August 17, 2517

Eridanus Star System, Eridanus 2, Elysium City

Shadows cast on the playground of Elysium Primary School stretched on forever, blending together, forming grotesque shapes underneath screaming, running children. Heat waves rose from the pavement, baking underneath the high afternoon Eridanus sun.

Lieutenant Junior Grade Jacob Keyes stood rigid with his hands thrust deep inside his pockets, the one casual pose he could pull off, only because it resembled standing at attention. But try as he could, he couldn't get over the pockets. Dr. Halsey had assured him they were fine. She had told him thirty minutes earlier he was only drawing more attention to himself looking the way he did.

Then she had laughed loudly when she witnessed his relaxed pose. A wide grin plastered on her face, the dark-haired doctor told him the rigid stance was fine. Then he'd be okay with it too. Military to the core.

On the way out, her electronic pad beeped, but Dr. Halsey ignored it. It beeped once again, and continued the pattern as a sign of urgency. Keyes didn't want to bother the woman, but she did look a little distracted by something else. Timidly, he asked, "Are you going to answer that?" He just knew he'd regret asking.

With a huff of irritation, she retrieved the pad and tapped a button on the side once. Her eyes quickly flitted from side to side as she peered into the tiny screen and scanned through the information.

"Wait a minute, Lieutenant," Dr. Halsey said with a wave of her hand. "I've just been informed that we have another candidate for the program in this place. We'll have to go back in and see if my sources were right."

"Go back?" Keyes sighed. He desperately wanted to get out of his civilian clothing, and the doctor could tell. She allowed herself a smile as he tried to tighten the loose collar of his shirt.

"It won't take a minute," she told him, while turning back and motioning for him to follow.

"I seriously doubt that," Keyes muttered under his breath.

The two walked closer to the facility. There still weren't any adults around to supervise the children. They stopped when they reached the courtyard.

She stared again into the data pad and held up a hand. "We're near his location, I think," Dr. Halsey said while rechecking the small device.

"Who exactly are we looking for, Doctor?" Keyes asked.

"I don't know his name, but he is a six year old male" she replied.

"Just like subject 117?"

"Yes, but this one is different. Physically, he's put together well," Halsey said, searching for layman's terms, then paused. "He's strikingly more intelligent than your average six year old, and that'll carry on throughout his adult life. And according to reports, his maturity level has followed suit."

"I see," Keyes said slowly, taking in all of this.

Halsey nodded and accessed a file on her pad. Without taking her eyes off, she said, "Basically, he's got talents we can't afford to ignore."

Keyes looked around until he saw a boy standing near a decorative pillar by himself. "Is that him?"

Dr. Halsey frowned. She stared at him then turned to Keyes. "No. Either ONI sent me an old picture of the subject, or you've guessed wrong," Dr. Halsey said as she shook her head. She was getting frustrated, but they couldn't just leave a subject for the Spartan program as a civilian. Who knew what this one boy could do while serving for the UNSC.

Keyes nodded and stared off into the shadows. Even at noon, the courtyard was surprisingly gloomy and dark. Suddenly, he saw something moving within the shadows. He blinked and looked again, but everything was still. Keyes squinted and saw the figure again. He could just make out the outline of a child. The figure was moving with slow deliberate steps. Keyes tapped the doctor on the shoulder and pointed to the shadows. He and Dr. Halsey watched as the figure darted from pillar to pillar with quick and silent steps. When the figure finally poked his head out from behind a pillar, Halsey quickly took a picture and saved the file. She compared ONI's picture with the one she had just taken.

"Keyes, we have a match," Dr. Halsey whispered.

The doctor walked across the courtyard, never taking an eye off her subject that waited in the shadows. The figure silently leapt out of the shadows and was about to land on the first boy.

The doctor cleared her throat to attract the boy's attention.

The one from the shadows turned in mid jump and fell short of his target. The first boy whirled around and ran out of the courtyard screaming and giggling, "You can't catch me!"

Halsey walked over to the boy who was cursing and helping himself up. He pushed locks of light-brown hair out of his green eyes and stood up.

"Can I have a word?" she asked.

The boy glanced through the doors of the courtyard and frowned, then nodded slightly. "If it's just the one."

The remark didn't surprise Halsey. She intended to follow up on it. "What's your name?" she asked.

"Jeff," he replied with a cold stare. Unlike her previous encounter with subject 117, this one seemed less welcoming and more hostile—like a spring ready to release. His unfriendly demeanor threw her a little, but she shrugged off the feeling.

The doctor bent down to meet the boy at eye-level. She didn't have much experience with children, but this was what she'd been told to do. She put on a friendly smile, "It's nice to meet you, Jeff."

Again, he nodded but crossed his arms and leaned back against a pillar. The kid was being uncooperative—not what Dr. Halsey had prepared for. His parents had probably told him to be wary of strangers, but he seemed unperturbed by her presence. She tried again, "What were you doing?"

With a casual shrug, he answered curtly, "Tag."

"Tag?" Dr. Halsey asked, cocking her head slightly. Finally, this was going somewhere. She'd managed to get the boy to say something. She wanted to carry on. "Is that some kind of game?"

Jeff smiled, but it wasn't a smile of friendship. It was mocking, and it sent shivers down Halsey's spine. He said, "You tell me. Adults are the ones who teach us these things. We don't educate ourselves, you know."

"Um, so do you like this school?"

"Can't complain," Jeff said with a shrug. "I mean, seriously, there's only the one school here. That's it."

Halsey observed the boy talk. It was as if he was reciting lines from a vidstream he had watched, but it wasn't your average parroting. He understood everything that came out of his mouth.

"Now about you," he said, pointing a finger at her.

"What do you want to know?"

"You seem to be really interested in the school. Are you planning on joining up?"

Halsey almost laughed, but she stopped herself. She could imagine the question coming from any other naïve child, but from Jeff, it was a statement delivered with a hint of malice.

"Actually, I am planning on enrolling my daughter here," Halsey lied, "and this is my husband." She hastily motioned for Keyes to come closer.

Jeff eyed the man, and his face lit up. "Hey, you UNSC?" he asked as Keyes walked up beside Halsey. The junior grade lieutenant looked at Halsey. She just shrugged and turned away with a bewildered look on her face.

He quickly said, "What? No I'm not." The navy man tried not to blow his cover, but he wasn't doing very well. "I don't like to tell others. But how'd you guess?" Keyes asked, his expression mirroring Halsey's.

Jeff placed his left hand over his chin and drew a straight line up and down with his right index finger animatedly. "Deduction and reasoning, whatever that means. I'm six. Come on."

Halsey studied the boy more intently. Apparently, he was well aware he had an advantage over others.

"You two new in town?"

"We just moved in," Halsey replied sweetly.

"Great. They're gonna have to throw a welcoming party and everything. That'll be fun. Now, are you going to introduce yourselves, or should I do the honours? 'Hi, mommy, I met some nice strangers at school today!'"

Just then, a bell sounded, and children from all sides streamed in, ready for their afternoon classes. With a small laugh, Jeff stepped backwards and raised his hand to wave farewell, then melded into the crowd of kids.

"What the hell?" Keyes said to Halsey, running his hand over his head.

"He has to be bluffing. He's not scared of us," Halsey said, her eyes wide. She was impressed with what she had seen. Jeff demonstrated stealth… he was more intelligent than anyone his age, although a bit rude, but sure enough, Jeff was another candidate for the program.

But the catch was how she was going to get him. And she was going to get him.


Author's note (April 17, 2007): This is a rewrite of the original first chapter, or basically the original chapter beefed up. Whatever you prefer. I'll be going over a few more chapters later.

Revised author's note (July 30/10): In celebration of the completion of this story and the three years rewriting, I've gone back to fix up the first chapter AGAIN to bring it up to par with the quality of the later chapters. Originally I tried to make it more like Nylund's style, but now… it's not like that. Welcome to Spartan 000! You're in for some wild times. Sit back and enjoy the re-mastered and revised edition of the full 15 chapters plus the all new, never seen before conclusion!

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