Michelle cleared her throat to get everyone’s attention again. “Ok, so now that that’s out of the way, we plan for the squad games, at least… the overview, so Allison has some idea of what’s going on”.
“For once, I actually am feeling some love here…” Allison muttered.
“You damn well better…” Michelle muttered back with a grin. Raising her voice back to its normal level, she continued. “Ok, the safest event for us is the cyber security event. Mark will be representing us for those. I will assist him. Emilia, you stay out of it, actually, I don’t even want you to be on site for that. I have no idea what will happen and am not taking any chances on your weaponry going berserk” Michelle ordered.
“Couldn’t I just show up and not have one of the basic variants of my equipment”? Emilia suggested.
“No. Enough dumb shit has been going on recently. Keep yourself armed, no pun intended. Also, have Mark resupply you with nanobots. I’m pretty sure you have going without them for like a few days already. Though not exactly essential for your interaction with the equipment, they do still help”.
“True, I was actually planning on doing that today”.
“Good. I’ll come along with you. There’s some things I want to discuss. Bring Allison and Jesse along too cuz… reasons. Just a brief rundown of everything, Jessica, David, Javon, the 3 of you are going to be taking part in infiltration and sabotage.
Jessica, David, Allison, and Emilia will be taking part in objective capture as well as close quarters combat.
Jesse, you can handle the demolition event with just Javon, right?”
Jesse nodded to Michelle’s question, and followed up “well, shouldn’t be too rough. Extra help would be appreciated though. I just need some light artillery”.
Emilia nodded “Fine, I’ll help. It’ll go faster that way anyways”.
Michelle turned to Allison and pointed “I want you on that event too. Just a feeling I have. I’ll give you the details on what to do later…”
Allison gulped, “aren’t we spreading the team a bit thin, taking part in so many events”?
Michelle sighed “yeah actually, but we are one of the smaller teams overall. We are however, the most diverse team with a standard roster. Team gamma doesn’t actually exist during this event, since it’s made up of people from everywhere. Our strength is in the diversity, the weakness is the team size and how well we actually work together”.
“Oh” Allison muttered, getting the answer she was after.
“Alright, aside from the main event, all that’s left is the evacuation event. Allison, you are required for that. As for who else will be participating, it’ll be determined by everyone else’s conditions. Mark will be supporting you for this event. Actually, Mark and Aaron will be supporting for every event. Should we happen to make it into the final event, the entire team will be involved. We’ll worry about trying not to kill each other if we get that far”.
You’re all dismissed”. Michelle headed to Mark’s lab with those words. Mark, as well as the other requested people, followed.
They entered Mark’s lab and Mark began some preparations while Allison stared blankly “What’s going on again”? she questioned.
Emilia replied as she casually removed her arms and took a seat on what appeared to be a padded table. “Well, I’m here to get the nanomachines changed since a couple of rounds of EMPs left them completely non-functional. I’ll also have to get these parts replaced since I’m no longer jailed. I can have my guns again”!
“Does it hurt whenever you switch parts or anything” Allison questioned.
“Nah, not at all, though it probably would hurt if they were torn off forcefully. In any case, I’ll probably take a nap of the hour or so it should take to completely switch the nanobots, but before I pass out, I’ll listen to what Michelle has to say I suppose” Emilia grinned.
“Oh, right. So, about the squad games. We have a basic plan, and that’s all fine and dandy, but what I’m concerned about is actually everything outside of that. I was wondering if we could turn some of Jesse’s items into usable non-lethal and/or tactical ammo”. Michelle glanced over at Mark and Jesse, then at Emilia “Preferably something that Emilia can shoot as well.
Mark nodded “So, you basically want tactical ammo, that won’t kill people outright? Sounds doable, but I’d need to analyze Jesse’s weaponry and such. It’s something he doesn’t seem to like to share, so it’s up to him”.
“I’ll be back in a bit, I’m going to get the rest of them. Since we’re supposed to be moving with the buddy system, I’ll be pairing up with Michelle” Jesse said with a grin.
“Ha! As if! Take Allison. Report in at the first sign of trouble, got it?” Michelle swiftly shot down Jesse’s suggestion and issued her own orders.
“Fine, let’s go” Jesse groaned as he exited the lab with Allison in tow.
The pair walked silently for several minutes before Allison finally broke the silence.
“You are an interesting, and weird person. One minute you’re crazy and happy-go-lucky, the next you’re all dark and mysterious, and …often scary.”
Jesse glanced back over his shoulder. “Well, that’s a wide range of faces for a person isn’t it, or would it just be accurate to say that it’s human nature”?
“Holy shit, that was unexpectedly deep…” Allison gasped.
“That’s what she said” Jesse snickered.
“…And that right there is why I can’t figure you out. I think I just about have everyone else figured out at least at a basic level. Arron is just an ass, Michelle is kinda bossy, mean, and yet, sweet. Emilia is generally happy and energetic, rather helpful. Mark is nice and calm. Javon… well, I don’t quite have him and Jessica figured out yet. David either, but I don’t see much of them anyways. Aside from that, I spend a disgustingly large amount of time with you, and don’t know much of anything about you aside from the fact that you are apparently quite dangerous. Why are you said to be so disastrous”?
Jesse sighed. “Did you ever stop and think that there are some puzzles that aren’t meant to be solved? I warned you before, it’s best not to pry…”
“I get that, but I thought I should at least know something about you… since we’re on the same team and in this absurd situation together. I’m not trying to pry, I just want to be able to somewhat figure out what to expect…that’s all” Allison answered.
“Expecting anything out of this team is your first mistake. We have the best performance for a mission ever to be recorded, we also hold 3rd and 6th as well. We hold the 4 worst mission performances in the history of the agency as well. The one where we picked you up was one of them. Honestly, we should’ve executed you” Jesse replied with a cold tone of voice.
“I’m… sorry… I guess? So, why didn’t you… ya know…? What went so wrong, aside from the being captured thing”?
“We don’t exactly follow the rules. I wasn’t supposed to be at that front gate, and it felt wrong having to kill someone else because I decided to do my own thing. I just canceled one rule with another. Agency policy states that you shoulda been killed cuz you ‘knew too much, saw too much’. The whole reason you even knew we existed was cuz of me being a dumbass. I’m not killing a cute girl cuz of my own dumbassery”.
Allison blushed “thanks… for not killing me… and saying I’m cute...”
“That wouldn’t be the first time I’ve said something like that ya know. I said that the night we met too, as I unlocked the cell door”.
“Oh yeah! How the fuck did you do that? I still don’t quite understand”.
“I’ll show you later today most likely. I have to take a few things to the firing range. You’re welcome to tag along I suppose. So, we’re at my room/lab. Watch your step”. Jesse warned as he opened the door to his room. The room was littered with boxes and marble sized objects of varying colors. The bed was unmade and covered with clothes. There was no natural light as there were no windows in his room. The overall impression Allison got was that it was a dark and lonely place as she involuntarily let out a quiet gasp.
“I cant say I’m surprised by that reaction. I was working on some stuff and it just became a mess. I haven’t bothered to clean it up yet. I wasn’t expecting visitors either”.
“You could’ve asked me to wait outside”
“I’m not a fan of leaving a woman waiting either. Besides, you said you wanted to know more about me. That’s open-ended as fuck, so I figured letting you see my room would count towards that. You can form your own opinion instead of me telling you things I think I want you to hear”.
“You… are full of surprises…” Allison stood in astonishment. She added “… and don’t you dare say ‘that’s what she said’”.
“But what if I’m not lying”?
Allison facepalmed at the questioning retort. “I get the feeling people either love you, or hate you. I’m not sensing an in between with you”.
“You’re absolutely right. And in this agency, it’s even more extreme. I’ll tell you this much before you have the chance to question it. There are some who love me and would die for me, and those that feel indebted to me for… reasons. If you ask, I’ll shoot you. I’ll either explain when I’m ready, if that ever happens, or you’ll figure it out on your own. On the other side of the coin, I am blamed and hated, an object of scorn, seen as a stain upon human existence”.
“I kinda got the feeling you were an important person around here, in one way or another. I haven’t figured it out yet, and even if I do, I’m not going to ask… I’ll just write a letter and drop it at your door or something. In any case, I’ll be good and far as fuck from you at the time”.
Jesse chuckled “That works”. He’d finished gathering a few handfuls of items and placed them into a backpack. He loaded a gym bag with more items and the pair were off to Mark’s lab again.
On the way back Allison asked what she thought was a safe question. “I heard you were on team Omega, which is where Conrad was from. I also hear that one of the requirements for being on this team was usually being bad at one thing or another, but being insanely good at what you were in the agency for. What exactly does team Omega do”?
Jesse sighed again and changed direction away from Mark’s lab, heading instead towards the firing range. He activated the comm-link “Bubba, she asked what team Omega does. You know what to do”.
