Day 59: Meeting Room 1
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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Though she didn't have to wait much longer. The woman turned as she watched Maya walk in, and it was almost as if the two of them were drawn to each other by previous association. The soldier tightened her grip on the bracelet in her hand and then strode over to the female patient.
"I know you're probably confused, but just go ahead and take a seat. We've got some decent food for you here, and you're likely going to need the energy." Now that Maya had arrived, Cartwright's expression had become more controlled, her body language less anxious. She had a job to do, and she didn't want Harrington to be disappointed with her. Even though he was the one who had cursed over the intercom earlier.
She had to focus on the task at hand despite that, and so she gestured to a chair before taking a seat in the one across from it.
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It was the comment about needing energy that seemed most significant, Maya thought as she pulled out the indicated chair and took a seat. Indubitably, she would be asked to do something. Or withstand something. If nothing else, the newest patient seemed too young for it, but such a consideration had not prevented the asylum from bringing her into itself, did it not?
Three patients. Three guns. Three soldiers to use them.
My, but Maya was quite paranoid tonight, was she not? She could mention that human life energy was energy that best sustained her, but it would merely be for her own amusement-none of the soldiers were likely to appreciate it at all. Lifting the cover and picking up a utensil, Maya asked, "Can you explain this operation? Surely it can't be usual."
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Would Maya be as good of a choice? And how about the other man? There had to be a reason all of them had been selected, but she hadn't been given that information personally.
While she was somewhat tempted to signal the other patient right now, that would probably come across as unprofessional. For that reason, the woman ignored her and focused her attention on Maya instead. "You're right, it's not usual at all. From what I've been told, you'll be pairing up with a soldier and heading out to try and track down both Landel and Marc, the man from the radio." Her face was suddenly completely devoid of emotion as she related the facts.
"Actually, I'm filling in for Major Harrington right now. He was supposed to be here and explain it to you, but he had something else to take care of. He should be up here soon enough, though. As will the general. He'll have all the details."
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Still, they'd begun eating the offered food readily enough, but Maya had spent her day talking about what strange things were done to patients. Maya had eaten more than usual at lunch to recompense her missed breakfast; she didn't need human food as often as a human did to function well. Basic functions, at least; Maya could no longer function well-what King had done could not be undone.
Which meant the discussion she was overhearing about restored abilities was not pertinent to Maya's case. Pity. She wondered what abilities her fellow patients would be getting back, but Maya had other things she needed to concentrate on.
Landel, and the Radio Man. The latest Intercom Man as well, if Maya had remembered the name correctly. And the general. Maya would have been amused, if she were not certain she was not being given a choice in the matter. Should she mention she had no tracking ability? That the abilities she did have had been stripped from her long before she woke up to the walls of this asylum?
Best not. She couldn't see Wataru again if she were dead. "What an interesting development," she remarked instead. "You asked me before: what I had to offer. Is it for this reason? To placate your enemies?"
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She had to admit it would have been a strange coincidence for two of the four patients she'd personally talked to over the past two days to be chosen. In the end, though, that wasn't what mattered.
No, she had specific orders to follow, and as she watched the other two soldiers present the bracelets, Cartwright realized that she had to do the same. After fumbling under the desk for a moment, she procured the electronic device. "We have to fit all of you with these to make sure that you don't try to run off or do anything against our orders. If you don't mind..."
She unclasped the circular device and started to extend it toward Maya's wrist.
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Even if she were aware of it, there was no option but to comply, so Maya unhesitatingly brought her wrist forward. "Not too tight, please," she said.
Still, it was an interesting thought. It was easy to surmise how much of a threat Landel could be; Maya assumed he'd run the asylum for a while. But as to whether Landel would truly betray his masters so easily... Such a capricious person surely would not have been placed in charge of an operation like the institute? Unless the affairs here were not as important as the soldiers made it seem. But this was all pure speculation that brought Maya nowhere. She could think on it more when she was presented with the details, Maya assumed.
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One of the soldier's hands clasped firmly around Maya's arm to hold it in place while the other looped the bracelet around her wrist. She fastened it and once that was done sat back in her seat, looking somewhat relieved.
"And that's all we've been asked to do." The other two soldiers were almost through with their tasks as well, so it seemed like night was almost upon them. "At this point we'll just need to wait." Which was a surprisingly difficult task, considering what laid in store for them. Tracking down a man who was known to be immensely powerful and an unpredictable member of the rebel group -- who wouldn't be a little antsy?
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A fact further cemented when the man entered the meeting room, looking proper for someone coming in late. He noted the bracelet around Maya's wrist with an expression like apathy, before breaking into a wide smile. "Ms. Maya. Major Cartwright," Claude chirped, sliding over to the pair. A nod was thrown to Travis, Blithe, and their charges. "My apologies for being late. I appreciate your patience."
He stopped short of the women and bowed curtly--his way of expressing both sentiments. "And I see you've already covered the basics," he stated while straightening.
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At least the bracelet seemed fairly unobstructive, Maya thought as she lifted her wrist to look at it. She could think of many ways this tracking device could be made very uncomfortable for the one being tracked. Yet Maya had thought the patients were being tracked anyway. Perhaps the bracelet was a more advanced model? "Does it do anything else? Communications capability, perhaps?"
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"Yes, I think I took care of everything you asked," she replied before returning her attention to Maya to answer her question.
"Nothing like that, no. We decided it would be too large of a risk, seeing how the rebel seems to have a knack for hacking into transmissions of that sort." They needed to be as subtle with this whole mission as possible, and that meant that it had to be on a need-to-know basis and that information should be passed as sparingly as they could manage.
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