She had practically lived inside Section 24/7 the last 10 months, a fact that created a lot of tension between her and her husband, Aaron. However, with the watchful eyes of Kirova and Oversight trained on the new regime, failure was not an option. Section One's success rate has been slowly coming up to acceptable level, but it still has a long way to go.
Lissa had been up for 18 hours straight and the words on the monitor were starting to blur. Her concentration was broken by an operator's voice.
"Lissa, you have an incoming call from the Chief Strategist at Section 8."
"Thank you, I'll take it."
"Lissa. This is Sydney at Eight. Do you have a minute?"
"Hello Sydney, what can I do for you?"
"I'm having a personnel dilemma I was hoping you can help me with."
"I'll be happy to help anyway I can."
"Good. I have a new Valentine ops recruit who recently became physically violent to 3 other recruits. After reviewing the tapes, I believe the violence stemmed from unwanted sexual overture by the other recruits."
"And you are afraid that the recruit would not be able to fulfill the requirement of the assignments given?"
"Exactly."
"I think the solution is quite simple, give the recruit a test that requires physical intimacy. I would use a trained operative and require the recruit not to be a passive participant. If she passes the test then continue with the training, if not, then either find another use for her or cancel her."
"I apologize. I should have mentioned it's a male recruit objecting to the advances of 3 other male recruits."
"Solution is the same regardless of sex. In this case make sure the test is required of a member of the same sex since that seems to be the objection."
"Thank you, Lissa. You're advice is invaluable. I won't take up any more of your time then."
"Wait, Sydney."
"Yes, Lissa?"
"You said this is a new recruit, how long has he been with Section?"
"Two months."
"And how long have the other 3 recruits been there? Are they also Valentine ops?"
"No, they were all Cold ops recruits. One was a month shy of his final evaluation and the other two have been here over a year."
"What's the extent of their injuries?"
"All of them have assorted broken ribs, arms, legs, concussion, internal bleeding. They will all need around 4 12 weeks of recuperation period."
"This Valentine recruit, is he being trained in other fields?"
"No. Other than the standard physical fitness he hasn't had any similar training from the Cold ops."
"Are you sure Valentine ops is the best fit for this recruit? What are his compatibility ratings?"
Sydney sat back at this question. It was standard to give new recruits compatibility ratings to see which field they might best fit in and were then trained accordingly. Dimitri had been recruited for a specific purpose, and after meeting him in person she had concurred with that function. She had never once thought about what else he might be suited for, so a compatibility test was never given. A fact she was ashamed to admit now.
"Actually, he was never given a compatibility test."
There was only silence on the other line at this admission. Sydney hurried to defend herself, even though she knew she shouldn't have to justify her action, or lack thereof in this case.
"We believe his looks made him the best fit for Valentine operations."
"I see. May I make a suggestion? In case he does pass the test, his ability to best three more senior level recruits might either be the result of rage or he could have talents elsewhere. I recommend that a compatible test be given to see what other area he might be suited for."
"Yes, I believe that would be a good idea in light of the current situation. Thank you for all your help, Lissa."
"It was my pleasure. Good bye."
"Good bye, Lissa."
"You wanted to see me, Sydney?"
"Yes Tasha, come in."
"Have you had a chance to review the tape of the altercation between your material and 3 other operatives?"
"Yes, Sydney."
"Why do you think Dimitri attacked those other 3 operatives?"
"I believe it was self defense."
"You think it was self defense that he put 3 operatives in the med lab, that they will have long recovery periods? He didn't simply disable them Tasha, he wanted to kill them. Why do you think that is?"
"I suppose his instinct took over and he didn't have the control to pull back."
"I've reviewed the same tape Tasha. He wasn't attempting to pull back at all. In fact, he resisted the ones who came to stop the attack."
Sydney studied Tasha who was fidgeting under her questioning. Tasha has been with Section 8 for 7 years and was a Level 4 Valentine operative with a satisfactory mission success rate. She had trained a number of operatives without problems. Judging by the way she was defending Dimitri, it seems like she had formed an attachment to her material quickly. Sydney made a mental note to keep a closer watch on Tasha regarding this recruit.
"I've decided to administer a test to Dimitri. If he pass, he'll continue training, if he doesn't he will be cancelled."
She watched as Tasha's eyes widened at this statement. Her mouth opened as if to argue, but she suppressed her protest.
"What sort of test, Sydney?"
"It is my belief that Dimitri reacted the way he did due to the unwanted sexual advances from Jesse and his fellow recruits. Dimitri will have to successfully seduce a target. I have chosen his target, a Valentine ops named Sean. Sean will be reporting directing to me. Any questions?"
"Am I allowed to brief Dimitri on this test?"
"Yes. I suggest you inform him of the importance of passing."
"Thank you. Will that be all?"
"That will be all, you may go."
"Congratulations, Tasha. It seems Dimitri has met the challenge and gets to live to see another day."
"Thank you, Sydney."
"I want you to administer the field compatibility test for Dimitri."
"The compatibility test?"
"Yes. I've been reminded that we were remiss on exploring all potential fields Dimitri might be suitable in."
"Does that mean he will be removed from the Valentine ops program and will no longer be my material?"
"No, it does not mean that. We just want to cover all the bases. That will be all."
For the second time in as many weeks Sydney sat back from the computer monitor in shock. Dimitri's scores had just come in.
Field operation 94%
Tactical operation 98%
Strategic planning 98%
Valentine operation 89%
Profiling 94%
Munitions 96%
Communications 96%
Psych operations 95%
Housekeeping operations 91%
Interrogation tactics 93%
Sydney has never seen anyone scored this high on so many fields. In fact, Dimitri's lowest scoring field was the one he was brought in for. She thought to herself, now what do I do? She hated to call her so soon and ask for more advice, but this was a completely new scenario she was in. She picked up the phone and dialed the familiar numbers again.
"Lissa. This is Sydney at Eight. Sorry to bother you again. Do you have a minute?"
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