Prompt, Severe, Inflexible [Julian, Makoto]

"Very good. We should have little trouble working together, then. My primary purpose for meeting you here is simply to speak with you regarding your plans for this task. While Abalia and my captain's information has proven quite helpful, they are not the ones I will be traveling with."

Julian took a sip of his tea, simply watching Makoto with no particular judgement in his eyes. There wasn't much scrutiny or intensity to his gaze, but that was something he'd practiced rather well over the years. Naturally, if he thought that either of the two women on this task force were a detriment, he would feel little hesitation in removing them from the equation.

"A relatively straightforward summary of your current plan would be quite appreciated. Enough that I can know what I ought to prepare for, and if I ought to request anything in particular of my captain before we depart."

"I understand, sir. Currently we have two primary leads in pursuit of the subject of the assignment. Those two locations are Iceland and America. It is my belief we should prioritise America as the most recent battleground after the pattern appears of following major conflicts."

The second part of her assessment.

"I believe the target might have warped into a hollow or demon by this stage, though I cannot imagine how only a fragment of Abalia's soul could do that, though I expect resistance in some way or another."

Her red eyes bore into Julian with determination, looking to see if he was unsatisfied with her current plan to investigate the more recent appearance in America.

"I see. Do you have any further leads or plans with regard to America? It is a rather busy place, particularly with the end of the war and the recent efforts by the Vandenreich to reestablish infrastructure. It may be prudent to reach out to the Vandenreich for any information they may have."

Overall, Julian considered her plan to be more than sufficient for the preliminary phases. It would be ideal if she responded to him with more, but he also understood that while this assignment was important, it was not her sole duty.

"If the target has metamorphised, I believe there is very little we can do preemptively. We simply must remain aware of the possibility, and be prepared to neutralize and secure it without lethal force. Other than that, I doubt there is much preparation that could reasonably be taken."

Her gaze reminded Julian of himself, more than anything else. That was the look of someone thoroughly committed to their plan. He liked that, though he knew he just as easily could have despised her for it in another life.

"I am afraid not. I considered the route of contacting the Vandenreich however, I do not know how discreetly this assignment would like to be kept nor do I want to give over any information in regards to a fragment of our Captain Commander's soul to an organisation we ally with out of convenience."

It was a predicament. The loss of one pool of information in exchange for making sure they didn't know the details of the assignment, the fourth seat didn't really know how it could be done without implying either the importance or the specifics of the assignment in reaching out to them. Though if Julian had a plan, she was all for hearing his thoughts.

"As vice-captain of the third division, I assume you can handle measures for capture? There must be some gimmicks that Captain Kurotsuchi has at her disposal and if there is anyone I can imagine her giving them to it would be her vice-captain most of all, right?"

Thoughts were being considered and tea was neglected, her eyes closed and tried to focus while a finger came up to lightly tap at her head like it might improve her thought processes. Given her crossed arms and body language though, she was very reserved and also either protective of herself or uninviting with the gesture. Both were also valid though, she closed herself off to protect herself as she thought it helped others.

"I believe you are correct, at least at present. Our understanding of the situation at the moment isn't sufficient that we could glean any useful information from the Vandenreich's intelligence, even assuming they have worthwhile records. We would be giving up a great deal for very little potential gain. When the situation becomes more clear, we may wish to reconsider, but I do not plan around what-ifs."

Julian wasn't too terribly insulted that Makoto didn't seem to care much for the tea. After all, it had more or less just been given to them by merit of already being in a tea shop. The tea was there, no sense in not having it.

"Yes, Captain Kurotsuchi does have a great deal at her disposal. I am naturally not at liberty to speak on her projects, but she will certainly be able to provide us with any necessary means of capture in the event that our target proves difficult to secure."

While he made it sound as though he was simply maintaining confidentiality, in truth Julian just rarely made much attempt to follow his captain's developmental efforts. Not on account of having any difficulty understanding them, but rather because her thought processes were always so removed from his own that he thought it best to simply consider whatever was brought to his immediate attention.

"Right. Until a greater understanding is acquired we ought to avoid dealing with them. I would not like to see something happen to Abalia's missing bit if the Vandenreich suddenly wanted leverage, especially given they are still recent. I imagine having us in their debt would be somewhat valuable and I don't want to race for my friend's wellbeing."

It almost went over her head that she had referred to Abalia as a friend to someone else. Normally she only reserved that knowledge for Abalia, it actually bothered her a little bit that she had. Makoto made no secret that she had 'friends' which were not really true friends but just people she spoke with and engaged to socialise.

Abalia was different though, a friend she actually wanted to be around and that wasn't something she wanted to share. As far as any others needed to be concerned, they were just seated officier and captain. The pleasure at the atmosphere that made her feel comfortable wasn't something they needed to be aware of.

"Anyway, discretion is also important. If we rustle too many leaves then we will likely attract unwanted attention, then it can create issues. Which I suppose brings me to the next question I should ask, do you think the third member of our group can keep a low profile?"

Bitterness was in her voice when she finished her question. Makoto still remembered the way she had no tact or restraint when it came to her actions, she didn't want to club Elyss over the head on their first outing because she started putting up posters looking for Abalia's lost soul and barging into venues announcing it.

"Precisely. Good as the Vandenreich's intentions may seem outwardly, it would be poor form of us to simply assume that their public face is every bit what we would be dealing with on these matters. For now, we will remain as clandestine as possible then. I suspect even our interactions with Vastime's forces will prove minimal."

Julian certainly caught the mention of Abalia as a friend, but to him, he considered that something of an obvious thing. Whether or not Makoto had intended to tell it to him was irrelevant; this was not the sort of matter that Abalia would give merely to a subordinate, no matter how much faith she might have had in them. It was a personal matter.

"For the matter of Miss Kishimoto, I have dealt with her in the past. Despite her nature, I have absolute confidence that she is capable of maintaining discretion in these life or death situations."

Of course, he did not trust Makoto nearly enough yet to explain to her the manner of this trust in Elyss, but he did feel confident placing it in her. It was not born of any sort of personal faith in the red-headed woman, which so far as he was concerned only made it more valid. It was built only on the fact that she had never spoken a word of his past life to anyone.

"I believe, if anything, that her direct nature may prove beneficial in some capacities. While there is always a need for discretion, there are also those moments in any operation where one needs to create a bit of noise. I think she would quite willingly create more than either of us could begin to."

"Engaging Vastime in the matter would only raise even more suspicions, I suspect."

Especially because Makoto recalled they handled the European front in the war, America was a mostly handled by Vandenreich and Gotei, with some other supporters. Perhaps if the investigation moved to Iceland after turning up no leads but for now they could be left cleaning up and returning to stability after their most recent incident.

"That is reassuring to hear, her first impression left a lot to be desired.. As did her second one."

There wasn't really any time she had met Elyss that she had not thought her attitude antagonistic and unnecessarily obnoxious. Julian's word went a long way but his word also made her expect him to keep her in line, his responsibility.

"Do we require gigais for this mission? I believe we can possibly hide our nature as shinigami of the Gotei if your captain would allow us some specialised gigai to conceal that fact and act as humans. It would reduce our fighting capacities but we can discard them if we need to fight."

Just a little extra precaution she thought she might offer, there was no harm in considering all avenues for this after all.

"I do not necessarily disagree, but it may be prudent to keep them as a possible point of contact, particularly as they were more directly involved in the conflicts in the southern United States."

Julian moved on from that topic quite freely, however, as he had no particularly strong feelings toward Vastime or their involvement in this project. While he cared for them inasmuch as he cared for Abalia's well-being, his loyalties and his love were with the people of the Soul Society, and nowhere beyond.

"I doubt that they will necessarily be required, per se, but I do believe that your idea is quite correct. If we are to remain clandestine, then it would be to our benefit that we not give any indication of our allegiances. I will speak with captain Kurotsuchi on the matter."

"Alright. Depending on how things play out then, we can keep them as a consideration."

A nod came when she heard his assessment of the matter. Makoto's fingers tapped the table in thought, beating to a cadence while trying to think about anything else until it stopped and she turned her gaze back onto him.

"Alright, I think that sounds satisfactory for a foundation. We can't really plan too much without getting into hypotheticals and we don't have enough information on the situation of her missing fragment without assessing it upfront."

The meeting felt like it was reaching its conclusion and so Makoto finally regarded the tea and sipped it to give him an opportunity to add anything else he felt was necessary.