NeoCity

Oh, Bailey. What have you done now?

As the team walked in- or Bailey rather, stormed in, there was a long moment of silence between them all- each member of the team recalling how the whole thing went down differently in their minds.

Adam, the second in command on the team began first, "Ma'am, everything was going swimmingly..." He turned to Bailey, his eyes burning into the other man- it was clear these two had their issues with each other. "Until this, fuck up... decided to run his mouth, and snap... his temper got the best of him- or whatever else is that's wrong with him. As usual."

That was it, Bailey couldn't hold his tongue any longer- he hadn't even lasted more than a minute in the room and the anger was boiling up inside him. He snapped, "Don't you fucking dare speak to me like that. There was a reason I was in charge of the team out there, the fuck did you do? Huh?..." Bailey stepped up to him, their chests clashing together in a display of superiority. Dominance. "Huh?"

Adam fell back slightly, trying to hold his ground against the other man. It was no secret that Bailey was stronger, he had effects from his NeuroChip that made his abilities enhanced: stronger and quicker than most. It also wasn't a secret that he was like a son to the founder of NeoTech, Nova Reyes. The big boss, the one who pretty much owned the city. If anyone touched a hair on that man, they'd have consequences to face. It made him feared among his peers, but clearly not to Adam. Adam tutted, baring his teeth as Bailey ran his mouth. "You're just a fucking momma's boy."

Olivia Martinez, the operations manager of their sector watched the whole display unfold in her office. She watched the exchange in silence, her gaze flicking between the two men. The tension in the room was palpable, a thick, suffocating fog that seemed to press in on all sides. When Bailey turned to Olivia, she met his gaze head-on, her own expression unyielding. There was no room for this behavior in her section.

She took a step forward, her voice firm and commanding. "Enough." Olivia said, her voice ringing out through the room. The two men fell silent, their gazes snapping to her, waiting for her next words. "Bailey, I need you to tell me what happened. In detail. No excuses, no blame, just the facts." Olivia looked at Adam, her expression unwavering. "And you, Adam, will remain silent until I ask for your input. Is that clear?" She waited for them to nod their understanding before turning back to Bailey.
"Start from the beginning."

They both held their tongues and as Adam took a step back, Bailey stifled a short, mocking chuckle. "That's what I thought." He mouthed as he took a step back himself.

Adam took his place in the corner of the room, trying to calm himself down from their argument. The two usually worked in tandem on the field, but behind the scenes- They hated each other's guts. Bailey took in a sharp exhale, trying to gather himself as he prepared to explain the situation in its entirety.

"Right, yes," He began, glancing back at the others. He couldn't lie about the situation, he wouldn't. He had messed up, sure, but that didn't mean the rest of them were innocent either. "We went in, as we were supposed too, kept things quiet... focusing on the target. One guy, I don't know who- or how the fuck he managed to slip past us, grabbed me from behind, and Adam backed away. When he had the opportunity to help, to save my ass, he fucking backed away."

Bailey's fists clenched at his sides, the team watching, taking a step back as they noticed Bailey's veins bulge- a usual sign that his NeuroChip was working overtime; his skin hardening, his eyes glowing that deep purple, along with the popping veins beneath his skin. He took in another breath, an attempt at calming himself down. "When I took the guy down, I snapped- me and Adam had a... disagreement of sorts." Bailey's gaze snapped back to Adam, eyeing up the significant bruise around his mouth that trailed up to his eye. He'd taken a swing at him, that was evident. "He was going to fucking leave me there."

Adam stood in the corner of the room, his head shaking. The rest of the team looked among each other, their heads shaking too behind Bailey's back. Something wasn't right about Bailey's story- but it seemed he was believing every word he said. Adam felt the need to speak up, to clarify what had actually happened. But he'd been told to remain silent, so he did. For now.

Olivia listened intently as Bailey recounted the events, her brow furrowed in concentration. Something about his story didn't quite add up, but she couldn't put her finger on it. She glanced over at Adam, noting the bruise around his mouth and the shake of his head. It was clear there was more to the story than what Bailey was letting on. She turned back to Bailey, her expression serious. "Bailey, I appreciate your honesty, but there are some gaps in your story that need to be filled. Adam, you're free to speak now." She turned to Adam, giving him a nod of encouragement.

Bailey's brow furrowed as Olivia replied to his response- his fists clenched that bit tighter, his nails digging into the skin of his palm. "Gaps?.." He began, but was shortly cut off by the sight of Adam stepping past him. He held his tongue the best he could. He knew she needed to hear all parts of the story and if Adam had something to say, he wanted to hear it too. He steadily stepped back into the corner of the room, his fists uncurling as he glanced down at the blood that had formed on his palms. He shook his head, folding his arms over his chest.

Adam glanced back at Bailey for a moment before he looked at Olivia directly, nodding his head gratefully. He was ready to say his piece. "The first part of the story is true, and yes, he got grabbed." Adam sighed out, "But I didn't leave him there. I was moments away from killing the bastard, but Bailey got him first. We went to check on him and noticed that he didn't seem himself afterwards. All of us, we tried to help him... but he was talking all kinds of crazy. In his words. 'I'm going to fucking kill you.' As he stared directly toward us, we didn't know what to do. He lunged forward, took a swing at me and unfortunately, landed a pretty hard blow to my face." Adam brought his hand up to his face, needing into the sensitive bruised skin.

"I was knocked out for around 5 minutes, maybe more- the rest of the team scrambled about to figure out what to do, while he bounded around like a rabid dog.
Either he was having one of his 'episodes', you know how he gets- the hallucinations... or, the chip is making his abilities worse- harder to control."

Bailey stood there, his blood boiling as he listened to Adam speak. It was evident he was about to snap, again. One of Olivia's robotic assistants stepped closer to him, just incase- and just before he was about to lunge forward, the android grabbed hold of his wrists. Restraining him in handcuffs. Adam's eyes widened, "You see what I mean? He's unstable!"

Bailey struggled against the android, "Fuck you! Get off me you fucking piece of plastic, don't touch me! You're gonna go down for this, you lying snake!" The android tripped him in one swift motion, making the man's body come plummeting to the floor with a thud. He was furious, with a mix of fear dashed in his eyes- something was going on with him. One thing was for sure, he was becoming dangerous. More than usual.

Although, Behind his grimaced expression, behind the screams and threats, there were tears in his eyes. As if his body was betraying him, as if this wasn't really what he wanted.