Ch.12: My name is Alma

A.N.:

In this chapter, Becket learns a very unpleasant fact about his erased past. I know Becket sounds way too mature for his age but, as I can personally attest, abuse tends to make one grow up fast.

I walked down the school hallway with my book bag on my back. As I passed by the lockers, I wondered if I would soon suffer being locked inside of one. Being a shy runt usually covered with bruises, I knew that I was going to be singled out by the other children. Being the new kid did not help either. I might as well have had a huge sign above my head that read, "Bully me".

The Caucasian man walking beside me stuck me as being a bit odd but I did not understand why. He looked and acted like any other teacher I had ever met. However, at the back of my mind, something was warning me that he was a threat. I shook it off as just being because I was nervous about my first day at school.

As we rounded a corner and headed towards a set of classrooms, he looked down at me and said, "Well, now that we have visited the nurse's office, you are all set to join your classmates. I know that you must be nervous, but everything will be fine Michael." I instinctively flinched at the sound of my first name being said because it was normally followed by a punch or kick. I managed to nod and smile weakly at him. He stopped at a classroom and opened the door for me.

I walked in and immediately knew I was going to be in for a nearly endless amount of bullying as I sized up the other children. They all did the same as I walked to the front of the room. It was the same wherever I went: the pecking order was established before any words were said. Only a display of brutality would change that order.

I put on my emotionless façade and my mind retreated into my safe place to distance myself from the degrading teasing and physical abuse. I reached the front of the room and the middle-aged female teacher glared at me for interrupting her lesson until she saw the man that had been escorting me. For a second, I could have sworn I saw fear in her eyes. However, she put on her own façade and smiled warmly at me for the man to see.

The man remarked, "Mrs. Jennings, this is your new student. I discussed this with you this morning. I saw that look you gave him." She did not show it, but I could feel the cold fright radiating off her form. He continued, "I will speak to you about your attitude and future employment prospects should it continue later today."

She nodded sheepishly before she remarked timidly, "Yes, Mr. Wade."

He paused for a few moments before he finally asked, "Are you waiting for something? Introduce him and get back to work. Do you need me to do your job for you?" She shook her head and looked at her students.

With a fake calm tone, she said, "Class, this is our new student: Michael."

I flinched again and requested her in a soft, insecure voice, "Excuse me Mrs. Jennings. I hate to be a bother, but I prefer Becket."

She stared at me for a second before she looked back at the other students and continued, "Okay…class this is Becket. Please make him feel welcomed."

One of the boys in the front row snidely remarked, "Hello Bucket."

The other children laughed at the comment. The teacher snapped, "You are on thin ice Mr. Jankowski. One more strike and you will be sent to the principal." The blonde haired kid smiled and I knew he was going to ignore her threat.

When it was time for lunch, we were led to the cafeteria that also seemed to serve as the auditorium. I went to go find a corner to hide in but my teacher stopped me. She asked, "Where are you going Michael?" I flinched and knew she was only saying that name to get back at me for getting her in trouble with Mr. Wade.

I replied softly, "I don't have any money for lunch and my parents won't buy me anything to bring from home." For once, her expression softened.

She put her right hand on my tiny left shoulder as she said, "It's okay. We provide free lunches to all of our students."

My suspicions were immediately aroused but I kept my poker face as I asked, "Really? So I can finally eat something other than just dinner every day?" She seemed moved by how calm I was when I asked those things. She smiled and nodded before she led me to the front of the line. The other children glared at me as I passed but I was so thrilled at the prospect of free food that I did not care. When we got to the front, my teacher pulled the cashier aside. She whispered something to him.

I caught the words, "Mr. Wade", "authorized", "free", and "Becket". The cashier nodded and my teacher smiled at me while she motioned for me to get a tray. After I got my food, I went to find a seat.

I wanted to place myself as far from the other children as possible but still be within eyesight of the cafeteria staff. Even if they did not stop the children from hitting me, they would stop them from taking any of my belongings to avoid any legal action from my parents. My parents did not care if I was beaten but they did worry about having to spend money to replace my stuff when it was taken. I found a small table that seemed to meet my requirements and sat down.

Just as I was about to start eating, a quiet voice that was almost a whisper said, "Don't eat." Startled, I looked to my right to find a girl my age, with disheveled but shiny raven hair that covered most of her face and wearing a simple, red, long sleeve dress, sitting next to me. Her sudden appearance coupled with the unusual feeling I got from being near her made me somewhat uncomfortable. However, I did not want to lose the opportunity of having my first friend ever.

I mustered as much courage as I could and finally asked, "Why not?" She turned her head to look in my direction.

I saw her face and I was instantly drawn to her. I almost felt hypnotized by her hauntingly beautiful pale heart shaped face with a tiny nose and glowing orange eyes that were surrounded by dark rings.

I heard her explain, "Bad for you." I noticed that she did not say it aloud because her pale pink lips did not move when I heard her voice. My curiosity overwhelmed any doubt I had and I went to say something. However, I stopped when a disgusting squelch coupled with agonizing hunger caused me to cup my abdomen as I keeled over. Embarrassed, I tried to stifle the whimper and put on a brave face.

Her arms reached out and wrapped around me. She pulled me in and hugged me gently. As she held me, I felt a strange prickling feeling inside my head. It did not hurt exactly; it just felt unnatural. After a few moments, it changed to a sensation of pleasure coupled with relief. I heard her remark, "Just like me. Pain with no one to listen." She was cold but I felt comfortable in her arms. She said in my mind, "Here…" As if out of thin air, she presented a brown paper bag. I took it and looked inside to find that it was a simple lunch of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich wrapped in shrink-wrap and a small, sealed pouch of juice. I looked back at her with a smile. My smile faded when I noticed that she seemed to be as neglected as I was.

Guilt flooded me and I said with concern in my voice, "It is yours. You should eat. You need it more than me." Her pink lips formed a barely noticeable smile briefly as if I had said something funny.

She shook her head before I heard her siren voice in my mind say, "No. Don't get hungry anymore. You eat. Make you feel better." I sat up, unwrapped the sandwich, and started eating it. Having long since learned not to concentrate on the taste of what I ate as long as it was technically edible, I barely noticed the flavors that my tongue reported. Between swallows, I asked the mysterious girl, "Thank…you. How do you…do that mind…speak thing?"

When I did not receive an answer, I looked back over to find, dishearteningly, that she was gone. I looked around but saw no one nearby or even someone that looked like her in the entire that I had let my hunger get the best of me and ruined possibly the only chance I would get for a friend, I stopped eating and just stared at the sandwich. My hunger was replaced by a hole in my stomach as sorrow once again filled me.

I had to concentrate to keep from crying as I quietly begged aloud, "Don't go."

I heard her voice in my mind as she said, "Eat. Still here. What is friend?" Confused and suddenly very worried about my sanity, I verified that she was indeed nowhere to be found. After the brief and futile search, I decided to play along. I tried to do the mind speak thing. I had learned how to read another person's thoughts, but I had never tried to speak to them.

I concentrated on speaking to the girl and thought, "Can you hear me?"

I nearly jumped up and celebrated as I heard her reply, "Yes. You are strong like I felt. Good job."

I continued, "A friend is someone who you can be close to and do fun things with. Someone you can care about. If they are a real friend, you can always trust them to have your back when you get in over your head with something. Or, that is what I have heard. Never had one to be honest. Will you be my first?"

I heard her giggle but I did not understand what could be funny about what I said. With my heart racing from nervousness, I waited for her response. Finally, I heard her say, "So, friend is like mommy and son? You want to be my son?"

I could not help but snort softly before I replied, "Not like my mom. Only thing she has done for me is give birth to me and I wish she didn't every time I wake up. She does not care about me…just like everyone else."

The strange girl said with compassion, "No care for me either. Left alone in darkness." I paused as I realized that I had finally found someone else with a miserable existence that could at least understand what it was like to be nothing to those around them.

I said, "I would care if you gave me a chance."

Though I could not see her, I could have sworn I felt her smile before she replied, "I care too if you give me chance. Son?"

I laughed before I said, "I would prefer to be called your friend since you are not much older than me, but sure I will be your…son and you can be my…mommy. Just, let's not call each other those things because that would be very uncomfortable…deal?"

She suddenly reappeared to my left. Before I could blink, she had me in a tight hug. She said, "Mommy take care of her Michael." Despite being beside myself with happiness for finally having a friend, the way she said the word "Mommy" was unnerving to the point of being frightening. She sounded obsessed with the word.

Not caring about her peculiar mannerisms however, I asked, "How did you know my name?"

She laughed quickly before she explained, "Read mind. Know memories." I snickered at my own stupid question and returned the hug. The bell rang before I got the chance to ask her anything else. She released me from her grasp as she whispered, "Go. Will find you." I quickly drank the juice before grasping the tray of uneaten food. I turned back to tell her goodbye but she was gone again. I sighed before proceeding over to the big garbage cans to dump the food on my tray.

Later, as I walking towards the exit of the school to go home, I saw the man who escorted me earlier conversing with another man about the contents of a folder. As I neared, I heard the words "Becket's", "scores", "third", "only", "second prototype", and "Alma".

I was intrigued and a bit concerned about the fact that they found me so fascinating. What scores? What was the second prototype? Most importantly, what was an Alma?

As I got closer, the two men noticed me and the one holding the folder hid it behind his back as he said, "Ah Becket, how was your first day?"

I answered, "It was alright. May I ask you a question Mr. Wade?"

He smiled before he replied, "Certainly."

I asked, "I met a girl during lunch but after I looked away for a second, she was gone. I want to talk to her but I don't know her name. Will you help me?"

My question definitely appeared to be an unusual request but he finally replied with a disguised amused tone, "I will do what I can. What can you tell me about her?"

Trying to keep the embarrassment from making me blush, I calmly explained, "She has shiny raven hair, is wearing a red dress, and…umm…her eyes are kind of, well…glowing…orange."

To my confusion, the folder was dropped unceremoniously and the papers inside it flew out before they landed sporadically on the ground. The two men looked at each other slowly as if some horrible event had just been reported to them. Mr. Wade finally turned back with a façade look of being relaxed. His eyes bored into me as he studied me for a moment.

After he studied me, he explained, "Becket, neither you nor your new friend are in trouble but it is very, very important that you tell me exactly what she did and said to you." Sensing that I had been caught between two players in a high stakes game, I opted for defending my new friend.

I replied casually, "She let me have her lunch because I was hungry. She disappeared before I could thank her or really talk to her." I had purposely left out her talents, that we had agreed to be friends, and that she was going to find me. His eyes narrowed briefly and I felt something in his mind that I certainly did not want to feel again. I had never felt a sensation that cold and inhuman before. Just as quickly as it had manifested, the sensation dissipated.

He softened his tone when he said, "Michael, if you see her again let one of your teachers know immediately. I don't know her name but she has been of interest to us for some time. We believe that she is a runaway or an orphan and she seems to be too frightened to let an adult approach her. We just want to help her because she seems ill and in need of medical treatment combined with a good home so she can be happy. You do want your friend to be happy don't you?"

He was lying. I knew that just by looking at his body language. Adults could be so full of themselves sometimes. I kept playing my role in their twisted game and acted the part of the naïve, foolish little boy. I pretended to be upset as I replied, "Ye-Yes Mr. Wade. I did-didn't know she wa-was ill. I wa-want to help h-her." I even managed a fake tear after the last statement.

Both men bought my performance and Mr. Wade even placed his right hand on my left shoulder as he calmed me, "It's okay dear boy, don't get upset. I did not mean to alarm you. Rest assured, we will find her and she will be taken care of. Then, you two can play together. Okay?" I kept the charade going by sniffling as I nodded my head.

The other man started to round up the papers before I could look at them. However, in my peripheral vision, I managed to catch a look at one of them. It was a series of line graphs that were supposed to show my performance on the tests that I could not remember taking. I only had a second to take in all the information but I did manage to catch the main title of "Paragon Initial Findings". Below it, the phrase, "Subject Case: Becket, Michael" confirmed my suspicions that there was something wrong with these teachers and the school.

Why would they call me a subject if I really was just a student? What in the world was Paragon and why were they doing it at an Elementary School? Who were they? Most importantly, what did they really want from my new friend and how did I fit into the picture? I thanked Mr. Wade and told him that I would keep an eye out for her.

I turned around and left the school. I had a lot to uncover and since I could not remember those tests, they were obviously messing with my memories. I needed to record my findings so I would not lose my progress just because of something as simple as drug-induced amnesia. I had learned that trick when my dad would hit me in the head and cause me to lose some short-term memories. If I wrote down the essentials before he got home from work, I would still be able to attempt my homework assignments and not get a zero because "I just forgot".

Later that night, I was whimpering in pain as I curled up in a ball underneath the covers of my bed. My dad had grown tired of tormenting me and turned his attention to doing "adult things" with my mom after he had finally drank enough alcohol. The new areas of bruising nearly overlapped the older ones, which made it all hurt worse. I prepared myself for another sleepless night of crying silently as the pain tormented me without reprieve.

I knew better than to audibly cry because that would just make my dad come into my room and continue, "Trying to toughen me up". However, I suddenly realized that there was another person in the tiny converted bedroom. Despite the increased agony it caused, I lifted myself up to look around. I suppressed the cry of shock as I saw two glowing orange eyes looking at me from the previously unoccupied section of the twin bed. I heard her in my mind, "Found you."

She sounded on the verge of crying herself as she remarked, "Bad man hurt my Michael. Come, Mommy will make it better." Not sure how to respond, I just stared at her until I saw her eyes move closer. Her arms wrapped around my tender body and gently pulled me into her soft cold body until my chest was resting against her chest. She lowered us down so we both laid on our side.

Our eyes never strayed from looking into the other's as we laid there underneath the covers in silence for what seemed like an eternity. I only wore a pair of old thin shorts so the majority of my body was bare as she held me close to her. The coldness of her body eased my suffering and I was even able to smile at her through the darkness.

Finally, I was able to gather enough courage to ask her the question that had consumed me since our departure in the lunchroom. I asked in a shy, unsure voice, "Who are you?" She pulled me in closer until our noses were touching.

As we kept our eyes locked, she whispered, "My name is Alma Wade."

I had finally had enough of that nightmare. "No!" I roared as I bolted upright in the makeshift bed.

"Michael, what is it?" I looked over to see the healthy adult Alma sitting up in the bed that we had agreed to share. Her eyes were filled with concern as she tried to understand my outburst. I retreated from her but in my haste, I fell over the side and landed hard on the concrete floor of the inside of the tower. Pain from the injuries I had received only hours earlier immediately racked my body and I was unable to move any further.

She materialized before me still in her healthy adult form. She went to help me get back into bed but I pushed her away as I said, "No, get away from me. That was a lie! I never knew you before the mission to take Aristide into custody. You are trying to trick me like you tricked Fox, Griffin, and Keegan! I am not going to let you do that to me!"

She paused before she studied me for a moment. After a moment, she smiled. She sat down next to me on the cold floor despite my protests. I ceased my attempts at pushing her away and submitted to being held in her arms. She said, "You remember now." I shook my head as I wanted to believe that it was another one of her mind games. Sensing my denial, she drew me into her mind to show me her memories. As the segments of memories played before me like video clips, she explained, "See? It was not a trick. That really was your memory of how we first met." We returned to the floor of the tower and she waited for my response.

I did not know what to believe. I had sworn that I had never met her before my ill-fated mission. Now, I wondered if that was just something that Armacham had programmed into me to ensure that we would be enemies if we ever met again. The entire time I was slogging through the nightmare of the mission to destroy her, I was plagued by a confusing feeling of guilt for taking part in a mission against her.

Orders are orders, and I had accepted that long before I was in Delta Force. Even as I convinced myself that I was simply following orders, something about her kept eating away at me despite my attempts to ignore it. It was as if a part of me was trying to tell me that she was not my enemy. Of course, that feeling could have easily been Alma trying to get me to lower my guard just long enough to her to exploit. She herself had informed me that she would be incredibly manipulative if she had to be. I finally looked back at her and said, "I don't know what to believe."

She nodded and smiled in an understanding manner. Before she could continue, Alpha 1 stirred from where he had passed out cold around the same time I had. He was under the effects of the painkiller Jin had given him so he could sleep even with the nasty gash he had received on his face. I had been surprised that my friend needed and was even capable of sleep. Right before he fell asleep, he had explained to me that the ability to voluntarily fall sleep was a side effect of his condition and while he did not actually need to, it helped his body heal faster.

He looked over at us from his sleeping area for a moment as if his mind was trying to process what has happening. Finally, he asked in a tired voice, "Are you okay, sir? Need me to get up and help?"

I assured my exhausted brother, "I'm fine. Don't worry. Go back to sleep man, you need it."

He rolled back over on his own makeshift bed after he replied, "So do you, sir."

Alma gently guided me back over to our bed and helped me get back on it. After re-situating ourselves, I allowed her to snuggle up against me. She closed her eyes as she rested against my vest. I suspected that she was going to spend this part of her day with our daughter. I studied the raven-haired goddess in silence for a few minutes.

That dream, was it true like she said it was? Was she really my long lost childhood friend? Or was she just trying to trick me for her own amusement? I had already demonstrated that I had feelings for her and had even agreed to be her companion literally until the end of time. So, if it was a trick, it was completely unnecessary and I was certain that she would be able to understand that.

She had won. She had my seed, in some disturbing ways my mind, and my heart. What more could she possibly want from me? Everything considered, all signs pointed to the one possibility that I hated most of all. We were friends when I was younger. Not sure if I should be relieved or terrified, I decided that things would be easier to process once I got a decent amount of sleep. I closed my eyes and drifted back into the darkness.

A.N.:

So…yeah, that is my theory. I know that diehard "canon followers" openly hate the idea that Alma and Becket knew each other when he was younger and his memories were either erased or altered so he does not remember her during the events of the second game. To me, there is a small window of opportunity that it could have happened. I kept being tripped up because I forgot that the game is supposed to take place sometime between 2025-2026.

Becket seems like he is in his thirties so that would put his year of birth sometime around 1995. The Paragon manual was copyrighted in 1997. Alma did not physically die until 2005-2006. Before that, it is completely possible, however unlikely, that she sensed Becket's presence in the city and made contact with him. I assumed that Becket was living in Fairport because as far as I can tell, the Wade Elementary School in Fairport is the only location where Paragon was active.

She had just had both of her sons taken from her before even got to hold them so maybe she redirected her affection onto Becket who would have been around the same age as Point Man and Fettel assuming that Alma was indeed 15 and 16 when she gave birth to them. So while it may not have been a friendship in the traditional sense as Alma would have seen Becket as more like a substitute son, it would have been something.

Before anyone gets all offended or upset that my story has gone down this route, I am only doing this to establish a backstory to fill in the gaps that the game leaves open to interpretation. The main part of the story will be largely unaffected by this chapter save a few references in dialogues and so forth. Anyway, it is Labor Day weekend for me so I am doing another big action chapter like I did last weekend. As always, thank you to everyone taking the time to read my story and for being supportive. I hope I did not lose anyone for this chapter because it was supposed to be cute and adorable haha.