After the phone call with Andersen, Kratos directly made his way over to the Rehabilitation Center. Once he took the elevator down, he met up with the Middle-Aged Prison guard.
The man just as always had his usual scowl and the same two Mass Produced Nikke's flanked him. When he saw Kratos again, he scowled before saluting.
"Commander Kratos, back again?"
"I have clearance to see Sin now?"
The man frowned at that.
"I don't need to say it, but be careful with that one."
"I intend to. Come on then."
Guilty followed after Kratos without even looking at the guard while Quency winked at him. She raised her hands to show her cuff/guns. That made the poor guard grit his teeth with such strength that it was a miracle he did not crack them.
'The Commander and those bitches are the fucking same.'
Once they made their way inside, they took another elevator down to reach Sin's containment area. As they descended, Kratos looked at the two women with him.
"Alright then. Sin. Highly dangerous manipulative Nikke with the ability to control people with her voice. How? That has yet to be determined, but she wears a mask that distorts her voice to reduce the effect."
Guilty glanced over at Quency.
"I suggest we keep her away from Sin. Her lower intelligence will make her weak to the effect."
She said it with a completely straight face which made Quency frown.
"HEY! I take offense to that."
Guilty did not seem to mind.
"Good. Because it is true."
"COMMANDER! GUILTY IS BULLYING ME!"
She hugged Kratos around the waist and buried her face in his abbs. At first, she was just joking, but she pulled back slightly and pressed her hands against them.
"Wow, you could grind meat on those."
Kratos looked straight ahead with a smile.
"Thank you, I worked hard to be this muscular."
Quency giggled in a funny way.
"I can see you did big man."
She pulled away from Kratos as she could swear she could feel Guilty boring holes in her head. When Kratos looked at her, Guilty looked away from him. He shook his head as the elevator stopped.
When they stepped outside, they once again had to cross a large section of criminals. Unlike last time, no one cat called Guilty or Quency as both were quite famous. Instead, some people called out to Quency.
"Hey, Quency, mind giving me your stash. You don't need it anymore."
"Nope. Sorry about that."
"Oh come on, help a pal out."
Kratos zoned that out as they made it to the end of the hall into Sin's max security cell. He walked toward the large door made to contain even Nikkes. He removed his glove and placed it on the scanner on the door.
[Commander Kratos access granted.]
When the door unlocked with a serious of gears and locks, he turned to Guilty and Quency.
"Mind standing guard?"
Both of them shook their heads.
"Good luck boss man."
Guilty was more reserved, but she also wished him well.
"Be careful with her."
"I will."
He opened the door and entered the cell before closing the door behind him. When he walked inside, he immediately saw Sin. Unlike Quency or Sin, she was dressed quite luxuriously. Fancy jacket, running shoes, and comfy pants.
Before she even said anything he sat down at the large chair.
"Sin."
"YES! That is me! Never seen you before. Sorry about the mask, must be hard to understand me."
"No, I got that perfectly. I say the mask suits you. Looks cool."
"Don't get that often. Thanks. As you said, I am Sin. Nice to meet you."
"Likewise. I am Kratos, your new rehabilitator."
"I see. I wish I could speak to you normally as it is hard to speak. But-"
Kratos stood up and walked over to Sin. She froze as he reached out for either side of her mask. Sin was unable to remove it herself, but considering he had the authority to do it he removed it from her face.
With the mask in his hands, he waited for her to speak.
"Try it out? See if you can brainwash me."
Sin smiled before she did just that.
"Step aside and open the door for me. Won't you do that?"
Kratos froze stiff before he walked toward the door. He reached out to scan his hand on the scanner, but he stopped last second.
"You know what, I don't think I want to."
He turned around and sat down in front of Sin who was looking at him in shock.
"Not expecting it to not work were you?"
"H-"
"How? Simple, will power. If you think a little brainwashing can take over my mind you are in for something else. Now, let us continue with some honesty. Sin, you are evil."
She blinked a few times as he was quite blunt.
"Weren't you my counselor for rehabilitation?"
"Technically, but here is the thing. You can't be rehabilitated and you don't want it. You have caused a lot of harm to many people with that ability of yours, but I have a question. Have you ever tried that with a rapture?"
She did not answer for a few moments before shaking her head.
"No."
"Have you ever been to the surface or faced the raptures before?"
"No."
Neither Sin, Guilty, or Quency had seen real rapture combat. They were considered too much trouble to risk them on top after their crimes. He considered that quite a waste.
"I see. How long have you been locked in here?"
"A few months."
"Do you know who your family is?"
Sin shook her head.
"No. I was an orphan."
"Seems that is something you three share in common. Alright then, last question. what is it that you want in life? Why have all your counselors tried to wipe your criminal record? Even if they did that, as long as people know who you are they will always know your crimes.
So then, what was the point?"
Sin frowned at his words.
"I have my reasons."
Kratos squinted his eyes slightly as he stared directly into her purple eyes.
"What was the point of all your brainwashing crimes? What did you stand to gain? Money? Amusement? Joy?"
Sin frowned and did not answer that. She stayed quiet so Kratos stood up and walked over to her. With one rapid motion, her vocal distorting mask was back on her face. With a click, the mechanisms in it sealed shut under her hateful gaze.
She glared at the mask on her face as Kratos sat back down across from her.
"Here is the thing, there will be no rehabilitation for you? Simply put, you will be put under my command in my squad under my care. You can't be trusted on your own as we saw from your list of crimes. Quite impressive though how easily you can brainwash the more mentally feeble."
Sin finally spoke.
"And if I refuse?"
Kratos grinned.
"I write a report saying you can't be rehabilitated and you will be mind-wiped or scrapped. I rather not have either of those two as you are a rare individual Sin. But I am the last chance you are being given. Your choice? Will you behave under my command, or will you simply be erased?"
Sin looked down at the table as she tapped on it with her fingers. As she thought Kratos sweetened the deal.
"As you can see, I am immune to your brainwashing. So, I can promise you that I will allow you to at the minimum have times when you can go without a mask. Of course, it will be under my direct supervision as otherwise, zombies."
Sin looked up and nodded.
"I will behave."
"Good. Now give me a moment."
Kratos pulled out his phone and phoned Andersen. His phone rang a few times before the Deputy Chief answered.
"Kratos, I am in a meeting. What is it?"
"Permission for Sin's release into my control?"
"So soon?"
"The amount of work I can do with her is limited. All I can do is limit her ability to cause mayhem. I have removed her mask and proven that I am immune to her brainwashing. With that said, I am the best person to keep Sin from committing more crimes."
There was silence for a few seconds before he got his answer.
"You clear to take her, but do not let your guard down. We will keep things surveyed just in case. For your safety and everyone else."
"That is fine. I know you keep my house watched. Good thing you aren't allowed to add surveillance inside."
That was the truth as the Kronos who was one of the richest men in the Ark threatened to pull his support for the Central Government after his accident if they did not do better. It was why he was given this chance in the first place and put under Andersen and not his old command.
"If that is all, I really must go."
Andersen then cut the call which made Kratos turn to look at Sin.
"You hear all that?"
Sin nodded almost blankly.
"Just like that?"
"Yes. No need to bother with the more borring things as those won't work on you. In reality, I have not rehabilitated anyone of you three as I just keep you all from causing trouble. Same deal with you, don't cause trouble and you will be fine. For the record, that mask will only come off when no one else is around.
Don't know if Guilty or Quency are immune to that or not."
Once he got his words in, Kratos walked to the giant door and placed his still ungloved hand on the scanner. Once his identity was confirmed, the giant door ground opened to reveal Guilty and Quency waiting.
When they noticed the door open they turned around expecting the news. However, when they saw Sin walk out next to Kratos they were confused for a few seconds. Noticing the confusion, he explained.
"I called Andersen and told him what I spoke on with you two. As in, she is not going to be rehabilitated. All I need to do is make sure she does not go around brainwashing more people."
Guilty blinked slowly as she gazed at Sin. As for Sin herself, she was both irritated and slightly angry her ability seemed to not work on Kratos. Not once did he fall into her pace and keep her at his.
However, as she looked at Guilty and Quency they had different ideas about her Guilt voiced her concern that moment.
"Commander, you may be immune, but what if Quency? One with a mind as feeble as her will be easy pickings."
Quency was nodding away before the words Guilty spoke entered her ears.
"HEY! I take offense to that. My mind is far from feeble."
Guilty ignored her in favor of Kratos.
"Unlikely scenerio. We must take precautions to keep Quency brainwash-free."
Kratos cackled as he walked through the prison with Guilty, Quency, and Sin walking behind him. Sin sighed.
"Nice to meet you two. Is the squad up and running now?"
Kratos shook his head.
"Almost. Remember how I said my old squad was made of 5 Mass Produced Models?"
Guilty and Quency both nodded. Quency was wondering about it.
"Yeah, 4 were destroyed and one carried you back. Why?"
"Well, I think I am going to ask to get her added to my squad again."
Guilty tilted her head.
"What gain would that bring?"
Kratos grinned before his deadpan answer left the three Nikkes speechless.
"None, call it me being sentimental. Plus, I owe it to her don't I?"
Quency gave him a double thumbs up.
"Cool. But what about her new Commander?"
"Oh, I looked that up, he is just a dime-a-dozen rookie. Give me a second, time to call the one man who can move heaven and earth for me. My dad."
Kratos pulled out his phone and called his Father Kronos. When his father answered the phone and Kratos explained himself to him, his father agreed to his plan. A single mass-produced Nikke being moved from one Commander to another was easy.
(Every squad needs a porter, don't they?) :)