Chapter (13) Aftermath of Augmentations

Paradise Island, Reach

(Alpha Pov)

"The stars sure are bright tonight," the voice beside me pointed me at.

"Yes, but I think that's because we are so far away from the light pollution of cities," I rationalized and explained.

"Hey Alpha," the voice asked

"What's up?" I replied looking over at my blue-eyed and blonde-haired comrade

"Do you remember your parents?" she asked while continuing to stare at the black-canopy sky.

"No, I was an orphan. I didn't have much of a relationship with the caretakers though they were good people. I made sure to pay them back however I could, and not cause too many problems for them," I said reminiscing about the few memories I had of the broken-down orphanage, "What about you? I know John barely remembers anything, but do you still remember them?"

"I do," she said without hesitation, "I even remember the day they took me from them. We were heading through town to the gardens for a picnic and to look around. I always loved stopping and staring at the roses," she said, reminiscing before her expression morphed into a sad smile, "My mom always made fun of my dad saying they should have named me Rose instead of Daisy. Dad would in turn complain saying that it was her idea to name me Daisy because of my hair,"

"They sound like fun people," I said, not really knowing exactly how to respond.

Daisy nodded, "They were, even though dad always complained about not having a son, he was always the one to suggest going to the garden, and the one to pick out clothes for me," she said and for a moment I could have sworn a tear fell from her eyes, but that's impossible.

Spartans aren't allowed to cry.

"Why are you telling me this Daisy? I asked hoping she would stop the cloak and dagger, ring around the rosie approach she was using.

"I am thinking of running away," she finally turned to face me.

My eyes widened from her confession, but before I could ask her to explain she continued, "None of us asked to join the military, and I won't sit in a facility when I know my parents are still out there," she paused, "Ralph and others are planning on breaking out when we get back, and I want you to come with us," she said with complete sincerity in her eyes.

I turned to the sky as I thought of her words. She said them with the utmost care, and knowing Daisy she wouldn't extend the offer to anyone else…but-

"I am sorry Daisy, if it's your choice to leave the program then I won't stop you, but I will stay here," I said turning back to her and sternly gazing back into her eyes.

"W-Why?" she asked in shock.

I paused again thinking for a moment remembering my past, "When I was an orphan, my orphanage stood in the absolute worst possible part of New Alexandria. Trash, feces, and used drug delivery devices littered the sidewalks that my fellow orphans would sit and draw chalk on. To make matters worse we were dirt poor, probably some fucking corrupt politician decided to line his pockets while the caretakers stressed to find enough to pay for groceries for the next week," I began telling a story.

"So I, at the ripe old age of four seeing all of this, decided to take my chances finding ways to make money. Nobody would hire a child so I made my money finding creative ways to steal money, most ended with me hiding before being found and beaten. Though, each time I put up a fight and eventually I wasn't the one being beaten, but found myself as the one doing the beating. That led me to being a runner for a gang until the Doctor came along," I said finishing my story.

I paused once more before continuing, "What I am trying to say, Daisy, is that I have nowhere to go. Unlike you, no one is looking for me, and no one ever will. This program is my home, and it is all I have got," I said stressing my emotions

"But you can still start again, do something else, be able to choose your future," she said quickly before a warm thought seemed to pop into her head before her expression changed, "I bet if I asked my parents would take you in, and we could-"

"Stop Daisy," I said seriously, halting Daisy's excitement, "Before this program I didn't even have a name. I already thought of what my future would be without the doctor finding me that day, and I don't like it," I spoke in a calm tone, "Daisy this is what I am meant to do, I can't see myself in any other place doing anything else. Without this," I motioned to our surroundings, "Without this, I have no purpose, and any other purpose I might give myself is just an opinion or a flawed perspective. Without this concrete reason to exist, without the value that this program provides me, then everything else would be meaningless for me, and if something holds no meaning it should not exist,"

Daisy lay silent while staring at me. I let her think for a moment before I asked her a question, "I know this might sound harsh, but please do not take offense, but it has been six years Daisy, why haven't you let go of the past?"

She looked outraged for a moment but calmed down and began to think. She looked at the sky before I audibly heard her swallow before she began to speak, "I don't want to forget them. I-I am scared that if I let go of the hope that I will see them again, that I would lose the part of me that hasn't been made into a soldier," she turned back to face me again this time mist-shrouded her eyes, "I-I know I can't keep living in the past, and I know that this is my life now, but I am scared that if I Let go and lose this. Will a weapon or a tool be all that's left?'' She finished and looked at me waiting for my answer.

I looked down at the ground between us as I contemplated what to say, and thank god, I found the right words, "Hey, Daisy do you still have that bear keychain? The same one your parents bought on that day?" she nodded in response and pulled it out. I had caught her with it on far too many occasions, it was the one thing she managed to keep from the guards when they apprehended her.

I looked at it and reached out my hand to hold it, she, after a bit of hesitation, gave it to me, "What was the story behind this little thing again? Your parents bought it for you as an early birthday present after you told them how much you wanted it," I asked, reminiscing about what she had told me. After playing with it for a little bit longer I finally got serious and spoke, "Daisy, the fact you still hold onto this toy shows you aren't just a machine, and as long as you know that, and as long as you remember what this toy symbolizes, you will never fully be an automaton," I spoke

"And besides," I handed the toy bear back, "You have me, don't you? And I will be damned if I let anyone I know become boring," I said with a smile. Daisy's hopeless expression morphed into a splendid smile.

She hugged the bear, "Thank you, Alpha," she spoke with a grateful smile, but her expression then morphed into a face that looked as though she forgot to mention something, "I need you to do me a favor Alpha," 

"Yeah?" I answered confusedly

"I need you to wake up," and my vision was cast into darkness.

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"Alpha, wake up!"

"Huh!" I shot up from my position lying on my back. My heart felt as if it would leap out of my chest as my eyeballs shot around the room with precision scanning the area. I felt the differences in my body immediately, not only did I sit up at a much higher height, but my eyes were as sharp as a hawk's. Not only could I pick out details perfectly from a distance, but I could even do so in low-light areas.

"Alpha, are you ok?" snapping my head to the right I found the doc and also realized I was gripping her shoulder, not tightly thankfully otherwise I am certain I would have turned her bones to dust.

I quickly lowered my hand and took a deep breath, "D-Doc, how long-how long have I been out?" I asked hazily through what I recognized to be bandages that covered most of my body.

"Three weeks," she answered as she looked me over, then sighed, "Everyone else is already up and moving, but we ran into an unforeseen circumstance. It turns out you have dextrocardia, I am beyond livid with the fact it wasn't found in your previous checkpoints, but..thankfully you pulled through like you always do,"

"So my heart is on the right rather than the left huh," I gripped my right fist, "Say, you wouldn't happen to know who the was that operated on me, would you?" I asked while rubbing my thumb over my knuckle before stopping and glancing down. Looking down, I caught sight of stitched-back-together flesh that seemed to have been scared, yet it still exposed the grafted Ceramic Carbide on my bones.

"Don't worry about the marks," Halsey said, causing me to look up, "The wounds will close up in the coming weeks and the scars will fade in time. Also no, I can't let you pull apart an O.N.I. surgeon, no matter how much I wanted to do it myself," she said with a regretful expression.

I snorted but understood, at this point I just wanted to put this entire experience behind me, "Fine, but I need some gloves, this will drive me crazy," I said as I struggled to stop picking at the stitches. I sighed and stood up and- "Wow, are you sure you weren't trying to make giants?" I asked as I looked down at Catherine.

She laughed and smiled, "It's good to hear that what happened hasn't dampened your spirits, but as for height, you should see Kurt. However you would be happy to know that you do come in a close second, you stand at a staggering 7 foot 2'," she gestured and spoke as if it was a dramatic reveal.

"That's what happens when you go M.I.A. for a year," I said chuckling, "What can I say? I am a growing boy?" I laughed, but Catherine had deadpanned…strange. As I was laughing I began to feel pain in my chest causing me to fall back onto the bed.

"Take it easy, I would not even let you out of this ward if there wasn't something important happening. I took the liberty of acquiring a wheelchair because I theorized it would be especially difficult for you to walk. Once finished with the ceremony, we are coming straight back, and you are going to rest," she said firmly, staring through my soul.

I nodded because I was having trouble standing, my muscles felt as though they had been put into a paper shredder. My head throbbed as if I had been bludgeoned, and my bones ached to their core. In short: I felt like shit.

I sighed and sat in the wheelchair she pushed over, "Ya' know if I didn't know better, I would think that you are actually acting like a mom right now. Funny seeing as you have been gone for a year," I said looking at her over my shoulder as she began to walk behind me.

She rolled her eyes but there was strangely a look of shock in them due to my comment, but a smile was still present on her face, "You would be surprised how much I have done to look after you," she said mysteriously. 

This time it was my time to roll my eyes as she began pushing me towards the door. As we approached a thought popped into my head, "Will we need to bring flowers?" I asked, pointing my gaze at the floor thinking.

She looked startled, "W-What do you mean?" she asked unsteadily.

"Stop trying to spare me from the truth," I turned my gaze to her, "You abducted us, conscripted us, and trained us to kill. The least you can do is be honest with me and tell me how many died,"

She paused before taking a deep breath, she… turned her gaze away as she spoke, "Thirty died due to the procedure. Another twelve were crippled…but I have confidence that most if not all can be rehabilitated, and even go through augmentations a second time,"

We stopped just in front of the door as I took time to process what I heard, 'Thirty?..Dead? Were we just unprepared?" I was baffled at the figure. Close to half of the class was dead, and close to twenty percent was crippled.

It was…hard to hear that people you had dreamed of fighting alongside died. It was even harder when you realized they never even saw the first battlefield…

But I can't blame myself, and I shall not wallow in self-pity. I have no control over probability and neither did Halsey. The truth is that bad things just happen sometimes, and what one makes of it defines their character.

Going forward the survivors will be going to war-Real war and will need as much support as they can get. Due to the supplemental training, I have become invaluable in any team setup. Therefore I can stop this from happening again-No I will stop this from happening again.

"I see," I at last replied nodding my head before directing my eyes forward, "Better not keep them waiting too long," Halsey nodded as well and we began to make our way to the launch bay.

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"Sacrifice, honor, courage, and bravery, all attributes that each and everyone here exhibits. Death itself cannot strip us of these qualities unless we let it. Today we mourn the loss of our fellow comrades in arms, but today we shall not let it shake our determination. Though their battle is over, our battle will continue long past this moment, and we will call upon them as we persevere through each of our hardships. May we not forget that each and every one of us is bound by the common goal, to bring peace to humanity, and we shall forever remember that strength lies in the bonds we have made,"

"The road forward will be harsh, there is no doubt in that regard. However, let this event serve as fuel for our resolve so that no others are forced to experience this themselves. Finally, remember what we fight for: We fight for the woman who after dropping her kids off at school, was forced half an hour later to choose between burning to death or falling to her death because of insurrectionist bombs,"

"Honors, ATTENTION!"

Looking at my classmates on my left, they stood sharply at attention. I took a deep breath and gripped the two posts of my wheelchair supporting myself as I called my decimated muscles to action. Thanks to Catherine I matched the class wearing a dress uniform in the color blue along with the white cap.

At last, I finally stood up straight and gave a salute. It had been the second salute I had ever taken the time to properly form. I considered it my way of paying respect to those who actually earn it, and not to those that are focused on the dog and pony show that is the UNSC military.

As we stood staring through the glass showing a final sign of respect to our fallen, the pods containing their bodies were jettisoned into space. They drifted slowly as the light of a nearby star illuminated the red UNSC flag covering the capsule. Before long the pods were out of sight, swallowed by darkness just as their occupants who did not return from the jaws of death. 

Eventually, we stopped and I sat back down, Halsey said some closing remarks, and we were dismissed from the ceremony. Before I was able to roll around anywhere I found myself surrounded by the surviving members of my class.

"Alpha! Finally, you are out of the coma!" a voice exclaimed.

"Thank god I thought we lost you too!" another sounded concerned.

I began swatting my arms around to get space between me and the horde of harpies gathered around, "Come on I know you guys are concerned, but I am not a damn exhibit," I said as I had finally gotten my personal space back, "Now, please allow me to address any questions now. Otherwise, it will be fucking annoying to keep re-hashing the same shit," I informed only to watch as multiple mouths began to open to speak, "ONE! At a time," I said, rubbing my forehead.

"Why were you out longer than us?" Kelly was the first to ask.

"That's a question for Halsey, but to make a long story short we found out that my heart is on the right rather than the left," I said, answering quickly.

"You aren't crippled, right?" Jai asked with concern. However, his concern was probably due to the loss of a prospective sparring partner.

"No, I quite literally woke up an hour ago. Give me a day or two and I should be up and walking," I answered, shaking my head.

"Are you okay Alpha? You seem more…tired than usual," Kurt asked with his usual good-natured tone.

I glanced down for a moment and my eyes flickered as I continued to repress the familiar sense of being dissected while conscious,"....Yeah, as good as I can be," I said, returning my worn gaze back to Kurt.

A couple more questions were asked before we heard my stomach rumble. I informed Catherine that we were going to the cafeteria, she begrudgingly agreed to what I said, and we began to move through the corridors. We laughed and reminisced about times in training, remembering our fallen but in a fun light.

"I am happy that you are still with us Alpha," John said as we were in front of the group, meanwhile the others behind us continued to talk to each other excluding us for the moment.

"Of course, someone has to watch your back," I said, nodding with a small smirk.

John laughed, "Still, I am glad to have you back," he said, reaffirming what he had said earlier sincerely.

"Glad to be back John." is all I responded with.

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YOOOOOOOO

It's memes dropping another chapter right here front and center.

Not much to say that wasn't said in the last chapter's note.

So drop any questions.

And I will See You Star Side.