“Anything of note you think I should know before we go in?”

Cassandra had gone outside the room to meet her boss, leaving Jared alone in the room. The woman had been hesitant about it to start with, yet the machines had finally reported his condition as semi-stable before she finally decided to leave. The man wasn't doing good, but it was good to know that he wasn't going to die at any point soon.

“Ribs are close to breaking, so keep questions simple. If he talks for too long, he’ll have to be put off duty for a minimum of four weeks,” Cass informed the older man, hinting strongly at a fact that couldn't be ignored no matter what. They couldn't do anything that could risk the man having to be left on the sidelines, lest they would be unable to cover their area in the designated times. That would be a nightmare for anybody.

Her superior officer did not seem happy about her words, but that look of resignation was as apparent as everything else on his face. It was the look of powerlessness, and it was surely something that she had hoped that she wouldn't need to see so soon. Things hadn't even begun to become chaotic, yet his mask was already falling?

…

Oh, how the tables turned so quickly. Here Cassandra was, criticizing somebody for their composure not being upheld at all times, while she had been in the same basket not a few hours ago. Even now, she could feel a small twitch of her lips, as the woman realized the irony in her own thoughts. Truly, she was depreciable in her current form.

“Then we’ll need to keep it short overall. No need for extreme details,” Grunwald muttered before looking directly into her eyes. “Cass, I believe you are the one with more contextual information between the two of us. You will be the one leading the questions.”

That almost caused some surprise to show on her face. The chief was giving her responsibility again so soon? It wasn't like Cassandra even had to think about accepting it or not, yet the chance of it even happening now of all times should have been close to null. Had something happened as of late that she knew nothing about?

“Of course, sir,” Cass said with a small tilt of the head. The two went in after that with their backs straight as they methodically walked over to the bedside of the man they both knew quite well.

“I thought the two of you would never come,” Jared said, the man unable to hide the small pain in his chest that came with the sentence. Cassandra glanced at the panel next to the bed after that twitch. Nothing of note was being damaged from the words said alone, yet the movements were putting pressure on a swollen part of Jared’s chest. Continued pressure applied bore the risk of further damage. Nothing that the woman had not accessed before, yet it was good to double-check her facts in that regard. Even if it could be treated immediately, there was no desire towards fixing a blood-filled lung.

Just to be sure, Cassandra decided to test out an alternative to talking verbally.

‘Is there any chance of you being able to communicate through the police channel?’ Cassandra sent directly to the man through their brain implants. It bore extremely lessened risks of putting pressure on the organs, while still making it possible to get answers in a timely manner. There was no way they would be moving to morse code, after all, even if they had all been trained for it in emergency situations.

“Not a chance. Mind is muddled. Can barely understand what’s being sent through,” Jared answered in short bursts, with a long sentence at the end. His head was growing a bit red. The system was just putting it off as a system of an increased pulse due to the pain. That would be sorted through soon.

“It checks out with the painkillers administered to him earlier,” Cass told Grunwald, the officer standing a step away from the bed with his arms folded. “We will have to do this verbally no matter what.”

“Couldn't we have waited with the sedatives then? Giving him time to formulate an answer before putting him on painkillers sounds like a good idea to me,” Grunwald inquired. A criticism towards Cassandra’s choices during the first-responding. He was really going to play that card? Fine.

“His body would have likely gone into shock if it wasn't for those meds. Are you ready to begin the questioning?” Cass asked right back. The superior officer gave her a nod of his head, giving her the full go to begin. And that's just what she did, turning back to the man in the bed. “Jared, can you confirm that you were attacked by cultists that hadn't been killed during the initial bombing?”

Cassandra had decided to keep the questions simple to begin with, and she was keeping that goal true to her heart. Yes and no questions were easy enough to begin with after all, with how much time had been spent deducing things from the lacking information

“Yes,” Jared confirmed. The man tried to nod his head as well, but that turned out to be a painful endeavour. “Same gear.”

That he could even recognize the gear worn only confirmed Cassandra suspicions in that regard. Thinking back to how the car had looked during the time where they got back, there was a new line of questions ready based on that.

“Since your wheels were not shot through, I have to guess that you were stopped through one of the traps. Is this correct?” Cassandra asked. She had witnessed first-hand the amount of traps and other things laid out on the roads leading to the camp. Though, she hadn't seen anything capable of causing bullet holes into a car, leading to the idea that it was an ambush.

“Yes. Wire under the car,” Jared answered. The words were clearly causing him pain, but Cassandra needed to press on. Wire under the car? She had to guess it was one of the wires meant to stop the car since it clearly hadn't sliced up the wheels. A useful trap so late in the day, when it was hard to see in the current weather and lighting. Something like that should have been seen when eliminating all the old traps.

“Did you miss the trap during your searching, or-” Cassandra began to question, but the unhealthy man cut her off before she got to finish. Though, she just might have stopped talking either way due to that look in his eye. He clearly had some thoughts to get out.

“It was put up after we had searched. They knew where we would drive. Set up the trap when we thought we were safe,” Jared started. It was longer answers than what was needed but the man seemed determined to say it all. “It was not the fault of me or the scrap-bucket.”

“Never implied it was, but your statement on that regard has been duly noted,” Cassandra stated, giving Grunwald a glance that didn't need any information. When they were done with questioning, they needed to check for concussions. The sudden change in behaviour surrounding the automation was questionable before, yet to go through pain to alleviate any unfounded suspicions was something that had never been seen before. He was being protective around the construct. If that wasn't enough to warrant concern, then she didn't know what to call it. “Were all the remaining targets killed?”

That was one thing they needed to know immediately. If there were any more roaming around, then it would be more than just problematic. People with nothing to lose and enough gear to cause a mass shooting were forces to be feared. Those who sought chaos were too unpredictable in most regards.

“Yes. Every attacker was handled,” Jared said, yet again using more words than were needed. Cassandra almost wondered if she needed to remind him of the need to not use many words.

Yet she was still relieved by the words heard. It would sense for all the remaining cultists to have gathered for the ambush. That all of those who attacked were dead spoke well of the future.

“Keep your answers simple, please. Are you sure that they have all been taken care of? There was nobody who ran away when you started to gain the upper hand?” Cass asked, just to make sure that there was no foul play at hand. Retreating silently was a valid strategy, after all.

“I would be dead if any of them were alive. Couldn't resist attacks at the end. Could barely walk,” Jared informed them.

“A simple ‘yes’ would have been enough, Jared, but I cannot blame you for giving more information,” Cassandra stated, making sure that everything had been recorded and logged. “Any questions you have for us before we end this fully and let you sleep for twelve hours in a row?”

“My partner,” Jared immediately said, to the point where the intensity made him cough. The coughing was bad. Looking at the screen by the bed, a small warning popped up after that action. Another cough like that and they would have to bring him under immediately.

“By your partner, I believe you're referring to the automation who assisted you during the cleaning operation. Am I right in that regard? And try to answer with one word this time,” Cassandra asked, making sure to add the last part as fast as possible. He really didn't need to talk more than a word. Grunwald was starting to give her glances now. Time was to be cut short soon.

“Yes,” Jared said, clearly looking like he wanted more to be shown on the table. Maybe he wanted to give reasoning on why he was suddenly calling the piece of scrap his partner, or maybe he wanted to tell some joke that wasn't close to being funny. It didn't matter, since there was no way it would be told. Not with the look, she was giving him. But, he had given her a request while lying in a hospital bed, so it wasn't like she was going to deny that.

“I’ll send a message to inquire about its health then,” Cassandra stated, looking away to the ceiling so she could message a certain noodle spilling bastard.

‘Jules,’ Cassandra sent to the automation she worked with.

‘Yeah?’ The automation sent back within a second. Not that long a waiting time for a human, but certainly close to an eternity compared to the usual speeds. The thing must have been preoccupied with quite a stretch.

‘Jared wants to know how his partner is holding up. Would you mind giving me an update?’ the woman requested, hoping for a quick answer.

‘Slow down there for a second. Jared is calling the automation I am currently fixing his partner,’ Jules questioned, very clearly not answering the easy-to-answer question Cassandra had laid out. But, what else what she to expect from that bucket of worthless garbage?

‘Yes. Would you mind giving me an update?

‘Give Jared an update on how his partner is doing?’

‘Yes.’

‘Jared. The man who shouted at the automation yesterday due to the way it was sitting in a car seat?’

‘Since cloning hasn't progressed to the point where we can make truly identical copies, I would believe so.’

‘... Does he have a concussion?’

‘While the sensors are telling us otherwise, we strongly believe that this may be so,’ Cassandra answered. She wrinkled her brows the slightest bit to give the two others in the room the knowledge that she was indeed communicating with the automation and not just staring into the air without reason. A good five seconds had passed at that point, after all, and it was beginning to get a little awkward.

‘That would explain it. Can't imagine him not wanting to slide his foot through my pelvis,’ Jules sent again.

‘Quite,’ Cassandra answered. ‘Would it be possible to get an update now?’

‘Ah, of course! Anything for Jared’s partner, who he loves so much!’ Jules sent, the woman on the receiving end not missing the double meaning. She would have glared if she knew the automation would see it. ‘According to the tools at hand, everything is working fine. There is a need for the cranial structure to be replaced, however. Will take a few hours to get fixed. I might have to help with some of it, so I will sadly not be at your side.’

‘I am truly in tears. Give an update if anything new arises,’ Cassandra sent back before cutting off the connection. Though, not before the automation sent one of those thumbs-up that they liked so much.

“There is a need for parts of the head to be replaced, but there are no problems detected otherwise,” Cassinformed Jared, who actually looked a bit relieved at the statement. Was there actually some attachment made here? How peculiar. Concussions were not her expertise, yet she didn't expect them to work in such a way. “If that is all, I believe we will be ending it here.”

No complaints were heard, so the buttons to put Jared to sleep were pressed. Though, after the man fell asleep, Cassandra activated the protocol for possible concussions, even if the machine was calling it unneeded. The man would be waking up for a few seconds every hour, for the next twelve hours. Cassandra could easily say that she felt a little bad for him because of it. Nobody was ever truly allowed to sleep in the station anymore.

“Fine work, Cass,” Grunwald said, to which Cassandra gave a polite nod in response. “I believe we should step out of here now. We still have some things to discuss, after all.”