The entire walk back to the Tower found Rean constantly reminding himself that remaining utterly silent was probably the best and only choice for his survival. They were outside--everything in his being was telling him that they really ought to stay that way, that this was some "heroic chance to escape"...
        What made things worse was noticing that every step Rakashi took seemed forced. A death march. It was honestly a little sickening in his mind, particularly because he had the distinct feeling this wasn't the first time she'd done something like this. The fact that she was returning on her own... he just didn't know how to process that.
        Rean shook his head with the intention to clear it. His thoughts were getting pretty weird, to put it mildly. He couldn't help but notice, though; the deathly silence as they walked back through the garage, back through every security check and to hallways more familiar. No more deviously grinning General Vrunai. She didn't look at him, and she didn't speak.
        His slowly sinking stomach finally fell completely to his knees when the last door to freedom opened, only to reveal an extremely large, extremely angry-looking man in an admiral's uniform. Rean was just glad that he was still walking behind Rakashi, otherwise me might have burst into flames by the man's glare alone.
        "I came back on my own." Her voice was controlled, cold murder, threatening and ready to strike behind the facade of perfect calm. There almost seemed to be a long, thoroughly involved staring contest between them for countless seconds, several almost-held breaths, before the unfamiliar admiral finally shook his head and simply walked past them and away.
        Not that any part of that made Rean feel any safer. There were so many questions knocking around in his head that he sincerely wanted answers to, though none of those were the kind he actually wanted to ask. Still, the silence was just too deafening and maybe simple was best. "What was that about?" He began to regret his words instantly as Rakashi started walking away.
        After a few paces, however, she turned and noted that he hadn't been following her. Likely too confused to know what the hell to do... then, there were some things he didn't need to know, and one thing that he really did. "Take a moment to consider, Mr. Coi." The general's voice dropped slightly with his name, indicating that they were probably being listened to. "You don't have a rank here. You're expendable."
        Numb confusion bled into a slow onslaught of cautious fear. It only got worse when he realized that was exactly what she's meant to inspire in him.
        "Go to your quarters. Do not answer the phone, do not answer the door, do not leave the room for 24 hours." She didn't fluff it up, did not pretend like that encounter with the admiral had been a small thing. Though, she did feel the need to add, "Please."
        Even if that hadn't technically been an order, he had the urge to treat it like one. "Yes, sir."
        "A full 24 hours." She reminded him delicately. "I'll see you in my office, after.
        Rean managed to take note of the fact that Rakashi took off in the opposite direction of the admiral just moments before. Whether or not that was significant would probably never be known--and he'd rather be safely in his quarters while thinking about it. Just being out in the open hallway then was starting to creep him out.

------------------------

        He hadn't really thought about it in a long time, but Rakashi had had a point. He used to know a lot of rankless kids, like him. Taking a moment to think it over, to try and remember their names and faces, he hadn't actually seen any of them in... too long to remember. He looked at his desk calendar (even though his quarters weren't actually large enough for a "real" desk), trying to determine the last time he'd talked to one. Or even heard a name. Over a year, to be sure.
        Maybe it was best not to think about it. Of course, it was hard not to grasp for any thought that came across while he was expected to stay in a glorified closet with something that passed for a bed for 24 hours. There had to be a law against quarters that small, rankless or otherwise.
        The very reasoning behind the general's words, that "order", were still puzzling. They'd seemed so harsh... well, right up until that 'please'...
        Oh. It hadn't exactly occurred to him that maybe he was just as in trouble for that little stunt as she was. (As if anyone could ever be held responsible for what Rakashi did and didn't do.) Enough trouble to keep the door locked and the phone unanswered for 24 hours? But he remembered the look on the admiral's face, the very real sense of danger when he and General Vrunai were glaring at once another, then the tone of that warning...
        The knock at the door nearly tore a shriek of surprise from him. Luckily he managed to recognize that knock, and the false urgency behind it. "I can't open the door." He called simply.
        Captain Dulce paused on the other side. "What the fu--can't open the door? Are you trapped in there?"
        "I'm under orders." Rean announced dryly.
        There was a uniquely, devastatingly long pause from outside. "You should've just told me that the general was in there with you.
        "Demi!"
        "Oh, she's not? That's either kinky or sad, kid."
        Rean could feel his friend's smirk--and wished he could reach out to just grasp the man's neck and shake. "Demi, go the fuck away."
        "Okay, okay. I'm done. Really, I'm done." He swore, just shy of sincerity. "I got your 'request' here."
        Suddenly he was a great deal more interested in his friend's visit. "Can you slide the files under the door?"
        Another pause. "Under the... Rean, again. Why can't you open the door?"
        "I'm under orders." He repeated, not quite feeling up to the explanation.
        "Riiiight. But, why?"
        "It's a long story."
        The captain chuckled. "Let me in and tell me about it."
        While it was tempting to have two people in that tiny space for hours on end... "No."
        "Orders?"
        "Yes. That, and I don't want your personality invading my living space."
        Another completely unhurt burst of laughter from outside. "Ouch."
        "Rakashi 'borrowed' a car while I was with her... and completely destroyed it on a jump outside the Tower." He had no idea why he felt compelled to actually tell Demi what had happened, but maybe that would at least explain the urgency of the order following.
        Laughter. A lot more of it. "I believe that's referred to as 'not so quiet rebellion.'" Captain Dulce grinned like a loon. and again his friend could almost feel the expression through the door. "You like rebels, Rean?"
        "Shut up and go away."
        "Fine, fine. Here." He knelt and pushed the files underneath the door.
        Rean collected it carefully, surprised at how very thin the folder was. "Is that all?"
        "I'm sure there've been parts 'lost' over the years." Demi admitted. "It was all I could find. And there's no direct mention of the general, either. Name or deed."
        "Not quite what he wanted to hear... but it was a start. "Thanks. Asshole."
        "Any time." There was another pause, accented by what sounded like the captain sliding down and then sitting against the door. "There's not much hope for her here, y'know?"
        The brunet stared into space, completely taken aback by the comment... and the soft sentimentality of his friend's voice. One of those weird times when Demi just... didn't seem to be himself. "Yeah." He surprised himself by responding. "I know."
        The silence went on for minutes before the captain finally picked himself up. It was all just... too strange. "Well, I gotta get back to the cafeteria. Should be pretending I'm worthy of a uniform."
        Rean remained quiet inside of his quarters for a moment, trying to figure out how the man had gone from point Z straight back to point A so quickly. "Yeah. I'll see you when I get out."
        More laughter. Then footsteps leading away.

------------------------

        The official documents surrounding the Rush took Rean the whole of 30 minutes to read through. It may have made for a full hour if nothing were blacked out or literally ripped off. Something... was not right.
        The bluntness of what he could read was a bit hard to take, though. The numbers officially dead due to the incident were... millions. Thousands had been estimated to die from injuries. Another couple of thousand were listed as missing at the time the report was filed (and as he recalled from rumors, they'd simply been disintegrated, bodies never found). Common injuries to the survivors were loss of limbs, hearing loss, blindness... and there it was in bold lettering, "loss of skin."
        Rean hadn't wanted to know about those parts. They weren't his interest, besides being completely nightmarish. There were no descriptions of the enemy, of the weapons or occurrence that had caused such devastation, and as Demi had said, Rakashi's name was nowhere to be found. In fact... it seemed that no names were included at all.
        When he'd gotten to the last few pages, yammering on about equipment cost and payments that were to be made to families, he simply tossed the pages on the floor--then stared as the back sheet separated a little from the others.
        "'Sarah Kaatspur recognized as the only historian of the Rush on-field...'" he read aloud, right up until his jaw hung open. It was a fuzzy, black and white, photocopied picture, but he knew the face. That drop-dead blond that was in Rakashi's office not that long ago. He'd definitely gotten a good look at her; at her face, even.
        There was something there, he was sure of it. He just had no idea what the hell to do next.
        Sleep. Take full advantage and sleep until the time was up. So long as he willingly ignored everything he'd just read, things should be fine.

------------------------

        When in doubt, he knew where to go. Even when he wasn't entirely in the mood to do so. But, Demi was a complete and total miracle worker, and once he'd even almost been humble about it. It was always just an act, sure... but Rean had pretty much stopped thanking him altogether just so his ego wouldn't get any larger.
        Well, at least the worse case scenario wasn't too bad. "Demi." He caught his friend's attention in the hall, waving him subtly over to a seldom-used passage along the side. "I need information on her." He'd brought along that last page, the picture of Sarah, unfolding the paper carefully so as not to make too much noise. Paranoid or not, it made sense to be careful.
        The raven-haired man raised an eyebrow at that request. "The general's not doing it for you anymore?"
        That time, Rean made a fist. Not entirely in jest, either.
        Captain Dulce only grinned and held his hands up for a moment. "I don't think I can get to anyone's personal files. Besides, what the hell do you care? She's just a field secretary." He moved a little closer to elbow his friend in the ribs, despite the fist still raised at him. "Not as cool as a general."
        "The files said she was a historian." The brunet corrected, attempting to ignore the rest.
        "Well any secretary who survived the Rush is gonna write about it, y'know? 'Historian' is probably a pretty loose word, considering."
        That made sense, Rean supposed. "I want to know if I can get in contact with her."
        The look on Demi's face was utterly foreign. Shock, worry, an exceptional apprehension... "You should let it go."
        He couldn't understand that reaction. Things seemed to be spiraling into weirder and weirder places... "Why?"
        "You're delving into some seriously bad shit, Rean. Really."
        His friend's seriousness was still so... different. Out of place. "I can't just... I can't let this go. Haven't you ever had something jumping up and down and screaming at you to find out as much as you can about it, but you just needed a push to get close enough in the first place?"
        Captain Dulce shook his head, the worry not fading. Yeah, he knew that feeling. Too often. "She..." He stopped to sigh, rubbing a palm over his face as he debated the information he was about to impart. "She and Rakashi... they're close. I don't think anyone else would have access to her."
        That struck Rean as a little odd. Maybe not as odd as the rest of the day so far, but it was just one more thing. "But... she's a secretary, right? I mean..."
        "Let it go." Demi insisted quietly. Just short of urgently. "This is not worth it."
        "If it'll make you feel any better." He lied through his teeth. And he suspected that his friend knew it as well.
        If so, it didn't show on the captain's face any longer. "Great. Hungry for some cafeteria food?"
        "No." Rean responded honestly. "You're always in the damn cafeteria."
        "I'm always hungry." He grinned. "Alright, catch you around." He gave a wave and bolted off as thought nothing had happened.
        Something strange was most definitely going on.

------------------------

        "Bright and early?" General Vrunai asked without looking up from her desk. Back to paperwork, it seemed.
        "Amazing what can happen when you have nothing better to do than sleep." Rean shot back with decent humor, locking the door behind him. Now or never. He'd spent several minutes trying to build up the courage to do this. "Not to pry, sir..." he started quietly. "I just... there was a woman in your office not that long ago. A Miss Sarah Kaatspur..?"
        She finally glanced up, regarding him with an almost too carefully hidden suspicion. "And the point at which you would stop prying would be..?"
        Okay, well... he deserved that. He really wondered how much he ought to reveal to her. After all, it was pretty much all about her. "Sorry, sir. I... I've just been interested in... the Rush lately...
        Rakashi was absolutely stock still. "Getting to the point would be recommended today, Rean."
        He thought he'd be a bit more glad that she'd finally called him by his first name, but her tone was just a little too defensive. He understood, he supposed... or at least he wanted to understand. "There are things I want to know."
        "There are things all of us want to know."
        She sounded so cold and closed off, but he had to keep trying. Especially now. "I was told that the two of you were close... and you might know how to contact her..."
        "For what reason?"
        A stand-off, then. And a very dangerous one at that. This was not the interesting, somewhat good-natured (but viciously-humored) general. It was the leader of armies, the killer of men. Winner of wars that raged on for years. "I have to know. I need to find out..."
        "Listen to me, Rean." Every aspect of emotion had bled completely out of her voice. It was a commanding tone, certain and unyielding. "I do not speak out of cruelty or out of some ridiculous goddamned sense of duty. This is a purely personal level. You're not the first to try and reach her for information. I will protect her. With my life, if necessary--with the death of others, if not." She leaned forward just slightly, voice softening only enough to notice. "Just asking these questions is putting your life at risk."
        He suddenly found himself utterly unwilling to let the subject drop without gaining something of value. The question was sudden, even to him. "Why don't I have a rank?"
        That had been particularly unexpected. She understood it, though. It was a battle tactic; if you couldn't get what you were aiming for, then you damn well better bring back something of value. If that was the case... "Would you like the truth, or the military truth?"
        Rean barely had the air in his lungs to respond... but there was something in the woman's eyes that drove him forward. "The truth, general."
        Quiet--almost gentle, and very much to the point. "The war orphans rounded up over time were all expendable. You lucked out when you and Captain Dulce became quick friends. He has a surprising amount of sway around here."
        He felt his heart beating in his throat, an acrid taste in his mouth, trying desperately to swallow it back down. "What happened to the others?"
        Rakashi sighed, looking every bit as sick to her stomach as Rean felt. "They were barters. Hostages. Slaves. Human experimentation. Take your pick."
        Horror. Immense, physical, horror. His legs buckled, and he knew he'd be glad to have a chair so close when he was able to think again. "You... Who knows about this?"
        The hand on her paperwork curled into an unconscious fist. That emotionless quality settled back over her voice again. "Welcome to the military, Mr. Coi."