Wes Thornton's Story

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Wes

Wes looked off as Alice retreated, a bemused smile on his face. He looked back over at Max, giving her a reassuring nod. "It's fine, Max. It wasn't a long wait. Now let's go get you some ice cream."

He reached down and took her hand in his, and soon they were off, briskly walking over to the cafeteria. A few minutes later they arrived, and Wes went over to get Max her sweets. He returned to her shortly with two ice cream cones, one for both of them. They sat down at a table, and Wes gestured for his partner to eat, as he took a bite out of his own vanilla ice cream cone. Not the most unique of flavors, perhaps, but Wes certainly liked it best. Sometimes the classics had a good thing going for them.

"How do you like your ice cream, Max?" Wes inquired kindly, smiling down at her.

Beth

"Alright! Sounds good to me, Chris!" Beth cheerily replied. She took the offered slide holders, and set to work developing the pictures. She worked contently for a good while, humming softly as she did her job.

"Have you heard anything about us going on a new mission soon, Chris?" Beth asked casually, curious. She wouldn't mind a little time to rest and relax, of course, but she was always eager to get out in the field and do some good work. Especially considering the fact that her previous assignment with Alice had been nothing more than a simple recon mission in NYC. Not that that hadn't been great, of course, but Beth was more than a little impatient to engage in some real action. After all, she and the other girls were conditioned to be superb killers. It only made sense that she wanted to work out her talent a little, especially if she could impress Chris at the same time.

"It's fine, Max. It wasn't a long wait. Now let's go get you some ice cream." Wes lightly took Max's hand is his, leading the way to the cafeteria. Once they arrived, Max was only temporarily left alone so Wes could retrieve the ice cream but was back shortly. He had a vanilla cone and a strawberry cone and handed Max the pinkish red hued one.

"Thank you," she said and once it was made clear she could begin eating, she stared blankly at the cone, licking the odd cold treat occasionally. It was interesting how some would drip off the cone and onto her small fingers. It was cold no matter what. She always wondered why it would still be cold if it was melting. But Max was a genius with guns and weaponry, not ice cream.

"How do you like your ice cream, Max?" her handler asked kindly.

"It's really good," the young girl said plainly. "Thank you." Max looked up at Wes a blank smile on her face. It is rude to look depressed and say thank you, Alice always told her, You have to smile so they know it is sincere. max really did appreciate Wes taking time to treat her, it was just hard for her to show sometimes. "If you have work to do, I can go train so I'm not a bother." Max was only half way through her cone when she set it down on a napkin, grabbing another to wipe off her hand before she continued. "Alice should be down there. We could work together. I've noticed her shooting still needs work."




"I got a mail about one here! Check it out!" Alice ran over to her handler's voice, sitting and holding the phone at the ready for her. She pulled the screen close, reading every word twice.

"Yes," she screamed, jumping up and down, backwards and forwards. Her gun was safely on the couch, safety on, so her bouncing off the walls was only concern to some one who might walk through the door and get attacked by her excitement. I'm so excited, I can't wait to hear the details! I wonder what we get to do? Do you think we get to do some really cool action-like stuff this time?" Alice continued to bombard her handler with questions and theories, plans and suggestions. Alice somehow wormed her way behind Samuel in the chair and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'm so, so, so, soooo excited!" She bounced with every word and squeezed him out of happiness, but not tight to the point to where he couldn't breathe.

And so she left. Walter didn't have a problem with Seiren's stoic behavior. It was fine, to him. He never really thought it somehow detracted from her expression. It was probably something Walter alone seemed to think. Well, whatever, time for a new mission. Walter was already ready, in terms of clothes. His suitcase was where he left it. He didn't get a call from Samuel, who typically made plans for the missions, nor did anyone else seem to be immediately ready. There were some things Walter could do to pass the time. He could follow Seiren, but he decided to leave her be for now. He'd come back to her, and together they could wait for the others. Walter decided to see how the others were doing, first. Entering the training room, he saw no one inside. Seeing no one around, Walter picked a handgun as a weapon form the selection, A simple SO-COM pistol. Walter held it in his hand, before twirling it around his finger. He cherished the feeling, the weight, the things the handgun were to him. He had not used one in a long time. His skill were rusty, and, while there was no need to use one, for him who had other weapons, Walter couldn't help himself. He was born on a battlefield, and raised in it. Throughout all the allegiances he had gone through, with different people and organizations, Walter hardly ever complained. He just fought. It was in his nature to fight. He immediately stopped twirling the gun, and in a motion that seemed too quick for even practiced officers, he whipped it forward, stopping it right when a target was in his sights. A bulls-eye seemed imminent, but Walter did not pull the trigger. He couldn't pull the trigger. He knew all too well, why. His choice of weapons was oddly devoid of a handgun, when in the field. Walter wasn't fighting for whoever told him to, anymore. He honestly liked being in the Agency, and conducting manners in their way, because they were something Walter could believe in. His weapons that he used were almost entirely for special operations. Even when loaded with lethal rounds, he didn't look forward to harming his opponents. He didn't think much of it, other than that he would hate doing such things, except on a mission.

Oh, right. The mission.

Walter had gotten lost in thoughts again. He put the gun back where it was, and jogged out of the training room, into the lobby where Alice and Sam were. He didn't pause his jog to the exit, to his suitcase, but he did smile and wave at Sam and Alice briefly, before running out the door, and arriving to his briefcase a short bit later. Grabbing it, he opened it, checked to see his equipment was all there, and loaded, and that he had plenty of ammunition, before going to go wander around with it in his hand. Maybe he would run into Seiren, or any of the others, again.

Wes

"Sure, you can go ahead and go practice with Alice, if you want to, Max." Wes replied, as he finished off his ice cream cone. He wiped his sticky fingers with a napkin, and felt his cell phone vibrate in his jeans. He reached into his pocket and fished the phone out. He turned it on and scanned through a list of new emails he had gotten. One in particular caught his attention; the email itself contained details for a new mission.

"On second thought, you might have to wait on that." Wes began apologetically, as he put his phone away. "Seems like we have another mission waiting for us."

A new mission so soon? This was surprising. Usually they were all allowed a little R&R before going on another mission. The higher ups must have thought this was extremely urgent if they were sending them back out into the field so soon again. Perhaps they had only just found out Natasha Wright's current location; yes, that might make sense. In that case, they'd want them to immediately act on this information.

"Go ahead and get ready for the mission, Max. I'm sure we'll all get assembled together soon enough for a mission briefing." Wes added, as he stood up from his chair. Good thing he hadn't even had the time to unpack his gear, yet. That would save him some time.