I was escorted to the black limousine, what a warm welcome. It was a welcome that I was not accustomed to, I felt way out of my depth here.
On the way there, I pulled out my phone and started typing 'MEI' into the search bar in the hopes of uncovering who they were, I need to know who I'm meeting here.
The Ministry of Extraterrestrial of Investigation (MEI) are an international institution with bureaus situated in numerous countries. The current head branch is currently the Rengappon branch – in response to the most recent invasion on the city.
The organisation was founded by ex-Okopan head minister of foreign affairs, Tosin Oladeji. Oladeji was present during the first sighting of extraterrestrial activity on the outskirts of the Okopan capital, Angira. Since that incident, he raised the issue numerous times in the Okopan Parliament, but to no avail. He did, however, gain a lot of influence from powerful foreign diplomats who agreed with his sentiment. On the 21st of October 2023, He officially announced his newest project, MEI, to the United Nations Security Council, gaining the support of 132 out of 187 countries, each establishing at least 1 MEI Bureau in each country's capital city.
The main aim is to research the alien threat and come up with defence mechanisms in case of future attacks. They are already in possession of the crashed ship found in Okopo so there's hope that progress will commence quickly.
So, this MEI seems to be a pretty influential organisation. And I was selected personally to join them.
We reached a towering office building that stretched high into the sky.
We stepped into the main foyer of the building, it was huge, cafe's, small pop ups, small diners. It was like a mini mall. There were elevators as far as the eye could see, how many offices were in this place?
This was the Rengappon Corporate centre: The world-famous, bustling all-in-one hub for all sorts of trade, business and corporate activity. I guess this is where MEI have their Rengappon bureau situated.
"Would you like us to get you a drink or anything."
The man turned to me with a wide toothy grin. For a man dressed in all black, he was like a big teddy bear.
"Thanks, just a coffee will do, any, I don't mind."
We sat around a table outside the coffee shop, we were very fortunate to find an empty table, especially with 3 or more seats. The duo were explaining to me the induction process and where it is that they were taking me.
"So, we're taking you to the head director, Tosin Oladeji, he wants to ask you a few questions before your induction begins."
Tosin Oladeji, he's the guy I read about, the ex-Okopan head of foreign affairs.
Hold on.
He wants to talk to Me?
One of the men, the one on the left received a phone call. He pulled his phone out to see who it was.
"Oh, here we are."
Assuming by that reaction this was probably in relation to my induction. I feel like I'm some puppy being led around, it feels so... Awkward.
"Hello?... yeah, we have her now, we're in the foyer now actually... He's ready now?... Perfect, we'll be up shortly."
He placed his phone back in my pocket and downed the rest of his coffee.
"Right, drink up, don't wanna keep the big boss waiting on your first day."
They stood up so I tried to drink as much as possible, leaving a little bit left as I rushed out of my seat and followed them to an elevator.
"For the future, this is elevator 2B, this is the one that you need use to access the bureau."
We entered the elevator, and he pressed the button with a number denoting the floor, beside the button, was a small LED screen with the words MEI Bureau displayed on it. That's helpful.
"I assume you've noticed the screen then? As indicated, we are on floor 34, If you're ever lost, ask the front desk, they know this place like the back of their hand, they're very helpful as well."
It was a long ride up, who would've known 34 floors took this long to scale. The whole tower housed some 90 or so floors so I can't imagine how long it would take to reach the top. Or maybe it just feels long from how awkward this is. They speak to me in such a familial tone, yet I don't have a clue what to say to them.
We finally reached the top after what felt like an agonising eternity of waiting on the way.
"Hello, is this miss Suzuki?"
The two men were talking to the receptionist, and I was told to sit in the waiting room like a child told to sit quietly as they waited for their dentist appointment, my least favourite times as a child. The waiting room, however, was comfy, there was even a coffee machine here, making me question the choice of taking me to the cafe, must just be doing their due diligence.
One of the suited men walked into the room.
"He's ready now."
I made my way to the exit of the waiting room as the man stopped to say goodbye.
"it's nice to meet you Himiko Suzuki, I hope to see you around the office sometime."
He gestured his hand out for a handshake and I followed suit.
"It's nice to meet you Mr. Suit."
"call me Nagita."
"I hope to see you around, Nagita"
I made my way to the desk as she pointed me towards another associate who led me to the director's office.
The office wasn't much different to the station, only bigger, much bigger and fancier, much fancier. As we got closer and closer to the office, my heart started beating faster and faster. It got to the point where the beat of my heart began to syncopate with the tapping of the keyboards that could be heard from all around.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Come in."
The voice was deep and unlike one you would find in Neppon, but his accent seemed so local it would be hard to tell this man was from halfway across the planet.
The associate opened the door. It was large, but crammed it was sleek, yet personal. There was a big desk in the centre of the room, in front of a large window, overviewing the Rengappon skyline. The desk was piled up with paperwork. Heavy. To my right was a small glass table surrounded by 3 cushioned chairs, assumedly for guests, I assumed from the small tea set in the centre of the table. In the opposite corner, a record player surrounded by shelfing, filled to the brim with all sorts of records, old and new, from smooth jazz to funky RnB to even head banging Metal. He seemed to be a man of culture. And most importantly, the centre piece of the room, a tall, dark-skinned man, leaned against the desk. Awaiting my arrival.