♡ Caboose was .. not the most observant. Probably the least observant person alive, actually. This wasn't through fault of Caboose's own -- you could honestly probably blame most of it on the brain damage. You could blame a lot of things on the brain damage. Caboose had never been particularly smart, and he'd had bullies, of course. Not that Caboose remembered that beyond them saying the word that was Not Allowed and then his sisters getting angry about it. But, well, then there was O'malley and then there were AIs in his head. He drank gasoline a few times. It .. wasn't very good lemonade. And that made Caboose sad.
.. This is part of the reason Caboose doesn't pick up on Church's sour mood. And even the tiny little bit Caboose had realized, it wasn't important. He'd just have to cheer up his Best Friend(capitalized, of course), then!! And so Caboose certainly wasn't concerned, chattering away at the Collie. His tail is wagging and he seems happy enough, even if Church wasn't contributing to the conversation. He just liked talking! He had a lot to say, even if nobody else thought it was important. It was important to him, though!! And that's all that mattered.
"-- and and and!!!!" He chirps, restless as he prances around on his paws. He didn't tend to stay very still these days. He hadn't been nearly as restless when he was human, but that was partly 'cause of the armor. And!! It was a lot easier to move like this, too!! He didn't bump into stuff or knock things over and he hadn't broken anything shiny for a while!! Wasn't that cool!! Caboose, for a moment after Church begins to snap, doesn't quiet. He doesn't register things that fast, see. However, when he does, he just blinks a little blankly at the Collie. He doesn't seem too concerned. Just a casual sort of puzzlement would be shown on his face if his helmet weren't in the way, but even then, his tail just subtly wags. "Okay, Church!" Caboose agrees rather cheerily, though he doesn't seem to quite know how to go about this. He's inclined to make some dumb comment, but ultimately thinks better of it. Even he can tell that Church isn't feeling well, with the way he screamed. But that's all Caboose seems to realize, unconcerned as he was.
//things go Downhill from here uwu

Washington was never really sure what to think of simulation troopers. Of course, he thought that the majority of them were particularly useless and weren't going to get anywhere in Project Freelancer. But the other felt somewhat bad for them. That was because they still had no idea that they were being used almost like lab rats for the program that he used to be in. He knew that both of them knew a little bit about the project, Church knowing more than the likes of Caboose. Washington wasn't sure if he should really trust them with all that much when he first came across them, and so he didn't. There was no reason to simply trust outright strangers anyway. There would be no point in something like that as it would just be a waste of time for something that was already bound to happen sooner or later. The Freelancer didn't trust the simulation troopers, but he also didn't care about them all that much. He wasn't there to be their babysitter as they were adults and should be capable of taking of themselves without him having to look after them all of the time.

It was also easier to see that they weren't exactly much of a threat as both of them were just canines and nothing else. The Freelancer could take them on in his current body without having to worry about them doing all that much damage. They also lacked the amount of armor that he had in his possession, which meant that he would have more protection than the both of them combined as they only had helmets. Although the helmet that Caboose had was a little bit of a mystery as the entire thing was basically outdated from what was actually used in the field. He would have thought that the simulation troopers would at least get updated gear so that hey wouldn't complain about the tasks that they were actually given. Washington had made sure not to call them such and refused to tell them that all the training that they had gone through was for nothing. The reasons that they were picked to be troopers in the first place was because they were going to be used for fodder for the likes of other Freelancers to train themselves in with lime ammunition without risking the lives of other Freelancers.

Washington had an instance where he was forced to do an exercise with them, and it had been incredibly frustrating. No one died during the simulation, not as if the Director would care if any of them were killed in the first place. He wasn't sure if he remembered correctly that Carolina had dealt with simulation troopers as well. He was pretty sure that the majority of their group had dealt with them up to some degree. He didn't want them dead, but he also didn't care if they got themselves into trouble that they ultimately couldn't get themselves out of. The Freelancer also didn't know why Carolina had taken an interest into Church anyway. The name of the trooper wasn't exactly familiar, and the other only had a little bit of information about Texas's last whereabouts. At least he hoped so since both of their explosions were different on when they happened and he would have been sure that he would have recognized both of them. Caboose was a different case, a case that Washington didn't even really bother to try and fix. That was because he didn't believe there was a way to fix the soldier to do exactly what he wanted without making a mistake.

It made sense why Caboose was a simulation trooper, but that didn't mean he couldn't be trained to be that of a soldier either. Anyone could become a soldier if they trained hard enough. That didn't mean that he hated both of them. They just tested his patience here and there and Church certainly got what was coming to him half the time with his sarcastic remarks. He usually took care of the training that they did on a daily basis and didn't bother to check their mental health, not knowing about the nightmares that Church was going through. Washington had his own nightmares, but he barely gave himself enough sleep for them to really effect his mind. This means that almost every day the Freelancer is almost always tired. But so his Carolina, the leopard constantly training herself till she can no longer move, which wasn't all that different from when she was a human when Texas came along. A name that he refused to bring up around his coworker again because it was a hard topic to deal with.

Washington had been making his way toward the exit of the Observatory so that he could get on with his daily patrols when suddenly he heard shouting, and the speratic voice of Caboose. They were technically his responsibility as Carolina probably wanted nothing to do with any of them. He was glad to have his helmet on so that others wouldn't be able to see exactly how tired he was. He came across the two canines, and it seemed as if Church was going to shout at Caboose if he didn't stop talking. He stood off to the side of both of them, as this wasn't exactly something that was new to Washington. They constantly argued with one another. "Are you two done arguing?" Washington questioned in a tired and deadpanned tone toward the two of the canines. What was Caboose even excited about? Considering what he has seen the other get excited about in general, he wouldn't be surprised if it was something small. The lights made it easier to see the smilodon against the slightly darkened background of the inside of the observatory. He doubted that Church would actually attack Caboose, but he only made that notion because he didn't think the other's anger has warranted some kind of attack toward Caboose. He didn't know them as well as he thought he did though. "speech"