Quiescent

Chapter 2 - Not this fucking shit again

The boys sat beside each other in an interrogation room at the precinct downtown. To say they were nervous would be an understatement. Thyme couldn't stop shaking his leg, his hands fidgeting in front of him. His thoughts so mixed up, he wasn't even sure what was going on in his head anymore. Ren, who was sitting on Thyme's right, was very well aware of where they were and what it could possibly mean.

Not to sound too optimistic but their company didn't have any public event that required them to have a police intervention anywhere in the near future. Even if for whatever reason this was about their company, why would they contact Ren and not Thyme? It just didn't make any sense. Nothing did, not unless they considered the possibility of news from the old case. A case that Thyme made sure wouldn't close until they found what they were looking for.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting gentlemen." Spoke a man in his late thirties, walking into the room with a file in his hand. He closed the door shut and placed the file on the desk in front of him. "Lieutenant Perry." He introduced himself, extending his right hand forward to greet them. "Ren, sir." Ren stood up to greet him, his right hand meeting the lieutenant's own in a firm grasp. "And please do not apologize. I'm sure you had your reasons." He said with a polite smile on his face.

"Yes, I needed to sort out some last minute details before I could speak with you." The officer replied, now turning his attention towards the shorter man who was still settled in the chair beside Ren with a scowl on his face. "And this... is?" The officer was familiar with the face but he couldn't quite put a name on it. "Thyme." Ren looked at his friend, sighing at his antics. Why can't he just behave for once? We are here for ourselves after all. The least he could do is try to act civil. "This is my friend. Thyme Akira..." He started but the officer interrupted him. "...Paramaanantra."

Lieutenant Perry could now recognize the face that was quite literally everywhere. The magazines, the tabloids, the news channels, the internet and social media, you name it all. Being a twenty three year old CEO of one of the fastest growing tech companies in the world was no joke. Though not a multinational corporation yet, the company had reached a point where it could be globalized. However an official decision on any sort of international ventures was yet to be taken by the board, if at all they ever planned on going global, that is.

Nouvelle Tech began as a small startup about five years ago by a few university students. It was initially based on a user interface, AI recognition software that was created for the purpose of keeping track of the students entering or leaving a classroom. However, with time, this software seemed to have achieved a very high accuracy of about 97.3%, generating a gradual increase in its user base. Thus, paving the way for a groundbreaking technological solutions' company, the Nouvelle Tech.

Thyme looked away with a bored expression, he was interested in why they were here and nothing else. All this was just a waste of time. Was it even about him? Or was it just something else that Jade could've very well taken care of? But then why call Ren? Why not him? "Can we skip the pleasantries? What are we here for?" He seemed to have run out of patience, or he probably just didn't want his thoughts to wander any more than they already had.

"Yes... but I must ask," The lieutenant sat down on the chair opposite the two men and looked at Ren. "Are you sure you want Mr. Paramaanantra here? It is a very sensitive matter and I need the approval of the complainant before I discuss anything." Thyme looked at him like If Ren didn't want me here, why would he bring me in the first place, are you stupid or what? However, Ren understood that the officer needed to ask that as part of his job. So he nodded and said, "Yes sir, I want him here." The officer smiled and looked down, opening the file in front of him and looking it over before lifting his eyes to meet that of the nervous young men. They tried not to lose their composure but it proved to be quite difficult.