Phase 1: Question your would-be assailant

You dropped your hack-gun, knowing it would be no use against Tschau, and put your hand on your service pistol instead, as you questioned her with all of the cool calmness you could summon up. You started with the obvious ones: why was she holding people hostage in the science wing? Why work with Promethia? What could have changed that would now warrant her trying to kill you?

Tschau lowered her eyebrows irritably, while keeping her stance squared and her ninjoto drawn. You could tell her body was wound as tight as her steel appendages; one wrong move and she'd spring forward with her sword. It would all be over for you. "You made it this far and you still can't answer that question? Look around you... CEDIT is using the same technology Bortnik was. Whether they took it from him or whether he was on their bankroll all along doesn't really make a difference to me. If they've got his robots, they've got his cybernetics research as well, which means there will be more body transformations like mine. I won't allow that to happen," the ninja explained, gesturing at the huge machines in the backdrop with a quick swing of her sword. "All of CEDIT is my enemy now. The scientists I've captured are all marked for death."

There was a lot to absorb in that statement. You'd always known that not all of CEDIT's experiments in the name of terror response and world peace was strictly above board, but you did have to admit, the evidence in this room was particularly incriminating. You'd barely given it a thought until she brought it up to you. Still, it couldn't possibly justify her working with Promethia. After all, the Deliverers had tried to share Bortnik's technology too, hadn't they? You pushed her for another response.

"Don't assume you know everything. I see now that the Deliverers planned to absorb all of Bortnik's work and then destroy him along with it. Then, they'd have used all of the augmentations to put an end to CEDIT... Not just CEDIT, but the corrupt world powers that allowed CEDIT to get to its current state, where they use terrorist cells as harvesting grounds for tech advancements that they can't develop on their own grounds. If you're still loyal to them, then you're an enemy of mine too. In fact, as one of their handlers, you must have known about this all along," Tschau accused you, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.

Realizing that you were losing control of the conversation, you quickly dodged to the side before her attack could even come out; the imperceptibly quick blade of her ninjoto swung through the air, creating a brief crescent moon where you'd been standing before. The tip of your tie fell away, severed cleanly from where it had lagged behind your movements. Your observation of her had gotten you to the point where you could anticipate her movements like this... but it had also helped you realize that she'd adapt. If one killing method didn't work, she'd move on to the next. You had to make your case before she pinned you down! Forcefully, you told Tschau that she had a serious misunderstanding: you'd never supported any kind of agenda like this, where CEDIT makes use of illegal weapons. In fact, your being here with the Goodbye Girls was an effort to temper CEDIT's authority as a power behind opposition, by policing the most dangerous force of them all: the Goodbye Girls.

"Don't try to confuse me, Ciao. You're saying that your assignment as a handler here was more than just organizing and commanding us when we're in the field, right? What are you getting at?"

You told Tschau frankly: you were assigned to the Goodbye Girls with the distinct mission of watching for suspicious behavior linked to the deaths of former handlers. Additionally, Goodbye instructed you to find their weaknesses so that CEDIT would be prepared to take action against them, if any of them ever went rogue.

"Ha! So you're admitting that CEDIT really does want total control, even over a force of justice like all of us!" Tschau spat back angrily, as her white eyebrows tensed within the slit of her dark mask. You could tell she felt betrayed, even though she'd already prepared herself to face you as an enemy.

You shook your head, then explained quickly: to think of the Goodbye Girls as an absolute force of justice was just as bad as giving that power to CEDIT. You were there to impose a system of checks and balances. CEDIT shouldn't be a supreme force, sure, but neither could you allow the Goodbye Girls to go completely unchecked. The fact that handler after handler had died on this assignment just served as further need for your position, even if it did involve some underhanded subterfuge.

"Rrrgh... Don't try to trick me, Ciao. It's far too late to sway me with words," Tschau growled, leveling her sword at you again while her metallic feet, clothed in black ninja garb, clacked against the sterile white metal of the test room floor. You and she, two combatants in black, circled in a standoff, each waiting just as much for a clear conscience as a window of opportunity before attacking.

In the movies, meetings like this could last upwards of five minutes. Here, you had to imagine that you'd be executed in the next thirty seconds, if you didn't make just the right move... Was there anything you could say to change her mind?