Wraith Regiment (wraiths) wrote in commandhq, @ 2018-02-25 00:07:00 |
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Entry tags: | !npc: director jim vance, !npc: supervisory handler ryan horne |
Next Steps
Who: NPCs: Supervisory Handler Ryan Horne, Wraith Regiment Director Jim Vance
What: Discussing next steps
When: Friday, February 23, 2018
Where: Central Command, Horne's office
Rating: Low
The last interviewee of the day was sent away, escorted from the building by a security detail. They had spent the past several days interrogating anyone with connections to Eric Hawthorne to establish how deep it went: if he had acted alone, or who he had affected with his powers, if anyone. He had covered his tracks on many thing, and it was only the video evidence they had that was the most damning, as all known witnesses "didn't know anything." That indicated tampering, but that was a difficult thing to prove.
If nothing else, they could firmly establish that he was a super, and that he knew he was one before he took on a job at the Regiment, putting him in clear violation of the law. He had been placed in the holding cells for a period of two weeks, giving them time to process the case as well as to create a customized implant for him, as well as providing punishment for his misdeeds. They didn't care what his motivation was; by outside appearances, he looked to have been spying or plotting to break out their agents. With his own memories wiped, they couldn't properly interrogate him as to what information he may have shared outside the Regiment.
There was another issue at hand, as well. They were down a handler, and they needed to replace him. The process of selecting a new Junior Handler typically involved a stack of resumes for consideration, but Supervisory Handler Ryan Horne had other, controversial ideas.
"...You're recommending whom?" scoffed Director Vance. "We just demoted a handler because he's a super, and you want us to promote one to a handler? You've lost your mind, Horne."
"Hear me out," Ryan replied, holding his hands up pleadingly in front of him. "We didn't only demote Hawthorne because he's a super. We did it because he was hiding that fact, which made him a security threat. He was also still new, less than a year at the Regiment under his belt. This one, though, has been with the Regiment for decades. He's proven his loyalty time and again. He's completely part of the system. This might improve morale among the agents, and with the Superhuman Equality Act on the rise, it could help our case that we made this good faith gesture of promoting a super to a position of equal authority to his human peers. Besides, he'd have a partner to keep him in check, and now that her former partner has gone down with such disgrace, she'll be more alert than before."
"The one with a super for a husband," Director Vance pointed out dubiously.
"She's had opportunities to try to free him if she wanted, and she was personally responsible for arresting Hawthorne. We'll keep the unit on watch. I'll personally oversee the progress. Come on, Director. Good faith. Political favors. His family's connected. Give it a few months, and if it doesn't work out, we demote him back to agent, fire her, and everything goes back to how it should be, if the Regiment's even around by then."
Director Vance let out a long, drawn out, annoyed sigh. He pinched the bridge of his neck, and took several long, uncomfortably silent moments to consider the ramifications.
"On a trial basis," he finally relented. "He cannot lead any missions, and I want him limited on what decisions he can make. He'll still need to have an implant, and he cannot leave the facility unless authorized and with at least one member of the security team, and disarmed. He cannot escort any agents off the premises. You should hope you're right about this, Horne. If you're wrong, it will cost you more than you can afford. Prep him."