The East PacificBoard

Harry stands in among a rank of 14 other new recruits along the beach that lines the commune. They have been here for the last 30 minutes, standing as still as statues and as lifeless as the stones in the forest. Their commander is in the same state as well, looking over them with a look of displeasure.

None of them could talk. If as little as one of them came to attention and raised their hand to ask a question, the commander would shout at them to go back to ease and to continue standing there. What this whole "exercise" was supposed to achieve was beyond Harry or any of the recruits.

The unbearable heat had already caused 5 recruits to faint, not that the commander seemed to care. All he did was brush them up, help them to their feet and get them back into the rank. Those recruits in question look redder than tomatoes, as they sweat and swelter under the midday sun of Monach.

After what seemed like an eternity, the commander finally gives them a new order.

"COMPANY! ATTEN-SHUN!"

The recruits snap back to attention, and the commander begins to talk.

"Right, prove if you hated doing that."

All of them unanimously raise their hands.

"That's what I thought. Now, do you want to know why I made you do that for..." he looks down at his watch. "...30 minutes?"

The recruits keep their hands up.

"As part of your new position as a Ranger, you will be made to do things that will push you and your body to their limits and beyond. You will be dragged through the mud, made to stand under the sun for hours at a time, forced through thick and thin and so much more. But don't forget this: standing here today, you are now a Ranger! When you get your uniforms, it won't matter if you're a nonite, a black man, a sentient blob, a gay or a hetero, because at the end of the day, you will all be green! And nothing, absolutely NOTHING can break a green!"

The commander continues. "This exercise was a test to see if you are ready to be a Green. If you could stand and obey orders, even when your body was beginning to get tired. This was a test of discipline, and so many of you have just failed. But no matter; that's why you're here. You're here to learn."

He then gives an order for them to turn to the right and to start walking to the crate holding their uniforms. The recruits who fainted are pulled off to the side and are given ice packs to prevent them from dying of heatstroke, not that the exercise very nearly killed them.

...

"Agh, these things are uncomfortable as hell, man!"

"Yeah, I can imagine, look at that thing. And they really expect you to wear that all day, every day?"

"I know right? What a load of bullsh- OW!"

Harry's boot shoots off his foot and into his face. Andy laughs.

"Dude, that's not funny!"

"I mean, it kinda is."

"...Okay, maybe you're right." Harry lets a little chuckle, before he removes the uniform's overshirt and hangs it up over his bed.

"So, what exactly are you doing at this new cadets thing, Harry?" Andy asks.

Harry answers, as he starts to hang up more of his uniform. "I honestly don't know. They really just made us walk around and stand under the sun on the beach all day."

"Sounds boring."

"Yeah. It really is."

"Well," Andy lies back on his bed. "I guess you could just not show up if you don't like it."

"I could, but it's apparently mandatory."

"Damn. Well then, I guess you'll just have to like it anyway, hm?"

"Yep."

"Right, I'mma get some sleep now. Night, Harry."

"Good night, man."

Harry continues to hang up his uniform, and once done changes into his casual clothes before going to sleep himself.

Being a Ranger is hard.

3. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 77. 2. 23. 4. 34. 3. 2. 1. 19. 17. 18. 19. 18.

Donald can't figure out why his wife was acting so weird. Same with his children too. When he had woken up days before, his wife had hugged and kissed him like he had just come back from the war. And even now, she's acting like nothing ever happened. Hell, if anything she seemed traumatised.

What happened?

What's really going on?

Why is his wife acting so weird?

As he drives to work, he turns on the radio to have some form of distraction from the thoughts clogging his mind.

"And today's winning lottery numbers are, 4. 5. 6. 7. 77. 2. 23. 4. 34. 3. 2. 1. 19. 17. 18. 19. 18-"

Without warning, Donald's eyesight suddenly turns red and his brain feels like it has exploded in his skull. He grips his head in pain, trying to do everything he can to make it stop hurting so bad.

His vision begins to cloud, and brief snatches of a cryptic vision flash before his eyes.

A conference room.

General Savoy talking to him and a few foreign dignitaries about something. It's not clear.

Savoy gets tackled to the floor.

A gun.

No, a knife.

Bayonet?

Savoy lying on the ground in a pool of blood.

The dignitaries are near the door and are panicking.

Red lights everywhere.

Blood is spurting out of Savoy's jugular.

All of a sudden, the vision and the pain stops and Donald is thrusted back into reality. His car has rear-ended another car, and the driver is shouting at him and tapping his window.

A Usain Kess song is now playing on the radio. Over muffled shouts and a throbbing head, Kess's voice raps over it all and in a strange way provides some comfort to the distraught and terrified Donald.

"Baby, I got a plan, run away fast as you can..."

...

FLAWS IDENTIFIED | NMW-HABBAKUK FIELD TRIAL 1

Reported by Agent VMKS:
Sleeper agent can be involuntarily triggered by number-based stimuli from foreign sources - e.g. a lottery broadcast can cause parts of the mission to activate in the agent.
--- RECTIFY: Attach numbers broadcast to associated voice and possibly make code involve letter combos as well?