Extraction Team Delta's Debriefing
(Following up on events in The Niji-iro Family and We Are On a Diplomatic Mission to Absalom.)
Within the keep housing the Absalom branch of the Aspis Consortium, Director Celaduil waited in her office late into the night, a mug of strong, steaming coffee by her left hand. Operation Iridian required her attention immediately after its extraction mission, so she would not get the chance to sleep until nearly sunrise.
As the night stretched into the morning and the bells were about to ring two, a knock came at her door. Celaduil barked, "Come!"
Her aide, Lysandra Vex, opened the door and leaned into the room, her cascade of black curls constrained by a hair tie tumbling over her shoulder as her piercing green eyes met her superior's gaze. "Extraction Team Delta has returned. Mission complete."
"Thank you, Sandra. Send them in."
One by one, the thirteen brawny members of the extraction team filed into the office, bearing a total of ten burlap sacks. Lysandra followed.
"Excellent," Celaduil began, standing up from her chair and picking up a dossier of information collected by Aspis spies from her desk, "Uncover their heads so that I might see."
The team untied the sacks, uncovering the children's heads.
Struggling against their bonds, the Niji-iro siblings tried to free themselves to no avail. Celaduil walked around her desk to her right.
"Now, Sandra, take the scissors and ties from my desk and collect a lock of hair from each one. We'll send a courier with those samples to their family in the Minkai Empire as proof that we have the children." The aide began collecting the samples.
"Children," she addressed the captives, "I am Director Celaduil of the Aspis Consortium." In her burlap sack, Pinku struggled more and tried to shout through her leather gag. "You have been taken away from your parents for, shall we say, political reasons. Adult business, never you mind why," she condescended.
"This is your new home. Welcome to Operation Iridian. You work for us now. I have information here," she shook her dossier in the air, "that tells me your family members tend to have…high potential. We will identify yours and put them to use. But fear not! We will care for you and raise you as our own."
Director Celaduil approached the nearest child. "Oh, you all are so conveniently color-coded! You must be Haiiro." She poked at his gray hair and referred to the packet of paper in her hands. "Protective. Full of fight."
She stepped to the left. "Kuro," she looked at the boy with black hair, then turned toward the boy with white hair, who tried to lunge at her, "and Shiro. Also full of fight. Scrappy, even. You will learn to fight for us."
She moved down to the girl with pale blue hair. "Mizuiro. Always taking care of your siblings' cuts and scratches. Perhaps you would train well as a healer."
Moving farther to the left, Celaduil's eyes widened. "Ohhh. Pinku. White fur, pink eyes. A kitsune with albinism. Quite rare and full of psychic potential. Priceless on the black market. But you are our asset now. I shall be watching your training with great interest." She ruffled Pinku's pink hair while the young girl glowered at her. "Speak, little one. Tell me what you see." She freed Pinku's mouth.
With her leather gag removed, Pinku stared into Director Celaduil's eyes with an unnerving glare. "You! You…mean…evil…lady! Let us go! Take us back to Mama and Papa!" Her eyes took on a strange light. "You will be the cause of this place's fall! Four years. The Siege of the Serpents! Aspis will tumble from favor in Absalom. The Pathfinder Society will prevail!"
"Ugh. Shut her up," Celaduil waved her hand dismissively.
"Shutting her up, Director." The human holding Pinku returned the gag to cover her mouth.
"Worry not, little one," Celaduil continued, "We will mold your powers to our needs and I shall prevail!" She moved down the line.
Seeing the girl with golden hair, she remarked, "Kiiro. Acrobatic and agile." She looked at the red-haired, red-eyed girl next in line. "Akane. Eagle-eyed. Talks too much. Leave her gag on!
"I am left wondering how genetics must work in your family. Such diversity…"
Moving on, she came to the brown-haired boy. "Chairo. Also eagle-eyed. Loves animals. And here," she looked at the orange-haired girl next to him, "Orenji. Loves plants." She stepped to the left.
"…and last, but not least," Celaduil lifted one of the braids belonging to the last girl in line. "Purple hair, purple eyes, white fur. Murasaki. Not quite as rare of a coloration as your littlest sister, but still evidence of great magical potential. Quite the kitchen witch already, it says here. I'll be watching you as well."
The Director flipped through the dossier once more. "Wait." She looked up and down the line, counting. "Where's the redhead with green eyes? The sneaky one. Midori? Did I not see her?" She counted ten children once more, then strode over to the team leader. "Your orders were to collect all eleven children. Eleven! You brought back only ten!"
Celaduil turned away, growled in frustration, and then spun around on her heel, shoving her index finger in front of the team leader's face. "Drop the children off at the lab to be fitted with persuader collars, then get all of your sorry asses to the gym and count from one to eleven again and again until I come down to dismiss you!" The leader bowed and the extraction team departed.
Minutes later, Director Celaduil entered the laboratory. The Niji-iro children sat on benches, still bound and gagged. Aspis craftspeople moved throughout the room, fiddling with unmarked silvery metal bands. As the bands activated and started to glow with magic power, the crafters approached the children, opened up the bands, then closed them around the children's necks. The bands sealed themselves seamlessly and ceased glowing. The siblings exchanged worried glances.
One of the craftspeople placed a gourd on a table facing the children, then locked the eleventh band around it.
Celaduil addressed her captives. "Little ones, you have been fitted with magical devices that we like to call 'persuader collars.' These are to ensure your good behavior throughout your stay here. Allow me to demonstrate."
The Director held up a small object with a red button on one side. "A collar is controlled by its controller, here. It has a range of settings, from a gentle squeeze…." She pressed the button, causing the band to contract slightly, digging into the rind of the gourd. "...to 'oh, you really messed up this time'…." She turned the button clockwise and pressed it again. The band contracted to half of its diameter, bisecting the gourd with a sickly, wet sound. The band clattered to the floor with a sharp, metallic clang, eliciting muffled screams from the siblings.
"So if I untie you, I will expect you all to behave and obey."
Celaduil moved to the right where Haiiro sat, removed his gag, and untied his bonds. Haiiro rubbed at his changed wrists and stared defiantly into his captor's eyes. "You would strangle a child for misbehaving? How horrible!"
She leaned down and returned his stare with a sober expression. "Oh, no, 'Gray.' If you cross the line, it won't be your collar we activate. No, two of your siblings' collars, instead." The children gasped in horror, some beginning to sob.
Director Celaduil untied the other children. Aspis staff escorted them to their quarters for the night. As they left the laboratory, Celaduil called after them in a falsely sweet tone, "I'll see you all in the morning! Pleasant dreams, little ones!"
The Director returned to her office to sleep on a couch for the remainder of the night, too tired to return to her nearby apartment. Lysandra Vex woke her at nine bells with a news report from the scene of the Minkan embassy. There were no survivors. All found within the building had been killed in the explosion and ensuing collapse.
"Well," Celaduil mused, "Midori died with her parents, but at least we have ten of the eleven." She left her office to get some coffee before inspecting the captive children.
On the way to the kitchen, the Director passed by the gymnasium. Hearing from within the voices of a tired group of people counting to eleven, she ran for the gym door. "Oh, shit, I forgot to tell them to stop!"
