"Mako, I brought today's food!" Bolin dropped the bag of street stall food on the table as he walked into the attic where he lived with his brother.
It wasn't exactly the best food in the city, but it filled their stomachs and was cheap.
"Why did it take you so long?" Mako turned to look at his brother from the couch, where he was sprawled out, rubbing his empty stomach. "The stall isn't that far away, did something happen?"
Pabu ignored Mako and began circling the food bag like a predator stalking its prey, waiting for Bolin to open it so he could pounce and eat.
This time he would succeed!
"Well, after I bought the food from Mrs. Chen's stall, I was heading back when I saw a blind man waiting to cross the road, so I helped him." He pulled a sealed envelope from his coat. "Turns out he's a fan of ours! He gave me this envelope as thanks and even did some kind of energy reading on me," Bolin said in an overly theatrical mystical tone. "It was amazing! Apparently, I can't do metalbending (supposedly), but I can do some super rare sub-bending technique instead!" he bragged.
"And what is it?"
Bolin raised his hand with a grin, ready for the big reveal, then froze with wide eyes as his mind short-circuited. You could almost see the lightning bolt go off in his brain.
"I completely forgot to ask!" he shouted, clutching his head and yelling at the ceiling dramatically.
"Probably a scammer," Mako thought, rolling his eyes.
His gaze was drawn toward the envelope.
"And what's in the envelope?" he asked. "Looks pretty thick."
Could it be a brick?
Did his brother fall for another prank? It wouldn't be the first time.
"I don't know, he just told me to open it at home," Bolin explained as he broke the seal and peeked inside. "Maybe it's—HOLY SPIRITS!"
"What?! What is it?!" Not only did Mako jump to his feet in alarm, but Pabu tumbled off the table in fright.
(Sounds of indignant, furious fire ferret screeches)
"Mako, look at this!" Bolin pulled out the contents and showed them to his brother. "I've never seen this many bills in my life! There must be at least ten thousand yuans…"
"Give me that!" Mako snatched the money from Bolin and started counting it with the practiced speed only someone from the streets, an accountant, or worse, a tax collector could have. "Exactly twelve thousand yuans."
Bolin then used his vast knowledge to express himself.
"Wow! Just… wow!"
Mako stared at the envelope and the money suspiciously.
For context, dinner for the two of them at Mrs. Chen's stall cost only twenty yuans—thirty at most if they decided to splurge for a special occasion. Only on rare anniversaries did they ever spend fifty, and that was only if they had some emergency savings to spare.
"What do you know about this man?" Mako asked Bolin seriously.
Was it a trap from the Triple Threats?
No, they weren't important enough anymore for the gang to waste this much money on them after so long…
"He was in his early twenties, good-looking, well-dressed, blind…" Bolin answered as best as he could. "Oh! He said his name was Jin."
"Jin…"
No one in the Triple Threats had that name. At least, no one Mako remembered from those days.
He hesitated.
Had they really just gotten lucky?
"Don't you dare brag about this to Hasook," Mako warned suddenly. "Tell him you met a fan if you want, but say nothing about the money."
"I know, I know." Bolin waved him off dismissively. "Never talk about our wallet to anyone, I know the rules!" He sat at the table and began opening the food bag.
If life had taught him one thing, it was that fresh food always tasted better.
Saving it for later usually led to a fierce competition over the bathroom—an experience neither of them wanted to repeat.
They were brothers, but there was only one bathroom in the attic!
And toilet paper was so expensive…
Mako fell silent, sensing that the tension with Hasook had been getting worse lately. He didn't want him finding out and pulling something shady. They were the ones who needed this money.
Hasook was only competing to kill time and maybe impress some girl he barely knew. He didn't take it seriously.
Unfortunately, they had no backup waterbender, so Mako had been putting up with Hasook's bad attitude this whole time.
It was a painful truth: without him, they couldn't compete.
"Everything would be easier if we had a rich sponsor," he thought bitterly.
Even though they had climbed to this point in the sport, no one seemed willing to invest in them, and he didn't understand why. Was it their background or their situation?
"Hey, are you eating or not?" Bolin said with his mouth full. "It tastes better while it's hot."
Even Pabu was happily devouring his share.
"Fine." Mako set the unexpected money with their hidden savings and sat down to eat with his brother. "Maybe I'm just overthinking things."
"Well, since he's our fan, maybe we'll see him again," Bolin said casually between bites, cheeks stuffed.
With that much money, wasn't he a good person?
"Maybe…" Mako said nothing else. He knew if he took too long, Bolin would absentmindedly start eating his share.
…
"I'll admit, Future Industries is more impressive than the show made it out to be." Jin stood near the company's industrial district, mapping out its entire interior: tools, facilities, workers, secret tunnels, products…
There were still plenty of things he found outdated compared to modern industrial power, but he couldn't help feeling like he was back in the Mechanist's workshop, where so many of "his ideas" first entered the world.
As for why he came here, naturally it was because of Asami Sato.
The company would inevitably fall into dangerous waters once it came to light that Hiroshi Sato was supplying the Equalists with equipment, driven by hatred after a firebender killed his wife. That was an opportunity Jin wasn't going to miss.
His plan was simple: establish first contact. If some of his other plans succeeded, instead of Asami ending up with Varrick and falling into the Water Tribe magnate's trap, Jin wanted to take Future Industries for himself.
At the very least, a major share. He would see just how good a negotiator Asami really was when the time came, but he remembered she had talent.
Of course, he had no idea how much money Asami would need to get out of the water, but by then he'd have already spoken with Toph, visited Zaofu, and figured out which assets he could use.
"Seems Miss Sato isn't in the company's racing district," Jin muttered as he searched. "If she's not at the factory or at home, she must be riding around the city on her moped, shopping, or at a restaurant."
Asami had been raised with money and knew how to use it to enjoy life or make things easier, but far from being spoiled and thinking money solved everything, she had developed a strong character and wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty. If anything, her father might have overprotected her a little, but after losing his wife, that was understandable.
Jin considered the most immediate problem: he couldn't tell who Asami was.
He didn't know her, didn't know what her chi felt like, and in his perception there were too many women who fit her general profile, clothing, or hairstyle.
Did that mean Asami was also a trendsetter?
As Jin pondered this new detail while wandering distractedly, he failed to notice a Satomobile speeding down the road in front of Future Industries.
BAM!
The next thing Jin knew, the world flipped upside down. He reacted just in time to soften the ground and cushion his fall. As he felt his body sink into the softened earth, he mentally patted himself on the back for carrying his armor with him at all times.
Judging by the impact, he would've broken at least three ribs.
"I've spent too much time shut away. One moment of distraction and this happens," he sighed wearily, not even bothering to get up—the ground was soft enough now to feel like a mattress. "This never would've happened to me before!"
It seemed he was still readjusting to the moving world.
He had to focus and get serious.
"I'm so sorry!" A female voice ran toward him in panic after leaping from the Satomobile. "I didn't see you in time, are you okay?"
"What kind of question is that?" Jin was about to make a sarcastic remark.
No, of course someone who just got hit by a car is totally fine.
Use common sense, please.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" the woman crouched beside him. "Can you hear me? Should I call an ambulance?"
Jin felt like the universe itself was mocking him, pointing and laughing loudly.
"You've got to be kidding me…" he thought, eyelid twitching. "Do I really have to meet her the same way that bastard did?"
Asami Sato was panicking when she saw he wasn't moving or responding.
Spirits! Had she really just killed someone?!