MARIEL

3~ Hunted. Captured. Humiliated. ~

Monday, January 20th, 2020

It had been nearly a week since Tira Arcelin had heard from Esther. As Tira waited for the recruits to gather their items, she chewed her lip and stared at the last text message she'd received from the brown-haired annoyance, the one regarding accountability.

Since then, not one phone call or text. It confused and bothered Tira. It wasn't like the subject to abruptly end her annoying ways, and Tira hadn't expected Esther to follow through on her promise to lose contact. How was she expected to fully protect Esther if they did not communicate? Throughout the week, Tira had patrolled Esther's common areas, the bookstore and her home, and the subject was clearly alright. Yet, the lack of contact nettled Tira. The situation needed to be remedied if she were to complete her necessary, protective duties.

As much as Tira tried, she couldn't stop thinking about the way that they had parted last week. The abrupt, violent way that Esther had attacked her body. Her mouth. Her mind. For the remainder of the day, Tira had lost much of her ability to focus clearly, which had been the entire reason she'd hunted and found Zoey the evening prior.

For a few days, Tira had felt satisfied with the separation. She had needed time to recover from the experience, recover from the overwhelming presence and emotional rollercoaster of Esther Caravan. However, now that it had been nearly a week, Tira felt mounting frustration that could not understand, nor control.

"Fall in line!" Tira shouted as the recruits raced into the parking with their athletic bags. Slipping her phone back into her pocket, she watched the young men and women as they rushed to form themselves into a neat line, side-by-side.

Today had been an easy, but productive, day for them. A fun day, one could say. Tira had been requested to escort them to the government research facility, something that she'd been more than willing to do due to her curiosity about the site. She'd continued to reflect upon the conversation she'd heard from the alley. The man called Haleef... the alleged murderer of Esther Caravan's best friend. Presumably, the government kept his son captive for research, and Tira had a feeling that it wasn't simply casual weather research.

Due to their approaching graduation, the recruits were required to undergo another series of physical exertion tests, medical exams and, most importantly, microchip insertion. The intention of the microchips was to provide natural enhancements to the recruits, specifically to improve problem-solving and reactive behaviors in the midst of high-stress situations. It also improved their ability to sense threats at a much quicker rate than average, giving them more time to respond if their protective assignment might be in danger. Tira was very curious to see the results, wondering if their level of enhancement would level to hers. She didn't believe that it would, primarily due to the fact that her body had been genetically programmed to respond in the ways they had merely been trained for only a matter of months.

After the insertion, the recruits 'played', giving the researchers time to monitor the recruits and assess the 'data'. For the majority of the time, Tira had assessed the facility. She hadn't determined entirely what she was searching for, but wanted to have a clear memory of the facility. It could come to be of importance later.

One never knew.

However, Tira hadn't expected to engage in a frivolous game of basketball with a child. Her job duties already required her to babysit. She hadn't particularly wanted to babysit a young boy today. Nevertheless, Thompson's behavior had given her ample opportunity and reason to punish him. She despised the man, and couldn't wait to end their professional relationship. Tira was certain that he felt the same.

Despite her aversion to children, admittedly, she'd had the slightest amount of fun with the boy. She had appreciated that fact that he didn't talk. He hadn't been loud, and he hadn't disrespected her. That was more than she could say for the average adult.