The man is (one would guess) around 5'6" tall, with a very round face, and short, black hair. He is neither fat nor thin, but when he raises his eyes from the folder he is reading, they pierce Leo like knives through butter. The eyes examine Leo minutely from the top of his head to his clown shoes and back again. A delicate finger taps the folder.
"Mister Leo Barbeau," he says. It is not a question. The head nods fractionally towards the chair. "Please be seated," he says. It is not a request.
Leo glances back towards the corridor and calls to Ariel, not shouting but pitching his voice just loud enough so she can hear: "This seems to be my interview room, Ariel. I guess I'll see you in a little bit. Good luck with yours!"
Ariel, who has apparently also found the location of her own interview, calls: "Good luck, Leo! I hope I see you again!" just before her door closes.
Leo then closes the door and walks towards the C&I official, then folds his gangly length to sit in the metal chair. "Good evening, sir," he says politely.
In a quick, jerky motion, the man pulls some papers from his desk.
"Please answer the following questions completely and honestly.
1. Purpose of visit
2. Length of stay
3. Accomodation arrangements
4. Do you intend to apply for
a work visa"
Leo picks up the form and pen, considering the questions. He starts
alternately scribbling and gnawing the pen tip.
2.
Length of stay
Undertermined, but expected to be less than
six months. I want to contact my friend first and find out what her
schedule is. I have terminated my previous employment and so do not have
a rigid schedule myself.
3.
Accomodation arrangements
No prearrangements, except for the
package offered by the Al Amarja tourist Board for participating in Al
Amarja's Customs and Immigration su rvey. After that, I expect
to rent a room in a moderately priced hotel, depending on availability.
If I decide to prolong my stay beyond the first week, I will look for temporary
accomodations, such as a room rented on a monthly basis.
4.
Do you intend to apply for a work visa?
If I decide to prolong my stay after
the first week, I hope to apply for a temporary work visa if I satisfy
the requirements, which I have not yet explored.
The first time the pen tip comes anywhere near Leos mouth the small man slams both hands onto the desk top, the soound loud as a gunshot in the confined space of the room, and leaps to his feet.
"DO NOT!" he screams, his formerly impassive face now a mask of hatred and fury. He strides around the desk and snatches the pen from Leo's surprised grasp, grabs the form away from him, and tears it in half. Size discrepency does not allow him to loom, even when Leo is sitting, but he mercilessly invades Leo's personal space.
"HOW DARE YOU?" he snarls "HOW DARE YOU TAKE LIBERTIES IN MY OFFICE? HOW DARE YOU TREAT THE PROPERTY OF THE AL AMARJAN GOVERNMENT IN SUCH A MANNER? IS THIS HOW YOU EXPECT TO TREAT THE REST OF OUR COUNTRY? WITH CONTEMPT? DROOLING YOUR SPITTLE OVER OUR PROUD NATION?"
He begins to punctuate his remarks by poking Leo repeatedly in the chest.
"THAT PEN WAS BESTOWED UPON ME BY HER EXALTEDNESS HERSELF FOR TWENTY YEARS OF LOYAL SERVICE TO THE NATION OF AL AMARJA!" Poke. "I LEAVE IT FOR THE PUBLIC TO USE TO REMIND ONE AND ALL WHO ENTER THIS OFFICE THAT THE AL AMARJAN GOVERNMENT EXISTS TO SERVE!" Poke. "AND THAT THE HONORS BESTOWED UPON THOSE WHO SERVE ARE EQUALLY DESERVED BY THOSE WHOM WE ASSIST!" Poke. "AND YOU," Poke, "PIG THAT YOU ARE, " poke, "DARE TO CHEW ON IT" poke, "AS THOUGH IT WERE SOME SORT OF PENNY CANDY?" poke, poke, poke.
The caseworker strides back behind the desk and sits down, face still screwed up in fury, his hands visibly shaking. With an effort he controls his voice. "Give me your visa, dog. Give me your visa so that I may stamp it 'Rejected' and see you on the next plane out of our beloved country. You, who would spit on the gifts of her Exaltedness, you who hold us in contempt. It will be my duty and my personal pleasure to protect the people of Al Amarja from reprehensible filth such as yourself."
At first, Leo is taken by surprise by the little man's vehemence. He cringes at the fury and screaming, folding himself a little tighter. But the man's repeated poking and invasion of personal space is more than Leo can endure for long. He listens to the whole tirade, still rather stunned, but with growing inmpatience. When the caseworker returns behind his desk, Leo pulls his passport out as ordered, and places it on the desk. In the same motion, he swipes the entire pen set, the family picture, the bonsai tree, and any other small items he can grab. He starts juggling all of them together, sending them ever higher in smooth arcs.
"I beg you to accept my sincerest, deepest and most abject apology," he says very politely. "It was an unpremeditated gesture, betraying my fatigue and confusion after this late flight. I beg you to reconsider and grant me a visa of sojourn on the beautiful island-nation of Al Amarja; I promise you that I will not let my foolishness sully it again.
"By the way, this is kind of tricky - the bonsai is not well balanced with respect to the rest of the objects. I should practice more with this kind of challenge..."
As Leo juggles away with the items on the desk (doing a superb job of it, despite the awkwardness of the bonsai) the little asian man seems to get himself under control once again. His eyes narrow and his gaze once again becomes intense and focused. He watches the items from his desk fly through the air for a moment, then slowly stands, pushing the chair back away from his desk. He bows, formally and precisely. Leo gets the impression that he knows down to the degree the exact angle of the bow. All the time the eyes never leave the whirling objects.
He straightens and begins unbuttoning his tan C&I jacket, still watching Leo. Once it is off, Leo realizes that the man's arms are a solid mass of tattoos from the wrist to the point at which the arms disappear under the tee-shirt. Then the tee-shirt comes off, and the torso is revealed to be a mass of tattoos as well.
Still never taking his eyes off the objects, the man reaches into his desk again, pulls out some sort of headband, and begins knotting it around his forehead.
Leo watches the man's movements with growing apprehension, but keeps the objects he's juggling in motion. He hopes fervently that this man realises that sudden moves may signify the bonsai's rapid and definitive transformation to long-range weapon (one use only).
Still without taking his eyes from Leo, the C&I caseworker reaches slowly down, slides open a desk drawer, and withdraws a short, straight sword in a black, lacquered wooden sheath. He grasps the hilt in one hand, the sheath in the other.
"Now," he says with a voice like flint, "you will return the bonsai cultivated by my mother, the photograph of my family, and the pen set given to me by Monique D'Aubainne to their proper places on my desk. You will then kneel and make obeisance, apologising to the spirit of each in turn, and showing your profound shame by touching your forhead to the floor for each in turn."
"If you do these things, I will order tea, and we will sit as civilized men and you may make a case for my sparing your life. If you do not, I will draw my sword, and one of us shall most certainly not leave this room alive."
With a flourish, Leo juggles each and everyone of the objects he's taken back into their original position on the desk, near as he can make it. He then folds down to the floor, sliding to his knees like a piece of clothing falls to the floor. Effortlessly, he touches the floor with his forehead, resisting any temptation to do a hairpin, headstand or backbend in the process. He does his best to apologise to the "spirit" of every Cross or Mont-Blanc pen, Kodak moment, and snow globe.
Good to his word, the C&I caseworker orders tea via his intercom. While Leo waits, he speaks in a calm, unruffled voice.
"Mr. Barbeau, you have now, I hope, learned an important lesson about Al Amarja. There are many, many individuals on this island who hold many, many differing things dear to themselves. For some it is their philosophy, for some it is wealth, for some it is knowledge. In my particular case it is certain items I brought with me from my homeland when I came here. I value them as a link to my past. I display them as a gesture of goodwill and trust towards those who enter my office. I defend them strongly because they are important to me."
"Unlike many on Al Amarja, I am forthright in my reactions, and am willing to speak before I strike. Many on this island are much more subtle than I, however. I always recommend that visitors adopt a most respectful attitude while on the island, especially on the Edge. You must take care, lest you offend someone who will retaliate without warning, and strike without preamble. Failing this, you must at all times be prepared to defend yourself."
Tea arrives in an earthenware pot, with two earthenware cups. The caseworker pours. As he leans forward to pass Leo his cup, the name "Shinma" can be seen on his uniform lapel.
"Kampei," Mr. Shinma says, raising his cup to drink.
"Now Mr. Barbeau, please explain to me once again, the import of your visit."
Leo, imitating Mr. Shinma, raises his cup and murmurs "Kampei". He takes a careful sip, thinking about his trip to Al Amarja. "I'm here looking for a friend," he explains pensively. "She was working, like me, for the Cirque du Soleil where she had a very popular number. One day she was a star, the next she was gone without a warning. Her room had been completely cleaned up, and the only vague clue I found was part of a receipt for an airline ticket to Al Amarja. I don't know why she left so suddenly, and I don't really have any reason to believe there is something wrong, except that this is very unlike her. I thought I would try to find her, check that she is alright. If she is, if she doesn't need my help, then I'll have had a nice little vacation on your beautiful island. If she needs a friend's help, then I'll be there for her. Either way, I intend my sojourn on Al Amarja to be peaceful and remain within the requirements of Al Amarjan law." He looks at Mr. Shinma, frowning slightly, thinking about his friend's disappearance.
Mr. Shinma nods and sips his tea. "An interesting story," he says when Leo is through. "Not entirely convincing, and with undoubted gaps and half-truths, but reasonably credible nonetheless." he takes another sip of tea.
"You interest me, Mr. Barbeau. You clearly have not the slightest idea of what you have wandered into, yet you are here nonetheless. How fascinating! Who is behind your arrival, I wonder? What unseen forces have conspired to see to it that you make it to our shores? Unknown, certainly, but powerful, oh yes, powerful." He nods slightly to himself. "Such forces may, perhaps, wish you dead. However, it seems excessively troublesome to go to all that effort to eradicate a single circus clown, so one may surmise that something else is in store for you here." With that he pauses in thought, then opens his desk, removes a piece of paper, and scribbles on it with one of his pens. After a moment, he slides the paper across the desk towards Leo. "Contact this individual at this address. It is a cafe that she frequents. She is a minor figure in the artists community here, and may be able to help you. Then again, she may not. Do not mention my name."
The paper reads:
Leo reads the address, then looks back at Mr. Shinma with raised eyebrows. He folds back the piece of paper, puts it away in his pocket, then bows to the C&I caseworker (guessing as best he can as to whether this is enough of a bow). "Thank you very much for this help and for your words of warning," he says. "Your kindness is even more impressive considering I started the conversation so poorly because of my stupidity. Please accept my apology once again."
Shinma nods once. "It is finished. We shall speak no more of it. I shall sprocess your visa, Leo Barbeau, and you shall fill out the questionairre pertaining to the service of C&I. Please do not nibble on my pen in the future."
With that, Shinma hands Leo one of the two pens, and begins filling out paperwork with the other.
Leo carefully fills the C&I evaluation questionnaire, without chewing
on the pen or putting his feet up on the desk even once. Every once
in a while, he pats his stomach lightly in an absent-minded gesture.
"Mr. Shinma, caseworker for Al Amarja's Custom & Immigration, has shown himself to be thoroughly knowledgeable , patient and fair, while commanding respect, as well as displaying an impeccable sense of etiquette. He clearly explained the C&I review process and gave me the opportunity to fulfill the requirements to the best of my abilities. I wish to thank Mr. Shinma for his patience in view of my inexperience.
"(signed:)
Leo Barbeau"
With that, Mr. Shinma stands, bows, and indicates a door behind Leo
which wasn't there a moment ago.
To Be Continued...