Shaking away the sudden heebie-jeebies, the police chief reminded herself that this Xing was a recently released bodyguard, not a serial assassin. Being the Avatar’s shadow meant that he probably acquired a similar mindset to the hitmen. It made a sick sort of sense, and he seemed competent enough to overcommit to the bit…

Just as interesting were the people he sat with - Two kids and an old man, all dressed like they held desk jobs. The children were engaged in animated discussion with Xing, who seemed to be giving a cheery lecture, while the old man listened with some interest.

Curious. Lin didn’t think he had family here.

The quartet noticed her arrival with varying reactions; Xing seemed courteously surprised, the old man simply slurped away at his noodles, while the two kids immediately clammed up and shrank away.

Interesting, she’d seen such timid eyes before, usually from the pickpocket street gangs.

“Ah, Chief Lin.”

She returned the greeting with a curt nod as she found her usual seat. “Director Xing. Belated congratulations on your promotion.”

The recently minted director noticed the shift in her gaze and without worry began to introduce the people with him. “Ah, allow me to introduce Lidai, Kai, and Ren. I’m fortunate to receive their vital assistance when I first entered Republic City.”

The old man scoffed into his raised bowl. “Hah. Vital, he says.”

Xing threw a light-hearted sideways glare at Lidai. “It is true.”

“In your mind, Xing. In your mind.” The elder put his bowl down and surprised Lin by giving an exasperated look, a stark contrast to the still quiet kids between him and Xing.

“He pays for my crippled bones to be mended, buys us a new home, and gets us good jobs. And he says he’s fortunate to meet us.”

“Sounds like quite a story,” Lin politely replied.

“We helped each other, I guess,” Xing compromised with a gentle smile, and then gestured at Ren and Kai who seemed ready to bolt. Lin got the distinct impression that he knew about it, and was teasing them for it. “Kai and Ren might have been…living in a challenging environment in the past, but their resourcefulness has proven indispensable.”

He then gave Lin a smile that better fit Tarrlok, and even Tenzin when he was trying to be ‘diplomatic’. “You would not hold their past against them, I hope, Chief Lin?”

Eh, she’ll play along.

“So long as they’ve got nothing serious on them.” In truth, the only reason to pick up urchins was to gain updates on the triads. There were too many hardcore criminals to waste space on pickpockets and pawns, plus even Lin didn’t like the notion of locking away a child for, what was to them, a crime of necessity. So to see two such urchins being lifted up from the alleyways into something more decent was a rare good thing for their types.

“Then they’ll be fine, right?”

Lin watched the two kids look at Xing with a mix of embarrassment and affront, and then ignored their hushed exchange as she ordered her food. The other patrons too went back to eating, after only pretending to do so as they eavesdropped on the whole exchange.

There was no further conversation between herself and Xing after that, but Lin did pick up the bits of his resumed lecture to his younger audience.

“-re still young. Asami knows it too, so don’t push yourselves so much…”

“...I know it’s uncomfortable, but you’re representing Asami now, so be patient with the condescension. But if it truly feels unbearable, let Asami know, she can probably conjure up a good excuse for you. Or let me know at least, and I can talk to her…”

“Don’t be afraid of not being too hard working. You’re not adults yet to go through all that tedium. Just make sure to balance…”

Huh, so he got them jobs as Asami Sato’s servants then? Good for them. The old man too seems to be working with them in some capacity, judging by how often he nods his head and chips in with bits of advice.

Lin finished her meal at her usual efficient speed, and she had barely begun her return back to the police headquarters when Xing jogged up to her in a noisy clatter of wooden soles.

“Chief Lin, if I could ask for a moment of your time.”

Lin turned to him, and found herself a little surprised at the utterly serious look on his face, especially when compared to the cheery mood he displayed earlier. “Something I can help you with, Xing?”

“If you don’t mind me being blunt, would you know how active Avatar Korra's participation would be in the task force?”

Huh, she didn’t expect that. “Beats me,” she honestly answered, and almost laughed at his confusion. “The task force is purely Tarrlok’s thing.”

“You mean it’s not part of the police force?”

“Nope.”

Xing frowned, no doubt already picking up on the tone of her answer. “That seems…suboptimal.”

“Heh, tell me about it. I’m just as out of the loop as you are, in all likelihood.”

The frown deepened. “Politics,” the young director muttered disapprovingly, and Lin found herself nodding in agreement with him.

“Unfortunately so.”

There was a second of silence, and Lin was about to go back to going back to work, but then Xing’s severe expression eased up a little as he seemed to push his concerns away. “Oh, before you leave, Future Industries will be unveiling new features for its future Satomobile designs. They’re safety features, and I was wondering if Republic City’s police force would like to appraise them?”

Huh, that was a swift change of topic.

“Safety features, huh?”

“To improve passenger survivability,” Xing responded with a nod. “We’ll be holding demonstrations for the media when the time comes, but I can arrange a separate display for the police force if it’s of interest.”

Lin hummed in thought as she mulled the offer. The metalbending police mostly worked out of the blimps patrolling Republic City’s skies, but it still had a fleet of police cars to provide less strenuous and more localized support. Sure, this was a blatant attempt by Xing to secure a lucrative contract, but since the pitch was on safety instead of the usual crap about speed and aesthetics…

“It’s worth considering,” she finally answered. “Send me the proper proposal and I’ll look through it.”

Rather than whining about having to go through the correct channels, Xing instead broke into a smile and bowed. “I’ll have the paperwork sent to the police department within the week.”

Lin resumed her walk back to her office with a sliver of admiration. She’d just been approached with an honest offer, with none of the usual wheedling to get her to immediately commit to a proposal. Xing’s definitely too utilitarian to be a typical wealthy director…

And to hammer that point further, he’d given her useful information after his pitch, instead of trying to dangle it as part of his offer.

The Avatar must have really fucked up if she got Xing to leave her.

Chief Lin Beifong marched back to the police headquarters, mildly incredulous at either the naive or principled honesty given to her, but also highly irritated at the information Xing had provided. She burst through the doors immediately barking orders.

“Lieutenant Xu, who’s on overtime tonight? Get them on standby. Sergeant, I want you to find out if Tarrlok’s got the journos ready to shine his ass later tonight.”

Of course it’d be someone else like Xing who’d learn that there might be a possible raid by the task force tonight, instead of that courtesy being given to the police. Lin prepared her department for the inevitable cleanup that followed such raids - securing the scene, providing backup to hound leads, crowd control… Spirits knows Tarrlok would gladly use lack of communication as a means to make her police force seem inept in its response to his operations.