You had more than enough time to buy some clothes

"I think I'd want to meet him before I say Yes or No on this," Tank said, referring to Colonel Price. "I'm treating this more as a job interview than anything else, and I'd like to get a feel for who my boss is going to be."

«I'd really love to get a feel for our co-workers, but I doubt that's likely,» he added to Ana Sofia. «So... are we doing this?»

"That can be arranged" Valerie readily agreed "Provided I am similarly satisfied with you.  Do you mind telling me a little bit about yourselves?" she started with a text-book interview question.  It was common, because it was a good starting point.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:17, Sun 25 Apr 2021.

Ana Sofía thinks to Frank, 'Probably, but let's find out as much as we can first.'

"Sure. How much life history do you want?" she replies to Valerie.

"And how much do you already have?" Tank added. He was still wearing his mask, although he'd had the opportunity to change into street clothes. He really disliked the thing, though, and would be just as glad to finally take it off. He mostly expected that Cooper and the rest of her department already knew who he was. "Because there isn't really that much to tell, in my case. Wouldn't want to bore you with things you already knew."

He pulled off the mask. Surprise! He was nobody special!

"Name is Frank Guberman," he said, looking for any spark of recognition in Ms. Cooper's eye to indicate that yes, she knew that.

Valerie’s ruby lips curled into a smile
“Pretend like I know nothing about you and give me the rundown. I don’t need your full life’s story – just the interesting bits" 
This message was last edited by the player at 19:05, Mon 26 Apr 2021.

"Not much interesting before I developed my powers," Frank said, tucking his mask into a pocket as he talked. Cooper probably just wanted to know his 'origin' story, and not about anything else Frank might have thought interesting. Not that there really was a lot of that. He should tell her about his bar mitzvah, maybe? No. Just the 'origin', thanks. "I was a chubby, geeky kid, who developed an interest in football as a way to communicate with my father, who's the ultimate football nut. Then I grew big and muscular, and actually played for my high school.

"I was scouted by Empire State University, full ride. Then they adopted the policy for testing for mutant genes, and wham. I was a mutant, and I was off the team. No football scholarship.

"I wasn't as strong as I am now, when that happened. A few months ago, I still couldn't believe I was a mutant. I thought it was just an amazing growth spurt. But since then I've grown a lot stronger. I mean a lot. Stronger every time I test myself, actually.

"And that's really all there is to know. I'm a super-strong geek."

"Well, then... Half of my family are Mexican-American from New Mexico before it was part of the United States, and another quarter are Mexican-American via immigration years ago. The other quarter of my family are Navajo. My great-grandfather was a code-talker in WWII. One grandfather immigrant was also in the US Army. My brother is currently with the US Army in Afghanistan. So my family has been here a long time and has served the country.

"I grew up in Albuquerque with three siblings, my parents, and some grandparents, speaking Spanish and Diné at home and English in school. I spent much of my time outside my studies reading, playing chess, and running. When I started having trouble with my powers developing I got accepted to the Xavier Institute. I finished high school there. Since high school I've been modeling and working on a degree in psychology at Columbia University.

"How's that as a summary?"

Valerie took some mental notes as she listened to them talk.   She was happy to learn that both Frank and Ana had a normal upbringing, and that their life (up until the point they discovered they were mutants) was beret of drama.  A good childhood was strongly correlated to healthy, well adjusted, adult life.  She knew it, because:

“A degree in psychology from Columbia?” she asked with some suspicion, wondering for a moment if Ana was playing her, particularly after she omitted the really interesting part about the nature of her gifts

“That’s what I’ve majored in as well.  I received my PHD from Columbia last year, in fact”
This message was last edited by the player at 18:03, Wed 28 Apr 2021.

"Yes, but I've only just finished freshman year. So I haven't gotten very far at all yet. It seemed fitting to help me understand my own mind and the thoughts of others that constantly flood me. Plus I seem to be a bit of a mother hen around the children, so developmental psychology might suit me. You'll have to give me some advice on which professors to try to take classes with, even if a PhD is a long way ahead of where I am."

"I’ll be happy to help in anyway I can.  I should tell you, however, that we intend to keep the both of you busy.  Judging by the increasing frequency of crises we’re facing we’ll be lucky if we can get a good night’s sleep in between saving the world”

She took a breather before moving on to address the elephant in the room

“There is something else we must discuss, before we go any further.  We do not currently have the means to safely confine mutants, save the measures you saw on the island” she quickly followed up and clarified before they got the wrong idea:

“The experiments were not sanctioned by the President.  She, and I, knew nothing about them.  All we were made aware of was that the prisoners were heavily sedated as part of their confinement.  It is the best we could come up; a temporary measure while our best minds are busy at work, searching for a way to nullify mutant powers”

“The inmates were all extremely dangerous – the majority of them were hardened criminals; murderers, rapists, terrorists.  The rest had no control of their powers, posing a danger to themselves and to others.  I’m telling you all of this because I want you to understand what you’re signing up for.  If you accept the offer to join Freedom Force, dangerous mutants you will apprehend will likely find themselves in a facility like the one on Nomans Land.  We simply don't have any other option”
This message was last edited by the player at 17:33, Thu 29 Apr 2021.

"Well, you might be able to help with a leave of absence, then. I don't want to give it up, but there are more important things."

She lets Valerie Cooper say her piece. "Sedation to the point required is reasonable. If a mutant's power is that out of control, that may well save their life as well as many others. If a criminal cannot be incarcerated otherwise, that is a more humane approach. So long are the experimentation on unwilling subjects stops. That I cannot abide."

“And neither can I.  The infirmary’s chief physician’s story is that they were performing an autopsy of a prisoner that has allegedly died from a drug overdose” she looked at frank, and back to Ana “And yes, I’m not buying it either.  We will get to the bottom of it, and make sure to implement measures to prevent it from happening again”

An idea suddenly occurred to her; one that would help speed things along:
“Oh!  If you can read minds, I could use your help with the interrogation ”
This message was last edited by the player at 12:44, Fri 30 Apr 2021.

"Sounds like the performance side of the job interview. I try not to as a general rule to avoid invading privacy. But like a policeman with a search warrant or in the midst of a crime, there are times when it's no longer an unethical invasion. It would help if I knew more about who is being interrogated and why. People have a lot of history, desires, etc. Otherwise it's like walking into a library and trying to find a particular book without knowing anything about the book."

Frank just settled back and followed the conversation. It stood to reason that there would be a lot more for Ana Sofia to explain about her powers than there was for Frank to explain about his. He was strong, period. 'Lift from the knees' would be about all he had to say on the subject.

"I will send you the full dossier as soon as I can.  In the meantime, unless there's something else you'd like to ask me, I propose to fly the two of you to our compound near DC, where we can complete your psychological evaluation, and give you the opportunity to meet with Douglas Price and the rest of Freedom Force"

"Sounds good to me. You, Frank?"

"Sounds like a plan," Frank agreed.

"Here we are; Freedom Force HQ"

Valerie tapped against the helicopter’s window to draw their attention to the right

“The installation was originally owned by SHIELD” she had to raise he voice so they would have a chance to hear her over the spinning rotor blades: “- but was repurposed for Freedom Force exclusive use a few months back.  We needed a secluded place where our agents can train without endangering innocent civilians, yet a short distance away from Washington DC.  We don’t expect you to spend all your time here; Freedom Force is not a military unit.  But you should probably look for real-estate nearby".

She turned her head back to look at Ana and Frank who were sitting opposite of her, her eyes hidden behind the mirrored aviator sunglasses

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”

"It's really nice," Frank agreed, leaning over to get a better look. It certainly didn't look military. It looked more like a mansion that one might find cantilevered over the ocean in Northern California. "The mention of D.C. real estate brings me to wonder something that I really hadn't considered until now. D.C. is one of the most expensive cities in the country. What does this job pay?"

"2.5 million dollars per year" It sounded like a lot, but like she told the president when she negotiated the deal, the government paid more for Blackwater, and each member of Freedom Force was easily worth more than ten times as much as the private military company "You shouldn't have any problems finding a place"
This message was last edited by the player at 03:57, Mon 03 May 2021.

Ana Sofía looks at the view in amazement. She's been at Xavier's mansion, so something fantastic isn't all new, but it's a beautiful site on its own. "Wow!" Then she hears the salary response. "¡No manches!" Her jaw drops a bit, and it takes a moment to recover. At least she'd used the politer term in front of one of her new bosses.

Thinking about being paid for a job brings Ana Sofía's mind around to related things. "You mentioned public appearances. I think such visibility along with doing good could do more for relations than nearly anything else. Is there a PR team we'll be working with?"

"Wow. Talk about burying the lede," Frank said, mostly to himself, as Ana asked about PR specialists. Two and a half million dollars? That was a lot of hazard pay. Frank might not have been swayed to take the offer just because of the money, had he not already been interested. But still, it was eye-popping.

"I'm going to get myself a car that I can fit into." He was thinking out loud, spending money he didn't have yet. It was hard not to. He felt a little stupid and shallow for saying these things out loud — for even thinking them, really — but there were cartoon dollar signs in his eyes regardless. "Uh... ignore me."

"I can't even process it. That's more than all my extended family makes in many years. Gotta turn to something I can process. Sorry."

"It may sound like a lot, but considering each of you is the equivalent of an entire platoon, or a fighter jet, then the reality is that the government is actually SAVING money on Freedom Force.  At least, that’s the way I presented it to the President"

she smirks like the proverbial cat that swallowed the canary

"As for our PR team; I admit they can be a bit…demanding, but they’re all professionals.  You’ll come to rely on them, just as I have."

Valerie picked up her phone as they descended toward the helipad.  Her intention was to message Price to come out and greet them, but it turned out he was already waiting for them, having been alerted minutes ago by the not-so-subtle approach of the noisy chopper.