Hailey sits down across from her with a slightly stunned smile.

"Bloody hell, I met Dr. King."

She nods gently. 

"It's always a little... dazzling meeting someone you know only by reputation, especially when they have the extra separation of history or mythology." 

She nods. "Glad I could save him. Hopefully that takes things for a brighter turn."

Then she laughs a bit. "And don't think I didn't notice the lightshow you lot pulled me out with. Aiming to give Dr. King a particular impression of who I work for?"

She sighs wryly. 

"Something like that." 

She leans back, a smile dancing in her eyes.

"It wasn't any trouble to, and there's no reason not to help along his convictions, given that you were already intervening fairly blatantly." 

She grins wryly and nods. "Cute, and probably helps make things stick. Works for me."

"Bloody hell," she sighs, leaning her head back. "I just saved a life, and probably changed countless more indirectly. What even is my life?"

"A better one, I'd hope." 

She laughs. "Yeah, it is that. By one hell of a stretch. Any questions or feedback or advice for me?"

"You tunneled a little aggressively on the 'bodyguard' angle. If the position of the shooter was a little different, then you might not have had the cue to raise your shield. I think you would have been better served by sweeping for weapons more often, and perhaps setting up shielding earlier - I understand that might not have served well in a wizard's fight, but I think it's reasonably likely it would have worked well here." 

"Good point. Could've gone for palings and done more sweeps. Bloody good point."

"Beyond that, I'd just generally caution you about tunnel visioning onto a particular solution - with a general magic system, there's almost always another comparably plausible solution available, and often another approach worth mining ideas from, if not undertaking fully." 

She taps her lips together, and hums softly. 

"How are you feeling, incidentally?" 

"A bit gobsmacked that I actually just did all that, a bit hacked off at the FBI, other shite I can't name yet. Mostly gobsmacked."

A little rueful sound slips past her lips with a breathy sigh. 

"Take all the time I need. First blood is always a bracing experience, even when it's as clean and bright as this." 

"I've had a fight or two before, drawn blood even. S'mostly the... importance, of today, rather than the violence."

"The mission does change things a good deal - makes it a lot more of a... 'streamlined' experience, for me, I've found." 

She nods. "Easier, smoother, but weightier."

She nods firmly. 

She takes a slow breath, relaxing into the moment. "Glad you lot found me. This feels a sight better than what I used to do."

She smiles gently. 

"I'm glad it's working out so well for you already." 

She grins suddenly, gesturing down at herself. "I mean look at me, I'm gorgeous."

"I did a lovely job on you, it's true." 

She blushes and grins. "At some point I should take some time out to enjoy a proper test-drive. Probably not just yet, though."

Her eyes twinkle with amusement. 

"Still, I'd recommend taking at least your tastebuds for one - missions are often rather hungry work, and the body optimizations can make dishes feel a good deal finer." 

"Ooh, good idea. You've probably got quite the caf here, with so many universes of cuisine to choose from."

She nods along with an acknowledging hum. 

"Replicator food is lovely, but it's hardly a complete replacement for a comprehensive culinary experience." 

She nods. "Fancy sommat spicy, I think. Maybe Indian or Korean or something reminiscent. Got a recommendation?"

"I've gotten a bit too used to immortal foods to have too many recommendations, but I'm a little fond of the ghee rice and most of the curry options." 

"Cheers. See you in a few, then. Got walking directions or should I just wait for a port?"

"I'll teleport you now." 

She taps at her keyboard quickly, and then she's gone in a blink. 

This food court is marble-white, with a vast domed ceiling with softly diffusing sunlight streaming down into the space. All across the walls are countless stalls bristling with signs and activity behind the counters, machines churning and produce proudly laid out in racks, laid out in stacked streets on the outskirts of the atrium. Inside the walls, there's a vibrant green garden and rows of granite-clad tables, each with a small console set in the center, with neon-blue lines set in the floor around each table stall, filling out the airy space. 

Well this looks lovely. She takes a stroll past the stalls on the edges, just browsing for the moment.

There's rows and rows of fragrant rices kept warm in one stall, while the other has posterboards and a more industrial look, the kitchen peeking through past the solid wall of signs. A handful of people mill about in and out of line. There's a orcish paladin in half-dull metal armor staring in thought at the wares, an elvish sorceress standing back and waiting, and a two cute fox boys flirting with each other at the front of the line. 

Well this looks right lovely. She gets into line to collect a plate of particularly tasty-smelling ghee rice, and looks around to see where the curries will be after she gets this.

There's a lineless hypermodern stall, all clean polished wood and screens, and just past it a steampunk stall bedecked in bronze and brass, with a chalkboard advertising its fares. 

Ah, good, there those are.

She considers, for a long moment, what it would be like to chat up someone else in line.

It feels almost possible, now, rather than vividly stressful, but her nerves are still on edge at the thought.

Yeah, probably not. She waits, takes her rice gratefully, and heads over to the curry.

She's probably missing opportunities to get to know coworkers here, but she's still getting over her issues.

Approaching someone is just too much.

Off to the curry.

There's a steampunk-looking place, all brass and wood, with a large brass counter covered in hot trays of food and boilers steaming away beneath them. There's also another one that looks more corpo-chic, like a starbucks or sommat, all wood paneling and modern styling.

She heads toward the steampunk place.

As soon as she steps up to the threshold of the stall, faint ticking and whirring fills the air, and little whooshing sounds of steam jetting from boilers. Richly spiced aromas of various curries waft to her nose.

Oh this is nice.

She heads up to the counter, where clockwork robots ladle out helpings of curry, and selects an unfamiliar but delicious-smelling one.

And then off she goes, finding a table and sitting down to dig in.

There's a bunch of tables with different stylings, mostly heavy wooden picnic tables and polished slabs of stone in various different circular and rectangular shapes. Beside each one, there's a pole with a display nestled atop it, showing the options for the privacy fields - an invisibility and quieting field, amongst other options like one for managing the ambient light and smells - and a broad selection of table service options. 

Huh, neat.

After a long moment, she decides against the privacy options. That's as much of a concession to the possibility of meeting people as she can make, though.

She does order a spiced cider to drink, though. And a water.

In a haze of cerulean blue light, a fragrant foamy cider and water - complete with a lemon garnish - materialize on the center of her table atop corkboard coasters. 

She takes a sip, savoring it, and digs in. The spices are alien, as she hoped, but very satisfying. Curry is one of those things that countless worlds must invent in parallel, and it's great to try a different variant. She'll have to look up what seasonings they used later.

A woman wearing polished steel armor walks over, a hand raised up in a tentative wave, a thermos dangling on her belt alongside a sword. 

"Hey. Mind me popping by? You look like the kind of newbie that might appreciate an experienced ear." 

Hailey looks up, surprised. 

Bloody hell. She didn't exactly expect anyone to show up.

After a slow breath, though, she nods. "Yeah, that'd be good. 'M certainly new at this."

She swings her leg up around the back of one of the chairs, and plopping herself down in it with a bit of a comfortable slouch. 

"Let me guess - just off your first mission, maybe your first real fight, and you're feeling a bit rattled after the whole ordeal?" 

"Aye, that's the size of it," she confirms with a nod. "Ever fought before, but not with other blood than my own on the scales."

"That's always an awkward hump to climb, yeah. Lives are heavy things, and it always feels heavier in your hands when your own life is changing, too." 

She pops up her thermos and takes a deep swig of her drink - a nice steamy hot chocolate, from the look of it. 

Hailey takes a couple bites of curry and a sip of cider, nodding. "Man I saved today, in my original world he died in that event. He was—is a civil rights leader, changed a lot of lives even with just the time he had in my old world. If I bollocksed this up today, he would've died in that mission world, too. All those possibilities would be gone."

She looks down at her hands for a moment.

"Bloody high stakes job we got, innit?"

She snorts. 

"Yep!" 

She lolls her head back, and a small pleased sigh slips out of her mouth. 

"I think another part of it is that it doesn't feel like a job, right? There's no one you're reporting to every second, no boss looking over your shoulder ready to ride your ass, nothing like that in the moment of mission, just you and maybe another agent in the same position you are." 

She nods, grinning wryly. "No one to constantly second-guess you about stupid shite, but no one to have a better idea if your plan turns out to be bloody daft. Honestly a relief, that; I'm cleverer than every boss I've had before by half, but I get the feeling folk here are actually worth the authority they're given."

She nods along. 

"Yeah..." 

She smiles back roguishly. 

"It's honestly a lot of fun sometimes coming back and getting a tongue-lashing" Her eyebrows wiggle salaciously "from the higher ups about what you could have done differently. Having to mind intervention is a headache, but it's refreshing to just - see how everyone's invested and wargaming it in their head and trying to figure it out for real, yeah? Love how direct that makes it, especially since a good majority of them were in your place a few decades ago, so they know the pitfalls of it all." 

Oh it's like that, is it?

Her cheeks flush faintly, but she smiles, arching an eyebrow in response.

"Yeah, my handler seems to be right brill, but I'd rather hear improvements on success than drive her spare with a rubbish job. She was down here in the trenches too, learning from mistakes like mine."

She wants to live up to this chance.

She smiles back a little saucily. 

"Yeah. The fun is the push and pull of it, yeah? The raised eyebrow and challenging glances, the 'ahs' when you prove yourself, the whole dance."

Her grin widens a little.

Is she really flirting with a lady knight she just met in the caf on her first day at work?

Bloody right she is.

"Showing you're up to the challenge, satisfying the goal before you, the give and take of refining your performance as you get feedback in real time. And it's so important to learn from colleagues and leaders with more experience than you."

She buries her face into her cup, her tongue slipping down to lap up the milk, her nose flaring as she breathes in the mist, a saucy smirk glimmering in her eyes. 

"Mhhhhm~" 

"I'm Hailey," she introduces herself, then takes a long pull of her cider. "Might a capable senior like yourself have some tips to share with a plucky newbie?"

She arches an eyebrow, grinning, and then takes another couple bites of her curry.

She smiles warmly, and reaches out her hand to shake. 

"I'm Jaia. Pleasure to meet you." 

She barks out a sharp laugh, rolling her eyes fondly at the whole... thing.

"Maybe, maybe! You seem like the sorta talented junior who's already figured out mosta the basics - keep in mind your foes win conditions, wargame things out from the other side when you can, and keep in mind "What do I do if that doesn't work" is always a good question to have running in the back of your mind - that kinda thing. Really, just... keep it chill when you can. There's no way to think things through enough to 100% satisfy your nerves, so don't try. It's good think things through a bit, but an important part of 'look before you leap' is the leaping part, yeah?" 

Shite.

Handshake.

Okay, she can do this.

She takes a deep breath, then reaches out and shakes Jaia's hand. "Likewise."

She only tenses and cramps a little bit. Progress.

"Wow, first handshake in... at least a decade or two?"

Her hand is soft and nice, with a casual looseness comingled with a steady strength. 

"Poor thing." 

She lets go, then massages her palm a bit. "Cramps from resisting my instinct to lash out were worse. Pools got it down to a dull roar, enough I can handle touch now, apparently."

"Think the system is a bit of a cheeky thing - always seems to snipe cuties like you that'll get the most out of the pools and all. 's always good to see, at any rate." 

She smiles a bit ruefully. 

"Thanks." She grins wryly again. "Feel like I should try to make up for lost time at some point."

"Probably!" 

She shrugs, and smiles agreeably, then swigs a bit more of her drink. 

Okay, sod it.

She grins cheekily.

"Got time at some point to help a talented junior learn something new?"

She smiles indulgently. 

"You know what, fuck it, sure. Just ask the site's computer for 'jaia the paladin' and it'll find a way to reach out to me to pop by next time you swing by. I always have time for the right cute lil kohai." 

She grins wider.

That worked?

Brill.

"Then I'm in your hands, senpai."

Giddy curry bite.

She smiles, and happily tap-dances her fingers along the surface of her cup. 

"I'll do my best to make good use of 'em~" 

She snicker sighs, and swigs up the last of her drink. 

"Can't wait. Catch you when I'm between missions then, Jaia. Was good to meet you."

She grins at Jaia, then takes another bite of her curry. This was definitely a good idea.

She raises her mug in a mock toast, before popping off and sauntering off with a swing on her hips. 

"See ya!" 

Life is bloody weird, but brill.

She finishes off her curry and cider happily, drinks the water too to make sure she'll stay hydrated, then (after a quick stop by the WC) makes her way back to Jun's office.

She's poised and posed as ever, gently sitting at her desk. 

"I hope the break served you well?" 

"Did," she replies with a bit of a grin. "Maybe even made a friend. The curry was delicious, by the by. Ta for the rec."

She smiles lightly. 

"I'm glad." 

"So if I recall the plan, next is the basically-a-cultivator girl, Lu Si Na, who needs to safely land an unfortunate fall off a cliff. Plan at this point is to be a traveler of a completely different tradition and try to travel with them until the fall. Maybe frame it in terms of learning from each other, even if we can't teach each other the actual abilities? Dunno."

She shakes her head and grins. "Thoughts on that and an outfit? My usual styles won't be legible here."

"Silken robes are traditional - though I will say that nothing prevents you from simply wearing whatever you personally prefer, given that you are aiming to come across as somewhat alien."

She hums lightly. 

"I think that's a reasonable plan? I would consider seeing about scouting out the area and the trials that she'd likely undertake, if you can, but following along with them seems like a reasonable enough framework."  

"Hm. Could maybe apparate ahead in the direction of travel, do a few sky-high apparations to get an overview of the terrain and then pop back down? I suppose I could ask about the route and trials."

She hums and nods. 

"Those options are hardly mutually exclusive - I'd expect it'd be well within his capabilities to influence the details of the trial considerably beyond what you'd otherwise encounter, there." 

"Think they're likely to have negative opinions about snug, stretchy clothes I can move in? As for presenting as alien, I can't really avoid it to an extent. My abilities aren't likely to fit into their system at all, nor will I be able to learn theirs properly."

"I do think it's not entirely impossible to emulate the talents of this world within your budget, but it's unlikely you could truly convince him that you are a worthy peer, so I don't think there's too much benefit in trying to blend in courting his favour." 

She closes her eyes in thought for a moment. 

"I don't believe so? As I understand it, it's not too unusual for a martial path to have odd requirements or to attract eccentric practicioners - I think it would only be a problem if you plan on fitting into the common folk's expectations." 

"Hmmm. Good point. Any guesses about the weather there? Suppose I can just hit my clothes with warming charms in a pinch. I probably can't get away with modern stretchy and wicking exercise fabrics, can I?"

A quick poke at her console later... 

"It looks like without intervention, it'll be warm summer skies throughout." 

She nods at her second point. 

She shrugs. "Might as well go with their style of robes, just on the basis that they've likely found the local maxima of exercise outfits for their materials. Any spoilers you can give me on how black with dark green and silver reads? Not gonna be advertising membership in a demon cult or something?"

She nods.

"It'd suggest that you have an alignment with wood and yin, but little more." 

"Yin fits," she gestures at herself, "and wood's believable given the wand. Yeah, let's do black robes with green and silver accents or trim or patterning, I trust you to pick something that looks good there. Any last suggestions or advice?"

She smiles lightly. 

"Take care to be mindful of your surroundings - her trials aren't necessarily the only danger, here, and he'll likely respect you more if you have the bearing of a warrior." 

She nods, thoughtful. "I'm more used to guarded/hostile than warrior, but I can probably manage it? Got tips for making the shift?"

"I think... aiming more for 'composed' can help, but ultimately, I think it's most important that you seem focused and deliberate, and that it's a face you can keep up for the time that you spend talking to them. There is no particular royal road, and as you said, there is little chance for you to parse as something he expects, so it may be wise to simply play it by ear over following some more formalized plan." 

"Well, the Pools definitely help a bit with composure, so I can probably manage that. I think I'm ready to drop."

She nods firmly. 

"Good skill, Hailey." 

In a mere few moments, a shower of light carries her away.