North was up earlier than most of the other agents. He’d never had trouble sleeping and he often slept deeply, meaning he felt rested quicker than some people. Walking out into the quiet halls he began roaming around. Most other people were still asleep and eventually he found himself in what was probably considered the main briefing hub. This was there they’d been inducted and received their codenames. It was where they’d gathered on day two to start the first round of testing and day three when they’d been briefed on the simulation stage. He suspected once things got more intense and they started getting sent on actual missions they would be briefed here too. However now, displayed on the wall was a large digital board with names listed on it, numbered from one to twenty five. There hadn't been the full fifty agents when they’d first arrived here, though he’d never gotten around to counting them properly. South would know the exact number. Some of the names down the bottom were actually blacked out and he suspected they were the ones who weren’t lucky enough to make it. Leaving only nineteen lit up with the top ten larger and in a different colour. “F.L.I.S.S what is this?” “The Agent Leader Board Agent North Dakota. Scores from your testing have determined where you place in relation to other agents. Alternations will be made based on a number of factors as time goes by.” He nodded slightly as his eyes scanned down the board; however he stopped in surprise when he saw he was third down the line. Penn was actually first and some agent named Washington he hadn’t met yet just above him. Iowa was fifth, South sixth and Carolina eighth. There were other names, but they weren’t names he could match to people at the moment. After studying it for a while he moved off, heading back to his room where he quickly woke South. “I don’t wanna get up yet.” She groaned softly, rolling away from him. “Get up!” He insisted, shaking her again. “Come on, you gotta come see this. Eventually he did manage to get the girl up and she trudged after him slowly, still in her pyjamas. South was not a morning person even on the best of days and when she was presented with the board there were a few other people around now and the girl just looked at him in confusion for a few minutes before she looked to him again. “Are you sure?” North simply smiled slightly, nodding as he placed a hand on her head and ruffled her hair, feeling proud she’d done so well.

Carolina had been up early, nightmares had kept him from sleeping well. He could kick ass and chew gum but he was the kind of person that had those thoughts way heavily upon him. He heard the sounds of agents moving around and got up, he exited the room walking down to the end of the hall. He chuckled at South's pyjamas before spotting the leader board he turned and punched the wall... hard. He was pissed, they broke him, they shattered his mind then they ranked him at the bottom of this little show. He withdrew his hand from the freshly torn hole in the wall shaking it a little before speaking politely. "F.L.I.S.S. when will the next evaluation be, I want to know when I can move up the board." He looked over the names, he knew most... Save for Alaska and Washington. Well he would have to change that, he looked at North and took off his helmet giving him that old friendly smile. "I told you I was not very good at the whole combat thing, I'm more tactician than front-line fighter, maybe you could give me some pointers sometime?" He spoke respectfully when he knew for a fact he could take just about anyone of them in a one on one. He was angry and he was ready to kick whoever's ass he had to prove his strength. His mind argued, one half the soldier, want him to prove his greatness and be recognize yet the rest of him fought back, his goal was revenge on the higher ups. He shut off both ends and just decided to be kind about it, maybe they would move him up later... Or maybe they just really didn't want him in first. Either way his keen eyes looked for the two new people on the roster.

Penn had slept as well as one could expect, really. Not sleeping was a problem, usually, but tonight had been mercifully peaceful. Of course, he woke up in due time, after a few other agents but early enough still. It was hardly surprising, he was usually out and about before anyone else, barring a select few early birds. He dressed in a working jumpsuit, something that could comfortably be worn under armor in a moments notice, but he always wore that kind of attire when he wasn't in armor. Shaving and, having showered prior to getting dressed, he walked out of his room and headed for the central briefing room. He would have to eat soon, even if it wasn't bothering him much, but he wasn't worried too much. Besides, he was curious to see if anything was posted information wise. Penn was glad to see he wasn't the only one to have the same thoughts on the matter. North, South, and Carolina were staring at a board with a series of names listed, and he recognized a couple going up the list. He was confused, almost concerned, until he spotted his name at the very top of the list, glowing in its number one slot. That was...unexpected. He reckoned getting himself killed still counted as a mission complete, even if he had failed half the objectives presented to him. Looking at the other three, a smile grew on his face at the sight of South in her sleep attire, and started laughing before getting a handle on himself. "Sorry South, but I couldn't help myself. Not the attire one imagines an Agent in, its amusing." Penn swept the list, and saw some names he didn't know, and Carolina at the bottom. Coupled with the hole in the wall, he saw the problem immediately. Walking over to the fellow Agent, he rested a hand on his shoulder, speaking quietly to the man. "I wouldn't sweat that list much mate, top ten is pretty damn good. I could have swore up and down you would have ranked higher then the rest of us, frankly." Penn was not going to give away the fact that Carolina had already spoken to Penn about matters the day before, but the fellow Agent should have already realized that, and he was just covering ground with that little statement. And as a reaffirmation that he was still on board with the man's plans and discussions.

South looked over as Penn started laughing at her and she simply smiled back, giggling herself in response. “Well excuse me if I wear pyjamas… are you guys seriously telling you stay in the amour gear all the time?” She rolled her eyes and scoffed, looking over to North. Now she thought about it she didn’t see him change out of the amour overalls much, they were designed to be comfortable and very durable and she could see why some agents didn’t change out of theirs. The battle-readiness of it all probably appealed to some. Now she thought about it beside his helmet South couldn’t remember seeing Carolina out of his amour at all. Maybe there was some kind of message she’d missed. North held up his hands slightly at the request. “I can help you with shooting… that’s about it.” That and he wasn’t an idiot, he knew full well Carolina could overwhelm him in a hand to hand or close range fight, especially in this stage of rage the guy was a little scary honestly. North had enough resolve to get things done when lives weren’t at risk but he was a little too kind hearted to ever get that angry over something like the score on a board. Then again he was also right near the top; if he had been lower down he wondered if that would have changed anything. “But look at this way; you’re above the half way mark.” It was a very weak attempt to make him feel better and did earn him a few glares from agents who couldn’t make that claim. Turning as she heard Penn talking South walked over to the pairs, looking up at the taller agents. “He’s right.” She said quietly. “We both know your skills should have placed you higher up. Something’s up…” The girl trailed off for a moment before smiling again as if she just found something very amusing, however her words were hushed and grave. “You and I should meet later Cal,” Apparently South’s newest attempt at a nickname for Carolina. “Have a little meeting of the minds so to speak.” She then laughed slightly, smiling at the other agents again. “Yeah… I should probably go get changed out of my pyjamas… I’ll see you guys later yeah?” She gave Carolina a very serious look before she moved out of the room, lost amongst the taller agents and amour.

Washington and Alaska were woken up by the tramped of feet outside their door. They both got up, still in their armour, and opened the door. Alaska stopped one of the marines; **“Hey you, what’s going on”** **“Didn’t you hear, they just released the leader board for the agents”** She went over to Wash and shook his arm violently **“Hey you better get up they’ve released the leader board you know, and if you’re not up by the time I’ve done I’ve done my hair I’m dragging your ass down there.”** All Wash could do was grunt and shake his head, he wasn’t a morning person but the idea of finding out what the leader board was going to look like gave him a little bit of drive to get up.

Iowa's night of was full of sleep, although vivid memories keep appearing it wasn't anything to serious. It was early morning when he woke up, not many people were walking around, she he grabbed a quick drink and went back to bed he woke up and hour later to grab his armour and go on his jog he always said a happy soldier is a healthy soldier. Iowa only heard about the leader board when two marines walking past him were talking about it. he kept jogging but diverted his course he arrived at the hall and moved through all the men in armour to the front of where the leader board stood. He was proud he made it to fifth he noticed Washington in second place, he’d only had a brief encounter with him, he needed to catch up more, he was surprised to see Carolina so low. He’d expected him to do well against some of the others, it must've been one of been the last simulation. He saw the others out the corner of his eye and he moved over to them **“Morning all, how are we this fine day?”**

After some time they made their way down to the hall spotting Iowa at the end of the hall with some others they walked up to him and wash patted him on the shoulder before looking at the board He patted Iowa on the shoulder **“Hey, good morning”** he waited for a reply then looked at the leader board with Alaska. Both siblings were surprised with their place on the leader board. Alaska knew that her simulation was a complete failure and thought she wasn't going to get anywhere on the leader board. They both examined the others as wash made the first introduction **“Sorry let me introduce ourselves I'm Washington, and this here is my sister Alaska.”** Alaska stayed silent examining everyone she hated meeting new people especially when they were in full body armour.She finally spoke up once Washington had finished, **"Yeah we go transferred to your training squad after I moaned to much to F.I.L.S.S."**

South made her way back to the room and quickly changed into the suit worn under the amour and then pulled that on over the top. However she decided to try and beat the masses to the mess hall and grab herself some breakfast. Not surprisingly there was barely anyone here. It was still fairly early, so some were still sleeping. She suspected that many others were still back at the briefing room or out training after receiving less than desired results. She wasn’t stressed about it and had no doubt some would view her as ‘taking it easy’ or being lazy, assuming she decided she didn’t need to work hard because she was already near the top. That wasn’t the case in the least, but South knew that’s what people would think. In truth she’d be acting the same whether she’d come first or fiftieth. And right now she was hungry. So she was going to eat. As she did she pulled out her data pad, noticing the board ratings had also been sent to it, with her name very clearly outlined, her number displayed in large font on the left hand side. She recognised every name on that list, having hacked into the system before arriving and having a sneak peek at the files before arriving, briefly of course. Who had time to look over all of them in detail with the little free time they were given? ** North nodded happily in greeting to the new to, happy to at least put amour colour to their names for now. “North Dakota, but you can just call me North.” And then turned back to Carolina. “Hungry.” He replied with a small chuckle. “Anyone care to join me for breakfast? I have no doubt South’s there since she isn’t back right now. I swear I’ve never seen a girl so small eat so much.” He shook his head slightly. She was probably lucky she’d never been sent out on long missions before. The rations would probably drive her crazy. She’d probably go AWOL and start hunting local fauna. If the higher-ups wanted to get an interesting response out of South, deprivation of food was the way to do it.

Penn was quiet for a bit, lost in thought until Washington and Alaska introduced themselves, explaining the other two names on the list as well. Well, that explains those two, and he pegged Alaska as the quieter, more reserved of the two. Good to know, he reckoned, and he extended a hand to whichever of the two would be willing to shake in greeting. "Morning Washington, Alaska, pleasure to meet you both. Call me Pennsylvania, or Penn, whichever suits you more." North offered to go to get breakfast, and Penn shrugged a bit. He had to get his armor first, even though he was in the jumpsuit, he always was more comfortable in his reinforced armor. More ready for something to go wrong without having to worry about mission compromise. Not as readily, at any rate. Of course, that meant turning them down for the moment, and he glanced at North and spoke in response to his question. "I'm going to fetch my armor first, I reckon today won't be as easy as breakfast, lunch, dinner, and muse over the board ratings. So I'm at least having that on me before I start eating, just in case. I'll catch up with you guys, yea? Pleasure meeting you two Washington, Alaska." With that, Penn took his leave to go to the armory and suit up, as it were. It wasn't uncommon for Penn to do so, especially on days prior to training. There were probably plenty of agents who would not be suiting up right away, but Penn did out of habit and, to a degree, comfort. Armor was more comfortable for him than lounging about in normal clothing, far less exposed to prying eyes and the like. No need for any of that, he reckoned. So once he was in his armor, with his helmet tucked under his shoulder, he made his way to the mess hall, to grab some breakfast and seek out the group of Agents he had fallen into talking with and got along with well enough, mainly looking for North or South.

Carolina smiled at the new arrivals, Washington and Alaska. "Nice to meet you both, I'm North Carolina but everyone calls me Carolina. Impressive scores, I look forward to working with you." His eyes traced them over, the armor limited what he could tell. "Anyway North I have to go catch up with South, see you later. He walked off going through the information he had learned. Alaska didn't seem to enjoy Washington's company given her stance, Washington seemed to very military, rigid and up right, a honest soldier. Carolina caught up with South outside her room. "Hey South, mind if I grab breakfast with you?" He asked before tagging along wanted or not. He stopped in his room to get his meds before catching back up to her, he new if command caught them gone later they would ask questions, yet if he hung out with her he could claim they were a couple if they started to get nosy. South was smart, he hoped she would figure out what he was up to.

Stopping as she almost ran into Carolina as she came out of her room South looked to him and smiled beneath her helmet. “Sounds fine.” She agreed as they began moving. “No doubt you’ve found a bug or two in your room as well. I didn’t say anything to North. Not that it matters either way.” She shrugged slightly. “Debugged or not they’ll be able to hear you. I’ve learned they’ve got eyes and ears everywhere.” The very thought made her shudder slightly. “So we’ll have to keep this brief. But the bottom line is I think I know why you scored as low as you did. We both know you should have been higher up. Stage three wasn’t about the mission, the fact that everyone failed is a testament to that.” “So the only thing I can come up with is that they were testing our reaction to failure. They’re testing more than just our combat skills. They’re testing our minds too… our mental stability for something. I’m not sure yet. And we both know they rigged your test. I think they’re worried about you; you were pretty indiscrete about your suspicions the other day. They’re sabotaging you.” The girl was worried she was going to just draw more attention to them but she hoped the temporary glitch she’d placed in the security system would give them enough time to talk. No doubt they already knew it was there and were working at fixing it. “My advice is play it dumb for now. Go along with them, keep your suspicions to yourself or only express them in ways they can’t tap, paper or something like that. “I’ve been hacking into their systems every now and then… I think they’re aware I do it, because they keep changing, getting harder. But no one’s said anything to me yet. Which makes me think they’re testing me too and makes me wonder how they’re testing others in other ways. Look… I don’t know when we’ll be able to talk openly like this again.” She looked down at her data pad; they didn’t have much time left. “Just try not to attract too much more attention to yourself and… be careful.”

Carolina sighed listening closely to South, he trusted her, she was kind and seemed to learn fast. He smirked and looked at her seeing that time was almost out. He spoke quickly telling her two important things. "I need to tell you about my test... It was different, I have a pretty good idea on where the bugs are and where is safe... meet me in kitchen shortly after midnight. Secondly if either of us are approached by anyone about this, we tell them it's us having a relationship, intimacy generally makes people want to drop the subject as they are uncomfortable with it." The timer finished ticking down and he spoke clearly looking at South giving her a wink. "Now lets get breakfast, our discussion on cyber warfare has made me hungry."

Washington shook pen's hand; **“Nice to meet you aswell, and Well done ‘number 1’ Nice to know that the team I’m working with isn’t a load of stuck up ass holes, the guys we were training with were so annoying that they never even spoke to one and other. The definition of an ass hole, and I’m sure Alaska could second that”** Alaska wasn't listening to wash instead she was inspecting the other person, Carolina, in what seemed to be an ODST helmet she respected the ODST’s anyone one who can fall from orbit is kind of a bad ass. She even had a relationship with one of them. When he left she was tempted to follow but she wanted to stay with the others, to understand their motives a bit more. Washington replied to north whilst taking off his helmet revealing his black helmet and a scar on his right eye; **“Yeah I’d love to join you, I'm dying for something to eat.”** Alaska nodded along but didn’t take off her helmet, she in her mind, these people although being her team were also her competition she was going to get to number one position whatever it took. Washington could tell Alaska was being reserved, he didn’t blame her though, finding out that her brother had been alive for another 10 years must’ve killed her, she’s learned to hold back her emotions though. Wash knew that she would grew to like them eventually but it would take time.

Iowa was surprised by Washington on Alaska’s appearance although they’d turned up at the right time, getting breakfast early was the best thing ever, all of the pastries were there and the fruit was fresh, it was fantastic. **“I agree with Washington, breakfast sounds like a fantastic idea, a celebratory breakfast after all everyone is in the top ten of the freelancer program, and I hardly believe that south would eat without us, actually I take that comment back.”** He laughed to himself for a bit he was trying to make a good imperesion on Alaska he thought she was going to hit him when he bumped into Wash yesterday. His wrist beeped at him again as a note came up on his helmet; *’speed decreased to minimal efficiency’* he’d only ran half of his jog. It was a hard choice between bagels and a fit body, but it was obvious which one he was going to choose. **“F.I.L.S.S reschedule my run for after breakfast, I’m hungry”**. He took of his helmet and deactivated the H.U.D

North walked with the other agents towards the Mess Hall. “Don’t worry, he assured Iowa. She’ll still be going by the time we get there. Arriving at the hall he saw his sister sitting down with Carolina, a heaped plate in front of her. He chuckled to himself as they walked over and he sat beside her, eyeing the plate curiously. “Little light on breakfast today?” South simply scoffed. “Please, this is seconds.” She informed him as she began digging into the food. North just shook his head slightly. “Seriously how aren’t you fat?” South looked at him with a mouth full of food and seemed like she was about to make a rebuttal however she stopped as she saw the new pair sit down at their table with them and she just smiled in greeting. “So you two much must be Washington and Alaska… nice to finally out faces to the names, so to speak. Dakota, South.” She offered the brief introduction before digging into her food again. North simply looked to her and then to the other pair of siblings and shrugged slightly. He didn’t feel like going around boasting his sister constantly hacked into the databases and probably knew a lot of things about people she shouldn’t. Still, he’d never seen her use that information against someone, or even bring it up for that matter. She just liked knowing a lot, from what she told him and tended to remember way too much in his opinion. “So… apparently the next couple of days are a ‘recovery period’, so we’re more or less free to do what we want, but training is ‘recommended’.” He said, leaning over and reading some information from South's data pad.

"Do any of you mind if I intrude?" Penn had effectively come out of the woodwork, wearing his armor, a plate of food in one hand, helmet tucked under an arm, and datapad in the other. It looked like his hands were certainly full, that much was certain. The amount of food on his plate was not much, especially compared to South and her voracious appetite. High metabolism worked wonders, the Agent figured as he sat down to listen to the information being put out by North, as others had joined them and went about their own business. An interesting bunch of Agents, that much would be certain, sure as sure. It was strange, he knew other Agents would be looking his way now, wondering what put him so highly above everyone else. Not something he relished, nor would he. Too much attention on his comings and goings. As North mentioned the relaxation and break period they would be given, he seemed distrustful of it. The tests were supposed to be simple, and look how they turned out? No, this R&R period would probably turn out to be anything but resting or relaxing. Penn had barely touched his meal, between listening and logging notes on his own datapad, or otherwise continuing to organize his own information, to further decipher the reasoning or rational behind what the test wanted to accomplish. Stress testing didn't need to be that complicated, there was more to it then that. But Penn kept an easy smile on his face, not betraying his thoughts so readily as he spoke. "Figre most of us could use a few days to cool off and unwind, even with tests and such in between."

Carolina enjoyed Souths company as the ate breakfast together eventually the others filled in and began to talk about the next couple days. "We should use the time to learn to work together, I mean come on, were the top ten. They did individual tests but now they have to see how our personalities react and how we work in high stress environments. We should train together and getting a feeling for being a team. If not when they do jump us with the test we are all going to pay for it." He spoke calmly taking bites of his meal as he did, since he had gone on the meds he was more stable but nightmares and the occasional flashback sent him reeling, he wondered if he really could back into combat beside these people again. "Anyway encase your wondering my specialty is tactics and response, pretty handy with vehicles as well." He wiped his mouth and finished his coffee before putting his helmet on.

**“My god South, I've been known to eat a lot but you just seem to be a never ending pit of food.”** Iowa said looking at the heap of food. Iowa replied to Penn’s comment: **“R&R I don’t think that features in my vocabulary”** he said with a bit of a chuckle. Carolina raised a good point if they were a team they would have to learn to act like one. He finished his bagel and reactivated the HUD on his helmet “Well, as we’re telling, I specialise on the medical front anything from a paper cut to a severed limb I'm your man” he said whilst trying to turn his visor back to two way vision. His wrist beeped again, it seemed that his space on the simulation floor was in five minutes, **"Speaking of training I've booked one of the simulation rooms and according to F.I.L.S.S I'm going to be the only one there today so I'm sure F.L.I.S.S would allow us to do a joint sim if anyone was interested, I'll be there if anyone needs me "** he grabbed his helmet and put his left overs away.

North nodded slightly every now and then, everyone was putting forth good points. “I’m a sharp shooter.” He offered slightly, not wanting to go into too much detail for fear he’d sound like boasting. South said something, but still enough food in her mouth that it came out in an undistinguishable mumble, causing him to shake his head slightly. Now boasting about his sister’s abilities he had no problems with. “I believe what my sister is trying to say, is that she specialises in ‘information technology’ you want your computer to go faster or, you know, need top secret government information, she’s your girl.” “It’s probably one of the reasons she was chosen for the program. She’d gotten into a bit of trouble with the UNFC for access classified information a few years back and they were thinking about sending her to prison, but then realised they could use her talents for more productive things.” He smiled at her as she glared at him, clearly not overly happy that he was telling everyone about her past whilst keeping his own more of a secret. “Well you shouldn’t stuff your face so much. Eat all you want but don’t be a pig about it.” South then turned around and punched him. “Hey! No fair I don’t have my amour on yet!” North protested. South then finally managed to swallow. “Well you shouldn’t make fun of me when I’m in amour and you’re not.” She replied smugly. Rubbing his arm North simply laughed again. “Yeah, I suppose so. Well, I’m going to go get dressed and then take Iowa up on his offer to join him in the training room. You better be there.” He said pointing at South and giving her a look. “See the rest of you later.” The man waved slightly as he got up and headed off towards his quarters.

Penn smirked and shrugged as each person rattled off what they were good at, more so then usual when it came to Agents. Their forte, if one would use such words. He didn't brag when he responded to the circle of comments, no need to, even if he was one of those kind of people who did. Scoring top would secure that little thing well enough. "Explosive Ordinance, myself. If it explodes, I can handle it better than most. Not very subtle, but if you need to go loud, might as well go with some gusto, eh?" Penn elaborated a bit, having no problem chatting about his prior experience, as it were. "Used to do demo work for the UNFC for as long as I've been an adult, and gotten enough attention to make some waves for myself. Wouldn't be sitting here otherwise. Granted, someone's probably still miffed about that transport Warthog, but it got the job done. So if you need something to go boom, just give me a holler." He chuckled and shrugged, finally finishing his light breakfast as North and South continued to go back and forth before declaring to follow his idea. Er, well, it wasn't his idea, per say, and he corrected them on that as he rose up. "Afraid it wasn't my idea, but I'll be participating, sure as sure. So I'll see you folks down there, yea?" Penn turned and wandered off down towards the training decks, not moving at a hurried pace or anything like that. It still didn't take him long to get down there, nodding to Iowa as he arrived in the same training area as him. "Morning mate, what do you got planned for the training sims today, eh?"