[57: Code G]
Midoriya, on the side, didn't know what to say at all. This was nothing compared to what he experienced in his first meeting with Sir Nighteye. He had to fight and was only accepted because Sir Nighteye wanted to prove a point against him. And now, Eleanor called out the entire investigation into Shie Hassaikai and Overhaul, and also provided a boost to their efforts before she even signed with Sir Nighteye's agency. And she was right. There were barely any pleasantries.
"We have to collect hard evidence; we don't have any. We're coming up with a case right now. We do know that Shie Hassaikai has been in contact with the League of Villains, but from what we could tell, nothing ever came of it, and we assume whatever talks they were holding have completely broken down." Sir Nighteye said in response to Eleanor's inquiry about the investigation. Since she already knew this much, who knows what else she knew.
"You're looking for hard evidence? What kind?" Eleanor asked. Why was she so aggressive and angry? Well, the evidence she saw from her drones lit a fuse in her that would go off soon…with a devastating bang. But it was delayed, hoping that at least she could influence Sir Nighteye and the other agencies to do something.
"Drug manufacturing, trafficking, abuse, murder, or anything really. What we have gathered is mostly based on assumptions, but we need more hard evidence."
"Hard evidence. And what are these assumptions so far?" Eleanor asked.
"Midoriya and Mirio went on a patrol and encountered Overhaul along with a little girl. Her name was Eri. From what Midoriya and Mirio said, she was scared and didn't want to return, and she had bandages on her arms."
"And the obvious idea was to rescue her and get her away immediately, right?"
"That would mean compromising the investigation. We'll save more people if we wait until we have a proper plan. Mirio and Midoriya wanted to rescue her, but they had a difference of ideas of how it should be done."
"So…because of arguments, a little girl had to return to her abuser. A group of good people came together and yet, there was a tragic outcome. I see. And…how long has it been since this encounter with Eri?"
"A few days."
Eleanor was quiet for a moment, processing this information. "...I see. Interesting. So…if you got the hard evidence you needed, I assume we'd all launch a raid and hostage rescue operation as soon as possible to rescue Eri and take down Shie Hassaikai?"
"We'd certainly get it done as soon as possible, but it'll take time to plan, and that could take a few days even if we went fast. And there is the issue of coordination that would be required between all of us."
Eleanor nodded a little bit. She had to hold back a sigh. Again. "Okay…so, I can show you something, but I don't want any questions asked or concerns about how I got it, alright?"
"Depending on what it is, I think I will have to ask questions. I'm already willing to let things go with these pictures, but I can't do the same for other things."
"Okay, then it's better not to. I don't want to jeopardize this work-study less than an hour after signing it."
"Can it help us, though?"
"Yes, but if you're going to be more concerned about how I got the things I'm talking about, rather than taking it for what it is, then I'm not going to show them."
"Hmm…alright, then."
Eleanor finally felt that she could continue away from the tense question of where she got the pictures. "Alright, so how does this work?"
"We'll need your help to gather evidence. And if this is anything to go by…" Sir Nighteye pointed to the pictures on his desk "...I believe this will be no problem."
"Alright, sounds good. Is there a time limit I have?"
"Yeah. We're going to have a large meeting in a few days."
"A few days?" Eleanor was quiet again for a moment. A few days. She almost had to laugh at the thought. A few days? Knowing that Eri was in the hands of Overhaul? And quite literally in a very tragic and brutal sense. "Look with all due respect, Sir Nighteye, are you really okay with letting all these days pass? You do know that every single day that passes means that Eri suffers immensely? Every day that passes is more trauma? More psychological damage? More scars that'll potentially never heal again?"
"I know, but we can't just go in without a plan."
"Okay, well, those pictures there provide you a massive help with making a plan. Instead of going in mostly blind, you're going in with clear eyes. As for hard evidence, I'll take care of it myself."
"And how will you do that?"
"Listen, are we going to go back and forth like this, or can I get to work? The more time we waste, the more time Eri goes through a literal hell for a child."
"You'll need someone to—"
Eleanor interrupted him. "I'll have Midoriya. No one else."
"Midoriya is too inexperienced for trying to get hard evidence. This is more dangerous than a standard stakeout. Gathering hard evidence requires stealth, and do you think Midoriya's quirk is suited for stealth—"
Eleanor interrupted him again. "And do you think anyone else is? All you've done is standard intelligence gathering. Money trails, connections to middlemen and other groups, different locations of compounds, property locations, and all that stuff. Yes, it's intelligence gathering and the dots can connect, but it's still circumstantial and speculative. Look, I don't even have to leave this building to gather hard evidence. Just give me a room with a computer, and I'll gather what you need."
Sir Nighteye was quiet for a moment as he looked at Eleanor. "You're hard to work with."
"I'm hard to work with because I want to save a child from hell? Interesting. I'll keep that in mind. Listen, I'm just going to get started." Eleanor got up and started to head out of the room. The door strained a bit from the force she was still trying to hold back. The only ones left were Midoriya and Sir Nighteye.
/\\//\\//\
In truth, Eleanor wasn't going to do anything. Well, not in terms of gathering hard evidence. Why? She'd already gotten it. She wanted to present it to Sir Nighteye on the spot, but knowing that she would probably get in trouble for it for "not doing it properly" made her decide against it. So, she's going to pretend to gather the evidence. And a bit of mass surveillance probably wouldn't pass the ethical concerns either. Not that it was a problem for her. She was going to use this time to make her own plan. Her fuse was already lit, and after this meeting with Sir Nighteye, it only sped up in frustration.
'3…no, 2 days after presenting evidence. No more than that. If they won't do anything else…' Eleanor's thoughts paused for a second. She had to really think it through. There wasn't any going back. There was no explaining it away with plausible deniability. This was a permanent choice.
/\\//\\/\/
(1 day later)
Eleanor went into Sir Nighteye's office, folder and tablet in hand. She didn't bother knocking. "Sir Nightye, I have what you need."
Sir Nighteye looked up from his desk. "Eleanor, would you please knock? A certain amount of decorum is expected for heroes when working together." Sir Nighteye tried to reprimand her. This was certainly quite the troublesome character to deal with.
Eleanor sat down at his desk. "Yeah, well, circumstances don't allow for such a thing. For me personally, at least." Eleanor placed the folder on his desk, doing the same thing she did with the pictures. "There. That's your evidence."
Sir Nighteye looked through the pictures. This is what he needed. But was also spiraling about how Eleanor could've possibly gathered such photos. Photos of trafficking, drugs being prepared for transfer, photos of members of Shie Hassaikai committing murder, signs of human and unethical experimentation, conspiracy, drug manufacturing, racketeering, and more.
"Eleanor—" Sir Nighteye was interrupted by Eleanor holding up a finger.
"No, no, there's still more. A lot more." Eleanor turned on her tablet, pulling up the video evidence. "Sir Nighteye, I'm going to be completely honest and straight to the point. If what you're about to see from this video doesn't spur any kind of action within two days, no more, no less, I'm going to be immensely disappointed and lose all respect for you, this agency, and any heroes involved in this investigation. I will end this work-study and terminate whatever contract we signed; I don't care how it'll look for me. I'm just making myself clear. Now, this…" Eleanor's hands tightened. "...this is something I…I have to strongly caution you against. Be prepared for what you're about to see."
Eleanor turned the tablet over and pressed play.
The sounds…the sounds made Eleanor almost lose it.