Aechma sat down opposite Whinney at the table in the interrogation room. Behind her stood Emet, holding a silver pocket knife, a clipboard, and a pen. About 2 hours had passed since Whinney's first test, and she had had time to both calm down and to metabolize some of the alcohol in her system. "You've made a quick recovery I see". Whinney looked up at the woman. Aeshma's face bore a smug expression that made Whinney think of a certain card from a cartoon she used to watch on television as a kid. A greedy smile that somehow made her face look far fatter than it was, or maybe that was just the loathing Whinney felt for this hag talking. "Of course, now that I understand you, I expected nothing less from my new dear, sweet, freelancer to be". Once again, Whinney felt calmed by her words, just like when they had been at her apartment. For a moment, she even caught herself feeling a little fuzzy inside by her flattery, but only for a moment. "So what? And what are you talking about?". She tried to adjust her seat but couldn't find a comfortable position, so she resumed her previous, only slightly uncomfortable pose. She had been restrained again, this time with far shorter chains, and this lack of mobility made her feel all the more defenseless. "Well, once you've completed this psyche eval', you'll be all mine. I say when, perhaps I should say if". "this bitch is crazy!" thought Whinney, "All hers? fucking hell. What is this?". "What is this? Some sort of kidnapping ring? You guys are fucking dead! My dad knows a private investigator". Silence... followed by Aeshma letting out the most genuinely amused laughter Whinney had ever heard. It was as if she had burst a dam holding back an entire city's reserve of laughter. It seemed to be so funny to the woman that Whinney couldn't help wanting to laugh with her, but she restrained herself. She saw that even Emet cracked a bit of a smile. It didn't suit him. "Don't laugh, Aeshma. You should explain her situation". "hahaha! hoo, hoooh huhum, yea... yea. Ok, Wilheminia-". Winney cringed at the use of her full name. "She prefers Whinney", corrected Emet. Where did he find that out? Her dad mabey. "Ok then, 'Whinney', Everything we have told you so far has been the truth. We are part of the S.O.F, an international group that works to protect the world from things beyond your understanding. You have been scouted due to your potential usefulness". Whinney sat, mouth agape, not trusting that her still somewhat drunk brain had managed to interpret any of that correctly. If it had, this bitch was either stupid, lying, or more likely both. "humhu, say what?". "You have something special inside you, something we would call an 'influence'. We don't know what caused it, but it's there. You are dangerous if left unchecked, but very useful to us". "Is this a cult?". "Oh! You're getting warmer, but no. We work to destroy cults, sometimes, if they worship anything troublesome. So will you! Once we're done here. Should we get to it perhaps?". "No, wait a second. This is nonsense. You people think I'm stupid?". "No, or... I don't really care if you are. I said we were the same you and I, back at your apartment, remember? Both you and I are ruled by the Hand. The Hand is one of the nine gods, and you have been influenced by it. You go wild every once in a while. sound familiar? Drink, black out, and wake up at home". "... Yeah?". "Those blackouts, they consist, as far as we have been able to confirm, of you beating the shit out of people twice your size, and breakin stuff, tons of stuff. We told you this, no?". Whinney had a vague memory of pulling the screws from the floor two hours earlier, and looked down at the ground where the cavities were in the concrete floor. "We had to make sure, cant trust roumers after all, so we took you for a test drive earlier, and you did not disappoint". "I... can't remember clearly". "No, but with my help you should be able to make better use of your influence. Besides, if you arn't able to, we've got someone who will help us calm you down". Whinney looked up questioningly. "Someone who won't mind if you play a bit rough", Whinney noted an obvius sadistic undertone in this, "but this is all assuming you pass this test. Should we get started?". Whinney stayed silent for a moment, trying to come up with some way to get out of this, but her brain felt like soggy bread. If she was being honest with herself, which she was somewhat unaccustomed to, she doubted she would have come up with anything even on a good day. She sighed, "Let's get this over with".
The interview took far longer than Whinney would have liked, but that, of course, says very little. About 45 minutes in, Whinney wished for nothing more than to be shot right then and there. Anything to be done with this shit. "Have you ever committed a crime while being fully conscious of what you were doing?". "... Yes, but I'd rather not talk about it". "Was this crime violent in nature?". "I said I didn't want to talk about it!". Aeshma gave Emet a look, and he wrote something in his notes. Whinney had noticed that during the entire process, Emet had written far more than what she herself had said. She had been sticking to short answers for the most part. Yes or no answers whenever she could and wasn't explicitly told to elaborate. Despite that, he would usually write what seemed to her several rows of text. "That's enough, no need to push this line of questioning", said Emet. "Really? I was exighted to hear more. Well, alright. Uhhhm, how do you usually act whenever you get mad? I guess we already know all about that". She looked at her and gave her a nasty, predatory smile. What's her deal? Seriously."I don't usually act out, even tho I know that's what you think". Bitch. "Uh-huh? Why would you lie about that? We know that's not true". "I'm not lying! Sure, I might get irritated and snap at someone, but for the most part, I'm calm, even when I get mad. Ask anybody". "You're so calm that you go out beating people up? Makes sense to me". "No! I-". "Or does beating people up help calm you down? Is that it?". Although the question was aimed at Whinney, Aeshma seemed to stop and think for a second after posing it, as if quietly answering it herself. "I don't know, I don't remember doing anything". "I think I've got a good idea of what's up now. You are like a cup of wine". "... how?". "You fill up little by little whenever you get mad or frustrated or whatever, you stub your toe, mabey, doesn't matter. When a cup is full, if you were to try to fill it any further, it would overflow, right? So what do you do?". "Drink?". "Yes! And in your case, you're not indulging in wine but violence. When you snap back to reality, you are empty again, ready for a refill". Whinney was sure this was the stupidest thing she had ever heard. "ok...". "You do drugs?". Back to normal questions at if she hadn't just spouted the fatest load of gobeldigook ever. "Uh, no". "You drink, we know that. Smoke?". "Yea". "A lot?". "dunno". "You should, and you will. Good cigarettes". Whinney sat quietly. She was sure there was, at least in this woman's disturbed mind, some good reason for this. Why bother asking?
The interview went on for a while longer before she was told to sit tight while the peculiar pair left. She sat thinking about what to do. It was clear that these people were mentally disturbed, probably escapees from some top security prison for the criminally insane. Then again, there seemed to be a strange and unclear method to the madness. She knew very little; she didn't even know how far from her home they were or if there were more of them than the two she had met. She assumed so since they had claimed to be part of some group, but whether she could trust anything said so far seemed highly dubious. She had been blindfolded and put to sleep in the car once they had left St.Eli's city limits, then she had been woken up in this room. She needed a plan, and to form a plan she needed more information. After a good long while, the deivius duo returned and told her she had passed the test and would be taken to her new apartment. She was uncuffed and finally got to stretch out and move. It felt as if she had been stuck sitting in that chair for weeks. She was escorted out of the interrogation room and very quickly realised just how large the building was. It was an enormous interconnected network of corridors, stairs, and elevators. Most everything seemed to connect back to a large open central area, from where she could see the sky through 5-story high windows. It was nighttime. She also notices that wherever they were, the building was surrounded by woods. Thick and tall fir trees. She was led further, down a flight of stairs, underground, and down yet another concrete corridor, to a door marked with a plate bearing her name. Aeshma stayed a few seconds while Emet turned around and left, and said, "This is your home now. Your partner lives three doors down." She jestjured," You will meet him tomorrow". She turned around and followed Emet back the way they had come. "Sleep tight, Pooh Bear".