Business as Usual

[Vector]

Two feet up on the desk, legs crossed. Both large gloved hands behind his collar, supporting his green neck. Large, elongated head bobbing up and down to some faintly-heard music resonating out of his earphones while eyelids stayed shut tight. It was business as usual, all right.

Just like it hadn't been in abotu two years.

Vector seemed content to just sit in the new office of the re-opened "Chaotix Detective Agency" in downtown Station Square. He felt "home" again, as odd as that way. The old agency didn't last all that long, but with the four(Or three) friends who worked there it was like their world at the time. Bonds were made. Habits were formed. Expectations for every day were set. Even two years away couldn't;t completely remove them from vector's mind, especially since he'd always planned to return when he could. How nice that the day had finally come.

Sort of...

Officially the agency wasn't yet open for business. Vector and Espio were the only two employees around at the moment. Mighty had gone off to try and find Charmy to bring him back into the fold as well. Until their return it was mostly business stuff to take care of.

Like those papers that were.... under Vector's heels.

[Espio]

From the other side of the door, the chamealon strolled in. "Vector, what do you think your doing?", he said as he quickly ran up, and swiped the stack of papers out from under the green reptile. "These are important statistics about the city!" He checked them to see if the croc's boots had damaged them, and set them aside on a nearby table, shakeing his head.

Espio, was glad things were they way they used to be, save for missing two of their comrades till Mighty returned. It was a nice location to set up shop, on the outskirts of downtown, on the top floor in a office complex. Turned out the selling remains of busted sentry drones brought in a prettty penny when dealing with GUN.

He began sifting through the mail he collected on the way in, neatly tossing the unimportant ones on the couch.

[Vector]

Vector felt his nice soft footrest being swiped out from under his boots and opened his eyes in a surprised look before settling down into annoyance instead. It wasn't a hostile feeling though, in fact he smiled form it right after. It was as if the clock had turned back... but he couldn't afford to be as lax as he sued to be. He was the boss, after all.

"Don't worry so much, Espio!" the crocodile reassured his old friend as he pulled his legs down to sit in his desk chair properly. "I already finished all the necessary paperwork for the agency's re-opening last night so I'd have some free time in the morning! Now that you're here you can be the co-signer and... uh..."

Vector was pawing around in a desk drawer he'd opened up as he talked but suddenly cut off and actually bent over to the side to look.

"Hey! Where'd they go!?"

[Tutley Sakamoto]

"You mean those?', Espio asked as he pointed towards the employee outbox with his eyes closed, the word "Espio" written on the compatment second to the top, a stack of papers signed, laminated and ready for review neatly organized within it. "Couldn't sleep yesterday, so I looked for any work you may have missed.", he said shrugging. To be honest, he was rather excited about the grand reopening, but as usual he kept up his poker face. "I also reviewed some of the opening jobs we've been offered, and I was wondering which of these you'd like to handle first....", he said takeing out 3 folders each containing details on a different mission or job they could make a living off of. He set them on the desk, spreading them out for the boss' review.

[Vector]

"Ah, ha ha ha ha ha! Oh Espio, you almost had me worried I was still the same old Vector," The croc laughed happily with his gruff voice. Espio of course would know that he hadn't found anything left undone last night except for what he had to sign. Vector was determined to get their new agency set up properly right from the start.

The detective turned down his earphone music enough so that it could at least no longer be heard outside of his own head and started picking up the fiels on his desk one by one, thumbing through them.

"I've been thinking about this a lot," he admitted as he read. "I think we really need something big for our first case. The kind of job that makes sure everyone knows we're the guys to count on when trouble's around. We always got the job done before but we just weren't known well enough."

[Espio]

"If so, take a look at the second file here.", he said with a slight grin. Aparently Vector WAS takeing this serously for a change, perhaps due to the absence of his goofier teamates, or maybe he truely was intent on suceeding with the buisness. "Aparently, quite a few people have been reported missing from the city in the past two weeks.", he said crossing his arms and nodding in agreement to his own words. "The mayor, our client would like us to investigate into this matter. If it was foul play by someone else, we are to bring the culprit to justice. He sent in the request to us becaue he wants to keep the public from panicking as much as they are already, with the previous invasion in people's minds, as well as the press leaking information on the disapearances."

[Vector]

Vector opened up the second file and leaned back in his chair, viewing it seriously. Really,m though the matter had already been decided. There would be no question of "If they want to keep it hush-hush are we really going to get our name out there in the end?" despite what he'd just said. People were disappearing. That was serious trouble, and they needed to be helped. That, above all else, was the reason the Chaotix existed in the first place.

Plus it was the municipal government of Station Square. They could definitely pay.

"If these numbers keep going up it won't be quiet for long," Vector noticed with urgency. The croc closed the file into just one hand and stood up to walk around his desk. "I get it. The agency isn't even officially open for business yet, so our investigation will be completely off the books until its solved. Pretty smart of them, and pretty lucky for us."

[Espio]

"Indeed. The mayor has offered to pay quite a lot for good results and also, it doesn't hurt to have someone so high up on the list of clients. In which case, we should also hurry. I'm sure the local news has people investigating into this as well... ", he said with a frown.

He opened the door to the right, which led to the training room and then his own room. With a entire floor to themselves, Espio made sure to have a soundproof room built for them to hone their skills in, and also not make as loud a rukus that he knew they were capable of for their neighbors to deal with. "My gear is already packed.", he said tapping his back, the sound of ruffeling leather comeing from the invisible space behind him. "About how long will it take for you to prepare?", he asked the crocodile.

[Vector]

"I'm always ready to investigate," the burly reptile said as he lumbered for the half-painted office door that currently said 'Chaotix Detect'. "It's all part of being a good detective."

Vector was out the door, reading the file for all details as he moved down the stairs.

[Espio]

The chamealon soon followed after locking up the door, following the croc down the stairs by walking upside down on the staicase over his head. "Where do you propose we start looking for clues first?", he asked.