"Chief Lin, Miss Sato and Mr Jay have arrived. Shall I send them in?" an officer poked his head through the door, only for Lin to stare up from her pile of work. Looking back to her work, she replied, "Send them in."
"Good afternoon Mr Jay and Miss Sato," Lin said in a professional tone as she stood up from her desk, shaking hands with her visitors. Jay and Asami had completed the modification plans and were awaiting the chief's approval. When approved, they can finally get to work re-equipping the police.
Before long, Lin had approved prototypes of the new modifications, which were to be delivered and sent for testing with the police department. With the green light given, Jay and Asami could finally begin working on the new modifications.
"So Jay, I trust that this project will be in good hands and you will do Future Industries proud," Asami told Jay as he turned into Sokka Avenue. Jay nodded his head, before realising something.
"What do you mean it will be in good hands? Aren't you working on this too?" Jay asked.
"My dad wants to expand the business into the Fire Nation, maybe find some new partners there, and he wants me to go along with him. Something about learning how to do business," Asami explained.
"How long would you be gone?"
"Not too long, maybe about two to three weeks. That's why I'm putting you in charge of the department as well as the police project. I'm sure you could manage it," Asami laughed as Jay turned off the engine, having parked in Asami's parking space.
"When will you be leaving?" Jay asked, wondering why Asami hadn't told him this earlier.
"Well, it's sort of a last minute thing. My dad only told me this morning. I will be leaving now," Asami. "I will probably be gone for around a week, definitely not more than 2 weeks. The deadline for the police project is in 3 and a half weeks right?"
"Yes, though Lin said it may be even longer depending on their schedule."
"Good. Whatever it is, at least there will still be time when I get back. For now you're in charge of the department. I trust you Jay," Asami said to him, shaking his hand before stepping out of the car. In the front porch of Future Industries, there was already a couple of satomobile, and Hiroshi stood to the side talking to a few of his staff. Hugging Asami before showing her to the satomobile, Hiroshi nodded at Jay, acknowledging him before stepping into the vehicle after his daughter. Before long, they were off towards the port.
Sitting inside his office this time felt weird for Jay. Although Asami had left him in charge from time to time, this was the first time he was completely in charge, with Asami not being merely a phone call away. And although there was a chain of command in Future Industries, Jay's department was special in that in only answered to Hiroshi or Asami. With them not around, Jay was the next in charge of his department.
"Jay, you have a letter from the police department," the secretary said as she knocked on Jay's door. Taking the letter from her, Jay sat back down onto his chair, opening the letter and reading the contents.
The letter was from Chief Lin, who informed Jay about a competition to equip the Republic City Police Department's officers with new uniforms. Companies all across the United Republic were invited to send in designs for evaluation. Those that were deemed favourable were then to build prototypes for the testing phase, before the armour would be adopted.
"This letter was dated a week ago," Jay suddenly noticed the date at the top of the paper. "Why is it only delivered now?"
"I don't know. It could be because there were issues with the admin section. I am so sorry," the secretary apologised as she bowed towards Jay. However, Jay was not interested in any of the formalities. He was already thinking of his next project.
"Gather Royou, Chong and the others. Tell them to be in my office at 5," Jay instructed before returning to his pile of work. The modifications had already been ordered by the police department, and now Jay's department were delegating the manufacturing and production to the other departments. His department would be in charge of this entire project, liaising with other departments to ensure the products get completed in time.
Before long, Jay's coworkers were all gathered in Jay's office. Chong was a few years older than Jay, originally from the Satomobile division. Royou was in production department, having graduated from Fire Nation Caldera University. The others, too, were from different departments. However, they all shared one thing in common - an open mind to new ideas and innovations. With a bit of string pulling, Jay managed to get them all to join his department.
"Let's get this mundane stuff out of the way, before I share with you guys something," Jay began and soon, the small team got cracking.
"Royou, send the specs list and blueprints down to Production."
"Has anyone seen blueprint 17-A? The airship cable launcher."
"Tell Finance to liaise with Production."
"Can someone check if the Satomobile Dept can finish the order by next week?"
"I think the blueprint you are looking for is with Jay. By the way, your mug is about to fall off."
"And done," Jay declared as he dropped the last file into a nearby trolley. Pressing a buzzer, a staff soon arrived to push the trolley away, where its contents would be sorted by Admin and distributed to the correct recipients.
"Well at least we're done now. Could have taken way longer. Jay, didn't you say you have something interesting for us?" Royou asked as he placed his pen back into his shirt pocket. Jay reached into his briefcase, pulling out the letter delivered to him in the morning from Chief Lin.
"So basically you want to come up with designs for an armour to send for the evaluation? Aside from the fact that we have completely no experience with this," Chong deadpanned as he looked at Jay munching his apple, who simply replied, "Pretty much, ignoring the last part."
"You do know that United Republic Incorporated is taking part too right?" Royou said, while the others nodded.
"United Republic Incorporated? Who are they?" Jay asked, while the others looked at him quizzically.
"You may not have heard about them, but they are a company located in another city in the United Republic. They are a large clothing company who have been supplying the army and police with uniforms," Royou explained, continuing, "And you want to challenge them?"
Jay grasped his chin for a while, pacing about the office. "Do you know what other companies are taking part?"
"No, I think it's United Republic Inc aside from us," Chong added, while Jay sighed.
"The police are only requesting for a paper design for now. Why not we just try?" Jay asked, while the rest nodded.
"Well Jay, you're the boss. So how do we go about beating the company who has been supplying the army, navy and police their uniforms for the past 50 years?"
3 days later, Jay once again found himself inside the police headquarters. He had been there so many times that he was already familiar with the layout, at least for the meeting rooms where he spent most of his time in. Even the admin staff already knew his face, and while he was still required to sign in, it had already become second nature.
"...and so, this is our proposal for the new police uniforms. Thank you," the United Republic spokesmen complete his presentation, giving a slight bow before returning to his seat. Applause came mostly from the senior staff - at least those who were awake. Jay had seen one or two senior staff, mainly from the non-front line departments, nodding off during the presentation. The junior staff on the other hand, were busy taking down notes.
"Let's invite Mr Jay from Future Industries to showcase their design," Chief Lin announced while Jay walked up to the front. Some of the support staff quickly moved in and replace the United Republic Inc S diagrams on the board with that of Future Industries, while the projector operator reached for Jay's material. Before long, Jay was on the podium getting ready his materials.
"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, my name is Jay and I am from Future Industries Department 15. Today, I would like to introduce you to Future Industries' entry for the police design competition."
Jay went over the details of his design entry, before receiving a similar applause to the previous spokesperson. Returning to his seat, Jay sat down with his team as Chief Lin was conversing with her aides.
"May we invite the spokesperson for United Republic Incorporated to answer some questions?" Chief Lin said without looking up from her paper file. The spokesman went up to the podium and was asked a series of questions. These were mainly regarding the pricing and estimated production details.
Soon, it was Jay's turn and once again he found himself up on the podium facing the entire room. Chief Lin once again asked the same basic questions, such as estimated production cost, production rate, production capacity etc. Thankfully, Chong had done some research on the production capabilities of Future Industries, as well as gathered some information from the Finance Department. With the materials prepared well beforehand, Jay was able to answer all the questions.
"Mr Jay, we just have one last question for you. As you probably know, the current armour for our metal bender officers are made largely of metal plates. However, your armour design is mainly made of reinforced fabric. Could you explain why you chose not to use metal as the material?" Chief Lin asked as she closed her file, while the other officials nodded their head.
Clearing his throat, Jay spoke, "We were aware of the material used in the previous generations of armour. However, we consciously chose to omit metal as the primary material for our armour due to the various shortcomings of metal as a material," Jay spoke, and he regretted it. A murmur formed throughout the entire room, as the various officials spoke in hushed tones amongst themselves, evidently puzzled as most of them were wearing the current metal armours.
Chief Lin looked puzzled took, but nonetheless silenced the entire room. "Mr Jay, most of us here are wearing the current armour made of metal, and we are confused as to what shortcomings there are in our armour. Perhaps you could explain more?"
"I agree with Chief Lin. Our current armour is able to withstand the day to day incidents and attacks, such as those using knives and swords and even chi blocking. Also, as a metal bender myself, I am able to manipulate my armour as well, which I have used to my advantage many times," Saikhan, who was seated next to Chief Lin, spoke up. A few other officers present also voiced their agreement, before Chief Lin raised her hand to silence them, before looking at Jay, expecting his answer. From the corner of his eye, he could see the United Republic Inc spokesman smiling to himself.
"Metal as a material for armour may have its benefits, such as those mentioned by Captain Saikhan, but there are many, many drawbacks that simply far outweigh the benefits. First of all, while metal offers protection against your average knife and chi blocker, it fares horribly against other forms of attack. Now that metal bending is more common, there is a higher chance of running into a metal bending criminal. Wearing an armour made of metal would just provide an opportunity for the criminal to toss around the officer, or even worse, send the armour crushing inwards. Now I'm not saying that the metal bending officers are weak, there is always a possibility of a criminal gifted at bending. Take Yakone for an example."
A murmur rose up amongst the officials. Either Jay had made sense and brought up a point overlooked until now, or simply saying the name Yakone was enough to make the police terrified. Either way, Jay had made an impact on the audience.
"You did say there was a possibility. It is only a possibility, compared to the real threat that knives and other weapons our officers encounter on a day to day basis," Saikhan spoke up again, while Jay nodded in acknowledgement.
"That is only one aspect of it. Another aspect would be going up against lightning benders. As we all know, metal conducts electricity, as well as lightning, very well. And lightning benders are common enough for it to be a job. What if the next lightning bending criminal decides to fry some officers?" Jay spoke, and once again the audience started murmuring. However, before the murmuring died down, Jay continued again.
"From what I understand, the current metal armour is manipulated and worn using metal bending. What if an officer is down, unable to bend, and there are only non-metal bending officers around. How are they going to treat his wounds?" Jay added, and by now, the entire room was filled with conversation.
"It is with these considerations in mind that my team and I have opted not to use full metal armour, but rather a mix between non-metal and metal covering chi points and vulnerable organs."
Chief Lin cleared her throat, and immediately the noise died down and returned to silence. "Thank you Mr Jay, that will be all. Thank you all for coming down today to pitch your designs. We have some light snacks prepared, please follow our staff while we make our final decisions." With that, Jay, his team and the team from United Republic Inc left the meeting room, as the metal wall was bended shut behind them.
"Good job Jay," the team from Future Industries gathered around him and patted his back. "At this rate, soon Future Industries would be supplying the army," Chong remarked, laughing to himself.
Back inside the meeting room, the top brass of the police force were locked in an intense debate. Half supported using the metal armour, while the other half argued that Jay had brought up valid points.
"Go ahead and wear those metal coffins and hope that you don't get cooked to death by some lightning bender!"
"Ya let's hope fabric stops knives. Oh wait, last time I checked, they don't!'
Caught between the crossfire, Chief Lin let out an audible sigh, before slamming the table. The whole room instantly fell silent, and all eyes turned to the now irritated Chief.
"This is a police station headquarters, not a market. You people are the top brass, the best of the best and here you are squabbling like school children. Even the triads are better behaved!" Chief Lin admonished the officials. Letting out another sigh, Chief Lin said, "Why not we wait for the trials to see which armour is better. We can then decide which one we will choose after the trials."
A soft spoken official from Finance spoke up, "Umm Chief, this morning we just received word that the council did not approve our request for more budget. They said the money was needed by the military due to earth kingdom rebels harassing our borders. So this means we would not have enough money to conduct tests for both armours. We might not even have the budget to equip all our officers with the new armours, if we still want to continue fighting the triads."
Chief Lin let out an even louder sigh, "Here we are trying to fight the triads that are threatening the very fabric of society in our capital, and the council decides that fighting a bunch of rebels in the hills are a better use of the money."
"Since the current armour is similar to the one by United Republic Inc, why not we conduct testing for the Future Industries armour first. If it is good then we can slowly supplement the current armour worn by the officers," Saikhan suggested, and everyone felt it was the best course of action. With Chief Lin's approval, Saikhan stood up and exited the room to find the representatives for both companies.
Eventually, the results were out. It was decided that the police would continue using their traditional armour, while slowly but systematically switching over to either the Future Industries armour as well as United Republic Inc's armour. More test would be conducted at the police department's discretion, but for the most part Jay's work was done.
"Wow, time flies," Jay remarked as he and his team stepped out of the police headquarters, stepping into the cool dusk air. "Say, let's head over to that noodle place the radio guy talks about all the time."
"Best seaweed noodles in Republic City" The sign next to the door screamed as Jay and his team approached it. It was located in the part of Republic City known as Little Water Tribe. It was like a small slice of the water tribe had been transplanted into Republic City, and it looked like the real water tribe, at least according to the photos Jay had seen.
"That'll be all for now," Royou thanked the waitress who left with their order. Most of them had ordered seaweed noodles, following Royou's recommendation.
"It's as close to the real thing I had down South last summer," Royou said as he helped himself to the complimentary tea, heating it up with firebending.
"Wait down South? As in the Southern Water Tribe? That's surprising," Jay asked skeptically. Southern Water Tribe did recover from the war, they did not regain their former glory, nor did they reach the level of the Northern Water Tribe in terms of economy, military and culture. To that end, most of the time when people referred to the water tribe, it was always the one in the North.
"Yea, well they are picking up their pace in recent years. It is quite a modern place, not as much as here, but certainly much more than a couple of huts. Furthermore, they have something the North doesn't - the Avatar," Chong chimed in, while the others nodded their heads.
"Speaking of the Avatar, why haven't we seen him before. I mean like the ambassador to the world, I expected him to be more active and open," Jay wondered.
"Well, the Avatar is just a teenager around your age, being watched over by the White Lotus. It is known that Avatar was the target of a failed kidnapping, so I assume she is in training under heavy guard in the South. Information is pretty controlled. And it's a she, by the way," Royou explained.
Soon the noodles arrived, and the talks shifted away from the Avatar and to more pressing topics - like the latest updates from the pro-bending scene.
Bidding the rest of his team farewell, Jay got into his car and drove to the harbour. Asami had called him earlier that day. Hiroshi had decided to meet up with some old friends, and Asami decided to return back to Republic City earlier. Jay decided to give her a surprise by picking her up from the harbour.
The ocean liner pulled to a halt in the harbour, and the gangplanks were quickly set up. One by one the passengers came off, and before long Jay spotted her, wrapped in a thick coat. Her trunks were brought to her, and she was about to hail a cab when Jay called out to her.
"Asami!" Jay called, waving his hand to get her attention. Asami turn around, surprised to see Jay at the harbour. The trunks were quickly loaded into the car, and before long, they were on their way to the Sato Mansion.
"So where's Hiroshi?" Jay asked. Hiroshi had always insisted to be called Hiroshi instead of Mr Sato, which seemed weird for Jay at first, though he eventually got used to it.
"Oh, you know, meeting up with old friends, spending their huge wealth at some hotel enjoying life fit for a king and the likes," Asami said as she fixed her hair in the mirror of the car. "That's why I decided to come home first, the life of a king doesn't really suit me."
"Please, your mansion is almost like a palace. I don't think that even the Fire Nation Palace or the Earth King's Palace has a telephone in every single room. And, for the last time, this mirror is a safety feature, for admiring yourself," Jay scolded as he twisted the mirror back to its original place, much to Asami's irritation.
"What's with you and your new found obsession for satomobile safety?" Asami poked at Jay.
"Gee, I don't know Asami. Maybe it's due to the fact that I almost got killed by you driving a satomobile?" Jay retorted jokingly.
"Sorry about that," Asami said in an embarrassed voice as she turned away to look out the window. It was late at night and the streets were relatively quiet. Jay, or rather Asami's car drove along the empty streets, past the police headquarters that had become so familiar to them, past the central station where Zuko's flame continued burning and soon to Sato mansion.
"That's the last of the trunks. Here's an idea, put wheels on them," Jay groaned as he pulled the last of Asami's trunks out of the car. He was wondering whether she had cramped her trunks full of rocks.
"Alright, that's the last of the trunks, good night Asami," Jay stretched his back after moving the last trunk up the steps and in the doors of Asami's mansion. Stifling a yawn, Jay was about to turn around and walk back to his car when Asami asked, "Why not you stay over here for the night?"
"Sleep here?" Jay asked, looking about the huge mansion. A part of him wondered if it was right to sleep in a girl's house, especially when her father wasn't around, and when said father is his boss. A part of him wanted to cook that nice piece of meat lying at home which he got from the market earlier that day. But eventually, his tiredness got the better of him and he nodded.
Asami led him to a small guest room, although it was well-equipped for the technology of the time. There was a radio, a telephone, and central heating. Jay sat down on his bed, looking around the room. He felt his eyelids grow heavier and heavier, and eventually lay down and was soon fast asleep.