And So It Begins
"Sir?" Pete popped his head into a familiar office, faltering as he spotted his team, sending the young naval aviators a questioning glance, "You...wanted to see me?" Pete turned back to Beau.
"Yes this is-"
"Agent Anderson," They introduced themelves, "I work for the NSA."
"Oh?" Pete cocked his head to the side.
"Yes, um, we've developed a project compiled of phone cameras, radios, any electronics surrounding someone to essentially create a movie of a portion of their life."
"Interesting?" Pete frowned, "I'm sorry, what does this have to do with me?"
"Well...I was wondering if you would consent to being our test? If you would be willing for us to follow and show off portions of your life?"
"Um..." Pete hesitated, "I don't know if I'm comfortable doing tha-"
"We would finance the Darkstar project for another decade and would also provide monetary aid, a total of $50,000, for you each month."
Pete gawked before shaking off his shock.
"Okay, fuck, what do you need, blood?" He wondered.
"No, we just need to hook you up to our machine."
"Alright," Pete nodded, "And will this be a private affair?"
"We did one previous test where, um, it was a private affair and you have to understand...we will be seeing some really heavy stuff and without emotional support...the previous person we tested on...didn't recover."
"Okay, so...we'll be doing it together?" Pete questioned.
"Yes," Agent Anderson nodded.
"Okay..."
*****
Everyone was led into a theatre.
"Wow, really going for the whole movie thing, huh?" Pete joked nervously.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Bernie stopped the man.
"Of course I don't want to do this," Pete scoffed, "I hate talking about myself but...think of what we can do in another decade."
"Mav..."
"Hondo it's gonna be okay," Pete mustered up a convincing smile, "I'll be fine."
"...Okay."
"Right this way, Captain Mitchell," Agent Anderson gestured him to a seat in the center of the theater.
Pete hesitantly sat and the man got to work connecting wires to his head.
"This isn't going to hurt, is it?" Pete frowned.
"No, sir," The agent promised.
"Okay..." Pete tried to relax in the chair.
"Alright, everyone else can sit," The man called out.
Instantly the seats around Pete were taken, Bradley sat to his left, Jake sitting beside Bradley before Natasha could sit, Natasha scoffing as she sat beside him, Bob sitting next to her, Solomon sitting next to him, Beau taking the seat next to him. Javy sat on Pete's right, Reuben sitting next to him, Mickey on his right, Billy sitting next to him, Neil taking the seat next to him, Callie sitting beside him, Brigham sitting to her right, Logan sitting next to him. Bernie rolled his eyes as he claimed the seat at the end of that row.
"Whenever you're ready, Captain," The NSA agent said gently.
"Let's get started," Pete swallowed heavily, Agent Anderson flipping the switch, activating the machine.
He closed his eyes and relaxed, machine whirring as it turned on, Pete twitched in discomfort but Anderson was right, it didn't hurt, in the next moment the large screen was crackling to life...movie beginning.