Sorry it's a day late. I had school stuff. Anyway, enjoy!
I walk down the hall toward the sim-troopers' rooms. While I'm still a few yards away from the first door I hear Agent Washington's voice.
"Tucker, you can't stay in bed all day. I know you're awake, now get up."
There's a muffled response of "don't wanna."
I hear the sound of a blanket being yanked away, followed by Wash's shout. "Oh, for the love of God, Tucker! Stop sleeping naked!" Upon hearing this I decide to get no closer to the open door. Rho agrees with this plan.
"No way" Tucker's voice drifts out of the room. "It's my only defense against morning wake up calls."
"Maybe I should try that tactic." I look down the hall and see Grif and Simmons on the other side of the door, keeping a safe distance. "It might stop Sarge from bothering me every day."
"Don't you dare" Simmons responds. "Having to deal with Donut on laundry day is bad enough." Both soldiers shudder in disgust. "Besides" Simmons continues, "Sarge always threatens to shoot you from the doorway, so it wouldn't work."
"Meh, it was worth a shot" Grif says apathetically.
"That's obviously working very well for you," Wash's sarcastic comment interrupts the reds' conversation. "Now put some clothes on and get out here."
Wash steps out of the room as the two red soldiers turn and walk down the hall. He looks embarrassed when he notices me standing there. "Were you there the whole time?" he asks nervously. I nod. "Well, I'm sorry you had to hear that."
"Sorry you had to see it."
"Um, was there something you needed?" he asks, obviously trying to get both our minds away from their previous thoughts.
I draw my attention back to the Freelancer. "I need to know if you have any idea where Epsilon is."
Wash shakes his head. "He and Carolina left without telling us where they were going."
"Agent Carolina? I thought she was dead" I say.
"I think that's what she wanted everyone to think."
"And you don't have any idea where they went? Not even a clue or anything?" I press. "Did they mention what they were going to do when they left?"
Wash leans against the wall for a moment, thinking. "The day before they left, Carolina and I were talking about what we'd been doing before we found the Director. She said she'd spent a few years tracking down Freelancer equipment that had made its way onto the black market. That's what lead her to the information she needed to find the Director, which lead her to us. If I were to guess, I'd say that's what she's up to now."
"Tracking Freelancer tech" I muse. "I take it she doesn't like to leave things unfinished."
Wash shakes his head. "I don't think Carolina will be satisfied until she destroys every trace of the Project."
Rho pops up on my shoulder at this comment. "Does that include AIs?" she asks nervously.
"I think she's giving AIs a free pass" Wash laughs.
"Good" Rho says.
"If she's looking for Freelancer equipment, then the best way to find her would be to start there" I say. "If we find what she's looking for, then we might find her as well."
"Do you know where to start?" Wash asks.
I smile. "I know a guy who has a way of obtaining questionable items" I say. "We've bought most of our equipment from him. If anyone knows who's selling stuff from Project Freelancer, it's him."
"That sounds less than legal," Wash remarks.
"You really want to start questioning if what we're doing is legal now?"
"No, just making an observation" Wash states casually. "It also sounds expensive. Operations like this aren't cheap. How do you pay for it all?"
"One of my first missions, after deactivating everyone's chips, was to drain Dr. Han's accounts. She came from a wealthy family, so we ended up with a lot of credits." I smile slightly as I speak. "I thought it would be ironic if we used her own funds to track her down."
"Cripple the enemy financially" Wash nods. "Not the most glamorous of techniques, but effective."
"And necessary" I add. "Without that money, we'd have had to give up a long time ago."
"Washingtub!" The shout comes from down the hall. I look over Wash's shoulder and see Caboose running toward us. He stops for a moment outside Tucker's door. "Did you forget pants time again?"
A rolled up sock flies past Caboose's head. "Go away!" A moment later, the door closes.
Agent Washington turns to face the young man approaching him. "What is it, Caboose?" Caboose stares blankly at him. "Was there something you needed to tell me?" Wash asks patiently.
I watch with interest as Wash calmly puts up with Caboose's slowness. It's a sign of a good leader, the way he refuses to snap at the often times frustratingly dumb man. It makes me happy. I know he isn't easy to work with, and I'm glad he found people who could handle it.
"Oh, yes" Caboose says. "That is why I came here." There's another long pause as Wash and I wait for Caboose to speak.
"What is it?" Wash prompts again.
"Nick wanted me to tell you… something" Caboose says finally. "I think it was something important."
"He wanted you to tell me something important" Wash says slowly, an edge of annoyance creeping into his voice. "Can you remember what the important thing was?"
Caboose thinks for a moment. "Yes."
"What was the important thing, Caboose?"
"I forget."
"Alright" Wash says, taking a deep breath. "Thank you for coming to tell me that." Caboose smiles and runs off down the hall. Wash turns to me and I attempt to cover up the fact that I'm trying not to laugh.
I activate the radio in my helmet and call Nick. "Did you need to tell Agent Washington anything important?" I ask.
"No" Nick answers slowly, as though he's trying to remember. "Why?"
"Carbon was just here with a message, but he forgot what it was" I explain.
"Oh, that" Nick says. In my mind I picture his widening eyes as he remembers. "I just wanted to let him and his team know that breakfast is ready."
"Did someone say breakfast?" Tucker asks as he steps into the hall. I'm relieved to see that he is now dressed.
"Mess hall's this way" I say, walking down the hall. "Follow me."
"This is real food" Grif says, staring at his plate in disbelief. Rather than the pre-packaged military rations he's used to, the plate is filled with eggs, pancakes, and a fruit he doesn't recognize.
"Well, it looks pretty suspicious when a bunch of civilians try to buy military supplies" I say, sitting across from him and Simmons. Wash and Tucker take seats on either side of me.
"Oh, I'm not complaining" Grif says before he starts eating.
Simmons approaches the food more cautiously. "What is this?" he asks, holding up the strange purple-blue fruit.
"Honk blargh" Nick says, sitting next to him. "Don't worry, they're safe for humans."
"Does it need to be peeled?" Simmons questions, still eyeing the fruit uncertainly.
"I hope not" Grif says with his mouth full. I look over and see a large bite mark in the side of his fruit.
"You could at least swallow first" Simmons scolds. He covers his plate with his hands to protect it from Grif's mess.
"It's been forever since we've had real food" Grif says. "I don't want to ruin the experience by bothering with manners."
"That's exactly why I want to savor it" Simmons says.
"Is it good?" Wash asks.
"I think they're great" Tucker says. He picks up the fruit and takes a bite before adding "and Junior loves them."
"It tastes like bacon" Grif mumbles around another mouthful.
Wash stares at the thing for another second before setting it back on his plate. "I'm not feeling that adventurous" he says.
Grif snorts and Simmons starts carefully dissecting the food on his plate.
"Speaking of food" Nick says after a moment of silence, "we're starting to run low on supplies."
I nod, swallowing. "Okay. I'll make a run later."
"No" Nick says. "Tinu and I can do it. You should stay here."
"It's just a supply run" I say, glancing at him across the table. "I can handle it."
"Exactly" Nick says. "It's a simple mission, so you should let us do it." He sees that I'm about to argue and holds up a hand to stop me. "You go on every mission, Si. For the past month you haven't let anyone else leave the base. I know you want to keep us safe, but we're going crazy locked up in here when we could be helping."
"You know the rule. No leaving without armor" I start.
"Tinu and I have armor" Nick says. "You need to stay here and plan. Let us handle this."
I close my eyes for a moment, thinking. Then I look back at Nick and say "fine." His look of triumph fades when I add "but Washington and I are coming with you."
"Why?" Nick asks.
"We need to run an errand" I answer. "You and Tinu can get the supplies while we're busy."
Nick nods, apparently accepting the compromise. He finishes his food quickly and goes to tell Tinu. One by one, everyone at the table finishes their food and wanders away.
"So, what's this errand?" Wash asks.
"Remember my 'less than legal' sounding friend?" I ask. Wash nods and I continue. "He has a store on the planet where we usually buy most of our supplies. I figure while Tinu and Nick are busy shopping we can ask him if he knows where to find Freelancer tech."
"Why do you want me to come with you?" Wash asks. "Wouldn't you rather have someone you know backing you up?"
"Well, this should be an easy mission" I start to explain. "This guy's a sneaky jerk, but he's not dangerous. I've worked with him enough times before to know what to expect. I need you because you know Agent Carolina. You'll be able to guess her plans better than me."
Wash nods. "Alright" he says, standing and picking up his tray. "How long 'til we leave?"
"One hour" I say. I poke at the mostly untouched food on my plate before standing and walking to the trash. "There's something I need to take care of first."