Lyn reported to Commander Wakefield’s office the next day after transporting Visette to a secure area. Though truthfully, the area she was sent to was none other than the warehouse used to train her.

“Commander.” Lyn made a weak salute, but as usual, Commander Wakefield paid it no mind.

“I was informed about your actions yesterday...I’m pleased to hear what you did.” Commander Wakefield remained buried in files and reports as always but he seemed more satisfied than usual.

“Why?” Lyn questioned him, finding his slightly jovial mood to be suspicious.

The dynamic between the two had always been a one that wasn’t quite cordial. Lyn, in spite of her brash nature, had a strict sense of morality. Commander Wakefield, for all his schemes, also believed in the greater good to some extent. The thing that brought tension was their conflicting mentalities, with Commander Wakefield being far more willing to use various underhanded means to achieve his goals.

“Well, a little goodwill never hurts. With this, Visette may be inclined to stay loyal to us for the time being. You did a good job.”

“I didn’t do that to make us look good.”

“No matter...Since you were one of the first people to see what she’s capable of, what do you think?”

“What do I think? I think she’s good at killing if that’s what you’re asking.”

“I see, so do you would you say she’s a threat to the military? To be more specific, do you think you would be able to stop her if she turned on us?”

“Why would I need to? She’s put up with the shit we made her go through so I don’t see why she would turn so easily.”

“Just because things remain calm between us now doesn’t mean that it will continue to do so.” Commander Wakefield pushed the files away and looked at Lyn.

“Your change of attitude is something, O’Hara. Imagine the threat she would pose if she decided to suddenly attack us. Especially with you treating her so lightly when she currently poses a huge risk.”

“Treating her lightly?”

“You act as if I’m wrong...If I gave you the order to kill her now, could you do it?” Commander Wakefield asked with a light smirk and when Lyn didn’t answer it grew even more defined.

“If you want to continue to be in charge of her, O’Hara, I advise you to tell me the reason you’re now defending her.”

“You don’t know anything about her.”

“Oh? And you’re saying you do?”

“No, I’m not, but I watched my own father get killed in front of my eyes and it changed me. So I know that whatever she went through to make her the way she is now must’ve been much fucking worse, Commander.” Lyn’s voice rose and she even unconsciously clenched her fists.

“So your empathy is the cause of you defending her now? I find that really interesting, O’Hara. When my wife’s parents died as a result of Councilor Richard’s scheming. Do you know what I felt when I found out? The same things you feel now, anger, guilt, and just about whatever emotion contributed to me wallowing in self-pity, but you know what I think? I think that our losses and failures make us stronger. So we should be glad for whatever Visette went through to make her the way she is, wouldn’t you agree?”

“I don’t,” Lyn said while gritting her teeth.

“No matter, I’m sure Visette Thales would. In any case, you can continue to train her but I’ll leave you with one last piece of advice. There’s no reversing whatever it is that happened to that girl, O’Hara, and you would be an idiot to think otherwise. I’ll admit, she’s intelligent and gifted with incredible talent but you know what she lacks? Humanity. She’d just as easily kill you or me if we tried to obstruct her goals or if the benefit was high enough. The sooner you see that I’m right, the sooner you’ll be able to forget about her redeeming qualities and think of how to deal with her if she goes against the interests of New Mayhall.” Commander Wakefield was cold and sharp as he spoke, his eyes narrowed at Lyn.

He was convinced that Visette Thales would be useful until the moment she found better benefits. As long as he could provide her with whatever she asked it would be fine, but the moment that Visette sought something outside of Commander Wakefield’s power? That was the moment Vis would instantly become a threat in his eyes.

Lyn’s face changed expression several times before it portrayed an uneasy calm, her anger hiding just underneath.

“With all due respect, Commander, fuck you.”

Lyn left his office with harsh words but as always, Commander Wakefield didn’t care. He only watched her leave, wondering if he would have to expect Lyn to betray him along with Visette.

“No, you wouldn’t have it in you, would you?” Commander Wakefield whispered to Lyn’s retreating shadow. He could remember her Father and there was no way Lyn would make a decision that would compromise New Mayhall.

“It’s just her I have to worry about then?” Commander Wakefield leaned into his chair, his eyes staring at the ceiling as his mind wandered about.

…

By the next week, Lyn and Visette had resumed training.

Visette’s promised reward was a large number of books she asked for, They had yet to be delivered due to certain “issues” but they were set to arrive eventually. The reason for the delay was Commander Wakefield who made people scour through the books for any potential coded messages or information that would give Visette an advantage. If there was anything that could compromise the safety of New Mayhall, he would confiscate it.

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This time, they were using practice knives for close quarters combat. It was centered around landing a deadly wound on your opponent or getting them into the position to land one.

“Remember, you should expect to get cut or stabbed if you engage someone with a bladed weapon. That becomes doubly true if you’re going against an Abnormal, but then again, I feel like it won’t apply to you.” Lyn swung the plastic knife and Visette dodged by stepping back before avoiding more strikes.

When she could, she would block Lyn’s forearm and if she couldn’t she’d agilely dodge. Lyn became more aggressive in order to simulate a real fight and Visette responded similarly.

When Lyn made a wide swing Visette suddenly rushed in, using one hand to grab the knife-wielding arm and the other to wrap around Lyn’s abdomen before sidestepping and flipping Lyn onto the ground.

Lyn quickly reacted and used both her feet to kick Visette backward before scrambling over and pressing the plastic knife to her throat.

“That was a good one.” Lyn breathed deeply. “It feels like it won’t be long until our roles switch.”

She let out a sigh and climbed to her feet, offering a hand to Visette who accepted it.

“We’ll call it here for today.” Lyn looked toward Visette’s quarters that were set up in the corner of the warehouse. The only difference it had with Visette’s old cell was the lack of reinforced glass. Seeing as the Governor wanted Visette groomed properly, they made sure to at least give her a little freedom. Though the outside of the warehouse was now heavily guarded by soldiers, indicating the importance Visette held.

“The books you asked for should be arriving soon too, Visette.”

“I understand.” Visette nodded but remained as unreadable as ever. There was no telling if she was pleased they finally came or annoyed it took so long.

Just as Lyn was about to speak again there was a timely knock that interfered.

“That must be it.” Lyn went to open the door and a what was beyond it could be seen by Visette.

A security airlock was installed just outside the door which also barred Vis from seeing whatever was beyond it. In terms of resources, the cost was negligible compared to Visette’s worth.

After exchanging some words with a guard, Lyn shut the door and returned with a crate full of books.

“Yeah, this is what you asked for...and some you didn’t.” Lyn’s expression turned strange when she noticed a few books on small talk and communication. She guessed the additional reading material was most likely due to of Commander Wakefield.

“Thank you.” Visette received the books without a single tremor in her expression. Her thanks even sound insincere but Lyn had gotten accustomed to Visette’s tone.

“Don’t mention it, I’ll be back early tomorrow so get some rest.” Lyn departed soon after giving Visette the books allowing the latter to be alone.

Vis carried the books toward her bed and began laying them out. Very basic geography, economy, history, and a few other educational pieces. A few relating to New Mayhall were missing but it didn’t matter to her since she got most of what she asked for. The additional books about socializing were about to be tossed away she suddenly froze in place.

‘Efficient or more effective methods of communication can be beneficial when it is necessary to interact with others.’ Visette thought to herself and raised the importance of the social books. She opened up the first book, The Essence of Socializing and read the first page.

In our current age of strife and violence, the essence of socializing has been somewhat lost. What makes a civilization civilized if not culture? Fear not, if you are socially inept I’ll cure you of your condition and make sure you’re the social butterfly you were meant to be. Now, before we start there are two important things we’ll cover in the beginning. First, smiling is necessary to create a comfortable atmosphere between you and the individual you’re conversing with.

Visette immediately found herself confused. She didn’t remember smiling at all but Charlie did so often. Recalling the expression on the face of the young girl, Visette tried to imitate it. What came as a result didn’t even resemble a grin. Her cheeks barely moved and her lips slightly parted, revealing her teeth. Feeling that it was a futile task, Visette gave up soon after her first attempt.

Second, a little humor goes a long way. There are quotes of famous generals making jokes during battle and those quotes live on to this day, enhancing the courageous image of those men who dared to joke in the face of death. As a result, they were immortalized forever.

A well-timed joke can diffuse tense situations, calm others down, and build instant rapport. Here’s a favorite among even the most staunch of military personnel. Anton walked into a bar and a group of Corrupted followed him. When it was time for the bar to close, only Anton walked out.

Visette stared at the words on the page and read them repeatedly, attempting to understand the joke. When comprehension never came, she began to think that understanding the nuances of conversation would need an immense amount of skill and time to decipher. She closed the book and decided to deal with it another time.

…

Elsewhere, Commander Wakefield looked over a report with an addendum from the Governor attached.

A complete report of the incident at the detention facility following two weeks of investigation:

The facility guard watching Visette at the time appears to have suffered from a failure of his central nervous system brought on by what we can only assume to be a poison. The autopsy concluded there were no traces of a poisonous substance to be found within the blood of the deceased to support that assumption, but based on the events surrounding his death it seems plausible. The food in the staff room was confiscated and examined but it yielded nothing. If the guard was poisoned, another guard could very well be the culprit. This makes even more likely that a foreign city assisted the Abnormals from the so-called "Freedom City" and hid their involvement via an untraceable poison.

Although this matter cannot be confirmed based on our total lack of information.

Moving on to the thirty deceased inmates. Two of which died from gunshot wounds to the head which is in line with Visette Thales’ story. It is also the least complicated cause of death to be found in this report.

In addition to the first two, three inmates were found with broken necks and the another with internal damage to his vital organs. It also lines up with Visette’s story.

Now, this is where things turn strange. The rest of the inmates, twenty-four in total, all suffered an incomprehensible amount of internal trauma. The most shocking one, in particular, is an inmate who had his spine snapped into pieces. The others didn’t fare much better with multiple neck and spinal fractures as well as internal bleeding. There was a clear intent to kill based on the wounds of the deceased and judging by their facial expressions, they weren’t even able to fight back. If I could summarize with one word it would be, overkill. Visette Thales simply left no possibility of survival for the inmates. Extreme caution advised.

Governor’s Addendum:

Those who are reading this report have proven to be trustworthy to an extent. From now, you are advised to act as if there are traitors among us. Periodic internal investigations are expected to be carried out diligently. Once we find out which city is an ally to the Freedom City, we will respond accordingly. For now, maintain vigilance at all times.

Commander Wakefield stashed the report away. If Visette wasn’t able to prove her worth within the next few years he’d be in a bad situation. Since he assured the Governor she would be one of New Mayhall’s strongest weapons, if she failed to measure up, he would lose everything he worked for. But he remained more than optimistic in spite of the pressure.