YOU'RE AS COLD AS ICE

[maskormods]

WHO: Participating imPorts.
WHERE: A government base in Heropa, Florida.
WHEN: November 27-28.
WHAT: ImPorts participate in a simulated training exercise. Sign-ups will remain open throughout the event, so please sign up HERE and direct all questions HERE.
WARNINGS: Potential simulated injury and death. If there are more warnings that should be added here, please let us know!



SET-UP

Once they arrive, all imPorts are led into a plain room. In one half of the room is a tidy line of chairs with helmets hooked up to a large machine behind them. As the trainees are guided into the chairs and are fitted with helmets, brisk government workers hook them up with wires placed on their pulse points, though the trainees are reassured that it's to monitor their vitals throughout the process, making sure that nobody gets too anxious to adequately complete the exercise.

In the meantime, the monitors are led to the other half of the room, which looks far, far more comfortable; there's a line of chairs and desks, and on each desk is a computer screen that shows each monitor exactly what's going on in the virtual world. Because the monitors don't have the luxury of sleeping in the virtual world, there's a back room that they can retire to at their own discretion, complete with beds, a small kitchenette, and a much needed coffee machine. Once both the monitors and the trainees are giving brief instructions on what to do - to ensure that the program runs smoothly and to survive, respectively - the imPorts are quickly put to work.

DAY ONE: TRAINEES. TASK: SURVIVE.

Once the program is turned on, all trainees will suddenly find themselves in the middle of a forest, snow heavy on the trees around them and reaching all the way up to their knees. While each imPort will find that they have been equipped with a warm winter jacket and a small kit of survival gear - a gun, a knife, rope, a water bottle, and a limited first-aid kit - it will be a shocking transition from the warm, comfortable room to the wilderness. Despite their jackets, the cold is biting and bone deep, the wind cutting harshly against their skin, and the snow falling from above will only continue piling up around them. They need to take shelter, and they need to do it fast.

Luckily, even though their surroundings appear barren, they are actually provided everything that they need. There are plenty of loose branches that can be hewn off with their knives for shelter, and there are movements through the trees of deer and birds that can be used for sustenance so that they may keep their strength up. There's no shortage of water, considering the snow. All that's left for them is to survive, and try not to freeze to death.

And if one of them does freeze to death? That's game over. Their simulated corpse will remain with the rest of the trainees, and the deceased individual in question will remain hooked up to the simulation in a very deep, very still sleep.

Of course, things aren't quite as simple as they seem. Here and there, there will be little lapses in the programming; black holes of utter nothingness that they can simply step on, a geographically inappropriate lion or two, and a collection of poisonous berries that ought to have been frozen out are just some of the things that they'll run into.

Oh, and one more thing -- thanks to The Doctor, a lion-sized stick bug will be roaming around. Not to worry! It's perfectly harmless, if not a bit eerie.

DAY ONE: MONITORS. TASK: COMMUNICATION & TROUBLESHOOTING

Once the monitors are seated, they will receive a crash course in how exactly to program the sophisticated technology used to create such an immersive environment. Once they've received their instructions, they'll be surprised with an additional task: provide guidance to the trainees if it seems that they need it. Each monitor will be equipped with a headset to go with their monitor, and they will be able to communicate with the trainees to give them advice, both good and bad. Their voices will manifest in the virtual world as bodiless voices from above, as if the gods are speaking to the trainees... and considering the circumstances, that's not at all inaccurate.

The monitors may be instructed not to help or hinder their fellow imPorts in tangible ways, such as manifesting food or shelter for them, or unleashing attacks from the local wildlife, but that doesn't mean that it's actually hindering them. In giving the monitors the power to patch the holes in the programming, they have given the monitors the ability to place whatever they wish in the programming.

Perhaps it will be easy to stay hands-off while shelters are being built, but how about when you see a friend freezing? When you see a foe thriving? However they play it is up to them.

DAY TWO: TRAINEES. TASK: DEFEND & STRIKE BACK

After a full 24 hours, without exception, the Russians will come to attack. It doesn't matter if the trainees have spent a sleepless night fruitlessly trying to build a shelter, or if they're suffering fatigue from the lack of food; the Soviets wouldn't care in real life, and they certainly don't care in this simulation. These soldiers massively outnumber the trainees, so it's best to play it smart... though in some cases, it seems as if the AI soldiers haven't quite been perfected. Some have glitched through objects, whereas others have weapons that don't belong in this time period at all. Several seem to be attempting to run directly into inanimate objects. ImPorts may take advantage of these to loot their supplies without a care.

The Russian soldiers may outnumber and outgun the trainees, but they don't know where they are. It's up to the trainees to find shelter to shoot back, to lay traps, or simply to flee. No matter how far they may run, however, the army will always somehow manage to manifest itself nearby. The only option is to attempt to evade their attacks, or to kill them in return; their numbers are not inexhaustible, and it's altogether possible to slaughter them in the name of self-defense. Remember that this will go on full a full 24 hours -- if the trainees want to survive, they'll eventually have to set up a camp and keep watch, letting the others sleep, eat and recover in between bouts of fighting.

As with day one, it is possible for the trainees' simulations to die in this exercise.

Good luck, soldiers!

DAY TWO: MONITORS. TASK: CONTINUE TO COMMUNICATE & TROUBLESHOOT

Remember those holes in the programming? Somehow, with the introduction of several AIs, these problems have only been aggravated. Some of the AIs are more vicious than they have any reason to be, attempting to hurt the trainees more than they are attempting to kill them, while others have glitched entirely, their heads detached from their bodies, passing through static objects, and in a few memorable instances, running directly and continuously into rocks.

That can't be right.

While the monitors are busy fixing these egregious errors, they have also been instructed that it's permissible for them to give the trainees strategic advice. The monitors have a bird's eye view of the situation and can warn the trainees accordingly, helping them on their way to victory, or leading them to their doom.

Comments

Monitor- both days & OPEN to trainees and monitors alike

[mathemagier]

Day 1.
[Hermann is a very hands-off monitor. He rarely speaks or bothers with the trainees; more concerned about familiarizing himself with the system and keeping the program stable and running smoothly. He never signed up to be customer support, and it shows. Probably one of the grouchier monitors, Hermann's nonetheless capable of swift fixes when bugs are pointed out. If a trainee really needs help, he's more likely to sketch an arrow in a nearby tree than return a verbal answer.

The usefulness of that given direction varies, and general harassment will result in a heap of snow dropping onto the trainee as soon as possible. Alternatively, a really rough patch of ice may suddenly appear underfoot.

In terms of working with other monitors, Hermann's content to simply take a set of tasks and focus on them with minimal input on either end. When he's working, he's working, and if someone doesn't like his code, they can straighten it up themselves.

But he's more relaxed in the break room, if prone to staring off into space. It might take a few snaps to pull his attention away from the blinking numbers and polygons floating in his mind's eye.]


Day 2.
[Don't ask where he got the sleek laptop because he's not sharing.

But he's far more collaborative than yesterday in both worlds. Monitors and trainees alike are greeted with a growling exchange of information; ill-tempered, but generally helpful as they all work to isolate and resolve the new issues cropping up.

At some point, he burns through a keyboard and embarks on a quest to secure a new one. A cup of coffee acts as his constant companion, and strategic help in the simulation is likely to come in the form of temporarily flagged enemy npcs. Any complaints about the monitors are likely to result in a freezing puddle of ice-water to step or fall into.

He's a very temperamental god.]

3. Wildcard

[Have something else in mind? Desk sleeping shenanigans, weird requests from the simulation? Random conversation? Hit me up!]

( day one )

[huntergames]

[ The gun, albeit a virtual one, feels heavier than normal at Sasha's side.

She loathes to carry it around everywhere in this virtual simulation, but false reality or not, she knows the importance of keeping a weapon on her person in these kind of environments. She doesn't fully grasp how this simulation is working, though she can understand the concept behind it and she excels at it, not a major surprise to anyone who knows her military background.

However, there are things that trips her up on occasion, and in this exercise it's all the strange bugs she encounters in the environment. ]

Ugh, this isn't right... am I going the wrong way? Uh... [ There are people she can speak to who will hear her regardless, right? She looks around, half-expecting a monitor to be present before she says: ] Can anyone hear me?

[pobrecisco]

[ Cisco heads into the break room while things are slow on the simulator, getting himself a cup of coffee to pour copious amounts of sugar into, then sitting down near Hermann, while he's spacing out. ]

Oh, hey. I've seen you around somewhere, haven't I?

[ He's brand new to work at StarkTech, and he doesn't work in Biotech, but he's sure he's seen Hermann around the more common areas of the company. ]

Monitor - OTA

[pobrecisco]

00. SET-UP

[ As soon as Cisco arrived, he scoped out a good looking work station, and opened up his backpack. Inside, a thermos full of cherry slurpee, several bags of lollipops, Red Vines, and various other candies, and a couple 2 liters of soda are unpacked for him to graze on over the course of the simulation.

That done, he sits back in his chair and props his feet up on the desk. ]

So! Ready to get some work done?


01. DAY ONE

[ He's skimming through the software functions, getting a feel for what he's got to work with, and crunching through several lollipops to help him focus. After he's familiar with the basics, he starts playing around, switching from patching code to spawning things into the simulation like it's a video game. For the most part, he's keeping everything well away from the trainees, but he can't help but take pity on a bunch of freezing teenagers, coding in a cache of snack candy, snacks, and snap-to-activate handwarmers near to where they're scavenging for supplies. They're not that hidden, but they aren't immediate sight, either. That's not breaking the rules, right? ]


02. DAY TWO

Whoa, whoa, is anyone else seeing this? Did somebody mess with the AI code?

[ He's typing as fast as he can trying to patch issues, but every time he gets one under control, two more spring up. It's all he can do to try to keep on top of stopping the more dangerous glitches from killing anyone. ]

00, requisite andrew garfield/grant gustin joke

[shutterbugged]

Two desks away, a nondescriptly good-looking white guy -- kind of a weird resemblance to Barry, actually -- eyes the stash on Cisco's desk with mingled awe and jealousy.

"Hey, how come they didn't confiscate your stash?"

All his fun-sized Snickers bars and Swedish Fish leftover from Halloween, gone to fill the bellies of their gub'mint supervisors. What an injustice.

LET'S GET SOME CACHE

[sidecars]

[ You know what's not a lot of fun at all? Trying to gather kindling that isn't soaking wet. You know why? 'Cause it's all soaking wet! Most of what he can find that's usable is under the umbrella of snow covering the trees. Some branches are still untouched.

But while walking back with his armful of cut branches, his foot catches on something hard and very clearly not snow. Probably a rock, but looking back it sure ain't colored like one. Bucky scrapes a bit more snow off the surface and pulls out a small emergency case. What he finds inside is glorious. ]

Ohh thank you sweet, sweet monitor, whichever one you might be. You are probably handsome with a beautiful golden heart.

TRAINEE - DAY ONE

[performance]

1. do you wanna build a shelterrrr

Sooo this is the part where we avoid freezing to death.

[ At least Robin remembers he's in a simulation this time. There's enough peace of mind that comes with that that he can focus on their objectives like it really is a game. And the first order of business, if they're going to make it through this at all, is shelter. So, initiative! He squares his shoulders and puts on his very best "everyone listen to me even though I'm only 5'4 and the snow is halfway up my thighs" in-charge voice. ]

We have to get out of the wind. Someone help me cut some branches for a lean-to. And if anyone here happens to be able to start a fire by snapping their fingers, now would be the time to raise your hand.

[ Bossy or just a natural leader? You decide. ]


2. baby it's cold outside

[ It's cold. It's miserably cold. He keeps trying to tell himself it's only a training exercise, none of this is real, it's just a simulated physical sensation brought on by digital impulses, but holy Winter Olympics, Batman. He wonders whether it's possible for his domino mask to freeze to his face. He feels awful, though he's much too proud to admit it. Still, with his arms wrapped around himself, trying to make his teeth not chatter by sheer force of will, it doesn't exactly take a genius to notice. ]

... I'm going to go scout. Anyone want to come?

[ At least that way he'll be moving around. ]


wildcard

[ Choose your own birdventure. ]

so let's snuggle

[sidecars]

[ You know who is all for that idea, Robin? This guy! ] I'm game! Gotta check the traps anyway. [ It's probably too early to have caught anything, but they may as well do something while they are doing nothing at this point. Besides, he can feel his joints cracking from the cold and it's getting old.

He gets up and brings his gun and knife to follow Robin out. ]

2

[shutterbugged]

There's a faint crackle of feedback before one of the monitors speaks up, voice quiet but clear.

"There's a sort of cave formed by a couple of fallen trees about two hundred yards west-northwest of you. It's already pretty well covered by snow, so it's well-insulated. I can give you clearer directions if you need."

Inside the cave are also a couple of space blankets, a tiny camping stove, some power bars and a can of corned beef hash with a pull-tab lid. Hey, it's completely realistic for the situation that one of the trainees might stumble across someone's emergency hideout! Right?

... Yeah, Peter's not a big fan of the whole "send teenagers into VR deathtraps" thing.

1.

[pobrecisco]

[ Cisco feels really, really bad watching these kids freeze their butts off while he's in a relatively comfy office, even if he knows the cold isn't actually real. He also knows he's not supposed to interfere, but he already added some stuff to the simulation. He may as well let the trainees know there's stuff to look for, right? So his voice comes crackling from the sky: ]

You guys might want to search around for hidden stuff, too. I mean, uh, you never know, right?

1

[112ounces]

[ The moment he wakes up in this virtual reality and looked around, Carl is immediately quick to realize what needed to be done. He was already starting to grab a few low hanging branches when Robin starts talk. ]

No fire powers for me, but I can help get some food later on. I got good eyesight.

Can you pull these branches down while I'll cut them? I can't do it one-handed.

( 2 )

[huntergames]

[ How is this all a false reality again? Sasha can feel the freezing cold nipping her fingertips beneath her thick gloves and even down to her bones when she's all layered up. She shudders, adjusting her grip on the rifle in her arms. ]

Wait, how far are you headed out? Don't move so hastily!

1

[moded]

[At the very least, Robin has one person out here where following his orders is basically second nature. Impulse's been kind of hanging back (or, well, falling to the back of the group and then putting on a burst of speed to suddenly be in the middle of it, just to keep himself occupied) since they first started up with this VR trip.

So when the orders come, Bart's immediately perking up, going from looking around like every tree and snowflake is distracting him to focusing in on Robin's instructions.]

Oh! I can do fire! [Bart's instantly volunteering, grinning and doing his best to jog forward -- what follows looks remarkably like a video someone wading through a muddy river on fast forward, just lots of arm flailing, knees raised stupidly high to clear snowbanks, and a look of sheer concentration on his face -- until he's more or less in front of Robin.] I mean I can kinda do fire not by snapping I mean doi but I mean friction is the best firestarter well second best but we don't have flint unless you do have flint but either way--

[He grins, starting to rub his hands together at superspeed a little maniacally.

.... Maybe... maybe don't trust this kid with firestarting.]

LOOK AWAY PPL! Sidekicks are about to get cozy

[sidecars]

[ Bucky dumps himself beside Robin's for a couple of reasons. One, the kid's tiny and there's no way he can retain heat. Two, Bucky is tiny and there's no way he can retain heat. But together, they make one mega average-sized person that can keep relatively warm. ]

You think you're gonna get any rest by yourself? [ He snorts as he settles in right behind him. Like right behind. ] C'mon, get your bony butt over here...

Monitor: both days, OPEN to all.

[shutterbugged]

DAY ONE: Catch-all.
Peter is assuredly not a fan of these virtual reality war games the government likes to put on, so while he's nominally playing Good Citizen… well, he's not deliberately setting out to cheat, at least not right off the bat. But he is going to be one of the chattier monitors, quick off the mark with warnings and reassurances both. For the younger trainees especially, he can be easily induced to do more.


DAY ONE: Hold on, is that a--
Peter clicks on his headset, not even checking the name of the trainee he's speaking to.

"Uh, trainee, not to worry you, but there's a giant walking stick -- repeat, a giant stick insect -- about 50 yards behind you and coming up fast."

The keyboard clatters as he tries to trace the source of the glitch (it has to be a glitch, right? too much imagination for this kind of scenario, even counting the lions) and, ahem, debug it. Meanwhile, he keeps an eye on the screen as the two signals draw closer and closer together.

"Usually these guys are herbivorous, but you know, usually their maximum size is one foot and they can't survive a Russian winter, so I would book it or take cover if you can. Climb a tree -- no, wait, don't climb a tree! They're good climbers."


DAY TWO: Coffee break.
It's late the night of the first day -- more like early the morning of the second -- and Peter is standing by the coffee machine, peering into his mug like it holds the secrets to the universe.

"Is this coffee suspiciously good for government work," he asks at length, "or am I just paranoid from drinking five cups of coffee in four hours?"


DAY TWO: It's better than the giant bugs.
"Well, if you're just banging against the rocks, you're not hurting anyone," Peter murmurs, looking at the glitching Russian soldiers on screen.

Still, with all of the increasingly less-discreet help he's been handing out over the past day and a half, he's got to be on thin ice with whoever's monitoring the monitors. Better get to patching the code.

day one!

[helpline]

Yeah, that lion-sized stick bug is oddly resistant to debugging. Mostly because as soon as the Doctor notices that Peter's trying to debug the stick bug, he instantly starts typing in an attempt to rebug the bug in the first place. Which a: is not subtle at all, considering that he went from balancing a pencil between his nose and lip to suddenly, furiously typing and b: is equally not subtle because he's sitting right next to Peter.

Nice job, buddy.

how to train your own stick bug

[sidecars]

Okay, that is literally the last thing he expects to hear from the overseers above. And what's with the urgency in the guy's voice? It's not like it's poisonoOH GOOD GOD!

"Cheese and crackers..." That is one giant stick bug. Hell, you could ride that thing into battle! Which, sounds wonderful in theory, but right now he's got realistic problems to deal with.

"You are terrible at giving advice!" Bucky starts backing up, his firearm in hand but pointed to the ground. "Is it territorial? I mean it ain't gonna maul me...... Right?" As trigger happy as Bucky is, a useless animal isn't exactly on his list of things to waste a bullet on.

day one

[notyourfathersosborn]

At first, Normie had been so focused on familiarizing himself with the system and the participants that he hadn't been paying any attention to the people around him. It wasn't until he finally gave in to getting a candy bar from the break room did he notice Peter was there too.

"Uh, hey Un...Sorry, Peter." One of these says he'll actually remember to knock out the "Uncle" stuff. It's just so force of habit. "Small world."

trainee - open to both monitors and trainees

[112ounces]

DAY 1

Hunting

[ It almost feels like home.

Almost, except for the god-awful bone chill. Carl prays to never be further north from Virginia back home, if he could actually pray. But he doesn't, so he hopes that it won't be the case.

With his enhanced eyesight and his ease with the gun, Carl is one of the best people on the hunting assignment. However, he prefers to have a rifle than a handgun for deer hunting, but he'll take what he can. He looks at the slowly growing camp. ]

Going out to get some food. Any one who's free to join me can come with.

Building shelter

[ Carl is trying his best to tie the branches together. He even cut little groves into them so it would be easier for him to make them brace together. He lets go of one branch to reach for his rope, but it slipped from his one-handed grasp and slapped him straight into the face. ]

OW!

[ Virtual reality, virtual pain. Jesus. ]



DAY 2

ambush

[ Carl dodges and hid behind a large oak tree. He peeks out and sees three soldiers coming at the camp.

He has never felt so alive until now.

Glancing around him, trying to see if there are any more soldiers around him, he ducks down to a bush and allows the soldiers to run past him. When far enough, he runs out of the bushes and pulls out his pistol, shooting at the soldiers in the back, watching them fall. He quickly runs to the bodies, grabbing their rifles and ammo. He has to loot the bodies before he can go back to camp. ]

last stand

[ Carl manages to return to the camp, with some loot he grabbed from the soldiers he's killed and some hidden in the bushes. He practically leaped inside the make-shift shelter. ]

Here.

[ He starts to unpack his bag - namely, he opens it and tilts it upside down - ammunition and other supplies comes tumbling down, as he starts to shrug off a few rifles he manages to take from the Russians. ]

I got some stuff here.

day one, shelter

[helpline]

[ Part of the job of the monitors was to offer advice, right? The Doctor, despite his grumbly exterior, is a bit of a softie and as such, can't help but chime in once he sees Carl try (and fail) to build a shelter. He knows bits and pieces about survival in these sorts of climates, the least he can do is give the boy advice about how not to get hypothermia. Because, that is what Carl is in the Doctor's mind: a boy, shoved out here for some reason or another.

So, clicking his headset on, he taps the microphone a few times before talking directly to Carl. ] Ground control to Major Tom, hello in there! Mind some advice on shelters?

Last Stand

[sidecars]

Dibs on one'a those rifles! [ It's a little sad to be scrambling over a Russian make (he'd much rather a German), but beggars can't be choosers. ] They have any candy bars? Chocolate or something?

[ A sugar pick up would be awesome right now. ]

Monitor - Both Days - OTA

[notyourfathersosborn]

Day One
01.
[The controls are taking longer for Normie to get used to than he would have liked. It isn't that he doesn't understand it, it's just different than what he's used to. He's quiet while he explores pretty much everything he can, all while keeping one eye on the trainees in case of an emergency.

Which comes quicker than he imagines when he notices something strange move in the corner of his screen. Upon closer inspection it was definitely an abnormality in the code... and someone's walking right towards it.]

Uuuh, don't freak out, but there's a some kind of literal bug--I think it's a Walking Stick or a Praying Mantis or something-- about the size of a small horse heading your way. I'm trying to get rid of it now.

[Covering the microphone with his hand, he looks over at his fellow monitors.]

Is anyone else seeing this?!


02.
[Normie's finally comfortable enough with the code that he starts to become a more active in communicating with the trainees, giving them general tips and advice as needed. And, while not outright giving them stuff like some of the other monitors (he doesn't want to draw too much attention to himself and potentially get thrown out), he does start to get creative in his code. Maybe that snow rabbit suddenly turned purple for a few seconds so it would stand out in stark contrast to the snow. Maybe that tree is easier to cut down without losing any of the lumber it provides.]

How are you holding up there?




Day Two
01.
[Damn. Where the hell are all these bugs coming from? Did no one seriously test this system before putting imPorts in there? Are they trying to kill the trainees? Just how buggy is this whole test?

So many questions, but no time to ask them--now. If you need him, he'll be furiously typing away at his computer--not that it makes the coding go by any quicker, but he's gotta unleash that frustration out on something, right?

He starts mumbling under his breath.]

Playing with people's lives is not a game.


02.
[Normie jumps at the chance to be more active in helping out the participants. He might even start coding in extra ammo laying near a trainee who needs it (not that he's given the okay to do that, but still).]

I've been given clearance to talk you through anything you might need. I've got a birds-eye view of the battlefield. What do you want to know?

DAY TWO 02

[sidecars]

Oh really? [ For a man up against an unending army of replicated soldiers, he sounds rather chipper. But, eh, he's had a lot of practice perfecting it. After those rifles Carl swiped for them, Bucky's been taking full advantage of the snipe scope. Even Russian made, it's a real treat to see how far technology's improved since his time. ] Sounds like cheating to me...

Day One, 02

[moded]

[The thing for poor Bart is... well. He thought about killing something for food for about three seconds before feeling a bit faint and when he tried to pick up the makeshift ax they'd come across to get some wood, all he'd managed to do was pick it up, immediately strain something in his arm, and then drop it right on his foot.

Blunt end down, at least!

But by the time that voice comes in to check on them, Bart's kind of given up on being useful for a few minutes, and is instead flopped spread eagle in the snow, staring blankly up at the sky.]

It's.... [Oh no, what's afflicting this child? Hypothermia? Did he actually manage to injure himself???] ...so... [He's speaking slowly-- maybe its head trauma? Starvation?!?] boring!

[And up flail those arms, drama and woe causing his voice to come out at nothing short of a petulant whine.

He didn't think he was signing up for this kind of survival training.]

DAY TWO - OTA

[sidecars]

BETTER DEAD THAN RED

[ They can't do a lot when faced with a barrage of bullets, but a man like that is only formidable from the front. That's why Bucky's so lethal from the back. Small and crouched behind a snow drift, he waits for his chance to take a small troop of Ruskies from behind. He follows in their footsteps perfectly to keep any sounds of new crunching snow imperceptible.

Then with his knife in hand, he comes behind the soldier furthest from the front back and wraps his hand around his mouth while plunging the blade right into his back and severing his spinal cord. Even if he isn't dead yet, he'll be worthless as soon as Bucky drops him to the snow. It'll also be loud, so he has to do it quick and be ready for the other three to turn around.

He drops him and moves, running toward them with his knife so he can't disarm them before they (hopefully) get a shot off and alert anyone nearby. Anyone want to help a brother out? ]



INTERROGATION

[ Using Robin's finesse with ropes and the help of the others, they've got two prisoners to interrogate and not a lot of time to do it in. This isn't a long-term battle here. This is an epidemic they need to try and cull before they get overrun, meaning the usual, Geneva Code friendly options are too time consuming. At least in Bucky's opinion. ]

I ain't gonna force anyone here, but anyone mind doin' helping? Anyone else got experience with this kinda thing before? And what about Russian? Anyone else speak it?

[ It would be better if they could just do it at the same time, that way there's pressure to give a useful answer first before the other. But if no one else can speak Russian, it'll be on him to translate both prisoners. He'll do both, though, if he's got to. ]

[performance]

This kind of thing?

[ If it sounds like his nerves are frayed, it's because he was naively hoping no one was going to get killed today. They weren't real, sure, but it looked real. It could have been real. And it's cold and he's tired and his hands are starting to shake and— ]

What do you mean by that exactly? [ A glance between Bucky and the men, eyes narrowing behind his mask. ] I've done interrogations before, but...

[ But somehow, he thinks they might have a slightly different definition of the word. ]