Day 59: Meeting Room 1

[damned_soldiers]

Major Cartwright had spent the latter half of the day speaking with patients, but as dinner time came she had someplace else to be. As did three specially chosen patients. Everyone seemed convinced that this would go smoothly, but as the female soldier stood there with some sort of electronic bracelet in hand, she couldn't help fiddling

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[poorexample]

The final shift of the day had turned out to be a fascinating experience. Castiel hadn't expected to come across so many others who weren't human in one way or another, but after what he'd endured yesterday it was good to be reminded of it. There were others in his position, or at least in something like it. Thus far Gabriel was still the only other angel he'd come across, though he had to admit that was likely for the best.

He had one more person left to explain himself to, and that was Stefan. If his memories were to be trusted, the young man had been very confused by his new persona, which was understandable. Michael hadn't been anything like him.

So where had that come from?

Instead of being led back to the familiar patient block, however, the soldier escorting him suddenly moved toward the stairs instead. Castiel stopped in his tracks, feeling what had to be some sort of survival instinct kick in. This didn't seem right. "Where are we going?"

The soldier turned toward him. "Mr. Collins, you should feel honored. You've been specially chosen for a top-ranking assignment tonight."

More brainwashing, experiments, or those missions that he'd heard mentioned on the board, maybe? Fight or flight instincts should have led him away from the situation, but the gun in the soldier's hand gave him no choice but to follow. Castiel knew now how easily he could bleed out, how much damage those bullets could do.

There had to be a reason for why he had been picked out of all the other patients. It seemed that the institute had taken some sort of interest in him ever since he'd gone to the medical wing and taken those drugs. First the whole incident in the arena (which had mainly revolved around Gabriel, but Castiel had been involved), then being made to think he was someone else for a day, and now this.

It didn't take long to reach his destination, and upon arriving he found that there were three soldiers waiting there. He stiffened, glancing from the one leaning against the wall to the man and woman who were sitting down at a table. The table itself had a few covered plates on it.

The situation was almost impossible for him to read, and so Castiel stood there and waited for some sort of instruction. He hadn't been injected with anything or knocked out so far, which was surprising.

[damned_soldiers]

Having already read the reports for tonight, Blithe knew to expect two women and a man. Consequently, when the individual listed in their files as "Michael Collins" arrived, she immediately knew they were assigned together. It was a good thing, too, because she was getting tired of looking at Travis' poor attempts at smiling.

Turning to the subject, she gestured toward the seat in front of his plate. "Have a seat," Blithe instructed. "You're eating dinner in here this evening, so you may as well dig in before it gets cold."

Realizing that her words may not be enough, she added, "I'll explain a little more once you sit down." Hopefully he'd take her advice.

[poorexample]

Up until now, Castiel had hardly been acknowledged by the staff, nurse or soldier. Aguilar had spoken to him directly, but those had been special circumstances. The point was that he suddenly felt out of place, being treated almost like an equal. He was clearly still the one who would be taking orders, but that happened to be a position he was comfortable with.

It was true that he'd left Heaven and therefore didn't answer to anyone's orders at this point, but that had still defined his existence for thousands of years. It wasn't difficult to fall back into the pattern.

Not that he planned to follow along with all of this willingly. That all depended on what was being asked of him. However, Castiel also realized that if he was difficult from the start that he might ruin whatever opportunity he might be offered here. For now, it was best to tread carefully.

So, after a brief pause, he nodded and took a seat. It seemed like the soldier was waiting for him to do something, and so he awkwardly lifted the cover off of the plate in front of him to reveal his meal. Unlike this morning and at lunchtime, the food in front of him was fresh as could be; more than that, it wasn't that sludge he'd been forcing down for the past few days.

His hunger reared its ugly head and Castiel grabbed for the fork set out for him. He hesitated for another second or two and then took a bite of the chicken. It was a sign of his cooperation, so hopefully the woman would explain now.

[damned_soldiers]

Judging by his rank, Blithe imagined that he at least appreciated the change in diet. Satisfied that he'd decided to eat a little, her hand slipped into her pocket, grasping onto the wristband resting there, but not quite revealing it yet.

"I'm Major Helen Blithe," she introduced herself after a moment. "As your escort probably told you before now, you've been selected to participate in an important mission tonight. We'll be paired together." So no funny business, was the implication. Thankfully, she had enough self-restraint to keep herself from actually saying that so early into their conversation.

"General Aguilar will soon be here to personally explain the details," Blithe added. She was sure she didn't need to explain the significance behind that. "But, as far as I understand the situation, we're expected to apprehend Martin Landel, as well as the rebel who calls himself Marc."

[poorexample]

Not soon after Castiel started eating, two other patients showed themselves and were approached by the remaining two soldiers. Six in all, then, and chances were that they were being entrusted with the same task. It made sense, of course. If one of them failed, there would be two more in the reserves.

Being made to work in pairs with the soldiers themselves was also a strategic move. The patient body had already shown itself to be prone to rebellion (unsurprisingly so), so it would have been foolish to let them take on such an immense task with no supervision.

He would be seeing Aguilar again tonight, then. Castiel had a few choice words for the man, mainly that he had no business toying with angels like they were mere humans, and yet he already realized that his words would fall flat. These humans had managed to collar both him and Gabriel and use them for the purposes they were originally meant for: as fighters. When considered that way, it was really no surprise that he'd been brought here.

Being able to take out some of his wrath on Landel -- the man originally responsible for this, or at least for some of it -- wasn't exactly unappealing to Castiel. After a pause, he nodded and then took another bite of his food. It was a struggle to not scarf it down after going without a single meal in almost twenty-four hours.

He overheard a question being asked by one of the other patients, realized it was one worth asking, and directed it at his own so-called partner. Castiel already knew that this Major Helen Blithe was no Uriel, but that was neither here nor there. "Yes, she brings up a good point. Will at least some of our abilities be returned to us for this mission?" He wouldn't be nearly as useful without them.

[damned_soldiers]

Blithe considered the question for a moment. "Obviously I can't speak for the general, but I'd imagine so," she answered at length. That was the typical procedure for regular missions, and she at least knew this assignment was important enough to warrant extra abilities.

"Of course, don't think there won't be any restrictions," Blithe reminded him. They couldn't have anyone getting any ridiculous ideas about escape or sabotage, after all. The red-haired woman finally produced the wristband from her pocket, holding it up for the subject to see.

"You'll be required to wear this," she explained. "It's designed to track our movements. I'm supposed to go ahead and fasten this onto your arm before General Aguilar arrives."

[poorexample]

It was a vague answer, but it wasn't a definite no. Castiel realized that being granted only some of his powers back for only a short amount of time was almost worse than getting nothing at all, and yet he still longed for the familiarity. So much of this situation was foreign to him, and while he had been handling it the best that he could, this was the first time in a while that he felt like he was in a comfortable position.

For most it would have been the opposite, but this was something he was confident he could do.

As the strange device was pulled out, his immediate reaction was still suspicion. This place had shown that it was willing to drug them, alter their mental states, and any number of other things. Allowing them to put something on him that might have debilitating effects was a bad idea no matter how he looked at it, and yet he knew this opportunity was an extremely rare one. Only three of them had been picked.

So, after a long moment of silent consideration, Castiel slowly extended his right arm forward.

[damned_soldiers]

She doubted that he liked having to wear a device, but at least he wordlessly agreed to cooperate. Good. Blithe didn't want to deal with any unexpected surprises tonight. Hopefully this was the start of a partnership that could grab them Marc and Landel's heads to present to General Aguilar. What better way to demonstrate her loyalty than to capture two of the most recent thorns in his side?

"Thank you," she said with a small nod. Then, reaching out, the soldier securely fastened it to his wrist. "As long as you cooperate, and don't try to use any of your abilities to sabotage the project, I'm sure you'll be rewarded for your trouble."

After all, the general often made a point to recognize subjects' efforts to do well.

[poorexample]

Generally, Castiel did not wear anything beyond the clothes that his vessel manifested in. The gray shirt and pants that he had originally worn in this place and the uniform that he had now were equally foreign to him, but they were at least outfits. Accessories were completely new to him, and the feel and look of the wristband around his arm was strange.

Still, it apparently served a purpose, even if it wasn't one he particularly wanted to be a part of. He could understand needing to track them, and unlike angels, humans couldn't do that without the assistance of technology like this.

Once that was taken care of, he took a few more bites of his food for good measure and then let his hands fall into his lap. He didn't know how he felt about a reward, but he found that he didn't need to respond due to them being joined by another soldier. It wasn't Aguilar -- that much he knew for certain -- but...

Yes, he'd seen the man last night, even though he hadn't been himself. That was Major Harrington. He eyed the man closely, but it seemed like he was more concerned with another patient and her assigned soldier. That was acceptable to him, seeing how he didn't have much more to say to the man. Instead, he glanced to Major Blithe. "So now we wait?"

[damned_soldiers]

When Harrington finally showed up, Blithe couldn't help but arch a thin eyebrow at him. Given the importance of the mission, his actions struck her as unusual. Then again, General Aguilar had been relying on him a great deal during the recent investigation. Perhaps he'd had permission to arrive late.

Of course, for her, that was a rather generous assumption. She wasn't sure what she thought of the man. He could come across as a bit of a buffoon sometimes, but she also knew they wouldn't be sharing the same rank if he was completely incompetent. Given recent circumstances, Blithe felt suspicious of anyone who managed to draw attention to themselves -- including him.

Still, she did her best to school her expression into something more neutral. After all, she had a job to complete, and her position required professionalism at all times. For that reason, part of her was thankful for her assigned partner's question. The more she could focus on the matter at hand, the better she could prove her loyalty later.

"That's right," Blithe answered. "General Aguilar should arrive soon. He'll explain what we need to know for tonight."