Dear Lawyer

1- Intern (i)

It was the end of November, early winter in De Carma. The sound of the morning bells rang from the central square as per usual. A flock of grey pigeons took flight in a flutter of wings, like a cloud of dust sweeping skyward.

It was a gloomy, cold and dreary day - the perfect kind of day to rob a house or send off the dead. All in all, the weather was an appropriate reflection of Jimin's current mood.

A few short months ago, he had held the title of First-Class Lawyer and had also been the dean of the interstellar Maze University's law school. Dressed immaculately from head to toe, he had been attending a garden party hosted for the elites...

But in the blink of an eye, he had become virtually penniless.

It was around 8 o'clock in the morning and he was strolling through the bustling black market of De Carma's west end. He sipped slowly at his coffee while his gaze swept across the many signs in front of the shops lining the street.

He was beautiful and fair, but his expression was one of immense distaste. It was almost as if the drink he was sipping was not coffee, but something bitter.

He had been there for half the day in search of an appropriate shop, a shop that could look into a few things for him and hopefully forge a document or two.

Five minutes later, Jimin came to a stop in front of a store with a small, narrow door. The digital sign outside the shop displayed two lines:

[Blackrock Repair Shop

We Do Everything!

Fantastic.]

Jimin crumpled up the coffee cup, tossed it into the electronic recycling bin on the side of the road, then stepped inside the shop.

"Good morning," The shopkeeper, whose unruly hair was practically a bird's nest, poked his head out from behind the counter. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

The heater in the shop was on full blast and even Jimin, who was a bit wary of the cold, could feel its warmth. He peeled off his black gloves and from his coat pocket, he pulled out a metal ring and set it on the counter. "Please look into this for me."

It was a flexible smart device that could take any shape. Most people preferred a ring-shaped design that was easy to carry with them - bracelets, rings, earrings...even anklets and waistbands.

Jimin's tastes were not quite so obscure, so the object in his hand was merely a plain, unadorned ring.

"What is it that you want to check?"

"Everything that can be checked."

"Alrighty."

The shopkeeper set up his equipment and after giving the device a few taps, a hologram was projected.

There was a pitiful amount of information displayed on the hologram. In fact, it was so clean that it might as well have come straight from the manufacturer.

There were only four items in total: one identification card, one asset card, one shuttle ticket to a neighbouring planet and one electronically constructed audio file.

The shopkeeper, as a matter of principle, wouldn't casually rifle through the contents without permission. However, Jimin had no such qualms and knew the contents of these four items inside out - after all, he had already flipped through them a few dozen times over the past two days.

The identity card was a temporary fake ID. The name on the ID was 'Ruan Ye', a recent university graduate who, like any typical new grad, probably didn't know shit.