June 3rd 2417 — Durand Compound — Musutafu, Japan
"Urgh, another failure!" Brimming with barely contained frustration, Sage slams his fist down on a metal workbench. Denting it slightly and causes a few of his tools to bounce off the edge and tumble to the floor in a clatter of noise.
For just over three years, Sage had worked tirelessly to create new robots to clear out the massive amount of trash in the oceans. He had battled through continued failures and political hurdles, but through all those challenges he had eventually emerged victorious—that was until he got to his current project.
At the start, Sage had designed simple orb-like robots with two manipulators that could quickly and efficiently drift through the oceans and pick up larger pieces of junk while filtering the water for smaller pieces. Those orbs had quickly become obsolete however as new challenges emerged.
The first of many challenges he faced was what to do with all the rubbish he collected. If he put it back into a landfill, the problem would just be delayed, not fixed. So he spent a few months working on large-scale recycling technology capable of turning all the trash into usable materials.
After finishing that design, he worked to implement it into a machine capable of traversing the oceans. His first design was, of course, identical to a submarine, but that design quickly showed its limitations, both by interfering with the local ecosystem and causing a few international incidents.
So seeking inspiration, Sage began researching all sorts of animals in the ocean, eventually settling on a design inspired by the largest mammals on the planet—whales. It was also around this time his money began to run low, and he decided to open a company utilizing his recycling technology, hitting two goals at once.
After establishing his company, he turned his focus back to creating more robots, each inspired by some form of aquatic life. However as all good things go, though, people eventually began to notice large mechanical creatures roaming the world's oceans and took issues with it. Left with little choice, Sage stepped forward to take ownership of them before anyone else could falsely claim them.
This led to issues with governments across the world, as they didn't appreciate him stepping foot in 'their' territories, leading to multiple lawsuits against him asking him to hand over all his tech.
Remembering it even now, Sage feels his rage boil up.
In order to continue with his mission, Sage had employed a few... less than savory tactics. Sending out Himiko, she was able to easily infiltrate his enemies' homes and gather blackmail material that Sage could use against them.
With this blackmail material, Sage was able to very recently get the United Nations to pass 'The Clean Ocean Initiative' that allowed him full autonomy regarding cleaning the world's oceans. There were, of course, a few catches, but they were ones Sage was fine with—such as not destroying the global ecosystem, reporting annually to the UN on his progress, and a few more.
Coming back to the present, Sage's current project was tiny nanobots. The goal was creating machines small enough to gather the microplastics floating through the ocean, and eventually the microplastics and chemicals within animals.
However, he had been stuck on this for months as more and more problems kept appearing. The current problem stumping him was the nanobots melting into slag after a few seconds of operation.
Slumping in his chair, Sage rests his head against his hands while talking to the little robot floating nearby. "Trial number 734—failure. The machines overloaded and melted exactly 7.645 seconds after activating. Potential solutions involve either finding a new material or optimizing the heat output of the individual machines."
"Noted. Would you like me to begin running simulations on all known materials?" Flashing green briefly, HL-NA quickly suggested a new way to move forward. Sighing, Sage turned to look at her for a bit before looking back at the pile of red slag on his desk.
"There's no point doing that, Hela. We've already run all the simulations... why am I even telling you this? You already know it." Hovering forward, the little robot took on a slightly yellow hue before stopping about two meters behind him.
Suddenly, the deliberate sound of footsteps reverberates across the metal floor as Himiko comes into sight. "Another failure?" Glancing at the cooling pool of slag on the desk, her question seems to be answered.
Sighing, Himiko grabbed another chair from nearby before sitting next to him. "You need to get out of this sterile lab for a bit. I texted Momo already, so come on."
Sage turned to object, but after seeing the look on her face, he reluctantly chose to listen for the moment. Turning off the holographic screen floating above the desk, he tapped a button on his belt before standing up and making his way to the door, stopping briefly to wait for Himiko to catch up as he had accidentally teleported.
Making his way up the stairs out of his lab, a few small robots rolled into the lab to begin cleaning up. Stopping partway up the stairs, Himiko seems to realize something and runs back down to peek through the door.
"Hela, come on! You're invited as well." Turning left then right, the little robot mimics confusion before pointing at herself with her little manipulator. "You want me to come too?"
Nodding, Himiko waits patiently as the little robot nervously drifted over, only heading back up the stairs when Hela overtook her. Jogging up the stairs, she spots Sage in her female form discussing something with the little robot, who cycled through a myriad of different colours.
Cutting into the two's discussion about the properties of materials on the atomic scale, Himiko led them to the waiting car outside. As they drove into the city, Himiko absentmindedly thought about the past few years since meeting Sage.
In her first few weeks at the Durand Compound, Himiko was constantly worried everyone around her would turn on her—something she'd come to expect over her life. From the moment she first awakened her quirk, she quickly learned that society and the people around her found it disgusting and villainous.
When she finally snapped after years of suppressing her desires, the looks cast upon her by adults and children alike only solidified that perception she had of the world. But then she met Sage, and for the first time she found someone who didn't care that she liked blood. Instead, Sage saw how useful her quirk could be and took her in.
Since then, she regularly sparred with Sage to improve her skills, along with taking specialized courses on stealth, espionage, and whatever skill might be useful for her. Because of all that, she was unofficially considered Sage's second in command—a position that came with a lot of benefits.
Turning back to the present, they finally arrived outside a mall. Pulling out her phone, Sage quickly messages Momo and after a few minutes of waiting, Momo eventually joins them and the group goes inside the mall.
Moving to the theatre first, the group engages in some casual banter on the way. Buying some tickets, they head into the theatre to watch a high rated hero romance movie. However by the end of the movie, Sage is practically bored to sleep, the movie being an unoriginal copy that incorporated every shitty cliché that had developed since the rise of quirks.
Walking out of the theatre with sluggish steps, Sage turns to her two friends. "Why... why was that so bad?" Blinking in confusion, Momo looks at Sage like she said something strange, Himiko seeming to share the sentiment if her look was anything to go on.
"What are you on about, Sage? That movie was amazing! It's definitely a contender for movie of the year." Baffled Sage looks at her two clearly delusional friends, her jaw hanging loose. Looking between the two of them, Sage sees no change in their expression, indicating they weren't joking.
"Wait, you're serious? That movie was actual trash. I could make a better one in a few months. The clichés were overused, the plot was dry, there wasn't any tension, and every plot point was predictable within the first five minutes. Plus there was barely any actual content that wasn't AI generated."
Seemingly insulted, the two started arguing with Sage for minutes about how good the movie was and how Sage was clearly wrong. After over an hour of arguing, their meetup was getting derailed when HL-NA decided to intervene and end it.
"Mistress, if you believe so adamantly that the movie was trash and that you could make a better one, prove it to them." Stopping their argument, the three of them turn to look at the little robot in thought, Sage seeming to consider the proposal.
"You know what, I like that idea." Smiling at the little droid, Sage reaches out and gently taps her head. Meanwhile, Himiko and Momo both nod while exchanging glances, a sly smile on both their faces. "Yes that's a good idea, thanks for that Hela. Let's see what Sage thinks is a good movie."
"For now though, how about we get back to what we were doing? I know a good arcade around here, and I bet no one can beat me." Scoffing, Momo rolled her eyes before gesturing for Sage to lead the way.
"I'll hold you to that claim. For now though, lead the way." Chuckling, the small group made their way to the arcade, and just as she claimed, Sage easily bested all their high scores. The only one to even come close to her score was the cute little robot hovering around them.
Hours later, the group finally finished at the mall. Leaving the building, Sage held a large chicken-themed plushie under her arm. Walking down the abandoned streets under the orange glow of the setting sun, the four individuals each chatted happily.
"So Sage, do you plan on attending university? You barely attended college as it was, plus you're the smartest person I know, and I doubt you'd learn anything new." Turning the conversation to their educational pursuits, Momo addressed the fox girl next to her.
Tapping her chin in thought, Sage mentally weighed the options. "I'm not sure at the moment. I don't think I want to attend university, as I would much rather continue my work, but I haven't decided yet."
"How about attending UA and being a hero? You've always liked fighting, and I'm sure you could blitz through any of the academics." Looking at her friend, an eager expression crossed Momo's face.
"Hmm, I never considered that, I suppose it could be fun. Do you know what? I'll apply for UA's entrance exam and see how it goes. It could always be useful to have a hero license even if I don't go the hero route."
Smiling widely after hearing that, Momo starts excitedly talking about how eager she is to attend UA, occasionally mentioning the upcoming recommendation exams she was invited to.
Nodding along, Sage mentally logs everything Momo says but eventually starts to get distracted. Noticing Sage was getting distracted, HL-NA gently taps her head while Himiko excitedly joins in the conversation.
Looking off to the side, Sage's passing glance lands upon a head of curly green hair disappearing behind a wall. Instantly, a look of recognition flashed across her face as she unconsciously changed course. 'Oh, that looks like Midoriya's hair. It's been a while since I've seen him, so I might as well check.'
Unaware of the fox girl wandering off, Momo and Himiko continued their conversation about school. In the group, the only one to notice the distraction was HL-NA. Hovering in the air, she absentmindedly looked between the two girls and the girl she was in charge of looking after.
Turning her gaze away from Sage for a few seconds, she shoots forward and gently taps Momo on the head. "Momo, I hate to inform you, but Sage has gotten distracted. She's wandering over there."
Pointing in the direction she last saw Sage, the little robot freezes up when she notices no trace of the distracted girl. Turning a dull shade of yellow, HL-NA rockets over to the alley Sage was walking down. Entering the alley, she checks both directions but still doesn't see her.
Jogging up behind the robot, Momo and Himiko look around in confusion, not seeing any sign of their friend. "Hmm, that's a problem. Any idea where she went, Hela?" Her holographic face turning down into a frown, HL-NA slowly rotates and looks down at them, her vibe seeming upset.
"I have no idea where she went. This is most troubling—I only looked away for a few seconds." Hearing a sigh from behind, the little robot turns to see Himiko wandering passed her.
"You should be used to this by now, Hela. I've already lost track of how many times she's wandered off as soon as I turn my back." Returning to a normal shade of blue, her face transforms into a thumbs up.
"Good point. Let's track her down before she gets too far." Switching to thermal vision, HL-NA notices a trail of fading footprints leading around the corner. "I've got her trail—let's go!"
{A/N: I've been super busy lately, sorry if the dialouge seems bad.}