The Hegemony Compound, Ribeirao Preto, Brazil, Wednesday Morning

[lockestheway]

They reached the east gate of the compound early in the morning. As promised, an IF security detail was there waiting for them, including a full hazard squad - of which only one would join them. Bean seemed largely unflapped by the entire ordeal, and Peter followed suit in pretending

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[whenshewasnice]

Honestly, OSC and his damn babies.

Natalie was also fairly confident. That didn't mean she wasn't nervous (or that one part of her brain wasn't weirdly fixated on Jim is going to be so angry if this gets me killed), but she was handling it. Her poker face was still good.

"And because he wants as many as possible of the rest of us to survive," she added.

[arcane_delphi]

Bean nodded. "And there's no chance of that if you start shooting, for any reason. That’s why none of you is going to carry a loaded weapon."

They looked at him as if he were insane.

"I'm not going in there unarmed," said one of the other men.

"Fine," said Bean. "Then there'll be one less. He didn't say I had to bring five."

[lockestheway]

"Technically," said Peter to the sharpshooter, "you won't be unarmed. Just unloaded. So they'll treat you as if did have bullets, because they won't know you don't."

"I'm a soldier, not a sap," said the man, and he walked away.

Peter shrugged. Some people just didn't know how to play this game.

[whenshewasnice]

Apparently not. Natalie glanced after the soldier and tried to decide whether she was surprised or not, then decided it hardly mattered.

"One down," she noted, a little on the dry side. "I know we're not walking away, but anyone else?"