Internet 24

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.

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.

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.