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Description

‘Right, lets go over this one more time.’ The mammal in the gray kaki pants thumbed his pen against the desk, now strewn with an assortment of notes. ‘Name?’

‘Ashly.’

‘Do you have a last name Ashly?’ Tap – tap – tap the pen drummed against the plastic of the desk, tap – tap – tap.

‘…’

‘Right, and how did you get here?’

‘…’

‘And, your –‘ His next words were cut off as a sudden knock at the door drew him away from an otherwise thrilling conversation. Almost glad to take a break from what was rapidly becoming two steps away from an interrogation, the only issue being finding legal charges to bring against the individual in question. If there were any, the Jane Doe before him was more close lipped than most he had ever run across. And more curiously she had not even asked for a lawyer to be present.

‘Don’t go anywhere.’

To no surprise, the wild dog made no reply other than to stare at him with her violet eyes unblinking.

As the door closed, Ashly blew out her own sigh of frustration. They had been going over the same questions again and again after she had been deemed medically sound enough to travel. From there, out of the hospital bed and right over to the Special Investigations Department.

She was still trying to figure out half of the questions they kept posing to her herself, and, when she asked several simple ones they seemed to be just as confused.

‘What is the state of the UNSC forces on this planet?’

‘Is there a Covenant presence in system?’

‘Where is the Emerald Shield?’

From their reactions, she was beginning to wonder if she had stumbled across an area of space, an outpost perhaps that had not yet been attacked by Covenant forces. But even this seemed off, just like their technology felt off – behind.

If this was the past, then, could she deliver a warning to prevent first contact? Could the fall of the outer colonies be prevented? Then again who would believe her, certainly not anyone in the UNSC. And ONI had made it clear that they wanted noting more to make her and the rest of project Red Wing to disappear into one of their black cells.

That thought still made her shiver, and, it reminded her to keep her elongated muzzle closed. Despite the general comfort that she had been provided, there was an underlaying threat every time they came to talk to her, more probing questions, questions she didn’t have an answer too. And she was growing more and more certain she wouldn’t get a chance to if events kept playing out as they were currently.

Rolling her large saucer like ears forwards she pushed those thoughts away, her Spartan hearing more than capable of making out bits and pieces of the shouting match happening on the other side of the door. The captain was clearly not happy with someone, someone – deep voice, male, calm. She tested the air but couldn’t get much from within the room she was in save for the overriding scent of ammonia, and disinfectant.

After a brief pause in the shouting match outside, the door reopened, and a new figure emerged. The mere sight of him caused Ashly to gawk as a wolf matching her own height strode into the room. Grinning he pulled up the chair that had just been vacated and seated himself. She was still struggling to get used to the idea, the idea that there could have been others who survived the transformation and her mouth opened for a second half wanting to know – she closed that thought down quickly enough.

‘Greetings, you must be –‘ He looked down at the table, regarded the contents for a moment then smiled. ‘Ashly. I’ll get right to the chase, I represent someone who has taken a great interest in your continued well being, and with your cooperation I am sure we can get you out of here in no time. How does that sound?’

Ashly’s ears folded back, there was something that she immediately disliked about this one.

‘I think,’ She began her violet eyes dancing over his features, his posture, confident and relaxed, cocky. ‘That you are the third person to make that offer to me today.’

‘Third?’

That got his attention and for a brief moment his relaxed demeanor shifted.

‘Besides the one you were just talking to, there was another, a white fox with amber eyes. She used almost the exact same wording but was at least a little more polite in her offer.’ Leaning over, Ashly let her lips pull back showing off her white teeth in a sharp smile. ‘What makes you so sure I would take any offer from you?’

Frowning the wolf reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small metallic control with a flat screen. Two small prongs extended from its ends and for a moment Ashly was sure it was a weapon of some kind, her visitor seemed to come to the same conclusion and waved his free hand dismissively.

‘Relax, I’m not going to stun you.’ He grinned. ‘Unless you are looking for Nuclear Wessels?’

Despite herself she smiled.

‘I think that’s my line.’

Shrugging his shoulders he fiddled with the remote for a few seconds until it began to emit several chirping beeps.

‘And that means?’

‘Nothing for you to worry about.’ The wolf stood, looked at the remote, and then grinned. ‘I suggest you take my employers offer though, after all, you’re not the only one who came through.’

The words hit her like the Wraith that had almost crushed her flat, and in an instant she was on her feet.

‘What did you say?’

‘Ah, so now I have your attention.’ He turned and started walking to the door. ‘Don’t worry, just sit tight, corporate will have their best lawyer down here in under an hour and we can take thing from there. Until then, Princess.’

Tipping an imaginary hat, he gave Ashly one last smile and vanished.

Description

‘Right, lets go over this one more time.’ The mammal in the gray kaki pants thumbed his pen against the desk, now strewn with an assortment of notes. ‘Name?’

‘Ashly.’

‘Do you have a last name Ashly?’ Tap – tap – tap the pen drummed against the plastic of the desk, tap – tap – tap.

‘…’

‘Right, and how did you get here?’

‘…’

‘And, your –‘ His next words were cut off as a sudden knock at the door drew him away from an otherwise thrilling conversation. Almost glad to take a break from what was rapidly becoming two steps away from an interrogation, the only issue being finding legal charges to bring against the individual in question. If there were any, the Jane Doe before him was more close lipped than most he had ever run across. And more curiously she had not even asked for a lawyer to be present.

‘Don’t go anywhere.’

To no surprise, the wild dog made no reply other than to stare at him with her violet eyes unblinking.

As the door closed, Ashly blew out her own sigh of frustration. They had been going over the same questions again and again after she had been deemed medically sound enough to travel. From there, out of the hospital bed and right over to the Special Investigations Department.

She was still trying to figure out half of the questions they kept posing to her herself, and, when she asked several simple ones they seemed to be just as confused.

‘What is the state of the UNSC forces on this planet?’

‘Is there a Covenant presence in system?’

‘Where is the Emerald Shield?’

From their reactions, she was beginning to wonder if she had stumbled across an area of space, an outpost perhaps that had not yet been attacked by Covenant forces. But even this seemed off, just like their technology felt off – behind.

If this was the past, then, could she deliver a warning to prevent first contact? Could the fall of the outer colonies be prevented? Then again who would believe her, certainly not anyone in the UNSC. And ONI had made it clear that they wanted noting more to make her and the rest of project Red Wing to disappear into one of their black cells.

That thought still made her shiver, and, it reminded her to keep her elongated muzzle closed. Despite the general comfort that she had been provided, there was an underlaying threat every time they came to talk to her, more probing questions, questions she didn’t have an answer too. And she was growing more and more certain she wouldn’t get a chance to if events kept playing out as they were currently.

Rolling her large saucer like ears forwards she pushed those thoughts away, her Spartan hearing more than capable of making out bits and pieces of the shouting match happening on the other side of the door. The captain was clearly not happy with someone, someone – deep voice, male, calm. She tested the air but couldn’t get much from within the room she was in save for the overriding scent of ammonia, and disinfectant.

After a brief pause in the shouting match outside, the door reopened, and a new figure emerged. The mere sight of him caused Ashly to gawk as a wolf matching her own height strode into the room. Grinning he pulled up the chair that had just been vacated and seated himself. She was still struggling to get used to the idea, the idea that there could have been others who survived the transformation and her mouth opened for a second half wanting to know – she closed that thought down quickly enough.

‘Greetings, you must be –‘ He looked down at the table, regarded the contents for a moment then smiled. ‘Ashly. I’ll get right to the chase, I represent someone who has taken a great interest in your continued well being, and with your cooperation I am sure we can get you out of here in no time. How does that sound?’

Ashly’s ears folded back, there was something that she immediately disliked about this one.

‘I think,’ She began her violet eyes dancing over his features, his posture, confident and relaxed, cocky. ‘That you are the third person to make that offer to me today.’

‘Third?’

That got his attention and for a brief moment his relaxed demeanor shifted.

‘Besides the one you were just talking to, there was another, a white fox with amber eyes. She used almost the exact same wording but was at least a little more polite in her offer.’ Leaning over, Ashly let her lips pull back showing off her white teeth in a sharp smile. ‘What makes you so sure I would take any offer from you?’

Frowning the wolf reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small metallic control with a flat screen. Two small prongs extended from its ends and for a moment Ashly was sure it was a weapon of some kind, her visitor seemed to come to the same conclusion and waved his free hand dismissively.

‘Relax, I’m not going to stun you.’ He grinned. ‘Unless you are looking for Nuclear Wessels?’

Despite herself she smiled.

‘I think that’s my line.’

Shrugging his shoulders he fiddled with the remote for a few seconds until it began to emit several chirping beeps.

‘And that means?’

‘Nothing for you to worry about.’ The wolf stood, looked at the remote, and then grinned. ‘I suggest you take my employers offer though, after all, you’re not the only one who came through.’

The words hit her like the Wraith that had almost crushed her flat, and in an instant she was on her feet.

‘What did you say?’

‘Ah, so now I have your attention.’ He turned and started walking to the door. ‘Don’t worry, just sit tight, corporate will have their best lawyer down here in under an hour and we can take thing from there. Until then, Princess.’

Tipping an imaginary hat, he gave Ashly one last smile and vanished.