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The man in the bloodstained jumpsuit stood up. He turned his head from side to side frantically, then grasped his helmet with both hands and tore it from his head. He had a chunk of metal protruding from his right cheek just below the eye and vicious scars extending from the corners of his mouth back to both ears. He was missing hair in clumps as if it had been ripped from his head. He was breathing heavily, and when his eyes locked onto the woman, he lunged at her.

The woman quickly raised a mare's leg and fired off a quick round, catching the Reaver mid-leap. He crashed to the ground at her feet and she backed up, cocking the gun to prime another shot. The two observers followed her as she backed into a hallway. One was greying, but still handsome. He was tall and dressed in the grey uniform of a high ranking Alliance officer. The other was only slightly shorter with lean muscles visible through his sleeveless black outfit. He had closely cropped black hair and a katana strapped to his back. He walked with an almost supernatural calm. The pair paused for a moment before entering the hallway to allow for a teenage girl with long dark hair to sweep past. She was carrying a long blade in each hand and blood sprayed from one as she whipped gracefully around the corner.

"Pause", called out the man in black, and time froze around the observers. He indicated the girl paused mid-run as he walked past her. "River Tam, but I'm sure you recognized her. Her face has been on every bulletin for the past year, but you may not know why. She is a telepath of the highest order. We trained her, but her brother broke her out of our facility before her training, indoctrination and surgery regimen could be completed. Extremely dangerous. This information is double cerulean classified." He had continued walking the entire time he was talking as if he were reading from a script, as if none of what he had said was particularly important.

He turned around when he reached the second woman, frozen in the act of firing another shot over River's shoulder. "Zoë Washburne Née Alleyne. No planet of origin, born aboard ship. Career military, fought on the losing side of Unification, never got past their particular fashion sense. Followed her sergeant into the private sector and married his pilot, now deceased."

The admiral walked up to Zoë with his hands clasped behind his back and bent to look her directly in the eye. "Yes. I've seen her type before. She doesn't so much have a cause that she would die for as a strong loyalty to someone who does. She'd follow that man into hell. Probably has."

He stood up straight again and walked past both her and the Operative. "But this is the one that interests me..." He continued down the hall to stand next to a thin man with unkempt hair. The man was pointing a small azure penlight at a control box and gritting his teeth beneath his helmet. He examined the man closely, his nose a scant inch from the Doctor's visor.

"And why does he interest you?", asked the Operative, a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Have you ever seen a man before that went up against Reavers and didn't carry a weapon? What is this thing?", he asked, pointing at the sonic screwdriver, "Some sort of electronic lock pick?"

"More like a universal remote control. It appears he can use it to bypass security, access ship functions, and re-write basic functionality."

"Re-write basic functionality?"

"Yes, there was a program found on the ship's computer that opened the airlock door faster and bypassed safety locks. It appears that he uploaded it with that device", the Operative clarified. "Incidentally, there is a significant bonus if we retrieve that device intact for reverse engineering."

"Who is this man?"

"That is the question. If you peek through the visor, you'll note the brown coat, but his face doesn't match any known service record. For all we can tell he popped into existence, forced his way onboard this ship, cured the crew, made his escape and vanished entirely from the 'verse. He was not counted part of the crew during the Mr. Universe Incident."

"Back up - cured the crew?"

"Correct. They were Reavers. The entire crew of the Alliance vessel Agamemnon were infected along with the crew of a small transport ship, the Mary Celeste."

"You know Reavers don't work that way, right? They've been studied. There is no infection. There is no cure."

The Operative looked deadly serious. "Computer, play bridge footage, timecode 48185."

The scene around them shifted to a large room with bare walls for a moment, then shifted again. They were now standing on the enormous horseshoe shaped bridge of the cruiser. The Doctor was holding his pen light high in the air. He said, "Do you want to see it? Your way home?" He spoke with an accent the Admiral couldn't quite place. Dyton perhaps? But not quite right. The Doctor activated his electronic lock pick with the end again glowing blue, but now the Admiral could hear a buzzing sound coming from it. The battle shutters banged open. "Kaylee, vents on full!", the Doctor yelled.

The entire crew, who were wearing helmets of various make and model, as one lifted their visors, and the Admiral had to shield his eyes as an intense light filled the room. Moments later, the light faded and it became dim enough to see. The crew flopped to the floor.

"And now they are cured?", the Admiral asked, looking around.

"Evidently."

"Curious", said the Admiral. He looked around at the crew, some of whom were already gaining consciousness. "Why were they all wearing helmets on the bridge?"

"This is unclear. It appears that the crew members who had become Reavers only recently hadn't yet defaced themselves. Perhaps this was a way for them to hide their appearance? We may never know. The officers were of course interviewed after the event, but they only rambled about some kind of possession."

"I would like to interview their captain myself, if that can be arranged", the Admiral said.

"Pause", the Operative called out. They were back to the point they walked in at. "I'm afraid that's not possible. Like the rest of the crew, she has been silenced."

The Admiral was stunned. "The entire crew?"

The Operative showed no emotion in his response. "Of course. It was clearly necessary. I thought you understood. If not for the importance of this mission, and the nature of your implant, you would never have been granted access to this either."

The Admiral stepped over to face River Tam, frozen in the act of drawing her blades. "Because of her?", he asked incredulously. "What could she have in her head that everyone doesn't already know since the Incident?"

"Oh, it's not her", the Operative said with a hint of a smile. "Computer, port airlock, timecode 19312."

The scene shifted again. The Doctor was pacing now with his helmet off. "- You see, I'm an alien. A Timelord, to be precise, from Gallifrey in the constellation Kasterborous -"

"Computer stop", said the Assassin. The scene faded entirely. They were in a room with bare grey walls, featureless except for a single door and a control console on one wall. "Are you still interested in this man?"

The officer touched the back of his head where a small access port had been fitted. He was briefly curious what sort of things he had been made to forget in the past - but not too curious. If a later scan suggested that he wanted those memories back, he would quickly be silenced as well.

He shook himself of this pensive mood. "Follow." He walked quickly toward the door, which slid open as he approached. An ensign was standing just outside the door and was startled when it opened. She fell in step behind the Admiral and beside the Operative. The Admiral spoke without looking over his shoulder, "Have a course laid in for Meridian, full burn. I want us there within nine days-"

"How could you possibly know they'll head there?", the Operative interrupted.

"They won't be, but they will be nearby because we will drive them there. And don't interrupt." He walked on at a brisk pace. He kept closing his eyes and twiddling his fingers as he thought. "Post a bounty on all boards", he continued, "Raise the reward by 80,000 credits. Lieutenant Xiao is good with computers. Send him to my office." He stopped walking and faced the Operative. "The three of us have a video to doctor."