Girls' Night In [Abalia, Makoto, Elyss]

"I had considered that, yes. It may well be attached to something, if not moving of its own accord. To your question, Elyss, it does seem to be moving overland rather than by any sort of teleportation. If you look here..."

Drawing a few lines over the map once more, Abalia demonstrated a handful of trails that moved to or from those points. It wasn't much, and they tended to quite quickly become lost in the trails of her own legitimate travel on Earth, but there was at least something to follow.

"It does seem that this is traveling by entirely mundane means, rather than any sort of supernatural transportation. You can see that the paths of its signature match mundane sea and flight paths, rather than moving in direct lines from one place to another. Unfortunately, any further destinations from those two locations are wholly muddled."

"If that is the case then we should avoid you being on Earth while we conduct our operation. It would be unfortunate if you were to create any more interference, even if unintentionally."

Makoto didn't really know what to make of it. It did boil down to the most likely cause being that Abalia's soul fragment was in fact still in a sentient form and travelling hence why it followed actual transport routes, or it was in possession of someone. The latter had complications, the former also did but she doubted it would be an issue to take it given Abalia's own powerlevel.

"How problematic."

There was also the matter of what if it had gained sentience and didn't want to assimilate back into Abalia? Makoto's red eyes settled on Abalia while pondering how the captain commander would react with part of herself not wanting to rejoin.

"I do agree, yes. It should be no issue to send my Vice Captain or another emissary on my behalf in the event that something does require my intervention. I will remain in Soul Society until this search is completed."

Tapping her pen against the map idly for a moment or two, Abalia thought about the situation on their end. While neither location was particularly ideal, given the situations in both, she supposed that one did at the very least provide a handful more benefits over the other.

"My recommendation would be Iceland. It is a relatively isolated area, and more pressingly, there is significant Lux Orior interest in the island's history. If this piece of myself has been present recently, any Lux Orior operatives there would likely have some intelligence on this matter. I will send along a memo requesting the appropriate data for when you arrive, though given the difficulties of interorganizational bureaucracy, I cannot promise it will be ready."

That did seem to actually draw some manner of annoyance from Abalia, which was almost out of place for a woman like her. However, everything operating smoothly and efficiently was one of her greatest ideals. The idea of being held up by red tape was something she did not relish.

Makoto stared at the map and took Abalia's words into consideration, these two places did look like they were places of recent conflicts. Iceland six years ago was quite a big thing when she was still in the academy. On the other hand, Florida and the America conflict was recent. Her red eyes stared at the map, then again there had been two conflicts in America. One many years ago and predating Iceland. It still stuck out to her.

"Ma'am, are you sure about Iceland? America had a recent conflict, if this part of your soul is going to different warzones wouldn't it make sense to go to the most recent one? I suppose, Iceland would make more sense if it is trying to hide. I feel though that it can't be a coincidence the two points you can detect are both conflict zones though and your soul surely could not be trying to hide if there isn't anyone hunting for it until now?"

She waited for her response, tapping her finger on Florida as she thought. If she was trying to hide, she'd personally go to Iceland but if she wasn't? Why would it be Iceland?

"If you believe that Florida is a more useful beginning point, then you are most decidedly free to begin there. Even if this is a piece of myself, and I will of course do whatever I may to assist you both in this search, you should still pursue this in the manner you believe best. I have put my faith in you."

It was indeed very possible that this other piece of Abalia had been taken in by some demon or Hollow, a possibility she had very much considered. If that was the case, however, it only presented another factor into this search.

"Recency may prove useful. Elyss is correct, in that this may well be alongside a Hollow or a demon, if not having changed in its own right. If that is the case, it is wholly possible that it may feasibly find its way to Heuco Mundo or Demon World if left for too long."

There was something strangely unsettling about the idea of Abalia's fragment being something like a demon or a hollow. It could be inflicting harm on others, Makoto didn't care about the fact it might be hurting people. It was just the idea of part of Abalia doing it which made it a weird thing to consider in her mind.

"We should go im- As soon as possible then."

She got a little sheepish at how quick she had said it. Abalia would probably get mad if she implied they should leave immediately. Makoto just sat there thinking, she was also still on medical leave. It probably was a bit much to get ahead of herself.

"I am sure we can make it work. I'm sure whoever else who comes aboard will be just as helpful."

"Then I will formally assign you both to this task force when Makoto's medical leave is completed. It would be rather poor form of me as a leader to shorten such a leave for the sake of a potentially dangerous assignment, yes?"

The mention of a team name didn't actually strike Abalia as a poor idea. It would do well as a manner of team building, she supposed.

"For official purposes, you will be denoted in paperwork as the First Division's Special Squad 17. Any personalized naming conventions are left in your hands, as the squad members."

She did not consider it pressing information to disclose the nature of the other 16 special squads. Standing, Abalia gathered her paperwork and filed it all neatly into the appropriate folders. The most pressing matters, she supposed, had been attended to.

"Come, we should have dinner. We can continue this discourse over a meal, and a visit to the estate onsen afterward. I suspect we still have finer points to consider, and there is benefit to holding conversation in varied circumstances."