A S.U.P.E.R. facility had been compromised by the X-men, Gemma Taylor had been compromised by Jorge Cervantes, the integrity of the entire universe had been compromised by some kind of an inter-dimensional rift - and yet, somehow Agent T was becoming a glorified babysitter for one of S.U.P.E.R.'s most valuable assets. An adapted, partnered with a mutant kid. It was such a ridiculous idea, it was almost funny. Everyone knew Agent T was horrible with children. Then again, she was horrible with adults too, and she could almost picture the scene where the other agents drew lots to decide who the poor unfortunate soul would be that had to partner with her.

In the end, orders were orders. Her superiors knew what they were doing. All Agent T had to do was follow them, trust her training, and not make a mistake again. If her partner did, she would deal with it. The kid might have been designated as her partner, but that did not mean they were equals...

She steeled herself before she punched the code in to open the door to the small cell.

... that, and interact with a mutant child.

"Delta Seven, report for duty."

How the child had managed to avoid reprogramming was a mystery to him-- then again, SUPER's surveillance had no way of noting that there was a mutant in the mirrors, talking to one of their best tools-- Delta 7 had no intention of telling them otherwise. He still knew protocol and was fully aware of his training, so his encounter with Mirage would in no way impact his ability to serve his purpose.

When Delta Seven was requisitioned, he was not advised of who he would assist. Kappa operatives were fairly standard, because they could interrupt him if he got out of hand. But there were... a lot... of Kappa operatives. Earlier that day, guards had delivered civvie clothes and instructed him to change out of his uniform. Thus, when the door opened, Delta Seven was finishing wriggling into a fitted tank top. The hiss of pneumatics pulled the child's attention as the door swung open.

Agent Taylor. The child frowned. At least Delta 5 gave him treats.

>> "Delta Seven, report for duty."

Delta Seven slid his feet into his shoes, neither of which were tied, and clopped towards the door. It wouldn't do to keep Agent Taylor waiting, even if it meant walking around in untied shoes. Delta Seven stopped in front of her, lifting his gaze.

The boy was all kinds of disheveled when she walked in through the door; in the middle of putting on civilian clothing. Agent T clicked her tongue as he wiggled into a tank top, and then walked over without tying his shoes. Somewhere deep inside old memories bubbled up from another life, but they only lasted a moment before they burst.

"Tie your shoes, Delta Seven." she scoffed, folding her arms, looking the boy over. He was young. Too young to be dependable, actually, even if he was well trained. And he was obviously not well trained just yet. "Have you worked with a Kappa before?"

It was not unusual for some of the more volatile assets to work with adapteds; Agent T was aware that her aura made her valuable, just like the boy's powers selected him for training, rather than tagging.

“Yes, Agent Taylor,” he said dutifully, kneeling to tie his right shoe first. He worked in silence, efficiently finishing the bow with a double-knot, before moving-on to his left shoe. Most agents retrieved him from requisition, but it would seem that Agent Taylor didn’t even trust the orderlies to do their jobs properly. Having tied both shoes, Delta 7 rose once again.

“Yes, Agent Taylor,” he said in response to the second question, “I am often partnered with Kappa operatives.”

At some point, someone had said that he was a valuable tool when it came to apprehending targets—one that they could not afford to lose. As such, he needed to be kept on a short leash. Surely Agent T had to know this, though—it was all supposed to be in his case file. He lingered there before the Kappa agent, rocking on his feet. At her word, they would depart.

The kid could follow directions better than he could dress himself, apparently. Gemma waited while he completed the process before she asked another question. He was not sulking or resisting her, which was a good sign, too. Maybe this was not going to be as painful as she'd expected.

>>“Yes, Agent Taylor. I am often partnered with Kappa operatives.”

That made sense. Agent T nodded.

"You know how it works, then. You stay close to me unless I say otherwise. Let's go."

She walked out of the cell, and down the hallway. From this point on, she was partnered with Delta Seven, and as an asset, he was her responsibility.

"Have you received combat training?"

Delta 7 trotted after Agent Taylor dutifully, occasionally jogging a few strides to keep up with her. Kappa Agents and their damn Kappa auras. What a pain in the butt. But Agent Taylor had ordered him to stay close, and so he would.

>> "Have you received combat training?"

This was all in his records. In his file. It was standard for operatives to receive training, combat or otherwise.

"Yes, Agent Taylor," the boy reported, "Have you?"

He probably shouldn't have said that. But it was a stupid question to ask.

>>"Yes, Agent Taylor. Have you?"

Gemma's eyes flashed as she snapped around to stare at the boy. Assets were not allowed to have attitudes. That was the first thing that got stripped, ideally, right along with useless names. Learning to answer yes or no questions with yes or no was a basic skill that they had to acquire, and while it sometimes proved more difficult than others, Agent T found herself increasingly annoyed that her partner apparently lacked the essential restraint.

"That was an unnecessary question." she said shortly "But since you were in the mood for asking, I guess I will have to assess your skills before we go on any actual missions. Lose the attitude, Delta Seven."

She led the way down the hall to one of the empty training rooms. It only had some mattresses on the ground for hand-to-hand practice, and no windows.

"I suppose your training relied on your shapeshifting abilities?"

The retort was not appreciated, and Delta Seven could see that Agent T had fixed him with a sharp stare in his peripheral vision. He kept his gaze forward, the only indication that Delta Seven had realized his faux pas being the leaping muscle in his jaw, which flexed as he clenched his teeth. Further protest would only lead to more restrictions. But despite the fact that he was a brainwashed government tool, he was also an adolescent government tool, which led to occasional flaws in the system. This, of course, was noted in his case file. Conditioning had grown less resolute due to the shifting hormonal balances in his system.

“It was an unnecessary question,” the boy agreed thinly. Which question was unnecessary would be left to Agent T’s interpretation. Though he was an agent that required requisitioning, he was still an agent—just with less agency—he had the same training as everyone else and, in some cases, more in-depth training. Nothing more needed to be said on that matter. Agent T led Delta Seven to the hand-to-hand combat chamber, and Delta Seven surveyed his reflection in the floor-to-ceiling mirror that loomed before him. He rolled his lips, thinking back to his friend from the mirror-world. What was their name again?? He’d endured a reconditioning since the outbreak, which meant that his mind was foggy at best—he couldn’t even be sure that his mirror-friend was even real.

“Affirmative, Agent T,” Delta Seven replied dutifully, “My training implements my mutational advantages.” He would not say that his training “relied” on his mutation, though. That’d suggest that he was useless when cooperating with a Kappa. And, if that were the case, he wouldn’t have been partnered with Agent T in the first place.

“This is not requisitioning,” Delta Seven observed, remaining by the doorway. He hadn’t been ordered to enter, so he was technically not breaking orders. Requisitioning did not occur in the hand-to-hand combat room-- the diagnostics assessments were performed elsewhere, and an inkling of the boy's good sense told him that Agent T had not brought him here for requisitioning.

The young man pulled himself together, and voiced his agreement with her statement, even though there was not much conviction behind it. Agent T knew from the file that the adolescent asset had problems with conditioning, which was to be expected, but it did not make it any less annoying that she had to partner with someone who was complicated, even for a mutant.

>>“Affirmative, Agent T. My training implements my mutational advantages.”

"Well that is not going to do much good for you with me around, is it?" Gemma stated flatly, arching an eyebrow as Delta Seven stopped in the door of the room. Again, with the hesitation.

>>“This is not requisitioning,”

"No, it is not." Agent T nodded, a little annoyed "We are assigned as partners for an undefined period of time. Hence, I need to make sure you can hold your own in combat without using your mutation."

This was going to take longer than she would have liked.

Delta 7 obedienty found his way into the room, balling and unballing his fists. They didn't bag and tag Kappa operatives. Only non-humans. so he failed to see what Agent T hoped to achieve in this sparring match. Delta 7 was at an obvious disadvantage and, as protocol posited, he rarely worked within a Kappa operative's nullification range. They were used as a control, not as a supervisor.

It was thus that Delta Seven couldn't shake the sense that he would be the other Agent's punching bag... there was no other reason for them to be in the combat-training room. The worst part was, Delta Seven was powerless to do anything against it.

He said nothing. He waited for whatever punishment lay in store. Of course he'd fight back, as was commanded of him, but... god, some of these Kappa operatives were the absolute worst.

Delta Seven finally gave in and walked into the room, although he did not show much enthusiasm for the combat part of the training. He was really just a kid... Gemma would have thought he was pretending to be a kid, but inside her aura, that was a factual impossibility. So, she had a kid assigned as a partner. Great. Splendid. She was not even sure how to start a fight with someone like that, especially if he had been trained to rely on his mutation. She could not very well just go ahead and... screw it. She had an assignment.

Agent T took on a fighting stance, and threw a punch at the kid.

Delta Seven mirrored the Kappa operative, sinking into a position that signified he was ready. She didn't give him any directions, just squared-off with him and swung. Seven dodged to his left, his eyes widening in alarm. As he dodged, her fist extended past his ear. He felt the breeze in that one.

It wouldn't serve him to back off too far, since his reach was shorter than hers. He'd have to stay just out of reach. He tried to deal a blow of his own, a shovel hook aimed at Agent T's liver.

"You didn't give me a directive," the boy observed. How would he know what kind of fighting style to use if Agent T didn't give him a directive? Unless his directive was to stand still and let her vent her frustrations...

The child dodged the punch, but only barely. He knew how to take on a fighting stance, but in the end, his smaller size was a significant disadvantage in the situation, especially against someone with Gemma's height. He did not run, which was good, but he also did not get good enough momentum to actually land the punch he tried to throw.

>>"You didn't give me a directive,"

"Here is your directive, Delta Seven" Agent T responded, maintaining her fighting stance "Defeat me."

Not try. If he couldn't do it, but at least tried his best, she would know what needed to be improved before she took him on the field. But orders and directives were important, and they had to be specific. Gemma threw another punch, getting in closer to crowd Delta Seven's space, and see how he did when overwhelmed in close quarters. Within her aura.