The Cardinal Directive: Mission Log #33

The Test pt. 2

[Start of Season 2]
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>> Now playing Mission Log #33

Like before, the footage begins by flicking through several clips at once, garbling them beyond meaningful recognition. Wendy and the others, bullrushing the biodome. Solena and the Outrider in her office, staring each other down. Wendy and Sloan, their gazes burning into the camera with unnatural intensity.

The visual resolves for a few seconds, but the room it shows is unfamiliar. Dark. Shades are pulled over the windows and a single desk lamp bears the weight of the entire room’s worth of shadows.

The camera shakes with the breathing of a young girl, facing towards the metal desk in front of her and glued to the spot. A large leather chair fills much of the frame — empty, across the desk from her. The only movement is that of her hands, her thumbs slowly brushing over each other in her lap, shrinking somewhere between the two arms of her chair.

Heavy boots scuff the floor, marking a slow, deliberate pace that lingers behind her.

The silence is a taut one, louder than any words could be.

Finally, a man speaks, his voice like a low hum resonating deeply off the walls. Each word takes its time, in no rush to get through the sentence.

“There’s no need to be upset, Alison. We’re not here to assign blame,” he says gently. “I have already Seen what happened… All I want to hear is your side of the story.”

There’s a rustle of fabric and a sudden stiffness to Alison’s posture as his palms alight upon her shoulders. Her hands cease all movement, shaking slightly with the force she’s using to keep them together.

“Start from the beginning. One more time.”