Friction (Matsui Nishi)

Friction is an actual grad-student computer scientist at Shimizu University, in the doctoral program in Synthetic Computing ("we can't say AI, but AI"). Her advisor is Alayna Hohstadt ("Nixietube"). Met Chance there last year when Chance was doing espionage-by-graduate-degree in The Land School.

She's definitely abandoned her plans for a career in corporate AI design: it's fascinating, but she wants to make the world a better place, and sees her calling as helping people overcome injustice and making the world more beautiful through fashion. Nixietube is trying to talk her into academia, for a steady day job.

Doesn’t care much about politics (though Chance is steadily radicalizing her), but really believes in truth, beauty, and justice. She’d make a lovely and well-adjusted member of a Federation core world. Here, she’s determined to liberate everyone, not get her personal ticket out.

She's a major source of clients for the 4I, since she knows and talks to everybody. Close friends with Night and Chance, and they go dancing togehter frequently (not that Chance can dance).

Lives in student housing on the Shimizu U. campus, rents a nearby storage unit for her wardrobe and basic fashion tech: nail gel printer, light tattoo modifier, etc.

In no small part from Starscream's influence, she's been moving from occasional fashion modeling into design, with friends at the Kaneko Institute of Fashion and Design doing the actual construction for her.

She's been spending a lot of time with the team lately, on PR and various design projects. Nixietube will likely be having words with her soon.

Parents and two elder brothers killed in a corporate hit when she was six, grew up in a foster co-op in Koto City. Mother was a geneticist for Wholesome Nature, Inc. , father was a data analyst for the company.

Kaori Nishi’s file was closed out with a termination order 20 years ago, along with the rest of her team, “Terrestrial Predator Adaptation to Indigenous Pest Control.” No project files remain, and there’s a lot of redaction in Kaori’s file. Juro Nishi’s file was closed with a code for “collateral damage” and a cross-reference to Kaori’s.