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]

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."