Team Lambda assembled at noon on the day following the evaluation incident. Jesse groaned. “What the hell?! I didn’t even do anything this time. I don’t get watched this much even after me and Conrad destroy portions of the base!”

Michelle glared at him “That’s not something to be proud of dipshit! And why are you whining, we’re the ones who spent the night in jail!”

“I’m just the communications guy. I told the people tailing me to kindly go ‘fuck off’ in 5 different languages. They didn’t seem to get it though” Aaron complained.

Jessica spoke up, with a sensible plan. “OK, something is up, even for us. I know we have a bit of a history of fucking up, but it kinda seems like someone is out to screw us over, and they aren’t exactly being subtle about it. Any ideas on who it could be?”

“Well, whoever is responsible covered their tracks, or is being protected by someone. As for who could be responsible, I’m pretty sure the list is long. We have managed to annoy quite a few people…” Mark reported.

“I bet it was fuckin’ Conrad” Emilia muttered.

“As bad as I fucked him up, I doubt it was him. He’d have to be a fool to provoke Michelle, Emilia, and me” Jesse calmly stated.

Javon spoke next. “Well, if there’s anything we all know about Conrad, it’s that he’s a fuckin’ idiot. I bet my rifle that it was him.”

David glanced around “I could do some looking around and find out some stuff, except for the fact that the entire agency has eyes on us. This is bothersome. I’m a spy who isn’t able to do spy things at the moment.”

“Well, we’ll figure things out eventually. For now, we’ll use the buddy system. That’ll help defend against whatever dumb shit this unidentified party comes up with. It will also give each of us a witness as to our locations and actions. We have an odd number of people, so at least one team will be 3 people. You fuckers ok with this?” Michelle glanced around for confirmation of the orders she just given.

Everyone nodded and Jessica spoke up “We had a mission yesterday, at least I received a notice of it. It seems as though the mission has been rescinded though. Guess we’re more or less on house arrest?”

“Probably. Do you think they are gonna let us compete in the squad games next week?” David asked.

“What the hell are the ‘squad games’?" Allison questioned.

“You remember ‘field day’, or know of sports festivals? It’s pretty much the secret agent version of that. Basically multi-team training under the guise of a competition” Emilia answered.

“Oh, that sounds… interesting” Allison replied with a slight hint of curiosity.

“Yeah, there’s several events, some suited better for some squads than others. The highlight is always the large objective event at the end though. The top 4 teams from all the events advance and it’s a mad dash to secure... some… thing. In all honestly, we’d probably be pretty good at that event, if we ever did everything else halfway well enough to get to the finals” Emilia grumbled.

“Eh, you guys never make it to the finals? Well, I can’t say this is much of a surprise, but why?” Allison asked.

“We don’t necessarily get along with each other in the field. You’d think they’d disband this dysfunctional ass team already, but for some reason, those in power seem to ‘want’ to keep us around, if for nothing else, I’d guess their amusement” Jessica answered.

“Well, I get along with Emilia, Michelle, Jesse, and I suppose you and Mark well enough. What’s the problem? You guys all seem like nice enough people when you aren’t making threats or throwing knives or shooting at me or…. Oh” Allison stopped after answering her own question.

“Well, you’re easy to get along with. You seem to kinda calm some of us down. However, not all of the guys get along, or listen particularly well to orders or suggestions, and therein lies the problem” Jessica groaned.

“You’re saying it’s our fucking fault?!” Aaron, who was normally quite, shouted, clearly upset.

“Yeah, pretty much…” Jessica merely shrugged.

“You bitch, I outta…” Aaron paused after noticing Mark, who was sitting beside Jessica, stand up.

“You…. You’re lucky you have Mark covering you.”

Mark stood with a confused expression. “Oh, I was just stretching. I don’t like fighting, remember?”

“Right, you’re a pansy-ass. So, what was I saying…?" Arron continued, and stopped, within the span of 1 sentence. He turned his attention to Emilia, arm loaded and ready to fire… something. Behind Emilia, Allison was standing with her hand on Emilia’s shoulder.

“Oh, now the bio-weapon’s angry? Whatcha gonna shoot me with, blood bullets?”

Emilia’s expression darkened “Ya know, I actually could if the nano-machines were functional. It was actually Allison who got me to arm my weapon, but now you’ve given me my own reasons”. Emilia used her free hand to remove a gun from the holster on her left hip and handed it to Allison. “Keep that. I’ll show you the specifications later. Putting it to use now wouldn’t be bad, it’s already set to paralyzing rounds.”

Allison took the gun, which was now her second, and inspected it, becoming oblivious to the situation around her. Now Michelle finally decided to jump in.

“Alright fuck-nuggets, that’s enough! Quit being bitches and getting all butt-hurt about our comments about each other already. This bullshit is exactly why we can’t make it to the finals of the squad games, and why people bitch at this team, why we are treated differently. It’s damn near the reason why this team has the standing it does!”

Michelle semi-exploded, leaving everyone stunned in silence. As usual, Michelle’s words made a very persuasive argument. She continued since she had everyone’s undivided attention. “Alright bastards. Since we need… exercise… and a slight change of pace, we’re going on a walk… all of us.”

“Why the hell do we need to go on a walk? And why should we listen to you?!” Aaron, still angry about a few moments ago, bellowed.

“David, would do, please… I need to confirm everyone’s physical condition. It will be part run, since Allison has some things evaluation-wise to finish” Michelle nodded towards David, and seconds later, Arron was slumped over the table, momentarily disabled. The entirety of the team made their way outside, one way or another.

“Everyone has their standard-issue weapons right, except for Emilia?” Michelle confirmed. “Good, well, we’ll start with stretching and a 2-mile run to the woods.”

“Why are we doing this again?” Allison asked with her head tilted.

“Evaluations” Michelle leaned into Allison “Now isn’t the time to be asking excessive questions, I’ll explain on the run.”

A few minutes later, stretching was done, and the team vanished into the woods surrounding the base. After running a few dozen feet into the woods, Michelle caught Emilia’s attention. “Hey Ems, can you check and see if there are any abnormalities around here.”

“You mean listening devices and such? Give me a moment”. Emilia pulled up the small screen on her left arm and poked some points. After hearing a couple of ‘pinging’ noises, she replied, “Nope, we’re good. There aren’t any abnormal things around, aside from us with our weapons.

“Alright, then we’ll chat while running. It’s more of a ‘jog’ so don’t worry too much Mark” Michelle teased. Mark sighed in relief, at the same time, Aaron woke up.

“What’s going on?” Aaron questioned.

“Michelle is making us go for a jog, something about evaluations. Not sure how much of this is bullshit, but there’s definitely a reason she wants us here” Jessica answered.

“Oh, right, guess I’m going on that jog one way or another. So, I know you well enough to know that this is abnormal. What’s the problem Michelle?” Aaron said in a cold tone.

“Not one to beat around the bush, that’s fine too. We’ll talk on the move, I’m a bit paranoid about things. Lets go” Michelle ordered and started jogging farther into the woods. After a few minutes of running, she finally answered “I smell a rat, and I’m not talking about this team, cuz anyone interested in sabotage would avoid us like the plague. There’s someone who either wants this agency destroyed or wants to make certain people look… suspicious. I went over the data Mark got, and it backed up my theory. We don’t have enough information to do anything though, so we’ll just have to watch ourselves. As I said inside, we’ll be using the buddy system.”

Michelle stopped and turned around “Also, for the squad games, be VERY careful. Somehow, I think this time around, it may be more than just the ‘game’ they want us to think of it as. I want all of you to take the games seriously, as if it were a field mission as if your lives are truly at stake. I know saying this is gonna sound a little weird, but I have a feeling that the only people any of you can really trust at the moment are those among us. I know, that’s scary, cuz we’re all 9 kinds of crazy, and a few cards short of a full deck, but I don’t think we have any options. For our sake, if nothing else, you’ll each probably have to show why we’re on team Lambda, the true reason, as Allison demonstrated during flight evaluations. Do you all understand?”

Allison gulped. “What the hell have I gotten myself into?”

Michelle gave her a serious expression, “more than any of us could’ve anticipated, and something I’m sure none of us want.”

Emilia added “And given the conditions of your contract, if you try to leave, you’ll be executed… by someone other than us. As shitty as it sounds, your safest bet is to stick to us crazies.”

“That’s fine I guess. I like most of you well enough and don’t exactly want to die. So, what’s the plan of action?” Allison asked.

Michelle cleared her throat, “Step 1: keep a close eye on your surroundings. Step 2: don’t die. We’ll make up the rest as we go along.”

“What the hell kinda plan is that?!” Allison shouted.

Jesse answered, “The team Lambda kind of course!”