I finally can post this story here! Of course it's far from done and in terms of length it will be quite long too so don't expect a quicke out of this one! This story is set in an alternate universe to my other story Operation A.F.T.E.R.M.A.T.H. with more emphasis on Numbuh 1 and the GKND. Although it is not necessary to read that one to understand this one you should read it anyway! As with Operation A.F.T.E.R.M.A.T.H. each chapter will be split into smaller more manageable/readable sub-chapters for you. Basically I will apply the same format to all of my stories to give them consistency. This story was inspired by fictionlover94's prompt here:

[topic/76094/81290743/1/Could-someone]

So a big thank you to her for providing an interesting source of inspiration! I will not be updating this story as much as my main one so this one will be a lot slower. Nevertheless, I hope you do decide to follow this story as you will be quite surprised at what happens. So without further ado:

Operation O.N.E.

On
Nigel's
Evil

Chapter 1 – Initiation

Chapter 1-1 - The Interview

The following chapter takes place immediately after the events of Operation I.N.T.E.R.V.I.E.W.S.

The interior of the ship was massive to say the least. Numbuh 1 knew the cake-sized ship was big but never thought how spacious it really was until he was inside it. It was one of those things where you had to be there to really comprehend the size and scale of the Galactic Kids Next Door Mothership. The entire ship was brightly lit by florescent looking lights high in the ceiling. The floors and the walls were a shiny metallic chrome color and everything looked clean and futuristic, unlike the dusty and primitive looking treehouses on Earth. Everything looked so bright, Numbuh 1 lightheartedly thought of whether it was a bad decision to leave his sunglasses back with Numbuh 5.

The ship itself was divided into three floors. As Numbuh 1 leaned over the railings he could see dozens of ships lined up side by side. No doubt it was the hangar bay. The ships looked like much more triangular and streamlined versions of jets the adults used on Earth. Numbuh 1 could make out little figures moving across the large floor space. Some of the people were inspecting the ships. Occasionally he would spot operatives driving strange looking equipment through the hanger like he would see in airports when the ground staff would move luggage to a plane.

Looking directly in front of him he could see gigantic transparent rooms. On the left and right of the suspended aisle he was standing on. The rooms seemed to be attached only by the platform he was standing on. Otherwise it looked like the rooms were floating in the air. There were other catwalks criss-crossing each other in the large space with similar rooms. Numbuh 1 was slowly making his way through the platform gazing at each of the rooms as he past them. The first one on his right looked like a giant gun range with rows and rows of target ranges like a bowling alley. He could see people…no, aliens, holding weird looking weapons in their hand as they fired on moving targets.

The room to his left looked like a gigantic swimming pool. More than three-quarters of the room was covered in water, or at least what looked like water. It had a light green-ish tinge to it. Small submersible vehicles dove inside as they weaved around obstacles. They had a similar triangular shape to the aircraft Numbuh 1 saw earlier, but much smaller and thicker with their hull. And their colour was jet black, slowly turning into a dark grey at the bottom.

As he continued walking he past more rooms. One of them looked like a forest or a jungle. He could see a mini-map displayed on a screen attached to the front of the room which Numbuh 1 assumed where the operatives were. It looked like a very advanced combat simulation. Another room was a lab, completely white and sterile with probably thousands of test tubes and beakers and other equipment. He past more and more room each one different from the others.

Above him was a circular platform in the center of the ship covered by metal walls. Most likely the control center. There were six catwalks that protruded from the control center which lead to different doors on the walls of the ship. Whatever lay past those doors was something Numbuh 1 could only imagine, for now anyway.

He was completely engrossed with his surroundings he didn't spot the yellow alien running toward him with a metallic helmet looking device in his hand.

Numbuh 1 snapped out of his daze when he felt something being put on his bald head. He turned around and saw the alien in front of him and screamed which wasn't a good thing, as his scream echoed through the entire ship. The alien looked at him worryingly and motioned with his two hands to calm down. Numbuh 1, still in shock from seeing an alien up close simply turned and ran forcing the alien to chase after him.

The alien quickly tackled him to the ground and pinned him against the floor. Two of his hands held Numbuh 1's arms and the alien's other two hands adjusted the helmet and pressed buttons. The helmet then securely strapped on Numbuh 1's head as it started to vibrate. Numbuh 1 closed his eyes at screamed as the helmet continued it's vibrating and whirring until it stopped a few seconds later.

"Please stop screaming! Hello? Can you understand me? Please stop screaming!"

Numbuh 1 could hear someone speaking English and looked left and right to see who it was.

"Up here moron." Numbuh 1 looked at the yellow four-armed alien. He was speaking English! The alien cautiously lifted himself off Numbuh 1 and he quickly stood up. "Are you humans always that…crazy?" He looked questioningly at the new recruit.

"Emm…no. Sorry. It's just…well…" Numbuh 1 didn't know what to say. He was still trying to take everything in.

"Yeah yeah I know. 'We're not alone in the universe' and 'first contact' and 'oh my gosh an alien' yadda yadda. You were supposed to stay put over there," the alien pointed to where Numbuh 1 materialized when he boarded the ship, "so we could hook this thing up to you. It scrambles your brainwaves so you can understand everyone here. A lot easier than learning eleventy-billion languages if you ask me. Though some people can, and do, do it."

Numbuh 1 stared at the alien with a blank expression through his whole monologue.

"Obviously I'm boring you here. Either that are you're still trying to get through your head that there is an actual alien in front of you."

"Uh-huh." Numbuh 1 dumbly replied still wearing the same vacant expression.

The alien rolled his eyes and took Numbuh 1 by the hand and walked.

"Come on. We need to get you categorized."

"Categorized?"

"Yeah. Categorized." They approached another door by the wall and the alien took a keycard from his lab coat and sliced it through the card reader next to the door and it gave a beeping sound. Numbuh 1 didn't notice the white lab coat he was wearing earlier. The door opened and he dragged Numbuh 1 inside.

The inside of the cake looked like a maze to Numbuh 1. The halls were much thinner compared to the spacious catwalks outside and there were metal doors almost right next to each other, maybe not more than a few inches separated between them. The interior was lit in a dark pink shade. Numbuh 1 noticed the halls kept branching off into different hallways and he soon lost track of where they came from. The alien leading however seemed to know where he was going. He suddenly didn't mind the iron grip he was having on Numbuh 1's wrist.

They finally approached a door (that looked exactly the same as the others) and the alien swiped his keycard. The door opened revealing a relatively small room with a table and two chairs on either side. The room was perfectly white. It looked a bit unsettling to be in but before Numbuh 1 could argue the alien pushed him into the room.

"Wait here. The Catergorizer will be here shortly."

"Wait! Where am I? Who is the Catergorizer? What am I–" Before Numbuh 1 could finish the alien walked out and the metal doors were closed shut.

Numbuh 1 panicked for a little while before getting himself together. Being in a panicked state was no use in his situation. There was no reason for him to feel anxious anyway. He was still in the KND technically, just a higher level organization that's all. He took a seat on the chair and patiently waited.

A hologram appeared in front of him a minute later. It was a bit surprising to Numbuh 1 that the hologram was blue and fuzzy, similar to the projections on Earth. He would've thought holograms would be more advanced in the GKND. Well, if he was really speaking his mind, he would've thought someone would have actually bothered to physically show up. But he kept that thought to himself. When the hologram cleared he was surprised to see it was Numbuh 362! Numbuh 1 fell back in his chair in shock. What was she doing here? Had she known about that GKND all along?

Numbuh 1 clumsily got up. "N-Numbuh 362 sir. I didn't expect to see you here." He gave a salute.

"At ease soldier." Numbuh 362 smiled. Numbuh 1 relaxed a lot more knowing there was another person in the GKND. He felt nervous leaving everyone he knew behind, knowing that he would possibly never see another human again.

"I'm really glad to see you here Numbuh 362!" Numbuh 1 happily said. "I can't believe you knew about the Galactic Kids Next Door all along! Gosh…I-I-I can't believe it you know!" Numbuh 1 grinned.

Numbuh 362 was looking nervous and Numbuh 1 noticed it.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"I don't know how to tell you this Numbuh 1. So I'll just say it…or maybe show it." The hologram shrunk into a tiny floating ball about the size of a marble.

"I am not Numbuh 362 I'm afraid." The voice was coming from the ball of light and Numbuh 1 leaned forward to make sure he wasn't hearing things. The voice was a male and had a slightly nasally quality to it though not as bad as the scientists back on Earth. "I'm Numbuh EB-4000. As you may or may not know I'm the Categorizer. This is my regular form. I'm a projection being, meaning I can change myself into a hologram form of any living being I see. I can also take over certain electronic devices. Sorry to disappoint you Numbuh 1 but you are the only human here." Numbuh EB-4000 sounded very apologetic and he could see, if he could call it seeing, that Numbuh 1 was visibly upset by this.

"I'm sorry Numbuh 1. I skimmed through your file before this and figured the best way for you to respond positively was to take on the form of your Supreme Leader. I probably should've gone along with the lie and said I was Numbuh 362 but lying isn't really my thing. I'm sorry."

Numbuh 1 tried to calm himself down. He wasn't even thirty minutes on the ship and he was already missing everyone on Earth. The shock of thinking 362 would actually be there with him was a huge relief and it was quickly taken away. He looked at the positives to relieve himself. He was in the GKND and that in itself was a huge achievement for any KND operative. And he was curious about all the new friends he would get to know. After a while Numbuh 1 could speak again, though not completely recovered from the shock.

"It's ok." Numbuh 1 muttered.

"Look, if you like I can change into someone else. Your dad maybe? Or one of your friends in Sector V?"

"No!" Numbuh 1 abruptly shouted. He didn't want to be reminded of home again. "Just, change into anything else. How you usually show yourself in front of other operatives."

"Fair enough. Give me a moment."

The ball of light disappeared for a moment and Numbuh 1 slumped back into his chair. The last thing he wanted to think about was his friends and family back home. He closed his eyes and tried to blank out his mind. As he began to slip into emptiness there was a beeping from the door and a humanoid shaped robot entered the room.

"Hello Numbuh 1. It's me. Numbuh EB-4000."

"Hey."

"Alright then," EB-4000 took the seat opposite Numbuh 1 and sat down. "As you know, we take the best operative from every planet with a Kids Next Door Organization. Each planet has their own test or trial which goes through Global Command here to make sure it's fit as a testing programme. There was some resentment on whether to accept the one given to us from your planet."

"Why is that?"

"Well, you're a young species Numbuh 1. Humans have not been around for very long compared to some of the others here. And your lifespan as a child does not last very long either. Some operatives here have been here for over a hundred years. They're still considered children because their lifespan is much longer than yours. So a human's effectiveness as an operative in the GKND was very questionable. But, your KND insisted so we did. So here you are! Admittedly, many scientists here wanted to see a human up close so maybe that influenced our decision as well. We don't know much about you."

Numbuh EB-4000 rested his robotic head on his hands as he placed the mechanical elbows on the table surface. "So tell me about yourself Numbuh 1."

"Where should I start?"

"What can you do?"

"What can I do?" Numbuh 1 looked confused.

"What are your natural abilities? What can humans do?"

Numbuh 1 was even more confused by the nature of the question. What did that mean anyway? What can I do? What is he talking about?

"I don't think I understand."

"Hmm…this could be a bit of a predicament then. You would understand the question if you knew your abilities at all but, and I hope I am wrong, it seems humans may not have an inherent ability at all! Or maybe it's just you." EB-4000 tilted his head. "Too bad I can't ask anybody on Earth. I could take you to medical but we're about to lift off soon and after lift off you're scheduled for a test, of sorts. So, let's continue on. Tell me something else about yourself. I know I have a file put it only says so much." The robot leaned back on his chair.

It was strange seeing a robot act like a human in its physical mannerisms. Numbuh 1 wondered how he could physically imitate such things if he never had a body in the first place. It probably would've taken years of observation to mimic and be comfortable in doing such things.

"About myself…well, I don't know what else to say if you already have the file."

"Right then. Maybe you'll feel more comfortable if I asked you some questions and we can get going on a little back and forth." Numbuh 1 nodded in agreement. "Ok then. Hobbies?"

"I like my work. I guess being the leader of the Kids Next Door is my hobby. I play yipper cards sometimes with Numbuh 2, 1200, 74.239 and the other scientists."

"You say you enjoy being the leader of Sector V. Why is that?"

"I like to lead. I like to think I'm a good leader even though I don't really say it. Numbuh 362 once gave me the position of Global Tactical Officer but I turned it down to stay with Sector V."

"Interesting." That was interesting to Numbuh EB-4000. He liked to lead, and he assumed he was good at it. But he turned down a high-ranking position to stay with his friends. So he was analytical but also emotional. An interesting combination. Many would not suspect an emotionally driven being to be a good leader. They would not be able to think rationally. It would be interesting to see how he does in those parts of the test.

EB-4000 already knew how emotional humans could be by his initial reaction when Numbuh 99.0 ran up to him with the Translator. He was curious to know to what extent they were emotionally receptive. If he was too receptive it might prevent him from going out into the field, with the few exceptions such as Numbuh i.

"I did ok in school I guess. I like my friends and consider them very close to me. I did have a girlfriend but she broke up with me shortly before all this."

This grabbed EB-4000's attention. Humans were much more emotionally receptive than he originally thought.

"I like to fight. Play games in the playground. Anything a kid my age would do, except they're not in the Kids Next Door."

"How would you position yourself in the KND?"

"I think a lot of operatives knew me well enough. If the fact that Numbuh 0 didn't catch their attention then something else must have. Me and my sector have gone on quite a few interesting missions." Numbuh 1 smiled slightly at the memories.

"Of course. You believed in the Numbuh 0 story didn't you?"

"Yes I did." Emotionally attached and is loyal to family and friends. Believes in a higher figure as a role model. Yet is considered an effective leader and well known even before a major event which affected him. This is going to be complicated.

EB-4000 rubbed his forehead. It was strange to see really. But since RB-4000 could connect with machines he could actually feel himself rubbing his forehead. Thinking for a few moments before finally getting up.

"Thank you Numbuh 1. I'm sure the tests will reveal a bit more about yourself and the scientist's evaluation would too but nothing beats a one on one talk don't you think?"

"Yeah. Yeah I guess not."

"Well Numbuh 1 if you would follow me we're going to the evaluation room for those tests. I will still be here with you for the categorizing. I rarely ever have to follow a new operative for tests but your case is much more, unique."

Numbuh 1 tried to think how he could be more unique than these aliens which special powers. He pushed the thought aside and closely followed EB-4000 to their next location. Getting lost in the winding hallways of the ship was the last thing he wanted.

Galactic Kids Next Door - T.R.A.N.S.L.A.T.O.R.

Taking
Randon
Abnormal
Nonsensical
Sounding
Language
And
Turning
On
Recognizability

Just setting the scene and stuff here and there. As I say in all my chapters, feedback is greatly appreciated by you folks! I hope you've enjoyed what I have so far so please stick around. More is coming!

Disclaimer: C:KND belongs to Mr. Warburton