The Lone Star mall holds a variety of stores, from the useful, to the "how do they make money" kind. The stores specializing in only cleaning products, the sword store, the eccentric spiritual store, and the bootleg anime products. I saw a cross-eyed WUFFY statue with an apparent misspelling on the box. This is not one of those stores.
A local business has found success after years of hard work and began to expand throughout the last decade. A cozy cafe that serves the city''s best sandwiches and coffee. That isn''t only the owner boasting, as it was voted the best cafe in Austin 5 years running. It is called Cafe Llama.
Sitting in the cafe''s rustic and timeless charm are Aly and Don. Each table is decorated with old comic books and printed-out webcomic panels to give the space some appeal. This one is themed after a phantom thief in Mexico called Yualco trying to save a group of kidnaped women from the city gang.
Aly catches herself reading the table as she sips on her coffee. Don munches on a chicken pesto sandwich while staring at his phone.
ALY
When I get home, I''m checking this out.
Though what I really want to know is,
are you in yet?
Don taps on his phone and looks up with a sly smile. What makes the location special is the business across the hall. A big chain bank set up an office in the mall. They updated furniture, security systems, and tech. It''s so good; if you can log into the Wi-Fi, you can still have a strong signal in the cafe. Don is aware of this as he is currently on their Wi-Fi and more.
He places the phone on the table to reveal the security footage of the bank''s lobby. He has a full view of the teller and the small cubicle offices. There are six cubicles in three rows of two, all occupied by a worker and a customer.
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They both stare at the screen and begin absorbing information. Each worker wears the same powder blue dress shirt and black slacks. All beards are well trimmed, and hair is tied up in a top bun if length allows. The bank believes in a strict dress code and conformity.
Aly points to the cubicle tucked in the top left corner of the cubicle section. Sitting there is a short blonde hair man talking to a man in a navy suit with short white hair.
ALY
That''s our guy.
Don grabs her finger and moves her finger to another blonde man on the lower left side talking to a woman.
DON
That''s our guy.
ALY
You can''t blame me. They look alike.
DON
Sure, so what''s your read on him.
ALY
Hard to tell from this angle and distance.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
He seems confident, maybe a little flirty
with the lady, but I can''t tell if it''s genuine or
more work flirting to get the sale.
DON
You can''t get a "sell" at a bank.
ALY
And that''s why I handle our money.
Either way, with this, we can see if he
has any recurring customers. Any hints yet?
The past few weeks'' video recording of this area is being uploaded to Don''s phone, and he is running a facial recognition software, which appears on his screen as a multi-colored pastel caterpillar eating the footage.
DON
Give it a sec.
ALY
So... you like the space.
DON
I already said I did.
ALY
Yeah, but you weren''t like YEAH!
You were more like ...yeah.
I worked hard on it.
DON
I told you it''s more than just the space.
ALY It''s the rats in the ceiling.
DON
I thought you said there were no—
ALY
Look, I know you put a lot into this
business. I did too, and I know
you made sacrifices.
Don clenches his phone.
ALY
I did too. I... want this to
succeed as much as you do.
She clamps her hands and clenches tight. Don''s eyes brush on this, and he leans back in his chair.
DON
When I came to you with
this idea... to be detectives,
I expected you to laugh at me.
ALY
I did.
DON
Yeah, but then you said yeah.
You didn''t take time to think about it,
and here we are in a few months.
We are not even trained.
ALY
Weren''t you in the military?
DON
As a scientist, you were in MMA.
None of this means we
can be detectives.
ALY
You''re talking like a man with
an idea and no faith.
Don takes a bite of his sandwich, still debating with himself. ALY Life is built on decisions. Ones that work and ones that don''t. What matters isn''t the outcome but the ability to make another. This is our first case. Success or failure, I will be ready for the next one. Hopefully better than before so i don''t scxrew up again, but that implies I will screw up this time.
The phone vibrates on the table. A few matches occur. The same employees with a few false flags with Mr. Olive and the other blond employee. The silver-haired man, a woman with red hair, and a young man with an olive complexion, a haircut with shaven sides, and a jean jacket.
A review of the hits shows the redhead appearing multiple times a week. She would be in regular street clothes to an all too familiar pizza symbol on a green shirt.
ALY
The re-head works here at the mall.
Her shirt color is different, but it''s the same
style as the pizza shop in the food court.
DON
A possible suspect?
ALY
Maybe.
DON
We will see once we tail
Mr. Olive for a while.
Aly squints at the screen.
DON
You okay?
ALY
I''m just staring at the man in the
jacket who goes there a lot.
DON
Yeah, he never talks to the same person
each time. Happy to take whatever...
except it''s always the people on the right side.
ALY
Yeah, and that patch he
has on his jacket.
It''s a bit blurry as Don zooms in as the AI image generator tries to crispin the image, but she can''t confidently make it out. The more ALy stares, the more she swears the patch looks like a kangaroo.