Boxed In, Head Out
Collab ft Box Copter, Interrogator, & Ryan Dufont (@RedWillow & @Brovo)
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As Box Copter stumbles through the room, a single, bright light appears, hanging a few feet above it. The chair is bathed in light, and through a hidden intercom system in the room, she could hear the telltale sign of a microphone coming to life. There, a thick, foreign, male accent comes through. It is however much unlike Morai's accent, having much more of an Eastern European tinge to it. “Go on. Sit on the chair, and we will begin.”
As she hears the voice but can't see anyone, Box realizes what kind of situation she was in. Her hand reaches for the back of the chair and she pulls it diligently to remove it from directly under the spot light, making as little noise as possible. The woman felt exhausted, and she hadn't quite processed everything that had happened about the mission.
"Sir," Box acknowledges the foreign man.
You're a soldier, act like one! You're not a civilian. Keep your cool, keep your cool...
Tentatively, she concentrates her hearing, wondering if she can hear other people directly in the same room or through the microphone system. The effort makes her stumble a little as she sits. Box takes a deep breath and joins her hands on her lap, crunching her own fingers to keep focused and to avoid bringing attention to what she was trying to do.
"T'was quite a mission, sir. Sorry to hear less than half our forces made it back. But we're strong and we'll make it through, sir." The woman nods to her own words, tempting a smile at the darkness staring back at her.
She does hear a couple unintelligible whispers in the background of the microphone as it cuts off, but otherwise, little else. A minute passes, and she hears approaching footsteps, followed up with the door she entered opening suddenly. A figure steps through, and slams the door shut behind himself. A spotlight on the wall lights up, illuminating him. The spotlight follows him wherever he goes. He taps his ear and whispers into it, but thanks to her powers, she can hear it.
"Track her." The spotlight she attempted to scoot away from turns and begins to follow her and her chair, wherever they go. It was clear from the echoing of his footsteps on the concrete floor that there was nothing else in the room except for them, and her chair.
The man was wearing a metallic but light looking armour, all black. At his waist was a sidearm, and he wore an ear piece--a specialized communicator, so that he could likely modify his questions on the fly at the behest of his employers. His white skin contrasted with his short black hair. There were hints of grey coming in at the roots, as he looked down at Box. As he speaks, it was clear he was the same man as was on the intercom earlier. He begins to circle her.
"Answer the questions asked and you will be free to go. You are being monitored and recorded, if you are suspected of lying, the question will be repeated. Avoidance of questions will be taken as an open invitation to use enhanced questioning techniques which may cause significant pain in you both now, and in the distant future." He looks her over, and narrows her eyes. She could tell from the look in his eyes that he recognized her.
Without stopping to see if she understood, he continues.
"Here are the questions. Who are they? Why did you not open fire at targets you knew killed your allies? What do you think of Carolyn's disobeying of orders? What is your prior relationship with The Coalition? Do you suspect any of your allies of treachery? If so, name them." He momentarily pauses in his circling of her as he gets behind her. He whispers to her.
"I lament the things done to your sibling. Let me stop it from happening to you by complying with the State." He then continues to circle her.
FUCK!
Breathe, breathe, breathe. Don't let your temper get the best of this. Fuuuuck!
Box squeezes her fingers until her knuckles are white. She was resisting with all her might from punching the man from TC. He knew about Colt.. how... how?! She had not seen or heard about him for over 10 years now, she didn't want to think about it. Sweat pearls on her forehead, instantly absorbed by her beanie hat. She could not go in tunnel vision right now, and it takes almost all her concentration to keep a straight, relaxed face.
"I see. I'll answer your questions, don't worry!" Box shifts on her chair ever so slightly, taking a deep breath. Like a habit of nature, Jane's teachings about deception in times of high stress come back to her. After another long breath, the woman relaxes in her chair, trying to show whomever was watching, that this interview was not freaking her out. People who tell the truth are not nervous, right?
"This happened very suddenly, so I think a lot of things got out of hand because the well-being of the squad members was more important than the certain death ahead of us." Box clears her throat and rubs her face, pretending to be weary of this whole ordeal.
"Carolyn did the best she could, sir. We had sudden communications that the first squad had been completely wiped out. If that had been true, we were the remaining ones -- the only force left. I strongly believe Carolyn did the right call, it was the most strategic thing to do at that moment."
"I think... No, I know, sir -- we have a mole in our squad. Someone... someone gave our radio coordinates to the raiders, and we could confirm that they knew what we were doing all along. If you ask me, it's that crazy bitch, Convict, who ratted us out. Some of us... turned and left once Carolyn gave the order to retreat. It looked cowardly, but..." Box shakes her head and smiles a little,
"But we saved everyone's lives, sir. We caught some of Bosho's gang, and they had set up explosives behind us. We were trapped like animals, and thanks to us we took some of them down and avoided the total wipeout of the squad."
"Now... This thing, we saw? I didn't know what it was. There weren't any order to open fire, the enemy didn't shoot first. It sounded like a peaceful communication, though it ended with a threat. I can confirm you, sir, that this is a whole new shit ground. We overheard some of Bosho's perps talkin', and they were freaked out like everyone else. I heard Bosho's dead, got himself snapped in pieces by this new weirdo. But there's no proof of what I'm sayin', is there?" Box chuckles to herself and stretches her legs out.
"You know who I am, sir. If you know about Colt Copter... About Weapon K Test Subject 15-08, then you know The Coalition spent many years reforming me and other raider bastard kids so we were productive members of the Bunker. T'was 16 years ago that I joined TC, and then I went off to be a citizen of Bunker all on my own."
Box feels cold after she gives those answers. She doesn't mention Morai, because if anyone could be suspicious in this whole gang, that was him. He was a drug addict, a foreigner, and she doesn't know where his loyalties lie. All she knows about him, is that he helped save everyone back there, and Convict was nowhere to be found, so she was gonna have to be the fishy one. As for Peter, she really hopes the little mutant shit doesn't spill the beans either.
As Box states the name of her brother, the man rips the ear piece out and grips it tightly in a balled up fist, preventing whoever was on the other side from hearing the details. He pulls out his side arm and, in a single, practiced, rapid movement, fires at her.
Though her ears ring a little from the sound of the loud blast, she would find a hole about the size of a small fist in the chair, just beside her head. The sidearm had a deceptively powerful cartridge of some type, perhaps explosive in nature. Whatever it was, it was most definitely above and beyond what most possessed. He lowers his sidearm.
"Monitored and recorded. Don't be stupid. Some things never happen, and never go on records. Your brother had an unfortunate accident, and his body was not recovered. That was the official story. Stick to it, or you will never learn what happened to him." His tone almost sounded sympathetic in spite of the cold look in his eyes. He puts the ear piece back in, and taps it.
"It's fine, don't send anyone in here. The woman spat at me, so I gave her a warning. Continue with the session."
Smoke still came from the end of the pistol barrel as he puts it back in its holster, then continues.
"Why did you not open fire at targets you knew killed your allies? What previous relationship do you have with The Coalition... Don't test my patience again."
Box's eyes water from the pain the shot had caused to her ears; it had been exceptionally loud, especially in this closed room. She stares straight ahead, a single tear drop rolling down her cheek. The officer's words strung her deep, igniting the smoldering fire that was her anger towards The Coalition.
They erased him. They erased him. They erased him. They erased him. She repeats the words in her mind, barely understanding the man's repeated questions.
Open fire at targets. Killed allies.
"There was no order to shoot, sir. We had no official confirmation of the body count yet, sir. Bosho was the main target, sir, we had no other targets except the raiders."
Box couldn't feel her hands anymore, she had been gripping them extremely tight the whole time.
Targets. Killed. Erased. Colt. Bosho. Sodom. Coalition. Colt. Erased.
The woman, furious beyond the point of no return, turns her head towards the officer questioning her. Her previous self-control was slowly slipping away, and she didn't even know how to get it back. She takes a short breath.
"The Coalition, sir, rehabilitated me into a good serving citizen, ssssir. They saved me from the raiders, of course. We may have met, sir, you seem well-respected enough to investigate TC's own recruits." Her voice comes out straight and emotionless. Her mind was slipping out of control, and before she knows it, she smiles coldly at the man. Her next words come out honeyed and more gentle, but her crisped hands do not reach to wipe away the lone water trail on her face.
"I hope you find the traitor, and I apologize for... spitting at you, sir. Let's work together from now on. Box here knows a lot of people in the Old Guard."
They erased him. They erased him. They erased him. He erased him.
"Nobody was erased. Hush." Came a quiet, barely audible, feminine voice. It seemed to come within the confines of her own mind, but it was certainly not her own. It has a soothing quality to it.
"Good. Further compliance will be rewarded with freedom. Now, another question. Many listeners reported hearing voices in their head. Did you? If so, did you understand anything they said to you?" The man begins to circle around her again, in a predatory fashion.
Again, the feminine voice speaks to her.
"Be careful how you answer. He expects something from you. He does not trust you... Stay calm, child..."
Had Box been more in control of herself at that moment, she might have listened to the feminine voice. It was gentle, it was soft, it was almost motherly. The woman's throat tightens until she can no longer breathe properly. Keeping a straight face just as she had been doing since a few moments ago, Box feels her own heart pumping in her ears.
"Stay calm, child..."
Box gets up and instantly falls on her knees, her numbs hands reaching for her throat as she tries to gasp for air. She is unable to remain calm, she wants it so badly but she cannot.
Her heart races faster to the point of dizziness, air still difficult to come through.
Someone is in my mind. In my mind. Invasion. No freedom. Invasion. HELP, CAN'T BREATHE, CAN'T BREATHE, HELP ME!
If the officer spoke to her after this, she would not hear him and would pass out from the panic in the next minute.
The last thing that Box sees as she collapses onto the ground, is the concerned and confused face of the slavic man standing above her. He taps his ear piece, his lips move, but she only picks up on two words as she falls unconscious.
"She's here."
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As Box wakes up, she finds herself in a white room, on a cold, metallic bed. She recognized this place: It was a laboratory room. One made for helping diagnose mutagens. Her wrists and ankles are bound by metal restraints, built into the bed. She hears the scraping sound of a chair beside her, followed up with a man walking over to her. It was someone else, not the slavic man. He looked well groomed, his hair was short. Yet the look in his eyes was, admittedly, rather gentle.
"You may not recognize me, but I am Ryan Dufont. I am a member of The Coalition's council, and the political head of this Bunker's Coalition divisions..." He glances down at the restraints.
"These are for your own safety." He lightly touches her neck--it was sore, bruised.
"I would much rather you not kill yourself... Especially knowing that you hear her voice too."
As Box wakes up, she feels so incredibly weak -- otherwise, she might have tried to break the restraints. Her vision is blurred, her head is throbbing, and more importantly, her stomach is growling loudly. She hears a somewhat familiar voice in this dizzy mess.
"Wh... what happened... Where am I?" She tries to reach for face to rub her eyes before remembering the restraints. Her voice is scratchy like gravel.
"Whose.. whose voice did I hear?"
Box clenches her fists with what little strength she has left, breathing deeply and trying to focus her thoughts on the previous events. She remembers the interrogation, and the voice in her head. She had felt so terrified -- no one should penetrate her mind.
"I don't want to kill myself. I need to leave, please... I... need to eat, sir."
"You want to eat? What would you like to eat?" He walks away from her side and to an intercom panel by the wall.
"I'll let you go, as well, don't worry about that, but let me get you something to eat first, then I will release you, and we can talk about the voice... I have heard it too, lately. Trust me, I won't hurt you."
"I can eat anything, sir."
Box tries to clear her throat but instead she begins coughing.
"Maybe... some water too, sir."
Ryan Dufont's words are oddly calming, and help Box focus despite the fatigue and dizziness. He seems like someone she could trust, and having no one else to be her friend right now, she decides to tell him what she knows.
"I.. yes, sir, I heard the voice as well. It... she, doesn't want me to... to talk. I don't want to hear her again, please, sir. Also... how long have I been... passed out?"
Her thoughts are still a bit foggy, but she manages to recall most of the interrogation. The man with an accent... Box groans silently, not loud enough for Dufont to hear her. She had tried to weasel her way out of it and cooperate without giving any important... information in regards to her squad, but in the end she had freaked out and failed them all.
"About four hours." The Council Member replies as he hits a couple of switches on the panel, then the intercom switch.
"Bring something inoffensive, easy on the stomach, to Testing Room 4. Oh, and a bottle of water." He flicks off the intercom broadcast switch. A moment later, a voice replies affirming the orders. He walks over to the head of bed, where a small control system was.
"Oh, and don't call me sir, Ryan will be fine." He presses in a combination, and the restraints hiss as they unlock. He walks over to her side and looks down at her with a soft expression.
"I really rather dislike formalities when in private. I'm just a man, you're just a woman--equals, nothing more, nothing less."
As soon as she hears the restraints come off, Box tries to sit up -- a little too fast. Holding her head between her hands, she takes deep breaths in hopes of clearing the dizziness. After a minute or two, she sits with her legs crossed in the middle of the bed. She doesn't trust her legs to fully support her for more than a few minutes.
"All right, Ryan." Box tries not to show her surprise and hint of fear when he calls her a woman. Not many people knew, but then she had passed out... maybe they had to search her, and they figured out she did not have a male body.
Box massages her wrists, hoping to rub off the stiffness caused by the restraints. She hadn't been in such a vulnerable position for a very, very long time.
How could I let myself slip off the edge like this? Damnit, woman...
As they wait for her food and water, Box thinks back on the interrogation. She had tried to be cocky by mentioning Colt and his experimentation, and it had backfired. She could have gone off much more easily if she had complied. But... even though she had not really set her loyalties anywhere, she couldn't help but feel torn between the Coalition and the Old Guard. She didn't want to have to choose between both.
Play them both until you have what you need.
The thought crosses her mind. It feels almost too lucid to be her own, and yet she did not hear other voices. Maybe she could indeed play this whole thing in her advantage once she is out of here...
Ryan pulls his chair up beside the bed and sits on it. He waits, silently, for a couple of minutes. There is a knock on the door.
"Come in." Ryan replies simply. A tray with a simple sandwich and a bottle of water on it are the first things Box would likely see. A man in a lab coat was carrying it. She could see a pair of armed guards outside the door, briefly, before it closes. The scientist walks over and puts the tray of food down at the foot of the bed, then nods to Ryan, turns, and leaves the room.
"Go ahead, eat." Ryan states plainly as he motions to the food.
"It's there for your comfort."
Without a second thought, Box reaches for the food. She had no reason to distrust Dufont in that particular moment - if anything, he had just proved that he trusted her by removing the restraints. She opens the bottle of water, not really paying attention if it was sealed, and takes in small gulps. Her throat burns to the contact of the cold liquid, and she has to concentrate on not coughing it out. Once her mouth feels normal, she takes a bite off the sandwich - cold meats and some green vegetable spread. Box wolfs down the sandwich in no time and finishes the water, slowly forgetting she even noticed the two armed guards at the exit of the room.
"Thank you s--Ryan," the woman sighs as she her posture relaxes.
"I must apologize for my behaviour, Ryan -- I must've caused quite a ruckus for someone like you to have to babysit me."
"It is no problem, really." Ryan replies, nodding and smiling pleasantly enough.
"I just need you to answer one more question for me. Can you do that for me? I promise, I am far more gentle than that brutish thug from earlier."
Box breathes in deeply, nodding to Dufont's words. She knows that the Coalition needs brutish thugs like the man from the debriefing, and also that she was in this predicament by her own fault.
"Sure, Ryan -- I can answer anything you ask."
"Don't worry, it's a simple question, really..." He clears his throat.
"This... Situation, in the orange fog, it is going escalate. Rapidly. Do you plan on continuing to pursue it? If so, to what end? Don't worry, this is all off the record, you can say anything."
Box thinks about Dufont's questions. Clearly, it was off-record only because there isn't a spotlight over her head. This man was an important member of the Bunker's leadership group -- she doubts he was being her confidante.
"Bunker Chicago is... it's my home, Ryan. I'll protect my home, no matter what it takes. I don't know much about the fog, but if it proves to be a threat to the Bunker's peace? Fuck, you'll have one more soldier at your side."
Box finally looks up at Dufont and tries a confident smile, but the recent events have left her rather... confused. She had one last question.
"Ryan... I'll fight for you and Chicago, but I need some peace of mind, you know? I need to know where my brother is. I'd do anything to be able to put this... worry to rest, please."
"Your brother?" Ryan asks, with a hint of genuine confusion in his voice.
"Whatever happened under the previous administration I was not made privy to. I can, however, put in a few calls and look into it. As it stands, it will take a while. I would imagine if I was not automatically made privy to it, then such information is... Highly restricted." He wrinkles his nose, seemingly irritated momentarily, before sighing and smiling.
"I will let you know if I find anything. As it stands, there is no functioning satellite for me to use right now. The next one will head into range in about two hours I think. Then I can put in an inquiry."
He stands up from his chair, and pushes it back as he does so.
"There is something you should know. Coalition agents have every reason to believe that entities from the Orange fog are attempting to infiltrate Bunker Chicago, much like U-ARM. However, unlike U-ARM, I think we can agree that whatever those things are poses a much greater threat. We can contain U-ARM, I'm not sure we can contain this." He pauses, then walks over to the door. Knocking on it, the door opens from the other side, with the two guards stepping into the room. They are armed, but keep their weapons lowered.
"Now, you may leave, but you will need to be escorted to the entrance. Security, and all that. Whether you work with The Coalition or The Old Guard, it's your discretion. Just know that we will always be here for you, and everyone else in the bunker." He smiles.
"Always."
Box hides her fear with a smile, nodding to Dufont's answer. Of course the information about her brother was classified -- her own information from when she had been picked up by TC was under key as well.
"I understand, it's all right. It's not... a priority, Ryan."
As she finally hears the explanation for the concern about the orange fog, it becomes clear now why all of those interrogations (masked as debriefings) occurred.
"You can count me in, Ryan. I've been working with The Old Guard for years now -- I can also work with The Coalition, whichever needs me."
The black woman gets on her feet, still a bit unsteady, and follows Ryan to be escorted out of the facility.
"Thank you for everything. Take care."
The two guards help guide Box out of the bunker. Ryan does not accompany them, instead leaving to investigate other affairs. As she reaches the bunker entrance, one of the guards speaks up.
"If you wish to work for The Coalition, come back here and knock on our door. We'll have missions lined up for you." The two guards then enter through the bunker door once more, and leave her outside.