What have you done now?!

A hidden holocam recorded the display from inside the room and transmitted it to a holoviewer in another room. There, Special Agent Cody Weadge watched the struggling captive. He was technically not a prisoner since the Empire did not have legal jurisdiction on this planet. Of course, such things had never stopped him before. More so than even the other branches of the Imperial Intelligence Bureau, Adjustments agents like him saw laws as mere tools to ensnare their targets.

Not that many knew what it meant for him to be Adjustments. While his fellow Adjusters were not exactly a secret, at least not as much as the Inquisition, their role in the Empire was rarely spoken of. After all, they answered directly to the IIB's High Command, and officially none of the agents existed. They were only called in for the most extreme missions, and the kidnapping of Director of Research Madeline Kahoshi certainly qualified.

Undoubtedly the captive was expecting Cody to make his appearance any moment, but it was not yet time for that. The man had not yet enjoyed enough of Cody's hospitality to be willing to talk. Reaching over, Cody flipped a switch that caused a sunroof to open in the room. It might seem odd, opening an entrance to the outside in a prisoners room. That is until sand attempted to blow in and sparked the shield running across the opening. It had been a stroke of luck to find this room, and one he planned to fully utilize. While the shield kept out sand (and kept the already bound captive in), it did not stop the twin suns and their heat. 

Leaning back, Cody continued to watch the holoviewer and see the man's reaction over the next few hours.


Lance Lockhart,

The file Cody had on this Lockhart, while admittedly thin, mentioned that he would not crack so easily. A lesser man would panic and beg for mercy when they discovered their situation. Well, at least that made Cody's job more interesting. The spy had no specific orders on what to do with Lockhart, his mission was to retrieve Doctor Kahoshi, preferably alive. The means with which he accomplished this task was left up to him.

The criminal was putting up a front for now, but Cody was interested in how his attitude changed after he baked in the heat for awhile tied up and alone. Even if he did not break, he would certainly start feeling the side effects of dehydration in short order. That alone made this exercise worth it. 

Relaxing back in his chair, Cody poured himself a glass of ice cold water. The sooner he got off this garbage incinerator of a planet the better in his opinion, but if you wanted some things done correctly, you could not rush them. Sex was one, interrogations were another. In both, you had to take time and build the other person up to the state you wanted. A soft chuckle escaped at his thoughts.

Well, there was hardly any struggle at all, how disappointing. Oh well, Cody would just have to move on to the next stage of his plans a bit earlier than expected. Getting up from his seat, the spy poured a glass of water from a nearby pitcher. Carrying the glass, he moved to the room where Lance had passed out. Opening the door, he pulled a chair into the room and entered.

Cody set the glass of water where Lance would see it, just out of his reach.The Imperial agent, dressed in a suit, then sat down in the chair he had brought. The heat did not seem to bother him despite the clothing, his eyes simply watched the captured criminal with an almost dead look.


Lance Lockhart,

"What I am called does not matter," Cody replied with an emotionless voice. "What does matter, Lance Lockhart, is that you have something I want. As I always get what I want, the only real question is whether you give up immediately... or we spend some time getting to know each other."

Raising a leather gloved hand, he motioned to the glass of water he had set just outside Lance's reach. "Consider that your reward for when you give in."

Lance Lockhart,

"I see," Cody replied gravely though his eyes held no emotion, "water does not interest you. Well, it seems we will be unable to come to an agreement. A pity."

Standing up, the spy picked up the water and quickly drained it. He then placed the empty glass back down beside Lance before turning to leave the room. Once he was through the door, he closed it and sealed the lock. Of course, the man was probably smart enough to know he was still being watched. Cody's point was simple: he was not willing to negotiate or talk. 

Cody's prisoner appeared to be asleep, but the sensors he was using to watch the room spoke otherwise. Not that it mattered, the Imperial did not plan on leaving him alone very long. It was simply time for a change of tactics. Under normal circumstances, Cody would let the man enjoy the planet's weather for days or weeks to soften him up, but he did not have that kind of time.

This would require more... drastic measures.

Not long after Cody had left the room, he returned carrying a briefcase and a fold up table. Setting the table up, he placed the briefcase on top of the table and opened it. Lance would not be able to see the contents clearly, but the top of the briefcase clearly had two dozen syringes alternating in the color of their liquid. Taking the first syringe from the briefcase, Cody turned to his prisoner and injected it without a word.

Lance would feel the effects almost immediately as his body desperately tried to fall asleep. Before sleep could take him though, Cody grabbed the next syringe and injected that one in as well. Now Lance would feel the opposite. His heart would be racing, trying to pound its way out of his chest. His body would feel hot as if on fire, and his thoughts would seem rushed and unfocused.

"This treatment is very interesting," Cody said in his emotionless voice, no hints of actual interest present. "By alternating sedatives with stimulates the body of most sentient species struggle to keep up. The mind generates fear and anxiety trying to warn the person undergoing treatment that something is wrong. Of course, eventually, the heart simply fails. The number of rounds it takes seems to differ wildly as well. If you become more willing to cooperate you will not find out your limit. Otherwise, I will gain a new data point. Both would prove equally beneficial for me."