Chapter (3) Something about a Boy Named Alpha (3-Final Chapter of Prologue)
[HAPPY AMERICA DAY RAHHHHHHHHHHH NEW UPLOAD ENJOY!!!! (Stick around for the author's note will be important for next upload)]
(Catherine Halsey Pov)
On the way back to the orphanage the Lieutenant decided to ask a couple of questions about the purpose of all these interviews. I believe that his encounter with Candidate 017 must have stirred his already growing suspicions. He knew where to draw the line and I… also felt he had earned a little bit more of an explanation. Though I still kept the meat of the project under wraps. I honestly only told him that we were screening for future leadership candidates in the UNSC and he seemed to have accepted that explanation.
Though the purpose of our interviews wasn't exactly wrong per se it was more of a half-truth. I am sure he figured that this screening will only become valuable ten or so years down the line instead of ten or so days. If all goes as planned I will be able to order retrieval around September 10th… though that will also be the point of no return for the program.
I had already accepted that there is no turning back once I replace the children. I along with ONI will effectively be stealing away their childhoods and much more all in the name of peace for the UNSC. Nothing I can say or do will justify it. But that's just how it is as my father used to say and these children are the key to the future, but what is the limit of the price that humanity must pay for security? Will these children be the final sacrifice needed to be paid?
I shook my head moving away from the double guessing of my actions. I instead decided to think about the subject of the day, candidate 017. I leaned back into the chair in the dining room while sipping on the tea that I was provided, by the woman Jennifer (It surprisingly tasted excellent), and began to recall the screening process back in late July.
When I was alerted of the 17th candidate in the desired year range I accepted the results graciously, and began to research the child. As I read more and more into his file and circumstances I found myself becoming much more fascinated with him than the other candidates with 117 being omitted.
Just like the other tests and results I first began to dissect his genome which was mapped via the leftover DNA found on syringes during his vaccinations. What I had found was wonderfully strange if I had to describe it in words.
The boy's DNA was a perfect match and held some markers which supported traits that would enhance him ahead of his peers. For example, he had a muscular gene that allowed for higher muscular density via an increased production of Myostatin, inversely he also had a mutation leading to an increase of LRP5 to compensate. There were a couple more of these genes that passively enhanced the boy and paired with the eventual augmentations…
I shudder at the thought of what he would be capable of.
Seeing these anomalies I dug into his family tree, and it didn't take long before I found what I was looking for. Surprisingly, I found that both of his parents were survivors of the Spartan-I program or the ORION project. Sadly both parents were dead, his father was killed months before on an anti-Insurrectionist Operation and his mother died during the delivery without even being able to name the newly orphaned boy.
After coming upon these discoveries he along with Candidate 117 were placed at the top of the list for priority observation. 117 was by all markers a perfectly average candidate.
Though that conclusion was a bit of an oxymoron because all preliminary candidates were far superior when compared to their peers. They all had frightening intellect and superior physical capabilities. Each one possessed a deep desire for success, any one of them could be the next Ghengis Khan, Alexander the Great, or Cleopatra if left to their devices.
I couldn't help but silently chuckle to myself thinking back. Candidate 117 or John was a particularly brutal boy. He was the verifiable winner of a string of 45 King of the Hill battles which left him with nothing but a chipped tooth, while his opponents walked away with various broken and fractured bones.
And Candidate 017 ironically was quite similar in that regard. Both the caretakers and the NAPD undercover agent described the boy as violent and aggressive. One who cares little for hurting feelings and will most certainly not hold his tongue if he feels his grievances are not being heard. These qualities made him a bit of a loose canon and gave ONI some reservations when I informed them of his priority, they especially discouraged his candidacy when hearing that he was a criminal in the making.
I never agreed with them once due to multiple reasons and eventually, they gave up trying to convince me against his inclusion. I theorize that they believed that upon observation of the candidate, I would 'realize' him as a lost cause due to his somewhat unhinged nature and give up on my own. Sadly for everyone involved I like crazy and believe that a little crazy can go a long way.
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"What the hell does this hunk of metal mean? And what do you want from me? Explain," demanded 017 from across the dining room table. He looked worse for wear than when we saw him in the alleyway. He now had a black right eye and I could easily see the dried blood that formed a dark red ravine below his nose.
I simply smiled at his actions, however, it was a breath of fresh air to see him acting like a child for once, "I didn't think that a child could be so demanding. What about you Jacob?" I said looking at Jacob who had a smug smile pointed at the boy.
Of course, my reply only infuriated the boy further, "Fuck you! Don't patronize me, I didn't get thrown out of that shit hole and run here for you not to give me some answers," he spoke standing up while leaning over the table and grabbing the edge of the table tightly in both hands.
This time I laughed and asked, "Is that where you got your bloody nose from?". The response to my question actually showed a drastic change in demeanor from the boy. Instead of finding my words as a dig at his less-than-desirable appearance, he showed a sense of… pride?
"No, I had to solve a problem I had with someone," he said nodding with a bloodthirsty smile, "And I can now say that the problem is solved…eternally," he paused before he said that last word. Meanwhile, I added vindictive to the list of character traits that will need to be added to his file.
I decided that I had my sufficient amount of amusement and spoke, "Fine, but we will talk about the details of your adoption somewhere else," I said before standing up the boy's demeanor swapped back to his past suspicious expression, "Hm, how about an ice cream parlor?" I said drawing a glint in the eyes of the boy. He was conflicted about how to respond before he finally spoke again.
"...fine," and with that Jacob stood up grabbed his coat and we made our way to the resort district of New Alexandria
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(3rd Pov)
The sun had just begun to set as Catherine Halsey, Jacob Keyes, and candidate 017 sat down to eat. Though the sun had begun to set it was still only late noon, and yet there was a lack of civilian presence surrounding the ice cream parlor. The boy didn't seem to take notice and instead was content with devouring the sweet treat as quickly as possible. Both Halsey and Keyes were amused to watch him do so, smiling and laughing as the area around his lips began to be smothered in syrup.
Though after a couple of minutes of watching the boy Catherine to Jacob's surprise reached over with a napkin in hand and cleaned off the boy's face. Her action as out of character as it was led to Jacob giving a small shrug and continuing analyzing the boy. He had not forgotten their scuffle in the alley and he would be damned if he allowed the boy to get the drop on him.
Catherine's action led to the boy being snapped out of his sugar-filled daze, "So are you going to answer my questions?" he asked with a slight blush of embarrassment. He had never had someone take care of him as Catherine had in recent memory (He had purposefully limited contact with the matron for that reason). He knew that he had been anything but a 'nice' child which confused the boy.
He was confused as to the reason why she was so patient with him. It was obvious to him that something was different with her. He had never met any couples looking to adopt him, but he believed that she wasn't exactly just looking to adopt him. However, she had been patient and caring so far even though he had been hostile. Therefore he drew two, no three conclusions: A. she was a bit weird but was genuinely wanting to adopt him, B. she was acting and only needed him for something (he had no idea what), or C. a mixture of both A and B.
The boy nonetheless didn't care what option it would end up being. While some would be scared that they would do things to harm themselves, the boy didn't care. In his mind, there was always a way out even if the way out….was to reach his end. He never put much value on his own life. If asked he would say that 'I never saw a reason to'. In other words, he didn't really see anything really worth living for, this allowed him to hold a desire to join the UNSC at an early age.
"What do you think about the UNSC?" innocently asked Catherine resting her chin on her hand bringing the boy from his thoughts.
The boy was confused as to the point of her question and simply spoke of what he had seen from documentaries, "I don't know?... They are cool I guess?" he answered with his eyebrows raised.
"Interesting," Catherine said, "And if given the chance when you are older would you join the military?" she asked with a curious smile.
The boy thought for a while before he answered. Though he had been enamored by the thought of fighting on a battlefield he also recognized the ugliness of war. Specifically, he had seen one ancient relic of a movie depicting a great conflict that happened in the early 20th century. The movie was called 'All Quiet on the Western Front' and it showed him the brutal, despicable, and messy thing that war is.
After seeing the movie he felt conflicted and asked Jennifer the matron of the orphanage about what he should do. She advised him to forget about joining the UNSC, she told him that he was far ahead of his peers and was far too smart to be some 'jarhead' fighting on another planet far from home. She said with his brain he could easily be a researcher, doctor, scientist, or even politician if he were to set his mind to it. She even joked that once he was making the 'big bucks' to not forget where he came from.
Of course, he had heard the same things from teachers in his school on the rare occasion he actually went. Although he did consider it and the pros of such a career, namely being a considerable amount of money, a high position in society, and other things… he strangely found that they didn't have much of an appeal. Even more strangely though he had watched a movie depicting the horrors of war he still felt something deep down telling him that he needed to join the UNSC when he was older.
He felt that it was his calling to do something great within the military and because of this feeling, he answered Catherine truthfully, "Yes," he nodded before adding, "If given the chance I would join now, to be honest," the boy wasn't certain about whether the war was right or wrong. Whether there were justified reasons for conflict or if everything was a manufactured panic. The only thing he knew was that he felt a calling and that calling led him to fight in war.
Catherine smiled happily at his response, "Then I have a deal that I believe you will like," she then looked over at Jacob, "Lieutenant, would you mind making sure me and 'our new son' may have a private conversation?" Catherine asked whilst teasing Jacob who simply had a wry smile and did as he was told without asking questions.
After Jacob had left Catherine turned back to the boy, "Now, before I explain the deal I will tell you the truth of why I am here to adopt you," the boy in anticipation leaned forward with intrigue, "I am putting together a program of a group of highly capable individuals that will be educated to help lead the UNSC High Command in the future," she paused, "Consider it a private school for special children. There will be those like you who will be the leaders of tomorrow and them…along with their parent's consent will begin their training and education,"
The boy didn't say anything and instead nodded. He felt that there was something out of place or rather something Catherine wasn't saying but decided to hear the deal.
"Therefore I would ask that you join this program, in exchange the UNSC will not prosecute you for your crimes in the slums and will provide a higher financial support to your orphanage. With the support they will be able to move out into the middle-class district, and will no longer depend on you to pay off the gangs," she finished and eagerly looked at the boy anticipating what his answer would be.
The boy considered the deal for only a couple of moments. He thought that they seemed straightforward enough, and for him specifically, it seemed that there were no downsides. He would effectively be able to start his future career would be while giving back to those that had raised him so far. In the end, if nothing panned out then so be it, he will handle that problem when he comes across it.
"...have that Lieutenant guy teach me some of the stuff he used in the alley and we have a deal," the boy decided to milk the deal for all he could get, and he was still annoyed at his loss earlier in the day.
Catherine was going to agree to the boy's request before she stopped. The boy, the boy, the boy her eyes went wide as she finally realized the boy had no name to answer to. He simply responded when spoken to otherwise he would act oblivious. Therefore she decided to include an extra condition herself, "Fine, but I have to give you a name,"
The boy raised an eyebrow not seeing the importance of the issue. The only reason he didn't really have a name was that the caretakers wanted to give him some nerd name like Albert or Richard some real dweeb shit as he would call it. Therefore he just shrugged, "Fine as long as it isn't too stupid," he said before shaking Catherine's hand finalizing the 'deal' and sitting down to finish his ice cream acting as if he was uninterested in the name that Catherine would give him.
Though deep down he was a bit anxious at both the prospects of the future and what name Catherine would give him. He would never admit it but growing up in the slums had left him with no real possessions and even without a name. In spite of the fact that his lack of a first name was by his own desire, he still felt left out no matter how childish the thought was.
Meanwhile, Catherine took a moment to think of what to name the boy. She wanted to relate it to Greece and hopefully to Spartans, 'Leo as a call back to the king Leonidas?... No, his brash personality doesn't give off the aura of a ruler. Achilles?... No, that doesn't seem right either,' she wanted to give him a name that was as unique as he was sure to be in the Spartan-II program. The name had to be something to take pride in as well and something that could appease his childish mindset right now.
'He will be the first candidate to begin training. That combined with his potential of being one of if not the most dominant…Maybe he will like this one,' she thought before concluding her decision.
"How about 'Alpha'?" 'Alpha's ears perked up upon hearing the suggestion. He didn't say anything at first but motioned for Catherine to explain her reasoning for picking such a name.
"In the Greek alphabet, the first letter is called 'Alpha'. Today the word itself means 'The First'. Seeing as you would be the first candidate to begin training I believed it would be a worthy name befitting the first candidate to begin training," after explaining Catherine sat waiting to hear the boy's response to her choice. For some reason unknown to her at the time she wanted to hear the boy's approval of his new name. Perhaps it was a branch coming from her competitive personality or something else, but nonetheless, she waited for his response.
A minute went by as the boy contemplated his decision over his name. Ironically he took more time deciding on his name rather than the deal that quite literally decided his future, but he chose not to think about that fact and instead on whether 'Alpha' was a name worthy of him.
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"...I like it," and so the Spartan forever to be known as Alpha was born
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{Word Count: 3029}
Boom new chapter!?!? I know pretty insane.
Happy 4th of July for us Americans. For everyone else.....fuck you I guess? I dunno kinda confused about the correct response but I got the spirit I guess. (This is a joke)
Anyway I hope that the characters have felt realistic and seem to be similar to their canon counterparts (hopefully). I also hope I captured Alpha's childish tendencies while still maintaining the guise of a highly intelligent child.
Moving on as you can see this is the end of the prologue and next we will begin training which will be a pretty good arc. Seeing as I have the fall of reach comic, book, and movie to work with as well as my own ideas it should be pretty enjoyable. There we will have character development and be introduced to recurring characters.
Because of the end of the first mini arc I will be doing a author's checkpoint like I did in my first fic. There you may air out grievances ask questions and all sorts of other shit. I will also be answering FAQs in the chapter so drop some important questions here. The checkpoint will probably be up Thursday so you have until then.
Song of the day is "Scene Four: Beyond This Life" by Dream Theater
Anyway I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and I will See You Star Side