He felt like he was being Xeroxed. A bright band of white light tracked up and then back down his body.

“Step out.”

Dominic did, fighting to stop the tremor from showing in his limbs.

One of the other guys—Bara—clamped a hand on his shoulder.

“Jeez, man, how tight are you wound?”

Dom managed a nervous chuckle. “Not much for loud noises,” he said. “Blame an IED.”

“Bad luck, man.” The grip loosened. “But they put you back together well.”

Dom nodded. “Well enough.”

They were led to a room with no chairs, nowhere to sit, no signs of comfort at all. Just bare walls, empty floor. The door swung shut behind them. And locked.

“You think it’s a test?” asked one of the women—Plinetti—after thirty minutes.

“If so, it’s a shit one,” said Matthews, stretching out on the floor.

“It’ll take more than a white box to fuck with me.”

Dom rocked on his heels, shoulders tipping back against the wall.

“Could use some coffee,” said Bara with a yawn.

The last guy—Klinberg—spoke up. “Hey,” he said in a mock whisper. “You ever seen one?”

“One what?” asked the other woman. Linfield.

“You know. What they keep here.”

What, he’d said. Not who. Dom resisted the urge to correct him as the door swung open and a female soldier walked in. She was tall and lean, with warm brown skin and short black hair. Most of the recruits sprang to their feet—attention was a hard habit to break—but the guy on the ground rose slowly, almost lazily.

“I’m Agent Rios,” said the soldier, “and I’ll be leading you through today’s orientation.” She strode the length of the room. “Some of you are wondering what we do here. EON is separated into Containment, Observation, and Neutralization. Containment teams are dedicated to the location, pursuit, and capture of EOs. Observation of those EOs is stationed here at the base.”

Klinberg raised his hand. “Which team gets to kill them?”

Dominic’s chest tightened, but Rios’s expression didn’t falter.

“Neutralization is a last resort, and its teams are built from those who’ve proven themselves in other departments. Safe to say, Klinberg, you won’t be killing EOs any time soon. If that’s a deterrent for you, let me know so I can address the remaining five candidates without your distraction.”

Klinberg had the sense to shut up.

“Before we begin,” continued Rios, “you’re about to sign a nondisclosure agreement. If you break it, you will not be arrested. You will not be sued.” She smiled grimly. “You will simply disappear.”