Grand Ascension-Chapter 102: Welcome to MIO

The Houston heat hit Makun the moment he stepped out of the sedan, he stood on the hot pavement, and for a moment, he felt the air press against him like a hot, damp towel pressed against his face.

It was a different kind of hot than the air he’d left behind in Naija City. Back in Naija City, the humidity felt "alive", salt-crusted and smelling of decaying seaweed and open water, always moving with a restless Gulf breeze. Naija City was a pier city.

Houston’s air however, was stationary. It was a heavy, industrial warmth that tasted of asphalt and exhaust, smelling of the millions of engines idling in the distance.

He shielded his eyes against the glare.

In Naija City, the horizon was a flat, shimmering line where the gray-blue water met the sky.

Here, the horizon was jagged and vertical. The skyscrapers of the Energy Corridor and Downtown rose up like glass-and-steel titans, reflecting the harsh Texas sun so brightly it made his eyes ache.

Makun adjusted his black shirt, which was already beginning to cling to his lower back.

He quite liked this feeling. Makun spread his arms, inhaling the hot air of Houston, it smelled nice, it smelled like something new.

In Naija City, he was a man at the edge of life, at the edge of the world, looking out for something better.

Here, in the belly of the Fourth City, he was just another shadow moving through a labyrinth of glass and steam. However through this maze, he could find clues, he could find answers to who he really was.

He squinted at the building in front of him, twelve stories of steel and tinted glass, MIO Southern Division Headquarters.

Yime was already walking toward the entrance.

"Keep up," she said without looking back.

Makun followed, walking towards his new beginning.

...

The glass doors slid open and cold air washed over him, a sharp contrast to the heat outside.

"So, how does it work around here?" Makun asked quietly, following behind Yime, Orel and Amelia.

The lobby was nothing like the VEB, no empty halls, no silence. People moved in every direction, most of them in suits, and from how fast they moved, each of them had a purpose.

Makun had difficulty believing this was the MIO Southern Branch.

An organisation like the MIO was meant to be camouflaged, similar to how inconspicuous the VEB HQ had been. The VEB had blended in with every other building and escaped unwanted attention in such a way.

No one was going to enter a building like that with no particular reason.

This one however felt like just anyone could come in, he had already seen more than ten people come in and out of the building.

Was that not dangerous, for the Suppression Bureau who despised normal people knowing about mysticism?

Or was this an attempt to hide in plain sight?

"We are not there quite yet!" Yime said, interrupting his train of thought.

He was confused, what did she mean they were not there quite yet, wasn’t this the MIO headquarters?

"This building to most is that of a law firm, everyone you see here knows nothing about us. They are just doing their job." Yime said, her voice clear and soft, cutting through the crowd without slowing.

Makun’s eyebrows raised. Law firm? Ignorant of the MIO? How does it work? He followed, eyes scanning and cataloguing everything he was seeing.

The VEB had been different, the entire building belonged to them, they probably had a hidden mundane identity, but nothing like sharing their building with another company.

That was risky.

"We are different from the VEB, they patrol around town, so it’s easier for them to assume the role of a security firm," she said. "The MIO is different. We investigate, we solve mystic crimes, decide mystic from non-mystic. Every document in our base is a gold mine, very important and should not be leaked no matter what."

"You are probably going to do it right? I mean, not you, but your luck." Orel provoked.

Makun ignored him, it did not land, it felt forced.

He had been surprised by Orel’s quietness throughout the journey, it seemed he had something on his mind.

Makun nodded at Yime, he understood this, but she still had not answered his question. She had never told him how it worked around here, and his doubts about the law firm arrangement remained.

This was not how the Yime he was used to operated.. She had always gone straight to the answer before giving explanations. Now it seemed she was doing the reverse, this highlighted the importance of the information here.

They stopped at an elevator. Yime pressed a button, the doors opened, and they stepped inside. Yime at the front, Makun beside her, Orel at her back, and Amelia at Makun’s back.

"Has there ever been a leak?" Makun asked, going where Yime wanted him to go.

But he already knew the answer from Amelia’s reaction. She was like a ghost, barely present, however his question had gotten a reaction out of her.

Yime nodded, clicking -1 on the elevator. "Yes, but not from our branch. The result is unwanted attention, this forces the Suppression Bureau to pump out other information, hiding the truth behind conspiracy theories."

Makun listened carefully, he had not been an avid fan of conspiracies, it was more that he never had time to look into them. He had to sort his life out. But he did know of some, flat earthers, the ice wall, the moon landing.

Was this information held by the MIO or another mystic branch of the Suppression Bureau? Not that it mattered, he was going to find it soon.

Now he needed to know why Yime had mentioned this. "So?"

"We cannot be as exposed as the VEB, only the higher ups of the different national security branches are aware of us, and even they cannot access our branch," she paused, "How it works? Just take the lift."

Exactly at that time, Makun felt it yet again, the air had shifted, the energy had shifted.

He was not an expert when it came to the veil, but he knew that whenever such a shift happened, they were in the veil.

The elevator opened, in front of him, a large underground tunnel with very organized doors.

"Welcome to MIO," Yime said.