Agent Arizona: Recollection

Visiting Hours

The Reds and Zone stop at the doorway of Blue base. 

"Hey! Anybody here? Blue? Where are ya?" Sarge calls out. Zone can vaguely hear Caboose talking. 

~Who the heck is he talking to?" 

"Hello?" Sarge continues. 

"Hello! Yes, I hear you!" Caboose says. 

"Then get outside! I need to talk to you!" Caboose muffles something else from inside the base before walking out. 

"Hi guys. Great to see you...wait. Unless you're here to blow me up. Then...not so great." 

"We're looking for something we've, err...erm, lost." Sarge explains. 

"Is it the keys to your base? I do that a lot. But it's really easy to break in because, there are no doors." 

[Why would someone make keys to a military base?] Zone asks. 

"No, we're looking for something else. I'm not gonna tell you what it is and give you some kind of advantage."

"Can you describe it." 

"Yeah, it's pink..." Grif starts. 

"It's annoying..." Simmons adds. 

[Has very weird hobbies...] Zone continues. 

"And it's kind of a spring in its step." Sarge finishes. 

"Ohh. You mean Donut." Caboose ascertains. 

"Ah, yes! Where is he?" Sarge asks. 

"He's in my base. He'll be staying with me for a little while." 

"You've captured him? Diabolical...what are you doing with him!?" 

"Don't worry. He's resting. Comfortably." 

"Ooh, that sounds ominous. Don't back down now, sir." Grif says becoming entertained. 

"Give him back!" Sarge demands. 

"See, there's something he needed to tell me. I'll send him home after that." Caboose explains. 

"Squeezing him for information, eh?" 

"Sarge, I don't think that he's-" 

"Hey." Caboose interjects Simmons. "No one is squeezing anybody. I was just working with my tools and he-"

"Torture!? You ungodly fiend! He won't give you any info! He'll die before he reveals anything! Hear that, Donut? You'll die before you talk! We all know that, keep up the good work!" Sarge calls into the base. 

"Actually, he already told me the beginning part." 

"He told you about our secret new vehicle!? Dang it, Donut, you idiot!" 

[For the love of...] Zone facepalms his visor. 

"He told me about 'this and.'" 

"He told you about that and our new hologram chamber!? Donut, put a lid on it!" 

"Sarge! (Sighs) I'm gonna go sleep under a tree. Come wake me up when the brain summit is over." Simmons says leaving. 

[Yeah and I'm going back help Lopez. Rather do something CONSTRUCTIVE with my time.] Zone then follows Simmons. 

"Are you guys kidding? I hope this lasts forever. Psst, hey Sarge. Maybe there's a ransom." Grif whispers. 

"Good thinking. What is it you want, Blue?" 

"What do I want? Do you have any cookies?" 

"What are your demands? You have to give us your demands." Sarge tells him. 

"I demand cookies!" Caboose says sternly. 

"You're just toying with us! Your depravity knows no bounds!" 

"Yeah!" Grif agrees still entertained. 

"Well, at least I don't go around...knocking on people's non-doors...and promising them cookies...and then NOT. GIVING. THEM. COOKIES! I'M! LEAVING!" Caboose then heads back inside. 

"Wait!" 

"Hmm. Looks like negotiations have broken down. Should we call in a nuke strike?" Grif asks. 

"Negative. We've got a man in there! Well, you know...Donut." 

"Ow! That hurt!" 

"Ow, listen to that! He's killing him in there!" Sarge says tearfully. 

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Zone walks up and sees Lopez now working on the turret. 

[Any progress?] 

<Your dad is asking me to make weapon for an EMP burst, which is idiotic because it will just make the jeep stall in the process.> 

[(Sighs) You know what I've come to notice? Despite the fact you guys constantly get on each other's cases about any and everything, you have each other. That counts for something. You guys remind of the Triplets.] 

<The Triplets?> 

[Ohio, Idaho, and Iowa. They were the Project's worst Freelancers. They were always trying to be better but somehow they were always pushed back to the brink. Iowa was a terrible driver, Idaho could never stop with the 5 Things game, and Ohio...she always wanted to be one of the top respected Freelancers, yet somehow she always embarrassed herself. Everyone always picked on them, but even through it all they had one another. They were family. Like you guys.] 

<Yeah...but were probably the galaxy's weirdest team of soldiers.> 

[No argument here.] An idea then popped in Zone's head. [I'll be right back.] 

Zone then heads down into the hologram chamber of Red base. [Hey Xi?] 

"Yeah lover boy?" Xi says appearing. 

[Don't call me that, look I'm thinking about changing my armor. Any suggestions?] 

"Well the UNSC made lots of prototypes for the Spartan program after the Mjolnir. Let me look through some of the records and I'll get back to you." Xi then disappears. 

[Might as well see if I can make any modifications to the Warthog dad wants down here.] Zone walks over to the control panel and begins to type a few keys. 

~I always wondered what happened to the Triplets during the Project? Meh, they're probably doing fine. It's not like they're having some ridiculous war in a canyon or something like us.~