Keiko-108 was no longer a Spartan. She was no longer affiliated, nor wished to be, with ONI. ONI had wiped its hand clean of her. It had destroyed her records, told her to get lost, and never come back. Considering that she spent at least two decades in cryo, before that fought at least six years of constant war, and before that suffered through training no person should, she wasn't going anywhere near ONI. In fact it would have to take a planet core disruption for her to even accept the UNSC's help.
From this point on out, she was a free woman. Free.
She was a horrible Spartan, there was no doubt about that. It served ONI right to have a taste of their evil deeds coming back on them with adverse consequences. She, Keiko, never wanted to be a Spartan, was kidnapped from her mother at the tender age of five, and for as long as she was a Spartan gave them a reason to regret it.
That was in the past though. The future was in front of her and she wanted to wipe the stain of her past from her memories completely.
The sounds of the airport reminded her of the mission she went on when she was sixteen. Back then people thought she was eighteen due to the scientists manipulation of her father's genetics. She moved forward through the crowd of people at a leisurely pace, her eyes scanning the crowd for any ONI personnel assigned to keep watch over her.
" Jeez, lady watch it!" A harried young man jerked her from her subconscious scanning. She looked back at the ridiculously dressed youth that looked nearly as old as she was physically. She may appear to be only twenty-one but she was actually at least twice that age due to cryo.
" Learn how to dress," She said coldly before moving past him.
He gaped after her before muttering an expletive under his breath.
She moved fairly quickly through the international airport and when she stepped outside, she saw her elderly father waiting for her next to a taxi. She decidedly walked out the farthest exit from them and started down the main road. Vehicles moved past her at high speeds.
Dressed only in grey cargo pants, a grey, form fitting t-shirt, and boots, she was literally wearing the only thing she owned or had to her name beside a story she didn't want to share with anyone. Keiko had chopped off her long black hair so that it hung around her face haphazardly. She did it as much out of practicality as she did an effort to distance herself from the woman she once was. Various scars of battle could be seen, but she had no inclination to explain those either.
The hour turned into two before she finally veered off to the right while the main stretch kept going straight. A few hours walk down the side road lead to a country road. A pick up stopped next to her, the window down. She looked through the window at an older man wearing a straw hat and dirty farm clothes. " Ya' need a lift, Young lady?" He asked in a distinct country accent.
" Nope." She kept walking.
He pressed the truck forward at a crawl to match her pace. " Got a general direction?"
" As far away from the International Airport and my father," She answered bluntly, her irritation rising. She didn't need charity.
" Have a place to stay?" She sighed. " I can't in good conscious leave you out here alone,"
Keiko started to say she could handle herself before she realized he wasn't going away. Furthermore what did it matter? She had no money, and even if ONI offered it, she had no intention of taking their blood money. " Why? You have a spare bed or floor?" She asked wearily. What if he was ONI?
He grabbed the front brim of his straw hat and tipped it to her. " If you need it,"
Keiko moved to open the door of the vehicle when she stopped. She half expected a bullet to come out of nowhere, impact her skull, and leave her dead on the road side. Counting the seconds, she reached twenty before relaxing. Climbing up into the truck, she sat up straight and propped up her elbow on the window frame. Her eyes scanned the surrounding forest.
" Expecting your father to track you down or sumthin'?" The man pressed before chuckling.
Her hand shot toward him before she pulled it back in a sharp jerk. A grimace appeared. "You wouldn't understand," She muttered.
He pressed his foot to the pedal, the truck surged forward, and they put more ground between the main road and them. Keiko only relaxed after five miles into the road. Rolling fields and forests surrounded her. It was quiet. " You have a name?"
" Mynn," She said after a minute passed. Her mother was dead, so she doubted her mother would mind.
A calloused hand touched her tense arm. She turned to regard him in extreme hostility. He didn't remove his hand. " Mynn, I'm just a good ol' farmer who means no harm. Besides you needed a place to stay…" He steered left to avoid a deep ditch.
" I need my sanity," She snapped, plucking his hand away and letting it drop. " Don't touch me,"
She wouldn't blame him if he dropped her off then and there.
Instead he kept driving, started to whistle a merry tune. Within another ten minutes a large farmhouse surrounded by a large garden to the west, fields to the North, and a barn to the east. " Welcome to the homestead, Mynn. The grub is good and the company pleasant," He flashed a warm smile in her direction.
Despite the weariness coursing through her veins, she allowed a small smile. So far he gave her no reason to hurt him. She hoped it stayed that way. She wanted to like the first person that offered her help in her new life as a civilian. He pulled the truck into a worn out spot.
As he stepped down out of the shut off truck, the door to the farmhouse opened and a gray haired woman and two dogs bound towards him. Keiko stepped down from the truck, regarding the woman with the same distrust she felt towards the old man. Still he was providing a place to stay for the night.
She moved forward across the stretch of ground, the husband and wife embracing and trading light kisses on the cheek. The long haired black dog stopped in front of her, it's tongue hanging out.
" Shade!" The woman called out.
The dog turned and ran toward the old woman.
" Come on in, I got dinner on the stove," She told Keiko, ushering the girl into the house.
Keiko paused in the doorway, glancing around the general area looking for any overt signs that someone was watching or anything hidden. When she saw nothing, she stepped into the warm inside. She knew that she had to be careful, but for how long? With a labored sigh, she closed the door behind her.
