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[color=37AEB3][i][sub]The Stadium[/sub][/i][/color]
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[color=Silver]	[i][b]Click[/b][/i]. The lights flickered out and William's little test began in the depths of the R&D facility. A few eyes pried upon him, namely more those of experienced engineers once again running the same diagnostics they'd been maintaining the last year or so. His hands worked tenderly, taking in the each moment he held. His eye was flurried with a wave of vision, scanning behind the walls and containers around him. The test? Locating a few objects to assemble a crude mock explosive. The outcome? Well distinguishing the specific small parts he needed in the seas of many others proved challenging. Every three seconds another burst from his sonar would update him once more, though the fact his targets weren't moving, mobile or sentient made the tension only lay upon the timer ticking away. Every now and then he'd fumble, or nearly lose his grip on a small pair of tweezers in the moment of construction. He knew that there wasn't enough time to properly assemble it, nor was he sure of [i]why[/i] they'd set up the specific test like so. The likelihood of him actually assembling something in the middle of a battlefield as near to none, and the UHF-SON-2 was not some sort of searchlight for construction tools. In the end, the test concluded and the results were gathered. Poorly satisfied faces shook their heads, flashing the lights back on. William squinted, turning off his headgear and trying to adjust his eyesight to the undeniably large shift in luminosity.

	The following conversation was tiresome, easily defined by boredom and incoherence. Since William had departed from the R&D Team the year prior, he'd been granted a replacement official to [i]accompany[/i] the development of the SON-2. Though a people's person, it was an unavoidable temptation to refuse their access to the gear itself. Whoever had stepped in was previously more akin to larger devices, ones that were designed to directly change the frontline situation of CQC Operations. But the SON-2...that was different; a subtlety to the shape of the shadowy battlefield they were going to rage war across. Yet, segregating his own partners from his gear like a selfish child would've made no amends with [b][i]SIX[/i][/b], and so compliance was only natural. The new guy wanted to run every kind of test he thought was relevant, indirectly leading to several obscure testing environments like the one he'd committed to that day. It didn't anger William, only irritate. Irritation was something he could've worked with.

	He'd been living on-base for as long as it had been active. RAINBOW's little tightly knitted confinement had been his primary home, one where he barely recognised what it was like to be back in England. It was also something that tested what it was like to be static, settled down with some sort of partner in a small village, town or city. The military life had consumed that little daydream, making it apparent that he was to conclude his service before he could have ever found something sweet to kindle. After yet another talking down to by his replacement engineer, William was granted a dismissal, letting him walk back to the lockers and strip himself of his headgear. Keeping it safe behind lock and key at least put his mind to rest. There were three models of the UHF-SON-2, all separated in the event of an emergency where one would be destroyed or captured. It was a precious little thing for William, a brief reminder of the hours of testing he did with Michael. Those were days that were surely going to be missed.

	Recently, a lot of newer operators had joined the ranks of RAINBOW, none of which William had particularly gotten to know yet. He wanted to, of course, but it wasn't exactly a cakewalk to approach the ranks of skilled, grizzled or elegant warriors that were to be by his side throughout the globalised threat. He'd seen a few lurking around the base in his free time, but most of them were always training, so he suspected. It was hard to catch another operator off-duty at a similar time, especially considering the erratic and wild variations in training each one subjected themselves to. Some focused on the basics - firearms, athletics and endurance - whilst others took to specialist routes to further hone their set of skills. William usually was clumped into the latter, usually keeping his basic training for the earliest hours of the morning. It wasn't the healthiest lifestyle, not by a longshot, but it was enough to meet the demands of his career.

	With the global situation growing in tension, it was harder for William to contact Michael, and when they did it was strictly prohibited to discuss RAINBOW's affairs. Understandable, of course. William had no suspicions of his brother, but he did suspect only a few backlogs could be encrypted and tucked away from the threat that stalked them. RAINBOW's deployment against the new threat was minimal, however, giving them the basic advantage of being beneath the radar. Intelligence was always on the prowl of any direct hacks, spies or whatever, granting that extra safety net for the Operators to fall on.

	Without any plans for the next few hours, he filled up a bottle at any nearby water fountain and made his way outside, taking in the sunlit exhaustion of the exterior world. William strode across the pathways, nodding to the few consistent members of RAINBOW that he recognised. There, he sat down on a lonesome bench and took a large swig from his bottle. Its refreshing sustenance trickled down his throat and spilt slightly on his collar, before he let his head droop backwards over the backrest of the bench. To say he was tired was a slight understatement, but it wasn't anything life threatening or perpetrating to the line of work. He waited there, unsure of anyone else wanted to use the bench for any other purpose. Perhaps the solitude was a good break from the usual bustle of being on duty. And with his years behind enemy lines, involvement in large scale operations and raids on terrorist cells, he found the sweetest and most personal moments like those to be the highlight of what made life worth living.[/color]