The Company replies fairly quickly:

Yes, Template Stacking can be used for this purpose. The versatility of fitting multiple Semblances into this single purchase, even for systems with less switching control than yours, necessitates that the purchase be Template Stacking II, and even so your skill with your Semblances will start as though they have been barely unlocked. Further development will be your responsibility to train. Select the "Aura with Unique Semblance" option at time of purchase.

"...We're getting that first.  Well.  I mean, I can't stop you from doing something else.  But the sooner we have that, the sooner we can start training to use it."

She frowns. "Strategic value vs letting your probable-girlfriend join us as soon as possible," she signs. "Hard, but you're right."

"I think Kyoka would agree, given the extremity of the situation.  ...Do we know what our expected, uh, gain, rate? is?  Compared to the costs."

She pokes at the app. "Mission rewards five to thirty credits, or perk worth up to twenty percent or so more. Average."

"Well.  We'll hope we end up on the larger rewards side of that.  Or that the Opposition could do something.  Have they mentioned whether they give missions?"

"Good question," she signs, before opening the Opposition chat app and asking.

Will you be giving missions as well, in addition to those offered by the Company?

Yes, there will be missions from us.  It is most often the case, however, that they will be an *alternate* success condition from a Company mission, rather than allowing you to 'double-dip' both theirs and ours.

Thank you.

"Looks like they do," she signs. 

"That's good.  I'm sure we'd both do the right thing, but, it's better that we might get paid for it."

"Incentives," she signs with a smile.

"Yeah.  Incentives."  Something about the word brings up some bad memories, judging by the frown, and the way her gaze goes distant for a moment.

"You okay?" she signs with a headtilt.

"The HPSC never did care as much about the safety of the public as it liked to put on, and its incentive structures reflected that."

She scowls. "Everything we've read suggests they're corrupt and controlling and tough to fix."

"And everything you've read was correct about that.  Actually fixing all the damage they've done..."

"We weren't done with that, when my memories end.  We'd barely made a start.  And now I don't know what will happen.  If there will be anyone left to have carried on the work we started.  ...I hope Nedzu caught out the kidnapper, and then stayed very far away.

"...The Company is so horrible."

She frowns and nods. "Awful," she signs, before hugging Momo tight.

"...At least when the Commission bought Hawks they had the minimal deceny not to brainwash him to love being their property.  ...Not to say that..."

"That isn't about us, it's about everyone else who wasn't as lucky as - this me.

"The Company is one of the most utter evils I have ever heard of."

...And.  Yeah.  Hugs are rather indicated.

Neo is not a fan of the Company. They coerced her into this job and make so many of her people sad and mad.

She will continue to hug Momo about this, nodding in agreement, until morale improves.

...Yeah.

"As much as hugging you is very nice," she eventually works out, "I don't know if it's going to help with - needing to mourn.  I don't know if anything is, really, short of...

"...We've both been ripped from our homes by the whims of uncaring slavers.  And I'm not going to find true happiness again until we put a stop to them, I think.  Until we have, as best we can, set right what they made wrong."

"Going to be a long war," she signs in response. "Need to reach a point of finding joy along the way or it'll grind you down. Marathon, not a sprint. Cross-continent marathon. Might take us years to get strong enough to make a dent. No way to know."

"Yeah.  I'm not going to deny myself the happiness I can find," she waves a hand at Neo indicatively, "but...  Sometimes you do have to be sad about the state of things for a little while."

She nods. "The others are better at that than I am. I specialize pretty hard in finding joy and doing art and design."

"I suppose I'll have to make you some art supplies, then."