A knot of mounting tension worried at the stomach of Second Lieutenant Pryth Chionaitos. As far as first days on the job went, there wasn't the world where this could possibly be considered a good start. Not even if you were to only count field-days in Pryth's line of work. In point of fact, Pryth was quite sure this type of day would be found somewhere near the bottom of the barrel no matter what the career.

As the bridge between her training and her official induction, this mission had been supposed to be a combination of a warm-up, one last training mission and a final examination. Pryth was, for the first time, to be the one conducting the mission, with her mentor taking a backseat. It was supposed to allow her to showcase what she had learned, and what sort of officer of the UXTAA she was going to be.

And yet, not five minutes after Second Lieutenant Pryth Chionaitos had arrived aboard the UXTS Olympus Mons, along with her mentor and senior partner First Lieutenant Cedric Felham, they had been ambushed and apprehended by the ship's captain and his crew. Pryth was sure they could have fought their way out, but Lieutenant Felham had immediately taken the lead and surrendered without a fight. That had left Pryth with little choice but to follow suit. She could not help but feel like her career was over before it had even begun. The knot in her stomach twitched.

So much training, all out the airlock, she thought, frowning to herself. Pryth had half a mind to strangle Lieutenant Felham once she got out of this situation that he had put them in. If she got out of this situation.

Trying to calm down, Pryth took a deep breath and reminded herself there was a reason she and her colleagues got as much training, not to mention resources, as they did. She could do this. She'd just have to find a way out of these cuffs. And out of the brig. And... Well. After that, she'd follow her training. Her stomach squirmed a little at the thought of what that would mean, but she would do her duty.

For the time being however, it didn't matter what would follow. If she could not find a way out of these cuffs and this cell, she was not going anywhere. Until then, Pryth was stuck sitting stiff-backed in the ship's brig, cuffed with electronically locked handcuffs rigged to detonate if she tried using her powers.

She was not, however, alone in her cell. Sitting across from her, wearing a torn and dirty grey work overall, was an emaciated-looking man. He was young, but it was hard to tell how young, given his poor health. He might, for all Pryth could tell without any cybernetic enhancements to her eyes, be just a boy. In either case, she was sure he was at least a few years younger than Pryth herself. Untidy and matted brown hair hung heavy, framing his gaunt face. His skin had an unhealthy, almost grey tone to it. He seemed to be of a little over average height, but his thin frame gave the impression that he was taller than he actually was. The young stranger had pale blue eyes which stood out all the more in contrast to his other features, as he seemed to be staring at her with a level of interest that was just a little more unsettling than the implications of his physical state with respect to how the crew had treated him.

She was not completely sure if he was in fact staring at her however. His gaze didn't quite hit her eyes, nor any of the more obvious places. As far as she could tell, he was, bizarrely, staring at her left shoulder of all places. Pryth might have thought that he might be lazy-eyed, except his eyes were otherwise well-aligned. All taken together, the man had an uncanny quality about him that bothered Pryth. It was like he, by some of his features, should have been in a worse state than he seemed to be. His body language, quite unlike his physical features, suggested that he was in a less than average condition, rather than being seemingly on death's door. When Pryth had first been put in the cell, quite opposite from the lethargy Pryth would have expected, he had gone from lying flat to sitting upright in a heartbeat. His eyes had shone with a strange interest as he had been taking Pryth's features in. Cybernetics could have explained his strange energy, except Pryth was not aware of any kind of cybernetic suite that could keep someone alive past starvation, yet would allow their body to deteriorate like this. What was more, it occurred to Pryth, while his muscle mass was a far cry from good or even average, starvation symptoms like his should have led to muscle atrophy far beyond what he had. In spite of her size and strength, her training, not to mention her control over air and ice, Pryth could not help but feel that the stranger gave her the creeps. He did nothing to lessen the tension inside her.

It occurred to Pryth that she did not really have the time to ponder a strange prisoner who was of no relevance to Pryth or her situation, no matter how uncanny he looked. She could ponder him and his circumstances later. It was far more pressing that she figure out what to do about her current situation. One thing about the reaction of the crew to an inspection bothered Pryth. Why capture her and Lieutenant Felham? What was the purpose? After all-

"Why is your rank red?"

It was the young prisoner.

"Pardon?" Pryth replied, torn from her train of thought.

"Well, I hope you don't think me rude, but I've been trying to figure out your uniform. I thought I recognized the uniform itself, with its red stripes and all that, but I can't figure out your rank. It's a single star, but it's red. Why is that? I thought they were supposed to be either silver or gold?"

Taken aback, Pryth replied before considering his question, "Well, it's because I'm in the UXTAA." Though the question itself was harmless, Pryth could not help but wonder. Did he not know?

"The... What?"

He did not. Pryth considered the man more closely. The dockworker's uniform ought to have carried a patch showing point of origin. His did not, but there were signs on his right arm that one had been present, but was missing. Signs of wear around the patchmark showed where it ought to have been. Was this prisoner simply from one of the Trouble Colonies, or could he possibly have come from a corporate colony? If so, what was a corpie doing on a UXTS patrol ship? No, it would have to be a Trouble Colonist. That made at least a little sense. Still... Why was he here? How was he here?

"The UXTAA," Pryth repeated. "United Extraterrestrial Territories Army Auditors," she supplied at his nonplussed expression. At her clarification, he first reacted as if he understood. Pryth would have expected some measure of awe at about that point. Instead and to her disappointment, the prisoner raised an eyebrow.

"So... You, what, do aggressive accounting?"

Oh boy.

"Well," she hesitated. This was not getting her closer to solving her situation, "not quite. You really haven't heard of us?" she asked, cocking her head.

"Should I have been aware of a military branch dedicated to auditing?"

"Well, yes? We've been fairly prominent in the news, on and off for the past few years. For that matter, my superior who came here with me is one of the more famous auditors! First Lieutenant Felham has one of the highest success rates, and that in some of the most dramatic cases to date!" Pryth felt her cheeks heat at her small outburst. She was really getting carried away over the prisoner's ignorance. He in turn made a confused gesture as he replied.

"What do you mean, dramatic? What could be dramatic about auditing? Before thirty seconds ago, I didn't even realize auditors could be famous!"

Pryth sighed, and, despite her better judgement, tried to explain. At least it was distracting her from the tightly bound knot that was still gnawing at her insides.

"The... Where to begin. Do you at least know how the UXT was formed?"

"Wait... You mean the core planets?"

"Yes," she nodded, a little too eager at finally getting somewhere with the stranger, "the UXT was formed following the Great Reunion. Shortly after, the rapid reintegration efforts between the Forerunner planets and the Homeward Colonies, the Pulse Cult Crisis, and the exposure of rampant corruption within the UXT military forces, the decision was made to make a specialized auditing unit."

"Okay..." the man said hesitantly, "I did learn something like that back in school, I think, and at home..." Strangely, the young prisoner appeared to flinch at mentioning his home, "Anyway, some of it's starting to come back to me now. I remember something about the Cult thing, but my f- my parents told me they were trying to conquer humanity with some sort of mutant army or something. I don't see how that relates to auditing though."

Pryth puzzled over what the young man had just said. It was a very curious choice of words. She was given no further time to ponder matters, however, as right then, a loud metallic shudder ran through the ship's hull. The UXTS Olympus Mons had detached from its docking station. Pryth could feel the color drain from her face as realization dawned. The knot in her stomach got company.

"Oh no..."

"What?" asked the other prisoner.

"They just undocked the ship."

"So?"

"That can only mean three things. One, the crew are guilty of something they wish to keep hidden. When they learned we were coming aboard, they panicked and took us captive. Now they're leaving without talking to us first. From that, I gather they would mean to kill us, my superior and I, and dump our bodies into the cold of space."

"Uhm... Wow. Okay. And two?"

"Two, they are guilty of something, but their reaction was not one of panic, but a premeditated measure. That would imply they have support from outside that they can lean on, or else that they are a lot more organized than a typical crew that has let corruption take hold. I can't tell you what they might be planning in the latter case, but in the former case, they might mean to take us captive, but this ship is lost to the UXTN and whoever is supporting them is willing to risk open war with the Unity by taking two Auditors prisoner. There are only a few options I can think of that are remotely pleasant." Pryth took a brief pause.

"Uh, hang on, why would capturing an Auditor mean war?" The prisoner interjected.

"Because we are military personnel, because we belong to the ESPA Branch, thus the red markings, and because taking us captive would mean treason if it's done independently by the crew, or if it's done by some independent government, it would most probably be considered an act of war."

The prisoner looked at his clasped hands with a worried expression. Then his brows furrowed, and he looked back up.

"What's the third option?"

"The third option is that some organization is backing the crew and is unwilling to sacrifice the ship, but also unwilling to be found out. If so, we still get spaced. That could mean anything, really, in terms of consequences beyond our deaths," she summed up.

"... When you say 'our', you don't mean...?"

"I'm really sorry, but yes, I do. You've seen me. If we die, you die too. Even if we're taken captive, that gives you no guarantees I'm afraid. I'm so sorry," she repeated, feeling genuinely bad for him.

The young man sank back in his bunk, staring at nothing. Pryth felt for him, but decided to use his silence to try to think of a way out of her cuffs. It was best to try and deal with one problem at a time. She did not have long however.

"Isn't there something we can do?"

Pryth appreciated his use of 'we', though she thought it a little silly, considering the state he was in. He would not be much use in combat, Pryth guessed. If anything, she had come to feel a sense of protectiveness over him, by this point. The kind of protectiveness a soldier in war has over civilians caught in a crossfire.

"Well, if I could get out of these handcuffs, we might have a chance. A fairly good one, even. However, if I try to get them off and force them too hard, they will explode, maiming and most likely killing me." She jostled them around a little. "The guards fastened them pretty tightly too," she said, as she began to maneuver her hands within the cuffs, "but I think if I dislocate my thumbs, I might still be able to squeeze out  of them. Once I do, I would appreciate if you helped me relocate them. Think you can do that?"

A look of horror had come over her cellmate.

"Dislocate? Are you serious?"

"Well, yes, I don't want to do it, and it'd be better if I didn't have to," she said with an annoyed tone, "but it's the best option we've got. Now, can you help me?"

The man looked away, and his expression was troubled. He grimaced and chewed at his lower lip. Pryth touched the backs of her thumbs together and drew in a steadying breath.

"Wo-wo-wo-wo-woah! Wait a second!" the prisoner blurted. Pryth looked up at him quizzically. He hesitated.

"Look... I can help you get out off those cuffs - without you dislocating anything -" he added hastily while holding his hands out, palms towards Pryth in a warding gesture, "but I need you to promise you won't freak out or anything, alright?"

"Uh... Sure?" Pryth replied, uncertainly.

"And you have to promise not to tell anyone, alright?" Pryth thought he seemed unusually agitated.

"Of course, but I don't see what-"

The young man put a thin pale hand on the device connecting her cuffs. A few awkward moments of silence passed. It was as if he was holding some sort of prayer for her. She was about to speak up when, amazingly, the cuffs clicked open and fell off. They landed in his other hand, which had been waiting to catch them.

"What the-" she stared in wonderment at her now-freed wrists, then at the now inactive cuffs, and finally turned her stare toward the prisoner. "how did you do that?"

He got an uncomfortable look, and backed away into the safety of his bunk.

"Hey, hey, it's okay! I'm not angry or anything, I just-"

"You're not?"

He looked up, and the look on his face made Pryth's heart ache for him. It also making something he'd said earlier click in place.

"I'm not," she reassured him. Then she paused, considering the young man. With this new information, she just might have a plan to begin remedying the situation. She wet her lips and began to talk.

"Am I right in thinking your parents were... Did your parents tell you anything about your abilities?"

"My..." The man looked at her, brows furrowing.

Here goes.

"I should explain," Pryth began, "I'm guessing you didn't use some sort of cybernetic enhancements to unlock my cuffs just now, and you made a comment earlier about people involved with the Pulse Cult. Something about the word you used gave me the suspicion that you were born with a special ability, but were brought up in a household where having special abilities wasn't considered a good thing. You don't have to answer me," she quickly added as the young man flinched, "I just want you to know that their views are not the mainstream attitude to..." Pryth paused then, partly to give the young man time to absorb what she had just said, and partly to give herself a little more time to choose her words. She was running out of time, but if she was right, then this needed to be done. The knots in her stomach tensed.

"What you have is not a curse, nor is it an abomination," he flinched again as if he she had raised a hand against him, but Pryth carried on, "in fact, in most communities, it is seen as a gift. What you have is known by several names, but the most commonly used name for it on my home planet is Suprasapience. People with such abilities are commonly called Supra in daily parlance."

"Parlance," the young Supra said questioningly, one eyebrow raised.

"Speech," Pryth clarified. Then she continued. "There is a more scientific name for it - Suprasapience I mean - but most people almost never use it," she explained, waving a hand as if wafting the word away, "If anything, they use the abbreviation ESPA. Thus the name of my military branch, and thus why capturing us is so serious," she added.

Pryth paused to give the young man time to process. 'Hurry slowly,' she told herself, trying to hold down the knotted feeling in her gut. All the while, her stomach squirmed with anxiety, almost defiantly. She did not think it would be long now, until guards would come for them. They'd likely want enough distance from the Waystation that their corpses wouldn't be detected, but that still only meant a few more minutes remained, in Pryth's estimation, if they came at all. She almost hoped they would.

"So..." The young Supra began in a choked tone, before he closed his mouth again and looked down at his hands, which were clutching his knees. His brows were more furrowed than ever now, and his breath was coming in quick, bordering on hyperventilation. A muscle spasmed rhythmically, almost hypnotically, in his cheek. His emaciated state made the effect stand out eerily. He swallowed several times, before he once again opened his mouth and resumed talking.

"So what you're saying..." he paused again, swallowed, and continued, "that ever since I was little..."

"There has been nothing wrong with you," Pryth said, infusing her tone with as much empathy as she could.

He whispered what sounded like a curse, though Pryth could not make out the individual words. His hands curled into tight fists rooted to his knees and he sat there, silent, shaking his head.

In the following silence, Pryth sat still, face held in a gentle expression, and gave the boy space. While letting him process, she began to go through her options. She didn't think she could force the door. If she were to attack the door with enough force to blow it open, the blast would in all likelihood kill them both. She didn't think she could pry it open with the level of mpoisture present in the air, if she could even control the growth of ice to such an extent, which she didn't think she could. It hadn't worked during training, in any case. It was possible the poor young man sitting across from her could have relevant abilities, but she had no idea if they would be strong enough, especially in his physical and mental state. In all likelihood, she would have to surprise the guards as they came for them, and force her way out from there. Hopefully, they would come for her before Felham, or at least elect to retrieve all prisoners before they began killing, assuming that was their goal. She at least had her abilities back. After thinking over her particular options with the assumption that her cellmate could not participate, Pryth looked at the young man, and decided it was time to figure out what he could actually do. the twitches of the knots in Pryth's stomach were almost rhythmical now, to the point she thought she could use them to count down.

"Are you alright?" Pryth asked the tensly bent figure before her.

The young Suprasapient looked up at Pryth. His eyes were bloodshot, and his face was contorted with anger. He took a deep breath before he spoke. His voice had turned into a hoarse murmur.

"Yeah. I guess." He sighed. The action seemed to deflate him. His features softened again, if his facial expressions could ever be called soft. He sniffed and dried his cheeks on his sleeves.

"What now?" he asked Pryth.

"Now, I need to get out of here, free my mentor, and, together with him, take control of this vessel."

"That's your plan? Not... Escape?"

"That is my goal," she corrected, "and it's the closest we'll be getting to escape, I'm afraid. If there is anything you can do to help..?"

The Supra glanced at the door, then turned his eyes to the wall behind Pryth, looking at it as if he could see through the walls all the way to the waystation. His hands had unclenched. While his right arm was planted on the mattress and supporting his weight, his left hand was hovering over an electrical outlet under the lip of his bunkbed. A finger absentmindedly traced the outlet's edges while he was lost in thought. After a few more seconds, his eyes met hers, and he bit down on her bait.

"Yeah, probably. I probably... can't do much in combat, but I can open doors and stuff like that."

"Open doors..?"

"Yeah I mean locked doors. Electronic devices in general, really."

"Oh. Oh! Well that is... Certainly something!" She had never even heard of an ability like that. He could be more useful than she had first thought, Pryth realized. "Well then, let's say I want to get out of this cell, open the cell holding my superior officer, and getting out of the prisoner's area. How quickly can you help me do that? It's just that we have only a handful of minutes left by my reasoning, and once we walk out of here, we'll be caught on camera. They'll be sure to come for us then, whatever their previous plans are."

The Supra stroked his chin thoughtfully. His left hand continued caressing the electrical outlet.

"Well, I'm not familiar with the cell door's systems in particular, but a few minutes at most? As for the cameras, I might be able to do something about that, now that... Well. I should be able to buy us a few minutes more, I think."

Pryth raised an eyebrow. He could deal with the cameras too? That opened up a lot more possibilities. This strange cellmate of hers might just save her career, if he could deliver... A spark of doubt flickered in her then. There wasn't just whether or not he could deliver to consider. Would he?

"Well," he said, looking like he had recovered his initial composure, "if we're going to be working together, we'd best know each others' names, no?" He held out a pale hand in greeting, "The name's Tem. Just Tem. Pleased to meet you."