The Conversion Initiative IC

[Finhawk]

So Dragomira had no idea where their third companion had disappeared to? Not that Finley had expected she would, there was no reason to believe she knew anything more than he did which was very little. Most likely, they wouldn't be able to find the other male if they did manage to escape the room and it was too risky trying to specifically search for one man on unknown territory. Finley wasn't going to risk his freedom or his life for a man he had briefly met while in captivity.

That matter aside, Dragomira seemed a bit... off. The agent took a better look at the female with confusion, irritation, curiosity and an ounce of concern. She didn't seem injured, physically anyway, but she seemed to be in some level of pain and in a state of exhaustion. Either she reacted to whatever the mad scientists did to them a bit differently than he did, assuming what they had done to her was similar to his experience, which he'd rather start thinking about again, but there was no telling whether that was truly the case or not. Or her condition was a result of something else.

"Are you... What... Is there- Gah! Hrnnn-nh... You okay?"

Finley didn't quite manage to separate what was relevant and what was not of the things that tried to force their way into his consciousness and out of his mouth. It took him few tries until he managed to vocalize what he meant to. It would take him a while to fully stuff his loud thoughts to the back of his head again but he was more or less used to doing it by now so it didn't interfere with his capability to function too much.

Nevertheless, Dragomira had a point, they needed to get out of there. Too bad Finley's head had no other input on the subject other than "Wreck the damn place and kill everyone on your way!". In all honesty, it sounded reasonable and desirable to Finley. Fancy plans were for wussies anyway.

"I don't... Ord- No! Uh... No, no ideas."

He didn't have ideas but he knew he needed to free himself yet again, that would be at least the start. Thankfully, unlike his head, his body seemed to be almost fully cooperative again and he managed to break himself free of the leather straps without the additional pain this time. Having learned his lesson from last time, Finley took it slower with getting on his feet this time. Only barely though and he almost fell flat on his face again but managed to catch himself before doing so.

A thought briefly entered Finley's head as he took few steps closer to where Dragomira was tied down, why would they choose to restrain him the same way as the first time when he already managed to escape those bonds once. Did the sick bastards want them to roam free so they could observe the effects of whatever insane things had been pumped into them and then just strike them down again to mess with them more. The thought was unsettling and discouraging to say the least, Finley didn't want to give the crazy people any satisfaction by playing along in their game but he'd never get out of there by doing nothing either, and to him, doing nothing was never an option.

As much as his head tried to distract him, the agent's first priority had to be Dragomira at that moment. Even though she didn't seem to be in a condition where she would be useful and the logical option was to leave her behind, he couldn't do it this time. Finley refused to add that to the list of decisions he wished to change afterwards.

"Alright... Let's get... Rid of. Theeesse."

Now standing beside Dragomira, he could see her more clearly as he fumbled with her restraints. She didn't look like she could break herself free and Finley hoped she was fast to recover or things would turn troublesome sooner or later.

 

[Hell Hound Woof]

Arthur listened to the woman. She was hard to place, speech patterns were a bit irregular. Some skipping of common sayings. She kept asking why it was them that had been picked. Arthur had a sneaking suspicion all were ex operatives of some kind. From how quickly she managed to escape her bonds, and since he knew he was an operative it seemed natural. The other guy was pretty built, perhaps the muscle of a Tac-Team. He didnt want to suggest SHIELD, it could end up with him getting killed, or whoever it was that had him wanting him dead, and if they ended up all being SHIELD they may be inclined to start sharing stories. Which could be the entire reason they were in this room together anyway. He looked down then decided it couldnt hurt.

"I'm willing to bet the two of you are Ex-SHIELD operatives, or analysts. Or something to do with the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division? Correct? And if so I'm willing to bet our captors put us in this room so that we might end up talking allot and just let loose some seemingly trivial bit of information that could lead to some of our friends getting killed. Sooooo, if you are SHIELD then dont discuss SHIELD things here. If not, then maybe I'm the only SHIELD Op in here and the two of you are just plants so I start talking about SHIELD."

Arthur was just trying to say allot in order to mess with anyone who might be listening in. If the two were SHIELD they would recognize the excessive use of SHIELD, or just in general allot of needless talking.

 

[Mr.Scales ⚖]

"Well i feel normal..." Ben replied as he casually sat back on the chair, his eyebrow curved in confusion and disbelief. But was also relaxed, he wasn't the type of guy to panic over getting isolated to a chair, he's been pushed out a plane into a river, shot three times and lost his family, a chair couldn't do shit to him. "So if they don't know anything about us and if we have 'abilities' then why aren't you put with metal cuffs, probably just a sexist thing" Ben made a hand gesture when he said abilities like he didn't believe them, well he didn't really think that the man had super speed. "Hey weirder things have happened, there was a talking duck...Let me repeat, A talking duck" Even though Ben meant the group therapy topic a joke, he still added onto the joke to keep it going.

Benjamin had to think about it when Tamara asked if he felt any different, he didn't feel anything different, at least that is what he was thinking. "No..At least that's what i think, i don't feel anything...Maybe feel a little bit more durable i guess...I don't really feel anything different" Ben sighed as he kept trying to think of what has changed him, from his body and knowledge he didn't feel anything different. Ben looked up when she asked why they chose them, wasn't that the question of the day...But there must be some reason why they chose all of us...At least he hoped.

Ben's ears peaked up when he heard the name SHIELD, he raised his head to find that he was also a SHIELD agent, that must be the reason why everyone's here, but it all depended if the girl known as Tamara was a SHIELD agent. "Yeah i was...Till all the shit hit the fan, we should of found this out earlier since that is why we are in on missions against Hydra all the time...But it all depends if you are, Tamara, a SHIELD agent?" He asked as his eyes set on the girl, wondering if she was also a shield agent.

 

[Midnight Maiden]

She glanced at her adversary again, blinking owlishly. It took her a minute to decipher what her ex-partner was saying, but then she got it and replied. "Yeah.. I'm okay..." she finally answered after a pause. Her words were slowed noticeably, as though she were speaking to a child, but in reality, this was because she was slow to piecing the words together in an understandable, short sentence. Her mind and mouth(err... The entirety of her body) didn't seem to be wanting to work together.

Upon noticing his expression, Mira glanced away, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. She needed to compose herself... She was quite disoriented, and her companion seemed annoyed by this. Which, in all honesty(even in this unclear state of mind), didn't really surprise her. He was easy to tick off, and it seemed to be her specialty, anyways. She tried to disregard this, though, telling herself he wasn't the reason she was doing this. She just needed to do it so she could actually help get them out of here.

After a few moments of silence following Finley's reply, Dragon sighed, resting her head back and closing her eyes to think. "Right.." she replied. "I'll try to.. Think of something... Then..." she uttered, absently. What could they do to get out of here, that wouldn't end like her last attempt...? 'Cause that turned out wondrously, she mused to herself, idly. One eye opened lazily, she glanced around, annoyed to find there was still nothing of use in sight. Great.

Just... Great.

Quickly, she caught sight of Finley working on standing up, admittedly impressed with how easily he'd broken his bonds compared to the first time around. He had seemed to have struggled with it, originally, but he broke free in a snap this time around. Granted, his bonds were leather, but that didn't make it any less impressive, assuming their bondings were based on strength levels.. Which, she had no idea if that were the case.

If she hadn't been impressed before, she certainly was, now. From what Dragomira could recall, Finley wasn't much of a team player. It was a bit of a surprise she wasn't just being left behind... But it was certainly a pleasant one. Though, she didn't comment on this; just patiently waited. And, of course, did her best with trying to help in getting the restraints off.. Even if her strained effort didn't contribute much. She kept silent for this, though, unsure what to say or if she could even say it.

Once again, an all-too-familiar presence could be felt behind Finley. "Great job, soldier," was all it said. Same as the last time, the voice sounded remarkably similar to that of Steven Rodgers... Odd.​

 

[Midnight Maiden]

The woman blinked owlish, looking between the two silently. Temporarily, she fell quiet, not saying a word. But then, she finally spoke up. "You both just broke protocol. We don't mention weapons or armor here," she stated, calmly. Simply. The two males she found herself in the company of here would easily be able to recognize she was referring not only to S.H.I.E.L.D, but the other agencies such as S.W.O.R.D, H.A.M.M.E.R, etc. This prior statement clearly showed the female was part of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Clearing her throat, Tamara moved back to the earlier subject, now looking at Ben again. Or, since her vision remained hazy and unclear, the two Bens. Frowning, she closed her eyes briefly, before opening them again and studying the man. The tactic had helped with her blurry vision, and she could now see much more clearly. "Hm."

She just rolled her eyes at the sexist comment, huffing slightly. "Yeah, I'm sure the assholes that kidnapped us wanted the lady to feel at home," she remarked, sarcasm dripping from her voice. "On a more serious note, it's likely the two of you have been enhanced further than I, or given more physical abilities. As I said, this situation leads me to believe that they want us to try to get out. This has to be some sort of test.. As such, I'm certain you two can get out with relative ease," she explained.

She only grinned at Ben's mention of Howard, shaking her head. "You got somethin' against Howard? 'N what about Cosmo? I think the telepathic space dog deserves more props." She tilted her head at this, biting her cheek. "Hm.. Intriguing." Personally, the girl felt quite a bit stronger, but she didn't know whether this was from the drugs or whatever experiments had been performed.

Another eye-roll was earned at the question of whether or not she was with S.H.I.E.L.D. "Oh, come on you two... Grab your pipes and put on your detective hats! I do believe it's quite obvious. An analytic escape artist that has a way with words and is physically attractive? What do ya think?"

@Justice_20 @HellHoundWoof

​

 

[Finhawk]

He couldn't free her. He just couldn't. Damn it. He wasn't strong enough and Dragomira was still rather out of it and wasn't much of a help. Frowning, Finley let out a low growl as he gave it one last try before giving up completely. However, he suddenly halted all his efforts and went stiffer than a wooden pole when he heard the familiar voice again, "Great job, soldier."

After few seconds of complete silence from the former S.H.I.E.L.D agent, the man just snapped like those countless necks he had broken over the years. With his face twisted in complete rage, Finley whipped around, half expecting to come face to face with the owner of that infuriating voice but only meeting thin air. However, the lack of a face to shout at didn't stop Finley from doing just that, "Shut up! Shut! Up! För helvete!"* Sucking in a few mouthfuls of air, the young man balled his hands into fists as he desperately searched for something to glare at in the empty room. He gritted his teeth together before pretty much hissing at nothing, "I'm not-" Finley stopped himself before he got to finish his sentence but it didn't prevent his traitorous head from doing that for him, I'm not the bad guy.

He didn't need to be praised for trying to help his fellow captive. The bad guys got the pat in the back and the 'good job' when they actually did something that was viewed 'morally right' and he wasn't one of them. He didn't need to be treated like a kid that had just learned to go to the potty all by themselves, he didn't need to be reminded what was right. He almost believed it until that nagging voice in the back of his head planted doubts into his skull again, Are you sure?

"Okay, that'ssss it! I'm friggin' done!" To emphasis his most recent decision, Finley threw his hands into the air in frustration before simply laying flat on his back on the floor like a kid having a temper tantrum. He wouldn't move for anything anymore, the freaks could do whatever they damn well pleased to him, he wasn't moving a single muscle. It just wasn't worth the effort, their first attempt of freeing themselves failed horribly and things had just gotten worse. Brute force had gotten them nowhere and Finley sucked when it came to any other kind of plans. He couldn't think of anything else than simply busting that door down and forcing his way outside. Yeah, that had gone so terribly well the last time.

However, Finley couldn't stay still for too long and after twitching on the floor for a while, the man pushed himself onto a sitting position and looked over at Dragomira. He simply stared at her with a frown as he tried to think of something, anything, to improve their shitty situation. For a while, nothing came to his overheating brain but then a realization struck him like a energizer bunny on drugs and the man more or less jumped to his feet. Those metal cuffs weren't exactly the same as the leather ones, they couldn't just be strapped on, they had to work on electricity or something, right?

Walking over to the chair, Finley rounded to the back of it and crouched down to search for anything useful and found a small panel that seemed to be shut rather efficiently. The man grinned as he got to work. Challenge accepted. After a while of fruitless fumbling, few broken fingernails, some small cuts and a litany of colorful swears, Finley actually managed to wrench the thing open to reveal random wires zigzagging inside the chair. Perfect. Tugging some of the wires looser none too gently, Finley broke few of them after some struggles and decided to see what would happen if he randomly linked mismatched wires back together. Honestly, he had no idea what he was doing but surely playing with potentially dangerous wires was better than just sitting on his ass doing nothing.

Or so he thought. He had to take that back to consideration when a jolt of electricity traveled up his arm and spread through his body in a blink of an eye. Letting out a small cry of surprise and pain laced together, Finley snatched his arm away from the wires as he fell backwards on his ass. The man had support himself with his left arm while he pressed his right hand on his chest, over his racing heart, as if that would get rid of the spikes of pain and make it easier to breathe again. "Ssssshhhiiiiiiiiit..." Finley moaned briefly as the buzzing in his ears started fading and he blinked the starts dancing around in his vision away. He didn't have time to sit around though. So once his breathing was under his control once again, Finley scooted closer to the chair again and resumed his possibly futile fumbling with the wires with his now shaking hands. He was visibly more careful than the first time around.

It didn't take long before Finley heard the faint scraping of metal as the cuff holding Dragomira's left hand down tried to retreat back inside the chair but stopped half the way there due to the denting attempts to free her by force had created. Though that didn't matter much as it was still enough for the female agent to get his hand free. Upon realizing his partial success, Finley's face lit up like a kid's on a Christmas morning despite the spikes of pain still lingering in his partly numb muscles, "Ah-hah! Yes! I'm a damn genius!" A genius who almost just shocked himself to death but a genius nonetheless. The small victory was enough to restore any doubts the man had had about his glorious plan and he got back to playing with the wires like they were the new shiny toy he had just ripped out of colorful wrapping paper on that same Christmas morning. He could free Dragomira. It was just a matter of time now.

---

{*"För helvete!" - Literally "For hell!". I guess "Dammit!" is the most common translation. Though, it doesn't matter much now, does it? All you need to know is that he's just swearing again. :p}