Every character is over the age of 19 years.
*****
Session 1 - The Moment
The helicopter's co-pilot gave her a nervous look. "Miss, please remain in your seat until we've landed!"
Agent Fox ignored him. These pilots were taking too many precautions, and thus taking her valuable time. At least the main pilot focused on his job; the co-pilot kept trying to flirt with her. She tried to show him that she wasn't interested, but the pilot would always remind him to pay attention to their job before he could get the hint.
This was getting frustrating, and she regretted wearing her long brown hair loose like this. When on a mission she would bundle it up, since it would get in the way. But she wasn't on a mission until three hours ago, when the emergency call came through the highest channels, and having her hair bundled up with just get in the way of using the device.
The helicopter landed on the pad without incident, and Fox leaped out before either pilot could say anything to her. As she expected, the soldiers were waiting for her. She was disappointed to see that they were far from the professionals she was used to dealing with. They tried, sure, but the sight of her in her tight cat-suit had clearly caught them off guard. A younger version of her might have found their desperate attempts to not look at her amusing, but right now it was just irritating.
"Ma'am." Their leader, on the other hand, greeted her with a strangely serious tone for local National Guard types. "I was instructed to give you all available assistance."
Fox nodded, allowing the soldiers to guide her into the hospital. It was well-run, but quaint. Most of its equipment was handed down from the wealthier hospital in the mountains, but it was the nearest facility to the quarantine zone. The survivor had to be taken here.
Even though her escorts were clearly inexperienced, they were well trained and knew the way. Hallway after identical hallway was passed easily, but she kept a mental note of where everything was. Her hazel eyes flickered at each and every nosy local, confused faculty, or startled patient that they came across, always searching for potential security risks while pretending to ignore them. Ultimately, Fox knew this was likely pointless, but she was not about to take chances. Years of training and dozens of missions had forged her into a weapon, but she was not here for the locals.
They traveled down several flights of stairs and another long hallway, finally coming towards the secured section of the hospital. More guards were stationed here, although she could tell that they too were local. The doctor saw her, approaching her quickly and professionally. He, at least, was professional military.
"Agent Fox." He offered her his hand, and she took it quickly. "Glad you made it here in such short notice."
"Doctor Emerson. I would see the patient immediately." She gave him a quick nod before he ushered her into the medical room. Several civilian doctors scurried about, but they were not her concern. Doctor Emerson led her past the others into the small room adjacent to the main work station. It was a smaller room, with a large window separating her from the patient. The doctor moved quickly towards the device, granting her a first look at the patient in the adjacent room.
"So that's him?" she asked. It was obviously him, but confirmation was always needed.
"Yes Agent," the doctor said. He lifted his medical tablet and looked over the details. "His life signs are stable, but weak. As you can see, he has suffered terrible injuries over his ordeal."
Fox nodded; she already read that part. But to do this, some additional background was needed. "Tell me about him."
"Subject's name is Martin Barrington. Sole heir to the Barrington estate and well known playboy, his family owns a house in the quarantined zone."
Again, Fox knew all of this. His family had money, and the report included the detail that he was a known womanizer. One look at his nurse, likely provided by his wealthy family, told her as much. Petite, young, and gorgeous, his Asian nurse seemed more like something from a porn movie. But her hands used the equipment expertly; she was more than just show.
Still, her presence confused Fox. "I thought there were going to be no civilians here?"
Doctor Emerson gave her an apologetic look. "I'm sorry Agent, but his family does have connections. They insisted on bringing his normal people to help him. I fought as best I could, limiting their interference to just her. But..."
"I understand," Fox cut him off. The nurse was likely reporting everything that happened back to his family, both aiding them in keeping him alive and letting his family know what was happening. That was politics; again not her business. She looked at the device the doctor held in his hands. "Are you sure that you know how to use that?"
He nodded confidently. "The device has already been set up for your use. Your MWPs were sent ahead of you, and I've set it up for your use. I'm still not sure what the point of this is..."
Fox recognized the probing question. Fortunately, he had enough clearance for her to answer it. "I trust you know of what truly is happening in the quarantine zone?" The man nodded uncomfortably. "Good. What you do not know is that things are not proceeding well for our forces. The nuclear option is being discussed as we speak, but my superiors fear that using those weapons will not stop the enemy."
"I understand some of that," the doctor admitted before nodding towards the patient. "But why do you need to do this? There were other survivors."
"The other survivors are...complicated." Fox looked at the patient, narrowing her eyes. "This man is the only survivor who can tell us about the enemy. We need to extract whatever it is that he knows, and now."
Reluctantly, the doctor agreed. He handed her the device. "As I said, it's already been set up for your use. Due to the severe mental strain of these devices, I've set it up to monitor your brainwaves for too much stress..."
"Do not worry about me," she cautioned.
Surprisingly, he didn't budge. "You could fry your brain if it gets too much. This man endured horrific things before we found him; hence why you need to access his memories like this. The device is dangerous under these conditions. Thus I must insist; if it shuts down you must take a few minutes to collect yourself. If you do too much, you risk damaging your brain and thus risk your entire reason for coming here."
Fox wanted to argue, but decided against it. He was right; what use was this information if she failed to get it to her superiors? She took her seat, nodding to the doctor. "Very well doctor. Hook me up."
The doctor went to work quickly, placing the ring over her head. Fox pulled her long hair down, so it wasn't hard to fit the item over it. She knew how this worked.
"Alright Agent, it's ready." The doctor pointed to a switch near her right hand. "I won't be here with you, as requested, but this switch will turn it on. Just past the switch is an alarm button. Hit it and someone will be with you in seconds. If not me than one of the civilian doctors. They've already been briefed to not ask questions."
"Got it." Fox put her finger on the switch, watching the doctor depart with her hazel eyes.
He gave her one final look. "Good luck."
She didn't give him any sort of reaction as he left. Once the room was hers she finally hit the switch. Her vision faded, and his memories flowed into her mind.
