Penn had set his helmet and data pad down, giving his full attention to Carolina as he started to speak, and as he really began, Penn could already see the stress cracks and fractures in the man who had seemed so, well, together the night before. The situation the man described sounded harrowing, and rather illegal as well. It was a gross violation of normal operating procedure for sims, such simulated long term events could cause some serious damage. From what he understood from the medical folks, at any rate, they used a lot of in house techno babble for their medical. But that was not what the focus was, Carolina was cooked, unsure of whether this was reality or not alone was an indicator of that. But it was not unexpected, from the situation described. But Penn didn't interrupt the man as he began into the big part of his confession, if that was the right word, to the man. Penn was confirmed in his thinking from the declarations of a shattered mind and personality from Carolina. Even if he hadn't said anything, his eyes spoke enough. They reminded him of some soldiers he had seen, that empty, scared look of a man too long lost to the times of war and pain. Penn wasn't sure what kind of man he had known in the simulation, but apparently it was clear that one, they shared the same codename and two, he was transposing memories of that time onto this one. Not surprising, really, considering what they had done. He would have to tread carefully, his initial plans of roaring into the offices and raising holy hell gone now. It might be wiser to keep on the down low, gather information from the background and pick up on what was going on that was so screwy. Carolina seemed to get more control as he finished speaking, and Penn rose, resting a hand on the other Agent's shoulder and finally speaking. "Your not the only one who's picking up on something going on. I think all our tests were rigged in some way, shape, or form. Some worse than others. This'll seem like hollow words, but your going through a hell most can't imagine, mentally. Just keep going, you'll come out on the other side in time. I'll be keeping an eye and ear out, more so now then I originally planned. Appreciate you telling me all this, and I won't go spreading it around and about to people. This stays on the down low until the time to act is clear." Penn would be keeping an eye on Carolina though, even if medical helped him out, these kind of things needed to be watched carefully.

Iowa managed to convince his escorts that he was fine after some time, he was angry still but he’d let most of it go. He had to contact his previous Commanding Officer there was no way that the head of this mission had the rank to access the file, I was told it had been removed. **“This is Commander Presley Quarter master of the UNSC black wolf how can I be of service is that you, bloody hell Ale-”** **“It’s agent Iowa now sir. Would there be any chance someone from outside the UNSC would have access to the file of mission ‘black widow’? ”** **“It’s nice to see you too, the only copies of that file are in the hands of the current Exec’s of the UNSC. Why, I’m sure I could get them for y-”** **“Thanks but I just needed to know how access able they were. I’ll speak to you later I’ve got to do my shift on the medical ward, And it was nice talking to you, F.I.L.S.S disconnect, and see if you can fit in an appointment with the head of this operation”** he grabbed his Data pad and left the room, his eyes were still red so kept his visor on one way mode. F.I.L.S.S replied after some time; **“I’m sorry agent Iowa but it seems that the director’s schedule is full could you try another date possibly?”** **“It’s alright F.I.L.S.S just see when you can find the next space, I might need an hour”** Iowa was so focused upon talking to F.I.L.S.S he had forgotten to eat. ‘I better get something or I’m going to perish just before my duties’ I grab a sandwich and spot North and South. He placed his tray down calmly, sat down and took his helmet off **“I hope I’m not intruding, but I couldn't let you two just sit and eat on your own. I’ve got to go soon, F.I.L.S.S enrolled me onto a medical course to check out my medical abilities. What about you two anything planned for this afternoon?”** He wouldn’t normally use small talk like that but he understood that they might not want to bring up the subject of the simulations. And personally he would prefer if they didn’t ask his mission still brings back bad memories.

Carolina walked slowly towards the medical bay, he was in control, just like back in mountains, all he had to do was repress the thoughts of the place, yet as he had spent so much time there he almost longed for it. Things their were tough and the fight were grueling but he made friends, he told stories... He could trust people. Now, every crew member he passed, every agent who gave him a nod of the head, they were all scary, his world had been shattered. Yet one task allowed him to nod back in return, to smile at lovely young women who walked past him as if he was fine, revenge. He had arrived in medical to find the doctor had already prepared the many pills he would have to start taking. He nodded and thanked the man, wondering if the doctor had any idea how he a perfectly healthy man like himself developed that many brain problems so quickly. He took the first dose and headed towards the mess hall, getting himself a hearty plate of food he sat down silently beside North and South. Still in his armor the bench creaked under his weight, he took off his helmet looking between the siblings he began to eat, getting half through his meal he stopped. "Let me guess, you too worked out all the tests were made to be failed? Trust me, whatever you too thought was bad in there, it gets worse, I know it will." His didn't do that thing were you felt like he learned everything about you all at once, he just stared at his food. Whatever had happened was serious. He looked at South and then to North. His mind wanted him to hug South tightly, she was alive not dead like they had thought when they had to leave her, North screaming her name as he and Penn pulled him away from the advancing force. He shook his head and flashed a smile at them both. "Don't worry though, I've already been through Hell, so you two are going to be fine. I promise." He seemed... Sincere and genuinely concerned by the way his voice sounded. Carolina felt guilty, guilty that he hadn't saved South in his Sim, guilty for North betrayal, he had shown signs for the past month that he was cracking. If he hadn't trusted him... he'd still be in the mountains, his mind being eroded away slowly. Still he felt he owed them, if anyone was going to survive this, he planned to make sure those two did.

Penn had returned to his room, and on a thought, swept it for any monitoring devices. Bugs, as some called them, and disposed of the ones he could find. He wasn't hungry, and he rummaged through some of his belongings, eventually digging out an old book, far older than the Agent was. He hadn't ditched the armor yet, and sat down on the ground rather than risk stress damage to the furniture. His armor was more prone to that then most. Gently opening the book, half the pages were blank, the other half filled with a half legible scrawl that was Penn's handwriting. It was an honest to god journal, no electricity, no digital displays, just an honest to god book. Next to the book was a recorder, which was a verbal log of his journal musings and writings, more candid than that written in the book. Feeling secure about the room now, having found what he could, he began writing, the recording device also starting, picking up from the last time he had used the two. The background noise on the recorder was always the same, quiet, except for the sound of pen on paper, and Penn's own voice. "Journal and Log of Agent Pennsylvania, continued from previous entry. The testing has gone well until today, where everything turned into a mess. No one walked away from that round of tests unscathed. I have...Forget this formal bullshit. North and South looked traumatized, and as far as I can tell, they got off easiest. Iowa looked inches away from murdering people outright, and Carolina...poor bastard is broken, gone and broken. He won't ever be the same, not where it matters. I don't consider my own tests a failure, not due to my actions. Provided with grossly useless equipment and intel does not saddle responsibility for failure onto the Agent. But, these last rounds of tests, something is off. I can't say what, but someone is looking for something very specific, very clear. To them, but not to me. I have my concerns and fears, I'm sure the rest of the agents do. Hell, I compiled a list of tech specs and info that indicates the borderline impossible nature of my test parameters. But I'm not sharing them, not with what I know now. I need to bide my time and wait, see what comes of all this. Its not going to be easy, not with the distrust and pain each Agent is no doubt going through now. For now, thats all that I got for the log. End Entry." Penn sighed, standing up from the floor, stashing his things away again. Some days he wondered why he still bothered with that thing. And the same answer always returned. For when he died, someone could go back, find it, and see what the man was thinking on a regular basis. Kind of a long running statement, he supposed. But he still wasn't hungry, and he walked out of his quarters and started roaming the halls of the ship, waiting for the recall or some sort of information to be put out. It was a rare event where he didn't want to seek anyone out. He wanted to think in peace, and left his helmet on now, data tablet still with him all the way. No, unless he ran into someone, he wasn't going to be discussing things with anyone right now, if he had his way that was. He had enough information to sift through.

“You wanna talk about it?” The words caused North to look up sharply from his food, South sitting there quietly and smiling at him reassuringly. He smiled back but eventually shook his head. “Not really. It’s all done now as far as I’m concerned, the sooner we get over it and forget the better.” South smiled a little brighter and nodded back. North had been one of the first to complete his simulation, so he’d seen many of the other agents leave after their tests. Some didn’t come out at all. As far as he was concerned he and South had gotten off easy based off other’s reactions. Or else they just took it better. They had each other though, an almost constant source of reassurance. Maybe that was why. Or maybe it was simply that because the other was there they were able to accept that it wasn’t real. When they were joined by Iowa both shared reassuring smiles with the other agent. They were there for each other, but they were also forming quick bonds with some of the other agents and certainly they’d be there for any of them too. North looked over at South at the comment. “I was actually planning on taking this one here over to one of the training rooms, seeing if we can get her some combat training.” South looked down slightly, embarrassed. North knew she had issues killing or even hurting other people. And he was trying to help. Carolina arrived soon after and he sat down silently. Both siblings gave each other concerned looks and South offered him a sympathetic smile. However at his look North’s face became grave. “I can’t think of many things worse than what happened in there.” “I can.” South echoed emptily. Despite everything, she couldn’t imagine what life would be like if she lost North. Dying was one thing, but having to live without him… she couldn’t think of an emptier world. “But that’s beside the point. They’re over now. And they weren’t real. There shouldn’t be any more testing, from what I’ve heard. I was told that there won’t be any results until tomorrow though, too many variables and some shit like that they have to calculate in.” She rolled her eyes slightly. “Sounds like a load of BS to me.”

Carolina came and sat down with the twins and himself, **“Carolina, I presume I can’t believe this is the first time we've talked. I'm Iowa,”** He stuck out his hand for him to shake. **“I understand you've had a rough time, so I won’t ask about it, What about you, have you got anything planned for this after noon?”** He waited for a response and moved replied to North **“Hey, I don’t blame you, In my opinion any person here could be training, of the likely hood is of course that they’re men like myself who prefer to avoid dropping dead from exhaustion before the day has ended, now if it wasn't for F.I.L.S.S trying to out smart me I’d probably be looking up the next Griffball match, which reminds me It’s going to be the final soon and my previous partner (Military of course Don’t get any idea's south)”** he said sarcastically **“I need to remind her to record it for me, she's a good friend.”** Iowa replied in a jokey type of tone, whilst taking a bite of his sandwich between sentences. **“Hey South, don’t be so dim about it, they probably did the worst thing they could possibly do to make you fail, I know that’s what they did to me,”** He pointed at a scar underneath his chin **“A Failure that I wanted to forget.”** Iowa realised he was dropping his tone again and need to reignite the atmosphere of the table **“But anyway I'm sure tomorrow will be full of fantastic adventures and so on.”** He said grabbing his helmet and data pad **“I’ll see you lot around.”** He stood up and left he shouted back to them: **“Oh, and try not to kill yourselves on the training floor, I’d rather prefer it if I didn't have to patch you up on my first shift. Okay F.I.L.S.S, where on this spaceship am I going?”** **“The doctors have asked if they could do a medical examination before you start.”** **“Fantastic, nothing better than being hit with a hammer and kicking you leg.”** **“Setting waypoint for medical bay 004, the doctors are waiting for you.”** **"F.L.I.S.S create a stop over I need to pick something up from my room first."** **"Understood is there anything else Agent Iowa?"** **"That will be all F.I.L.S.S, Thank you."**

As the others dispersed both South and North moved off, South narrowly managing to convince North to hold off on the combat training until tomorrow. It had just been too much of a stressful day. Everyone was drained and right now, despite the fact that she probably needed it, she was just not in the right headspace to be attacking things. Lying there in the quiet of the late hours, since there was still no night or day they really only had the clocks to dictate when they should be trying to sleep and how often they should eat. It may seem odd to some, but the ship did a good job of simulating night and day, it got a few degrees colder at ‘night’ and a lot of the lights were dimmed or turned off all together. South’s mind wondered, as it usually did as North slept. He thought she just slept a lot but her mind was just too active to fall asleep quickly when it was bed time. She pulled out her own data tablet and began just playing around on it. In truth most of the things she ‘heard’ or ‘was told’ she usually simply found out herself though less than encouraged measures. Tonight though, she was just too exhausted to bother hacking into the systems again. In the end she ended up asleep as she usually did, her tablet resting on her chest as she breathed lightly. She hadn't done too much, just checked some of the security footage, it didn’t have anywhere near as much security attached to it as the data files did. Some agents were still being tested, whether because they’d started later or their simulation was just going oddly long she didn’t have time to think about.

Washington and Alaska were separated from the other candidates at all times during the tests they ate at different times trained at different times and slept it different times. The first tests went well for both siblings; Although Washington wasn’t the best with a rifle he made it up in Close quarters combat. Alaska was an all-around player and good at what she did, she had amazing reaction times when in combat, she had special awareness when on the battle field and she could shoot a rat in the head from 50 metres away, They hadn’t spoken to each other since they arrived Wash tried to attempt the start of a conversation many times but Alaska had rejected every opportunity. Finally on their way to canteen Alaska opened up: **“10 years Wash, 10 years, and I heard nothing from you.”** **“Listen it’s-”** **”No, let me speak, I thought you were dead I would use to play your audio files just to hear your voice.”** ** “I’m sorry sis, they restricted my access to radio frequencies, I had no way of contacting you, My CO would’ve had my head had he even heard me talking to anyone.”** **”I understand, but I won’t forgive you.”** **”Love you too sis.”** Once they had eaten they moved into their dorm, they didn’t sleep that night, they just caught up with each other explaining missions, experiences and grieving. They understood that people must be remembered in war no matter what side. Alaska’s simulation: **“Agent Alaska your mission is to infiltrate of Orbital platform and then disarm their main cannon to make way for the cruisers Understood?”** **“Yes sir. One question sir if the Objective is unable to be completed what should I do”** Replied Alaska. **“We’ll inform you if those circumstances come to happen, command out.”** Alaska hopped into to her pelican and ran all the pre-flight checks, it was her first op since coming to the freelancer project she wanted to make it perfect. **“Okay, this Delta Niner 6043 requesting permission to take off”** **“Understood Delta Niner you are clear to go have fun out there.”** The main engines fired and they were of. She had 30 minutes until her ETA so she turned on the mic to the back of the pelican. **”Okay our operation objective is to disarm an orbital cannon from the inside we will be using open ventilation and a surprise to our advantage, if you don’t like that idea you can wait with the pelican.”** The Orbital facility was in sight. Alaska lowered the harnesses and warned for a hard landing, her plan was simple divide the squad into two squads of three. Whilst one team moved to the data banks the other one created a diversion. She spotted the landing bay closest to her objective and ploughed the pelican directly towards it. As soon as the pelican hit the floor, the door flung open and the first pod of the squad moved out guns blazing, the plan was underway the second pod sneaked around the back of the pelican and into the vents, the mission was going to plan. There was a loud explosion and pod 2 came back on the radio **“Alaska we’ve got a problem, we’re out manned and out gunned requesting back up”** **“Denied hold you ground and conserve your ammo Al-“** Another explosion sounded and the radio cut out, she didn’t want to say anything, she had nothing to say as far as she knew she’d just lost her way out of there she moved on with her pod and reached the main objective. The orbital cannon. **“Command we have reached the orbital cannon, what are our orders?”** **“Orders are to take the priming chip that will stop it firing and they’re a pain in the ass to get hold of.” ** **“Understood command, Alaska out.”** She ordered the other two members of her pod to the door. She didn’t want any interruptions she went to the terminal and took the chip and turned around **“Alright let’s- Oh fuck”** Behind her it seemed they had gathered every soldier in the station and held all of her squad mates to gun point. **“The games up freelancer Now let’s be adults her-**” She activated her EMP causing all the shields of the nearby soldiers to fail. She threw her gun at one her squad mates and ran at the commander, unfortunately she forgot to notice the shotgun in his hand “Fu-” he pulled the trigger and released rounds all over her **“Critical mission failure, Agent terminated-”** ** “Oh god F.I.L.S.S in heaven, what on earth am I going to do?” ** “Simulation End” ** the world fell back around Alaska as she shook her head. “That was Bull Shit I can’t believe that test.” She went back to the training room and waited for Wash Washington’s simulation: The operation wasn’t the easiest operation Washington had encountered but neither was it the hardest. His mission was to extract a squad under air bombardment and proceed to eliminate the incoming ground forces. All members of his squad must stay alive. He started off His squad of six under heavy fire. He needed a plan and fast, as far as he could see there were two options, headshots in the aircraft in which would disable the vehicles or using heavy ordinance. He chose option one, moving towards the squad he managed to take out the first pilot allowing the opportune moment to take the Hornet, but instead she gave the option to Alaska, he knew she would be the best in the air, taking a sniper from his back he threw it to the guy in black and blue. He knew he’d be the best shot, and detached a brute shot from a corpse and threw it to the guy in green. He’d kept a special weapon for the tech specialist he handed the woman a data pad with ignition codes for an orbital one cannon, there was no way the team could fail. The sky rumbled as a cruiser descended dropping personnel all over the place. Wash could tell it was going to be an all-out fire fight and most of his squad wasn’t going to make it all he could do was make the squad last as long as they could. **“Okay guys Huddle up, The odds are against us but that’s never stopped anyone,”** He pointed to the guy in red, **“You, create a field and keep it up for as long as your suit can withstand when it fails give me the signal Everyone except the tech create a circular perimeter around the field if anything gets through you better make sure it’s dead, we all know what’s at stake here, Let’s do this”** The troops moved ever closer and rounds started firing using the cover given by Alaska the squad were able to hold before the incident, Alaska lost her first engine and started plummeting to the ground Wash sprinted and jumped up to catch her hornet just as it before it hit the ground applying his aided strength he managed to carry the ship over to the shield and called the combat mechanic over to take a look, it didn’t take long to get her back in the air again It was nearly night fall on the planet surface and by now every member of the team was running low on rounds it was time for the last stage of Washington’s plan everyone hopped into the field and he ordered the firing of the cannon. Using Alaska’s EMP blast he had managed to divert some of the power from the suits of the soldiers into the medic’s shield As soon as the blast hit the dome it refracted all over the battle field disintegrating most of the enemy force, But there was one last dilemma, there was still a cruiser in low orbit and there was no chance of an EVAC with a cruiser, he examined his surroundings and spotted just what he needed, he had one last trick up his sleeve, or armour in this case, he hadn’t hoped to use it but he’d packed some heavy explosives in case the enemy had brought tanks, he’d brought a Spartan laser. He tried firing it but nothing worked, he handed it to his heavy weapons expert, **“do you know how to make a bomb?”** Once the explosive was operational he hopped onto Alaska’s Hornet it was too small to be fired at via mac cannon, it was the perfect vehicle, once inside the cruiser he unloaded the explosives at the drive core, he had no idea what it was but the tech expert had told him to. He mumbled to himself as he ignited the explosives, “Death before glory” he felt a sharp pain as the ship exploded into hyperspace. F.I.L.S.S’s voice came in my head **“Mission failure- Squad member terminated”** The world faded back into reality; it was a simulation, thank god. He went into the waiting room and met up with his sister, **“c’mon let’s get something to eat,”** he said holding his hand for her to get up on **“Thanks,”** They made their way to the canteen each of the sibling noticing squad members from their simulation, it was strange in a way. Washington’s wrist beeped **“Hey guess what sis,”** **“What is it?”** Alaska replied **“F.I.L.S.S has seen it fit that we move rooms”** **"Thank god, I was getting tired of that place it stank of, well you"** **"Yeah I thought so, apparently it's minor upgrade, It means that you're further away from F.I.L.S.S's AI core."** **“Nice, let’s go check it out”** They moved over to their new dorm when someone Knocked into Washington.

Iowa moved from out of his room with his updated Data pad he had now downloaded the latest medical scanner, allowing him to identify any antibody within a range of 100 yards, it was a bit useless and he knew it but he still thought it sounded good when he brought it up In a sentence. He locked his dorm and moved over to the medical ward, He was paying so much attention to his new toy that he never noticed the two Spartans stood in front of him, **“Oh my, I do apologise I can’t believe I didn’t see you, you must be the new guy, and girl, F.I.L.S.S just told me you were coming welcome to the squad, I’m agent Iowa, you must be agent’s Alaska and Washington, nice to meet you in the flesh. I wish I could stay and chat but I’ve got to go and do my medical duty, Nice to see you two”** Iowa left them at the door and walked to medical bay 004 it was nothing more than a normal check-up along with an hour shift of applying cold presses to foreheads of marines injured in training, he didn’t find it the most entertaining thing in the world but the doctor promised him, he would be able to practice D.I.Y surgery next time he came. He moved to his room he needed some rest now, he ended up just collapsing onto is bed and falling asleep if he was lucky he might get an early morning wakeup call from F.I.L.S.S, but he didn’t think about it much instead he just drifted away.

**“It’s alright”** Wash replied. he took off his helmet to reveal his buzz cut black hair, **“Well I guess we’ll see you around”** he said waving towards Iowa as he left. As soon as he was out of sight Alaska practically dragged him into the room. She looked directly at him as I haven’t seen in a while you’ll need to know some ground rules, she threw of her helmet, showing her dark brown hair, and it landed on the bed that she pointed towards, **“if you cross the line between these beds I will literally slice your head clean off,"** **“Yeah, yeah whatever” just get some sleep”** ** ”don’t tempt me you know I will”** **“Agent’s, do not worry about your armour, as you may take it to the locker room in the morning. Rest well”** F.I.L.S.S added Both siblings faded into the abyss of relaxation and their day ended

As everyone else turned in for the night Carolina entered the simulation training hall. He sighed then picked up a assault rifle, he also picked up a grenade launcher strapping it to his back. "F.L.I.S.S. start simulation 652, password save my soul." The word around him changed, from the dull metallic colors to vibrant greens and browns of Earthy soil, the sound of water lead him out of the tree line. He took off his helmet blinking as he looked over the city below, New Orleans. Below lay his home town, the place of his birth he checked his ammo counter and smiled as he spotted rebels below. After making his way into town he found himself in a bell tower in a old Spanish church over looking the square. He smiled, he pulled two grenades from his belt both clattering to a halt under a Warthog, flipping it. He launched himself from the building shooting idiots before landing on the last one snapping his neck he took cover, the survivors trying to organize. He rushed forward, a fifty cal machine gun hot on his heels as he into squad, all of them cut down by friendly fire. This continued for a few hours, Carolina constantly ordering F.L.I.S.S. to up the anti, more soldiers streamed in, but he stole weapons, outsmarted and outmaneuvered them eventually having to put his helmet back on. Carolina was showing off as he ended the sim by killing the last group of solider, by leading them into there own mine field. Taking off the helmet he threw the guns back on the rack smiling to himself. Thinking about how well he had done, he asked F.L.I.S.S for a copy before he started back towards his room. A tech asked him if he wanted his armor removed, he politely brushed him off. Carolina couldn't stand to be out of his armor, he felt small and squishy without it. Climbing into bed his confidence restored he took off his helmet and surfed through a car catalog before taking another dose of pills.