//------------------------------// // Her Respite // Story: The Conversion Bureau: A Mare's Tail // by HiddenBrony //------------------------------//         The basic hum of the road didn’t much alleviate from the drumming boredom that had settled upon the quartet as they drove down the I-25 North in the only car on the highway. The vast, dusty plains held nothing but dotted specks on the horizon, the sight of a bird, a vulture, at one point a pegasus or two broke the monotony of driving in a straight line. Violet mused on the standards of the road, which had kept up quite well over the years, as opposed the the raised concrete expressways that she had seen snaking through her city, like arteries for the heart of her city. Smirking lightly, she likened the cars to blood cells, the police and ambulances the white cells. The sound of sirens was such a foreign thing now - most pony emergencies were dealt with by trained pegasi, with serious injury dealt with a team of unicorns pulled by pegasi carriage. It was a unique thing to see in the sky, an ornate box pulled by winged beasts through the misty skies. She had spoken to Alfred about it once, she remembered. He asked her if she missed the sounds of the city.         She hadn’t answered.         Turning to the only other human companion she’d had in years, Violet raised a curious eyebrow toward the girl. “So whaddya think that was?” Rose’s eyes opened wide in surprise, her mind elsewhere on the do-nothing road. Looking about, Rose seemed occupied in what Violet was talking about, prompting the purple haired woman to snicker at her compatriots confusion. “The helicopter, Rose. I hadn’t seen one in month-years, even. Maybe two years.” Violet kept mentally reminding herself that more time had passed then she remembered, and it was still a jarring proposal. “What do you think it was for?”         Rose shook her head. “Hell if I know, not even the HLF has many of those birds flying around anymore. Finding the fuel is hard to come by these days, so whatever it was must have been... had to be important.” Violet nodded in agreement, leaning her head on her arm. The long flatlands yielded nothing for the girls on the road, Rose taking a momentary look back towards the truck bed. Smirking slightly, the girl bounced back to a forward facing position. “Well, we lost a lump.”         Violet raised an eyebrow. “A lump?”         “Yep,” Rose nodded, mimicking Violet’s headrest technique, cradling the side of her head in her hand as she leaned on the windowsill. “We used to have two lumps in the back. Now, we have one big one.” Violet hadn’t noticed it before in the dark, but Rose liked to talk with her hands a lot. Swinging her forearms rapidly, she made seemingly random motions that somehow made context in what she said.         Thusly, Violet’s eyes went wide. “Y-you’re not saying they’re... in the back...!”         Rose laughed - high pitched, but pure - shaking her head violently. “No! No, aw, V, you gotta get your head out of the gutter!” Spinning a cautionary look back, Rose solidified her claim as a pony’s head looked up curiously to find out what the girls were talking about. The long, orange mane flew crazily in the wind, and a pale pink unicorn’s horn shot up next to him, tapping him lightly on the cheek. Looking down, Rusty smirked as he leaned back down. Rose rolled her eyes, but her smile was betraying her real emotion. “Although if we’re not careful...”         Violet let loose a single laugh, shaking her head in her hand. “Oh, geez, that’s what I need. Baby-making at 80 miles per hour.” She stifled future laughing, her eyes scrolling the horizon. As they drove along, Rose let loose a question.         “Do you think unicorns have contraceptive magic?” The blonde asked, bringing a hand to her chin.         “Wwwwhat?” Violet asked incredulously. She honestly didn’t see the subject coming, but she shook her head. “I, I guess? I don’t know.” As she thought about the subject, she did notice that ponies didn’t seem to have very large family’s regardless, and almost never did she see unwanted fillies and colts. Of course, she never got out much.         Rose scratched her chin, moving up to her cheek a bit as she opened her mouth into an ‘O’ shape, as if it made a difference to the itch. “Guess it’s been on my mind. There are only so many condoms left in the world, V, and a girl’s gotta be careful.”         Violet couldn’t help but guffaw, girlish giggling never really holding true to her style. “Oh Gaaaawd, Rose, really? Really?” Holding her hand over her mouth, she struggled to keep a hand on the wheel as the truck barreled down the road. “You know what else there’s a shortage of? Boys,” Violet mentioned, trying to remember how many she had seen that didn’t go pony or eventually try and kill her. “Not that that’s going to be my problem by next week.”         Rose stuck her tongue out at the girl, deciding to pay more attention to the road ahead. “Yeah, you’ll have colts and stallions to attend to. I’ll probably just latch next to the first single guy I see that isn’t a total monster.” She said, pondering her options. “I’d suppose there aren’t gonna be a lot of total monsters at Colorado Springs, or else they’d have gone pony or gone to work for the HLF.”         “Yeah, and there’s always the IHSA branch out there that Twinkle mentioned.” Violet peered her eyes ahead, seeing some sort of vague shape on the horizon that didn’t seem to be just a part of the roadway. She looked to her sides a moment, seeing that the flat expanses - not to mention the numerous roads that ran alongside the I-25, meant that a blockade would probably be useless. “So... you know... there’s that- What is that up ahead?”         Passing a sign that read Sante Fe - 2 miles ahead with the appropriate exit number below, Rose leaned forward, her arms leaning against the dashboard, her palm resting over the portion that read AIR BAG in stylized caps. “I think it’s a... tent?” She guessed. Violet echoed her sentiments, but Rose squinted her eyes against the sunlight. “It’s a... big white tent.”         Violet raised an eyebrow, her foot subconsciously pouring on the gas as the truck accelerated toward the anomaly.         -----         As the truck approached, Twinkle peered ahead over the roof of the cabin. While her horn was less than ideal for peering over surfaces, she hoped her lighter scheme of color would go relatively unnoticed against the cloudy sky. However, the group needn’t be in feet long, as the unicorn smiled hugely. Sticking her head into the cabin, the girl pony reported her findings. “That’s the IHSA insignia on the side of the tent!” she said, smiling. There was a passed glance between the human girls, their minds mulling over every old movie cliche in the book. “We’re completely safe.”         Rose was the first to speak up. “I’d hide regardless, pony.” The blonde leaned closed toward the window as she looked over the collection of white tents and vehicles. As they had neared, the girls in the front of the truck had started to pick out the shapes, noticing the gleam of windows and the like. “They could be in disguise.”         Twinkle giggled softly. “Disguise? To what end? We’re in the middle of nowhere, girls. Do you really think that the HLF would go so far as to camp out somewhere to take ponies hostage off the roads?” Rose and Violet exchanged glances, each one fairly unsure of how much things should be taken at face value.         “Short answer? Yes,” Violet muttered. Rose scoffed slightly, herself being a part of the HLF until recent events, if only as a member due to family. Not that she honored such anymore. “Look, it’s probably safer if you and Rusty hide out back there anyway - just in case,” Violet asked, earning her a soft sigh from the unicorn. Regardless, the pink pony disappeared out to the back, pulling the blanket over herself and the red stallion.         Rose looked back a moment before shaking her head. “I’m not saying it’s not, but I didn’t hear anything about a group camping out next to roads, dressed up in tents with the IHSA symbol on them. For the most part, we’re kinda friendly with the IHSA - well, not ‘we’, but...” she trailed, her voice cracking slightly. Violet passed a worried glance over to her friend, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Rose chuckled and shook her hand. “It’s alright, I’m not gonna break open like a fountain on you...” She trailed.         Violet sighed, but her eyes were trained on the encampment as it neared. “Even still, Rose.” She didn’t feel the need to say much else. As far as Violet was concerned, her friendships were made by trial by fire, and each one was forged well enough. Slowing the vehicle, she could see humans moving among the camp, some of them noticing the truck at the distance. “Think they’ll do anything...?”         Rose cleared her throat as she pointed at a figure walking towards the road. As he strode, an orange square could be seen near him, in what resembled a flag as the truck got close. Sure enough, the man raised his arm, holding a fluorescent orange signal flag as he waved the truck down. “I guess... we should stop.”         Violet looked over, but Rose simply shrugged. “They’ll get plenty suspicious if we don’t,” she mused. Forced to agree, the purple haired girl slowed down even more as she started to pull over to the side of the road, the man dropping the flag as he gave a friendly wave. The gesture was enough to make Violet feel less nervous as they approached, her biting anxiety starting to wane as the man smiled. Pulling alongside the man, Violet gave a curt wave toward him. Rose smiled, giving a more vocal response. “Hey, old man! You with the IHSA?”         “Sure am, little lady. Name’s Jorge. That’s J-o-rge, no that I expect you to spell it out,” he chuckled. He was a large man, with a naturally dark tan to his skin. A light beard punctuated his jawline, but none of it more than a couple millimeters long - just enough to show on his face. His broad shoulders meant he was no stranger to the weight room, either. Leaning against Violet’s open window, he winked at the girls as he knocked on the roof of the truck. “I don’t see many trucks on the road these days. Where you girls hailing from?” He smirked as he looked back at the truck bed, seeing the mattress and blankets. “And who’re your pony friends?”         Twinkle audibly groaned as the blanket went slack, revealing vaguely pony shapes under the covers. Shifting herself unto her hooves, she peered at the man in front of her. Vaguely military, she mused, but otherwise she deemed trustworthy. “Hello there, sir, I am Twinkle, and my friend here is Rusty,” she mentioned quickly, flicking the blanket off the red Earth pony in the back. The others held their breath.         Yet, Jorge laughed heartily as he reached a hand out, which Twinkle gracefully met with her hoof, shaking their appendages. “Good to meet you, Twinkle. Is that a single name, or are you one of those dual-name unicorns? I’m Jorge. Jorge Cutler.” His smile was huge, and Violet mirrored it, giving Rose an expectant look. The blonde shrugged and gave a fleeting thumbs up, giving a light shrug as she looked over the other men and women at the camp.         “Just Twinkle is fine, Jorge. I hope you don’t wish to be referred to as Mr. Cutler,” Twinkle started, but the shaking head of the man clued her in.         “No, no. Mr. Cutler was my father,” Jorge chuckled.         Rusty pushed himself up on his good hoof, raising an eyebrow. “I’m sorry to hear that, Jorge,” he said, stabilizing himself. He had caught the was easily enough.         Jorge laughed and shook his head. “Oh, don’t worry about it, ‘Rusty’. That’s a human gone pony name if I’ve ever heard one. No, my dear old dad goes by the name Sledge, like the hammer on your flank there. ‘Course, he’s got a grenade on his. Old war veteran into an old war pony. Mom’s happy as a lark now that she’s a pegasus, though. Ha!” Jorge smiled down at the red pony, taking note of his damaged forelimb. “Eh? What happened to your hoof, there?”         Violet cleared her throat quickly, feeling ostracized from the conversation thus far. “We had a bit of trouble, and he fell out of the cabin and landed wrong on his hoof.” She informed, having no reason to lie to the man. Rose nodded slowly, deciding not to dwell on it. “Oh, and I’m Violet, and this is Rose.”         Jorge held out his hand to each of the girls, where each quite graciously accepted. Shaking his hand was an almost foreign experience, having not had to go through such pleasantries in years. Jorge waved down a couple of his friends and they came by. Rose was the first to notice a couple carried weapons, but Violet didn’t think much of it - feral animals tended to stalk the open fields these days. “Well girls, if you aren’t in a rush, would you like to have some company for a little while? We don’t have much to offer in terms a’ food, but we can help ya. Whaddya out here for?”         Violet looked over to Rose, who was focused on the guns of the people on the base. “I could ask the same question, Jorge. What are you all out here for? It’s not like Sante Fe or something got hit with some big disaster. I can see it from here,” Rose quiped, gaining the attention of the large man. “Seems a bit off with the tents and jeeps and the semi over there.” Rose pointed toward the makeshift parking lot, where a large semi - fortunately much unlike the kind they had seen previously - were parked.         Jorge hesitated a moment, but shrugged and smiled. “Field tests, really. We’re out and about on a convoy to test a couple things out here. Don’t let the guns fool you - they’re just for the wild animals out there. Things have been getting riled up as of late - the brass says it’s the magic in the atmosphere, makin’ things go wild! It’s why most of the west has vacated, I hear,” he mentioned.         Twinkle nodded slowly. “Yes, I hear it can be quite dangerous further north, where the Jet Stream is more prevalent year round.” She mentioned. Violet took a moment to digest the idea of dangerous, magically enhanced animals, but banished the thought from her mind.         Rusty looked about at all the IHSA members, and echoed something he had heard Jorge say. “You said something about ‘the brass’. Are you a military group?”         “Sure am. We’re a branch of the IHSA devoted at... keepin’ the peace between pony and person. I can guess you all are familiar with how the HLF can be. Killin’ you pony folk for the sake of killin’. Shame we lack a centralized force to deal with ‘em these days, but you know what they say about stupid people in groups.”         “Call it a government.” Rose smirked, much to the amusement of Jorge. Rose nodded her head slightly at the man as she gestured toward the parking lot. “What do you say, guys? Stick around?”         Violet didn’t mind, as she was quite enjoying the man’s company. The ponies agreed as well, and soon Jorge was gesturing toward the gathering of vehicles. “Well, go ahead and park. Like I said, we don’t have much, but we’re willing to share with you all should you need something.” And with that, the group headed toward the parking lot, Violet taking the decision to park far enough away from the lorry truck for Rose’s sake.         Jorge met them alongside another member, introduced him as Carl Juniper, and they finished a whole meet and greet. Violet shook Carl’s hand, but found unlike his companion, Carl was a bit more cold and militaristic about it. This didn’t earn  him many points with the quartet, but they didn’t quite mind it. Stepping out of the vehicle, Violet rounded the truck and started to help Rose out, before Jorge stepped in. “Whoa, Whoa there little lady. My, that is a nasty looking job there on your ankle, child,” he murmured. “What happened there?”         Violet cut in before Rose could, sensing a delicate situation. “Well, she... It’s kind of a private matter, but we did everything we could for it,” she said. Jorge gave a passing glance over her, but nodded his head. “Well, I’ll see if we can’t help you get fixed up then.” Passing a look over to the red pony who was gingerly getting down off the bed with Twinkle’s help, he pointed at the stallion. “You too, Rusty.”         “Many- oof, thanks Twinkle - Many thanks.” Rusty chuckled, nearly falling all over the unicorn. She threatened to skewer the colt if he tripped up again, and he simply grinned while apologizing.         Sticking a thumb over to the ponies, Jorge raised an eyebrow. “Not meaning to pry, but are those two ponies together?”         Violet chuckled. “Give ‘em another day. Two, tops.”         -----         In the white tent, Violet found herself separated from Rose and Rusty for a little bit while she, Twinkle, and Jorge spoke about various things. Violet found it all to be an odd sensation, to be sitting around humans and ponies alike, shooting the breeze like the world had always been this way. She kept glancing over to Carl, though, the stoic man merely sitting nearby. Jorge, however, was dominating the conversation, apparently quite happy to have some new souls to talk to. “So then we were deported off to Australia to help with relief efforts, moving many of the sick to hospitals before eventually even those were just converted to Conversion Bureaus,” he said, pulling out a stick of gum.         Offering it to the girls, Twinkle refused it while Violet grabbed a piece, more than excited to have some gum for the first time in years. Twinkle tapped her hoof thoughtfully as her human companion tore into the wrapper and chewed viciously on the pink stick. “So they replaced human hospitals with Conversion Bureaus out there?” she asked, shaking her mane about. “I can see why - ponification deals with many illnesses, both mental and physical, but to simply use our serum as an outlet for a case of pneumonia...”         Jorge shook his head. “The unicorns and the like did their best, Twink, but many humans still succumbed to radiation poisoning and cancers from all the disturbed dust and bombs. It’s unfortunate, but any case that was deemed malignant was sent to a Conversion Bureau.” Leaning back, the built man kicked a foot up over his knee and let it rest there as he closed his eyes in recollection. “There were cases that seemed manageable, but with dwindling supplies and a sure-fire cure available, it was a mass exodus for humankind.” Stroking his chin, Jorge turned to crack his back a few times. “Outside of almost losing some of California to the Pacific, there wasn’t as much need for it in the Americas.”         Violet nodded slowly, events from the day of disaster slowly coming to light in her mind. “So you said you’re a military unit?” She asked, her eyes glancing over to Carl. The man in question had taken out his gun and began to disassemble it, taking a look at the pieces as he thought to clean them. Jorge looked over to his compatriot, only to roll his eyes and wave him him.         “Don’t think much of Carl there. He says little and thinks even less.” At this, the man nearby pointed the large section of the gun toward Jorge, pulling the trigger with a resolute click. Violet and Twinkle visibly winced, but Jorge didn’t even flinch. “Don’t you know that there still could have been a bullet in the chamber? One of these days you could kill me and bring the general IQ of this place down thirty points.”         “Fuck you,” Carl spat, before placing the gun down and walking away.         Jorge shook his head. “Always a treat, that one.” As they watched the angry man push his way through some of the other men and women on the base, they were rewarded with the sight of a blonde girl with crutches. Rose made her way toward the group, popping around people and chairs like an old pro. “You used to crutches, child?”         Rose chuckled. “A bit, actually. Broke my leg about five years ago in an accident, so I’m used to getting around on one foot and two artificial ones.” Violet coughed slightly, bringing the attention over to herself. “You’re about one working leg short of a pony,” Violet teased, earning a hiss from her friend as the blonde found a place to sit. She saw a gun in a number of pieces on the floor next to it, but found herself seated regardless. “I guess I’m jealous. Not for too long, though.”         Jorge looked over at Violet in surprise. “Ah, you’re going in for ponification? Fantastic, girl.” Clapping a large hang against the girl’s back, Violet nearly doubled over into the ground as he did so. Catching herself, Violet just gave a sheepish grin toward the man as Twinkle cleared her throat.         “Jorge, if you don’t mind my asking, but I’m confused. I’ve worked with the IHSA for the last couple years, quite closely, but I don’t recognize anyone from this encampment.” Rose looked about at the people working around them, expecting some sort of staring contest from them, but each one basically ignored them. Violet seemed to notice this as well, finding that it seemed just as odd. “Not to mention you’re in it for the preservation of human survival.”         “Hey, y’know, not for nothing Twinkle, but could you try not to make me feel incriminated here?” Violet exhaled hard, crossing her arms in mock indignation. Her mind was buzzing, her sense of acting coming to the forefront. “It’s been a long run, but I’ve got nothing left as a person. I hope you understand, Jorge.” Deciding whether or not to flutter her eyelashes was a difficult decision, but the burning sensation on her back where Jorge jovially ‘patted’ her gave her cause not to.         “Ah, it’s of no concern of mine, little lady. I’m just living out my duty to the brass, but I can see myself as a pony someday. Don’t confuse us with the HLF - we like what the ponies are doing for our race.” Jorge rubbed his cheek slightly, his hand moving up as he slid his fingers through his short, brown hair. “All of humanity that is left is either the best of us or the worst of us. Makes it easy to point a gun when things go bad.”         Twinkle choked on her own saliva, a fact Violet realized was the first time she had ever seen a pony do that. Still, the graveness of the statement Jorge made hung heavy in the air. Clearing her throat, Violet passed a glance over to Rose a moment before continuing on. “But, I thought the HLF and the IHSA were on good terms...?”         “Openly, maybe, but they’ve started to see a lot of us as shepherds for humans who want to go pony. And they don’t like that.” Jorge harrumphed loudly, but brought a thumb across his nose before continuing. “There have been... hostilities, that we have to take care of sometimes.”         “Is that why you’re down here, then? To take care of hostilities?” Rose butted in, her eyes sharpened. Jorge paid it little mind, but merely started to stroke his beard. Violet noticed he had a physical tick to his speech, as his hands really couldn’t seem to leave his face. “What about the family members that don’t know any better? Sons and daughters?”         Jorge shrugged. “As long as they aren’t hostile, we never shoot first.” His voice held something that Violet didn’t like. Her years in theatre could tell her that there was a hint in his voice that didn’t sound entirely truthful. “There is a fundamental difference in our theologies, so it’s best to talk to a child early to avoid problems.” Violet kept running his words through her head. Inflections, stresses. There was something in his voice that she knew he was trying to let them in on, and it was starting to drive her crazy. A rhythmic throbbing started to slam against her ears as she pursued the knowledge, but her thoughts were interrupted as a red stallion entered the tent, a splint on his hoof and what looked to be little slippers or shoes for his back legs.         Rose greeted the stallion first, but quickly turned to Violet. “You hear that sound?” Violet’s eyes snapped open as she realized the throbbing wasn’t in her head, but was actually a sound. The tent started to flap about violently around them as Jorge leaned back, unfazed by the interruption.         Rusty, on the other hand, shrugged his shoulders. “Yeah, it’s that helicopter we saw earlier,” he mentioned idly, a small grin on his face. “Check it out, girls, they gave me little shoes for my feet. I can’t even begin to tell you how much better it feels to walk now.”         Jorge quickly leaned forward, his eye furrowed. “Say again, Rusty? You said you saw our helicopter?” His face had quickly turned to stone, an unreadable expression over his face. The red colt gave a quick grin, bouncing his head from side to side, ignoring the warning looks from the human girls.         “Yeah, when we were leaving Albuquerque we saw a helicopter fly overhead toward the city. I recognize the insignia on the side now. Man, we were so scared when we saw it overhead, I couldn’t get a good look at your little symbol.” Taking a seat next to Twinkle, Rusty turned to the unicorn and showed off his splint. “Looks like I can walk a bit normally now. I gotta be careful on this hoof, but they said if you help with some magic from time to time, I could be good in a couple days.”         Jorge stood up in one fluid motion, rolling his shoulder slightly as he cleared his throat. “I didn’t know you girls came from Albuquerque. Heard only HLF kids lived there.” Rose averted her eyes at the mention. “If you all had stayed a bit longer, we could have shortened your trip for you, Violet. Rose.”         Rose kept her eyes away from the large man, running her arm against her forehead. “Well, V’s the one getting ponied, I’m just along for the ride, really.”         “Oh, I’m sure there’s more to it than just that,” a voice called, unfamiliar to the assembled group outside one. A man strode in, flanked on one side by Carl, and on the other was a woman in dark sunglasses. Adorned on his jacket were numerous medals, and it didn’t take Violet long to recognize an insignia emblazoned upon his suit coat. “Hello there, guests. I am Lieutenant Samuel Standish. I’m in charge of this operation and I’ve just been informed of your arrival. Ah, hello there Twinkle, how nice to see you again.”         The unicorn in question gave a small, sheepish smile. “Ah, hello Lieutenant. Fancy meeting you out here.”         Violet looked between the two and raised a hand expectantly. “Uh, ‘scuse me, but ah, you two know each other?”         “Vaguely. The Lt. here helped with the closing days of the Bureau before we shut down. He’s been responsible for the transportation of our serum and sedatives for the past month,” Twinkle exposited, her voice shaky. Now it seemed like everyone was starting to hide something, and it wasn’t sitting well with the purple-haired human.         “That’s correct. Lovely you remember me, Twinkle.” Standish smiled, giving the collected group a shared grimace to how unnaturally white his teeth were. “Of course, that’s not everything you remember me for, now is it?”         Violet’s stomach dropped as he continued to stare at the unicorn, but couldn’t help but stay silent. She was curious as to what he meant - perhaps dangerously so. There was a reason curiosity killed the cat. Rose looked between the assembled people, taking note that the others who had surrounded them weren’t looking at them - they weren’t even there at all. Jorge and the two guards that had come with Standish were the only people within eyesight, the whining sound of the helicopters engines shutting down was the only thing that clued the others to life outside the tent.         Twinkle cleared her throat. “As it stands, Lt. Standish never delivered the potion or the sedatives to IHSA Headquarters in Colorado Springs. We had thought he had been taken prisoner by HLF forces, and we were forced to shut down all of our Bureau’s entirely.” Rose and Violet spun their heads on a swivel as Twinkle spoke, the pale pink pony locking eyes with Violet. “That’s why I couldn’t of made the simple exception to bring you in back in Albuquerque - we had no way of trusting our final reserves were safe from tampering.”         Violet felt a rush of indignant, but she soon quelled it, realizing the how and the way held little in terms of where she was now. “I understand. But... my friend, Albert. He turned into a pegasus just fine-”         “Excuse me, but I hate to be ignored.” Standish chided, bringing his sweeping gaze to rest upon the blonde haired girl. “Besides, I have so much to say still. Sharla, be a dear and escort these ponies to their vehicle. And do keep watch on them, would you?”         Rusty cocked his head to one side. “What? Hey now, why the sudden seriousness?” Looking about, he started to read the expressions on everyone’s faces. “What’s going on?”         “Sharla, please. Give them a little motivation.” As the lieutenant spoke, the woman brought out a sparking tool of electricity, pointing the taser toward the ponies.         “Come with me ponies, I promise no harm will come to you.” Sharla, as she was called, soon started to herd the two ponies out of the room, Carl and Samuel watching the two confused ponies as they were brought outside. Violet couldn’t even begin to express her fear as she turned to Rose, the other girl simply not looking away from the ground. Violet wished she could be so simple, her eyes looking up toward Jorge. The friendly man she had seen before was stone-faced, his hand resting on the handgun at his side.         “So... what’re you going to do? We haven’t done anything!” Violet eventually choked out, to which she was responded to with a laugh. Spinning to look over to the lieutenant, the man grinned down to her with hidden malice.         “Do to you? Nothing at all... Violet. Correct?” Samuel turned toward Carl, who only grunted in response. “One means yes.” Standish chuckled, his eyes training once again on the blonde girl before them. Standing over her, he ran a hand through his jet-black hair as roughly grabbed the wounded girl’s arm, his hand slipping down to his side. Bringing out a small device, he stuck a needle into Rose’s neck, dripping sedative straight into the girl’s veins. Violet shot to her feet quickly, but soon found herself restrained by Jorge, who grabbed her arms and held her back. “No, Violet, you’re safe. However, I think I and my men have a little issue with your HLF spy here.”         Dropping the medical instrument, Lt. Standish released Rose, the girl struggling to stand on her good foot. Violet screamed out for her friend, but the girl soon collapsed on the ground in front of her. Standish gestured mutely toward Rose, Carl picking her prone form up. Standish turned toward Violet, who struggled uselessly against the strong arms of the military man behind her. “Now then, Violet. I believe we should have a small talk about a man named Fred.” Violet’s eyes bulged at the mention of the Tower’s keeper.