[27: 99 Luftballons]
The ceremony and feast lasted so long, but also seemed to go by very quickly. It's hard to explain, but that's how it was. I was back in the car getting taken back to UA. I had the display case for the Medal of Freedom, as well as the other small parts of it. Beyond the main medal, there were also small pins and ribbons for it, like what would be put on a military uniform. Considering my hero outfit and the military outfit, I'm definitely placing this medal on it. It'll give me a lot more style. And everyone knows you have to look cool first when doing something.
I wonder how fast this news will get out, though.
(Some time later)
Eleanor returned to UA smoothly. Perhaps too smoothly. She was lucky it was after-school hours. When she arrived, she immediately booked it to her dorm. She had enough of the media, and the last thing she wanted was to be swarmed again in the evening when she would rather be relaxing in bed.
'The internships start tomorrow. I really hope this doesn't distract from that.' Eleanor thought to herself before going to bed.
(The next morning)
"YOU MET STAR AND STRIPE!?" Mina crashed into Eleanor at the train station as soon as she showed up, knocking both of them down. Eleanor could've sworn Mina got a speed quirk from how fast she went.
"Mina, Mina, calm down! Just give me a bit of space!" Eleanor pried Mina off of her as they both got up.
"Oh, sorry, sorry, it's just crazy!"
Eleanor finally got up. "Everyone, come on, relax a little bit. Let's focus on our internships. It was just a ceremony."
"Just a ceremony?! Come on!" Bakugo screamed at Eleanor.
"What else did you get?" Mina asked.
"Um…she gave me a hero card. But I don't have it with me, so don't ask me for it. I do have a picture of it however." Eleanor hesitatingly revealed, not knowing if it was a good idea or not.
"Let us see. Please?" Mina asked.
"Alright, alright." Eleanor pulled out her tablet and showed them a picture of the card.
"No. No way." Denki instantly appeared in front of Eleanor.
"Huh? Denki? Since when can you teleport?!" Mina said as Denki almost literally seemed to teleport to get a closer look.
"Limited-edition…signed…fully graded…this is worth so much!"
"Denki, we should not be putting monetary value on an item given in recognition of Eleanor's win at the sports festival!" Iida said.
'Okay, that was a bad idea. I shouldn't have said anything. And do they really care more about the card than they do the Medal of Freedom I got?' Eleanor thought to herself as she saw slight chaos unfolding.
"It's just a piece of paper! Who cares?!" Bakugo said, but then he got a better look. "...woah."
"So you do care!" Denki said.
"SHUT UP!" Bakugo screamed.
"Hey, hey, Eleanor, what was she like?" Kirishima asked.
"She was…tall. Now, please focus on other things." Eleanor said before she put her tablet away.
"That's it? You gotta give us more detail!" Kirishima tried getting more details, but Aizawa put an end to it.
"You can ask Eleanor more about it after the week. Now, remember, you can't use your hero outfits in public yet, so don't put them on until you meet with the hero you have an internship with. Remember that you are representing yourself, so be on your best behavior. And some of you here are representing more than just yourself now." Aizawa said the last sentence as he looked at Eleanor.
"Is there something on my face?" Eleanor asked.
"Now, make the best of this time."
With that, the entire class got on their respective trains to head to their internships.
/\\//\\//\
'Finally, all that stuff is over with. Now, let's see what's going on in Hosu City right now.' Eleanor thought to herself as she got out her tablet to see the view from one of the stealth drones she had in the skies above the city.
Everything looked normal…so far. As for her excuse of why she might've been using her quirk in the area if she was caught? She can just say that she was concerned about Iida and the possibility of him trying to get vengeance for his brother. It was perfect, and being so far from Hosu City also gave her plenty of plausible deniability.
"What are you looking at, Eleanor?" Asui asked Eleanor. They were sitting next to each other.
"It's nothing, Tsu, just watching some scenery. Are you excited?"
"Ribbit. Will you be good in the water? I know you can walk on water, but it's a really water-intensive environment with Selkie."
"Trust me, walking on water is just a small part of my capabilities in the water. Just you wait."
"Okay, but you seem a bit distracted. Ribbit."
"Just planning ahead."
Eleanor opened up a little side tab on her tablet. It was a little chat with Theodore, which she was able to transfer to her tablet to ask for the AGI's help whenever she couldn't use her helmet.
'Stain. At least 17 confirmed kills, and at least 24 maimed. And that's what we know. And the heroes still seem to be debating; the time for debating has long passed. They try to capture him, but even if they do, so what? If he's put in jail, he'll get the death penalty under Japanese law, so why can't the heroes just go in for the kill? Yeah, it won't look pretty, but surely an exception can be made. Society would function better without someone like him. Like, come on, what is Japan doing? I thought they were better than this. I'm trying to understand Japan's system, but maybe there's something I don't understand yet?' Eleanor thought, clutching her tablet in slight anger at what she saw as incompetent and inefficient hero work.
How she saw it, if a criminal like Stain were on the loose in America, lethal force would be authorized, and he would be classified as a life-threatening and immediate danger to law enforcement and public workers. Actually…no, this is how it works around the world with legal systems. When someone establishes a repeated pattern of killings with signs of continuing, the rules of engagement change; it's a simple threat assessment done by law enforcement all over the world.
'And I know that the heroes are capable of this. I'm looking at the Hero Public Safety Commission here. Wait, the HPSC. Of course…damnit. But that's in due time.'
Eleanor typed into her tablet. "Theodore, make models for precise, long-range railgun shots based on data from the USJ attack. Also make models and simulations for precision missile strikes based on damage analysis from the nomu of the USJ attack. Pick out simulations that will give me the highest chance of neutralizing Stain without being identified." Eleanor watched as the simulations took place.
[These are the simulations that will have the most effect. This simulation results in a 90.3% of avoiding attribution.]
Eleanor typed, "Is that only for the chance of being avoided, or does it factor in damage to the city and possible harm to civilians as well?"
[This simulation only accounts for avoiding attribution]
Eleanor typed, "Factor in harm to civilians. Pick the simulation with the highest chance of avoiding being identified and the lowest risk of harming civilians." Why didn't she factor in damage to the city? For her, it was simple: things can be rebuilt, but not people. And rebuilding wouldn't take too long with quirks being used in construction to aid the process.
[This simulation has an 83.7% chance of being avoided with a 1.1% risk of harming civilians. Fatality to civilians is calculated at 0.4%. Be advised: this course of action is outside of the hero conduct for Japan.]
'Yeah, I already know that.' Eleanor thought to herself as she saw the response. 'I'm gonna need more data.'
Eleanor typed, "Make new simulations based on live data from Hosu City, and update me when you find better simulations that meet my criteria. Also, start surveillance on Hosu City to capture Stain. Once you do, keep track of Stain at all times."
[Affirmative. Running background calculations]
'Just a bit of recon, the right angle, some distance, along with waiting for a good moment to mask the damage, and it'll be fine. I don't even have to be there; I just need a bit of precision. Like a battleship. And whoa! What a surprise that I kind of am!'