His father had been pretty clear—sit tight and wait for the actual investigators (both private and governmental) to do their jobs. The optics of Tokyo's lead man stumbling around in the dark looking for the missing prototype would send up signal flares. Namely that whatever was taken MUST be top of the line, potentially illegal, or both, and that even if none of the above was true, people would assume. Darius disagreed.

Sitting idle knowing that some sort of Villain or villainous group could be so brazen as to locate and break into the remote storage for the prototype was, in his opinion, the 'bad optics' here. The police and above board PIs they'd invested in to crack the case would go about it entirely clean. Darius decided that being a little morally flexible and forking over some cash to a seedy info broker couldn't hurt. Well. It could, he just chose to think it wouldn't backfire. 

He'd dressed casual-formal, with a simple black button up and white khakis, a yellow windbreaker atop it. He wasn't famous enough to catch any eyes unless they'd bought from him personally AND recently, so diving headfirst into a questionable part of town shouldn't be an issue. 

The place was pretty deserted, in the twilight zone of sports events and people who'd already gotten smashed. Darius walked in, briskly taking a seat at the counter with a grunt. "Evening."

The UAU Sports Festival was one of the biggest events of the year—especially for a fledgling company like Ficsit with stock in both regular support gear AND now energy drinks and bars. Darius would've preferred to be watching the main events from his TV at home, but setting up on the official grounds was close enough. The FICSIT vendor had about two lots to themselves, showing off some of their quality gear replicas and a tasting section for the edible stuff.

Darius was, officially, there because he was the face of the Tokyo branch and needed to be present for at least some of the festival in person. Building the brand and all that. He didn't really mind the work—showing off to awed passerby and curious Heroes in training was fun, he just wanted to have a full unmitigated viewing experience of the entire festival at home! 

A quick check of his watch. There should be another wave of students coming through soon, Darius moving to restock the edibles with fresh stuff from the coolers and touch up any smudges or grime the equipment gathered from being handled by so many people. Hey, if he was gonna do a job, he was gonna do it right!

*Vendor Volunteers prompt!

Late nights sucked sometimes. Not because he minded working, but because most of the busses and subways stopped working past a certain hour—leaving him to walk the way back. Oh well. Extra cardio wouldn't kill him. 

Darius wasn't one to break the rules. He enjoyed using his Quirk—but got every chance to do legally whenever he worked a construction site thanks to his license. Sure it wasn't the wholesale freedom to show it off to the public en mass like a Hero, but they were trained professionals! That's the point of having 'em do four years of university. So as much as it ticked him off to be a bystander during a Villain attack, he bit the bullet and called the pros as he was supposed to. 

He planned on doing just that, actually, given that a pharmacy he happened to be walking by on the way home was getting robbed. Three men. One with a set of subtle scales and massive muscles, another with a few sharp blades sticking out of their hands, and the last with his hands in his pockets and looking rather unbothered.

Darius grunted, reaching for his phone only for a strange, sudden force to YANK him forward by his clothing. He might've been able to resist it had the engineer not been caught off guard, tumbling through the open doorway and spilling into the floor. "Shit." He cursed in English, rolling to his feet with an unamused glare. Third guy had some kind of telekinesis or pulling Quirk, then.

The sun was bright, the day was young, and Darius was doing what he loved best: legally using his super strength to toss heavy shit around. There was a crew of about a baker's dozen men and women—Mr. Ficsit himself included—hard at work. Splashes of bright yellow from hard hats, gloves, and goggles mixed with the dull white-black aesthetic of the workers' uniforms as they moved like a well oiled machine. Darius was technically foreman given he owned the Tokyo branch of the company, but he preferred getting his hands dirty. He couldn't help as feel he was forgetting something...

With a quick leap off the side, his eye caught on a young woman approaching the job site. ...OH RIGHT!

"You look like you ran all the way here," Darius said jokingly, approaching her and the other worker. "I won't dock you for being a few minutes late, just don't make it a habit, yeah? Wouldn't do us any good if our Heroes always showed up after the fact!" He'd been given a heavily redacted sheet on Freja and any pertinent information and intern-taker would need: namely that she was Quirkless but still boasted EXTRAORDINARY physical conditioning. He wasn't one to judge—Hell he did most of his work without flipping the switch on Power-Weight.

"If we're quick enough, we might even get back on schedule for an early lunch." He winked, thumbing over at a completely vacant part of the building. "You're gonna get the full suite today. Laying the foundation all the way up to running utility lines. Sounds like fun, doesn't it!?"

[googlefont=Quicksand]

PHARAOH LEAP.

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"Well sure. That's basically what a one-way tint is, 'cept with reflection rather than absorption. A single pair of those would work wonders in most situations—but like I warned you, a mirrored or one-way set won't actually help with blinding lights." He leaned against the workbench, spreading out the references pictures and giving them another look over. "Course, your number one worry is making sure your Quirk doesn't activate on accident. If you want to keep it super simple we can just do a single fixed pair." 

A fresh blueprint was laid across the bench, Darius leaning over and begining to etch a drawing. "Lightweight. Durable. Comfortable for long periods. Mirrored lens. And if we're already giving it a band to secure it around the head, can just up the elasticity so it's easy to wear and pull off at a moment's notice." He'd nod, tapping the blueprint. "Fair word of warning, FICSIT isn't really a fashion boutique. I can make you something that resembles a sleek pair of wraparounds, but it won't necessarily be the prettiest thing you've ever seen, yeah? Function over form is my personal motto when it comes to designing important equipment like this." 

He'd scoop up the reference material and hand it back with a gleaming smile, careful to look at the top of her head rather than her eyes to the best of his ability. "Now that the basic ideas are down I'd need an actual workplace to start messing with concepts. Provided you like the core concepts I listed off, the actual visuals and color are flexible. Since it's a small time project I can bring you back into our Level 5 shop if you'd like. Otherwise I can get some protoypes going and call you back another day."

"Huh? Really? I've felt fine..." Darius' eyebrows furrowed, the cogs in his brain turning slowly. "Ah! If you want sunglasses that probably means having something to do with line of sight. ...But I'm also huge so not sure how you'd have avoided me this whole time!" He would laugh happily. "You can give me the full rundown on your Quirk when we get to the good part." 

He'd take the offered documentation as gingerly as a man his size could, giving them a quick glance over before handing them back. "Looks legit. Nice to meet ya, Calliope. I guess if I know your name you should get to know mine—Darius Ficsit!" His chest puffed slightly. "And no sweat on the prices. We're pretty new in Japan still, so getting a good reputation going with the best of the best is only good business!"

At least she came prepared. "Full references? More than most folks come in with!" Darius took a few steps to an open part of the floor, flipping a ground level lever that caused a workbench to rise up, complete with multi light lamps and perfect level. "Let's see... so you're looking for just a durable, comfy, non-slip pair? No extra bells or whistles?" The engineer placed the existing glasses on the table, shining a small laser at the lens. "I assume these work to stop your Quirk from unwanted activation, yeah? Would you happen to know how much tint is needed? Would even a small peak be too much?"