Here is the next chapter. Enjoy and please review.
Angel-Demon hybrid
Chapter 3
Many hours later, Washington had discovered what Caboose had told him. If the Director was still around, Washington would sucker punch him hard. How did nobody know about this? How did nobody figure out that there were more AI fragments harvested then believed? Fourteen. That is the number of AI fragments the Director created without anybody finding out about them. The whole Greek alphabet was used up. The Alpha was more broken than anybody realized. His entire personality was almost taken apart, from the negative parts to the positive parts. How could the Director do this? It was cruel beyond belief.
He looked through the logs to see if he could find out where the fragments were, but nothing came up. Several tense minutes later, he found the information he was looking for. He clicked on the log and a screen came up. The Director was on it, speaking. Washington listened closely.
"Todah was not a very good dah. Approximately 10 hours ago, someone had broken into MOI and had went to the lab where the AI Alpha rests. This person stole the most recent 14 fragments that were harvested, not that the agents know that. The AIs were Zeta, Kappa, Lambda, Mu, Nu, Xi, Omicron, Pi, Rho, Tau, Upsilon, Phi, Chi, and Psi. Who it was is still unknown and how they got in here is as well. There is no telling what will happen now that an unknown force has these fragments. The agents are on the hunt, and they better find this person. This is Doctor Leonard Church, signing out."
The video log ended and disappeared. Wash was silent for a few minutes. So the Director had no idea who stole the fragments or where they are. It must have been someone really good or experienced in stealth to steal so many undetected. Not only that, but the fragments were never found. Where the hell could they..- Wait a minute. How did Caboose know of their existence if he was never part of Project Freelancer? How the hell did he even know that there were fourteen of them? He quickly entered the UNSC database and looked up Michael J. Caboose.
When the file came up, he went through it quickly. Michael was born 19 years ago on Reach. When he was born, he already had three older sisters, one adopted and two biological. The adopted one was the eldest, three months away from turning thirteen. The second was three years old and the third one was two years old. He clicked on the eldest sister's file and up it came. He skimmed the information.
The eldest sister's name was Kuro R. Abhaile, taking her adoptive mother's maiden name. He tried to look up her biological family, but the file was confidential. This made him curious. Why would that file be blocked? He shrugged and continued on. She was very smart and had an IQ over 200. She was good with technology and was a sports fanatic. She was protective of her siblings and at one point beat up a kid who was bullying her kid sister. She was a straight A student and her aptitude scores were off the charts. She graduated high school at the top of her year with high honors. She could have gone to any college she wanted to go to. When Wash looked to see what happened to her, all it showed was a missing person's report. She went missing after the attack on Reach and was not seen again. He then went back to the file that was confidential. He would need some help to hack it, and he knew just the person to ask. Only problem was that the person was Carolina, and where she was now was a mystery.
Wash sighed again and got up. He headed over to where their long distance radio was and decided to see if he could get in contact with her one more time. He turned the radio to the right frequency and did the same to his helmet. He took a deep breath and started.
-Come in Carolina. This is Agent Washington.- There was silence. He tried again.
-Carolina, come in. This is Agent Washington.- Silence again. He tried once more.
-Carolina come in. This is-
-I know who the fuck this. What the fuck do you want Wash?-
Wash was shocked at first to hear the familiar voice over the radio, but was then relieved.
He quickly replied, "Thank god. I thought I would never get in contact with you Lina."
-Get to the point already or I will hang up on you.-
-Okay, okay! Is Epsilon there? He might want to hear this too.-
-Yeah. I'm here Wash. What's going on?-
-I need you both to come here to where the rebels are. We need your help.-
-Sorry Wash. We can't. We have our own problems to deal with.-
-Please Carolina. It is very important. Something bad has happened and we need all the help we can get.-
-I don't care! We are not returning Wash! Now leave us be!-
-I can't Lina. We need your help. Caboose has been-
-What the hell happened to Caboose!?- Wash let out a sigh of relief. Hook, line, sinker with Epsilon.
-Caboose has been kidnapped by the Federation Army of Chorus. It has been four weeks already and we are not strong enough to attempt a rescue mission yet. We need your help if we are to get him back.-
-Why should I care? What could they possibly be doing to him to make me want to help you?-
Wash thought back to the video he just watched and shivered. That was the worst thing he ever saw before.
-Wash? Is Caboose being hurt by these people?-
Wash let out a shaky sigh before saying, -No Epsilon. He is not hurt. It is worse than that. They are torturing him Epsilon. Torturing him. He is being beaten almost everyday because we didn't join them. He was originally kidnapped to be used as leverage over us so we would join them, but when we joined the rebels, they began to beat him until he passed out. Today we received a video from Locus, the man who kidnapped him. He showed us what he was doing to Caboose as a result of us ignoring his previous warning. It broke my heart Lina. Caboose was in so much pain. They broke his leg and ribs right in front of us. There were cuts everywhere on him. Worst of all were his eyes. He's blind Carolina. Blind! He has been blind for fifteen fucking years! He lost his sight when he was four back on the day Reach was attacked! How the hell could we not have seen this!? He is blind and alone, being beaten because of us! Does that not make you feel anything!? Are you going to fucking leave him to suffer!? A boy who does not deserve anything that has happened to him!? Tell me Carolina!-
It was silent for a long time. Wash was ready to start crying. He could feel the tears in his eyes. He held them back though for the sake of getting through this talk.
-I… I had… no idea that he was being tortured. I had no idea that he was really blind..-
-How could we not have seen this? It's fucking Caboose! How did he manage to keep a secret that big from us this whole time!?-
-He was able to keep it because you would have never been able to tell before. He wore contacts that made his eyes appear clear, so it looked like he was never blind to begin with. Apparently the only people who figured it out were Omega, Delta, and Gamma.-
-...There's something else isn't there?-
-Yes. There is.-
-What is it Wash?-
-It's about Caboose's family. I looked up his file in the UNSC database and I found something odd. Apparently when Caboose was born, he already had three older sisters. Two were his biological sisters but the eldest was adopted. I tried to find her biological family, but the file came up as confidential and I am unable to hack into it. Not only that but she is apparently been missing since the attack on Reach. I don't know how, but I think her disappearance and that file are connected somehow and you are the only one who can hack into it. Also I found out something in the Director's personal logs.-
-What was it?-
-You won't believe this, but apparently there were more AI fragments than we knew about.-
-What do you mean by that Washington? Are you saying that there are more AI fragments out there? Ones that I don't remember?-
-Yes Epsilon.-
-How many?-
-Fourteen.-
There was a lot of cursing coming from both Epsilon and Carolina. He knew that they would react this way.
-Do you know where they are?-
-No. Apparently they were stolen fifteen years ago shortly after they were made. The culprit was never found and neither were the fragments. But that is what's strange. You won't believe who told me to look in the Director's logs to find out about the fragments.-
-Who Wash?-
-Caboose did, in our own code language. How is that possible? He was only four at the time. How did he know about the AI fragments and how many there were?-
-Good question. I guess we'll find out when we rescue him. By the way. What is his older sister's name?-
-Her name was Kuro. Kuro R. Abhaile.-
There was silence on the other end of the line. Wash was getting worried that something happened when Carolina spoke out again.
-Oh shit.-
-What? What's wrong Carol?-
-I know that name. I heard it before. Before the project went downhill.-
-Where did you hear it?-
-It is not where Wash. It is who.-
-Who did you hear it from?-
-You won't believe it, but I heard it from CT.-
-CT? Connie? How did she know this girl?-
-You mean she never told you?-
-Told me what?-
-That she had a girlfriend. That said girlfriend was her fiancé.-
-WHAT!? How did I not know this?-
-That's not all Wash. Guess who her girlfriend/fiancé was.-
-Who? Wait a minute. You don't mean that-
-Yes. CT's girlfriend's name was Kuro. Kuro R. Abhaile.-
-Oh my god.-
-Yea. I'll tell you more when I get there. See you soon Wash.-
-Yea. See you soon.-
With that the transmission ended. Wash let out a sigh of relief. Carolina was coming back to help them. Epsilon too. This would be great news for everybody to hear. With Carolina on their side, they should be able to rescue Caboose and bring him home. Locus was going to pay for what he has done to their rookie. Oh yes. He was going to pay.
Wash headed back to the meeting room where the data was still up and went through it one more time to make sure he didn't miss anything important. He kept the file of the girl up for Carolina to hack. He wasn't lying when he said that he felt that the girl's disappearance and this file were connected in some way. Whatever was in that file could hold another key to solving this mystery. He then thought back to CT. He never knew she had a girlfriend, and that the girlfriend was Caboose's older sister. If he didn't think there was a connection, he sure did now. It looks like there is a lot more to this than they originally thought.