Phase 2: Hunting down the mastermind

Au Revoir walked in front of you, away from the science division and back towards the main office, with a smoldering rage putting a new swagger to her walk. Her steps thudded beneath her and her fists hung at each side. This wasn't her usual happy-go-lucky self. That personality had been pushed to one side, while her pure, unfiltered fury bubbled to the surface. "I suppose I should have suspected that a master of deception would betray even her own allies, but it is hard to laugh at the circumstances. Are you not infuriated, Ciao? I hope you will take special pleasure in seeing Au Revoir behead that sneaky snake with her bare hands!" your partner growled, beating the metal tips on her knuckles together with malicious intent. She'd removed her hood to reveal her blond hair in a bun, then let it down, allowing her locks to spill out with unusual freedom. The way they hung over and shadowed her blue eyes made her look beautiful and monstrous at the same time.

You told Au Revoir that it was important to think rationally right now. If Au Revoir was controlled, there was a possibility someone was holding something over Vaarvel's head too, or possibly, manipulating her in the exact same way using a trigger implanted at a genetic level. You may come to regret it if you went in guns blazing against your own ally.

"Someone controlling Vaarvel? You do not know your ally as well as I expected you to by this point," Au Revoir scoffed, looking undeterred. She didn't so much as turn her head as she continued to stomp down the hallway. "She is the master of puppets, no? Who could there possibly be that would hold her strings?"

You had to admit, that was a pretty good point. Still, all the same, you wanted to end this with Vaarvel's capture and interrogation if you could. Save possibly Despedida-- or yourself, perhaps, after all of your snooping-- there was no more valuable source of classified counterterrorism intelligence than Vaarvel alive on the planet.

"If she gets down onto her knees and apologizes, then perhaps I will spare her," the muscle-bound blonde returned, with killing intent clear upon her face.

The only thing less likely than the cocky South-African super-spy being manipulated was the possibility of her apologizing on her hands and knees coming to pass...

By the time you reached Madison's office, you were fairly certain Vaarvel must know you were coming. She was always so well-informed and, beyond that, Au Revoir had been growling and practically shaking the hallway with her fast, purposeful approach. You took one more moment to circle around and block Au Revoir's path, placing a hand on each of her biceps to stop her advancement. Her rage was understandable, but knowing Vaarvel, if she was an enemy now, she probably had a trap of some kind prepared.

"Ha! Let her pull a gun on me, or train every gun in CEDIT upon me. She will not take me down," Au Revoir boasted, standing still and waiting for you to move out of the way. "You must keep the Voice Modulator on hand, to pull me back to my own mind if she tries to control me."

You warned her that wouldn't be good enough. Vaarvel wasn't stupid enough to start this without a backup plan; she certainly accounted for the possibility that Au Revoir would break free.

"Then let's see what she has up her sleeve," the woman nodded, finally forcing her way past to fling open the door. The inside of Madison's office was a circular floorplan, all business, with globe-monitoring digital displays on either side of the room, a conference table at the center, and a heavy, oak desk at the back, with one leather arm-chair behind and two in front. A row of international flags lined the curtained wall behind where she'd normally sat. Unfortunately, she wasn't present, but someone else was, sitting in her seat as naturally as though it was her own.

If Vaarvel had been wearing some disguise earlier, she'd since discarded it. The woman now waited behind the desk, dressed in her usual gray spy-suit and silver mask, with CEDIT service pistol in one hand, trained upon you. You'd already drawn your own pistol and watched her cautiously, though part of you knew she wouldn't fire without explaining herself. Her usual crescent-moon grin rested across her face, gleaming inside the dark lower cutout of her mask. "Reunited at last. Please, have a seat, Au Revoir. So long as we face one another across this desk, you will not hurt me," she beckoned her ally, gesturing with one sweeping hand.

When Au Revoir's teeth clenched and she began walking forward, powerless to resist the order, you brought out the Remote Voice Modulator. You arched one thumb to click its head, but found yourself frozen as Vaarvel spoke again.

"You too, Ciao. Take a seat. You won't hurt me either."

To your horror, you found your own body moving alongside Au Revoirs, until the two of you were seated side by side before Vaarvel. You could tell Au Revoir wanted to spring from her chair and rip your captor apart, but her own body was betraying her.

"Hm hm hm... Bound Blood 100 and Bound Blood 1000. The prototype and the perfected agent, both demonstrated effectively in this single room. Ingenious and contemptable..." she sighed, looking between the two of you while setting the gun down upon the desk, as though it was heavy in her hand. "I suspected you'd come, Ciao, but I hadn't guessed you would find a way to overcome the genetic trigger Au Revoir carries. Since you've come this far, I'll tell you what must now be obvious: I am the leader of Adder-- the real Adder Adjutant. I have been since its conception and even continuing into my time as the Goodbye Girls. My motivations are something I currently have no time to explain, but I do want to get to the part where I tell you what happens next."

"Bitch! Traitor!" Au Revoir growled, her lips quivering as she strained to move her considerable muscles.

You asked Vaarvel to get to the point.

"Everyone involved in this scenario-- Ciao, Au Revoir, and Madison-- are all expendable, so the key is to figure out how best to spend your deaths. My plan, which I've already set into motion through calls to Goodbye and other key figures, is to explain that Au Revoir went rogue and attacked Ciao and Madison. Your fate is already sealed, my friend. Even if you somehow escaped this situation, you would be hunted by CEDIT for the rest of your life. Even if you both escaped, I can still have Madison killed and then frame the two of you for the killing. I hope knowing the futility of it all decreases your resistance when it comes time for this next part: I need you to be the one to shoot our handler."

"I never would...!" Au Revoir protested, even as her hand jerked on the table, crawling slowly towards the gun.

"Oh, dear... You really are doing an admirable job fighting back against that control agent, but it's useless," Vaarvel sighed, dropping her smile just slightly. "It pains me to see friends of mine, especially ones so gifted, meet their end, but the truth of the matter is that my work here is too important to allow my personal feelings to get in the way."

"I trusted you. I treated you like a sister. After all we've been through...!" Au Revoir spoke through clenched teeth, as her fingers finally reached the gun. "Adder scum... You fucking... monster!"

Vaarvel shrugged and resumed her old grin. "I'm afraid you're right. I am a monster. But with heroes like CEDIT, the world needs monsters..."

You pleaded with Vaarvel and Au Revoir to reconsider all of this. You'd always known the Goodbye Girls assignment was going to be dangerous and volatile, but they had to realize that too. Whatever this crazy plot of Vaarvel's was, if it was about curbing the genetics research, there were still ways that you all could do that as a team. You didn't believe that Vaarvel was purely a crazy terrorist; you just wanted to understand this in a way that didn't end with somebody's murder.

"Shhh... No more talk, Nathaniel," Vaarvel whispered, placing one finger to her lips.

If Vaarvel wasn't going to listen, then you would have to spring your trump card. You told Au Revoir that in just a moment, you were going to need her to trust you above her own instincts as a fighter. Both of your fates would end up riding on that trust. You knew it must be hard for the girl to place such faith in companions, after how she'd been betrayed, but everything depended on her compliance.

Au Revoir watched you with pain still written across her face, her blond hair thrashing back and forth as she used every ounce of her determination to hold back from grabbing the gun and pulling the trigger upon you at the madwoman's behest.