Chapter (2) Confrontation (2)

(Dr. Catherine Halsey Pov)

"Who are you," subject 17 asked in a moc combative stance. It was obvious he had no training nor exactly knew what he was doing, even me who knew little about hand-to-hand combat could see as much thanks to the months I have spent watching the Lieutenant during his morning training.

Looking at the guarded and blood-covered boy as well as my escort standing ready to engage. Neither of them planned to de-escalate the situation therefore I stepped in to throw off the boy, "My name is Catherine Keyes and this is my husband Jacob Keyes," I gestured to the Lieutenant who upon seeing my wink played along, "And we would like to adopt you," My straight forward answer wasn't the full truth, but that didn't matter very much.

The boy's eyes went wide and he looked down for a couple of seconds, slightly relaxing his guard. However after the moment passed he shook his head regaining the fierce look in his eyes before replying, "I am sorry, but I can't be adopted," he spoke while shaking his head and didn't choose to elaborate.

I expected this much of a reaction based on what the matron had spoken about the boy and the reports that I was able to obtain. Yes, surprisingly, the New Alexandria Police Department (NAPD) was already in the final stages of a sting operation on Big Mike's gang. Thankfully, I noticed in time and pulled some strings, and was able to slow down the investigation so that I could get the candidate out first otherwise he would be going to jail for quite a while.

But I digress, the reason I chose a straightforward approach instead of easing him into the topic was due to his 'unique' personality. Which will be shown more prevalently as I continue to interact with him. Before I spoke again I whispered for Jacob to give us some space. The Lieutenant was frighteningly perceptive and quite intelligent. I am sure he already has his guesses about the true nature of the project and has decided not to ask questions, but I would rather not draw him into the depths of the program until I have decided whether to keep him or reassign him.

After a couple of moments had passed I spoke again to get 017's attention and began approaching him, "Actually I think you will find what we have to say worth your while," I watched his eyes narrow before he began backing toward the other end of the alleyway before he broke out into a complete sprint.

The boy tore through the obstacle-filled alley like a thunderbolt. He jumped over bags of trash and dodged any obstruction based on what seemed to be instinct. Even as I called out for him I couldn't help but silently admire the athleticism showcased.

I realized that I had inadvertently spooked the boy. It became obvious that no matter how much I tried to get him to stop or at least turn around and hear me out the boy wasn't having any of it. He continued ignoring me and stubbornly refused all forms of contact. I had just accepted that I might need to bring in the use of ONI agents to procure him when surprisingly Jacob came into view at the end of the alleyway.

017 didn't seem surprised by his appearance unlike me. He understood that he would be unable to get past the Lieutenant by running and instead opted for a fight.

While in a mid-sprint, the candidate threw a punch aiming for the Lieutenant's abdomen. By the time he had pulled his arm back, the Lieutenant was able to raise his hands and get into a basic stance. The boy threw his punch which was blocked by the Lieutenant. The punch caused the Lieutenant to wince from the impact, but he remained undeterred. Jacob countered by grabbing the outstretched arm before pulling the boy into a throw and launching the child onto the ground and placing his knee on his chest, restraining 017's physical resistance.

The boy struggled and squirmed while throwing his body every which way in order to find a way to be released. He didn't shout or yell at the Lieutenant to get off of him but his aggression made him let out growls and snarls. Keyes eventually was able to completely contain the boy's actions by pinning his arms to his torso but he held a small look of surprise in his eyes as he struggled to maintain control.

"Stop struggling! If you calm down and listen to what we have to say then I will release you," Jacob said as the boy thrashed about.

"No! I don't give a fuck about what you have to say!" The boy snorted back, continuing to resist.

"Even if you are able to save your orphanage and will no longer have to work for Big Mike?" asked the Lieutenant meanwhile I had finally arrived and stood behind. I decided to let the Lieutenant speak to the boy seeing as I had failed previously.

The boy's eyes widened with the Lieutenant's words and he stopped struggling, "What do you mean?" suspicion was still laced in his voice but he relaxed a bit. I thought that perhaps he was beginning to lower his guard. Until I looked over and saw that one of the boy's outstretched hands had found a rock, luckily the Lieutenant spotted it too, but nonetheless continued to speak to the boy.

"I mean exactly what I said," he reached into his pocket and pulled a small metal badge out, "Take this to that thug you call a boss and when he looks at it, I promise you that tough guy persona he has built up will crumble like a tower of cards," he placed the badge into the boy's hands and stood up before making his way over to me.

The boy was still suspicious of our actions and looked at the badge. The badge itself was a simple silver finished piece with the only remarkable quality being the Office of Naval Intelligence logo which was carved into it.

(ONI logo)

After a couple more moments the boy put the badge into his pocket and pulled himself up. He took one last look at us before beginning to walk down the alley. Before he could get too far Jacob said one last thing, "When you are done we will be waiting for you at your orphanage," the boy didn't look back but instead nodded his head while continuing to walk.

Eventually, the kid was out of sight and I turned to Jacob planning to say something, but I stopped. Jacob had been rubbing his forearm and around the spot where he had blocked the boy's punch. I watched as he pulled down his sleeve and saw a bright red circular mark the size of a child's fist on his forearm.

"I don't know what your plan with these kids is, but that one is freakishly strong," Jacob lamented while wincing at his light injury. I in turn laughed at his misfortune while inwardly the boy's actions further cemented him as a candidate that needed to be obtained at all costs.

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(017 Pov)

"Those motherfuckers," I couldn't help but whisper as I walked away steaming. That woman and especially that man had something coming for them, "I knew I should have kicked him in the balls,"

The whole encounter with them was weird. At first, I thought they were part of Big Mike's rival gang and were disguised in order to take me out. According to Mike most of his gang started getting targeted after a year of work and if I remember correctly I am only a month or two off.

But instead, they said they wanted to adopt me. I was surprised to hear that. No one that I knew of even came down here unless they were poor and I don't think anyone would come down here to adopt people. They seemed to be genuine, I think is the word but still I am pissed. I am pissed because I wasn't strong enough to beat that man, had he wanted to kill me I wouldn't be able to stop him

I calmed myself down before I broke something and instead decided to think about what he said and what he gave me. Pulling out the little metal piece I wondered, 'I don't think I have ever seen that asshole scared,' I was honestly hoping that the man was right about what he said. Because I hated that fat bastard with every fiber of my being.

It was about a year ago that I came in to find that the orphanage owed a lot of money to Big Mike because of 'protection' or whatever the fuck that meant. I was angry then but I didn't take it out on the caretakers, I never called them mom or dad but I would be a grade-A piece of shit to take out my anger on them while they had basically raised me. Instead, I went to bed and began thinking about how I could erase this debt. I then came up with an idea, I would simply go kill Big Mike I had seen enough action movies and thought it was possible.

I don't really want to bother talking about what happened but just know that it ended with me becoming a debt collector. I was confused about it but Big Mike said that no one would suspect a kid to beat the shit out of them for a gambling debt so I shrugged off any concerns. And until this day I have worked for him though I don't think anyone knows and I would like to keep it that way otherwise they would try and stop me.

Now though I apparently had a way out. A way to both never work for that jerk again and to give back to the orphanage. Deals like that are too good to be true or so I have been told… but something is telling me that this one is real. Those two seemed pretty interested in me and maybe this piece of metal has more value than I think. Then a thought popped into my head, 'What if this piece of metal is one of those super old and valuable relics!? That would be enough to pay my debt I bet, and Big Mike might be scared because of how much it would be valued at! But why would they give me this just to adopt me?' as I thought more questions than answers appeared and eventually I just shrugged.

'Those people were weird,' I concluded and decided to think about something else. Though I couldn't help but wonder what they found so interesting about me.

'Though I have always been different so maybe they are like me,' I had always stood out when compared to the other kids in the orphanage. I learned things quicker, I was always stronger than the others and was faster too. I also didn't really like the same things they did while they played with toys. I liked to watch things about the army.

I don't know why but it has something to do with explosions I think? Those were always cool and something about guns and tanks and bombs and battleships just catch my attention. Maybe I should join the army when I grow up. It would be fun to jump out of those flying things and blow stuff up.

"Hey, little man did your little ass finally bring in some more dough," Snapping out of my thoughts I caught sight of a punk ass bitch.

"That's none of your damn business Derrick," I snarled with a frown etched into my lips. I swear I will slit this guy's throat in his sleep like that Agent forty-whatever does in that movie.

"You still got that dirty mouth on you. You better keep it shut or next time I will shut it for you," I decided to ignore his next statement as I walked through the door of the gang's headquarters. I went straight to Big Mike once inside to give him this metal thingy and waited for his reaction.

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{Word Count: 2051}

So 2nd chapter down I know I was planning on a mass release but I changed my mind. Right now I am mega busy and I also have multiple books I gotta read before we start in on the Human-Covenant war so it will be slow for a bit.

Anyway hope you enjoyed the chapter I am really tired so drop any questions here.

I hope you all have a blessed day and I will See You Star Side.