Welcome to Gaia! ::

Edith lifted her head and lowered it again in almost queenly nod that roughly translated to: that's what you get for smoking. The rest of his appearance received no judgement other than mild satisfaction, as it was the look of one who had been working hard.

She moved to keep pace beside him and despite the difference in height, it was very obvious, upon seeing the two, who was in charge. "Thompson, you needed a word or two?"

Edith almost managed to look patient for the babble, prompting him with an expectant look, "And that is...?"

The lead went quiet for a few moments, quietly shuffling off the junk from the point of what he was saying. "Civilian work can be very satisfying, Thompson. Most hunters experience a distancing from that society, which rearranges their priorities. It's good that you haven't adjusted in that manner, but the mission you were on was not a normal situation dealing with civilians, you understand? They had an awareness and in the aftermath, your own work was much tidier than it would have been otherwise."

They neared a bench, and Edith sat down on it with enough space for him to join her. "You got a lot of experience as a Death trainee, staying under the radar and all that. That experience will be important because civilians cannot walk away knowing about us or the things we fight. So when it comes to protecting them, we work quietly, and we treat that world like a campground in a national park, you got me? Clean up after yourself. Make things better if at all possible, but your footprint better be nigh on invisible."

"Schools are starting to get back into session, and a few of them have had some strange activity recently. There are certain trends arising, so we're following these leads where we find them," Edith began and at first it may have seemed a sort of ramble of her own, but this was Edith, and so it was nothing of the sort. "We've been using these missions to help challenge those deemed ready for promotion, but there's more cropping up everyday. Investigate at least one and give me a better example of you interacting with civilians on a mission level."

Nodding calmly, Edith stated, "I'm aware of the mission and that you may feel a certain tie over what occurred. But yes, schools such as the one he looked into. Missions like that happen and civilians are much more fragile than us, things happen to them, and sometimes those things will wear your face or the face of someone you care about."

For a moment she looked unusually thoughtful, and then went on, "In their way, the dreams and visions that we get so often? They drag up the worst in both ourselves and those around us, but they're the kindest sort of training wheels for what can happen out there."

"There is the one brought back by Weiman and the one brought back after your own mission."

"As far a I know," she sighed, "it's going well. It's enough to have the division lead himself consider it a personal project." Her mouth went tight at the thought but didn't share her feelings beyond that. "His last personal project helped destroy and entire civilization, and before that? Weaponization. It's apparently important, but if you want to know more, you'll have to ask him. Be careful, if you do. Don't sign yourself up as test subject #3."