"It seems like the real problem here is Gold" Agent Washington says. Rho had told him about the few times they had gotten close to capturing Dr. Han. Every time they found her, Gold had somehow prevented them from reaching her before she escaped. "If he's the only one protecting her, then all you need to do is get rid of him."

"We can't kill him" Rho says sternly. "I won't allow it, and Silver won't allow it. He's not our enemy, he's her prisoner."

"Of course" Wash says. "That's not what I meant. I think we need to capture him."

"We've tried" Rho says tiredly. "We tried using a plasma pistol, but it didn't work. I think Dr. Han modified his chip with some sort of electromagnetic shielding. And we've tried catching him and bringing him back to base, but we can't. He's willing to kill everyone here, but we're not willing to kill him. It gives him a distinct advantage."

"But if it's just him, you should be able to easily outnumber him" Wash reasons.

Rho shakes her head. "Silver won't let any of the other experiments face him."

"Why not?" Wash asks in exasperation. "She could end this so easily."

"Gold was Silver's partner after Manganese left. He was the best agent here. Silver was the only one who could ever match him in battle, but their fights only ever ended in stalemates. She's not willing to risk letting anyone else fight him."

Wash shakes his head in confusion. "I can understand her wanting to protect her siblings. I get that. But this seems a little overprotective. Why is she so afraid of them getting hurt?"

Rho looks down at her feet. She's not sure if she should tell him. Finally, she looks up and begins to explain. "There was an, incident, before we found you. Someone-" Rho's cut off by someone entering the room.

A black haired boy who looks to be about sixteen years old is standing in the doorway. He stares at the AI on the table for a moment, expression unreadable, before turning his attention to the seated figure. "Agent Washington?" the boy asks.

Wash meets the boy's eyes with his own. Something about him seems off somehow. His stance and demeanor make him appear suspicious, as well as the fact that Rho has grown nervous since seeing him. "Yes" Wash says slowly.

"I need you to come with me" the boy says, turning to leave.

Wash stands, but doesn't move toward the door. "What's this about?" he asks.

"I don't know" the boy says. "I was just told to get you." He glares at the AI for a moment, before his face turns neutral again.

The glare doesn't escape Wash's notice, and he wonders what it means. What does this boy have against the AI? Could it simply be distrust, after having a similar program control him at one time? Wash isn't sure, but he knows he doesn't trust the boy. Still, he has his gun with him, and he doesn't think anyone here will attack him. It didn't make sense, not right after they'd rescued him and his team from that planet.

Wash turns to Rho. "I guess we'll finish this later" he says, before facing the door and following the boy.

The door closes behind Washington and the boy after they leave the room. Rho's image flashes for a moment as she activates her radio. "Nick, can you hear me?" she asks, her tone urgent as her colors shift sporadically.

"Yeah, I'm here." Rho absorbs the words rather than hearing them, the sound data from the radio flowing directly into her memory. "What's wrong?"

"It's Boron" she says. "He asked Agent Washington to follow him somewhere, but he wouldn't say where they were going or for what reason. It seemed" she pauses for a second, searching for the right word. "Suspicious" she finally ends.

Nick sighs heavily, and Rho gets a mental image of him running one hand through his graying hair. "Okay, I'll see what he's up to. Thanks for the warning."

I half walk half jog through the halls. Where the hell is Tucker? I've searched through the entire facility in the past ten minutes, and have seen no sign of him. Everyone I ask says they haven't seen him either. Since he left Carbon with Grif and Simmons earlier, it's like he's disappeared.

I eventually find myself outside of the box, our training room. I take a moment to look at the doors, and in my mind I picture the stone columns rising from the floor and the holographic targets I know lie beyond. It's not as advanced as our old one, which was entirely holographic, but it still serves its purpose. It has a similar layout to the ones aboard the Mother of Invention, since the Director himself helped design it. There are a few differences, though, like the anti-gravity settings and sensory controls, which mom added. I look through a window into the room and see Tinu training Lico, Rubi, and Franc. The kids are bouncing off the walls, literally, as they practice how to move in a zero-gravity environment.

I look up and see a pair of legs hanging over the side of the catwalk. The metal walkway is meant to give easy access to the ceiling's lights in case they need repair, but I also tend to use it as an observation deck for the training room. I recognize the bluish green/teal/whatever color of the armored legs and smile. I guess I'm not the only one who knows how to get a good view.

I climb up the ladder to the catwalk, and my suspicions are confirmed when I see the armored figure sitting there. Tucker barely glances at me when I walk up to him. He simply moves his helmet to make room for me to sit next to him.

I sit and hang my legs over the side of the walkway, my chin resting on the metal railing, and watch the kids. What was probably once an organized training exercise seems to have devolved into a game, as is often the case when Tinu is supervising. I don't mind. They need to relax and have fun sometimes.

I glance at the Sim-Trooper out of the corner of my eye. He's smiling. I wonder briefly whether he's smiling at Tinu, or the kids' game. I get my answer when Rubi apparently scores a point by touching the wall on the other side of the room, and Tucker claps.

"Looks like they're having fun" I say, watching Franc perform some sort of impromptu victory dance.

"I think the point of the game is to see how many times they can crash into each other" Tucker remarks as Lico and Rubi launch at each other from across the room, only to bounce away laughing.

I laugh with them, then glance at Tucker again. He seems harmless enough, but I'm still concerned. "I need to talk to you about something" I start.

"You don't even need to ask," Tucker interrupts. "My son's been working as an ambassador for years to keep peace between humanity and the Covenant. I don't want to let all his work go to waste. Besides, I can't just let the people here get killed" Tucker adds, looking at the kids again. "I'm here to help however you need me to."

"So, you're in?" I ask.

Tucker laughs slightly. "Yeah! Bow chicka bow wow!"

I give him a questioning look, but quickly shake it off. I probably don't want to know.

Although I'm glad he's agreed to help, there's something even more important I had wanted to talk to him about. "Actually, that's not what I came here to ask."

"What's up?" Tucker asks, finally turning his full attention to me.

I sit silently for a second, thinking. I need to ask this in a way that isn't simply asking 'are you dangerous?' out of nowhere. "Well, you know I have all of your files from Project Freelancer" I start slowly. "These files include how you were expelled from the UNSC and hired by Project Freelancer." When he doesn't say anything, I add "it says why you were kicked out of the army."

"I feel like you're trying to say something, without actually saying anything" Tucker says.

I sigh. "Do you know why you were kicked out of the army?"

"Dude, until a year ago, I thought I was still in the army. I joined the army, and the next thing I knew, I was sent to some shitty outpost, in a canyon, in a desert. So no, I have no idea why."

I decide to stop beating around the bush and just get it over with. "Your file says sexual harassment."

"Oh" Tucker says, looking away for a second. "Well, that sounds bad."

"Yeah" I laugh humorlessly. "It sounds bad. And since you're going to be working with us, I need an explanation. I'm giving you one chance to explain what happened before I drop you back to where I found you."

Tucker runs a hand through his hair thoughtfully. "Okay, I think I know what you're talking about, and it's seriously not as bad as it sounds" he says eventually.

"So, start talking" I say. I won't let this go until I have a decent answer.

"Back when I was in basic training, after I'd joined the army, I had this one Drill Sergeant. She worked us to the bone. Every day, she had us training like we were already fighting the war. She was a total bitch, but, like, a hot one. So, every day when training was over, I would try to flirt with her. I didn't really mean much by it; I just wanted to make her uncomfortable. You know, get back at her a little bit for beating us up so much on the training courses. One day, she said that if I didn't stop, she'd get me court-martialed." Tucker stops for a second, thinking. "You know, it's funny. Apparently she's the reason I've been through all the shit I've been through with Project Freelancer, and I can't even remember her name.

"Still, if it weren't for being grabbed by the project, I wouldn't have met any of the friends I have now. I wouldn't even have Junior. So, I guess it's alright, in the end."

I study his face, looking for any signs of a lie. His story seems reasonable, and I think he's telling the truth, but I'm not sure. Nick has always been a better judge of that kind of thing than I am. "Okay" I say finally, my eyes not leaving his. "I have no way to prove that what you've said is true, so I'm choosing to believe you for now. But I will be keeping an eye on you. If you do anything that endangers my family in any way, I will kill you myself."

He seems shocked for a second, then smiles and nods. "Yeah, I can understand that. If anyone tried to hurt Junior, I guess I'd kill them too."

I nod as well. I'm not sure whether I should be concerned or not with how well he took the threat. Maybe he's just used to being threatened by now, with all the fighting he's done. I decide to just let it go, choosing to ask him something else I'm curious about. "Junior's your kid, right?"

"Yeah, my son" Tucker says proudly.

"He's a sangheli?" I ask. Tucker nods. "How does that work? Is he adopted, or…"

"No, he's my actual son, blood related and everything" Tucker answers.

I shake my head. According to mom's research, humans and sangheli are supposed to be non-compatible. It took her years to figure out how to get the DNA to fit so she could make Silicon. "That's going to need further explanation" I say.

Tucker begins to explain. "You see, we met this alien dude back when we were fighting O'Malley. I never figured out his name, so I just called him Crunchbite. I couldn't understand him because he only ever said 'honk' and…"

I look down into the box while listening to the story. For some reason, Tinu and the kids have stopped playing. There's a small group gathered at one end of the room. I can't tell who all the people are, but I recognize Wash's blue and yellow armor in the middle of the group. It looks like someone's talking to him. I focus on the person speaking and suddenly recognize the black hair and nervous stance. "Oh, blargh" I mutter.

"Yeah, exactly!" Tucker says. "I mean, what kind of language only has two words?" He notices that I'm no longer paying attention and looks down to see what's wrong. "What's going on down there?"

Before I have a chance to answer, Nick peeks his head over the top of the ladder. "Si, Rho just called me. She said Boron's up to something."

"Yeah, I saw" I say, gesturing to the ever-growing crowd in the training room. "Come on, we'd better check this out." Nick drops down the ladder. What could Boron be up to now? I think as I start climbing down after him.