"The Forgotten": A post-apocalyptic tale

[Alice2015]

Rita and Jo Lupo ... and, unfortunately, Alice:

“I don’t kiss and tell," Jo reassured Rita when the latter expressed her desire to keep what was about to happen between the two between just the two of the. Jo suggested that she go first, kissed Rita, and departed.

Rita watched the other woman walk away, eying her ass as it swayed. She caught herself, looking about for prying eyes as she thought, My God, what is with you...? You've never been like this. She turned back to the Hort Lab, looking about for things she needed to complete or delay before leaving. Her mind, though, was on Jo and what might just be ahead of them.

Am I still horny from the drugs? she wondered as she closed up some cabinets and stored some seeds. It's been, what, 10 days...? I was supposed to be past this already. Rita stood there just staring at a dripping irrigation line for a long moment, wondering Am I a lesbian...? Could I be? I mean, Ty ... oh dear God, that night in the shower ... in my bed.

Rita treasured her encounter with Ty Collins. It had, to date, been the most incredibly sexy and satisfying time of her life. Masturbation had been her only friend between the sheets for so many years. Rita had a new friend now, and now she was making a new friend? She smiled, thinking, I've never had so many friends between my legs.

Deciding that her work here was done for now, Rita turned for and headed out of the Hort Lab's exit, only to be intercepted by Alice, who took her by the elbow and turned her back to whence she had just come. Rita stammered, "Captain, I was, um ... just heading out. I, um ... I need to ... I have a thing--"

"I need you to update me on the farm, please, Miss Reynolds," Alice said firmly, releasing her hold on Rita but continuing forward to a vertical rack of sprouts being raised hydroponically. "When can we start eating fresh food?"

Rita stood just inside the door in silence, staring at her boss -- her boss! She knew she couldn't tell the captain that she had somewhere else to be; this was where she was supposed to be! When Alice looked to her expectantly, Rita drew a deep breath, released it slowly, then reluctantly headed back into the Hort Lab.

"Tomorrow," she said, answering the question as simply and directly as she could. She pointed to levels as she explained, "This group -- alfalfa sprouts -- will be ready to harvest tomorrow, and I'll have one more each day after that for the foreseeable future. Also, I'll have bean sprouts in two days and every day after that."

Alice continued with an array of questions, which Rita answered to her boss's apparent satisfaction. After seeing the young woman look expectantly toward the door several times, Alice asked, "Miss Reynolds, am I keeping you from something?"

Rita didn't immediately answer but eventually lied, "No, Captain. No, I, um ... no, nothing."

"Good," Alice said with an unconvinced tone. Knowing -- or at least believing -- that she knew the virgin's plans for her virginity, Alice told her with a softer tone, "If I'm getting into something you'd rather not discuss with me, please tell me ... but ... how are things between you and the Lieutenant?"

Alice paused, waiting for either an answer to the question or a request for them to leave the topic alone. When Rita only stood there in silence, Alice continued, "I only ask because ... well..."

Not knowing exactly what she wanted to say -- or even why she brought the topic up -- Alice moved on, saying, "Okay, well, you're doing good work here. Keep it up. What are you working on at the moment?"

Rita wanted to say I'm working on getting the hell out of here so that I can get naked with Jo Lupo. Instead, she gave Alice a detailed list of the tasks before her.

Alice repeated, "Okay, then ... keep it up. I want an update every morning at breakfast, Miss Reynolds. Can you do that for me?"

Again, Rita glanced toward the exit, then back at her work. Disappointed, she answered, "Yes, Captain."

Alice headed out, never knowing what she'd prevented. Meanwhile, Jo Lupo was entering her quarters on Level 4 to find not a sexy blonde in her underwear or possibly even less ... but a still-neatly made bed that showed no signs of having been visited by the cheerleader.

 

[Alice2015]

Leslie and Mac in the Infirmary:

“Actually, I need current blood and tissue samples," Mac told Leslie. he spoke about his professional needs and what was driving them. He suggested that she collect the new samples as part of her ongoing medical checks, telling Leslie, "I don’t want to alarm anyone.”
Despite being a well-educated, well-trained, and experienced medical doctor, Leslie was a bit confused about what exactly was going on. She asked more questions, which Mac answered to her satisfaction.

"I'll get it done, Doc," the other Doc said. "Just give me the specifics. I have standing appointments with the others." She shrugged, confessing, "They don't always show up, of course; there's a lot of crap going on here on a daily basis. But I'm sure I can get what you need within 48 hours."

 

[The_Weeping_Angel]

Mac and Leslie in the Infirmary:
“The sooner the better, tell everyone that a door was left open, and the samples got too warm so you need to take new ones. Hell, Tell them I’m a cranky ass if you want. I really really need everyone samples today.” Turning in his chair he looked at her. “I’d rather not have someone else die because of something I found in her system that you never had a need to look for. I’ve made an initial report to Captain Walker of my findings so get her sample first, then the guards, then everyone else. No refusals.”


Rita and Jo Lupo:
Looking at the empty room Jo sat on the edge of the bed and waited ten minutes. When Rita didn’t show, or send a message Jo figured she changed her mind, and was afraid to say anything. It happened.

But just in case she went to the horticulture area and slid the door open enough to see Rita working. Hoping Rita was just finishing something quick she closed the door and returned to her bedroom.

After waiting she left her bedroom and went to the gym, might as well work out, shower, and get a nap in before her night shift started.

 

[Alice2015]

Adeline and John in the Monitoring Station:

The French woman was just as shocked as the new hacker was when the control room suddenly went pitch black. Initially, the only sound in the room was the winding down of the cooling fans for the computers, servers, and what-not; those were quickly replaced by the jostling about of John and the crashing of his chair in the automatically closing Monitoring Station doorway.

As the emergency lighting kicked in, providing only the most basic illumination, Adeline's working partner and newest lover said, “Hope I didn’t scare you with the chair. But I’d rather not get locked in here if possible.”

"What, you're not interested in being locked up alone with me in the dark, chéri?" she quipped, trying to hide the building panic over what was happening. She scanned about her in a full circle, finding everything dead as she finished, "I'm offended ... terriblement offensé."

John went to the door, his silhouette against the emergency foyer lights revealing that he was checking the wedged door over for reasons Adeline didn't immediately understand. She called out, "Bertha...? Bertha!"

(OOC: I'm going to post for each of my characters in a separate post, but if any of these characters -- and yours, of course -- come together at some point, we can begin combining posts as appropriate.)

 

[Alice2015]

Alice:

The facility's Commanding Officer, midway between Levels 2 and 1, on her way to the Monitoring Station to give the new hacker full access to the facility's servers, came to an instant stop in the stairwell as it fell into absolute darkness. By the time the only emergency light within direct line of sight clicked on, her heart was pounding fiercely.

"Bertha!" she called out, as Adeline was doing half a level above her. With more volume and a touch of panic, Alice called, "Bertha! What's happened?"

 

[Alice2015]

Rita, in the Horticulture Laboratory:

Just as was happening throughout the facility, darkness fell upon the plant lady, replaced a moment later with the barely sufficient illumination of the emergency lights. Rita didn't call out for Bertha, not because she was expecting a lack of an answer but simply because it didn't occur to her to ask the AI WTF?

She'd dealt with power outages on the family's WWOOF farm many times during her upbringing. Winter windstorms had often knocked out electricity from the public grid. The property had solar panels, wind turbines, and a hydro-turbine in the creek that cut through the property, but her parents had put in a rather large sized diesel generator, too, knowing that these clean energy systems wouldn't be enough in the case of a major, lasting storm.

Rita just stood there in silence, scanning the farm, formulating a plan and priorities in case the outage was lasting.

 

[Alice2015]

Leslie and Mac in the Infirmary:

“The sooner the better," Mac said about getting new samples from the others.

"I'll get started on it right away," Leslie responded once he'd finished. "With everything that's going on, I doubt anyone will even question additional tests."

Suddenly, the lights went out, and as in compartments all about the bunker, the sounds of fans and working equipment wound down. Probably more than any other person in the bunker, Leslie fell into instant panic. Even though most of the equipment had backup batteries, she had some current experiments and tests going on that didn't have such protections.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," she growled as she hopped up and got immediately to work moving what needed to be cooled or heated into appropriate locations.

 

[The_Weeping_Angel]

Lupo:
Laying on her back Lupo was was working with free weights when the lights went out. At first she thought maybe Rita was playing a joke and expected a giggle or “Scred you,” from the girl. But after a minute had passed she set the weights down and using emergency lights check the doorway. This section had swinging doors without the magnets so she wasn’t locked in. But grabbing a lighter 3# free weight she held in her hand as she started exploring to find out who shut out the lights. Her first destination was the Horticultural Lab, The cheerleader was probably the least experienced in this shit and would need back up first.

 

[The_Weeping_Angel]

Ty:
The door slammed shut while he was dealing with Greg, but thankfully the doors were only heavy as fuck, and didn’t lock. These types of doors were heavy and closed to keep air flow reduced and to stop the spread of fire. But they never locked without manual intervention, just in case someone was trapped on the other side. Putting his weight into it Tyrande shoved the door open enough to get some equipment in the way then shoved it even further.

Then he made his way up the stairs, he was moving quickly but wasn’t running just in case anything had fallen. “Anybody on the stairs?!” he called out as he walked. “Go up to the saloon.”

 

[The_Weeping_Angel]

Mac:
“The power’s off so she probably can’t hear you.” Mac commented as he got up. “Do you have anything other than scalpels we can use as weapons, in case we got breached?” Looking around in the dim light he was glad they’d done the autopsy last night, doing it in the dark like this would have been impossible.


John:
“I need a wedge, something strong like a block of wood or a pipe. The computer tablet will crush,” he added thinking out-loud. “Do we have any hammers or screw drivers in here?”

 

[Alice2015]

Alice and Ty:

“Anybody on the stairs?!”

Alice recognized the voice, of course, calling downward, "Lieutenant! It's me, Alice."

Later, she would reflect on how she'd addressed him by title but her own self by given name, wondering, How else would have I responded?

Ty's voice was very distant, and Alice presumed he was probably in the stairwell coming up from interrogating Greg. She presumed that he was seeing the same thing down there as she was up here yet still called down, "We're suffering a full power outage up here! Emergency lighting only!"

“Go up to the saloon,” he recommended.

"Copy that!" she responded, adding, "I'm heading up first, to look for some of the others. Check on Marcia! She might still be in Berthing!"

Marcia:

After her earlier talk with the Captain, the cook had made her way to the Hygiene Room for a badly needed, relaxing shower. She'd stood there for the longest time under the seriously hot stream, silent and still, recalling the short-lived but deeply satisfying relationship she'd had with Alaina.

Before she realized it, Marcia had caressed a hand down to between her thighs and -- picturing the woman she'd come to love in her mind's eye -- drove herself easily and quickly to orgasm with fingers deftly turning circles atop her lonely clit. She was just coming down from her euphoric peak when the water suddenly faded away to little more than a drip.

With her eyes still closed, Marcia reached up to manipulate the water flow control knob, getting no response. She finally opened her eyes, finding the room pitch black. As with elsewhere, it took a moment for the emergency lighting to come on. She pulled the curtain back, asking, "Hello...? Anyone there...? What the fuck's going on?"

With no response and the chill of the normally slightly cool room beginning to affect her, Marcia stepped out, dried off, and called, "Bertha...? Bertha!"

As with the others, Marcia got no response. She made her way to the bench seat, dressed, and stepped out into the berthing's Common area, again asking, "Anyone there...? What ... the ... fuck?"

 

[The_Weeping_Angel]

Ty:
Moving up from Generator level 6: to Berthing five He saw Lupo coming from the exercise are and Marcia coming from the showers. “Power is out this level and below, Both of you go to the saloon and stay there. Lupo check for any sealed doors and help anybody stuck on the other side. Nobody opens cold doors. All refrigeration is out until we get power.”

He really didn’t want anybody opening the walk in cooler and starting a decomp/warming up process for all the food. Or Alaina.

Moving back to the stairs he ran up them as fast as he felt was safe until he got to the Captain on Level One. Moving over to her he touched her arm. “Captain, with me please.”

Moving off to the side he whispered in her ear. “Greg did this. H called out a passcode ‘Gulag’ as soon as I took his gag off to answer questions. Are the computers running? Can we get in and restart them, end this?”

 

[Alice2015]

Alice, Leslie, and Ty; Adeline and John:

Alice pounded on the Infirmary door, hollering to the two figures inside, "Hey! You guys alright?"

She knew that one of them was Leslie, simply because the Doc should have been here. The second she quickly realized was Mac by the shape of his body; it was a form that she obviously knew intimately now.

Leslie hurried to the door and -- not remembering that it would have locked on a power outage -- tried unsuccessfully to open it. "Yes, Captain, we're fine." She looked over her shoulder to where the Scotsman who moving things around. "Mac and I are putting samples and tests away for safe keeping. I, um ... I don't think anything I'm doing in here is in jeopardy."

She paused to look back over her shoulder to ensure that Mac wasn't paying them any attention, then gestured Alice's attention toward the bookcase beyond which the Garden of Eden's Ark tanks were hidden. "Are they...?"

"I don't know," Alice said honestly. "Adeline should know." She looked toward the nearby door of the Monitoring Station, finding it wedge open with what looked like it had once been a chair. "I'll get her over here, and we'll--"

There was a sudden and horrific crushing sound, causing Alice -- and even Leslie -- to jump out of their skin. They both looked the direction of the Monitoring Station door to find that the automatic doors had broken a joint in the barricade, sending parts of it both deeper into the Station and out into the Level 1 foyer; the door shut solidly. Adeline and John were trapped behind it.

Regarding her comment about talking to Adeline, Alice corrected, "Or maybe not." She headed toward the now-shut door, saying over her shoulder, "I'll be back."

Alice flinched as someone unexpectedly touched her on the arm. She spun, taking a defensive stance, only to laugh with relief as she found Ty standing there in front of her. He told her with a serious tone, “Captain, with me please.”

They moved away from the doors. Ty told her about Greg's responsibility in what was happening. Again, Alice called out, "Bertha!" It annoyed her that so much of the facility relied on the help of an AI that was now apparently offline. She mirrored Ty's earlier request, telling him, "With me, Lieutenant."

Returning to the Infirmary, the four of them -- Alice and Ty on the outside, Leslie and Mac on the inside -- found a way to bypass the security keeping the door closed and opened it wide. Inside, Alice asked the female doctor in a hushed voice, "Is it ready?"

Leslie hesitated, her expression showing some obvious reluctance. She nodded, though, turning to retrieve a vial and hypodermic needle from a drawer. Returning, she told Alice, "I can't guarantee that this will work. I mean ... I've never had to mix something like this before, and Bertha didn't really have in depth files--"

"It's okay, Doctor," Alice interrupted, taking the bottle and syringe and handing them to Ty. "Truth serum. Or, at least ... we hope so. Get Young talking and fix this shit." Then, turning Ty away from Leslie, Alice said softly, "And ... even if it does work..."

She didn't finish giving Ty permission to do as he so badly wanted to do to Greg; he knew what Alice was saying, she was sure.

"It might kill him," Leslie warned. When Alice and Ty looked to her, she shrugged, saying, "I can't guarantee anything about this. It's just ... it's not my area of study. I had to use some chemicals and mix some molecules that--"

Alice waved Leslie quiet, reassuring her, "None of this is on you, Doc. This is my decision--" And looking to Ty, she finished, "--and my orders. This is on me."

 

[The_Weeping_Angel]

Ty:
After opening the side panel and accessing the mechanicals and electricals inside Ty managed to do enough well intended damage to get he door unlocked, and with a lot of muscle power the four of them got it opened, even if it screamed in protest more than Airman Young.

Taking the bottle and syringe Ty raised an eyebrow. He’d never trusted drugs or torture, but they did generate results. “Do you wish to be present, in case things go.. sideways again?” he asked, doubting very much she’d want to be present for what he was about to do. Heading back down stairs, in the dark he hoped seriously that nothing else was about to happen.

Stepping into the door, he left the door barred open, just in case he needed to move quickly. Tapping the subject on the face he made sure Young was conscious before he stuck the needle in his arm and shoved him full of the concoction.

“Now, Mr. Young. Because you’re not an Airman are you? You’re someone else. How do we get Bertha back on line?”

“Fuck you,” Young replied with a groggy shake of his head. “Freedom.”

“Is that the code, or what you want?” Ty asked as he stepped into the Hall. “Bertha.. FREEDOM!”

The hall remained dark, as his voice echoed back to him. Moving back to young he pressed on the cut in the man’s arm.

When the screams stopped Young bellowed. “I want out. A weapon. And food.” Grinding his teeth the man added, “And I want the little Whore-T-Cultirist to suck my cock.”

“I can get you everything but the Girl. I’ll put it in you hands myself,” Ty replied rather angry at the man.

“Go fetch,” Young snapped, jerking his head to the side fighting the drugs. “I’ll show you were the door out is..”

“How are you fighting the drugs?”

“CIA Training!” Young said with a smile.

“Ahh. A spook. Why is a spook in the facility?”

“Keep…. An… eye… on… NO!” Young snapepd jerking against the restraints.

“Countersign? What’s the countersign?” Ty asked.

“Fuck you! Get me out!”

Shoving a toothpick soaked in vinegar into Mr. Youngs leg Ty stepped out as Mac came down the stairs. “Just wondering if you needed any.. mild medical help.” Mac asked.

“No, get me Lupo. Tell her.. tell her operation Candy Cane.”

mac looked at him his forehead furrowing in confusion. ”Candy Cane?”

“Yeah, she’ll know what to do. Oh, and I need a backpack with canned food, and Clothes in his size. Now please.”

Feeling like an errand boy Mac ran back upstairs as Ty went back to work.

At the Saloon Mac hunted down Lupo and conveyed the message, She in turn went to The Captain and grinned. “Captain, do you trust the The LT? Cause I need a gun, Canned food, A backpack, A change of clothes. And some lingerie.”

 

[Alice2015]

(OOC: We sort of forgot about Doctor Spencer Long, who was supposed to be in the Infirmary working with Doctor Leslie Hawkins.)

Alice, Leslie, and Ty:

“Do you wish to be present," Ty asked Alice with regards to what he was about to do to Greg, "in case things go ... sideways again?”

"No, I have other things to do," she answered quickly. To clarify, she said, "We still have people missing. I'm sure they're just fine, but..."

She and Leslie watched Ty depart. The doctor asked, "Is everyone fine?"

Alice didn't answer the question, instead looking to ensure that Mac and Spencer couldn't hear her before saying quietly, "After you're alone, check on the Ark. It's got battery backup Adeline said, but..."

"Will do," Leslie responded, now watching Alice depart. She and Mac finished dealing with tests and experiments that needed to be put away to keep them cool or warm, which ever applied, and then Mac, too, departed, descending to offer his assistance to Ty on Level 6.

Alice, Adeline, and John:

Before she left Level 1, Alice returned to the door of the Monitoring Station, pounded on it, and called out, "You guys okay in there?"

"We're fine" Adeline called back. The French woman wanted to say something lewd about being in a dark, locked room with John -- the man she'd only recently begun fucking -- but resisted. "Just figure this out!"

"We will," Alice said, as much to herself as to Adeline. She wasn't entirely confident that Ty was going to get what they needed from Greg. The Airman -- or whatever he was -- wasn't going to easily give up what he knew, and Ty -- as professional as he was -- was a great deal more emotional about all of this than he realized, at least in Alice's opinion.

Alice, Rita, and Jo Lupo:

Alice returned to the stairwell, descending a level to the Hort Lab. Pounding on the door, she drew Rita over to it; the young woman appeared calmer than anyone Alice had dealt with up to this point. "Are you okay in there?"

"Sure," Rita answered. She asked about the power outage and got from Alice what the latter knew, which wasn't much. When asked about the farm, Rita said, "I'm good in here. Nothing's in immediate danger."

Alice turned, satisfied that all was well here. She passed by Jo Lupo on the way back to the stairs. "I see you're still alive and well," she quipped as they passed. She wasn't aware of the building relationship between the new Security Officer and the farmer's daughter, as the former thought of Rita.

Alice and Marcia:

The last person the captain needed to check on was Marcia, a task that became simplified when the bunker's cook suddenly appeared at the entry to the stairwell right before Alice. "What the hell's going on?" she asked. "I was in the shower, and--"

Alice waved her silent, saying only, "Power outage. We're working on it."

"I'm going to check the kitchen," Marcia said, turning back again for the stairs and disappearing without another word.

Alice and Jo Lupo:

Alice stood there for a while, wondering what she was supposed to do next and where she was supposed to go next. Without communications available -- short of hollering down the stairwell -- she thought that the best thing to do was to go to the one place they all ended up at one time or another: the Saloon.

A few minutes later, Jo Lupo appeared, asking, “Captain, do you trust the The LT?"

"Explicitly," Alice said without hesitation. Curious about the reason for the question, she asked, "Why do you ask, Specialist?"

"Cause I need a gun," Jo began explaining. "Canned food, A backpack, A change of clothes. And some lingerie.”
Alice's expression easily revealed her curiosity. She asked with humor in her tone, "Excuse me?"

 

[The_Weeping_Angel]

Jo:
“Sorry, um.. Operation Candy Cane. Plus he asked fr some other things.” Lupo replied, blushing mildly. “I’m guessing he’s negotiating a deal?”

“Backpack, food, clothes, and a gun suggests that.” She told the Captain “The..um.. lingerie is for Operation Candy Cane.”

“The LT and I were in Bolivia a few.. centuries? Ago. We had an insurgent that would only give up his information if he had a local girl.. lick his ‘candy cane’. One of the guys in our squad always had lollipops or we would have called it Operation Lollipop. Anyways, I wore lingerie and distracted the guy. So um.. lingerie?”

 

[Alice2015]

Alice and Jo:

Listening to Jo's explanation about Operation Candy Cane, Alice could only stare in silence. "I'll leave it up to you and Ty," she said, unsure of what they were doing but also trusting her Lieutenant to get the job done. "Lingerie...? Don't know what to tell you there. I doubt a lot of that got packed a century and a half ago.”

 

[The_Weeping_Angel]

Ty and Jo:
Half an hour later the power was back on. Lupo and Ty refused to answer any questions as to how the information was accessed.

Finishing his rather vague report to the Captain he simply reported that the situation had been resolved. And that Mr. Young wouldn’t be an issue any longer.

 

[Alice2015]

Evening (hours later):

Alice left her office and strode across the Saloon to stand near the heads of the two tables at which the others were sitting, per orders she'd transmitted over the intercom earlier in the day after power had been restored. She looked to each of her bunker mates one after another, took a deep breath, released it, and began.

"Today was ... trying," she said, unsure of what other word to use. She glanced to her Head of Security, then back to no one in particular as she continued, "Lieutenant Collins assures me that the problems we had earlier with Airman Young--"

Alice paused, remembering that Ty had learned that Greg most likely wasn't an airman after all. He'd confessed to having CIA training but hadn't extended that confession of what he wasn't to what he was.

She continued, "--have been concluded. He will no longer be a problem."

"What's happening to him?" Marcia asked with a rather harsh tone. Then, without any doubt in her voice, she said, "He's going to be executed ... right?"

Alice studied the woman a moment; others expressed their opinions as well, vocally or through their expressions and body language. Alice politely gestured for them to settle down, then answered, "Yes. Senior Airman Greg Young is to be executed ... by lethal injection."

Marcia mumbled something, gaining Alice's attention and a response of, "What was that, Miss Weathers?"

Looking to the facility's Commander, the woman who many felt had been hurt more by Greg than anyone else said without doubt, "That's too good for him ... lethal injection." She looked around as if seeking support and said flatly, "He should hurt! He should die in pain."

Again, responses came verbally and physically. Alice considered once again waving the others silent but instead let them air their opinions...

 

[The_Weeping_Angel]

Ty:
As far as Ty was concerned Mr. Young would never suffer enough pain for what he’d done to Alaina, and Marcia, but it wasn’t his call and he was involved as well. As impossible as it seemed, Alaina had been pregnant. And he’d reviewed the tapes enough times to know he’d been the only one involved with her since she awoke. Mr. Young had killed a very attractive, and smart, young lady for no reason other than trying to get her in bed. Unfortunately his interference in her life had resulted in her adding Ty to her list of sexual partners instead of Greg. And no Alaina and Ty’s child were both ddead. It was interesting that he wanted to smash the man’s face to pulp with a hammer for a clump of cells. Nine days she’d been pregnant. Nine days and he was ready to beat the man to death. Why? Why was he emotionally attached to this?. “Let Marcia decide his punishment.”


Lupo:
She didn’t know the man, hell from what she’d seen he was sort of attractive. Not her type, she liked hard core guys. SWAT. Spec-4. STARS. HALO jumpers. Bikers. Truckers. Construction Crews. Or soft girls like Rita and Candy. Soft guys just never did it for her. But she hadn’t been awake when the shit went down, so she didn’t have a personal say in it. But she could be logical. Just from what she’d heard during the interrogation, and the snippets of conversation in the Facility, Mr. Young couldn’t be allowed to continue. “Lethal Injection”

John:
Personally john was of the opinion the guy should be shoved out an airlock. But that was simply because the man was a rapist and murderer. If he did it once, he’d do it again. The rate or recidivism for those crimes was very high. Having that type of person inside the Facility was just waiting for bad things to repeat themselves. As Americans they could claim to be better than a death penalty, but that was just being weak and not wanting to take responsibility for killing the creep. Americans wanted to ‘be nice’ and ‘hpe’ that he’d be better. But when it came down to it, the guy was bad and needed to be executed before he did it again. If he’d been caught in the act he’d have been shot dead. It was after the fact and the punishment was just waiting to happen. “Lethal Injection”


Mac:
Mac had several thoughts on the matter, one was that the man could have been under the influence of drugs, willful or not, when things went sideways. Possibly he’d been under orders. Marcia was hyper-emotional at the moment and it was understood why. Alaina and Marcia had been a couple. And now Alaina was dead. Marcia was alone, her heart ripped in half. Nothing would ever heal that. Not even time. In time she might find someone else, but part of her would Always be for Alaina. It would sit inside her like a pearl. Or a festering gangrenous wound. Never going away. Seeing Greg die painfully wouldn’t end the pain, but it would allow her to know he hurt, it would never be as much as Marcia hurt. But it would be there.

“Chemical castration. Permanent slave status. Surgical removal of his tongue to prevent computer access.” Mac suggested. “There are also several compounds that would make his nerves feel like he was in fire. Constant pain.”

 

[Alice2015]

Everyone:

Ty was the first to respond: “Let Marcia decide his punishment.”

Although she didn't respond verbally, Alice's expression as she looked to her Lieutenant conveyed her agreement. Greg hadn't hurt anyone as much as he'd hurt Marcia, except for Alaina, obviously.

“Lethal Injection,” came the next response, this time from Jo Lupo, with John quickly giving the same response. Neither surprised Alice.

Mac's suggestion did surprise Alice, though. Removal of Greg's balls and tongue, consignment to slavery, and medical treatment such to cause intense, lasting pain was extreme. But, she wondered, was it any less than he deserved?

"I'll do it," Marcia spoke up next. When most of the pairs of eyes looked her way, including Alice's, Marcia said firmly, "I'll do it ... I'll kill him." She paused to look and listen for reactions, finishing, "Ty's right. I should get to do this."

Adeline spoke up, concerned for her lover's ability to live with this. "Chérie, are you sure that--"

"I'm sure," Marcia cut in. She looked to Alice with a determined expression. "I should be allowed to do this. I want to do this. We all know that Greg has to die. There is no other choice."

She looked to Mac, saying, "I like your idea. Greg deserves it. But ... he can't be here anymore. He has to be gone from this place."

Alice listened as the conversation continued for another minute or so before waving everyone quiet again. "It's late. Dinner's done, dishes are done ... there's no work that has to be done right now. As I said, it's been a trying day ... emotional day. I want everyone to call it a day. Get a shower ... hit the gym ... go to bed..."

She glanced toward Mac very briefly, then looked away before clarifying, "...your bed, someone else's bed ... whatever. Just ... for the next few hours ... get your minds off this. I will make a decision tonight. We'll all meet back here for breakfast at oh-six-hundred. For now ... just ... just forget this fucking shit."

Alice took a step back from the ends of the tables and turned a bit to her right, attempting to indicate that she wanted everyone to get up and get out. There was nothing more to be said on this topic. Although she'd told them that she would make a decision in due course, Alice had already decided Greg's fate: tonight, after the bunker had settled down, she would quietly collect Ty and Marcia, take the pair down to Level 6, and have the former provide security while the latter ended Greg's life.

 

[The_Weeping_Angel]

Mac, Ty, and Lupo:
With Alice’s obviously ‘directed at him’ comment Mac figured that she was ending their relationship due to his directness about the man’s punishment. At least it would have left him alive if they were wrong or he’d been chemical controlled or manipulated into performing his actions.

He needed to focus on his work and a potential action. Several factors were at play, but maybe he could help Marcia through this. Sort of. He’d have to wait and see. But not until tomorrow. After leaving the saloon he worked out to exhaust his muscles, watching as Tyrande did the same. Lupo stopped in wearing her uniform, and not ready for bed. “Night shift?”

“Yeah, twelve and twelve.” She replied looking him over. “Never expected a squint to be racked.”

“Squint?” he asked setting the weights down and looking at her.

“Yeah, a squint. Always squinting at a microscope, book, or something else.”

“Oh.. a geek or nerd,” Mac chucked. “I was S.A.S. for a few years. Then I got into being a squint. But I prefer staying in shape.”

“I like staying in shape as well,” Lupo commented. Though the way she said it implied something else.

Refusing to pick up the dropped inuendo he shrugged. “Well there is lots of equipment when you have the time off.”

“Yes, yes there is” Lupo replied with a smile looking at Ty and Mac like hot dogs she wanted to eat. “Let me know if either of you needs a partner.”

Once she was gone Mac looked at Ty. “I thought she was into girls?”

“She’d prefer a furburger, but she’ll take a hotdog.” Ty replied. “Could have been a barracks bunny except she preferred the girlfriends of the soldiers. But be warned, if you and she do.. shack up.. she’ll make you sweat more than any equipment.”

“Rumors or experience.”

“Experience,” Ty replied adding more weight and starting his next set.

 

[The_Weeping_Angel]

Lupo:
Leaving the guys and their sweaty bodies Lupo took her rounds. Ty had already set up a log to track everything, all she had to do is run the Computer Tablet past a wall sensor to time log when she was at a location. Though from the camera’s she figured he could just watch her if he wanted to. Hell she was tempted to just do her rounds nked. Just to see if anyone complained. Though The Captain was a bit uptight from what she’d been able to determine. She needed to get laid. Or least get her pussy eaten. Masturbation was ok, but it was so much better having someone else doing it, or eating you out. But then sometimes you just needed to feel someone inside you. Strap-on’s worked sometimes, as long as the person wearing it was kissing, biting, licking, you as well.

Taking a peek at Mr Fucktard she made sure he was still secured, they’d cleaned him up and put him in a uniform so he didn’t look to bad. His face was swelling from when she’d punched him. Not that he had to worry much longer.

She made notes as to everyones location as she did her rounds, just in case someone wasn’t in the right bedroom. She was pretty sure Marcia was in Alaina’s bed, but she wasn’t kicking the girl out. She probably needed this. Though she could be in her room. Those two switched rooms more often than rabbits. Instead she just logged the room number without any comments.

 

[The_Weeping_Angel]

John:
He had a lot of work to do so he went back to the monitoring station. Trying to get up to speed on what Alaina had been doing and trying to figure out her end goal. He’d noticed Lupo three times at the doorway before she said something to him.

Looking over at her he replied. “I’m an adult, I have work to do. I’ll go to bed soon.”

He finally went to bed around midnight, when he could no longer stop himself from falling asleep and jerking awake at the computer. And because Lupo was standing there glaring at him when did wake up.

 

[Alice2015]

Alice:

Waiting for the others to depart the Saloon, Alice turned and headed back to her office. She had no illusions about whether or not all of her bunker mates would do as she suggested; someone would ignore her comment about there being no work to be done. It didn't surprise her then when she asked Bertha for the locations of the others and found that John was in the Monitoring Station, Rita was again in the Hort Lab, and Spencer was in the Infirmary.

Two others had headed for Berthing, but they weren't in their own assigned rooms. Marcia was in Alaina's room, curled up in the last set of sheets in which the original hacker had slept with the woman's hoody rolled into a ball under her neck. Both cloth items smelled of Alaina.

The other was Leslie, who'd initially returned to her own room, only to change into her sleeping tee and boy shorts and pad across the Commons to Ty's room. She wasn't there for sex specifically -- she needed sleep -- but if Ty did show signs of wanting to get jiggy, she was certainly going to submit.

"Bertha, where is Ty," she asked after some time.

"Lieutenant Collins is in the Level 4 Gymnasium, Captain," the AI responded, but a moment later corrected, "Lieutenant Collins has just exited the Gymnasium and is in--"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it Bertha," Alice cut in. "Is he wearing his Comm Device, Bertha?"

"Lieutenant is wearing his ear mounted Comm Device, Captain," Bertha responded. "Would you like me to connect you?"

"Please," Alice said. Hearing a tone from the wall mounted communication panel, she said, "Lieutenant Collins, please meet me on Level 6. And ... please bring Miss Weathers with you. You'll find her in Miss Carmichael's room." Then, with a serious tone, Alice added, "It's time."