SF shows marked maladaptive behaviors and resentment toward the world. His experiences as the first of Thaddeus II’s acquisitions and preferred member of the unit have predisposed him to view all authority figures with open suspicion and hostility. Any attempts to perform cognitive behavioral therapy or mind healing have been met with outright violence.
Similar to other members of the unit, Sloane shows marked possessive behavior tied to extreme deprivation used as disciplinary action. Showing preferences toward non-essentials is deemed an intolerable vulnerability that can be exploited to control him, and therefore require excessive protectiveness and hoarding behaviors. This falls in line with the competitive atmosphere fostered by the unit’s trainers.
Interestingly, while SF claims to feel no loyalty or familial identity with his unit, he exhibits care behaviors and leadership. Other subjects often turn to him for approval and reassurance first. When questioned on this, SF chose not to respond.
After much observation, it is my opinion that SF differs from other subjects in one notable way. While he does not express or seem to understand positive emotion or social boundaries, SF is sharply cognizant of morals. He has retained an extremely rigid moral compass and appears to rely heavily on it for comfort. He believes that protecting the innocent is the only reason he should be allowed to exist. It’s unclear whether it is this belief or simply his seniority that has marked him (and VK) as the leaders of the unit.
With enough time, I believe this moral compass can be used as a gateway to more social behaviors and integration. However, it also puts SF at a high risk of disobedience and self-destructive tendencies. SF is secretive, distrustful, has no emotional reaction to killing, and extremely intelligent. Black and white thinking, as well as a complete refusal to compromise what he deems the correct course of action, can be wildly dangerous in this context.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
At this time, SF cannot be released into society and should be closely monitored at all times for signs that his moral compass still aligns with the wellbeing of himself, his unit, and the citizens of the EVP. Intensive cognitive behavioral therapy encouraged but will not be entered into voluntarily. Highest level flight risk.
NOTES:
SF is, in my opinion, the single most dangerous member of the unit. It is my belief that anyone who undertakes his psychological care is putting themselves at grave personal risk. Should he go AWOL, it’s unlikely that he will give authorities any other choice than to terminate.
CHAPTER
FOURTEEN
The first alertwent out at six AM. It didn’t wake him up because he wasn’t sleeping.
Sloane sat at his worktable in the armory. His helmet sat before him, partially disassembled. He’d figured out how to circumvent the tracker in it years ago, so the beeping that emitted from the speakers within the padded interior weren’t from that. It was from the first of several messages sent by his unit.
He was required to report for duty at five. Since they’d been on what equated to house arrest lately, that usually meant assisting either the Sovereign’s Guard or the intelligence units within Patrol.
But he didn’t show up, and he never would again.
A strange feeling tugged at his chest as he listened to the increasingly urgent alerts come in. He could disable them, too. That was why he’d taken out his tools. But for some reason he hesitated. It wasn’t because he was unsure about choosing Cecilia — he’d never been more certain about anything in his life — but because cutting off the final tether to his unit felt… wrong.
They were all he’d ever known.
No one understood what they’d gone through or how their minds worked. Onlytheyknew. If they were shifters, they’d be pack.
But they weren’t. Shifters would never make him choose between pack and mate.
Lips thinning, he reached for his tools. It was pointless to feel anything about leaving Fracture. There was no other choice. She needed him.
Gods knew he needed her.
So he disabled the alert system built into his helmet. If it made his stomach go sour, that was simply another cruel fact of life.
Sloane left his helmet on the worktable. Luckily he’d built the armory to double as a training room, so he had something to do while he locked himself away. Instinct screamed at him to run to the bedroom and guard his consort, but he had a feeling she wouldn’t like it if he watched her sleep, so he forced himself to stay in the only room her scent hadn’t penetrated.
Stripping off his shirt, Sloane approached the elf-made punching bag hung in the corner. Tension rippled through his muscles as he sized up the punching bag.
Normally he was a man of complete focus. He acted without doubt or uncertainty. But things had never been so… complicated before.
He didn’t miss the days of Thaddeus II’s reign. No one liked being treated like a rabid dog on a short leash, and he’d never agreed with terrorizing harmless citizens. It’d been decades of endless nightmares and torture for the entire unit.
And yet they’d been programmed a certain way during that time. The desire for rules, orders, and strict black and white thinking had been carved into their bones with relentless malice. They weren’t supposed to have tochooseanything. They weren’t supposed to beconflictedor towant.
Those were the consequences of the humane new policies that had been introduced with Thaddeus’s death, and in some ways they felt like a worse punishment than any torture.
Sloane slammed his right fist into the punching bag. It hit with a percussivebangas the bag swung on the thick chain that suspended it from the ceiling.
He didn’twantto leave Fracture. He didn’twantto give up Cecilia. He couldn’t have both.
