Chapter Three

Choosing a Candidate

Uploaded on 3/13/07

Three days later

People always expected him to be wild and barbarous, a psycho who would strike out as fast as a snake, a monster who was out of control. Despite these assumptions, Sin appeared well composed and calm three days after his release from the box and the medicated haze that he'd spent the last year in. He sat in Carhart's office with his legs splayed out before him and his strong arms crossed over his chest. His hair was longer than he'd normally kept it but he wore the same battered clothes that he'd owned before being sent to the box; he had no desire to wear any of the agency's standard issue uniforms.

He listened to Carhart's proposal with a look of extreme boredom on his face. His lips twitched up into a mocking smile at certain points but he was silent for the most part. The fact that they were releasing him once again was hysterical. The fact that they were once again considering giving him a partner was even funnier. These people never learned.

He narrowed his eyes at the General and waved a dismissive hand. "I don't think so."

"I'm afraid we aren't asking you, Sin."

"I'm afraid I can't go along with it, General Carhart. My apologies."

The General eyed him for a moment and chewed the inside of his cheek the way he did when he was trying hard to be patient. "Would you prefer maximum security lock up?"

"I don't mind the fourth."

"I meant the box."

He narrowed his eyes slightly and stared at the General for a long, tense moment while contemplating the consequences of ripping the man's liver out, but he didn't make a move. He'd assumed the box would be used as a last resort when he misbehaved particularly badly but it seemed as though that would be the solution to everything. He looked away and focused on the hole in his thermal undershirt. The box was the one place he could not stand to be. The one place he would do anything not to go to again.

"I see."

Carhart smirked. He knew he'd won this match. "Your input would be needed, of course, since you will be working closely with whoever is chosen. From there, we will train them intensely before making a final decision. We have selected a pool of candidates from current employees and recommendations. We'll give you detailed background on each candidate and you can narrow the group down based on that. We'll go from there."

"Hmm. So you're not just going to stick me with random field agents as you did last time? The ones who thought they could order me around because I'm wearing this collar?" He smirked coldly and pictured his last partner. Why did they even try? He was already making detailed plans to terrorize the unfortunate person they chose until they either resigned or killed themselves.

"We realized our error with the last agents we chose. We needed someone intelligent, sneaky and sophisticated, someone who can negotiate but who is also capable of using force when necessary."

"Ah. Negotiate? Still trying to broaden your forces with rag tag rebel groups?" He smirked. "How pathetic."

"Janus is our main threat at the moment, they've grown quite large and international since you've been locked away. Everything we do will be to weaken them, and if that includes negotiating with other groups before they wind up becoming yet another Janus cell, we will do that. We will also neutralize those who will not agree to our terms. That is where you come in, of course." Carhart smirked.

Sin was silent for a long moment before leaning forward to grab a handful of candy out of the bowl on Carhart's desk. "I want to see them before making any choices."

"We'll arrange a line up but they won't be able to see you. We don't want any contact before training is done."

"Will there be women?"

There was a pause.

"Don't even think about it, Vega. You don't have to live up to the role that everyone else puts you in. I know what you're really like." Carhart sat on the edge of his desk and studied the young man in front of him. He was one of the few people in the agency who knew exactly what was fact and fiction about Sin's deeds. The local police had used him as a scapegoat for every crime they were too incompetent to solve and the media had a field day with it. "I'm serious, Hsin," He said, using the man's real name.

Sin made a face at him. "I am beginning to think you people are deluded. What makes you think anyone would even agree to be my partner?" He raised his eyebrows. "In case you haven't noticed, your little cronies all think I am some blithering psychopath who can barely take three steps without going on a blood thirsty rampage." His eyes glinted coldly for a moment. "Some of the staff in this…facility uses that as an excuse to have their wicked way with me," He said with an unpleasant smile.

Carhart looked at him sharply. "Meaning?"

"Don't play stupid. I'm sure there are surveillance cameras everywhere on the fourth floor," He drawled. "It's okay though, I don't mind. I just find it amusing that you think this little partnership should prove successful when it failed so badly last time."

"But you won't be behaving the way you behaved last time, will you?" Carhart demanded. "Will you?"

Sin wondered if he was enjoying his leverage. "I will not do anything unless provoked," He replied calmly.

"That's what you always say."

"Well then I suppose you better be sure not to find someone who will attempt to order me around and attack me as the others did." He looked down his nose at Carhart. "Honestly, General. You're a tool to think this will succeed."

Carhart glared at him for a moment. "If we come to terms, you will be released from the fourth although you will continue to wear the collar. You will receive an apartment in the complex and you will be retrained until you are in shape again. You seem emaciated and weakened."

Sin bristled but said nothing. The idea of having an apartment was intriguing. "I see."

"You should count yourself lucky, Sin. If it was up to 99% of the people at this agency, you would spend the rest of your life in that cube. We're giving you your final chance at redeeming yourself."

"How generous of you." Sin locked eyes with the General for a long moment before nodding. "Fine then. I'll agree to it for now."

The General smirked. "I knew you would."

--

Many of the candidates were very...physical. They were experts in karate, weapons, explosives, and so on, but none of them seemed capable of doing the job that they were apparently supposed to be doing. He knew what he was looking for in a candidate: someone who would be incredibly fun to torment, but he also knew what his benefactors should be looking for although they apparently did not. Of course there was a certain level of athleticism and toughness required to perform adequately in this line of work but for their part, it required much more.

Carhart was setting this up to be a stereotypical partnership where he was the brawn and his partner was the brains but their candidate pool did not match up with that at all. They needed someone who was capable of working under pressure, someone savvy enough to manipulate the mission coordinates to fit each unexpected situation that occurred and who had the vocabulary and charisma needed to maintain a relationship with their contacts.

"No."

Carhart looked at the man on the other side of the mirror. "Why?"

He eyed the man in question and studied him for a long moment. Simon Aman; a tall, caramel complexioned man who seemed to take his study of martial arts extremely seriously. He was well muscled but in a graceful way. While actually quite beautiful to look upon, he seemed quite aware of the fact and did not bother to hide it. He kept glancing at the mirror and Sin was 100% sure that it had nothing to do with the fact that he was being watched.

"While it would be fun to destroy the remarkable features that he seems so proud of, I don't think a man who spends most of his time masturbating in front of a mirror is a good candidate for my Tactician."

Carhart was trying very hard not to let his amusement show and he shook his head. "This is one of the few times when I can agree with you about something, Little Vega."

Sin turned his head slowly and looked at the General from under long, dark eyelashes. "General. I try my hardest to pretend that I have respect for you but I'm afraid that I will no longer be able to maintain my ruse if you continue to address me by such a demeaning nickname. I understand that you were friends with the man who produced me but that does not move me in any way except to make me want to rip your spinal cord out."

General Carhart maintained eye contact for a long moment but did not respond. His mouth thinned into a tight line and pointed at the two-sided mirror. "Eddy Baxter. An excellent soldier; he served as a field medic for the first half of his career before proving his worth at marksmanship. He's strong and a quick thinker."

Mr. Baxter seemed more like a wrestler than a medic and Sin seriously doubted that the man had ever been anything more than a mediocre marksman. He spoke at an excessive volume, was too boisterous and talked with his hands in a very obnoxious manner. His bright red hair was unkempt and his oversized flannel shirt was as loud as his voice. He was something of a braggart and was very proud of his minor achievements. "What do you think?"

"He's very... colorful."

Part of this initial interviewing involved the interviewer asking each candidate if they'd heard of the serial killer Sin, as the media had dubbed him, and what they thought of his crimes. The fact that Sin was actually in the agency's custody was not common knowledge; people who were not privy to that information knew about Sin only through the media and it had been widely reported that he'd escaped long ago. They were not told that they would be potentially working with The Monster and they wouldn't find that out until later when the final candidate pool was chosen. He knew that most candidates would take that question as a hint that they would be put on some special squad whose purpose was to hunt him down and catch him. Eddy did not disappoint.

"Man! I can't believe the goddamn locals let that creep stay on the loose for so long! It just goes to show you that guys like that need to be looked at on a much higher level, dude. Seriously, no rookie in blue is gonna catch a guy as bad ass as Sin. He ain't your average joe schmoe criminal, right? You need guys with some serious skills to be on level field with someone like that. Like me for exa--"

"He is possible."

Carhart's eyebrows shot up. "Really?"

"It will be fun to show the little man just how far from equal in skill he is to me."

When the interview was over the General looked at another folder and smirked. "This next guy is Boyd Beaulieu, nineteen years old."

A long fall of blonde hair covered the boy's face but what could be seen of it was devoid of any emotion. He spoke mechanically, without any real emotion and seemed almost bored by the entire ordeal.

"I don't expect much honestly, the kid has no--"

"I want him."

General Carhart looked genuinely startled. "Him? Why? You haven't even seen the interview. The kid has no skills, no experience and--"

"He's perfect."

"Now Vega, I already told you that we're going to go through the candidate pool."

Sin gave him a withering look. "You can go drown yourself in your little candidate pool for all I care. I want him."

Carhart sighed and looked up at the mirror again. "I don't think this is going to work, Vega. The kid's here because I was humoring his mother, if you want me to be perfectly honest. I don't have high hopes--"

"Listen to him speak, you half wit."

General Carhart let out an exasperated sigh before looking up at the mirror again. James, the interviewer, was asking the kid what he thought of Sin's crimes and his MO.

"What is there to say?" The kid asked. "He sounds as though he is playing."

James blinked. "Playing?"

Boyd inclined his head slightly. "Playing. I know nothing of his motives, especially since anything I would learn is at least third-hand information, but with the women that he lets escape... how could it be anything but that? Perhaps he makes a sport of it, and enjoys the process of breaking."

A smile spread across Sin's lips. "Perfect."

Carhart studied Boyd's lack of emotion, expression and especially his lack of interest. "Well, shit. If we're going by personality, the little fuck is perfect."

Continue to Ch 4 ~ The Training Files