Sgt. Sweet said "Go ahead then."

Tom began "Sir, I remember what happened in the underwater base."

"Great! We can do the debrief right now, then." Sgt Sweet took out his phone, set it to voice record mode, and set it on the table.

Tom told exactly everything that happened during the test, up until the point where he actually no longer remembered. Sgt. Sweet's expression changed during Tom's narrative, but he let Tom tell the story without interruption.

Sgt Sweet stopped the voice recording and put his phone back in his pocket. "Let's get that food now."

Tom didn't know what he expected to happen when he confessed, but that was not what he expected. "You're ... you're not going to punish me?"

"No, *I'm* not. I have to include this in my report to the higher-ups, and there could be consequences from them, but that's all above my rank."

"So ... we're just getting food now?" asked Tom.

"Yes. Get dressed." ordered Sgt. Sweet.

Tom put the camo pants and jacket over his wetsuit, then put the boots on. His neoprene gloves and hood were still visible.

They walked to the mess hall. It wasn't a scheduled meal time, so it wasn't crowded. They got some chicken nuggets, mashed potatoes and vegetables. Then they sat down at a table to themselves.

Sgt. Sweet broke the silence. "Since you're being forthcoming with me, I'm going to be forthcoming with you. You're probably wondering why such an elaborate test."

"I kind of was." admitted Tom.

"Well the higher ups, higher than any you've met, were questioning whether to cut the funding for this project." the Sergeant chewed his food thoughtfully, "They wondered if you, a person with no previous military experience, would jump into action and put your skills to use when the time came."

"That does help explain it." said Tom when his mouth was empty.

"So they made a test that you would think was real, and made it unbeatable to see if you could keep cool under pressure." continued Sgt. Sweet.

"What did you mean by 'cut funding'?" asked Tom.

"I'm not a financial guy, but things like your deployment and training, and the suit development team ..."

Tom chewed his chicken nugget and thought to himself. "Cut funding to development ... what does that mean if they cut funding to Dr. Conrad before he develops the removal routine? Am I just like this forever?"

"The others would have seen their funding reduced too." continued Sgt. Sweet.

"Others?" asked Tom.

"Other people with suits like you."

"But Mr Dreidger said that there were no others with suits like mine."

"No, he would have said no others at your location, and that was months ago; am I right?."