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Post by Madame HYDRA on Aug 7, 2017 12:28:28 GMT -5
Viper, busy as she was trying to pack her belongings away to move them away to another locale, was admittedly a little curt with Kroenen when he spoke. "You were out of line," she snapped. "You pushed things too far. Jessica is my daughter. I..." She stopped, realizing she was entering the dangerous zone of sounding like she was coddling her only daughter. She sighed and shook her head. "No punishment is necessary. Fix your mask. In the time it will take you to do that, perhaps my temper will have cooled to the point that we can talk about this with more scientific minds."
She walked to the hole in the wall to dismiss Kroenen before sitting back at the desk and looking at her notes. She would have to find somewhere else in the castle to place her lab, or she would have to build it and kill the workers. This was an expensive mistake to make, and she was furious with how the day had gone. If anyone was going to be punished, it would have to be her daughter, but why? For being worried when her mother screamed? Not a good enough reason. Shit.
Hours ticked by and Madame HYDRA spent them all trying to come up with a plan. What was she going to do about any of this? She had no way of knowing. She had dismissed Kroenen to work on his mask, or she would ask him. But at the same time, she knew she couldn't rely on him for everything. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't.
She glanced up through the hole in the wall that Jessica had left to see Jessica herself standing there at attention. How long had she been standing there? Viper found she didn't care. She quirked a brow and held up a hand, gesturing for her to enter.
"What are we going to do about this?" she asked.
"What are we going to do about this breach of trust? As my most trusted spy, I would have hoped you would have more respect for secrecy."
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Arachne
Neutral 
I didn't think I'd make it... And I was right. Again.
Posts: 41 
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Post by Arachne on Aug 8, 2017 21:24:58 GMT -5
To be completely honest, Jessica had lost track of time, so she had no idea how long she had been standing at attention by her mother’s door. Her body had moved past limbs aching from not moving, muscles burning due to enduring the same stance for however long it had been, to a numb and deadened feeling that briefly became pins and needles when she moved once more. She had not expected Madame HYDRA to simply wave her in. Why could she not have come out and asked her to enter? Silence coming from her mother was never a good thing. It meant disappointment and anger. Jessica’s heart pounded as she tried to devise what would happen as a result of all this. Her mind was at a loss, however, unable to think, but perhaps that was a good thing.
Upon entering, Jessica resumed standing at attention, her gaze directed forward, face neutral. For once, she was doing exactly as her drill instructor had asked of her during training. “I have a deep respect for trust, Madame HYDRA,” she answered without hesitation. “I also have a deep respect and devotion for my leader. It is an agent’s duty to fight and die for their leader, putting themselves directly into harms way if it means keeping their leader safe and able to move HYDRA ever forward towards victory.” Her words came automatically, as if following a script that had been memorized, but no such thing had occurred. At least not for Jessica.
“An agent acts without fear or hesitation. Would Madame HYDRA prefer her agents to disregard any and all sounds of distress she may utter, even when safely in base? If that is your order, this agent will act accordingly. This agent will admit that a breach of trust did occur.” Jessica’s voice briefly caught upon uttering the word ‘trust’, but she managed to keep going. “She will also confess to assaulting a superior officer with the intention to kill. She also entered the private office, and its further interior, of the head of HYDRA without permission of admittance. Such actions are of the highest offense. Appropriate punishments need to be given swiftly in order to discourage any similar action amongst the whole of HYDRA.” For the first time since speaking, Jessica blinked rapidly and looked a bit lost, the indecision showing as she spoke her next words.
“Due to this agent’s physicality, she is unsure what would be an appropriate form of punishment, as she is more durable than other agents. She will leave the decision of punishment to Madame HYDRA herself, as she…” Again she paused, not knowing what to say. “Her judgement is sound, final, and absolute.” Jessica had nothing more to say. There were no excuses for what was done, and both she and her mother knew that. All she could do now was wait for Madame HYDRA’s verdict.
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Post by Kroenen on Aug 14, 2017 3:45:36 GMT -5
Kroenen had taken the dismissal mechanically, with a curt nod, a click of his boots and a swift exit. He took his precious gas mask with him back to the laboratory where he began to meticulously reconstruct it. It was....rather a long process. The girl had positively mashed it nearly to bits, but with enough hammering and filing of its surface, and after a handful of hours' work it was again complete and functional.
He removed the placeholder mask he had worn and set it aside, quickly switching it for the remade version. It clicked into place flawlessly, as was to be expected, and whirred to life with its hollow rasp. And then Kroenen sat in silence, determining how best to punish himself for this. He had permitted himself anger. This would not do at all. It was a remnant of his former self, the feeling of being slighted. It was foolish and a waste of time, everyone's time, including his leader's. Had he been less in control of himself in that moment he would have felt shame.
What sort of punishment could possibly affect Karl Ruprecht Kroenen.....
.....he glanced at one of the scientists awaiting orders and beckoned him over.
"You will remove my arms." he ordered.
After all, his existence was his work, and if he kept himself from his work...that alone was torment befitting his poor judgment earlier.
The scientist gulped and attempted to question the order before Kroenen gripped his neck and pulled him closer to the gas mask's dark lenses.
"Four hours," he growled, "And then you will return and reattach them."
With a nod from the man, he set to his task. Kroenen sat up on the table, unbuttoning the uniform tunic, laying it aside and then removing the shirt which revealed the road map of scars and dead flesh along his skeletal frame. Before he allowed the process to begin, he gave a great many judicious turns of the dial which operated his clockwork heart.
It was a small matter of work to remove the stitching and connected, dusty sinews from Kroenen's arms. He did not move during the process. He did not feel pain. He was perfect.
Wasn't he?
When the HYDRA scientist had removed his arms, attending mild stitches to the dust-leaking holes beneath his shoulders, the man checked the time and excused himself from this monster's presence.
And so Kroenen sat, upright like a half complete puppet in a woodworker's shop. Looking at nothing. Letting the madness of idleness gnaw away at his mind. The work he could not complete, sitting scattered around tables and within vials. So much to be done....so much he couldn't do......so much to be done.....
But he would not move a muscle save for the occasional ticks of his neck. This was his punishment. And it was far worse than any means of torture any prince of hell could devise.
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Post by Madame HYDRA on Aug 28, 2017 23:49:10 GMT -5
Viper leaned back in her chair. It was a closed off gesture, meaning that she wasn't prepared to listen to any kind of defense Jessica had for her actions. Her mind was made up. As far as she was concerned, Jessica should have stopped at the closed door. It was Madame HYDRA's business what lay beyond the secret lab.
She was pleased, however, that at least she seemed to understand that she made a mistake. However groveling it was.
She listened to her agent speak, fingers steepled at her chest, eyes cold and indifferent. She didn't know what this charade was that Jessica was trying to put on. Under normal circumstances, she would just come to her as a daughter and try to explain away the mistake. But now? She was a soldier admitting to one.
How very interesting.
"You're right," she said. "Assaulting a superior officer with intent to kill alone is a court martial offense ... under normal circumstanes." She lowered her hands and looked at her desk, as if considering her options. "I cannot abide by a death sentence for my only daughter, and your physicality renders any other normal punishments ... obsolete."
Finally, she stood and paced around her desk, hands clasped behind her back.
"You will be demoted to recruitment duty. You will find agents for us, whether by free will or less savory methods. Your quota will be 50 a week, and after you have met your quota, you will be surrendered to Kroenen for testing however he sees fit. You will not complain. If I hear you are not cooperative in any capacity, your quota will double for each complaint I hear. For each week you do not meet your quota, you will have 10 hours of mandatory endurance testing."
When she finally looked at Jessica, her expression hadn't changed. It was as if it wasn't hard for her to punish her daughter like this.
"Your punishment will end when I have decided you have learned your lesson."
She stepped toward Jessica, her face uncomfortably close to her daughter's. Close enough, the raw skin behind her hair could be seen.
"I want something to be perfectly understood before you are dismissed. I do not have an open door policy to you while you are under probation. I am going to be relocating my secret lab so it can remain a secret. The next time you think something is wrong? Examine the context. Was I struggling? Was I fighting? Was anything out of place? No. I clearly asked him to do it. A good agent doesn't act without thinking. Without hesitation, yes. Without thinking, no. You still have a lot to learn if you are going to be ready to face your fears."
She looked her daughter up and down with a look that could only be described as somewhere between annoyed and disgusted.
"Dismissed, soldier."
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Arachne
Neutral
I didn't think I'd make it... And I was right. Again.
Posts: 41
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Post by Arachne on Aug 29, 2017 22:31:58 GMT -5
All Jessica could do was nod.
No, that was all she felt safe to do. Truthfully, she wanted to scream, rage, yell, and throw things. She wanted to ask her mother why, if this lab was so secretive, why she was telling her that it was being moved? Did she wanted Jessica to stumble upon the lab once more so that she would be punished again? She wanted to ask her mother if she honestly would rather have her think and contemplate the situation rather than just act, like she herself had done countless times before? Viper had patience most times, but when it ran out, she lashed out more often than not. Jessica had seen examples of her rage in the past, and sometimes she wondered if it was an inherited trait.
If she did anything more than nod, however, she felt like it’d be a terrible decision on her part. She had never recruited before. It wasn’t anything her mother ever made her do. But, here she was, faced with this task. Fifty new recruits a week didn’t seem like much; do ten a day and that would leave two days free…. for Kroenen to experiment on her. Anger and frustration once again welled up inside of Jessica, something she didn’t dare show on her face, but her mother’s dual nature was once again evident. She was her top agent before being a test subject… until she screwed up so royally that her mother decided that wasn’t the case. Who knew how long the punishment would last.
When Viper stepped uncomfortably close, Jessica refrained from flinching or rocking back in order to give her some space. She also made sure not to stare or notice the condition of her face hidden by her hair. For the first time in a long time, the sight of it turned Jessica’s stomach. “I will do my best not to disappoint you from now on, Madame,” she told her softly, eyes finally moving downward from being ashamed. She didn’t care if she was reprimanded for that or was thought of as being a show of weakness. She just didn’t want to look her mother in the eyes anymore. “I…” The words died in her mouth, not that she had any clue what she was going to say. The matter was settled, and she had no reason to make further conversation. Besides, she had to report to the recruiting department and find out what their schedule was like for the coming week. If they had nothing planned, she would take a team out herself and, whether they came willingly or not, Viper would get her quota.
“Hail HYDRA,” she said before saluting and leaving the office.
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Post by Madame HYDRA on Sept 2, 2017 22:15:39 GMT -5
The commander breathed a heavy sigh as Arachne left the office. She felt she should have felt a great weight lift off her shoulders, but it stayed where it was, weighing heavily on her.
She felt herself vibrate angrily.
Were there other people in the room, she might have noticed that she was giving off pheromones.
Were there other people in the room, she might have noticed that her hands were glowing with acidic venom.
She might have noticed her hands were burning holes in her desk.
She threw her desk into the wall and stormed into her lab. She paced around, letting out an angered roar.
She shot some venom blasts into the walls and slammed her fists into the tables.
Viper didn't even know what was making her so mad.
Was it the situation that Arachne had created? Or was it the way Arachne had reacted to all of it?
Or was it that she wasn't feeling as much as she should have.
She just punished her only daughter. Rightfully so, but she couldn't remember the last time she had punished Arachne so severely. Frankly, she couldn't think of a single time she had ever needed to. Arachne was usually so well behaved. And then ... what happened?
She fixed her disheveled hair and exited her lab, then her office, and started to make her way toward Kroenen's lab. She was surprised not to find him there. She wandered until she did find him in one of the nearby labs, and was shocked to see him in the state he was in.
Sitting, armless, shirtless, with all of his scars.
It took her a moment, but she ventured a guess as to why he didn't have any arms.
He had performed less than perfectly. He must be punishing himself.
She did think, however, this was a little extreme for the crime he had committed. But she would keep it in mind for future reference.
"Karl, I need to talk," she said, at last. "For the first time in a long time, I've punished my daughter ... and I don't feel anything. Is that normal?"
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Post by Kroenen on Sept 3, 2017 9:36:39 GMT -5
It had not been the four hours he had given himself yet.
But at the same time, it had been countless years.
Idleness.
Inability.
Imperfection.
Kroenen felt all of these things in a constant rush in his mind as he sat helplessly, his arms flanking either side of him, useless on the table. He had certainly not anticipated being disturbed, much less by his mistress. He was grateful that he had given his clockwork heart several judicious turns before he had his arms removed, or he might not have still been available for assistance.
When Madame HYDRA entered the room and spoke to him, it snapped him out of his torment.
His attention was required.
Relief.
He stood steadily and locked his heels together as Madame HYDRA approached, looking down at her as she asked him her question.
"Your daughter required punishment, Madame," Kroenen's voice crackled through his refurbished gas mask, "It is only fitting that you provide it accordingly. You did not bestow deserved punishment upon me, and so I had to provide it myself. Accordingly."
He stood straight and tilted his head. In truth, he had been perturbed at Madame HYDRA's lack of severity with him after he had exited without being excused, and arguably, tormented a fellow agent. Though he was a superior in rank to the girl, it was against his mistress's wishes.
"She destroyed HYDRA property," he went on, "Attacked a superior officer with intent to kill. Being that this is a military organization, this cannot be tolerated. Daughter or no. Therefore, it would be my considered opinion that your lack of feeling for what you have justly done is not abnormal. Rather it is deserving of commendation. Your command remains intact."
Kroenen bent back down toward her, letting that linger in the air for a moment.
"And your command is what is most important in wartime," he growled, "The affection you have toward your daughter may cause you to make a mistake. Show weakness. This is worse for HYDRA than anything she has done or might do. Your leadership is what is called for first and foremost. Your daughter should understand this, or be removed from her station."
He found himself wondering just what made Madame HYDRA ask this of him. Their work together had been often successful, he found her to be a very capable scientific mind, but Kroenen did not keep friends. He would not know what to do with them. Even so, he supposed that Madame HYDRA was as close as he might get to understanding the subject.
"What was it that you placed upon her as punishment, Madame?" he asked, not entirely wanting to stop talking. He realized he had been talking a considerable amount. But he had to keep his mind occupied, and off of the inability to use his arms.
Work was work.
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Post by Madame HYDRA on Sept 4, 2017 1:01:42 GMT -5
And so, her assumption was proven true. He was punishing himself where she had not punished him. And this was appropriate for so minor an offense? Well, Viper had already filed this punishment away as precedent, so there was no need to gloat or to make the situation worse. He was doing that enough as it was.
In hearing him echo her feelings on the matter, that this was a military organization, and she should have been punished, daughter or not, she began to feel better. It meant that she did the right thing. That he further commended her for such actions also nearly inflated her ego a little. And it was true. Her command remained intact.
She looked up at him, listening to his words, and she couldn't help but feel like he was giving her the unabridged truth. It wasn't all pleasant to hear, but it was what she needed to hear.
Right now, she was at war with one of the most powerful people in the world. Most would think she was mad for going to war with Doom, but she did it for her daughter. And her daughter, of all people, didn't seem to appreciate the gravity of that gesture. She seemed to take it for granted.
And that thought hurt. More than it probably should have.
"My punishment for her was a demotion to recruitment duty," she confessed. "50 recruits a week, by any means necessary. Whatever bodies we get, we can put to work. Recondition to soldiers, scientists, or we can give to you to ... well ... make them perfect."
She looked up at the clock and idly wondered how long Kroenen was going to be without the use of his arms.
"Whatever time she has off, she will come to you for whatever tests you deem appropriate. But what I said before still holds true. No unduly cruel experiments. She's had enough of that. Punishment is punishment, but even I won't go that far. Then, if she doesn't get her 50 recruits in a week, her punishment is 10 hours of endurance testing and her punishment is doubled for the next week. And so on and so on."
She crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked at Kroenen.
"She seemed upset, and still I felt nothing. And then I felt angry that I felt nothing, so I melted half my desk."
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Post by Kroenen on Sept 6, 2017 14:36:58 GMT -5
There was no noise from Kroenen as he listened to his mistress speak.
She was conflicted about all of this, how she felt about it. His initial thoughts were that she should be more certain of herself.
His following thoughts admitted that he did not possess data to suppose what being a parental figure might feel like.
Perhaps this was precisely it, this flow between certainty and hollowness.
He decided to retain that information for further exploratory purposes at a later time.
"She shall come to no harm under my care," Kroenen reassured her, "My methods of testing her endurance will perhaps be unorthodox compared to her previous endeavors. But far more effective. As for what you are feeling, or lack of feeling, perhaps it would be more useful to consider it for a longer span of time and see how it sits with you in the near future."
His head ticked from side to side, as one might expect a malfunctioning clock chime to move.
"I did not-I did not-I did not-" he began to stammer before he regained himself, "-mean to overstep my edict before, Madame. If being pleasant enough did not strike her before, and she is as prone to violence as she seems, it occurred to me that it might be more useful that I strike fear in her. I understand that this is not what you require of me."
He nodded slowly.
"It shall not happen again-not happen again."
Kroenen emitted a low growl and looked at the floor, shaking his head violently from side to side for a moment. This was all beginning to get to him, his lack of his arms. He could feel them there, like phantom limbs. But they still lay useless on the operating table at the other end of the room.
No. This would not do.
He righted himself slowly and stood to his full height at attention.
"If there is nothing else, Madame," he rasped, "I shall return to my punishment. Three hours and twelve minutes and forty-six seconds remain."
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Post by Madame HYDRA on Sept 6, 2017 23:00:17 GMT -5
Viper seemed pleased enough that Kroenen promised not to harm her daughter. Or maybe she was just trying to imagine what kind of unorthodox testing he might have her go through compared to what her scientists had previously tried. It was hard to tell from her expressionless face.
Still, she nodded and turned to go, but stopped when Kroenen began to malfunction and explain himself.
She almost took pity on the man. He was punishing himself for a crime she did not deem to be a punishable offense.
"You were right," she said, "to treat her that way. Perhaps she responds better to your methods. She certainly doesn't respond to mine. She has gotten far too rebellious for her own good. I have tried my best to work with her and give her what she wants, but still she does not listen or cooperate. Perhaps it is time we give your methods a try."
She took a couple of steps toward him and gave his key a couple of turns, hoping that would help him stop malfunctioning the way he was.
"I am not like you, Karl. I am not perfect. I will admit when I am wrong. And I was wrong. You acted accordingly, and I see that now. I was angry at you as a mother, and I need to be able to separate being a mother and being a commanding officer."
She looked at him, standing with her hands clasped behind her back.
"And as your commanding officer, I say your punishment is now over. You have suffered enough punishment for a crime you did not commit. I shall have someone come in and reconnect your arms. Consider yourself relieved of punishment. And I hope you will get back to work immediately."
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