Max drug the last body to the center of the floor where she had been asked to do so. The bodies were lighter to her then they might be to others, but considering her cybernetic limbs...she had an advantage. The job had been easy. There were only five people and they were no match for her and Seiren. Her breathing even, not even an ounce of adrenaline running through her. It was almost like she was getting bored with killing. But that couldn't be possible. She loved it and it was what she was made to do. Maybe she just needed to train with a different weapon for a while.

"Excuse me, miss," someone from the clean up team said, bringing Max back from her thoughts.

"Sorry," Max said simply. The whispers around her were ignored as she made her way through the small abandoned factory to one of the cars out front. She could still smell the blood and looking down, she could see she had gotten some on her jacket. Clothes never mattered to her, so she took it off, wiping what blood was on her face off. It was a disappointment in her mind when she got blood on herself. If I were better that wouldn't happen, she would tell herself. Back to training. But she liked training, so that was okay. The feel of her Beretta in her small hands as she maneuvered through the old building they used for training brought her joy that nothing else ever could.

"Normal little girls want dolls and dresses," she hears some of the scientists say,"These little girls want to murder and follow orders." There was nothing wrong with murder if it was for the right reason. She killed bad people. If they thought of it as justice instead of murder, it wouldn't sound so evil. Max new she was a good girl and that was all that mattered. But today she wasn't a good girl. She had made a mess. Sure it was what the cleanup crew was for, but still. A good assassin would have been quick and clean.



Alice squirmed in her seat, looking out the window once every three minutes. "Are we there yet? I hate flying in airplanes. They smell and people snore loud." Yep, your average little girl. Can't sit still and hates being bored. She had sat in her seat everyway possible trying to get comfortable, then just stared out the window. The job they had been sent on wasn't nearly interesting enough to keep the young girl occupied in thinking about it. She had to think of what she was going to do when she got back. What games she was going to play.

"Oh!" Alice remembered she had brought her music player, grabbing it out of her small bag and sticking the head phones in her ears. "Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle," she said in a sing song voice as she searched through her gigantic erray of songs. Settling on an old rock song, she once again gazed out the window, watching the clouds dance and flow to the rhythm.

Alice had a bad habit of blasting her music so everything around her was drowned out and she was in her own little world. A world filled with music and white, puffy clouds. She practically had her nose pressed flat against the glass as she named every cloud as it passed. That one is a fuzzy caterpillar and that one is an elephant balancing on a giant ball, she said in her head, bobbing to the beat. A simple recon mission. All the way to New York! They didn't have us kill anyone! It was a waste of our time, she imagined a conversation with the cloudy caterpillar. Well, at least we got out of the Agency. When we were walking around, there was a cowboy in his underwear singing a pretty song. He even let me sing with him! Alice smiled happily as her thoughts and imaginary conversations continued on.

Walter

Walter smiled as he exited the door, and locked it. It was a fun mission, and he didn't kill anyone. He didn't need to. Walter locked the door to the room with the key he found, and walked out, through the building, and out to the street, carrying his briefcase with his equipment within. He was now in the clear. From the radio, he could tell that, on Max's end, it was a mess, and a lot of people died. Oh well. Walter passed through the street and continued on until he made it to the getaway car, a very inconspicuous black van. He waited for the others, while leaning on this van. The mission wasn't too bad. It had it's excitements, and it's ups and downs. Walter was stealthy enough to avoid having to actually fight. Naturally, he left his briefcase behind for the duration of the mission. It was too bulky to carry and hide effectively, so he hid it somewhere in the building instead. Walter hated violence. He did not have an aversion to it that prevented him from doing it when necessary, but in his eyes, there were not many situations where violence was necessary. He was never violent in the past, not particularly. And above all, he enjoyed peace. That was why he took this job as a Handler. If it was in him to fight, he might as well fight for something that would help people. Walter looked back up. He was slightly worried. Seiren and him had been separated for a short time, during this mission, and he has not seen her since. Seiren could easily get in trouble, and he needed to watch her carefully. The rendezvous would have to wait. The longer he stayed here, the more danger there was in Seiren causing trouble. He picked up his briefcase, and began to head for Seiren's location. He used his earpiece, as he moved back across the street. Hopefully Seiren didn't make things too difficult for the clean-up team. Walter jogged, before sprinting to the area Seiren was. Hopefully Wes wasn't having trouble with Max. Those two get along great, though.

Sitting to the right of the young and spirited Alice was Samuel, hunched over in his seat, eyes flickering over a few sheets of paper scattered across his fold out table. These were the mission reports, documents that he had spent hours labouring over on his old laptop before printing them out. There wasnt much on them though; fortunatley their reconassiance misson hadnt involved any combat. Samuel felt that this misson had actually been pretty dull, nothing particularly odd happened and if you can ignore the fact that Alice had been prancing through the streets singing with the craziest folk in the city then you could call it the quietest mission yet.

Though the thing was that Alice's behaviour wasnt something Samuel could ignore, not with the agency pestering him for behaviour reports after every mission. Samuel glanced to his left, distracted by the quiet hum of music he heard coming from his partners earphones. She made things difficult, put him in a few tough situations. He probably should have scolded her for her actions at the time but couldn't bring himself to. And he couldn't tell her off now either, Samuel didn't want to ruin her mood. Thoughts buzzed through his head every time he caught sight of a smile on Alice's face and this time was no different. "I guess I can twist the facts a little, no need to deal with a lecture from the lab coats as soon as we get back" he though to himself. Samuel slowly turned back to his papers, wearily scrunching one up into a ball and shoving it into his pocket before the rest were hurriedly put back into a black briefcase and tucked under his seat.


Samuel look across the isle, checking that Beth and Chris were doing fine, and from what he could see it seemed they were. As a quiet sigh parted from between Samuels lips he felt a wave of drowsiness sweep over him. He lay back in his seat, listening to the barely audible hum of Alice's music as he drifted off. Just before he fell asleep he tapped alice on the shoulder gently, waiting for her to turn around before he sleepily whispered to her; "Alice, Please wake me up abit before we land". Then with a small smile Samuel turned away, muttering a silent "Thanks" as he did.

---

Death. The terrifying idea of losing one’s self, one’s being, to the unknown. It shouldn’t be a normal occurrence in anyone’s life.. let alone a teenage girl of merely 16 years. It shouldn’t be what one’s life, their livelihood, is centered around. It isn’t.... normal. Then again.. when have you ever been considered normal? taunted the whispering voice, prodding and mocking at the idea of “normality”. ”That’s.. right” came the chilling muse. There was a certain softness to the words Seiren spoke that most found.. disturbing.. unnatural even. Absentmindedly, the direction of her thoughts began to drift to Max; the ideal cyborg. The one who always followed orders perfectly, the one who was SWA’s prize. Normally, anyone else would have been jealous, anyone else would have been consumed by envy, anyone else would strive to be like her. Anyone else other than her kind. The cyborgs.

---

Briefly diverting her train of thought to reality, Seiren’s cerulean orbs instantaneously latched onto the bloodied blade of her katana.. namely the crimson that flecked the midnight-hued steel. Keeping a face of absolute stone, a mere ‘tch’ was given as the female cyborg flicked the lethal weapon, the scarlet droplets splashing against the wall. As she returned the semi-clean blade back to the sheath, the teenaged girl’s gaze drifted to the two bodies that were strewn haphazardly near the center of the space, a twisted smirk playing it’s way onto her petal-pink lips at their appearance. The bodies were mangled beyond recognition, each one, once made of human flesh, now shredded to ribbons. Indeed it was a sight that could curled most’s stomachs. Stepping lightly through the pools of crimson, Seiren instantly banished that smirk. Walter’s not going to be thrilled... they said a clean death... echoed her reprimanding thoughts as she made her way to the doorway entrance. Opening it, Seiren was greeted by 2 other men, her cleanup crew.. each one of them had eyes the size of saucers. And she knew why. The female cyborg didn’t even have to look at her appearance to know she was heavily decorated with her victim’s blood, namely splatters on her cheeks, neck, forearms, legs, and stomach. Giving them a small, and ever-so-slightly apologetic, sigh, Seiren brushed past the shaken men. Guess they lost the bet today.. echoed the metacognitive tone. The staff, they tried to keep it hidden but she knew.. each day, the cleanup crew members would place bets to see which unlucky pair of bastards had to clean up after Seiren. Walking down the hall with a stoic grace, the female cyborg turned her head just in time to see one of the men rush out of the room before promptly vomiting on the ground.

---

Hopefully.. Walter won’t find out.. ventured the hopeful thoughts as she quickened her pace just slightly. Finally, after about a minute or two, Seiren finally halted her pace as she reached the training building. Forgetting entirely about her blood-splattered being, the female cyborg decided to rest under a tree by the front entrance of the training building.

Wes Thornton

Wes watched as Max got into the van with him. Aside from some blood on her clothes and face, blood that wasn't even her own, she appeared fine. Wes smiled over at her and gave Max a light pat on the head.

"You did good, Max." Wes told her, meaning every word. True, the mission hadn't gone quite so cleanly, and the targets had put up some resistance before death, but it wasn't an unexpected variable. No battle plan survived contact with the enemy, after all. So all things considered, Max and Seiren had done a good job for this little 'find and exterminate' mission.

Though a part of him couldn't help but wonder if Seiren had purposely made her own killings...messy. According to the clean up crew, their was little left of her targets. Not for the first time, it really made him feel uneasy about the oldest of the cyborgs. Something was seriously wrong with Seiren, that much was sure; but it appeared that the Agency didn't have his concerns...yet. It seemed that only he considered Seiren to be the true threat he knew that she was. Her instability would come back to bite them in the ass one day, he knew that for sure.

At the very least, it seemed that Walter had some amount of control and sway over Seiren. That was good. But he wondered how long that might last. Perhaps one day Seiren would be pushed over the edge, and lash out against her handler...

Brushing such morbid thoughts out of his mind, Wes looked back down at Max and smiled.

"When we get back to HQ, how about I treat you to some ice cream, Max? That sound good to you?" he asked kindly, ruffling her hair with his palm.

Max was a good kid, in his opinion. She had her...issues, of course, but almost all the cyborgs did. And Wes wasn't about to fault his charge for that. Despite her flaws, he really did love Max; she reminded him a lot of the little nieces his sister had back home. Though much more trigger-happy, of course. He was glad to be her partner, and when able, he was more than happy to treat her like an actual child. It was the least he could do for her, all things considered.

Beth

Beth smiled and hummed happily to herself, as she drew on the sketch pad held on her lap. She was almost finished with the drawing of Alice singing with that cowboy fellow in Times Square. That had been a bit of a surprise, but New York City was....quite an odd place, to say the least, and Alice had certainly enjoyed the experience. For her part, Beth had made sure to take plenty of pictures, and had plans of developing them all for her scrapbook. She'd also make sure to show Alice those pictures when she got the chance, too!

Beth couldn't help but also draw the scene too, though. She loved to draw, and even if she already had a real picture of the event, she wanted to draw out Alice's happy moment all the same. Somehow making a drawing of the event made it feel all the more special, and no doubt Alice would love the sketch, too! Hopefully she'd finish it by the time the plane landed.

The young blonde looked over at her handler Chris, sitting right next to her. She grinned happily at him and showed him what she had drawn, so far. "How does it look, Chris? Do you think Alice will like it?"

She already knew Alice would, of course, but she couldn't help but ask Chris all the same. She loved talking to her handler, and she loved getting his opinion on her drawings. She always felt so proud when he complemented her skills, especially when it came for her talent with art.

It wasn't like Chris hated New York. No, that wasn't the reason why he felt so at ease about going home. It was because of the noise. New York had to be the loudest place in America. If it wasn't the cars, it was the peoples, If it wasn't them, it was some random music guru whole thought he should be on America's best band show by himself. The man was relieved. So much in fact that after his sigh of relief he laid in his chair comfortably for once. Usually, because of being in live combat in and out the country, he would literally sleep with on eye open. One of his stranger talents. It's not even like he saw anything when he had that eye open. Maybe it was just a muscle twitch.
Still, this time was different. He had both eyes closed and slept soundly, keeping his ears out for different voices. He finally woke up while they were in air. Looking around from his seat, he finally managed to catch Samuel who was doing paperwork at the time. Lucky for Chris, the pictures that Beth and him took weren't going to need work until they reached a dark room. Maybe they wouldn't even need to do them all this time. Seeing as nothing really happened in New York.

"How does it look, Chris? Do you think Alice will like it?" Beth said while holding up a pretty good picture of Alice and that Cowboy singer. He analyzed it for a moment, making sure he could critique it properly. He didn't know much about art so it seemed more like he was keeping her in suspense.

Chris crack a small smile, showing no teeth, and said "I think she'll love it. It's perfect Beth." He finally said and patted the girl on top of her head. He was a sucker for Beth's pictures. He was sure that even if she made a picture out of mud, he'd still like it. However, that still didn't stop him from knowing the good art from the bad and Beth's drawings were always good.

Walter pushed to where Seiren was before she left. He must have just missed her. There was some vomit outside of the room. That possibly meant that there was something disgusting in the room. The angle of the vomit stain and the location of the vomit made it likely someone vomited right when they came outside the door. Walter entered, avoiding the vomit, and saw the clean up crew cleaning up bodies that could hardly be held together. Welp, Seiren was probably here. Besides, there were blood stains on the ground because she was probably stepping in puddles of blood. Judging by the size of the stains, it was definitely Seiren. He left the building, leaving the clean-up crew to do what they did best. Walter was not even noticed by the crew, due to the habit of trying to remain stealthy. He followed the footsteps, walking casually, one hand in his pocket, the other carrying his suitcase, as he followed in the general direction of the footsteps. The blood on them dried, eventually, and the traces of blood on the ground were getting smaller and smaller, but by then, he already knew where Seiren was. Resting underneath that tree, covered in blood, was Seiren. Walter walked to her. Thankfully, no one was in sight to see her, covered in blood. Walter spoke, in the dispassionate, cold tone of voice that he was known for, that belied no emotion.

"You really shouldn't make such a mess. And you really shouldn't cover yourself in the mess, and then carry it with you. Cover yourself, as much as you can."

And with that sentence finished, Walter removed his coat, and tossed it to her, to cover herself. He really didn't mind, if it was to conceal Seiren when she was covered in blood. Walter spoke again.

"Gather up your equipment. We can talk later. We're going to the car."

Walter remained, waiting for Seiren to get up, at which point he planned for them to accompany each other to the car. Seiren was interesting. She was the oldest cyborg Walter was familiar with, and the most unstable. Ever since Walter was called to watch her, he was concerned for her. Seiren, like the others, was mentally conditioned, but she still seemed unstable. If it were up to him, she would not be used as an active agent. Walter didn't know what made her so crazy, but he was not too eager to find out, unless it would somehow cure her. He wanted her well-being, especially a normal life for her, but Seiren didn't seem like the type to want a normal life. Whatever. The mission was through, the damage has been contained, they were going back to the base, where the cyborgs and the Handlers would be re-united, waiting for the next mission.

Max had been staring out the window, thinking about her training when she got home. A pat on the head didn't come to a start to her, but she only continued to look out the windshield.

"You did good, Max." Wes said. "When we get back to HQ, how about I treat you to some ice cream, Max? That sound good to you?" he asked kindly, ruffling her hair with his palm. Max never asked for anything from Wes, he always offered. Not that she didn't mind. He was her handler, she loved him and somehow she felt as if she could never tell him no.

So with a dull smile, she nodded. "Sure, I love ice cream sir." With that, she threw her jacket onto the floor, ridding herself of any trace of blood. Max wondered how Seiren had done, no need to worry if she was okay. "Have you heard from Walter or Seiren, sir?" She wasn't worried, oh no. She knew the pair was more than capable of handling themselves, especially Seiren. But it was nice to know.

But it isn't my business, she looked back to her bloodied jacket. My business is at the Agency. I need to focus on training.



Alice felt a tap on the shoulder, and thank goodness she had taught herself to read lips. Otherwise she wouldn't be aware that Samuel had wanted her to wake him up before they landed. "Alice, Please wake me up a bit before we land." Then with a small smile Samuel turned away, muttering a silent "Thanks" as he did. She nodded, a big smile on her face. Alice sat back in her seat, closing the window shade.



"Pardon me. All passengers please take your seats and fasten your seat belt. We shall be landing shortly."

"Samuel," Alice started, shaking her handler by the shoulder. "Samuel, they said we were going to land soon!" She reached over him quickly, buckling him in and then herself. Alice couldn't contain her excitement. The airport was only an hour and a half drive from the Agency. She couldn't wait to tell Max and Seiren about her adventures in the 'Big Apple'. If she took a nap in the car then the time would fly! Most of all, she couldn't wait to get back to her weapons and the training building so she could shoot a little bit. Going on such a boring mission left her feeling deprived.

"A day full of hard work should cure that!" Of course she was bound to complain the next day about how much she had done. That she had trained for a weeks worth. But when she looked over at her tired handler, she thought maybe she shouldn't. I should give him a little break. He's been looking more tired lately.

---

Briefly, Seiren’s icy gaze flickered upwards at the alerting sound of a bird’s song, the notes slightly garbled and disoriented. ”Interesting....” came her soft muse, a hint of disconnected intrigue creeping it’s way into her words. However, that moment was soon to pass at the sound of approaching footsteps and the startled flight of the horrid songbird. How annoying.... he already found me. echoed the robotic thoughts, not even having to turn her head to know who the person was. Her one and only handler; Walter Westfield.

---

Casting a smoothly transitioned sideways glance, a slight frown pricked it’s way at the corners of the cyborg’s mouth seeing the chilling expression the older human wore. Giving a small sigh, Seiren fluidly raised herself from under the tree with regret.. after all, she actually kind of grew attached to the shaded shelter. "You really shouldn't make such a mess. And you really shouldn't cover yourself in the mess, and then carry it with you. Cover yourself, as much as you can." came Watler’s expressionless words, a tone of dispassion and distaste more than not apparent. Resisting a snarky comment, Seiren merely casted him a guarded, stoney glance as he began to shed his coat. With ease and aimed precision, the eldest cyborg snatched the fabric from the air before slipping it on. Needless to say the jacket was pretty useless... it was obvious that Seiren’s alabaster skin was specked with crimson.. especially on her face. Just as she was about to open her mouth to point out the unneeded garment, Walter’s next clipped words halted her. "Gather up your equipment. We can talk later. We're going to the car.". Without a sound or action of acknowledgment, the cyborg fell silent before trekking her way to the van.

---

Within a few minutes, the unstable cyborg and her handler reached the a waiting van, the driver in an obvious hurry to get back to SWA judging by the already running engine. Sending another quick sideways glance at Watler, Seiren slipped through the doors like a phantom. Max... she looks like she had success. came the whispering thoughts as she eyed her roommate and not finding a single speck of blood dirtying her appearance. Giving a soft sigh, the teenaged girl took the seat behind one of the younger cyborgs before turning her attention to the window.

Testing, testing.

Walter opened the door to the car, and sat down next to Seiren. Walter brought his suitcase in, adjusted it so that it would fit, and then shut the door. The case was quite long, and actually needed to be tilted so as not to touch the ceiling, if it was held upright. Walter sat behind Wes, and noticed that Seiren was looking out the window. Seiren was an oddball. But a lot of people here were. Especially the other cyborgs. Max seemed to have done her mission well, and Wes seemed to be ok too. that was good. Since the others were in New York on a recon mission, it was likely they're alright, too. Max seemed happy, too. This is good. Wes and Max were great together. Walter thinks that they have the best relationship between Handler and cyborg. Not by much, but they seemed really close. Wes was a lot older than her, so the relationship seemed more like a father and a daughter. Walter smiled at the warmth between the two...Walter really didn't hate Seiren. She was odd, and dangerous, but she was still his Fratello. He cared for her beyond just Fratellos as well. He didn't seem like it, but if she needed help, he would come running. that's why he gave her his knee-length coat to cover as much blood as she could before someone saw them. Walter wondered if the stoic cyborg even knew that. It didn't matter. He would help her, regardless. Together a Handler and cyborg could help a lot of people. Whatever. They should be heading back now.

"Wes, Max, how was the mission?" Walter asked.

Walter glanced at Seiren, again, before looking out the window.

As Seiren and Walter entered the vehicle, Max glanced back, catching a smile on Walter's face but saying nothing. "Wes, Max, how was the mission?" he asked.

"No one besides the targets were injured, sir. Everyone that was scheduled for elimination was killed." She couldn't say it went well, she was still mentally kicking herself for making a mess. No one could tell, thank goodness. Talking about her thoughts made her taste metal.

Max didn't need to turn around to know Seiren was covered in blood, she could smell her even before she got into the van. "I'm sure it wasn't an issue for you at all, Seiren. You're really good." Max wouldn't say she was jealous of her roommate, but she did wish she could be quick like her. She didn't think it was possible to be quick and clean, but she had to try. Max twisted in her seat, looking at Seiren's small, blood splattered frame. The younger girl picked up her already filthy jacket and handed it to the older cyborg. "You can wipe all that on this if you want." She noticed Walter's coat wrapped around Seiren, practically covering her entire body. Not a lot of people could tell, but Walter really did love Seiren. Max often wondered if she knew that.

But once again, that isn't my business, she thought, turning around in her seat so she was facing forward.

Beth

Beth beamed at Chris and leaned into his touch, a radiant smile across her face as she blushed proudly at his praise. She nodded happily at her handler and continued work on finishing her drawing.

An hour later, the plane began to land, and Beth neatly finished up her drawing. Once the aircraft had completely landed and parked at the gate, she got up from her seat and quickly moved over to Samuel and Alice, a wide smile etched across her face. She flipped open her sketch pad and got to the page where she had drawn Alice and the cowboy singer. She reached over to Alice and happily handed her the pad, pointing at the drawing.

"I hope you don't mind, Alice, but I drew a picture of you and that cowboy singer from Times Square! Do you like it?" Beth inquired excitedly, eagerly anticipating her roommate's response.

Wes

Wes was about to answer Max about Seiren and Walter, when the duo abruptly showed up in the van. The driver then gunned the engine, and they were off.

Wes let Max answer Walter's inquiry about the mission, since she had more first-hand information on how things on her end had gone. He glanced over at Seiren once or twice, noting the blood stains on the oldest cyborg. No surprise there, he thought. Seiren was already a bloody assassin.

Well, no doubt Walter or someone else would take care of that as soon as they arrived back at headquarters, which...ought to be soon, he hoped. The sooner Wes put some distance between him and the unstable cyborg, the better.

---

Seiren barely registered her handler’s prattling questions, her thoughts already occupied by the replaying of today’s earlier events. How many people does that make.. I should really start keeping tally marks or perhaps a counter. pondered her thoughts while she shifted, ever-so-slightly, in the over-sized jacket. "I'm sure it wasn't an issue for you at all, Seiren. You're really good." pulled the eldest cyborg’s attention away from problematic roominess of the fabric and to her roommate. It took a few seconds for Seiren to fully register what Maxine was saying, blinking in the meantime. Finally, the teenager sent the other female a rather miniscule smirk, her words obviously trying to be ‘friendly’ but masked by coldness. ”You’re not too bad yourself, Max... A couple more years and you’ll be finishing your assignments faster than they can assign them.”. As soon as Seiren’s words finished, the other cyborg was handing her a semi-soiled jacket. "You can wipe all that on this if you want.". Merely responding with a simple nod, the assassin grasped the fabric from her roommate before wiping a corner on her face. The majority of the blood came off from her cheek but there was still a faint smear of crimson present. As the unstable cyborg began to wipe the blood from her hands, she casted a frosty glance over at Wes.

Samuel was wrenched back into reality by a gentle shake from his partner. He still felt abit sleepy though, having just woken up. From his left he heard her voice, full of excitement and urgency, "Samuel, They said we were going to land soon!". Alices voice was quicky followed through by a quiet -click- as she swiftly buckled his seatbelt for him. Samuel looked over to his left to see how she was and, as he had expected, she was bouncing up and down with the biggest smile he had ever seen plastered across her face. This trip must've been her first to New York so of course she would be happy; her brain was probably bulging with new found knowledge and experiences. There was no doubt that she would spend hours telling Max and Seiren story upon story when the got back. As he though about this a few other reason came to mind, all quite depressing, leaving Samuel hoping that meeting her friends was the main reason for Alices enthusiasm about returning to base.

Unfortunatley when Samuel got home his routine would be very different. The briefcase of reports would have to be delivered, verified then reviewed and he'd then have to plan out a schedule for the week; Thi was the was the most "fun" he was going to have today. Not that he minded though, Getting the tedious stuff out the way first would be best for him and Alice; giving him one less thing to stress about and more time to spend with her. They were both much safer in the agency too, not becuase of the actual defense system but the rumors about it. Most people heard about the agencys building through associates and atleast three quarters of those people would actually believe in their exaggerations about evaporator rays and laser shooting satelites.

Whilst Samuel was thinking up names for various weapons people might believe in and considering as to whether they were possible to create or not a quiet -bing- sounded throughout the aircraft, grabbing his attention. Seconds later the captains voice could be heard through the cabin, "Could all crew now take their seats, We are coming in for landing." and was followed by another irritating -bing-. Samuel watched a airhostest quickly prance by, moving to buckle into small seats hidden away. He was looking forward to their landing, as he did with every landing, becuase he enjiyed observing how the pilots handled their crafts and waht techniques they decided to use. Often he would sit in the window seat and watch the wings but Alice had beaten him to it this time, He wasnt too bothered though.

Walter

Walter remained quiet for the trip back to the trip back to SWA headquarters. After a few hours of driving, Walter stepped out of the vehicle, and entered the SWA building, carrying his briefcase with him. He opened the doors, entered wordlessly, tossed his suitcase onto the ground, nearby, and left it there. The place was nice. It wasn't a mansion, but it was a nice place. He lived within the headquarters, in a rather spartan room. Walter had several briefcases in the corner of his room, filled with his things. Other than that, there was only a bed. And of course, a closet full of the same outfit. Walter changed his clothes, into an identical set. His jacket was replaced by another one, and he took off his, and threw it onto the bed, before coming back out. Walter's suitcase was still there, where he left it. Good, good, good. Now, there was only one thing left to do. Walter washed his hands, rolled up his sleeves, and went to the fridge, to cook. He managed to buy some foie gras, and he has been waiting to eat it for a while. Nothing fancy, he didn't really care too much about what he himself ate, and right now, he just wanted a snack. He took some of the salt-cured foie gras, and made a simple sandwich. If someone saw what he was doing to the foie gras, he would imagine they would scoff, but Walter had no idea. Another thought came to him. Maybe Seiren would want some. She hates cold food, so he would have to cook it. After a short time, he made a soup, nice and hot, for Seiren, before writing a sticky note with Seiren's name on it, and then leaving both at the table. From there, it was off to the computer with Walter. Maybe he could find a nice lead for a potential mission while enjoying the sandwich.

Alice had unbuckled and grabbed her bag, but before she could think of getting it off the plane, Beth ran over to where Alice and her handler. She reached over to Alice and happily handed her a drawing pad, pointing at the drawing. "I hope you don't mind, Alice, but I drew a picture of you and that cowboy singer from Times Square! Do you like it?" Beth inquired excitedly.

Alice couldn't contain the squeal of excitement that escaped through her smile. "I love it! It's amazing!" Alice leapt on her roommate, not worrying if they toppled over. "I'm definitely framing this and hanging it up!" Alice giggled, carefully closing the pad and handing it back to Beth. She grabbed her hand, walking off the plane with her. "I can't wait to get back and show everyone. The ride shouldn't be that long."



Alice leapt out of the car, despite the fact that it was still rolling to a stop. She didn't spot any sign of the other girls, but they might have been in their room. "Are Max and Seiren back yet," she asked on of the scientists passing by in the hall.

"No. They haven't arrived yet." He passed by Alice as if she were nothing. But all she was allowed to do at the moment was stick her tongue out when his back was turned. The small girl ran back to Samuel, throwing herself onto his back.

"They aren't back yet," she pouted.

---

"You’re not too bad yourself, Max... A couple more years and you’ll be finishing your assignments faster than they can assign them." Max put on her dull smile and nodded. That was her secret goal, even if it wasn't so secret. Her want and need for training had never been more driven.



Max exited the van, taking her bloodied jacket and weapons case with her. She would make a quick stop by her room then head straight to the training course.

No, Wes wants to take me out for ice cream, she remembered. I'll definitely go afterwards.

"Sir, I'm going to drop all of this off in my room." Max dismissed herself, making her way to her room. She didn't see much use for her jacket, so she just threw it in a dumpster on her way around. Max could sense someone close by, only assuming it was the always energetic Alice or Beth. Her sense was right, causing her to topple to the floor, Alice giggling on top of her.

"I missed you! I have to show you the picture Beth drew of me and a cowboy in his underwear singing together. It was awesome! Chris and Samuel didn't look to amused, but I don't really care what they thought. I was having so much fun!" Max got up and picked up her case, entering her room.

"Sounds like you had a lot of fun."

"I did! Next time, we have to go to New York, all four of us! Okay?"

"I'll go if Wes goes," Max said simply.

It was a boring ride home to say the least. At least he knew that in the car it would be quiet, which it was. Chris simply looked out the window enjoying the view. He liked the feel of home. It was comfortable and he felt as if he could relax. As he watched the bubbling Alice bounce out of the moving car he let a small smirk crease his lips. He definitely had to give props to Samuel. He didn't think he could handle a female more outgoing than Beth, let alone a younger one. As they got out the car, he walked over to Beth. "Do you want to develop these pictures with me?" He asked. "If you do, you can put your things away and meet me in the Lab." Afterwards he then proceeded to talk to Samuel. "It seems you have allot of paperwork to do. Tomorrow we should combine the information we have and see if we find any new leads." With that, he headed to the Laboratory. Inside he would find a dark room that he could use for photo development. It wasn't the most exciting thing he was made to do, but it was definitely one of his favorites. It took time and it was quiet. If he had to he would compare it to fishing. It really put his mind at ease.

As soon as the hatches hissed opened, stairs now connected, Samuel was rushing out the plane, his right hand grasping the briefcase and left holding onto Alice's small hand. They moved through the crowded airport quickly, picking up what little luggage they had before stepping out into the narrow pickup area. Amongst all the trucks and cars was a vehicle Samuel knew quite well, A bulky black jeep with tinted windows; its engine purred quietly as the driver sat patiently. Samuel watched Chris and Beth climbing into the vehicle before he himself stepped onboard and helped Alice who followed. The driver turned and glanced at them from his seat, nodding once before slamming the vehicle into gear and starting on his route to the agency.



About half an hour later the vehicle came to a shuddering halt, its destination now in sight. Alice was the first to disembark though didn't go far before turning right around and hoping onto his back. Beth was much clamer, staying for a moment to speak to chris. Samuel couldn't quite make out what they were saying though, only a word or two got through to him. He guessed it was something about photos, nothing of any major importance. Chris then turned to him and started to speak, "It seems you have a lot of paper work to do. Tomorrow we should combine the information we have and see if we find any new leads." then he walked off, leaving Samuel alone with Alice. He kneeled down and let her climb off his back before turning to face her directly. He spoke to her slowly, occasionally pausing "Alice, You go inside, Ill be awhile, Find me later". And like that she scurried off, leaving Samuel on his own.

For a few minutes he stood very still, staring into the distance. He knew others would think this to be odd, his boss might even shout at him for such actions but Samuel didn't care; He was taking a minute think and to remind himself of something very important. As he pondered upon these things a smile appeared, however it was quick to fade when Samuel returned from the depths of his mind and quickly dashed into the agency with his briefcase. After some walking this briefcase found its way onto an old ebony desk of some importance where it was to stay for the rest of the day. The figure sitting in the seat behind this desk quickly signalled for Samuel to leave as he set down the briefcase, telling him to go do as he wished. From here Samuel wasn't entirely sure what to do, Until he got a basic plan for this week from an member of staff he couldn't form a proper routine for himself or Alice. So he decided to go look for Alice instead and found himself roaming through the facility, peering into open rooms and through small windows, looking for any hint of her location.

---

Seiren gave a small, slightly exasperated, sigh as the van pulled up in front of the SWA headquarters...the place she was to call “home”. Quickly scanning the cement parking lot from behind the pane of glass, the eldest cyborg duly noted the other vehicles resting haphazardly throughout the area... it could only mean one thing. The others were back. My... I can’t wait until Beth sees me like this. came her grim thoughts as her oceanic eyes latched onto the vast splashes of scarlet soiling her alabaster skin. Wordlessly, the assassin rose from her seat to follow her roommate out into the sun.. of course, not before sending a slight peek over her shoulder at Watler.

---

The second her soft-soled boots came into contact with the concrete was the second Seiren regretted getting out of the car. Almost instantaneously, rays of watery sunlight began to attack her light-sensitive orbs with a stinging sensation.. not exactly the most pleasurable experience. A small 'tch' of annoyance was given by the cyborg as she, almost hastily, crossed the parking lot in attempt to escape the sunlight’s brutality. Seiren could withstand many events or objects.. however the sun was one that the cyborg simply couldn’t dismiss... as much as she desperately wish she could. Slipping like a phantom through the front door, dimness consumed her being (much to her joy). However, just as she was about to set a foot on the white flooring, a loud clearing of a throat made her freeze. Sliding that frosty gaze over, Seiren took in two women, obviously from the cleanup division, pointedly staring at the soaked boots. A few moments passed, a clock ticked rather noisily in the background, before the teenager bent down to slowly unzip her boots. Don’t want blood on your clean floors, huh? Isn’t that your job though.. to clean up. hissed the annoyed thoughts as the eldest finally managed to take off both of her shoes. Immediately, cold seeped it's way through the soles of her daintily crafted feet before shooting up the entirety of her core.. however, she took little note of it. Tossing the boots to the mid-aged women, much to their alarm, Seiren swiftly shed the coat Walter had given her earlier, as well as her own cloak, before adding it to their tower. Not even bothering to wait around, the unstable cyborg walked down the halls to her shared room. Tmp. Tmp. Tmp. softly resonated in the closed space, the sound inhumanely soft. In an odd way of sorts, it was almost melodic.. that is, when you looked past the underlying sinister tone that was so craftily hidden by the sound.

---

Approaching the room in which both Max and Seiren dwelled, two female voices snaked their way into the approaching cyborg’s mind....one was overly energetic, the other more solemn. Once again mimicking the sigh from earlier, the eldest teenager walked through her door.. only to be greeted by the sight of Alice and Max planning a future trip. Trying her hand at not interrupting, Seiren gave a simple, small nod showing she acknowledged the other cyborg’s presence before brushing past the pair of girls. Fluidly crossing the room and passing under the threshold of the bathroom’s door, the bloodied girl lightly kicked the door closed. ”Well... time to clean up I guess...” mused the stoic voice as she quickly went to work stripping her body of the soiled fabric. Turning on the hot water, without a pause, Seiren stepped under it’s cleansing stream. In amusement, the cyborg spent a minute or two watching the water run a bright shade of red before quickly going to work at scrubbing the tainted skin back to it's original state.

---

Within a few moments, the water was turned off and Seiren, once more, was restored to her “normal” appearance. Wrapping her naked form in a towel, the eldest cyborg stepped over the heap of blood-soaked rags and out the bathroom door. Once more, not really saying anything to the pair of young girls, the teenager closed the space between the door and the closet space set aside for herself. Pulling out the designated outfit, a clean pair mind you, Seiren promptly dropped the towel and started to get dressed. As much as she would have loved to dry her hair, there wasn't any time. So, in a few heart beats, the cyborg was off to find her handler.

---

Passing through the house, it only took a minute or so for Seiren to track down her handler .. who was at the computer by the kitchen. Of course. Ignoring the sensation of her damp hair brushing against the backs of her knees, the cyborg finally spoke. As usual, her tone was reserved and ever-so-slightly, icy. ”You said we would talk later. So here I am.”.

Beth

Beth beamed at her handler. "Of course! I'd love to develop the pictures with you, Chris!"

Beth worked quickly, dropping off her pad and other unimportant items in the room she shared with Alice. Once that was done, Beth checked herself in the mirror, making sure that her appearance was acceptable and clean. With that settled, she got out of her room and hurried over to the Lab where Chris was working at, finding him in no time. She walked up to her handler and grinned, giving him a playful salute.

"Beth reporting for duty, sir!" the young cyborg chirped with a slight giggle.

She always did love it when Chris invited her to help out with developing pictures, both personal and mission-oriented. It always seemed to relax her handler, and any activity that allowed her to spend more time with her partner always made Beth cheerful.

"So, what are we working on first?" Beth inquired.

Wes

While Max took her time cleaning up from the previous mission and catching up with her fellow cyborgs, Wes paid a visit to his workstation and set about typing up his report on the mission in California. It had been a simple and quick 'find and exterminate' mission, so he didn't have a lot to detail in the report itself. He did make a note about Seiren's behavior during the op, but he knew that the higher-ups wouldn't do much about that little fact. Past experience had proven that, so far.

Wes finished up his report and handed it off to his assistant, to be brought directly to the people in charge of the Social Welfare Agency. With that complete he made his way over to the cyborg dorms, and waited outside near Max's room, ready to take her over to the cafeteria for some ice cream, as he had promised.

Alice has made a cyborg-burrito out of Max's sheets on her bed as she rattled on about New York. All Max could think about was how loud and crowded it had to be. "Hey! Do you want to go train? I've been dying to ever since that boring recon."

"Wes promised me ice cream. I'm supposed to meet him soon." Alice's fake gasp was somewhat expected.

"You? Max? Turning down training for ice cream?!" Max didn't see what was so funny. It seemed that the fact she was a train-o-holic was obvious to everyone but her. "That's fine," Alice continued, holding up her music player, "I'll be fine on my own."

Max nodded back to Seiren as she left, not having to have bothered with her hair. She must have been ordered to Walter's side. Max to the opportunity to take up the bathroom, washing her face and switching into her favorite orange shirt. It was almost habit for her to tuck in the shorter shirts and dress like a boy. Alice on the other hand was almost always in a skirt. She argued that it was easier to move in. But either way, Max prefered pants. Both girls left their room at the same time, walking together until they had to split ways. It just so happened that they were still together when Max picked up Wes' scent outside the doors. "You seriously have to teach me how you do that," Alice said, running out the doors to meet Wes.

"Hi Wes! How was the mission?" Alice smiled up at him, grabbing onto his arm. Max came out shortly after and made her way to Wes' side. "I got to sing in New York with a cowboy that had a guitar and nothing on but his underwear! Beth drew us and it is perfect! I'll show you when I show Max! But I am going to shoot for a bit, so bye!" And with that, the small girl bounded off towards the training building.

"Sorry if I took to long, sir." Max said not long after Alice disappeared.

Walter finished the delicious sandwich, and began think about what to do next. As he turned on the computer, he thought about what to do. The mission was good, and he needed to send in his report. A simple mission only needed a simple report. Walter typed it up very quickly. Walter was good at typing and using a computer. His fingers moved with an almost supernatural level of dexterity and speed. He wasn't an olympic-level typist, but he was very good. the report was done very shortly after Walter began to type. In the report, Walter included Seiren's behavior report, and noted what happened. What happened wasn't too bad, and it didn't jeopardize the mission, but Walter wished that level of violence did not happen. Maybe he should limit Seiren to non-lethal weapons. To be honest, it probably wouldn't work, and it wasn't going to make her any more versatile. Rather, she may just kill people with her fists. Well, whatever. Walter was selected as her Handler because he was deemed capable enough to handle her. She shouldn't have her weapons swapped out. She should just use them in a different way. She was really combat oriented. Well, whatever. With that, Walter let his mind wander. He began to browse the internet while he thought of something. There was a lead, not more noteworthy than the others Walter was thinking of, and a lot more hard to follow than the normal one. Natasha Wright. Not a noteworthy case, compared to a few others. A CIA agent who vanished, and now was considered a dangerous individual. How she got so much money was anyone's guess, but what she did with it seems to be alarming CIA members. In fact, Walter wouldn't be surprised if the SWA got a call to find and apprehend her. The SWA was capable, funded, secretive, and had a lot of support staff. Hearing light footsteps, Walter closed the tab of LOLCats he drifted to, and turned in his chair. It was Seiren, cleaned up, with wet hair, falling to her knees. Walter couldn't help but wonder how much it dripped on her way here. She spoke.

”You said we would talk later. So here I am.”

Walter replied, short and sweet, in a mostly neutral manner, but rather than coldness in his voice, this time it held more of a feeling of message conveyance. As if trying to make a point, or accurately transcribe an idea.

"Make sure you don't kill when killing is unnecessary. Life has value, too. Also, I made a very good, expensive meal for you on the table in the kitchen. I think you'll like it, since it's probably still warm."

Walter smiled, the edges of his lips angling upwards, before he turned back to the computer. As soon as he did, several things that looked like spam messages popped up on his screen. Walter's lack of reaction, when seen from the back, was almost comical, until he actually read the messages and looked at the pictures. It looked like a new mission came up. And, speaking of the devil, it was to apprehend Natasha Wright.

"Get ready to leave soon, Seiren, and make sure all of your weapons are loaded," Walter said, before forwarding the messages, that looked like spam, to all the handlers at the base.

Samuel caught up with Alice just as she neared the training building, having caught sight of her only minutes earlier through an open window. Slowly he crept up to her side, not actually doing so in an attempt to hide but rather just because he didn't likenbeing too loud. When he found Alice to be within arms reach he softly tapped her on the shoulder, interrupting her attempt at opening the training facilities door. As she turned to face him Samuel nodded towards her, moving to push open the door to the training facility as he spoke. "So Alice, Your pitching in some free time for training?" He asked, a curious expression plastered across his face.

Usually Alice would be hanging around with Max or the other cyborgs, It almost surprised Samuel that she had chosen to come here alone. Not that he disapproved of this kind of thing though, Training was really important for these kids. They weren't invincible and most certainly weren't immune to the decay in skill of rarely used abilities. For these kids who were on the field every day practice was of some importance and could mean life or death. Samuel was pretty sure that if the agency was given their way with these kids then training all they would be doing. Fortunately though these kids were trusted into the hands of other people. Samuel knows that these people who are assassins and soldiers aren't the best choice for taking care of a kid but at least they aren't murderers who cherish the blood of their foes.

"So Alice, Your pitching in some free time for training?" He asked, a curious expression plastered across his face.

"Beth is developing pictures from New York with Chris. Wes is taking Max to the cafeteria for ice cream. And Seiren is who knows where. Besides, I didn't get to do anything like this in New York." Alice had her Glock 32 stashed in a broken drawer near the door so she wouldn't have to haul it all the way to the building. It only had abit of dust on it which she quickly wiped away with a bit of her small green sundress. Her hair was already gathered in a ponytail, so all she had to do was take off the saftey. "Are you gonna watch me?" she asked with a smile and eyes like stars looking at Samuel.

Either way, Alice jumped through the first door, closing it roughly behind her. "Alright," she got against the wall and pressed the button that said begin. The first room was all bad guys that wouldn't have a chance if they were more than cardboard cut-outs. But once she got to the second room, the hostages and bystanders started to pop up. To her, it was sometimes hard to tell the difference. Everytime she knew she hit the wrong one, she cringed, but shoved on. By the time she came to the end of the maze, she was staring intently at her gun. Alice couldn't blame the gun. It only did what it was meant to do. "Ohhh well," she shrugged. "Better run through it again."

It was all the same, the second, third, even fourth time. Max and Seiren never had that issue. They only hit who they were supposed to hit, even if Seiren went overboard. It reminded her of when she was the newest edition and had close to no knowledge of how to work a gun. She looked straight down the barrel of her loaded gun to 'observe' more closely. If Max hadn't shoved the barrel away, Alice might have been the shortest-lived cyborg ever.Sometimes she felt like she still had more than enough to learn. "So Sam," she shouted, assuming hecould hear her. "Have you heard anything about any mission? Any interesting ones?"