ENTER: A freakishly TALL MAN in a cheap suit, standing in the midst of a bustling office. His skin is paper-white, and his head a vaguely oval-shaped spheroid with no visible openings or hair. The staff give him a wide berth, as do the petitioners scattered throughout the waiting area.

BOOTH 4: 7010!

The TALL MAN takes no more than three long steps to clear the waiting area. Carefully, he folds himself into a chair and regards BOOTH 4 impassively. The woman in BOOTH 4 clears her throat nervously. The faceless ones, she's found, are the hardest to manage, primarily because they don't have any facial cues whatsoever.

BOOTH 4: Tall Man?

The TALL MAN's "hero name", such as it is, was assigned to him in his role as an employee of the federal government of the United States. The TALL MAN has no opinion on whether it is good or bad. Nevertheless, he nods and slides a sheet of notebook paper across the table. The woman in BOOTH 4 peers at it. His Japanese is passable, although his handwriting is more than a little untidy.

TALL MAN: I HAVE AN INTERN
BOOTH 4: Yes, you have an intern.

She taps at her workstation for a few seconds and nods to herself, then regards the TALL MAN with an air of finality. The TALL MAN shakes his head and underlines the words on the notebook paper again, more insistently, then thinks better of it. He pulls out a battered notebook and tears out another scrap of paper, then scribbles something on it with a graphite pencil.

TALL MAN: WHY DO I HAVE AN INTERN
BOOTH 4: It's under the terms and conditions of the J-Hero visa scheme, Tall-Man-san. While you are exercising your employment within the borders of Japan, you may be called upon, from time to time, to serve as the mentor for a student at one of our hero academies.
TALL MAN: I WAS TOLD I WOULD NOT BE ASSIGNED AN INTERN
BOOTH 4: Oh, no, Tall-Man-san. He requested you specifically.

The TALL MAN goes still. This is not to say that he was particularly expressive before, but even the barely-discernible tremors that mark him out as a conscious being seem to ground to a halt.

BOOTH 4: As an employee of a foreign government, you are under a carve-out, which empowers the American ambassador to approve any internship requests. If you would like to reject the assignment, the proper procedure would be to contact the Embassy through the Osaka consulate.

The TALL MAN nods, it seems, manually.

BOOTH 4: Nut Knight is expected at your place of work next Monday.

The TALL MAN nods again.

BOOTH 4: Would you like his email?

The TALL MAN nods.