[Remis] Knowledge Is Power.

[Kiyei Zhayuk]

A woman sat alone at the front of the tea house, by the wide glass windows, staring out at the road outside. Her elbows were on the table, one hand propping up her chin and the other dipping a tea bag on a string into a cup of boiling water. The steam that rose from the brew smelled of jasmine and ginseng.

She appeared to be a well-to-do woman; nails manicured, face flawlessly made up, lips painted a shade of deep red that didn't rub off on the delicate white china cup. Her facial features suggested that she was of Earth Kingdom descent, though her obvious preference for the colour blue implied Water Tribe... or maybe Kiyoshi Islander. The cut of her clothing and quality of the fabrics hinted that she came from money, but the way she held herself suggested otherwise; a grace that had nothing to to with ladylike elegance and everything to do with honed fighting prowess. Jewelled sticks glittered in her silken hair whenever she shifted her head, sending dazzling droplets of light across the table before her.

She appeared to be a wealthy woman, and she knew that this would be apparent to the man she had invited to meet her here. She had come across the number of an information broker and hoped to meet him here, for Kiyei believed that knowledge was power and there were certain things she wished to know in order to become powerful. Furthermore, she had the money necessary to pay for such information. This was apparent from her appearance.

She sat at the front of the tea house to be aware of her surroundings and the people passing by on the street. Kiyei was not a paranoid woman, nor did she have many enemies, but she intended to discuss a taboo subject here, and she knew that even if she were to be expecting hostiles in the area it was best not to hide away at the back of the shop, but to raise one's own level of awareness to the presence of such enemies. Only idiots blinded themselves in order to stay hidden.

Kiyei lifted the tea bag from the cup, squeezed out the remaining water with a quick gesture of her fingers and laid it down on her teacup. Then she took a sip, continuing to stare out of the window with an almost sullen boredom on her face.

[Remis Baguazhang]

Though Remis Baguazhang hated to keep a woman waiting, he found himself patiently sitting in the back of the sea house for at least a quarter of an hour after he had seen his new client enter the room. It was a strange meeting, really- a wealthy girl wishing to use his services? Oh, this was probably about some corporation or gang activity or some other random myriad of things. The handsome, black-haired individual found it odd that a well off young woman wouldn't take the time to hire a proxy for her dirty work, however. On the other hand, she could have been the proxy that was feeding information to her own employer.

It really didn't matter. As long as she had the money, the information broker didn't really care about what motivations the client had. However, this new customer was an attractive young lady... Perhaps he would look into that trait more.

On that note, the man stood up and walked across the restaurant in his usual attire; he sported a simple white shirt and pair of pants, embroidered with his trademark across the right breast area- a black phoenix with its wings spread and beak facing to the left. This was how all of Remis' customers identified the man. There were a few in the city who did try to impersonate the information broker's identity, but he did have other ways of showing who he was.

"Hello Kiyei. You may call me Juan. You are nineteen, heterosexual, and an adept waterbender. I am older, of the same sexuality, and possess enough martial skills to defeat you. What do you want to know, and how much are you willing to pay?"

[Kiyei Zhayuk]

From the corner of her eye she saw movement, a figure coming closer, and at first she ignored them but when the nearness demanded her attention, she looked up. What she first registered was the height of the dark-haired, green-eyed man; since she was sitting down he seemed to tower over her. Secondly she glanced down to find the black phoenix insignia she had been told to look for.

Her eyes flickered back to his face as he went on to display that he knew more about her than the average stranger should. So he was definitely the guy she was looking for. But he had approached her from within the tea house, and she had not seen him come in. He had been here before her, and he had sat elsewhere in the shop, likely watching her, sizing her up. He was careful about what he let her know, and what knowledge he displayed of her, like a salesman teasing the customer with what they could have if they were willing to pay. And in a profession where knowing all there was to know about everybody paid the bills and could decide life or death, one did not give out one’s own name freely. Indeed he had said that she could call him Juan, not that it was his name.

Kiyei’s eyebrows rose for a split second, and then fell.

"Impressive," she said. "Or at least it would be if I couldn’t guess how you knew all this. I presume you know my name and age from the tenancy information of the address that you may have tracked from the phone number I called you from. My appearance would probably clue you in to my Water Tribe heritage, and my physique implies physical activity of a specific nature – bending. Or perhaps I'm giving you too much credit and you simply saw me waterbend the teabag just now. You could probably guess my level of skill with the art from the way I move, or perhaps you assume that by nineteen years old I should be good at it by now." She paused to take a sip of tea and continued. "That I am heterosexual could well have been a simple calculation on your part, since roughly ninety per cent of people are and so it would be safe to assume that I am too. However, all of this is information that could be gained by simple inquiry, being able to read people well, and lucky guesses. It does not necessarily say much of your investigative skills. Before we get to the nitty gritty of information and payment, I want to make absolutely sure that I’m hiring the right man for the job. Why should I hand my gold over to you and not to one of the other countless information brokers in this city?"

"Please," she said earnestly, gesturing to the seat opposite her as an invitation to sit down. She had a feeling that it was going to be a long conversation and he may as well make himself comfortable. "Impress me."

[Remis Baguazhang]

The well-dressed man sat down as he raised an eyebrow at the prying woman. Though he did appreciate the value of knowing a salesman's product, Remis did hate it when people dared to question his ability. However, the man silently admitted that he enjoyed the opportunity to flaunt his skills.

"Oh, my dear. Please don't assume I go by guesswork. I'm a professional." As he spoke the last word, the man pulled out a plain vanilla folder from seemingly nowhere. It was one of the simplest tricks he knew, really- to hide items from view until he needed them to "materialize." He opened the folder up with a flick of his index finger. Inside was a photo of his new client along with a couple of typed pages about her current life. "You're right. I did find out your name from your address. However, I found out your age from your neighbors and your sexuality from the last man you slept with. You know- that one night stand about two and a half weeks ago? However, I won't go to the trouble of discussing your sexual habits." He waved his hand as to clear the air of the words. "Though I do feel the need to mention that you shouldn't come to meetings without a pair of panties on. "

He smirked as if to tell her he knew every little detail about her life. The people she interacted with, the life she was choosing to live in Republic City, and even the bowel habits of her pet were all in that folder. Remis waved his hand over the collection of information before closing it as seamlessly as it was opened.

[Kiyei Zhayuk]

She hadn’t cared to assume that what he did was all guesswork, only pointed out that a lot of it could have been, which was why she wanted him to prove that he wasn’t the guesswork type.

She raised an eyebrow as he pulled out a folder, and peered interestedly down at the upside-down photo of herself inside. She recognised that photo; it was the one she’d sent with the enrolment paperwork to the University of Ba Sing Se. Now, how did he come by that? She didn’t care to ask, though; it would be like asking a magician to explain his tricks. There were some things people just never told, and it would be a waste of breath to try.

He did, however, begin to explain that he’d discovered her sexuality from the last man she’d slept with. Kiyei smiled. So he’d gone to the trouble of tracking down some guy from the Earth Kingdom? When he went on, it seemed not. The man she spoke of had not been a once night stand, but it probably had sounded that way to her neighbours; a lot of things had been broken that night. What really stung her was the fact that the snivelling little slimeball had had the audacity to say he slept with her; she had higher standards than that. Mind you, he was exactly the kind of guy who should want to lie about his sexual conquests. She’d barely been in the city a month, but she’d set about trying to find someone who could get her the information she needed almost immediately. There were things she wanted to achieve by being here in Republic City and she was going to take them.

"That’s a hell of a lot of trouble you’ve gone to just to research a client. As for the ’one night stand’ I won’t explain what really went down between us because I don’t need to justify myself to you." She sat back in her chair, stretching out her legs languidly like a cat. He could think that she was the cheap, sleeping around type all he liked, because she didn’t come here to give him a good opinion of her. "So far you have one detail wrong. Quite a detail, actually, but it’s natural that a man like that should want to lie about that kind of thing." She tucked her legs back in towards herself and crossed one over the other. "Anything else?"

[Remis Baguazhang]

How did he overlook that? It was such a rookie mistake to take a lover's word on anything. All the other sources had confirmed the nature of the relationship- then again, perhaps they hadn't. Remis' face showed no signs of discerning whether he had actually made a mistake or was merely testing his new client for her reaction to attacks on her character. It could have very well been both or neither situations; when dealing with a someone in Remis' nature of work, one must understand that even the biggest mistakes can turn into an unimaginably valuable asset. The truth was so valuable to so many, but the information broker comforted himself with a resolve about the nature of his field; there was no truth, only things people chose to accept.

"If you did not feel the need to justify yourself, why would you correct me?" Remis winked at the girl in his playful manner. His green eyes showed no signs of fear or mistake- he knew he was in control no matter what he did. This girl needed him more than he would ever want her. There were so many people in Republic City that needed to know something. "Anything else, anything else... Oh yes, I do have one important thing to discuss with you."

Remis paused, hid the folder, and leaned forward toward the girl. He rested his head on his now propped-up arm and with a large smile whispered "What do you want to know about bloodbending?"

[Kiyei Zhayuk]

Kiyei smiled back at his wink without batting an eyelid. It was incredibly difficult to get a rise out of her, and he’d have to come up with something more than attempting to sully her name if that was what he was after. He seemed to Kiyei to be the type who enjoyed flaunting his superior knowledge everywhere, waving it around when he thought one wasn’t expecting it, anticipating gasps of shocks, expressions of surprise, and low, dramatic murmurs of ’How did you know that?’ He was the kind of man that liked to make others feel insecure and inferior, perhaps even cower in terror with the anticipation of what else he may know. A manipulator with a taste for theatrics.

The thing was, Kiyei’s slate was squeaky clean. There was nothing she had done that she didn’t want to hush up. She wasn’t a one-night stand type, had never engaged in questionable activities for money, and in fact had earned her considerable wealth from travelling from pole to pole, studying medicine and selling her healing abilities as she went. Anything else was fabrication or a twisted version of the truth. On paper, Kiyei was a model citizen.

"I corrected you because I thought you might like to realise the mistake you had made by accepting certain information from certain sources as fact. One that I daresay you will never make again. In that way I have just helped you, no?" The man seemed to forget that it was people like her that paid his way in the world, and for what she was about to ask she would pay handsomely for in return. Money like that could see that he need not have to work for a long while. She, on the other hand, could go to any other information broker in the city and get the same service.

"Now , Mr... Juan, as you and I both know, the art of bloodbending is illegal in the United Republic and has been for decades. You have already made unsavoury assumptions about my character from false information, so I’m very curious as to how you drew that conclusion."

She reached out and wrapped dainty fingers around the wicker handle of the teapot before her, adding a little more boiling water to dilute the taste of the tea a little. Kiyei set the teapot down and stirring her bevrage with a circular motion of her finger, asked, "Tell me, which so-called lover was it this time?"

[Remis Baguazhang]

Juan raised his left eyebrow to express his curiosity for the girl. Though he usually did not like to deal with pretentious customers who thought they knew more than he did about his own line of work, Remis did find her casual bitterness slightly appealing. This young lady across from him was rather strange in her mannerisms. Her record spoke of no delves into the underworld, no hints of wishing to break away from the usual constraints of society. Kiyei Zhayuk was squeaky clean. It wasn't the first time Remis had dealt with a first-time law breaker, but it was always an awkward experience to some degree. They never quite knew who or what they were dealing with, or even what they wanted in the detailed sense.

But that wasn't his problem.

"My sources are none of your concern at this point." It was a plain statement meant to exert a simple fact about this arrangement: the man was in control and he did not want to be toyed with. When Remis did not want something, it would not happen. "Now do hurry up and tell me what you want. I am the best of my profession in this city, if not the continent. You came to me because you want something you can't get from just asking around."

A simple smile followed his words. "It'll cost you 3500 yuans for a name and method of contact."

[Kiyei Zhayuk]

Kiyei knew that he would not tell his sources, at least not those that mattered. If you were good at something you should never do it for free, and not clue others in as to how. Nevertheless, she smiled wolfishly at him from over the rim of her teacup, and took her time to sip her drink and set the cup down again. The man knew what she was after, and so there was no point in pussyfooting about it or playing innocent any longer. It was so plain, in fact, that it need not even be said.

He was wrong when he said that she couldn’t just get what she wanted by asking around, though. Actually, Kiyei knew that if she asked around for long enough, and was persuasive enough (which she certainly was), then she would find the answer she needed before long. However, wantonly asking about such a forbidden and rare practice was dangerous if not downright stupid. It was likely to land her into police questioning and Kiyei, being the clean slate that she was, couldn’t afford to have that. Not that Kiyei was careless with whom she approached or the words she chose, but one could never be too careful.

When he said that three and a half thousand yuans was his charge, Kiyei kept her expression blank. That was lower than what she would have offered. A lot lower. But if it was agreeable to him and easier on her bank balance she would pay his requested price without trying to haggle.

"Is that per person? There may just be one user in the city, there might be five. I’ll need to know them all."