Yukari brought up the profile of Hasegawa Sumaru first.
" ... A male Samurai. I did not realize that was possible. ... And he trained under Midori-dono. But his training is that of a power armor pilot. He appears to be a most-headstrong individual." She looked at Kotori through the window, moving a lock of hair from her face with a sweep of her hand. "I cannot appropriately judge Hasegawa-Juni without speaking to him in person. But his motives appear very honorable ... which worries me. Our missions and training have stressed actual success, not ethical victory. He will have to understand this.
" ... His service record shows he was on two vessels that were destroyed, captained by the Hime-sama. It is difficult to know how his Yamataian mind was affected by those disasters. Westwood-Hei has had acceptable behavior insofar, but it is clear that he utilizes bravado to mask his emotions. ... How would this Hasegawa-Juni handle it?"
She studied his bio picture for a few seconds more, then went back to the actual letter he sent. "He does not mention asking you, nor the Shoi Kohosei, about his desires. But if the Taisho-sama and Ketsurui-sama tell us he is ours, I do not see how we can refuse."
She turned to Murasaki Aoiko's bio. " ... She is almost a — I believe the Nepleslian word is 'misfit.' She has nearly been alive as long as I, and has only recently participated in shipboard missions. The 5th Expeditionary Fleet, back to SAINT briefly, aboard the YSS Amaya for a briefer time, and now she languishes without assignment.
"She is a librarian — in a O-Samurai's body?! She is NH-27, and before that, NH-17. She has not ever been NH-29 ... that suggests she is not willing to relinquish her capacity to do intimate violence. Her training suggests this as well. We could, perhaps, have use for such a fighter. But one NH-27 is enough ... she is not a Samurai. Her skills are limited ... " Yukari manipulated the window to bring up other portions of her record. "But she is a qualified fighter, if unacquainted with combat. She would likely be welcome by Kurohoshi-Juni."
Yukari went back to the main bio. "Her rank ... it puts her in an undesirable position. We have no place to put her. Can she be trusted with our overarching assignment? We do not know what her motives are, besides finding our assignment 'a worthy task.' She is nearly as veteran as I am. It worries me she does not seem to take our assignment seriously."
She rubbed her neck; she was missing Tom's ribbon, which was on the dresser. She had taken it off last night before bed to avoid dirtying it. "I do not believe we can know, for certain, what they will be like without meeting them. But my recommendation is an administrative demotion for Murasaki-Chui to Shoi, until we can sort out her position and duties. It does not appear she accepts pay, but if she desires it, I will pay the difference in salary myself."
She brought one of the windows down with a finger curled over the top, and looked at Kotori. "I am sorry, Taisa ... I have spoken out-of-turn. I did not intend to lecture you."
