SAKURA SATO. YOU HAVE BEEN NEGLECTING YOUR DUTIES WITH REGARDS TO THE TASK FORCES.
Sakura winced and rubbed her aching head. "Zach. It is two o'clock in the morning. I have been awake for twenty hours. I have literally just gotten into bed. May I ask why you have decided that this matter can't wait until morning?"
PRECISELY TWO DAYS AGO I REMINDED YOU OF YOUR DUTIES REGARDING THE TASK FORCES. YOU TOLD ME TO REMIND YOU IN A COUPLE OF DAYS, AFTER YOU'D MET THE WEIRDOS. IT HAS BEEN TWO DAYS. I WAS VERY PRECISE.
"I was in Kyoto," Sakura hissed. "It was not two o'clock in the morning then!"
On the one hand, I want to tell the angel he's being a dick. On the other hand, this is super entertaining and I get so bored when you sleep. I'll compromise: Carry on, you winged dickface.
"Thanks, Tif."
I'm all about the happy medium.
YOUR CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS ARE IMMATERIAL AND UNTRUSTWORTHY. YOU HAVE YET TO APPOINT TASK FORCE HEADS, AS YOU ASSURED ME YOU WOULD. PROCEED TO DO SO.
Sakura lay face-first on her bed for a long moment and weighed the amount of energy it would take to argue a recalcitrant angel into letting her sleep versus just doing the job. Sadly, there was no contest. She grudgingly peeled herself off the soft, inviting coverlet, stumbling over to her desk. She flicked the light on and pulled out a sheet of paper and a pen, staring blearily at the blank space.
Ooh, ooh! Can I start? I love making command decisions.
"No. I learned my lesson with that branch office in Detroit. God only knows how you managed to find a convicted cannibal with experience running a paper mill, but you are not having any say in who runs my elite task forces."
You're no fun.
"It's two in the morning, and I'm jet-lagged. Fun's out cold." Sakura squinted at the paper, then scrawled a name. "Maanyo's a shoo-in for Covert Ops. He's been super cagey about how he got all this infiltration experience, but I can't deny he's best suited for the job. Hopefully his skills won't be necessary too often, but in the case that they are, an experienced operative will be our safest bet."
CONCURRED. THE BOY OBSIDIAN SHOWS GREAT CONCERN FOR HIS FELLOW CREATURES. THOUGH HE HAS LITTLE EXPERIENCE, HE WILL WORK TIRELESSLY TO ENSURE THEIR WELL-BEING. YOUR DISASTER RELIEF DIVISION WOULD BE WELL SUITED FOR HIS TEMPERAMENT. FURTHERMORE, IT MAKES HIM USEFUL AS I DOUBT HE COULD BRING HIMSELF TO HARM ANOTHER, EVEN IN BATTLE.
Sakura blinked. "That...makes a lot of sense, actually. I hadn't even thought of him outside a combat type, what with that crazy strength, but you're right about the temperament thing. I think he'll do well there."
Reason ought to handle our public image, babe.
"No-- I mean yes, but you need to stop calling me babe. You don't have the crazy pheromones to make it endearing. She does."
It is thus resolved. I will address you as nothing but babe from here on out.
Sakura groaned. Nonetheless, she couldn't deny that Tifanos was right: Reason's ability gave her an inhuman edge at public relations. She scrawled the woman's name below Obsidian's.
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT STILL LACKS A HEAD, SAKURA SATO.
"Not anymore, it doesn't. I'm putting The Girl in charge there."
The Girl? I hadn't thought she was the science-y type. Can't you usually identify those by their glasses?
Sakura snorted. "I couldn't care less about any glasses she may or may not have. What I do care about is that in the 20 minutes she was in my office, she diagnosed my stiff back, identified the cause, ordered a new chair to fix it, sent three emails to manage a firm in Taiwan in Taiwanese from her phone without breaking eye contact with me, found an error in the profit reports that were sitting on my desk and thus identified an embezzlement scheme which would have cost Sato, Inc. millions, and drank a full thermos of hot tea without spilling a drop. All while carrying on a conversation with me. The geeks at R&D won't know what hit 'em."
I guess you have a point. Babe.
THE DEMON IS FOR ONCE CORRECT. YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE TASK REQUIRED OF YOU. YOU MAY ENGAGE IN YOUR SUSPICIOUS CIRCADIAN ACTIVITY.
"Don't have to tell me twice."
She was asleep before she hit the covers.
~*~
Congratulations to our sponsored tributes!
Covert Operations- Maanyo HannahFare
Public Relations- Reason annie1lovss1you
Disaster Relief and Humanitarian Aid- Obsidian MyNameIsInigoMontoya
Research and Development- The Girl
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Author Games: The Absent Empress
ActionA year has gone by since Miguel Santos died leading the Sentries, and Sakura Sato has her work cut out for her. As the new host for the demon and angel who gave Miguel his superhuman might, she's now the World's Mightiest Hero- whether she likes it...
