I walked into Hale's office without another moment's hesitation. He looked up at me, visibly relieved at my arrival.

"I'm glad you're early," he said, rearranging some papers on his desk marked CLASSIFIED. "We need to get this mission going as soon as possible."

"What's going on, then?"

"Our intel recently received a radio transmission from near Blood Gulch. We are getting signals from a great number of AIs in the area—we know this is where they escaped after they left the UNSC ball. We don't understand what these signals mean, or why Command would have the ability to intercept them, but we do know that the AI activity is extremely prominent."

"You—you mean there are actual AIs in the area?" Sheila hadn't been malfunctioning then. She was right. And the others… what about the others…?

"Yes. Many. However, the transmissions are incomplete and we do not know their exact location, nor do we know how many AIs there are. I couldn't speak to you about this while you were at Blood Gulch; I would have needed to use your radio, and I didn't want to risk any of the AIs overhearing me. I see now that they were interfering with your technology. Contacting you was a real hassle." He paused. "How did you finally reach me?"

"One of the soldiers on Blood Gulch is skilled with robotics. He did something—uh, with different frequencies, I think—and fixed the radio. I don't know how long it'll last though."

"Very well. Between our communication and your technology problems, we definitely know that AIs are in the area. Eleven… this is our chance. We must act now."

"What do you mean?"

"We will be sending a small team to collect the AIs once and for all. Recovery One should have taken care of them, but, as we can see, the mission was a failure. We need no more accidents like that or the UNSC formal.

"For the job, Command and the CIA have chosen you and Agent Washington."

Oh, son of a…

"Sir, I really must object," I said quickly. "I don't think Washington's present state of mind is stable enough to undertake—"

"Eleven," Hale interrupted sharply. "You know as well as I that Washington is the ideal man for this job. He will be going for exactly the same reason he was chosen for Recovery One and the UNSC formal—he will not steal the AIs for himself, and he has the most experience with… unstable technology."

I was silent, but Hale seemed to know what I was thinking.

"I do not want to have to repeat my previous talk with you," he continued. "I don't want to hear reports of your not being able to work together. No getting drunk, no dramatic cat fights. Those will only make your mission stressful and potentially unsuccessful."

Again, I said nothing, and Hale sighed.

"I said Washington was the best man for the job… and you are the best woman," Hale said, watching me closely. "You are one of the few CIA Agents who have already fought and dealt with the AIs. Not only that, but… you are the only Agent who became so involved in Project Freelancer."

At this, I tensed and clutched at the right side of my rib cage instinctively. Hale's eyes flicked downward at my hand and he sighed.

"Eleven…" he began. "I know what happened was difficult on you. Your… catastrophe… was a real blow to the entire CIA. But… that is exactly why I need you now."

I was quiet.

"A long time ago, I told you that you were a clumsy and imperfect rookie," Hale continued softly. "Now, I still believe that you are clumsy and imperfect, but I need you for this mission, and we both know why."

I watched the sun slowly rising out of the window, feeling the dread of entering a dark past I had spent the last portion of my life trying to avoid.

Trying to clean up.

I slowly ran my hand down my rib cage, trying and failing to feel my deformity through the armor.

"Fine. I'm in."

The next morning, Wash and I prepared to leave. Under Hale's watchful eye, we didn't speak much to each other—we both knew that any conversation we had would probably end up in some sort of argument—so we basically avoided each other as much as possible. I did not want to get in trouble with Hale again before the mission even started. Besides, I was in no mood to deal with Wash's douchebag tendencies as of late. His raunchy advances at the UNSC formal had pissed me off enough.

Hale arranged for us to take a jet—and not a portal—in order to take more supplies to Blood Gulch. Not knowing exactly how many AIs we were dealing with (or how they were travelling around) we packed up myriad weapons and electronics. We needed to brace ourselves for the worst.

As we prepared to leave, I ran through our plan in my mind… which wasn't really a plan at all. Wash and I would head back to Blood Gulch and camp there while awaiting further instruction from Command. Hale had informed us that since we didn't have enough information about the AI activity, we would scout the canyon and wait for further instruction.

Waiting. Ugh. I couldn't stand waiting. Who knew how long getting better transmissions would take? I brought this up to my superior, but he insisted that any travelling around the planet was strictly prohibited until they gave us the exact coordinates of the AIs.

The only good thing that would come from all this was that I would be back in Blood Gulch. I didn't want to show my emotions regarding this, but, inside, I was elated to be going back… for some very red and very blue reasons. I would be seeing them again. I was extremely tempted to radio the Blood Gulchers and inform them of my arrival, but Hale had insisted that we make no contact through radio until he contacted us and gave us the all-clear. It was too dangerous.

Because I hadn't faced any danger with the Blood Gulchers up to this point.