“My name is Meiomi Mittz”

“I attend the prestigious Doyle Institute, a university renowned for producing the world's top detectives…”

“...Securing a spot here is tantamount to winning the lottery or earning a perfect score on the Regional Standard Testings...”

“...With Doyle Institute boasting an incredible graduation rate of 98%, You’d have to be an idiot to flunk out of this school, right?”

“Well, I thought so too…”

“Yet… here I am, currently about to flunk out…”

Meiomi’s Report Card:

Deductive Reasoning 101…C-

Witness Testimony 205…D+

Investigation and Research…C

Body Language 101…C+

“I can’t seem to stand out in this university… everything I seem to do is wrong, every theory too outlandish…”

“My professors have given up on me.”

“However, there is one way to raise my standing with the school…”

“The work-study program…”

.

.

.

“Curried Owl?” 

Meiomi glances down at the small slip of paper her counselor gave her. She had a confused expression plastered on her face. 

“Sounds like a restaurant.” 

“I agree… but it’s the only agency that would take you in. You left us with very little to work with, Ms. Mittz.” Her counselor let out a lofty sigh, almost disappointed that she had to go to such lengths to protect a lowly student barely managing to scrape by.

“If I may be honest, Ms. Mittz, we didn’t know much about them either.” 

“However, they seem to be making quite the name for themselves.” The counselor reached to pick up a small stack of papers on her desk.

“On their most recent case, they were tasked with searching for a five-year-old girl who had been taken from her home.”

“According to the parents of the victim, their professionalism and sense of urgency to save their daughter was second to none,” she continued, clearing her throat.

“In fact, Curried Owl was able to locate the missing girl before any of their local agencies could…”

“On top of that”

“According to Detective Magazine, the publisher of the ‘Inspector 500,’ the premiere list for  ranking the top private investigation agencies, Curried Owl placed exactly 200th… which is almost unheard of for a company established in less than a year.”

“Despite their extremely questionable name… Curried Owl is a true up-and-coming Private Detective firm.”

“So… If you can find a way to— I don’t know, become the lead detective… or make a name for yourself within Curried Owl during this work-study period…”

“Ultimately, bringing them to new heights—” 

“Bringing yourself to new heights”

“Then Doyle Institute will have no choice but to acknowledge you as a top-tier detective and graduate you, Ms. Mittz.”

“This is your final chance…”

.

.

.

After a lengthy train ride and an uncomfortable night in a shabby inn, Meiomi hailed a cab to the address given to her by her counselor.

To Meiomi’s surprise, Curried Owl’s office wasn’t an office building at all. It was a broken-down house.

The small two-story building was relatively alone, standing between two empty plots of land that were overcome with weeds.

The exterior was an outdated and unkept grey color; concrete cinderblocks barely supported the steps on the front stoop, and on top of that, one of the four windows in the front of the house had been boarded up with… aluminum foil?

How could the base of an up-and-coming private investigation firm like Curried Owl be in such disrepair…

Meiomi hesitated for a moment before approaching the door.

“Surprise!” Jasper called out before Meiomi could raise her hand to knock.

“YOU FREAKING MORON! You ruined the SURPRISE!” Wallace shouted.

Startled by the yelling on the other side of the door, Meiomi carefully entered the building to see Wallace snatching Jasper by his freshly pressed collar.

“Sorry! I got excited.” Jasper laughed nervously

“What do you mean you got EXCITED!? All you had to do was wait one second! ONE!”

While Meiomi was distracted by the commotion, Lucky pulled a string of a confetti popper right beside her, launching a colorful plume of paper scraps directly into her face.

“Surprise! Welcome to Curried Owl!” Lucky called out

Meiomi coughed, fanning the smoke and confetti. Lucky immediately pulled his arm around her.

“I’m Lucky~”

“The person yelling is Wallace.” 

“The person getting yelled at is Jasper.”

“Aaaannnnddd-“ Lucky urgently pulls away from Meiomi. “Put the cake down, Wallace! That’s for Meiomi. Meiomi!”

“I’m T’Zane.” T’Zane popped up right next to Meiomi with a small clipboard.

“And I’m going to need a sample of your DNA.” 

“Here, spit in this cup.” T’Zane held up a small cup.

“What, no- ouch!” Meiomi gasped as T’Zane plucked one of the hairs from her scalp, rubbing her head.

Before she could react, he grabbed her hand, taking a close look at her nails before moving on to her eyes, checking items off his list as he went on.

“There was garlic in that confetti popper, so that’s a plus… tell me. Does this hurt?” T’Zane pressed a small silver spoon against her skin.

“What the hell is wrong with you!?” Meiomi gains her composure. She snatches her hand away, shoving T’Zane away, who is immediately grabbed by Jasper, whose shirt is covered in a fresh layer of cake.

In the background:

Lucky has his arm around Wallace’s shoulder, consoling him.

“Was it really that serious, Wallace?"

"Did you really need to throw a cake at him?”

Wallace shakes his head.

“Did it make you feel any better?”

Wallace shakes his head.

“We usually try to ease people into meeting him… sorry about that,” Jasper offered Meiomi a slight grin before yanking T’Zane by his fishing vest.

“T’Zane’s an… acquired taste.”

“Wait, no! I haven’t checked if she was a banshee yet!!!” T’Zane cried out whilst being dragged upstairs and into his room. 

.

.

.

“Oh, right! I’ll show you around the place.” Wallace smiled, motioning for Meiomi to follow him around the place.

The living room wasn’t much of a living room. It resembled a front office with a desk, computer, phone, and file cabinet. 

“As you can see, we’re not the richest, but we make things work.” Wallace lets out an awkward laugh.

“Oh! There are a couple of things that you should know about this place.”

“First, the hot water in this place doesn’t work, and it doesn’t seem like our landlord is keen on fixing the heater… even if we email him about it a billion times.”

“Second, we get frequent power surges, so be careful if you’re doing something important on the internet and make sure you save constantly.”

“I’m sure you noticed the small Xs on the floor.” Wallace pointed out.

“I was just about to ask about that," Meiomi questioned.

“Jasper did it.”

“Which leads me to the third thing you should know. Jasper, T’Zane, and Lucky are super light sleepers, and those planks are the ones that make noises when you walk on em.” Wallace kneeled, pressing his hand against one so Meiomi could hear the small creaking noise.

“Be careful not to step on those at night.”

“You do not want to wake them up. Trust me” 

Wallace continued until they stood in front of a room marked with the name ‘T’Zane.’

“We’re still in the process of cleaning out your room, so for now… You’re going to be bunking with T’Zane.” Wallace leaned against the door, crossing his arms.

“I’m sorry, but what!? No!” Meiomi shook her head

“I hadn’t even met him for a second, and he plucked one of my hairs, put a spoon on me, and tried to get me to spit in a cup!”

“Well, I share a bed with Lucky… and Jasper... You don’t want to share a room with Jasper.”

“Why not!?”

“Just trust me. T’Zane is the safest bet. Even if he’s just a little weird.”

T’Zane pokes his head out of the door with a crooked smile.

“It’s gonna be fine. I’m like 80% sure she’s a human.”

“You can have the bed!” 

Meiomi stares at Wallace, who silently shrugs his shoulders. “He just said he’s 80% sure I'm a human? What person says that?”

“Well… I mean… It’s better than the rating I got at first. It’s just how he is. You’ll get used to it after a while,” Wallace chuckles.

T’Zane opened his door to let Meiomi in. The place was spotless, aside from the corner of the room where T’Zane spent most of his time.

Inside was a nicely made bed that had never been touched or laid in and a dresser with a small TV set on top. Meiomi had found the room that had been boarded up with the aluminum foil.

In T’Zane’s corner of the room stood a desk with a decked-out supercomputer complete with a comfortable chair and files upon files of research

“You can have everything in this room; just don’t touch my computer.” T’Zane nodded

Meiomi made a little face, expressing her confusion and intrigue with the situation. 

“Alright. I suppose I'll stay with T’Zane. For now.”

“Great. Great! I’ll leave you alone to get settled. Make sure to meet up with Lucky tomorrow morning.”

“For your first case!”

.

.

.

.

.

.