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A Higher Plane of Existence
"Are you sure this is permitted?" she asked as she turned to her fellow ascended. "Could this not constitute interfering with the lower planes?"
"No. They had already left the lower planes when I interfered, so it should not give the Others cause to be upset," Oma Desala replied even as the bodies of Alexander Harris and Joyce Summers hovered before them in stasis. "It is, as the humans would put it, a loophole that I chose to exploit."
"What now? You will not be permitted to return them to their dimension without the Others intervening," she said, knowing that the law of nonintervention would come back into play the moment the lower planes became involved.
"The warlock's original banishment spell would have sent the two of them to an alternate Earth devastated by war, with the likelihood of them being able to survive to be almost nonexistent," Oma Desala explained, her eyes never leaving the two humans. "Fortunately for these two an unintended variable was entered into Elias Hargreave's plans that he could not have foreseen. Him."
Looking closer at the young man that Oma had pointed to, she tried to perceive what was so special about the boy that an opening could be made to act. When nothing on the surface proved to be sufficient to warrant a change in the usual restrictions she looked deeper to what lay within. Deeper and deeper she went until she was looking at his very DNA and it was there that she began to see what her defiant colleague was referring to.
"He is of THAT man's bloodline!?" she asked in shock since this went against everything she thought she knew. "I thought they died out during those horrible crusades the Powers That Be started."
"Indeed, so did I and the Others, but the proof is before you." A smile of hope graced her face. "Alexander Harris is no mere scientific construct made from discovered remains laid in ancient graves or some nameless inheritor plucked from the past and deposited in the present. You need only look to see the signs of centuries being bridged between then and now. He is of that bloodline and through him I can send the both of them to a dimension far more likely to meet with their approval than the one Hargreave had intended to send them to."
"You intended to send them to the Place of Beginning?" she asked, not quite shocked but still unsure if it was the right course of action. "Our ancestors left that place millennia ago and have never once considered returning to it. You do not know what it is like there. You could be sending them to a worse dimension than the one the Warlock intended."
"No. Just as HE had faith in HER, so shall I," Oma said as she began the process by which to send the two mortals to what would be their new home. "However to do this properly I will need your help. Change of this magnitude can only come through sacrifice and, for what I have in mind, I need your help. Will you aid me?"
She considered the question and the request.
Oma was considered something of a rebel among their ascended kind, skating dangerously close to breaking the rules they'd created upon reaching this level of existence, and as such only a rare few chose to interact with her on this level. What she was proposing was something that would definitely be noticed by the Others, even if it did not involve the lower planes of this dimension. The question then became if it would be enough to warrant punishment? In the end she decided that it'd be more likely to slip by unnoticed if she helped than if Oma did it on her own and just by knowing what the woman had planned without raising the alarm right away would get her into trouble.
"Fine," she said, hoping she didn't come to regret her decision. "Let's get this over with before sanity or common sense changes my mind."
"Thank you," Oma said with genuine gratitude in her voice and expression. "Let us begin."
They raised their hands to the pair before them and, with their power, began the process of changing what they wished to change before sending the duo on their way. While she couldn't recall this often being done, it was comparable to many other powers and abilities that she did not fear failure or there being any undesirable consequences. Bit by bit the two mortals before them began to physically reverse in age, year by year, until instead of a woman in her late thirties early forties and a teenage male there were two humans roughly six months old.
"We will need to erase their memories if this is truly to be a new beginning for them," she said as they ceased using their abilities. "If they awaken there with their memories untouched it will only make it harder for them and draw unnecessary attention to them."
"I agree that something must be done but I do not believe we must go to the extreme of erasing them," Oma said with a look of consideration on her face. "Better to bury them in their subconscious minds. If we ensure that they will not be released until they're physically and mentally mature enough to handle them, everything should work out."
"And if they try to return to their native dimension?" she asked, feeling it was important to point this out.
"Assuming they find a way to it will mean that they've obtained impressive resources with which to aid the SGC in their current struggle." Oma replied as light drifted from the woman's right hand to the foreheads of both the mortals. "And those yet to come."
"Is that what you're hoping will happen or what you think will happen?" she asked, wondering just how far the woman's ambitions went.
"Anything is possible, Ganos," Oma replied before with a wave of her hand the mortals vanished across the dimensional divide. "One of the blessings of free will is that it means the future is always shifting. No one, not even we Ascended, know what the future will bring as a result."
She had to admit that while many mortals made the mistake of viewing ascended beings as deities and therefore invincible, that was not in fact the case.
Still, she had to wonder at what she might have put into motion just now.
Would it turn out to be a good thing or a bad one?
She wasn't sure she wanted to find out.
Dimension 1115-2001
Procyon System, Arcadia
The City of Avalon
Saint Joseph's Orphanage
January 31st, 2511
Sister Sandra sighed in satisfaction as she finished washing the last of the dishes before putting the wash cloth where Sister Elizabeth would know to take it to be washed with the rest of the laundry. It had been particularly hard today after the less than successful efforts by her and the other sisters to teach the children to cook some basic meals. While normally this wasn't done, she'd proposed it thinking that the little ones might find it fun and that it would prepare them for the day they left the orphanage. Unfortunately it'd gotten a little too fun for the children and two of them had decided to begin adding new ingredients to the recipe with no regard for whether or not they belonged there. Fortunately she and Sister Margaret had managed to intervene before the meal became completely unsalvageable and, while it'd made cleaning the dishes harder, she felt it'd been worth it.
Leaving the kitchen she began to make her way to her modest room so that she could get some sleep and gain the strength she would need for tomorrow's activities. Despite the service they provided to all of Arcadia and some of the neighboring colonies, theirs was not a wealthy orphanage, with a great deal of their funds coming from charitable contributions. As a result they did as much as they could to make themselves self-sufficient so what money they did have to spend was kept to a minimum. They had a garden in the backyard that was a mix of fruits, vegetables and various cooking spices. As part of a charitable donation by a fairly well-off company, the money came accompanied by a water filtration system that allowed them to recycle the water they used to a certain degree. They also had a special arrangement with a local clinic that the children could go there for their yearly checkups and, so long as it didn't get too expensive, they could also receive basic medicine.
Funds were still to be used with the utmost care, though, and anytime they discovered a means by which they could stretch every credit a little bit further they used it.
When she reached the bottom of the main staircase, she smiled at the sight of Sister Miranda, who had obviously finished with her job of balancing the orphanages books.
"Good evening, Sister Miranda," she said with a nod of acknowledgment to her friend and co-worker. "I'm guessing that we've made it through another month without going bankrupt."
"Indeed, but it was closer than it was last year." Sister Miranda said with a small smile and a return nod. "With all the strife in the colonies, things are getting decidedly more expensive than before it all started."
She could only nod in agreement as she recalled how things had begun seventeen years ago, when various members of the outer colonies had begun to voice discontent over the oversights perpetrated by the Colonial Administration Authority. Many were sick and tired of the organization's bureaucracy but in the beginning it'd only been peaceful protests and various negotiation meetings in the hopes of a more palatable agreement could be reached. Sadly some groups became frustrated with the less than fruitful bargaining sessions and began to employ more forceful tactics before abandoning diplomacy all together and engaging in terrorist acts. It saddened her to see such violent actions and she prayed that both sides would break free from the insanity of it all so that reason could once more take hold and diplomacy could begin anew.
Until then, though, the difficulty and danger of transporting goods between Earth's colonies would ensure that the prices for various goods would only go up.
DING!DONG!
"Who could that be?" she asked even as she moved to the front door in response to the doorbell being rung.
"I don't know. We aren't expecting any deliveries," Sister Miranda replied as she followed.
Reaching out she opened the door to see who had chosen to visit them at this time of night. Her puzzlement only grew when she found no one outside the orphanage, nor was there anyone either up or down the street as far as her eyes could see. It wasn't until she heard the sound of scraping fabric that she looked down to see something straight out of fictional story from one of the books in the orphanage's library.
A baby in a basket, wrapped in a blanket, with a sheet of paper secured to it with a safety pin.
"Oh my! What is this?" she asked as she knelt down to take the sheet of paper, hoping it explained why a baby had been deposited on their doorstep with nary a word.
"What does it say, Sister Sandra?" Sister Miranda asked with concern and mild curiosity.
"'To the benevolent sisters of the Saint Joseph's Orphanage, I come to you with the most important of requests. Before you is my son Alexander and, as much as it shames me to say so, I have not the means nor the right to care for him as a parent should. With my carelessness I have placed both of us in dire trouble and cannot hope to keep both of us from it. It is my hope that by placing him in your care I may save at least him from the repercussions of my actions. Do not look for me and if he should ever ask, tell him that I loved him and hope that he lives a good life and walks tall. Farewell.'"
To say that she was troubled by what she'd read would be an understatement but it made her wish to care for the baby as she set the letter aside in order to pick him up. With little bits of dark brown hair on his head he looked truly adorable sleeping in her arms and it implied that he likely was quite tired. Given the tone and contents of the letter, she could only imagine what the poor dear had been through with the parent whom she presumed was the boy's mother.
"What should we do?" Sister Miranda asked, sounding conflicted on the next course of action.
"We shall do as the child's parent requested," she replied decisively, as though to her there was no other choice.
"But shouldn't we contact the Arcadian Patrol?" Sister Miranda asked, sounding like this was the way she was leaning. "The boy's mother might still be alive and could be rescued."
"And if they are the ones who threatened the mother and child?" she asked pointedly as she herself considered the possibility. "With insurrectionists appearing everywhere, how can we be certain they have not infiltrated the Arcadian Patrol? If the trouble the mother speaks of is the Insurrection we would be delivering her child into their arms. No. We will take this boy in and care for him as we have the others. I shall speak with the Reverend Mother in the morning and explain the situation. I am sure she will agree."
With that she began to walk towards the stairs, intent on getting a cradle from storage and placing it in her room for the time being. Until Alexander was old enough to sleep in his own bed he would need someone close by to care for him and, given the decision she had just made, it only made sense for her to take responsibility for that care.
Looking down at the sleeping child, she couldn't help but wonder at his heritage and feel curious at how the boy's future would unfold.
Three Years Later
Alexander's POV
"WEEWOOWEEWOOWEEWOO!" he yelled as he pretended that he was one of the patrol cars that he'd seen going down the street when he was helping Sister Sandy.
It was so much fun pretending that he was going around town helping people that he wanted to do it forever. With his hands gripping a pretend steering wheel he ran about his home's yard, going wherever seemed good at the time. As he moved about he could see Lana and Bobby playing in the sandbox while Chris and Donald helped Sister Mir-an-da in the garden picking yucky veg-it-ables. He hated veg-it-ables! Sister Sandy said he needed to eat them though if he wanted any ice cream or choc-o-late so he ate what he could and hid the rest when they weren't looking. Sometimes he stuffed them in his pockets and other times he just wrapped them in his napkin when he could sneak them in.
It didn't always work, though.
When he got caught they stared at him and made him eat every last veg-it-able, sometimes taking more from other plates as pun-ish-ment.
Turning away from the garden he started to go back towards the front of his home but, as he got closer, he heard the sound of a car coming. Curious as always he ran towards the gate to see if the car was going to stop or keep on going. When he turned the corner he saw Sister Mir-an-da standing by the gate with Mommy Rev-rend, like they were waiting for someone. Coming to a stop he watched intently to see what was going to happen.
It turned out that the car he'd heard coming was one of the patrol cars and this only heightened his curiosity since they didn't usually come unless one of the sisters or Mommy Rev-rend called them for something. Curious he crept over to a nearby bush and hid behind it so no one would see him, peeking over the top so he could see everything that went on. When the car came to an end he saw a man in a patrol uniform get out first and then go around to the other side of the car, opening the back door on that side. When that door was fully open a woman in a suit like he'd seen in parts of the city got out before reaching in for something he couldn't see. He was curious and thought maybe that someone was delivering an important present and that's why they needed someone from the patrol to bring it.
He was only a little disappointed when he saw a blonde girl wearing a flower dress get out and take the woman's hand.
The girl looked to be about his age but was quite shy as she kept herself half behind the leading woman's left leg and it didn't get any better once the two of them were standing in front of Mommy Rev-rend and Sister Mir-an-da.
"This is the little girl you were talking about on the phone?" Mommy Rev-rend asked with a smile as she looked at the little blonde girl.
"Yes. Her name is Joyce Archer," the woman in the suit said with a nod of her head. "As I explained she's been through quite a lot and thus far we haven't been able to determine if she has any living relatives willing to take her in. With all the new regulations the almighty UNSC has been putting into effect, finding her a new family would take forever so having her stay with you would be the best option."
"Well, there's always room for one more here at Saint Joseph's," Mommy Rev-rend said with the smile he liked so much before kneeling down so she was eye level with the girl. "Hello Joyce. How are you today?"
He couldn't hear what the girl said from where he was but he could see her lips moving and Mommy Rev-rend looked happy with what she heard.
"Well, I hope you'll have many happy days ahead of you," Mommy Rev-rend said as she stood. "In fact I can think of one person who'd be happy to show you around… ISN'T THAT RIGHT ALEXANDER?"
How does she do that? he thought as he emerged from behind the bush and walked towards where Mommy Rev-rend and the others were standing. I was super duper quiet.
Indeed, ever since he had learned how much fun it was to sneak up on people, he'd made it a goal of his to do it to everyone in the orphanage. However no matter how many times he tried to sneak up on Mommy Rev-rend, she always caught him before he could scare her and acted like she knew he'd been there the entire time. He hadn't gotten discouraged after the first failure and had tried again and again with the latest count as of yesterday being… being… well, he couldn't count that high yet but it was a lot. All of them had ended in failure but he'd gotten close a few times, so he knew all he had to do was keep on trying and he'd succeed eventually.
Arriving next to Mommy Rev-rend he looked over at Joyce and he could see she was scared of his home but he figured that that was just because she didn't know anything about it yet. It could be scary not knowing stuff but when it was 'splained to you, all the butterflies in your stomach went away.
"Alexander? Would you show Joyce around the orphanage?" Mommy Rev-rend asked, looking down at him.
"Sure," he said before turning his gaze from her to Joyce and holding out his hand. "Want to come with me? I can show you all the fun places here!"
The girl began to reach out to take his hand but then stopped, like she was thinking about changing her mind and he tried to think of something else to convince her it was okay. In the end all he could think to do was put on his best grin, the one he used when he knew everything was going to be okay, and hope it made her feel the same way. For a little while it didn't look like it worked but, just before he was about to look to Mommy Rev-rend, Joyce grabbed his hand real quick. Letting his grin turn into a smile he began to pull her towards his house since to him the best stuff was inside.
He'd show Joyce that this was a fun place to live and wasn't even a bit scary!
One Year Later, Sister Sandra's POV
"I swear he's a bad influence on her." Sister Miranda sighed as she came into the library looking somewhat exasperated.
"What have they done now?" she asked, feeling a little amused at her friend's exasperation.
"I had just handed the Reverend Mother her cup of tea when she asked for a bit of milk like she always does. Imagine my surprise when as I tipped the container only for a dark blue liquid to flow out into her tea." Sister Miranda replied, sounding somewhat annoyed with what'd happened. "Naturally the two of us were quite shocked and I immediately stopped pouring since I didn't yet know what I'd been pouring into the tea cup. Fortunately the Reverend Mother quickly determined that it was indeed milk like it was supposed to be but somehow it'd changed color."
She had a feeling she knew where this was going.
"Before we could even begin to figure out how this had happened both of us heard laughter from just outside the door," Sister Miranda explained, her annoyance not dimming. "It didn't take me long to figure out what'd happened. Obviously someone had played a prank and, when I threw open the door to see who the guilty persons were, I saw both Alexander and Joyce running around the corner."
"I imagine they probably put some food coloring into the tea milk when you weren't looking," she said after taking a few minutes to deduce how the duo had accomplished their task. "It's something of a classic prank among children."
"Truthfully I could care less if it was a classic or not," Sister Miranda said as she sat down in a nearby vacant chair. "I'm more worried about how things might escalate as they get older. Unless they realize that actions have consequences they will only get into more and more trouble."
"You make it sound as though this prank is setting them on the road to becoming criminals, Sister Miranda." she said with a little teasing in her voice.
"Don't be ridiculous!" Sister Miranda said defensively. "I just think that one day they might take their fun too far and someone is going to get seriously hurt. Pranksters always try to outdo themselves."
"Perhaps," she conceded since it was indeed a common point of youth that they often sought new heights of fun to enjoy.
Still, she couldn't help but smile at yet more proof that Alex and Joyce continued to be good friends even a year after the little girl had arrived at the orphanage. While the other kids weren't strangers to the blonde girl, Joyce didn't act quite as freely around them as she did Alexander and she was definitely more relaxed around him. While not what she could call inseparable, she could definitely see the two of them staying friends well into adulthood, so even if they were not someday adopted they would never be alone.
"You know we need to do something before they get too set on having fun and not caring about the consequences." Sister Miranda said, obviously not willing to let the matter drop.
"Very well," she said, deciding that it would be best to appease her friend. "I'll have a word with them later and teach them to be more mindful of others. I'm sure they'll understand."
"Let us hope that a light warning is all it will take," Sister Miranda said as she relaxed in her chair, gazing at the sunny day shining outside the only window in the room.
She was sure that it would be all that was necessary to make sure that Alex and Joyce kept their pranks harmless. They were both good children who always tried to help out around the orphanage if they could. Of course she made sure that they weren't given chores that they were too young to perform properly or that might be even a little dangerous. From what she could tell both of them were becoming competent in the kitchen and could follow a recipe they were given fairly well. Perhaps they'd open a restaurant when they got out of high school. If they did and it was on Arcadia she'd be certain to pay them a visit to see if their cooking had gotten any better since they lived at the orphanage.
The future seemed to be quite promising for those two.
A Year and a Half Later, Planet Arcadia, Avalon
Doctor Catherine Elizabeth Halsey's POV
"Just how many of these 'subjects' are we going to be visiting in person, Doctor?" Lieutenant Keyes asked as they drove down a street in the city of Avalon on the planet Arcadia.
"While you're not cleared for all the details of my work, lieutenant, I can tell you that originally the number of subjects to be selected for candidacy was three hundred," she replied as she half paid attention to the conversation and half on the mental map of the city in her mind's eye. "However due to repeated funding issues that number was reduced to seventy-five. Don't worry, though, we won't be inspecting all of them. Only the exceptional ones."
As had been prescribed in her original project outline to the ONI brass for the SPARTAN II Program extensive gene screening was done from a candidate pool gathered via the CAA's Outer Colony vaccination program. Many thousands of children had samples of their blood taken and then analyzed to see if they matched the two dominant criteria: that they could from a physiological standpoint withstand the augmentation procedures she'd recommended and that they represented the best humanity had to offer both physically as well as mentally. While obviously only limited results about their mental aptitude could be ascertained from DNA, it did help to reduce the list of candidates by a respectable amount.
She'd already reviewed the information gleaned from the genetic analysis of the various subjects since she did not believe that anything could be left to chance. While many of the subjects that had passed scrutiny by an acceptable margin, only five of them could be said to match all the genetic requirements to a percentage consistent with natural reproduction. The only way they could reach one hundred percent would be if they'd been created in a laboratory with cutting edge equipment designed specifically for tailor making a human with painstaking care to detail. During the time in which she'd formulated her proposal to the ONI brass she had considered doing precisely that but it hadn't taken long for her to realize that the financial costs alone would make it impractical. Add to that the fact that human science had yet to successfully clone a human being and genetically altering an artificial human to meet very specific criteria would be impossible.
"So which one are we here to 'reconnoiter'?" Lieutenant Keyes asked as he continued to navigate the busy streets to the destination point she'd set.
"Subject zero seven zero," she replied, keeping herself from referring to the future soldier by name. "According to records the subject has been at Saint Joseph's Orphanage for over two years since the Insurrectionist bombing of the Luxor spacesport on Eridanus II."
"You mean her family-?" Keyes asked, no doubt recalling both the news broadcasts and UNSC briefings on the incident.
"All of the subject's immediate family were killed in the explosion and efforts to locate more distant relations are slow going. As you can imagine with the growing threat of the Insurrectionists the UNSC and UEG have been heightening security both in travel as well as communication between colonies," she replied while emphasizing the more objective label of zero seven zero. "This will make it easier to assume custody when the time comes."
Thinking about that stage of the plan still left her troubled but, from an intellectual standpoint, she knew that it was necessary. Even given the sheer number of citizens in the Outer Colonies, seventy-five children going missing would attract unwanted attention from conventional law enforcement as well as parts of the UNSC who weren't cleared to now about the Program. Given the ethical… difficulties of her Program, it wouldn't do for it to become public knowledge or even to reach the ears of unauthorized enlisted personnel. Therefore in order to neutralize that particular problem, flash clones would be created for each subject and covertly switched out when the right opportunity presented itself. The flash clones wouldn't last long after their initial creation and they wouldn't be able to perfectly mimic the originals in terms of behavior and personality. Due to their accelerated aging they would be afflicted with numerous biological defects in their bodies and even with the latest methods of 'teaching' them at an accelerated rate, they would seem… wrong… in how they behaved. They'd lack all of the personal earmarks that could only be acquired through firsthand experience of an event and even their ability to express human emotions would be hindered.
This was to be expected since they could only imprint cold facts into the flash clones rather than memories with emotional flavoring.
Fortunately it hadn't been difficult to find a suitable excuse in the records that would explain both the physical problems as well as the psychological deficiencies. ONI agents were already in place to ensure that the cover story would be fed to the necessary people as it became necessary. Should any discrepancies between the flash clones' symptoms and recorded 'facts' occur, it would be explained away as one of the 'mysteries of the human body' or a new strain of the affliction.
Still… imagining the pain that would be felt as the flash clones' health declined and the grief once they perished… she could only reassure herself that it was the lesser of two evils.
Seeing them reach less than two blocks from the destination on the car's nav-system, she looked for a building that matched pictures she'd found on her COM pad weeks ago. It didn't take her long and, after Keyes parked the car, she got out, making her way to the front gates. She had scheduled an appointment with the lady in charge of the orphanage, the Reverend Mother, three days ago before leaving their last inspection point so she and Keyes should be expected. Gripping the bag she'd brought with her, which contained a COM pad plus a few other odds and ends, she wondered how this subject would fare with her tests. With those subjects that she'd chosen to visit in person she'd conducted tests to determine just how exceptional they truly were. No two sets of tests were the same but all would be informative one way or another.
"Now remember: if anyone asks we're a young couple looking to adopt one of the orphans," she said as they arrived at the front gates of the property. "We'll look around for a bit before 'choosing' subject zero seven zero as a potential adoptee. I'll administer the necessary tests and then we'll leave to discuss matters before making a decision. If all goes well we'll return the following day to proceed with the adoption process."
"We'll be adopting her?" Keyes asked, sounding quite surprised by this development.
"Yes. Officially on paper zero seven zero will look to have been adopted by 'Mary and Michal Locke' but that's only in order to ensure that there is no official connection between us and the adoption," she replied as she spotted the Reverend Mother. "Unlike with the other subjects, acquiring this one will be much simpler since zero seven zero has no family that would notice the absence and the sisters of the orphanage would think nothing of losing contact with one of their charges. So instead of letting this opportunity pass us by I've decided to seize it by taking zero seven zero with us. She's the last of the exceptional subjects I wanted to visit so we'll take her with us back to the ship."
She would not tell him more because he was not cleared to know more.
His only purpose was to provide her with protection should she encounter any trouble in the form of criminals or Insurrectionists. Personally she'd opposed the attaching of an escort to her trip but those who ranked above her in ONI had insisted, so she had been left with no choice but to accept. Nevertheless, if she must have a bodyguard, she'd make full use of him in order to facilitate the acquisition of the subjects required for her Program.
Clearing her mind she put on a fake smile and prepared the rough script she'd come up with on the trip down, hoping that Lieutenant Keyes was intelligent enough to fit his words to match her own.
"Mister and Missus Locke?" Reverend Mother asked once she stood before them at the gate's threshold.
"Yes, that's us!" she replied with false cheer and excitement.
"Welcome to Saint Joseph's Orphanage," Reverend Mother said with a polite smile before half turning away and gesturing towards the main building. "I must say it does my heart good that you've chosen to give one of my charges a loving home. While I treasure each and every one of them, the means at my disposal limits the opportunities the can offer them."
"I'm sure you do your best, Reverend Mother." Keyes said with a half-smile on his face.
"It's kind of you to say so," Reverend Mother said before she began to walk towards the building. "Now if you'll follow me the children are tending to the garden in back. We try to be as self-sufficient as possible here in order to minimize costs."
She was aware of all this, of course, having downloaded and reviewed all information on the orphanage as soon as she'd read the results of subject zero seven zero's gene tests. The Orphanage was founded about a decade after the first colonists arrived and had become a sanctuary for any children within two days travel who'd lost their parents to one thing or another. It never failed to pass its government inspections and had a good reputation for providing its charges with a warm, nurturing environment. The records on their financials, however, did make it clear that the bulk of their funds came from charitable donations, government stipends and the odd bake sale. Therefore it was only logical for them to take steps to keep food costs to a minimum and a garden went go a long way towards meeting that objective.
It didn't take them long to reach the garden and see that it was completely occupied by children of various ages and orphanage employees. Casually letting her eyes pass over those working on the garden, she looked for zero seven zero using the photo attached to the file as a means of positive identification. While she would have preferred to use the portable gene scanner that she'd used to positively ID subject one one seven, there were too many eyes present to do that without attracting attention.
A minute and a half later she located zero seven zero working alongside a boy with dark brown hair, planting new seeds in the soil of the garden. With great focus she compared the facial characteristics from subject in the photo with the one she saw working in the garden a dozen or so meters away. While not as exact as a scanner like she would prefer, she was still confident that she had successfully identified zero seven zero.
"Has one caught your eye, Missus Locke?" Reverend Mother asked, noticing the intensity of her scrutiny.
"Actually, yes. Can you tell me about that little blonde girl next to the brown haired boy of the same age?" she asked, pointing at zero seven zero.
"That would be Joyce Archer," Reverend Mother replied with a warm smile. "She came to live here about two and a half years ago. She was so troubled in the beginning but with the help of the boy next to her she eventually came to open up. Alex's sense of humor probably had something to do with that."
This proved to be final confirmation so she decided to follow the script she'd outlined by engaging the Reverend Mother in a discussion about the subject's interests like a prospective mother would. It mattered little to her in truth but it was important that she play the role she'd written for herself so that she left nothing for any inquiring minds to find and learn from. Keyes proved to be a quick learner and was adding to her dialogue nicely, without any hesitation or lack of confidence. By the time the chit-chat period had finished she was confident that all suspicion that might have existed had been dispelled.
Now it was time to move on to something more productive.
"Would it be possible for me to speak with her?" she asked with fake tentativeness that she hadn't felt since she was a teenager. "In private if possible?"
"Of course," Reverend Mother replied before turning towards zero seven zero. "Joyce! Could you come here?"
"COMING!" zero seven zero yelled before running their way.
She saw Keyes smile at this and figured he was the sort who probably had an interest in finding a woman, getting married and having a daughter of his own eventually. Somewhat more honorable than some of the other men she'd met in her life but not one she personally shared. To her the acquisition of knowledge and understanding the universe was more appealing to her because, as far as she was concerned, knowledge WAS power. If you had the former the latter would naturally come later, allowing you to further your plans then one day accomplish them. A family or even a child would only distract her from this, so it was likely that this would be as close as she would ever get to having a daughter of her own.
"Joyce, these people would like to speak with you inside," Reverend Mother said with a kind smile. "Please come with us."
"Are they here to adopt me?" Joyce asked, looking back and forth between her and Keyes.
This caused an eyebrow to rise because, while it was a logical enough conclusion, it was not something she'd have expected a child of six years to prove capable of connecting the dots.
"What makes you think that they're here to adopt you, Joyce?" Reverend Mother asked politely but with a trace of interest.
"The lady was looking at me real hard earlier and the man seems real happy looking at everyone here." Joyce replied after taking a moment to apparently phrase her response properly.
Excellent situational awareness for one so young, she thought with a mental nod of approval. Properly honed it should make her an excellent soldier.
"Well, aren't you a smart little girl," Keyes commented with a smile.
"Why don't we go inside and find out just how smart?" she asked with a half prepared smile as genuine interest in the girl's potential made her look forward to the tests to come.
With a nod of compliance the group of four went into the main orphanage building to determine just how exceptional zero seven zero really was.
Jacob Keyes' POV
What have I gotten myself into?
It wasn't the first time he'd asked himself this question but every time he felt the urge to ask Doctor Halsey for more details, he was reminded of the ghost stories he'd heard about O.N.I. The Office of Naval Intelligence was a branch of the UNSC Navy charged with proving intelligence for naval forces and for the development of military equipment. Some say they 'acquired' some of their tech they 'developed' and that when they weren't busy that they were also in charge of dispensing propaganda to the masses in order to keep the public mindset on track. If you believed even darker rumors they were also responsible for conspiracies and subterfuge that'd make some of the more convoluted movie scripts seem simple by comparison. Entire dramas designed to manipulate either a single individual or every human in known space. While he wasn't quite so naïve that he took anything they said or did at face value, the more outlandish theories out there were nothing more than the products of some seriously disturbed minds.
Nevertheless he couldn't help but feel the fear lurking in the back of his mind every time he contemplated what might happen to him if he asked one too many questions.
So he kept his mouth shut and would continue to do so until something stronger than a lurking fear popped up in his mind.
For the last hour Halsey had been quizzing the girl, Joyce, about a variety of subjects ranging from things that a six year old would know to things that only someone just finishing elementary school would know. Personally he thought that the latter was a little unfair since most kids spent their time outside having fun with their friends rather than in a library reading books. Was this some kind of hint to Halsey's own childhood? Had she been one of those lonely kids who spent all their time reading stacks of books rather than making friends? It was a surprising potential revelation but what turned out to be just as surprising was that Joyce was able to answer most of the questions without too much difficulty.
And Halsey looked to be just as impressed as he was.
"How do you know so much, little one?" Halsey asked as she turned off her COM pad.
"I like reading and Mother Reverend takes us to the library once a week so we can get books to read." Joyce replied honestly while gazing at the good doctor.
"What sort of books do you like?" Halsey asked with polite curiosity.
"Mythology, mystery books and sometimes I let the librarian choose a book for me." Joyce replied after a moment's thought. "He calls them classics. Stuff by Socrates and Wordsworth. Some of them are written funny and don't make sense but it makes the old man happy so I do my best to read'em."
Pretty heavy reading for a kid. He remembered the few times in college when he'd tried reading the same sort of books. Usually they don't ask you to think that deep until you're in your teens.
"Then can you tell me something that Tom Stoppard wrote in his book 'The Invention of Love'?" Halsey asked, sounding like how the girl answered would mean a pass or a fail on at least one question.
"'Knowledge is good. It does not have to look good or sound good or even be good. It is good just by being knowledge.'" Joyce said, reciting words she knew from memory. "'And the only thing that makes it knowledge is that it is true. You can't have too much of it and there is no little too little to be worth having.'"
He couldn't help but chuckle a bit at the quote the little girl chose to recite because, to a scientist like Halsey, he figured knowledge, facts, was the one thing she valued more than just about anything else. If it wasn't for the fact that they were dealing with a six year old child he'd have suspected that Joyce had specifically chosen a quote that would put her in Doctor Halsey's good books. But since that was ridiculous he put it down as just luck and watched to see how things would develop.
"That's very good, Joyce. I'm surprised you were able to remember such a long quote," Halsey said with a grin that wasn't fake or rehearsed in the least. "It must've been hard to remember."
"Not really. I can remember just about everything I've read," Joyce said offhand, as though she didn't think it was all that special. "Reverend Mother says she thinks I've got photographic memory. I asked her what that means and she says people with a photographic memory can't forget anything."
"It's true that that's the claim but there hasn't been any real scientific evidence to prove that it's possible to have a photographic memory." Halsey said conversationally even as she removed two holo-discs from her bag and placed them on the table in front of Joyce. "How would you like to find out for sure?"
He was a bit surprised by this turn of events but he could tell that Joyce was interested enough and indeed the girl nodded in the affirmative to the question.
"Good. Now listen carefully: this is a super secret message I recorded once when I was out in space. Now it might look like nonsense but it's actually a message in code," Halsey said before activating the holo-disc on the left, causing it to display an upwardly scrolling document. "Now what I'm going to show you next are the clues that you'll need to figure out what the super secret message really means. You'll only see it for three seconds and then I'm going to turn it right off. If photographic memory exists and you really have it, then three seconds is all you'll need to remember the clues and decipher the secret message. Understand?"
"Uh-huh." Joyce replied, looking intently at the deactivated holo-disc.
"Okay then. Get ready... aannddd… GO!" Halsey said, activating the holo-disc on the right.
In the blink of an eye the disc displayed two columns of data perfectly parallel so that even a novice could tell that the information on the left were connected to the one on the right. It only took him a moment to recognize it as a cipher key for decryption purposes but what had him suddenly taking a closer look was the format it was laid out in.
He recognized it!
It was the format commonly used in classified O.N.I. documents, making him suspect that both the information on the left and the information on the right were in fact taken from a classified database. This caused apprehension to rise within him because military law and regulations made it perfectly clear that allowing an unauthorized civilian to view such documents was forbidden. Immediately he began to move for the table where the two ladies sat intent on confiscating both discs and ending the test immediately.
However before he could take more than two steps Halsey turned her head and glared at him, as if to firmly and unmistakably say 'do NOT interfere'. Instantly he froze and in a way that he normally did when given a chilly order from a superior officer of some clout. The fact that Doctor Halsey had managed to induce a similar reaction struck him by surprise but when he noticed that the little girl, Joyce, was looking at him oddly, he decided to wait until after she'd left before voicing his 'concerns'.
Right then the three seconds the doctor had specified came to an end and, just like she promised, she shut off the disc with the cipher key. Once this was done Halsey put the cipher disk back into her bag before withdrawing a COM pad and placing it before Joyce.
"Now I want you to go through the super secret message and use what I let you see to turn it into something that makes sense," Halsey said as she got up from her chair and picked up her bag. "I'll give you the room to yourself so you can concentrate. Knock on the door three times when you're done."
With that she gave him a subtle gesture to follow her before walking to the sole door in the room. He followed and hoped that the hallways in their immediate vicinity were vacant of people because he had a few words he needed to say. Once outside of the room he looked up and down the hallway just as he'd been trained to and, once he was satisfied that there was no one within earshot, he turned to Doctor Halsey.
"Before you dive into the speech about UNSC rules and laws regarding classified information, you can rest assured that there's nothing of any relevance in the document zero seven zero is working on," Halsey said, stopping him just as he opened his mouth to speak. "It's an old Insurrectionist communiqué from ten years ago that was deciphered by O.N.I. six months later. They've long since switched to another code and the information contained in the communiqué is about a sensitive as a rock at the moment. Besides I only gave her HALF of the cipher key needed to decipher the communiqué."
Well that's something to be thankful for, he thought as he considered the new information. If it's that old and it's only possible to decrypt it halfway then there's no chance of unauthorized persons knowing about it.
Still there was something he had to know.
"If all you wanted to find out was whether or not she actually has a photographic memory then why use an encrypted Insurrectionist communiqué?" he asked, not having been able to come up with an answer on his own. "Why not just make it all up from scratch?"
"Do I look like someone who has a lot of time on my hands?" she asked rhetorically, looking him in the eye. "Contrary to what you might think I'm on a very tight schedule and can hardly be bothered to devise an original encrypted message and the corresponding cipher key. This will suffice."
He waited for her to explain why it'd be necessary for the girl to prove she had an aptitude for decryption but, when nothing happened, he just sighed and found a place to get comfortable. He wasn't sure how long it'd take for the six year old girl to finish her work but he imagined it'd take anywhere between two to three hours, assuming it was done right.
He was mildly curious to find out how well she'd do.
Doctor Catherine Elizabeth Halsey's POV
Hearing the sound of the doorknob to the subject's room being turned, she set down her personal COM pad where she'd been reviewing phase one of the Program.
Once she'd determined just how suitable zero seven zero was as a subject they would sign the necessary custody papers and escort it back to the ship. It would be somewhat of an anomaly to have the subject arrive ahead of the others but it wouldn't upset the overall timetable all that much. Then… when they got back to Reach, she would have Deja give the word to begin collecting the remaining subjects and sending them to the military complex that O.N.I. had requisitioned for the purpose of the Program. There was a part of her that almost wished that some sort of complication would arise that would delay what the current state of the universe insisted they do. The more objective part of her knew that there was no time for delays because, with every day that passed, more innocent lives were lost in the struggle between the outer and inner colonies of Earth.
Some might call Doctor Elias Carver a pessimist but, given that an independent study conducted by O.N.I. only confirmed the doctor's report on the future of the conflict, it could not be so easily refuted.
Her Program would save lives, potentially billions of them, and so a small sacrifice now would be a small price to pay in the grand scheme of things.
Seeing the door open to reveal zero seven zero, she saw that the girl had a somewhat uncertain look on her face and to her that likely meant that it had not been able to completely decrypt the message, though whether this was due to the insufficient amount of data on the cipher document she'd shown the subject or proof that the girl did not have a photographic memory she did not know. Advancing towards zero seven zero along with Keyes, she put her 'potential adoptive mother' face and waited for debrief she was expecting.
"I'm done," Zero seven zero said looking back and forth between the two of them, "but I think something's missing."
"What do you mean?" Keyes asked sounding curious.
"The peek the lady showed me of the clues… I don't think it was all of them," Zero seven zero said, sounding like she was worried she might be in trouble. "It only helped me get halfway."
Impressive. She managed to figure out the truth just from what she saw. She felt somewhat impressed with the subject's powers of perception. It seems she has a talent for decryption after all.
Looking at Lieutenant Keyes, she could tell that he was impressed as well but that was no surprise considering that most code breakers took years to become competent enough to be worth a job offer from O.N.I. For someone only six years old with no credentials of any sort involving message decryption to have managed to come this far… it implied much.
"Well, let's go see how well you did," she said before taking the subject's hand and re-entered the room where the results awaited her.
Walking through the door and then over to the table where the COM pad she'd given the subject lay, Catherine idly wondered about just what she'd find. Picking up the pad she began to look over zero seven zero's work and immediately found something she had not anticipated.
The Insurrectionist communiqué had been COMPLETELY decrypted and was perfectly legible!
This shouldn't have been possible at all, never mind in the little over two hours that the subject had taken to complete the assigned task. She'd seen the recorded amount of time it'd taken the O.N.I. decryption specialists to decipher the communiqué: three months. That was of course the logged amount of time each specialist used to complete their task while on duty rather than the total amount of time regardless of how many days, weeks or months actually passed overall. For the girl to have managed to decrypt the message using only a partial cipher key with only three seconds to look at it… she needed to know more!
"How did you do this?" she asked with genuine curiosity in her tone.
"Well, when I finished using the clues you gave me I could tell it wasn't done. I couldn't read it at all," Zero seven zero replied, focusing more on her memories. "I tried to figure out why you hadn't given me all the clues but then I figured it out: the second set of clues were hidden in the first ones! So I tried looking for them and it was really hard but it all worked out in the end."
She used the partial cipher I provided to deduce the rest of it?! She tried to conceive of the sort of mind required to do such a thing. Astonishing.
That pretty much solidified in her mind that zero seven zero would become an exceptional subject for the program and if she survived phase two… it would add a bit of brains to the brawn. Indeed, intelligence was needed in her creations since a stupid asset could only have limited uses it if it didn't have the required intelligence to make full use of its abilities. She knew that with Senior Chief Petty Officer Franklin Mendez's efforts it'd be possible to forge a soldier worthy of the ODST from each subject provided but that was not enough for the current crisis. Their mandate was to create a force above and beyond the existing forces combatting the Insurrectionists in order to bring the conflict to an end, quickly and decisively. With the intelligence zero seven zero displayed just now, she had high hopes for the future.
"Did I… did I do it right?" zero seven zero asked tentatively, likely unnerved by the silence.
"Yes you did," she replied with a genuine smile even as she took the COM pad and deactivated it. "And you've been a big help in aiding us in making our choice."
Indeed all she need do now was discuss how they would proceed further with Keyes and they could finally begin bringing this trip to its conclusion.
She had a lot of work to do and wanted to start as soon as possible.
Alex's POV
He didn't like this.
He didn't like this one bit.
He didn't like it and he didn't trust THEM.
It had been two days ago that a man and a woman had come to the orphanage to talk with Reverend Mommy and Joyce but that hadn't done much to improve his mood over the news. From the moment the two adults left, all anyone had been talking about was how Joyce was going to be adopted and go away. He didn't want that. It wasn't that he didn't care for the sisters, Reverend Mommy or any of the other kids but… but… he just felt different when he was having fun with Joy. That's what he liked to call her instead of by her full name. After all she always had a way of making him forget about bad things and making him smile, plus she had a lot of good ideas for pranks. It'd taken him a while to convince her that pranking was fun enough that it was worth the trouble you could get into later if you wound up getting caught but he'd managed. As of today they'd managed to prank everyone in the orphanage at least once but, if she went away for good, then they wouldn't get a chance to do a repeat.
He knew that the whole point of an orphanage was to give kids without a family a place to live until either they were old enough to take care of themselves or were adopted by someone. There'd been others who'd lived at the orphanage only to get adopted one day and move out, but they still sent the occasional email or letter. That made their absence bearable but he had a feeling, deep down, that it wouldn't be enough with Joy going away.
She'd just become too important to him to make do with stuff like that.
Then there was the fact that Missy had been on edge whenever the two strangers were around. He didn't know what she was or where she'd come from, but he'd begun to notice her a long time ago and she'd been a big help when it came to sneaking stuff from the kitchen or pulling pranks. It was like she could hear or smell things better than he could. He hadn't told anyone about his secret friend, they would've thought he was nuts, but he still listened to her when she had something to tell him. What she conveyed to him when the adults who were adopting Joy were around was that they were keeping their true selves hidden. The woman more so than the man and that made him suspicious about what they really wanted Joy for. If they really wanted to be her new Mom and Dad then they could just be honest about it.
No… the only people who hid things were people who knew you wouldn't be happy if you knew the truth.
What truth were they trying to hide from Reverend Mommy and Joy?
He'd tried to talk to the other sisters about it but they'd just treated him like some kid who didn't want to say goodbye to his best friend. No matter how hard he tried to get across to the adults that they should be more suspicious of the two strangers, they wouldn't listen. Logically he knew the next step would've been to talk to Joy about it but she seemed happy about the idea of having a new momma and poppa. She, of course, promised that she'd call then or write them whenever she could while asking them to do the same but she didn't seem to realize how big a change to her life living somewhere else with someone else would be for her.
Looking from his position across the street from the front gate of the orphanage, he thought over what he planned on doing to see if he'd made a mistake anywhere.
If Reverend Mommy and the sisters wouldn't believe his words, he'd just have to get proof and that meant following the two strangers adopting Joy after they took her. He'd run lots of errands so he knew the city pretty good, so even if his plan A didn't work, he'd use all the shortcuts he knew to keep up with them. Cars had to stay on the roads to get where they wanted to go but he could cut through alleys and across people's yards.
He was fast.
He'd be able to keep up with them.
He was also very good at hide and go seek, so he was certain he'd be able to keep them from figuring out that he was there until he found out what they really wanted Joy for. He'd get their books, their COM pads and anything else that looked like it'd have something he could use to get Joy's adoption overturned.
Maybe he'd even leave some of his nastier pranks behind so they'd be so embarrassed that they'd never set foot on Arcadia for the rest of their lives.
Hearing the sound of a car getting closer he immediately got as low as he could behind the dumpster so as not be seen. Unlike a lot of the other kids he knew better than to try and peek around the edges. Instead he closed his eyes and focused everything on what he could hear since that way he'd be able to hear doors opening and closing, as well as the sound of footsteps. That'd be good enough to let him know when to get out from behind of the dumpster.
CLUNK! CLUNK!
Tap, tap, tap.
He waited until he could no longer hear the footsteps at all, then added one minute to that just to be on the safe side. Once that was done he ran across the street and quickly got under the car before looking for places to hook his arms and legs on so he could lift himself up off the street. He'd seen this done in the vids tons of times and it'd be the perfect way to follow them without being seen. He couldn't get in the trunk since that's where they'd be putting Joy's things and he couldn't get into the car itself since they'd see him through the windows. It took a few tries but finally he managed to figure out where he should place his limbs but, once he'd found them, he quickly got into position, figuring it'd only be minutes before the two strangers came out with Joy.
He waited and waited and ten minutes later he heard the doors to the orphanage open up with what sounded like four sets of feet coming towards the car.
"Well I wish you all the best, Joyce," Reverend Mommy said from a spot next to the car. "I'm just sorry that Alex isn't here to see you off."
"It's okay Reverend Mother," Joy said politely but with a hint of repressed sadness. "If he was here it'd probably just be harder to go. I'll send you a letter as soon as we get home. Bye-bye."
He heard the sound of cloth rubbing against each other and figured Joy was probably hugging Reverend Mommy goodbye. He just knew that she'd feel so silly once he exposed the two strangers as frauds and got the adoption cancelled but for now it was the thought that counted.
"Goodbye, dear child," Reverend Mommy said before he heard what indicated that the hug had ended. "Feel free to come back and visit when you get older. Saint Joseph's will always welcome one of its own."
"I will," Joy said, sounding a little better.
Soon after that he heard the sounds of the rear passenger side door opening before the car moved slightly and then the sound of the trunk opening, something being put inside. It didn't take long after that before the car's engine was started and the vehicle began to move quite quickly as it pulled into traffic. It was a very scary but also very thrilling hanging from the bottom of the car. After something scraped his back a little he did everything he could to press himself against the bottom of the car so his back was as far from the street as possible. This made it a little harder on his arms and legs but it looked like playing sports and running about the orphanage was helping out a lot.
Still, he hoped that they got to wherever they were driving too soon or else he was going to be too weak to follow them.
Numerous starts and stops went by and he did his best not to lose his grip at any point along the way, always keeping at least three limbs secure at all times. He alternated, letting each limb relax as a way of stretching out how long his body would last before it could no longer hang from the bottom of the car. There were a few times when it felt like his stomach was trying to climb up his throat when he nearly got shaken loose by a pothole but he managed just the same.
He didn't know how much time had passed since they'd left the orphanage but, after what seemed like forever, the car stopped, the engine was turned off and the doors opened.
Thank god! he thought to himself as he listened to the three occupants get out, get their things from the trunk and begin to walk away.
Caution dictated his actions along with Missy, who felt like she had experience at this sort of thing. When she gave the word he let go of the bottom of the car and rolled out from under it, wincing a bit as the scrape he'd gotten early on. Shoving it aside he looked about and managed to spot Joy going around the corner of a big building… a hanger, he thought it was called… so he set off in pursuit as swiftly yet also as silently as he could manage. Whenever he thought he'd lost the three of them Missy compelled him to sniff the air so she could figure out where they'd gone. He'd done this a few times in the past but he'd never been able to smell anything good enough to follow and initially this just caused Missy to 'sigh'.
After a while, though, she just seemed to accept it.
It wasn't until he got within sight of a hanger with a black and white pyramid painted on the front that things got scary. From the moment they'd left the orphanage Missy had been wary and alert for any sign danger but now it felt like she was completely on edge and, if things got much worse, she just might tell him to run away.
He didn't like this.
Any place that made Missy feel like this was no place for Joy to be and only served to further confirm his opinion that they were not being honest with who they were and what they wanted. Letting the impulses he was getting from Missy be his guide, he advanced on the troubling hanger doing his best to respond instantly to any warning he was given. It was tiring moving so quickly, changing directions like he was playing dodge ball, but eventually with what little patience he could find inside of himself he eventually found himself with his back to the strange hanger.
Looking about he tried to find a way he could get inside but all he could find was a vent cover just above a stack of crates on one side. Moving he began to climb the stack, often barely able to reach the edge of the box he wanted to climb onto, and after some hard work managed to reach the top. Looking at the vent cover he could see the screws and smiled as he reached into his pocket to bring out one of the tools he'd brought with him.
A Swiss army knife that'd belonged to Reverend Mommy that he'd… borrowed… from her room.
Carefully pulling out the screwdriver he began to work on the screws, though some of them proved to be a little harder to get out than others. Once the cover was off he looked inside and, once he was sure no one was close, he went through it, putting the cover back into place as best he could before proceeding further into the hanger. He was lucky that there'd been boxes on the inside of the hanger near his vent since he could use it to hide from the strangers as well as anyone else that might be here.
When he reached the edge of the boxes he peeked around them to find a fancy looking shuttle but his worry spiked as he saw the side door slide shut. They were already inside and if he didn't figure something out quickly he'd lose Joy for good! Glancing around like a crazy person, he did whatever he could to find some way to get on board that wouldn't get him discovered. It wasn't until he detected movement from the rear of the shuttle that he saw some kind of cargo lift rising up. Without even taking the time to think things through he sprinted for it, pushing himself harder than he ever had with the simple races back at the orphanage. As it was he just barely managed to pull himself onto the cargo lift before the gap between it and the shuttle became too narrow for him to fit through in time.
Hearing the clank of the lift locking into place, he had to wonder if he'd gotten a little over his head but smushed that thought when he considered never seeing Joy again. Moving carefully through the small gaps in the cargo boxes, he began to make his way towards where he thought Joy and the two strangers were. If this near miss told him anything, it was that he couldn't afford to allow for such a large gap between them to happen again. Getting closer might increase the risk of getting caught but it was a risk he was willing to take for Joy's sake.
It took about ten minutes for him to finally come upon what looked to be a hatch or a door to the rest of the ship but he took the light coming through the gaps between it and the frame as a good thing. Seeing a lock on the door he took out his Swiss army knife again before beginning to dismantle it so he could quietly make it through.
I just hope it's not a long trip or else I'm gonna get hungry, he thought as he finished dismantling the lock.
Pushing the hatch open, he wondered if he could find anything to eat inside.
"Well, isn't this a surprise," the lady stranger said, causing him to look up.
Standing a little way ahead of him were the two strangers he didn't like, both of whom looked surprised to see him, even if the woman was doing a better job of hiding it. He couldn't excuse his presence or even think up a convincing lie so he went with his strong suit.
"Got anything to eat?" he asked with the grin that often worked in getting him out of trouble with Reverend Mommy.
Hopefully it'd work on these people too.
Military Complex on Reach, Doctor Halsey's Office
Doctor Elisabeth Catherine Halsey's POV
"Could we have a diamond in the rough here?" she asked as she looked at the results of the DNA analysis on one Alexander L. Achilles.
It had been odd when the Han's A.I. Toran that someone was tampering with the lock on the cargo compartment hatch but she jumped to the same conclusion Keyes had: stowaway. Keyes, being a military man, probably thought it was an Insurrectionist agent or perhaps a criminal looking to rob them blind. It'd certainly explain why he took his sidearm out of its holster and chambered a round but quite frankly in the absence of supporting evidence she'd seen it as being a bit premature. As a pair they'd gone down to the relevant room and arrived less than a minute before a six year old boy crawled through the hatch. At first she hadn't known who she was looking at but, after the boy raised his eyes to look at her and Keyes, she'd recognized him as a friend of zero seven zero.
After they'd gotten over their initial surprise they'd asked the boy how he had gotten aboard when, to their recollection, he should've been back at the orphanage. The boy had looked ready to be petulant but then had shown uncommon wisdom for someone his age by deciding not to and so he'd explained his journey. While she'd been quick to discern that Alexander hadn't been entirely truthful with his retelling of the facts, what he'd told her was interesting enough. While not entirely unjustified, the boy's suspicion of her and Keyes had led him to take many risks in order to successfully tail them and gain entry to the Han. It was impressive, considering the fact that even trained soldiers would've had difficulty doing the same. As a result she'd decided to take the boy with her instead of returning him to the orphanage on the hunch that there was more to him than was readily perceivable. Keyes, of course, had a problem with that but all she had to do was prey on the man's better nature involving zero seven zero and how she'd like a friend to be along for the ride.
Fortunately her subterfuge had lasted long enough for the two of them to part ways, her with the children and he by himself, allowing her to continue on to Reach.
As soon as they'd arrived she'd had one of her subordinates take the duo off her hands but not before she'd extracted a blood sample from the boy. From there she'd gone to the nearest lab to put the sample through the same series of tests as those that revealed the locations of the various subjects that were to be used for the Program. Some she had gotten the results for quite quickly and, with each one she reviewed early on, she became increasingly convinced that she had done the right thing in bringing the boy to Reach. However some tests took time to complete and could not be rushed if one wanted complete accuracy in the results.
Now, though… now she had all the results she could ever need.
Her mind was immediately suspicious of the results because, much as she had refuted the possibility back on Arcadia, the test results proved otherwise. Alexander was a complete match. No, not a complete match, but rather a superior specimen for her Program that she had not thought possible. The data before her indicated that not only did Alexander possess the necessary genetics to survive phase two but there were also 'black box genes' that, for the moment, she could not divine the purpose of. Granted, there were more specialized tests she could run to learn more but, after a moment's consideration, she chose not to have them carried out.
Such tests were not needed for her Program and ordering for them to be done would only attract unwanted attention.
She knew that there were elements in O.N.I. who were keeping tabs on her and her Program with varying amounts of resources. Some no doubt waited to sabotage her work so that it could be shut down and resources diverted to their own projects. Others likely wanted to seize control of the Program, twist it to fit their own opinion of what it should be like, and either force her into a subordinate position or have her meet with an 'accident'. If she ordered the specialized tests to be carried out, these elements would wonder why and, if they managed to perceive even a sliver of what she saw, they would take action. Either they would attempt to insert an agent into her midst for the purpose of covertly siphoning data or they would try to persuade those in power to turn Alexander over to them. They would make noise enough if she tried to add one more than had officially been authorized to the list of subjects for her program but, if they learned the addition was 'special'… they'd press hard to be given custody of the boy. While her Program and its importance might give her a certain degree of clout, it wouldn't be enough when thrown against some of the stronger factions within O.N.I.
O.N.I. was a den of monsters and you only survived there if you played by the same rules as them.
If you wanted to prosper and thrive there you needed to more cunning and ruthless than the competition. Information was the weapon of choice amongst the members of O.N.I. and quality definitely mattered more than quantity, even if it was harder to come by. You also couldn't use the information you acquired carelessly. You had to pretend that you were playing some invisible chess game, with each piece of information being a piece of the board. Move your pieces wisely and you were one step closer to achieving your ultimate goal. Move them unwisely and, if you were lucky, all that happened was that you got humiliated before being reassigned to a job more 'in keeping with your LIMITED abilities'.
Translation, you were put someplace where you couldn't embarrass O.N.I. any further or waste the time of those who ranked above you any more than you already had.
If you were very unlucky you were made into the scapegoat for one scandal or another, resulting in either a permanent prison sentence or an execution.
During her time with O.N.I., though, she'd learned quickly how things worked and it was this knowledge that told her to not draw attention to Alexander. Instead she would formulate an excuse that would pass scrutiny so that the boy could be added to the list of subjects for the Program and then wait to see how things would develop. Would the mysteries that she had labeled 'black box genes' become active, allowing her to find out what their purpose was? Perhaps. Would these genes lead to unforeseen and generally undesirable complications? Based on her own analysis of phase two there were already considerable biological risks facing the subjects, so one more was of little relevance. Nevertheless she had sent what information she could to Admiral Ysionris Jeromi for a second opinion on the augmentations with the cover story that had been prepared by O.N.I. should she need outside consultation. She had not received a reply yet but she had a flicker of hope that the man might prove capable of devising some treatments or amendments to her procedures that would mitigate the risks involved.
"Déjà?" she asked to the A.I. attached to her program.
Almost at once the holographic avatar appeared above the miniature emitter built into her desk, clad in clothes consistent with an ancient goddess wearing Greek robes.
"Yes, Doctor Halsey?" Déjà asked in a neutral tone of voice.
"I want all record of these blood tests deleted and any remnants scrubbed from the system," she replied in a no nonsense tone of voice. "By this time tomorrow they never existed."
"Understood," Déjà said even as she began to fulfill those orders.
With that done she changed what was on the display screen to show all original seventy-five subjects, with a picture of Alexander off to the side. One by one she looked at them, recalling from memory where they lived, whether they had family or not, and whatever distinguishing traits they had. It would be the final time she'd be thinking of such things in relation to them. Once they were at the complex where their training would begin, she would think of them as nothing more than test subjects or else she wouldn't be able to do what was needed. She knew full well what was ahead for the test subjects and if she let herself, consciously and subconsciously, label them as human children, then she would be unable to bring herself to let them come to harm. That would inevitably cause O.N.I. to remove her from the Program entirely, to be replaced with someone more willing to see it through to completion regardless of the potential costs to the subjects.
Only she was capable of bringing the Program to its optimum conclusion.
This wasn't arrogance or pride, but rather a simple truth.
She knew that in the UNSC there were few scientific minds she would call adequate and less than four that she considered to be near her equal. None of them did she consider her superior in the scientific fields in which she had dedicated her life to mastering. Indeed O.N.I. didn't approach average people to work on their projects. They scooped up the cream of the scientific crop whose psychological analysis indicated they'd be morally flexible enough to do the sort of work that was valued by the Office of Naval Intelligence. If there was someone smarter or more qualified to lead the Program to completion they would've put them in command from the beginning. Since she was here rather than someplace else, they obviously considered her the best person for the job.
However, if she proved too… conflicted… about what she was being asked to do, they wouldn't hesitate to replace her with their number two choice.
She couldn't let that happen.
Not just because it increased the odds of her Program disgracefully failing and, even if it reached completion, she believed that less than half of her original estimated successes would survive. There was no dodging the cost of this Program one way or another but she would be damned before she permitted sloppy work or inefficiency.
"We have our final seventy-six," she said to the A.I. after she finished looking over each of them. "Do it, Déjà. Give the word. The children. The TEST SUBJECTS. Round them up."
"Yes, Doctor," Déjà said with a posture of acknowledgment. "The word is given."
With that the gauntlet was cast and the decision made.
God help them all.