A woman entered the prison's reception room with a slim briefcase, her cold glares averting the eyes of disgruntled officers. She walked up to the front desk and cleared her throat loudly, startling the resident secretary.
"My name is Ms. Ferr, and I understand a certain 'Lt. Goodman' is imprisoned here. I also understand he needs a lawyer, and I have been approved to talk to him for that purpose. Here's my card, and my approval papers."
The secretary crept back in her seat a little, looked down at the papers briefly, then turned up and tried to smile.
"It looks in order to me..."
"I'd like to see him now."
"Head that way, down the hall. I'll tell them you're coming."
The woman nodded her head lightly, took her papers back and walked briskly in the direction the secretary had indicated. As soon as she was out of earshot, the secretary turned to the officers in the room and asked if anyone else thought she was creepy. After a few nods and murmurs, business as usual resumed.
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"Lt. Goodman, you have a visitor."
"Another one?"
"A lawyer. In you go."
Ms. Ferr waited for the door to shut behind her, then walked over to the Lieutenant and stared at his eyes. Several seconds later, he noticed that something wasn't quite right. When the trails of luminescent energy grew bright enough for him to notice, he jumped back with a start and a smile broke across the 'lawyer's face. When she spoke, it was as though several were speaking with the same mouth, and bluish energy seemed to seep from her words.
"Hello again, Lieutenant. Surprised to see us?"
"What do you want?"
"We've come to offer a deal. After doing some thinking about your actions, we've decided you may be of some use to us after all... and you certainly may be of use to your country. We'd like to offer you another chance to help us."
"I failed once, what makes this any different?"
"This time, you won't be alone. The artifacts you gave us turned out to be useful after all... we have a better idea of what tests they run inside the Cambridge Research Station, and a decent idea of where and how they are containing the important one. I don't know if you've heard this, but some of your people think you're a hero. We've made sure not to attack since our last encounter, and, well, there are some obstacles your presence might get us through. Not to mention your knowledge of the inner workings of the Bretonian Armed Forces, which would be of use to us. We have a plan, and things are far more likely to go smoothly with you at our side. Do not forget that if things are successful, we have no further business with Bretonia, and will turn our attention elsewhere... to Kusari, amongst others. If our operations go... poorly... it will be necessary to try again, and again, each time more of your compatriots throwing themselves against us in a vain attempt to stave off the inevitable. You must have seen the reports. The war is going poorly, and you are besieged on all fronts save that of Liberty. With us re-allocating our forces, the tides of war swing in Bretonia's favor. To put it simply, you have the potential to turn around the war. All you need to do is help us recover the artifact. What do you think?"