The long corridor stretched out ahead like a tunnel. Ashelin was deep inside Freedom HQ, marching purposefully along with Torn by her side and two trusted Freedom soldiers following close behind. Their heavy tread echoed down the long walls, and door after reinforced door passed them by on both sides. Ashelin counted the numbers on each one. They were simple barracks bunks, built to accommodate soldiers or shift workers here in HQ, but when necessary, they also made effective holding cells. Behind one of these doors she knew a very critical prisoner was being held, a prisoner who had only just been caught, and Torn was taking her to see him now.

Less than an hour ago, she had received the alarming news that an enemy spy had somehow infiltrated the city, but had been discovered and apprehended in The Naughty Ottsel by none other than Jak. It had shocked her at first, just as it had Torn, and provoked many imperative questions. Who was he? How did he get into the city? How long had he been here already? What was his mission? Was he the only one, or were there even more spies still undiscovered within their walls?

But once the initial shock had passed, Ashelin quickly realised that this was the opportunity she had been hoping for ever since the beginning: a chance to forge a much-needed bridge of communication between the two sides in this conflict; to finally speak with a representative of their enemy, face to face, so they may at last try to understand one another; and more so, to bring the long months of fighting to an end peacefully, or at the very least arrange an official ceasefire. This was the chance for negotiation, and she would be sure to quickly seize it, dropping everything else that she was doing to devote her full attention to this.

"Has anyone spoken to him already?" she asked Torn, trying to gain as much last-minute information as possible before this clandestine meeting.

"No," answered Torn. "I thought you'd like to be the first to try."

Ashelin nodded in approval of Torn's judgement, for she did indeed desire to personally conduct the first interrogation at least. That was vital, and she had spent the last several minutes preparing herself for it. But she had no true foreknowledge of exactly what to expect from their prisoner, only the assumptions and impressions fed by the months of hard conflict. She wondered what he would be like, what cunning objective he had been sent to achieve. Perhaps sabotaging their defences, or obtaining sensitive information, or even assassinating important figures... maybe even herself. Torn had briefed her already, passing on what he had learned from Jak when he came to carry him away, but that too was little and uninformative, and answered none of the biting questions that she or anyone else had. Anything more to learn would have to come from this spy himself.

"The council probably won't like us doing this though," Torn then said warningly, but there was a tint of proud defiance in his voice too, just like in his Underground days.

"Yeah, I bet they won't," said Ashelin brusquely. "But that's their problem."

It was true, she was running a risk here, acting independently before the council could meet and decide what to do about this situation. In fact, they hadn't even been informed yet about this spy's capture, but they would find out, and soon enough. Word of his infiltration and the fight in the bar was already spreading alarmingly quickly among the general citizenry, and that Ashelin could not control; the few who had been there to witness it told their friends, and their friends told their friends, and soon it would only be a matter of time before the news made its way to the top. This might be the only moment she had to act on her ambitions.

But her decision to not inform the councillors was deliberate. Many of them did not see eye to eye with her desire for a peaceful solution to the fighting; they still did not believe that such a thing was even possible against such a driven, destructive enemy, and this was something which they did not fail to remind her of at every available meeting or opportunity, and it was starting to grow very wearisome.

Ashelin could understand their point of view of course, for long generations of persistent conflict against the Metal Heads had turned the people of Haven into bitter survivors, suspicious of everything that originated outside their walls, and expecting only danger and death from the other side. If they were still fighting the Metal Heads now, she would agree with them and pursue the forceful path, but these new enemies were not Metal Heads; they were other people, other humans who could think and reason just as they could. It had to be possible to get through to them, and though it might be difficult, now this door presented itself to her half-open, with a tantalising glimpse of sanity, reason and escape on the other side.

This was why she wanted to conduct the first meeting herself. Anyone else would most surely only make matters worse with their belligerence and impatience if they got involved, exploiting this spy for every scrap of information he had, before disposing of him dishonourably once he was of no more use. That was the kind of mistreatment that had marked her father's regime, and she had sworn to herself at her instatement that things would be better under her leadership. Even now she was still working to erase the scars that the Baron had left.

She had a different plan, but it would require tact and very carefully chosen words. Her intention was to show this spy the good and decency of Haven, achieved by treating him with respect, dignity and clemency. In turn, she hoped, this would give him no further cause to hate them, and hopefully lead to securing his trust and cooperation without forcing anything out of him. Of course, she knew that it would be neither quick nor easy, and expected great resistance from him, at least at first. It might not even lead to anything, but her moral fibre was too strong. It was worth the shot, and it could be their only chance. One of the soldiers who walked behind her was even carrying a tray of food that she was going to offer him as a show of kindness. First, gain his trust, then he would be more likely to talk.

She walked the last few paces in silence, rehearsing her well-thought out words in her mind. She had nervous butterflies in her stomach, caused both by the significance of this imminent meeting and the secrecy of it all. But compared to the stresses of the past several months of war, they felt little more than an insignificant tickle.

Torn finally stopped before one of the many identical doors. "This is where we've put him," he explained. "Are you ready, Ash?"

Ashelin's heart had now doubled its pace, and the butterflies broke free. The moment had come. Time to be ready. No turning back now. She took a deep breath to compose herself, arranged her thoughts one last time, checked her uniform, and then stood up straight to her full height, making herself look as confident and as in command as she could in the face of her anxious feelings.

"Open it," she said with a short nod.

Torn typed in the access code, pushed the door gently, and then cautiously peered into the room. Ashelin noticed how his hand touched the weapon on his belt, and she brushed her fingers against her own too. She knew the prisoner had been searched and was unarmed, and he was unlikely to try and attack them now, so hopefully she would not need to use it. But it was a comfort to know that it was there, just in case, and for self-defence only, she reminded herself.

Then Torn gestured that it was safe to enter, and held the door open for her. The two soldiers waited in the corridor while she boldly stepped through, into the small and simple room, senses high and reflexes primed. Her eyes found the prisoner at once. A strange sight, a crumpled figure lay on the bed by the wall, half-covered in blankets and a large coat, stirring feebly and moaning painfully, but reacting to the sounds of her entry. This was him.

As she moved into the middle of the room, she caught a slightly unpleasant smell in the air, like body odour. She stopped a respectable distance from the bed, and the figure in it sat up with effort, his arms shielding his barely-open eyes. He seemed very weakened, lethargic and confused, moving slowly, and Ashelin could tell that it was not because he had just been asleep or anything like that. No, he was in severe pain, and it caught her momentarily off guard, troubled and puzzled.

"What's the matter with him?" she whispered to Torn, who stood by the door.

"Don't know," Torn whispered back. "He's been like this since we picked him up."

Ashelin looked back upon the pitiful, cringing being, who almost didn't look human like this. Suddenly she hoped that Jak or the arresting soldiers had not been too rough on him. That wouldn't help in securing his trust at all. Had her plan already failed before it had even begun?

But one thing was certain, he was in no condition to pose any threat right now; he wasn't even looking in her direction, continuing to keep his eyes shut and covered by his arms, but he seemed to be trying to find his bearings. She allowed herself to relax a little at the minimal threat, and remembering her intentions, decided that she had better start speaking to him and make her presence known.

"So you're the spy, huh?"

She tried to sound authoritative but non-adversarial, and she believed she had succeeded. The spy's head turned in her direction, he made a little noise, but nothing she could understand, and then tried to open his eyes to get a look at her. But the moment he did, he let out a pained cry.

Ashelin's face did not waver, but she did not understand what was happening. The spy's clear discomfort was making her feel increasingly guilty and uneasy with herself, not wishing him to suffer unnecessarily. She looked at Torn again in urgent confusion, but he shrugged cluelessly. But then, Ashelin deduced what the problem might be: it was the light. For some reason, this spy was responding painfully to the light in the room, even though the bulbs were no brighter than normal. Regardless, with her eyes on Torn, she jerked a thumb up at the light in the ceiling and then swept a hand across her neck.

Kill the lights.

Torn understood and hit the switch on the other side of the wall. Partial darkness fell in the room, leaving just the light from the corridor breaking in.

This seemed to have an immediate effect. The spy stopped his cowering and finally lowered his arms, and Ashelin got her first proper look at him in the half-light. He was thin, pale and completely bald, without even eyebrows, and his head and face bore blood, scratches and bruises, no doubt injuries he had suffered in the fight with Jak. The clothes he wore seemed to not be his own, for she could recognise the Haven style. He must have stolen them in order to blend in, and judging by how he smelled, he must have spent several days living rough on the streets. He fully opened his eyes for the first time, which looked unnaturally large in the dim light, blinking hard. Ashelin was reminded of an animal emerging from a long time of hibernation. But now he could see her properly as well, and she reasserted her posture, standing tall with her hands held smartly behind her back, and trying to look serious but not intimidating. She allowed him the short time to take in the sight of who he was dealing with as his vision recovered.

"Better?" she asked, in reference to the change of lighting.

The spy looked momentarily confused still, but Ashelin thought she saw him give one single nod, either a silent answer to her question or a small gesture of thanks. It was hard to tell. Nevertheless, Ashelin was pleased with this first correspondence, but maintained a formal countenance. This spy now seemed lucid and receptive, so she initiated the opening words she had prepared. First things first, an apology was in order.

"I'm sorry if my soldiers treated you harshly. But I'm sure you understand the necessities of war. It was a precaution they had to take, and they only acted as any soldier would in this situation. And… I'm sorry if we kept you in discomfort here. That was not our intention. Are you hurt?"

She hoped that this initial gesture of understanding would put him at ease, and maybe provoke a response too, but instead, the spy just stared at her hard with those dark, globing eyes. His expression was unwelcoming, and without an answer from him she felt her grip on progress starting to slip away already. Nevertheless, she pressed on. With the necessary apology out of the way, it was straight to business.

"Now, I'm sure that we both have a lot of questions we want to ask each other."

She paused, giving him another chance to respond, but no response came. His large eyes really were unnerving, and the dark made them look all the more sinister, but she held her ground.

"So, which of us is going to ask first?" she pressed further.

This was all part of her plan. Before she asked him anything about himself, his people or his mission, she would give him the chance to ask his most pressing questions first, and she would answer them as long as they were within reason, questions like 'where am I?', 'who are you?', or 'what are you going to do with me?' She wanted him to feel comfortable, secure and unthreatened, like an equal. But even after several long seconds, he still glared at her blankly, and the prolonged silence and the relentless gleam in his eyes was starting to make her feel strange. He did not even blink. Ashelin just managed to maintain her composure, and wondered what was going through his mind as she continued to wait for an answer that she now suspected would never come. Fine. If he was not going to talk, then she would initiate.

"Very well. Let's start with introductions, shall we? My name is Ashelin, and I am the governor of Haven City, the highest seat of authority here." Next, she gestured to Torn standing in the doorway. "I gather you've already become acquainted with our military commander Torn."

She caught the spy's eyes dart momentarily to the doorway, squinting just a little, and fixing on Torn for about a second, before they bounced right back on her.

"You are being held inside the headquarters of our military order, The Freedom League, and you're here because there are some things we'd like to talk to you about. We don't intend to harm you, let me make that very plain. Does that answer your immediate questions?"

She believed she had provided him with the essential information to get going with for now; she had introduced herself, explained where he was, and promised his wellbeing. However, he made no confirmation at all, and remained as silent and as still as a hunched statue. She raised an eyebrow expectantly, but this produced no further reaction. Perhaps it was time to be a little more direct.

But before she spoke next, she realised that with her hands still behind her back, from the spy's perspective it might look like she was hiding something. She figured she had better bring them into plain sight, to show him that she intended no harm or deception.

"Well, I've given you my name," she continued, moving her hands to rest patiently on her hips. "Now are you going to tell me yours?"

In the darkness she thought she caught a flicker of a change in his expression at these words, but it was not a positive one; it was like a miniscule snarl of mistrust. Evidently he was not swayed by anything she had said so far, either that or he was trying to play some mind game with her. If she could not get even his own name out of him, then there was little chance he would be willing to reveal anything else. The only way she could think of countering his silence was to offer him more information of her own; there was probably a lot he did not understand, but ought to know. So she began formally reciting one of her prepared speeches, sooner than expected, and as she did so she took slow paces up and down the room, careful to never step too close to his bed.

"I am well aware of the complicated relationship that exists between us. The discovery of your culture was to be a momentous event… but for reasons that are still not entirely clear to us here in Haven, a conflict has arisen between your people and mine. It has dragged on for months now. We have both suffered heavy losses, and achieved little in the way compensation. I don't know what your intentions were in all this, but one thing is plain: if it continues in this way, it will be the destruction of us both."

She paused and looked directly at him again. His dark eyes had followed her every step. "Your capture, however, has opened up new possibilities, and right now I just want you to appreciate your current situation. You are the first of your people, to our knowledge, who has ever come alive to the streets of Haven, and subsequently, you are also the first I have ever been able to meet and speak to, face to face. This is an opportunity for us to try and understand one another, and work together to put an end to this conflict. Surely you don't want to this to continue any more than we do?"

Ashelin thought she had expressed herself well, yet the spy's gaze was still relentless and he said nothing.

"No?" Ashelin prompted further, now opening her arms slightly. "Is there nothing you want to say at all?"

The spy reacted by finally breaking his long stare, and turned his head away from her completely, looking down at his own feet resting on the bed. Ashelin waited patiently for a few more seconds, but his demeanour or position did not change. She understood what his silence meant, and felt disappointed, but not surprised. This was pretty much as she had expected him to act; impenetrable and uncooperative. He was clearly still too bitter and mistrustful from his arrest, and in no mood to negotiate at this point in time. It was too early, but she knew how important it was to not force his trust before he was ready to give it.

Ashelin changed her expression to one that was a little softer, and made her voice sound sympathetic. "It's perfectly understandable that you don't want to talk to us, after everything that's happened. I can only imagine the resentment you must be feeling right now."

She then dared to take one tiny step closer to him, and spoke in rational plea. "But we don't need to be enemies. We don't need to continue this pointless fight. I'm not here to harm or deceive you in any way. I want to help you, and your people. All I ask is that you please believe me, and accept my offer of help."

She hoped these last words would sway him, but still he was unresponsive. At last, Ashelin accepted his silent intransigence. She had said all that was safe to say at this point in time, but if words were not helping, then it was time for the gift.

"I'll give you some time to think it over," she said at last. Then she gave another prepared gesture to Torn, who took the tray of food from the soldier standing out in the corridor who carried it, and brought it to her.

"Until then, as a sign of our good intentions, this is for you," Ashelin went on, and she lifted the tray a little higher in signification, before depositing it on the small table unit opposite the bed. "Don't want you to go hungry. I hope it is to your tastes."

With that, she headed towards the door, which Torn still held open for her. But before she stepped through, she paused on the threshold, questioning herself if she had really done enough on this first, most important meeting. It was clear he was unwilling to talk, but was there still more that she could say before leaving?

She looked back one last time, making sure her position was plain and unambiguous. "Please understand that all I want is a chance to resolve this conflict with no further loss of life, for your people or mine, and you can make this possible. I don't want to have to keep you locked up in here alone, like some caged animal. But I cannot take the risk unless you show me that you are willing to cooperate peacefully. That is all I can say for now. I will come back to see you again tomorrow, and I hope by then your feelings will have become more amenable."

Finally, she left the room, leaving the light off, and Torn locked it up once more. Ashelin took a moment on its other side, reflecting on what she had just been through, before turning to the two accompanying Freedom soldiers.

"You two," she said to them, and they stood to attention, "Stay here and guard this door, and don't let anyone else in to see him. This takes priority over all your other duties. Is that understood?"

"Yes, governor," said both soldiers with a salute, and they immediately took their places, and Ashelin felt secured. It was vital that nobody else interfered with her efforts in this. Then she gestured to Torn, and they both began walking away down the corridor, taking it slow so they could talk.

"How do you think it went, then?" asked Torn at her side.

"What do I think?" said Ashelin, pressing her lips together thoughtfully. "Well, I didn't expect him to start talking right away. It's too soon."

"You think he'll listen?" asked Torn.

"I sure hope he will. There's a lot riding on this, Torn. I just hope he realises the difference he can make."

There was a pause of a few seconds, their footsteps the only sound, before Torn said, "So what now?"

"There's still time to bring him round," Ashelin said confidently. "Baby steps, Torn. Clemency and patience are the keys here. We can't force him. We need to let him come to us, when he's ready. I've done all I can for the moment. I've given him something to think over, now all we have to do is play the waiting game. We'll check back tomorrow in any case, try again and see how it goes."

Torn nodded, accepting Ashelin's decision. Personally, he did not feel that a whole lot of progress had been made today, despite how well Ashelin had spoken. This whole situation also got him thinking back to the original meeting of first contact out over the ocean, months ago, and remembered how the pilot who called himself Rulo had been the one to speak first, offering friendship and prosperity. How they have changed, he thought.

"Alright," he said finally. "If you think it'll work, I'll stand behind you on this, Ashelin."

Ashelin was silently grateful for his support, but her mind was already taking the next steps forwards. They both knew what was going to come next.

"Shall we call for a meeting with the council now, then?" Torn asked.

"Yeah, I suppose we'd better," Ashelin replied grudgingly. "But we'll keep this little meeting a secret for now. Let's see how they really react first."

Torn understood, and the two of them marched the rest of the way in silence.