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Madison had received a very simple text that morning:



Unfortunately, the text didn't say anything else, not even a context for when and why.

"You are," Caelius corrected as soon as she had finished her sentence, "Reporting for your rather convenient promotion mission." He gave Madison a calculating look. "I hope you have indeed come prepared, because if you ******** this up I will withhold not only your promotion rights but also your prior mission request."

While it was odd that the Death Hunter was in charge of Madison's mission, it was even stranger that he had, despite all words, considered her proposal at some point in time. Or maybe he was just arbitrarily and rather sadistically whimsical, which really, was not surprising.

"When you are prepared, you will embark a type H golem, and meet me at the designated location, outside the gates of Amityville in Halloween. I will brief you on your promotion mission there." As Caelius made no motion to leave his seat himself, he clearly expected Madison to make the first move, as if to say that the evaluation had already begun.

After either having to ask directions from another Hunter, or checking her cell phone, Madison would find that Examination Room A was actually a very short walk away from the pod chambers: in fact, they were in the same area. Though the series of long hallway doors were unlabeled, there was only one room where the door was half-opened, light partially pouring outside.

Inside 'Examination Room A' was a single table and three sets of chairs, not unlike how the entire Horsemen containment room had been set up. When Mortimer woke up, he would find himself half-slumped against a simple metal chair, neither shackled, nor tied, or anything other than sitting, really, staring at two figures wearing tell-tale white and gold coats.

Caelius gestured to the empty chair across the table from the undead student. "While the Life Division likes to get their hands dirty with these sort of specimens, the Death Division, however, would rather focus on the necessary." He leaned over slightly on his chair, a sadistic sort of half-smile playing on his features. "Assuming that information is the key currency in this exercise, how much can you repay me for everything you owe, Madison?"

Madison was still inwardly fuming at herself when she woke up and let herself out of the pod. How could she have forgotten something so basic?! At least Caelius was letting her go through to the next part of the mission, whatever that was... though she was pretty sure she knew, remembering her own bold words.

We can break him. He is weak, Kouki said, confidently, as Madison looked up the location of the examination room on her phone. We will help you.

Thanks... let me know if I'm about to say something stupid. She headed towards the room in question, eyes narrowed in thought. Kouki was right - the freak they'd picked up was a weak creature. Unfortunately, if he really had only been around for a month, then there was a limit to how much the damn thing would know...

Well. She'd do what she could.

When she entered the room, the freak was just... there. Sitting on a chair, still out, not restrained or anything. And there was Caelius, of course... saying the expected. She had a debt. She had to perform.

Time to make the little freak dance.

As the freak woke up, groggy and slow, Madison sat down on the indicated chair. She looked casual, even bored, but Kouki was summoned, the swords' weight reassuring around her waist. "Good morning," she said, her voice low and dangerous, sounding very different from Calliope's more bubbly, anxious tones. "Your little girlfriend is locked up tight~ for her sake, you'd better answer my questions. If I leave this room, it'll be to cut off one of her arms. And then the other one. And we can go from there. And if you come after me... you'll find everything you do will be done right back to her."

She paused to let that sink in.

"So. Tell me~ what happened after you chased Red into the forest? You did chase her, didn't you? Always following your precious professor, even though she led you right to us?"

"I won't hurt her~ but you have to tell me what I want to hear. It's up to you if you want to save her or not." Madison grinned, the smile cruel and sharp-edged. "Just a few simple questions and she goes free... you'll be a hero. Her hero. Now." She straightened, the casual air gone entirely now.

"What happened after you went into the forest? You were caught, weren't you? Did you see them walk past? The Horsemen?"

"Hmm, was I? I was told there were only students there~ students in red cloaks. Have you ever worn one of those cloaks? I bet you have. Being part of a big secret is almost like being a hero, isn't it? Wearing a cloak, defying the Boogeymen... being in a revolution." This was a gamble, but she thought she'd figured out the freak's type. Nerdy. Lived in a world inside his own head. Liked to emulate the stories he loved. She'd met plenty of humans who were just like that.

The hero thing, of course, might lead him to doing something stupid in here. She watched him carefully. "What did you do when you wore the red cloak?"

Awww, he was trying to pretend he was a person. How cute. "Of course. It made you angry when the Boogeymen didn't take you seriously, didn't it? They made fun of you. They said you were all lying and all crazy." Oh, this was fun.

... But she wasn't sure how much actual information it was getting her. When he'd said he'd only been around for a month, she should've tried to go after someone else... ugh. How much of use was there in that rotting head? "And the Horsemen - they were big heroes. So strong, so powerful... and then they walked past all of you, right? Just walked past without helping and went with the Hunters."

"Don't you think that's weird?" She smiled, more genuinely now.

"I talked to Cymbeline. You know, Famine? She said you all looked really cute, all wrapped up like presents in those nets. She laughed about it." Madison actually wasn't lying, not this time. "It's always good to talk with friends, isn't it?"

Then the freak shifted. Madison stayed where she was, meeting his gaze without flinching. "I'm sure they will~ how are you going to tell them, though? They don't believe you. They think you're all crazy. ... Are you sure you aren't crazy?"