((Brief author’s note: This simultaneous business means that all this is happening at the same time. Because of the restrictions of writing to linear storytelling, I’ve mentioned that all this simultaneous stuff happens at the same time, and the order is only important in this presentation, similar to cutting between shots on television. If I do say so myself, I think this is pretty cool: I spent a long time figuring out the order for this.))

Start of simultaneous sequence: Serenity : Feds search the cargo bay and infirmary (search part one)

As the Alliance searches the cargo bay, five feds make a mess of the room, moving boxes the crew themselves hadn’t moved for months aside in the proceedings. They aren’t too careful about the shifting about, either, and boxes are strewn about, contents spilling on the floor haphazardly, creating a hazard in itself. When they figure out they aren’t finding anything, they leave the room in shambles, and move back to the infirmary area, giving it the same treatment. Unlike the cargo bay, however, they notice that the infirmary is well stocked with medicines too expensive for a ship like Serenity to have. As for why common soldiers know this, it’s by chance that one of them has had some baseline medical training. As they complete their search of the infirmary, the leader nods, and they move methodically to the next part of the ship.

* * *

Simultaneously: Alliance ship: Cell three: Perspective: Simon and Jayne

In this cell, it’s dead silent. Simon is sitting in the corner worrying about his and River’s safety, knowing that if the Alliance puts their names to their faces, River’ll go right back to the Academy, and Simon will go to jail. Once he’d started thinking about the Academy, he went back to his odd little repast: wondering what exactly the Alliance had been doing to his sister. He knew they’d been cutting into her brain, and he knew she was going crazy. What he didn’t know was why they were doing it. He’d figured the what, the how, and the when, but