For the first time in seven years, Jiro returned to Future Industries doorstep. Before he was just an observer, a passerby like everyone else. But now his hopes rest on his courage to finally step inside the factory which had inspired him so greatly. He wore his best suit, which was slimming on his lean frame, it made him feel like a toothpick and he almost decided against wearing it. He understood the necessity of it all, from his neatly done bowtie to his dark hair, smartly combed and parted to his right, normally his hair would be more relaxed but he was not relaxed, not now. He clutched his satchel and looked through it one last time, checking on all his pertinent documents. He took a deep breath and started towards the building. He faced it in awe of its marvelous design numerous times, the four distinctive smokestacks on each corner and the massive archway that housed the assembly floors. The building has seen numerous renovations throughout the years adding several wings for research and development and smaller assembly areas.
Jiro stepped inside the lobby which had a clean yet refined look to it, the floors were tiled in white marble and four massive columns were located squarely inside. Jiro knew they were not the heavy lifters they appear to be, in fact if you were to look atop each one you could see a small space between it and the ceiling. The building was designed with a new internal skeleton which could hold just as much as any traditional column. Jiro was fascinated by architecture and design, he would go to patent offices to look over new patents just to understand their inner workings. Future Industries was the largest patent creator alongside Blackstone Utd. who seemingly have hundreds of patents filed each month with no official R&D department, granted most of these patents fail to have even a basic purpose, but they are still a competitor in that respect.
Dozens of people were filing in and out of the building, Jiro regretted coming here during lunch hour but this was the only time available for his meeting. He fixed his glasses, evening them out over his amber eyes and looked for the receptionist. approaching one of several that sat taking calls and talking with others here for meetings and such.
He came up to the only one not busy and bowed awkwardly to her, she gave a confused smile, sat up straight and asked " Hello sir, what may I help you with today?" Jiro shyly shot back at attention and collected his thoughts.
"I would like to speak with Ms. Sato please." An eyebrow on the receptionist's face rose.
"Do you have an appointment?" Jiro blushed, then bowed again so hard he almost bashed his forehead against the counter. The man next to him gave him some room, concerned.
"Yes, of course, I apologize, where are my manners." He raised again.
"I'm here for the eleven fifty appointment with Ms. Sato of Future Industries and Sato Inc." He said with incredible speed and clarity, the receptionist stared for a moment trying to catch up with him whilst she flipped through her book.
"Mister Jiro Koshi?" She said finally stopping. Jiro bowed, more calmly this time.
"Yes, that's me." The receptionist nodded pointing off to her left at some elevators.
"Take one of those to the fifth floor, follow the red rug once you're up there she'll be waiting." Jiro was about to bow one last time before the receptionist caught him, holding up her hand.
"Mr. Koshi, there is no need to bow here, Asami isn't much for formality, just relax alright?" Jiro stood straight one last time and simply nodded.
"Thank you." he walked off into the elevator. The man that stood beside Jiro was now a good five feet away behind one of the columns, peeking out he asked.
"Is he gone?"
Upstairs Asami sat in her office, equally as large as the others on the floor, the only benefit hers had was the large windows which could see both the factory floor inside as well as Avatar Aang Memorial Island in the harbor. She was looking over reports and trade charts for the month when her intercom came on with a small electronic crack.
"Asami, Mr. Koshi is coming up to see you for your eleven fifty." She put down the tea she had been drinking off and on for the last couple of minutes and reached for the intercom button.
"Thank you Jin." She then piled the papers up and reached for the corner of her immaculate desk and reached for another paper, the appointment information Jiro put in nearly a month ago by telephone. She looked it over for a few minutes until she pondered where he was. She reached for her intercom again. "Jin where did Mr. Koshi go?"
"He hasn't come back down the elevator. Should I call security?"
"No, I'll go look for him." Asami stood and threw her silken black hair over her shoulder and walked to the door, the heels of her shoes echoed.
Jiro stood on the other side, he'd been standing there for minutes, trying to find his courage, he had his papers out in hand, he'd been shuffling through them reconciling with himself if they were worth Ms. Sato's time. Then he heard the heels through the door, he could feel them coming through the floor. He threw his papers back in his satchel and opened the door. Then he came face to face with Asami Sato who herself was about to reach for the handle. Her face had an air of confusion but she quickly straightened out and smiled.
"Mr. Koshi I presume?" She asked, warmly offering a hand. Jiro however was frozen, his eyes were wide and he almost stopped breathing for a moment until he snapped back and grabbed her hand, shaking it, thankfully his father taught him how to shake a hand. So in the end he looked like a scared mouse giving the calmest handshake. Asami was more concerned than confused and moved aside and gestured towards the seats near her desk.
"Shall we start?" Jiro shook his head and waddled over to one of the two seats which faced Asami's. She sat down next to him, turning the seat to an angle to talk face to face.
"So what brings you to Future Industries Jiro?" Jiro turned towards her and got his papers out once more, he thought about what he would say to Ms. Sato for months and now he wasn't sure if he should continue. He threw the papers on her desk and faced her, calmly and reserved now.
"Ms. Sato," She interrupted. "Please, call me Asami." Jiro's face contorted for a moment to comprehend that.
"Uhm, Asami. When I was younger I remember seeing your companies planes fly over the city for the first time, I remember the state of awe that I fell into, the flight of man. The limitless possibilities that it entailed. I knew from that day what I wanted to do with my life, I was not going to spend my days rustling trade deals for my father, Ms. Sato. Asami, I want to fly."
Asami sat forward a bit leaning in to talk with her legs crossed.
"Well we have plenty of flight courses and schools that can teach yo-," Jiro Interrupted.
"No Ms. Asami, I'm sorry but you don't understand. I do not merely wish to fly, I want to build planes, I want to design them, I want to be involved in that process, that noble goal of flight. The grandest feat of engineering. I want to become a designer here at Future Industries."
Asami sat back in her seat, pondering his request.
"Mr. Koshi, Jiro, I would have to see some designs before I can put you on my staff of engineers. Have you brought something that would warrant that?" Jiro nodded, pleased. He sprung up and grabbed his papers and went over to a blank board pinning them up.
"These are three designs that I've refined to a reasonable degree." The first was the schematic of a monoplane with two inverted gull wing designs which gave it a distinctive dip in the wing, and an open cockpit.
"This is my first refined design, the A5, it's wing is much like the bottom wings of the Future Industries Biplane designs, which as you know grants improved dive rate and wing strength when pulling out of said dive." Asami sat quietly, letting the presentation continue. The next was similar in shape in all but the wings, which were a more traditional flat wing design and a full cockpit.
"Are all these designs single seaters?" Jiro held up a finger to pause her while he grabbed the last schematic and placed it alongside the others. This one was much larger, while still a monoplane it had two engines located in each wing and like all the designs it had large sturdy looking rudders, elevators and ailerons that blend into the wings rather than being separate entities of the craft.
"This is the A-11, a commercial craft that can be used for trade and transport." Jiro stood next to his creations quietly and awaited a response. Asami sat in her chair for a moment and looked over the designs before standing and inspecting them next to Jiro.
"Many of these planes seem very heavy, the A5 and, what was the second one?"
"The A6 respectively."
"Yes, well what materials were you planning on using for them?"
"Similar materials for what is used currently for the first two, all of them rely on what engines you're using."
"What engines would that be?" Again Jiro happily grabbed another handful of papers and handed one to her.
"This is my design for a new variant of the Inline engine, the A5 would be fitted with that while the A6 uses a custom radial design, the A-11 meanwhile would use this." He said as he handed her one last paper.
"This is a Turboprop engine, I got the idea from studying fire bending techniques. The Inline was from a defunct patent that went seemingly unnoticed."
"What was it?"
"Someone thought of cutting a Radial engine in half to save space, a bit silly of a thought but that got me to design my own engine mockups based off that concept. At some point last year I arrived at my version of the Inline engine, and thereby reaching the turboprop."
"What are the benefits of the turbo?"
"It uses a turbine, which is something I caught from specifications of firebending locks on doors and vaults, It can be used on larger aircraft such as my design or any future ones, simply put its better for cargo or passenger flights and is very fuel efficient in that regard." She began to look over the schematic and pointed at the turbine.
"Is the turbine directly connected to the prop?" She said looking back up at Jiro.
"Not directly, its connected to a reduction gear which transfers the energy into a slower but more functional speed." He placed his hands behind his back again, he was done talking now. He only waited for a response. Asami was taken aback at all this, she scanned all of the schematics once more before turning back to Jiro.
"Where did you study at Jiro?" His head tilted, "Study?"
"Yes, what school or university, Ba Sing Sae, Omashu?" Jiro shook his head.
"I never went to any formal university, my great grandfather was a machinist in the Fire nation, I learned the trade through my fathers side of the family. Although my father had us all move here to republic city when I was very young, he became a trader."
"You must understand how crazy this all seems, even the brightest of my engineers were trained somewhere official. You taught yourself all this? Engine designs and aerodynamics?" Asami was beaming, she was smiling wide and her face was full of color as she talked with Jiro.
They spent Asami's next five scheduled appoints talking over near the end Asami was pouring them both a cup of tea. Jiro stared down into his warm cup contemplating the meeting, Asami was over at the board, looking over numerous designs Jiro deemed unworthy, all of them interested her however, to Jiro's surprise. He looked over at her.
"Ms. Sato," She turned slowly, trying to peel her eyes off the designs until she finally made eye contact.
"I must ask, quite bluntly, what you have decided?" Asami strolled over and sat down, holding her hand out. Suddenly a crack from her intercom broke in.
"Asami, Korra is here to see you, I told her the interview is still going. Should I send her up anyway?" Asami blushed embarrassed that she lost track of time so easily. she ran around her desk to answer the call.
"Yes, I'm sorry, send her up."
"Also it seems General Chu is here now as well, should I tell him to wait again?" Asami froze momentarily, she placed a knuckle inside her mouth as she thought, before jumping back to the intercom.
"Actually yes, send him up too, I'll have what he wants."
"Well thats good, because he's already left to come up." Asami scowled, then remembered Jiro and turned back.
"Chu has gotten restless lately, hopefully I can reason with him, you don't mind a few introductions do you?" Jiro's face lost some color, he shrunk a little and his warm open posture changed.
"Uh, yes, I suppose I could." He stuttered slightly at the thought. Asami came over and laid a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry, you'll do fine, just pretend we're still discussing your designs." Jiro looked over his shoulder at the schematics and sketches, he looked back to Asami and nodded. A knock was heard on the door Asami went to go open it until it slammed open, the cold, recycled air from the hallway rushed in.
"Sato!" A large, barrel chested man marched in, a startled Korra behind him, with a hand still over the now open doorway. The man that barged in was Chu, he had a neatly trimmed beard that hung from ear to ear and followed his jawline until it met halfway on his chin and formed into a longer graying goatee. He spoke in a loud commanding voice.
"Sato do you have what I've been asking for? I've held off long enough for those slackers in that think tank of yours. I want results immediately." Asami stood straight, they both met in a faceoff center room, Chu was a good half a foot taller than Asami, whom herself stood around six feet. She held her ground with a false smile and stared back into Chu's dark green eyes. Korra entered now and squeezed in between the two.
"Alright calm down you two." She pushed them both away from each other and spoke in her most calming voice.
"Talk it out like adults now." She said as she stepped back.
"I've had enough talking, I was promised results and I'm here for them." Chu crossed his arms.
"Sir, I'm glad you've stopped by. I think I have exactly what you want." Asami's grin widened.
"Really?" Chu said quizzically.
"Wait, Really?" Korra said under her breath, pulling Asami aside.
"I thought your guys were having trouble with, well you know?" Korra said, concerned. Asami calmly moved Korra and spoke directly and loudly to Chu.
"We were having troubles, but now I'm happy to openly say I have an ace up my sleeve."
"You're not wearing sleeves Asami." Korra said dryly.
"I have an ace on my person." She said, looking back.
"Show me." She gestured towards Jiro who was on the other side of the room, watching intently, Chu's eyes snapped to him and startled Jiro.
"General Chu, this is Jiro Koshi. My newest engineer on staff." Jiro held his hand out to shake, like it was second nature to him, his face was wound in fear however. Chu rolled his eyes.
"I Don't care how many new recruits you've made."
"Well first, I don't recruit anyone, this isn't the army. Second, he has a design philosophy that you should find interesting, and three. Jiro lower your hand, Chu won't shake it." Jiro's hand dropped, Chu strolled over to him and bent over to look down into his eyes.
"Tell me what you have." He ordered. Korra stood behind Asami with a hand behind her head, trying to figure out what's happening.
"Make it fast though, I'm a busy man." Jiro looked over at Asami who nodded at him to continue.
"I've developed a-" Chu interrupted.
"I mean really fast." Chu sneered.
"I've made new lightweight monoplane designs."
"Have they been prototyped?"
"No sir."
"Where are the designs?" Jiro stood aside letting Chu look past him on the board where the schematics were posted. Chu inspected them for a few moments, frustrated.
"What's all this mean then?"
"Lightweight planes with powerful engines." Chu lifted an eyebrow, a crooked smile formed.
"Light enough to launch off a aircraft carrier?"
"I don't know what that is sir."
"A floating airfield, could it take off on it." Jiro looked back over at Asami, whom was nodding strongly with a concerned look on her face.
"Yes. It can and will." Chu's smile grew until it aligned with his beard, then he gave out a heavy single laugh.
"Good work, I want to see more of that Sato. Dismissed." Chu turned on his heel and began to leave until he turned to Asami on his way out.
"I want it prototyped and ready to take off from the S.S. Song within the month. Don't come empty handed." Asami nodded, and Chu left without another word. Everyone in the room waited for the heavy footsteps to fade until they all exhaled. Asami walked over to Jiro and hugged him off the ground, gasps and noises escaped Jiro's mouth, his face was red.
"That was perfect Jiro. I'm not sure that could have gone better." She said, putting him back down. Jiro brushed his now loose hair aside, back into place and straightened out his tie.
"Well thank you Ms. Sato, but I'm not so sure about my design as you seem to be." Her brow lifted.
"What are you talking about? You said you've refined them down from other designs, what's the worry?"
"It was hundreds of previous designs, not just ten or twenty. Even the ones I've shown you are the best I could make, and I'm sorry, but I'm sure you must've noticed my self esteem, or lack thereof." Asami stood face to face with Jiro, both her hands on on his shoulders and she leaned in a bit to level off their eye contact.
"These designs can be perfected, over time with my other engineers. You'll be right there with us helping in that process. Nobody is perfect, and people that make things, be it music, art, stories or machines are never satisfied with their work. It is the creator's curse and the most powerful driving force a person can have." Asami stood straight out and stepped back and looked to Korra who stood silently.
"Korra, I'd like you to meet Jiro Koshi, my Chief engineer at Future Industries." Jiro snapped back, hearing that gave him a warmth he has never felt before. It radiated through his body, and met at his face, making it beet red. Korra shook hands with Jiro, but he wasn't paying attention, those words kept running through his mind. And When he came to, he was at the window, looking over the assembly area.
"Jiro I'm having a small dinner party tonight, would you like to join me and Korra?" Jiro snapped back, not listening.
"Oh, um yes. That would be lovely." He placed his hand on his forehead. Korra Leaned into the room.
"Asami I have your stuff, ready to go?"
"One moment, the party will be at seven tonight, give the receptionist your info and I'll have someone pick you up." Jiro nodded and left the room with her. Two doors down was a single door, similar to Asami's two. She opened it and gestured inside.
"This'll be your office for the foreseeable future, mind the pun. I'll be leaving but get acquainted with it, if you have any questions, the intercom and the receptionists can answer them. Alright?" Again Jiro nodded, Korra was pulling on Asami now, whom wasn't budging from her place in the doorway, watching Jiro stroll around the room. He turned placed his stuff on the ground, and bowed.
"I cannot thank you enough for the opportunity, Asami." She smiled and waved, before finally letting Korra tug her away.
"She you tonight." Jiro heard, echoed down the hall. He looked around, the only window was to the workshops next to the assembly line where the parts are made.
Jiro took a deep breath. A new chapter had begun for him, he must find the strength to embrace it.