It didn't take long for S.P.A.R.D.A.'s elite task force to return to home base, in less than a hour the trio of Soldier, Stranger, and Secret we're already roaming the halls of the organization's main head quarters. Soldier led the trio, Secret and Stranger just behind her on either side as they approached Xander's office. He had just returned from the robotics facility, wanting to discuss their retrieval mission. Eventually the three found themselves standing in front of Xander's desk, the professor not even acknowledging them with his back to the door. He was still looking at the footage from Bionicron's assault on New York, examining both the robot and people that tried to put a stop to it. After a few moments of silence, Solider cleared her throat, and began to speak out. "Professor Xander, you reques-" Before she could finish, the professor raised his hand, signaling her to stop talking. "I know I requested you here, you don't have to remind me. I made the request, remember?" He turned around, offering a small smile to the group, letting out a light chuckle. "Did the package with Bionicron's parts reach you sir? We got a confirmation from Daniel saying they received the drone about a half hour before we arrived." The Stranger seemed to perk up at the mention of Daniel, his slumped slender figure standing more upright and clasping his three fingered hands together. "Daniel is my friend. Daniel is good." The figure whispered out from behind his helmet, seemingly to no one.
Ignoring Stranger's comment, Xander kept his focus on Soldier. "The package arrived here safely yes, that's why you were called here actually." The professor said, pulling out a large box and placing it a top the table. Opening it up, he pulled out 16 pieces of broken and battered metal, Soldier instantly recognizing them as the pieces of Bionicron they retrieved in New York. "Ah wonderful, glad to see they all arrived in one piece." Solider commented, giving a confident nod. Despite this, Xander still looked up to her, his expression neutral, practically no emotion on the man's face. "Do you not see what's wrong here Soldier?" He asked simply, rising to his feet and putting the New York footage on the large TV screen in the room. "The robotics team and I scoured this footage, cleaning it up and replaying it over and over until we grasped every fine detail we could." The man explained, ignoring the growing confusion that was now on The Soldier's face. "Take a look here... We found the exact point after Bionicron's explosion, managing to pinpoint just how much of him was left over." Pushing the footage forward, the S.P.A.R.D.A. professor showed the trio the aftermath of Bionicron's demise, red circles surrounding each piece of the robot that was leftover, no matter how minuscule.
"Now Soldier, please come here and count how many pieces we found in the footage." Xander stepped back, allowing the Solider to step forward and count out the red circles. "fourteen, fifteen, sixteen... I count seventeen pieces here sir." She reported. "Yes that's right, seventeen. That's approximately how many we were able to locate based on the footage. Now Solider. Turn around and count how many pieces we have on the desk." The moment the request left Xander's mouth, Soldier felt her heart sink down to the pits of her stomach. She knew exactly how many pieces they had recovered. Swallowing, she turned around to look at the desk, she began to speak. "Sir, while in New York were able to recover six-" Before she could finish speaking, she suddenly felt a hand press to the back of her head, and suddenly her face was fast approaching the desk below her. Xander had grabbed her head, smashing the Soldier face first into the desk. "I said COUNT Soldier! I know you're more of a brawn over brains kind of woman, but surely that feeble mind of yours knows how to count, right?" Xander's demeanor changed in an instant, practically baring his teeth like they were fangs. He didn't yell exactly, but his voice was raised as he leaned his face in close to the Soldier's, like a predator teasing it's prey.
Her breathing was heavy, and while she tried to remain calm, there was clear concern behind her eyes. After Xander barked orders for her to count out the pieces, she immediately did as told, her face still pressed into the table. "...fifteen....sixteen. W-We collected sixteen pieces of Bionicron in New York. Sir." She finally reported, feeling blood from her likely broken nose starting to pool up on the desk below her face. "So the Soldier does now how to use her brain. I was starting to worry the Lobotomy patient was smarter than you." He gestured towards The Stranger with his usual laugh, a stark contrast to his vicious actions just a moment ago. He let go of the Soldier, helping her stand back up and patting her on the back to go back to where she was previously standing. As she went back to her previous spot, Soldier pulled what looked like a purple bandage out of her belt and placed it on her nose. Not only did it seem to make her nose heal a bit quicker, it apparently greatly numbed the pain, as the Solider stood firmly at attention beside her teammates. Sitting back down, Xander let out a quiet breath, before smiling back up to the trio. "Now, lets go over what we know. Solider and Secret, the two of you landed at every crash site we could estimate. So it's likely one of them had two pieces you both somehow missed. Did you two encounter anyone at the sites?"
Before the Solider could explain their run in with the homeless man on the roof, Secret silently approached Xander's computer. Morphing it's hand into the shape of something resembling a USB drive, it inserted itself into the computer. Suddenly, footage started to play of Secret's point of view of the man that told them to run away. Pausing the footage, Secret zoomed in and enhanced the image, getting a clear view of the man. Bearded, looking to be in his mid thirties. "Thats the only person to directly interact with us." Soldier explained, before patting the pistol attached to her hip. "Fired a warning shot to scare him off and we left with the piece at that site." Xander looked closely at the footage, a wide smile growing on his face. "Talk about killing two bird with one stone." With an excited chuckle, the professor put up footage of the Bionicron fight, enhancing a zooming in on one of the robot's attackers. "The man that attacked you was there fighting Bionicron, so he likely was looking for pieces as well. That last piece is with him for sure." Xander commented, looking towards Soldier. "And not only that, thanks to our lovely friend Harris, we figured out this man's identity. Alan Martinson more well known as Adapter, last surviving member of the Champions."
"A superhero? He doesn't exactly look the part." Solider muttered with a scoff, her eyes trailing over the footage they had of Alan, now including some videos of his time as Adapter that Xander added. "What makes him so special?"
"Mr. Martinson was no regular super. His power's came from an alien that bonded to his body. One that is no longer with him it seems. But that doesn't mean we can't run a few experiments on his body and maybe get some valuable data off of him." With a grin that grew more sinister by the second, Xander looked to his special task force. "Well you three, you have your new assignment. Capture the former hero and the Bionicron piece he holds. Return them both here at once. And do try to be discreet, I don't need to have a second earful from Harris in less than 24 hours." After a salute, Soldier turned about and walked out, Secret following suit while Stranger continued to play with his fingers. "A hero, I never got to have a hero as a toy yet." He whispered out again, interlacing his inhuman hands with a quiet laugh.
