[attr="class","likedo"]

It was always satisfying for a teacher when the student paid attention properly. Mai could practically see thoughts churn inside his head the more she spoke and while she could not know whether they headed into the right direction she had high hopes.

"There is no need to apologize." Mai replied with a soft smile. "The purpose of these thought exercises were as much to hear how you'd react as they were to help prepare you for the future. Should you ever run into situations such as these you will now have had time to consider your solutions in advance instead of having to think them up on the fly."

She swirled the tea in her cup around, staring into it and inhaling the fragrance before she continued.

"There is one lesson after all that is much harder to learn and nearly impossible to stomach." Mai took a sip of her tea, almost as if she could not bear to speak the words without smoothing their passage first. When she finally continued it was much quieter and with a forlorn expression making its way onto her features. "Oftentimes there is no perfect solution. No one way to handle the situation satisfactorily. No technique to save everyone. Perhaps I should not be saying this as a pro hero but sometimes we need to make choices we don't like leading to results we don't want."

Her gaze was lost within the depths of her swirling tea, as if by staring hard enough she could will herself to see the bottom of the cup.

"We can train, practice and study as much as we'd like. We will never be ready for everything no matter how perfectly we act. It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness; that is life."

Straightening her back and fixing her posture that had slipped slightly during her speech as if uttering the words had briefly turned the weight on her shoulders physical she once more looked Homura straight in the eyes.

"That does not mean we should not try. Even if the situation is utterly hopeless a hero is one who rages against the dying of the light. We must strive to do all we can to ensure a better tomorrow. Where one cannot find a path by themselves, through cooperation a brighter future can be found." Mai stated with full confidence while extending his hand towards Homura. "That is why I am more than happy to welcome you to our Tranquil Soul hero agency. Always remember: You never fight alone."

With some of the seriousness dropping off her face one corner of her lip curled up into a smile.

"As for the tea set I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint. It was a family heirloom, its creator retired seventy four years ago."

------

Tags: Homura Makishima

Mai could certainly appreciate the respectful tone. It was promising, yet she kept her ears open for signs it was mere pandering. This would not be the first time she met someone who resorted to flattery instead of speaking through actions and while she doubted Homura was like that she nevertheless knew better than to rely on her gut feeling instead of verifying the truth.

She listened to each of his answers attentively, turning them over and picking them apart even as he spoke. The first was very comprehensive and textbook hero behaviour, even making sure to account for how various parties might react. What she couldn't help but note however was that there was no such accounting for his own limits. Not a single mention made in regards to the possibility that he'd be unable to chase the robber down due to the head start caused by making sure the cashier was safe. She made a mental note of the potential arrogance. If her hunch was correct it would need to be tempered but Mai was well aware it might simply be nervosity due to the interview that was influencing what he said. If nothing else his second answer went some way to alleviating her concerns.

This time a second option is present in case of failure, making her lean more towards the thought that he is simply confident in his skills when up against a single person or concrete obstacle. Something she will still be paying attention to but was unlikely to cause many problems. A hero needed confidence as much as they did humility after all and given that he struggled to answer the question yet still made it clear he'd try as hard as possible to safeguard society he was clearly capable of realizing there were things beyond a single individual and that what mattered most is how one acts regardlessly.

His inexperience however shows in the naivety shown in both the first and third answer and as much as she'd like to protect that innocence it would not do for a hero to be caught unprepared on the field. The third answer, while certainly not a bad one, shied away from tough choices. Even so there was potential, all it needed now was to be realized and she would do whatever she could to help accomplish exactly that.

"Excellent." Yuki Onna replied when he finished, her demeanour losing some of its intensity as she took another sip of her tea. "My next comments and questions need not -and should not- be answered, they are purely for your own consideration. Mull them over so you are prepared should you ever face any such situations in reality."

After all, as much as someone being interviewed could try to be honest they would undoubtedly skew their answer away from anything the interviewer might consider unpleasant. Only in the sanctity of one's own mind -or perhaps when surrounded by those they trusted most- could a person truly be honest.

"Should the cashier have required your continued assistance to ensure a full recovery, would you have abandoned the pursuit of the robber? Where would you draw the line between prioritizing the cashier as opposed to the robber in regards to severity of their injuries. Additionally, would you pursue regardless of how much head start they got? Should you catch them, would the amount of care you devote to their personal situation differ based on the injuries?" Taking a moment to let her words sink in she moved to the next scenario. "A bomb can be devastating indeed, both to others and to yourself. Prioritizing the safety of the crowd is admirable yet going in without a plan is foolhardy and a great way to get yourself killed."

Her eyes briefly regained their intensity as she affixed him with a piercing gaze. "Unless you are fully confident you can raise it far above its dangerous radius and keep it there until after detonation never, and I do mean never, lift a bomb higher. The majority of its damage in an explosion is caused by the blast and anything between it and yourself can mute that. An air burst has a much wider lethal range than a ground burst."

The intensity eased up once more as she continued.

"A situation such as this would be chaotic, that I am fully aware of." Perhaps more than she'd like, she recalled bitterly. "It leaves one prone to forgetting the obvious, this is why preparation is important. For example, I can't help but note the presence of the perpetrator slipped your mind, as did the possibility of the bomb being able to be triggered remotely the moment you neared it or began the evacuation. You are correct in the assumption that handling both the perpetrator's capture and safeguarding the population would be too much for a single person to handle. It need not be that, however. Us heroes can work together. The option to call in assistance is always there and at times pride must be swallowed for the greater good."

It could be a tough pill to swallow, indeed, for those who strive to increase their own capabilities as much as possible the idea that something is beyond their limits may be anathema to their very ideals. Yet Plus Ultra does not refer simply to one's physical capabilities. It is to go beyond in all ways possible.

"The boat situation has too many variables to list so I will simply ask this of you: consider as many possible ways it might go as possible and how you would react to them. Add more problems or complexities when you run out and master the nuances of the situation. It can serve as a meditative exercise as much as a practical one." She concluded with a genial smile.

"Is there anything you would like to ask me?"

------

Tags: Homura Makishima

"Excellent, I'm glad to hear your agency has not succumbed to the... inconveniences of bureaucracy." Mai replied, only barely keeping a sneer off her face. Several of the agencies she'd spoken too so far did not quite have such a straightforward command structure and quite frankly she was done trying to convince both them and all of their sponsors of the benefits of this alliance. Especially given that each sponsor always tried to get a bigger piece of the pie during the discussions. More than one of her meetings had run into wall after wall due to them. Why, just yesterday she'd had to forcefully remove one that substituted arrogance and the volume of their voice for the ability to compromise, or comprehend literally anything they were discussing for that matter. 

She nodded along at Titanomachia's Icarus metaphor. Misinterpreting it as acknowledging one's limits and striving to work within them to serve the public without succumbing to stagnation nor delusions of grandeur her opinion of the blue-haired hero certainly went up. Something about the way she said it however rubbed Mai wrong. If she wasn't still upholding the benefit of the doubt she'd say it was downright condescending. She took a deep breath before replying.

"Of course not. The desire to protect those we care for is a motivator for all of us. Given that many do not hold the strength to do so themselves it is up to us to ensure everyone's safety." 

Mai was paying much closer attention to Titanomachia's replies now, focused as much on reading between the lines as on the Pro Hero's actual words. The majority of being part of a rapid-response team was sitting at a central location from which one could most easily be deployed in case of emergencies. It was a great deal of waiting followed by the occasional small burst of action. Mai couldn't be sure but she had the distinct impression that when her peer said 'I will see my Pro-Heroes deployed where their skills are made the most of.' waiting around as part of a rapid-response team would not be part of the assesment. Yet assumptions were the death of understanding and Mai was not so headstrong as to believe her interpretation had to be the right one. No, it was much better in her opinion to simply ask for a clarification. In fact she was just about to do so when Sunadokei commented on their technician. Her brow twitched.

"Miss Kyojin, am I understanding correctly that 'a few minutes' goes beyond the time set aside for this meeting? If it is your intent to be in and out we can always reschedule to a different date where you have more time." Mai stated kindly yet firmly. She was extending a great deal of trust and bending the rules somewhat by allowing the Titanic Hero access to their database on the initial meeting, without any contracts signed nor agreements officially made. A gesture that hadn't been offered to any of the other agencies thus far and that she was beginning to believe should perhaps not have been offered at all. She pushed down a sigh. It was her own inexperience at negotiating that had caused her to base her actions on preconceived notions. To assume everything would go smoothly because of ASTA's stellar reputation was highly naive and Mai chided herself for making such a simple mistake.

Whatever she was about to say next was interrupted when the door slid open once more and they were joined by a fourth.

"My most sincere apologies, ladies." The mustachioed man said with a deep bow. Pushing his monocle back up he briefly looked at everyone in turn. Should any amongst the group be perceptive enough they would briefly see rectangular shapes of light dance across the surface of said monocle as he did. Taking his top hat off he pressed a button on the inside causing the entire thing to shrink into a small disk that he slipped into the pocket of his suit jacket.

"Server. I'm glad you could make it."

"Always, Yuki Onna."

He replied while stepping towards them with his back straight and his arm held in front of him not unlike how a butler would, his cane clicking against the ground with each of his even, measured steps. 

"But where are my manners. I am Server, but you might know me better by the name I went by in my youth, Data Stream." He said with a bit of pride in his voice before catching himself. "Perhaps not, my work tends to be more behind the curtains."

Emphasizing his words with another tap of his cane he removed his hand from the large crystal set on top of it. Numbers dance across his irises as a glow lights the crystal from within and as he raises the cane light streams out of it creating a large hologram displaying the entire city, including moving lines in multiple colors. With the three dimensional version of the map across the northern wall rotating between them he turned towards Mai.

"How goes it, Lady Shirayuki?"

"We were just getting to the details, uncl- Server." Mai corrected herself while clearing her throat. "Might I request a copy of our data for ASTA to review?"

"Coming right up, madam." The man said with an amused quirk of his brow and moved towards the cabinets with a spring in his step, the hologram fading away the moment he moved. From his pants pocket he pulled a large, antique looking key ring with dozens upon dozens of keys on it. Expertly sorting through them he had the right key in hand within seconds and clicked open a cabinet drawer. From within he withdrew a laptop and a data storage device. Once more his eyes displayed numbers yet this time it was not a hologram that formed above his cane. Instead a stream of light and translucent numbers flowed out of the cane and into the external drive for several seconds before dying down.

"I'm assuming these are for young Cypher?" He added while holding up the laptop -without an inbuilt internet connection- and the external drive. The moment he received a nod from Mai he made his way over to the sidekick and handed both over with a genial smile and a head bow. Not one to ignore her guests Mai turned to Sunadokei in the meantime.

"If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask them."

Regardless of whether their meeting continued or Titanomachia had other places to be Mai would extend that courtesy. After all, whether everything worked out or not they were still on the same side of the fight. Even if they ended up disagreeing on matters the important part was the ability to put that aside and fight for the greater good regardlessly, lest the bleak days Tokyo endured turn out to be a mere warm up for the hardships it'll face in the future.

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Tags: @niteshade

"A moment, Cypher." Mai addressed the sidekick with a strained smile once the woman sat down at the computers and began her work. "Our servers are still in the process of being upgraded to have sufficient security to host such sensitive information."

So she assumed at the very least. Technology wasn't her strong point and she'd had to look for external assistance to ensure their network was up and running. As far as she could tell there had been no breaches so far but given that the scale of what this project was vastly beyond the normal activities of her agency it was unlikely that the present security would stand up to what the organizers behind this 'Operation Babel' could bring to the table if rumors were to be believed. Knowledge on the mysterious methods they were using to coordinate on such a vast scale was scarce which said much about its efficiency. No, in this case it was better to err on the side of caution. Lest they find their greatest strength turned into their biggest weakness.

"For now we are keeping everything related to the project either in physical form," she added while waving a hand towards the large map on the wall. "Or on closed networks. Once our technician arrives they will be able to give you a copy of the presently agreed upon schedules and routes. I will have to insist for now that regardless of how good your agency's security is you follow a similar protocol until we can agree on the details of how the network is to be set up."

Mai was very careful to ensure her words did not come off as accusatory. While everything she said was standard protocol agreed upon by all current members of their upcoming alliance it would be all too easy to misinterpret it as her taking too much stock into certain rumors. The last thing she wanted was to sour their relations by insinuating recently captured villains had to be getting their stock of ASTA knockoffs from somewhere but nevertheless she could not afford to treat their agency any differently from the others. Such a thing could set a bad precedent that would set the alliance up for failure before it even got off the ground.

Queuing up an americano with cream and sugar, an espresso and a doppio on one of the fancier pieces of technology in the room -a state of the art coffee machine that took up more room than an entire filing cabinet- Mai took a moment to consider the next part of the conversation while grabbing a wooden tray and three coasters. Everything had gone smoothly so far but the devil was in the details and she had the feeling the easy parts of the negotiations were behind them.

"I am glad to hear you're interested in joining, Titanomachia. Will this proposal need to pass through anyone else to secure your agency's official commitment or may we consider your statement as a full agreement?" Mai asked in the even tone she usually tended to use for official matters while she set down their cups, her mind turning over ideas and considering Sunadokei's words all the while. She let out a semi-disappointed hum before continuing.

"Indeed I am. Which is why I must admit it comes as a surprise to see you are limiting yourself to an area smaller than Edogawa alone -if we were to combine all three wards-. I must admit I had expected ASTA's hero agency to..." She didn't want to say be more arrogant. "...have grander ambitions."

Her gaze was briefly -and almost unbidden- drawn to the large map on the wall. Certainly the majority of strings bearing her agency's colors were in Edogawa however several more were spread all over the map. Even all the way in Adachi and Toshima their colors were present to help ease the increased workload created by the Elementalist's attack, the latter of which she herself took to the field in one day per week. She supposed she shouldn't judge. Limiting themselves to familiar grounds would allow them to be more effective through learning the ins and outs of the terrain, there was a reason most agencies tended to center themselves around a single area after all.

"To ensure there's no future misunderstandings I'd like to ask for a slight clarification. Does your agency intend to work solely within these three wards or is there a possibility of cooperation in others as well?"

Rapid-response teams were the first order of business given that it was unlikely sufficient agencies would join to cover all of Tokyo in constant patrols and many places were -ironically enough- criminally undermanned. Even if every single agency in Tokyo joined projections showed that it was unlikely they'd be able to cover anything but the highest-density population zones completely either way but a healthy middle ground like what they managed to establish in Edogawa might become possible. Regardless of how well they coordinated patrols however detection would do little without rapid-response teams to take action should disaster strike once more.

Failing to secure ASTA's assistance would not be the end of the world but a setback nonetheless. Not to mention it might risk isolating them from connections the other agencies would be forming, creating further problems in the long term. Mai carefully considered her options, weighing negatives and positives to determine whether she should push harder for their inclusion in the more unifying portions of the alliance. In the end she supposed there was little point in coming up with a variety of possible solutions without hearing Titanomachia's reply. After all, why plot when you could simply hear each other out and come to an understanding.

Retrieving her phone from one of the desk's drawers she quickly scrolled through her messages until she found what she was looking for.

"Ah, our technician seems to have been stuck in traffic. He'll be here in a few minutes."

------

Tags: @niteshade

"The pleasure is all mine, Titanomachia, Cypher." Mai nodded in reply before giving some brief instructions to the gate guard to bring the basket up to the agency's office ahead of them. Her eyes were briefly drawn to it, while she didn't have an interest in the majority of its contents she was nonetheless curious about the quantity. It was certainly generous and she had hope that it was a sign of their intention to work together to address Tokyo's troubles. 

"Perhaps, yet I suppose from your perspective everyone must seem short." Mai replied with a somewhat strained smile before putting the comment aside. Titanomachia likely didn't mean anything by it so she wouldn't take it personally. "Our thanks for the compliment. The Shirayuki Dojo has stood the test of time and as its future inheritor I certainly intend to make sure that it and the city around it will do so for many years to come. I am gladdened there are so many that share this goal."

She cast a brief glance at the Dojo's occupants while they entered and couldn't help but feel a swell of pride. Generations intermingled freely atop the large mats of the training ground, the old teaching the young and learning from the experience in turn. Masters relentlessly practiced to further their expertise, never allowing it to stagnate or decline. Eternal students one and all, every single one of them working to better themselves and through them society as a whole. To Mai who had been in the midst of this scenery since youth it was a microcosm of what hero society should be like and when she had gained her license she had not hesitated to put it to use for the betterment of all.

She listened attentively to Sunadokei's words, doing her best to read between the lines of all the corporate speak to intuit the intent behind her words. Unfortunately for Mai such a thing had never been her strong point. Brash honesty was the Shirayuki way and while several PR courses she'd taken prior to establishing the Tranquil Soul hero agency had tempered it, hiding her words behind veils was not a skill she particularly cared to improve upon. Double speak in her opinion came dangerously close to lying and such behavior was incompatible with the discipline and sense of righteousness required to be one of the paragon of society, a true Pro Hero.

Even so she understood its necessity at times and certainly did not envy Titanomachia's need to interact with the corporate sphere as often as she did. So far she'd narrowed the Pro's intent down to being either an act of good will, obligatory advertising or a power move showing her backing. Given the purpose of this meeting Yuki Onna decided to put the most stock on the first option until proven otherwise, if only because the other two would complicate this meeting.

"Perhaps we shall take you up on that offer sometime in the future." Mai replied courteously, putting her PR lessons to full use. "For now there are more immediate concerns to address."

With them taking the long way along the walkway set all around the edge of the first floor instead of traversing down the center of the mats as Mai had on her way out, there was in theory plenty of time to discuss such a thing and certainly, high quality equipment might improve the combat capabilities of the agency somewhat but Mai was firmly against building a reliance on them. For it meant that the moment you found yourself without your tools you would be caught off guard when danger arrived and ill prepared to handle the situation. Something this very meeting was intended to prevent.

"As you say. I myself was only able to secure the safety of those in my immediate surroundings, rendering me unable to assist in dealing with main threats." Shirayuki added with a nod while they made their way up the stairs. Ensuring the drones did not fire their dreadful lasers upon innocent civilians was more than a handful and she'd only been able to deal with a fraction of them herself. The things that had taken place at the source of the problem... Mai shuddered upon recalling the moment she reached the scene in the aftermath of the battle. It was a black mark upon Tokyo's history if not hero society's as a whole.

"As much as each of us is skilled individually it was not enough to protect our city." She emphasized in reply while they took the stairs up. "Cooperation will be key if we are to keep Tokyo intact through further disasters. Far more will be needed than what we have now. For while individual agencies already ensure their heroes raise each other to greater heights we must take this one step further. If we form an alliance between every single agency in Tokyo and coordinate our efforts on such an unprecedented scale the sum can be much greater than its parts. Only then can we stand tall against the rising darkness and be the bulwark society needs us to be."

At Cypher's query she begins to raise her finger to point at a poster on the wall with the wifi information and say "It's one t-" before the sidekick continues on that they've found the answer. Mai nods in approval. The willingness to request assistance and initiative to look for solutions by themselves are both qualities that are crucial for a hero to possess. The fact that Cypher displays both is certainly promising, even if it is simply in figuring out the password was '1234'.

"I'm sure we're both quite busy so I won't waste time on pleasantries." Mai began the moment they stepped into the agency's office.

Taking up the entirety of the top floor of the dojo the office had an oval conference table large enough to seat thirty set at the very center of the room and surrounded by chairs everywhere but at the head. A clear showing of their agency's philosophy of equality and cooperation, for all that were seated around the table spoke with equal weight to their voice, whether hero, sidekick, student or civilian.

The table atop which the gift basket had been set down isn't where Mai leads the pair however, no, first she takes them across the room to the giant city map taking up the entire northern wall. Their route takes them past the large TV screen hanging next to the door and the more in-depth maps of each individual ward hanging off every inch of the eastern wall except for the windows, something that's mirrored on the western one with the other half of Tokyo's wards. 

"As you can see we've already managed to secure the assistance of several other agencies." Yuki Onna explained while pointing at the various colored strings and thumbtacks marking out routes and small tags attached to them signifying times. "But it is only a beginning. Our technician can make a digital version available to you as well later, they should be in soon, but I digress."

The orderly strings didn't cover even a fraction of the map yet and almost half of them were in the signature colors of Mai's own agency, for while she'd been able to meet with some of the leaders of the smaller, local agencies so far the recent disasters had made freeing up time to arrange meetings between the bigger ones a challenge. In fact, Titanomachia was the first leader of an agency that could be considered a peer to the Tranquil Soul to have a mutually fitting open time slot so far.

"While still a work in progress we're already seeing some promising results." She continued while directing attention to the eastern portion of the map. "The majority of the Edogawa ward is fully covered with both patrol routes that cross on occasion so members can communicate on the status of the area and with times set out so there is no area that doesn't see a patrol for thirty minutes. Additionally we're in the process of setting up routes for rapid response teams that will be on standby 24/7 in case of emergencies. With a rotation of its members of course. Further refining of the district's schedules is still in progress but it would nevertheless be accurate to say that should calamity strike once more the Edogawa ward will be fully prepared."

Gesturing towards the office's southwestern corner where a trio of desks with fairly modern computers -the oldest being four years old- sat with the screens facing away from them close to the filing cabinets taking up half of the southern wall she continued.

"Communications in such scenarios shall be coordinated from a central headquarters in each ward, our Tranquil Soul's office serving as the one for Edogawa. Should your agency agree to joining our newfound alliance we were hoping ASTA's headquarters could serve a similar role for the ward it is located in."

The southeastern corner similarly had desks albeit two instead of three and covered with far more analogue writing instruments. Several ready-made contracts and agreements are present within their drawers, some legally binding and others more of an official acknowledgement of the alliance and its goals. With some luck one of them would host another signature by the time this meeting was over.

"But let us take a seat before getting into the important matters, would you like something to drink? Coffee, water, soda? Anything else?"