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Old 01-22-2018, 05:18 PM   #204
Icelander
 
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Iceland*
Default Dubious Debrief

O’Toole pushes the closet door open. Two men look at him in consternation. One of them appears to be a federal agent, though he is unusually symmetrical and well dressed for the role. Danny O’Toole wasn’t someone who’d use the term ‘beautiful’ for a man, but this self-possessed, stylish fellow was clearly too pretty by half. It was uncanny, really, a man being that good looking. The other person was a very different figure, the rumpled, balding, bespectacled and sweaty Zachary Holden, former CIA case officer and currently involved with Onyx Rain in a security role.

Baritone: “Uh, good morning, Agent O’Toole. I’m Special Agent William Dunbar of the Office of the Inspector General. We haven’t met, but I’m read a few of your memos on the situation in Mexico. And, of course, you know Holden.”
O’Toole: [cough] “We’ve met.”
Dunbar: “We apologise for disturbing your rest, but as you can imagine, we want to get started on the process of debriefing you. Are you feeling up to that?”
O’Toole: “Sure, don’t worry about it. Just some after-effects from being too close to a flashbang. I’ve taken harder hits from baseballs.”
Dunbar: “We should probably get you checked out before we start.”
Holden: “He said he’s fine. Let’s not start coddling him like sissies.”
O’Toole: “I can give a statement. It’s not a problem.”

Dunbar and Holden escort Agent O’Toole down the hall and into an office. Dunbar keeps up and easy chatter on the way, complimenting O’Toole on his management of the emergency and commiserating with him on being stuck on a creepy island when Boston is sure to be party central in preparation for the Super Bowl against the Falcons. When they sit down, Dunbar daintily arranges a napkin as a bib over his tie and offers O’Toole a quick meal of soda and a sandwich, which O’Toole accepts.

Dunbar: “Which do you want, Reuben or egg salad?”
O’Toole: “Whatever you’re not having.”
Dunbar: “Holden?”
Holden: “Jew grub or Paddy trash? No, thanks, I’ll eat right at the canteen.”
Dunbar: “Your wide range of prejudices continues to amaze me, Holden. You’re some sort of an omni-bigot. Anyway, in my case, it would be Jock trash, though as it happens, my Scotch forebears have been here in the New World for a dreary number of years.”
[turns to O’Toole]
“I’ll take one of the egg salads, leaving you one of each. You went to Boston College, right?”
O’Toole: “Uh, yah, for a couple of years. Before the Army, Signal Corps. Ended up graduating from UMass-Boston after my two years in. Sports Science.”
Dunbar: “I got my degree after military service too. University of Ohio, Psych major. Before that, all Catholic schools. You too?”
O’Toole: “Yah. Nana insisted.”
Dunbar: “Ah, there’s no tyranny like benevolent tyranny! You can leave the British Crown behind, but Catholic matriarchs came right with us.”
O’Toole: “She wasn’t all that benevolent. But she raised me right, which I guess wasn’t easy. Those in our neighbourhood who didn’t become cops, soldiers and firemen, they were mostly crooks. On account of her, I wasn’t allowed to be a crook, so I became a cop.”
Dunbar: “Parents not around?”
O’Toole: “Nah. Mom had some problems and… I guess she never really got around to introducing me to Dad. Probably better off with Nana and Grandpa anyway.”
Dunbar: “I’m sure you were. Are you ready to begin?”
O’Toole: “Yah huh.”

Dunbar walks O’Toole through the administrative trivia that opens a statement, taking down his full name, Social Security and his job for the Department of Homeland Security. As Zachary Holden looks increasingly bored, O’Toole recounts his assignment of escorting ‘the consultants’, Dr. Anderson and Chase Taylor, to speak with inmate Sherilyn Bell of the Manhanock Asylum for the Criminally Insane, the preparations in Washington, the drive up to Maine and the ferry ride over from Portland to Jewell Island.

O’Toole takes care to describe that there were no obvious indications that anything was amiss on the island and, in any event, they were forced to disarm as soon as they came onto the Manhanock grounds. He quickly disposes of the evening meal and Special Agent Banks being called away ‘to confer with the Warden’. O’Toole claims that he was made suspicious by the subsequent hesitation on the part of the guards when they wished to speak with inmate Bell, but the guards eventually relented.

Of course, when they got to J Wing, there were cameras with external power mountings, which indicated recent installation by someone lacking access or knowledge to use the wall wiring. At that point, O’Toole claims he tried to contact Special Agent Banks, but was unable to do so. He asked the guards present to pass a message to him and the Warden, but decided that their assignment required that they ascertain what the status of inmate Bell was.

O’Toole’s narrative of the encounter with Sherilyn Bell in her cell block is fairly broad strokes and when he gets to the discovery of the brutalised man carrying papers in the name of ‘Agent Vicente Ferrocal’, he is interrupted.

Holden: “Well, how the [fornication] did you know there was someone in there?”
O’Toole: “Inmate Bell told us.”
Holden: “Oh, she told you? Real cooperative, was she?”
O’Toole: “Considering her circumstances, she was helpful enough. We got her to sign on as consultant, which is what we were sent to do.”
Holden: “In your opinion, is she even capable of doing any kind of work for us?”
O’Toole: “That’s not really my field.”
Holden: “I’m asking you as a [fornicating] field agent; if you even qualify as that. Would you work with her in the field?”
O’Toole: “I’d really prefer that Dr. Anderson judge her mental competence. That’s what he does, right? As for me, I’d work with her if she had information or contacts we couldn’t get elsewhere, sure. If we don’t have another play in Mexico, I guess we’ll work with any kind of informant we need.”
Dunbar: “Exactly, Danny. Assuming we’ve got the kind of rapport with her to be able to control her. If she can be controlled. Can you tell us what she said about this ‘Agent Ferrocal’?”

Danny O’Toole continues his story, confirming that Bell had said that ‘Agent Ferrocal’ said he had been sent by Raul Vargas. He’s vague about exact dialogue and light on description, but says that the discovery of the kidnap victim made them realise their danger and they subsequently decided to flee into the tunnels. Dr. Anderson had knowledge of the tunnels and was guiding them to someplace they could get weapons, so they could turn off the jammer that was preventing them from getting radio contact.

O’Toole: “On the way, there was some sort of altercation with a patient. I’m afraid Taylor violently subdued him.”
Holden: “You’re afraid? You don’t know [faeces] like that?”
O’Toole: “I, uh, was some distance behind him. It was dark and we only had the one flashlight.”
Dunbar: “I think what Holden is wondering, Danny, is whether you weren’t the ranking law officer on the scene with Agent Banks separated from you?”
O’Toole: “Well, I wasn’t certain that the situation had relevance to immigration offences, and, consequently, about my legal authority as a CBP officer. My, uh, temporary duty assignment to Onyx Rain was unclear about my formal authority and I was not encouraged to use my OIG credentials for law enforcement purposes beyond my tasking. No, Col. Burr was in charge. I took care to stick close to Inmate Bell, as per our instructions to remove her from Manhanock Asylum if she signed the consultant papers.”
Dunbar: “I see.”
Holden: “Hold on a minute, though. When you say a patient, are you talking about the guy in the tunnels?”
O’Toole: “Yah, wicked big fellow.”
Holden: “What is this altercation [faeces]? With a [fornicating] patient?”
O’Toole: “Well, I didn’t see anything clearly, but I’m pretty sure Taylor had been hitting the guy. Not that I’m claiming it wasn’t necessary or something. I don’t know anything about that.”

Holden and Dunbar look at each other incredulously. Then they look at O’Toole and there is a long silence.

Dunbar: “Agent O’Toole, you are aware that we have everyone who was in these tunnels in custody?”
Holden: “Are you just gonna describe that movie monster as a ‘patient’? That’s your [fornicating] situational awareness? You don’t think that you maybe noticed some things that aren’t typically present in regular mental patients?”
O’Toole: “Well, it was very dark. And I didn’t think it was really appropriate to describe him as a retahd.”
Holden: “Jaysus Tittie-[fornicating] Christ! The fact that he was a Hulk-looking cannibal don’t seem worth a mention?”
O’Toole: “I never actually saw him eat human flesh.”
Holden: “Just the bones with teeth marks and bits of victims all over?”
O’Toole: “I’ve obviously not had a chance to collect evidence, but I would not rule out that the treatment of some of the patients at Manhanock Asylum was in violation of health and safety standards.”

The look that passes between Holden and Dunbar eloquently states: ‘Is this guy for real?’

Proving that he is, indeed, O’Toole proceeds to give a somewhat confusing, unnecessarily sanitised account of events on Jewell Island, leaving out anything even resembling the supernatural or extra-human powers. It is ultimately unclear who made the decisions or how, and when it comes to the point when O’Toole got separated from the others, he claims that he was acting to keep Inmate Bell out of the hands of the guard force and that he is unaware who started firing.

Dunbar: “Now, this is very important, Danny. Did you and Col. Burr discuss the next steps at any point?”
O’Toole: “Nah. There wasn’t any chance. Besides, my ears were ringing from the shooting and then all these explosions went off.”
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Last edited by Icelander; 01-22-2018 at 06:35 PM.
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