ONI Candidate Assessment Program V5.02A/Romeo

Romeo Interview
{Romeo enters the room}

Buck: Did you get lost Corporal? Have a seat. Under the table. Marker on your right temple, please.

{Romeo sits down, puts the Neural Marker on}

Buck: Let me get a baseline image. Think of a flower.

{Romeo's thoughts: A image of a flower tattooed on a woman's breast.}

Buck: That's nice. What is your name and rank?

Romeo: I usually know who I'm talking to before I start getting friendly.

Buck: Your superior officer.

Romeo: The magic words.

Buck: The magic words, what?

Romeo: The magic words - sir. Lance Corporal Kojo Agu. Service number: 14606-85099-KA.

{Romeo's thoughts: A hand writing the service number on a whiteboard.}

Romeo: Now, maybe you want to tell me why I'm here, sir?

Buck: Actually, Corporal, you're going to tell me. I know you volunteered for this mission - doesn't mean you'll get it. I need to know I've got the right men for this job, that my people are mission-effective. So, why are you here? Why are you ODST?

Romeo: I guess I just had enthusiastic support from the right people.

Buck: Meaning?

Romeo: Meaning I was fast-tracked.

{Romeo's thoughts: a woman and a man standing outdoors, talking to each other}

Romeo: The Governor of the colony at Castra knew a Colonel somewhere who knew somebody else and boom, I'm at ODST training a couple days later.

Buck: You can not pull favors to get into ODST training.

''{Romeo's thoughts: In bed with a woman. Is pulled away from the bed.}''

Romeo: Apparently you can when the governor wants to keep you away from his wife. Before that, I thought I only had one great talent.

Buck: So, you a born killer, corporal?

''{Romeo's thoughts: View through sniper rifle scope: Shooting Brutes. Brief flashes of ODSTs.}''

Romeo: If I wasn't born to do this, I don't know who is.

Buck: I'm not looking for cocky. I'm looking for talent.

Romeo: Lucky for you, you landed both, sir.

Buck: Do you know the difference between a mission that you can make up stories about when you're chasing tail in a bar, and a mission where there are no stories. One you carry out and you never mention again?

Romeo: What kind?

''{Romeo's thoughts: Going into position in an industrial complex, observes two men wearing suits, through sniper rifle scope. A woman with a child is present, child runs to other man, who Romeo presumably assassinates.}''

Buck: Kind of mission that you don't get to ask questions about.

Romeo: Yeah, I think I can handle that, sir. But what does this have to do with the mission? A drop to a Covenant ship isn't exactly top secret.

{Romeo's thoughts: Brief flash of a woman.}

Buck: Just a few more questions, corporal. And I'll ask them.

{Classified clip}

Buck: From looking over your records. I see you've been part of a covert extraction.

Romeo: Yeah, I guess you could say that. I know gettin' in and out without anybody seeing you is a special talent. I can get you a few more references at once without it necessary, sir.

Buck: Coral.

Romeo: Yeah.

Buck: Mamore.

Romeo: Mm-hm.

Buck: New Jerusalem.

Romeo: Heh. Yeah.

Buck: Beta Gabriel. {Pause} That's a lot of action. And a hundred-percent kill rate. How'd you manage that, corporal?

Romeo: Well... When you love what you do, it's easy. The real question, sir, is why are we talking covert extraction for a sting-to-ship infiltration mission.

Buck: I told you. I'll ask the questions.

{Classified clip end}

Romeo: Depends on what you mean, sir.

{Romeo's thoughts: Flash of Earth, then from surface of another planet}

Buck: I mean, have you ever been to your home planet or are you just one of those colony kid who doesn't know where they came from?

''{Romeo's thoughts: A desert with a sandstorm and some buildings. Flashes in the distance.}''

Romeo: I have a home planet, sir, and Earth isn't it. I know where I came from. I am a colony kid and the only Earth experience I ever needed was seeing it through a transport window, and that was more than enough. {Pause} There's a reason people moved off that rock, sir.

Buck: Colonial pride notwithstanding, I think you know what we're fighting for. There are some things we can't afford to lose.

{Romeo's thoughts: Flash of a woman wearing a dress}

Romeo: Maybe. But to me, it's just another place with wind variants, gravitational pull and things to kill, sir.

Buck: Last slot on this team is going to be filled by a rookie. Before we make drop, I need to know if you have a problem with that.

Romeo: He or she?

Buck: He.

Romeo: He a sniper?

Buck: No.

Romeo: Then what the hell do I care, sir?

Buck: Don't be late next time.

Romeo: Sir.

Buck: You're dismissed.

{Romeo takes the marker off his temple, gets off his chair, stops to the door}

Buck: Corporal. Nice flower.

Romeo: Thank you, sir.

{Romeo leaves the room}