He freed her from all her bindings

Hawk walked around the suspended Valerie, inspecting the thick and messy tangle of vines, nylon straps and thorns she was stuck in. He pulled out a knife and began to cut one of the vines.

Valerie felt a sudden burst of pain as the movement caused her body to shift, resulting in her back suddenly coming into contact with a few prickly thorns. "Ow!", she exclaimed.

He stopped, realizing what had happened. "My bad.", he said. He tried another position, but it was the same result.

"Okay, this is bad.", he said as he put his knife back in his sheath. "You're badly stuck. Cutting you out is too risky."

She felt a sudden bout of panic as he put his hand on his walkie-talkie. "Please.", she begged. "Don't call for backup. The test can't end like this."

He paused, deep in thought. After a while, he finally replied, "There might be a way to get you out of there without a medic squad. However, depending on what you want, it might not be the best..."

"Please do it.", she interrupted him, her desperation crystal clear. She had already lost a lot of time, and couldn't afford to lose more.

"Don't say I didn't warn you.", he replied. He pulled out what looked like a tiny metal pen from his pocket, and began to fiddle with it.

"What's that?", she asked. How was a pen going to help cut through her restraints?

"Some kind of laser emitter. They gave me this when I passed my test. Apparently it can cut through anything."

"Um, w-won't it also, um, cut through me?", she replied nervously. While she did want to be freed, she wasn't big on the idea of dying.

"With sufficient power, yes. But, if I tweak the intensity just right, it should only cut through plants and fabric and not your skin. At worst, it should feel like a slight tingle. Here, let me test this first..."

He took off his backpack and put his palm behind one of the ends of the straps. With his other hand, he precisely made a small cut that separated the nylon strap but had no visible effect on his palm. "There you go.", he said confidently, showing her his palm. "Should be all right."

Valerie gulped. It felt a little too risky to her, but the alternative of letting him call backup wasn't very appealing either. Still, she had come all this far, and she didn't want to fail at the last hurdle. "Do it.", she replied, steeling herself.

He started at her collarbone, right in the center. He activated the laser and she felt a small prickly sensation where it hit. However, it didn't last long as he methodically began to move it downward on her body, keeping it centered as he went all the way down to her crotch. She felt her binds loosen and a surge of relief washed through her. Once he was finished, he went to both her legs, using the laser in the same way to cut them free. Satisfied, he nodded to her, indicating his job was done.

"Um, Hawk.", Valerie asked as she realized she couldn't quite get up all by herself. "Can you lift me out of here, please?"

"Oh, fine", he said, feigning annoyance. He walked back to around the midpoint of her body, and she felt both his hands against her skin as he parted the now destroyed vines and grabbed a hold of her body.

Valerie's eyes widened as the realization of what had just happened dawned upon her.