Where it all Begins - Part 7

(AN/: Changing Sub-brain mutation to Sub-mind. The same description as before)

She glanced up and down the playground, before saying, "Stay here and watch me, Lieutenant." Halsey passed the datapad to Keyes. "I'm going to have a closer look."

Keyes started to say something, but Dr. Halsey walked away, then half jogged across the painted lines of hopscotch squares on the playground. A breeze caught her sun-dress and she had to clutch the hem with one hand, grabbing the brim of her straw hat with the other. She slowed to a trot and halted four meters from the base of the hill. The children stopped and turned.

"You're in trouble," one boy said and pushed Number 117. He shoved the boy back and then looked Dr. Halsey squarely in the eyes. The other children looked away; some wore embarrassed smirks, and a few slowly backed off.

But 117, however, stood there defiantly. He was either confident that Halsey wasn't going to punish him - or he simply wasn't afraid. I saw Keyes walk closer to the two of them with the datapad pointing at them. I wanted to watch up close, but there was no cover out at the playground. 'I wish I could zoom in my vision' I think with a sigh.

[You can, Alia]

'Huh, How?' I ask.

[The combination of your cat eyes, boosted senses, and sense aura allow you to zoom into targets within the radius of the aura]

'Jackpot!' I silently pump my fist into the air. 'Ah, but what about my hearing?'

[If you focus, you should be able to hear them. Your sense aura allows you to hear anything within its radius. But I recommend using your sub-mind for that, so you can use your main thought process to control your body]

I immediately zoom in with my eyes and use my sub-mind to hear what there saying. When I zoomed in, I saw that Number 117 had a bruise on his cheek, the knees of his pants were torn and that his lips were cracked.

Halsey took another three steps forward, causing several of the other children to take three steps back. I hear the doctor ask, "Can I speak with you, please?" while she continued to stare at the boy. He finally broke eye contact and shrugged, before lumbering down the hill. The other children giggled and made some noises; one even tossed a pebble at him. Number 117 ignored them all.

Halsey lead the boy to the edge of the nearby sandpit and stopped. "What's your name?" she asked.

"I'm John," he said. The boy held out his hand.

Doctor Halsey took the hand and she seemed surprised by his grip. "It's very nice to meet you," she said before kneeling to get till she was level with the boy. "I wanted to ask you what you were doing?"

"Winning" the boy replied.

Dr. Halsey smiled at that. It seemed that the subject was unafraid of her. "You like games," she said. "So do I."

He sighed. "Yeah, but they made me play chess last week. That got boring. It's too easy to win." He took a quick breath. "Or - can we play gravball? They don't let me play gravball anymore, but maybe if you tell them it's okay?"

"I have a different game I want you to try," she told him. "Look." She reached into her purse and brought out a metal disk. She turned it over and it gleamed in the sum. "People used coins like this for currency a long time ago, when Earth was the only planet we lived on."

The boy fixed his eyes on the object. He reached for it.

Dr. Halsey moved it away, continuing to flip it between her thumb and index finger. "Each side is different. Do you see? One has the face of a man with long hair. The other side has a bird, called an eagle, and it's holding - "

"Arrows," John said.

"Yes. Good." The boy's eyesight must be exceptional to see such detail so far away. "We'll use this coin in our game. If you win you can keep it."

John tore his gaze from the coin and looked at her again, squinted then said, "Okay. I always win, though. That's why they won't let me play gravball anymore."

"I'm sure you do."

"What's the game?"

"It's very simple. I toss the coin like this." She flicked her wrist, snapped her thumb, and the coin arced, spinning into the air, and landed in the sand. "Next time, though, before it lands, I want you to tell me if it will fall with the face of the man showing or with the eagle holding the arrows."

"I got it." John tensed, bent his knees, and then his eyes seemed to lose their focus on her and the coin.

Dr. Halsey picked up the quarter. "Ready?" John gave a slight nod. She tossed it, making sure there was plenty of spin.

John's eyes watched it with that strange distant gaze. He tracked it as it went up, and then down toward the ground - his hand snapped out and snatched the quarter out of the air.

He held up his closed hand. "Eagle!" he shouted.

She tentatively reached for his hand and peeled open the tiny fist. The quarter lay in his play; the eagle shining in the orange sun.

Even though I already knew that was going to happen, I couldn't help but be a little impressed. No normal six-year-old child could do that. Hell, I doubt even ODSTs could do that. But John was no normal child, after all, he is a legend in making.

John retracted his hand. "I get to keep it right? That's what you said." He asked Halsey.

"Yes, you can keep it, John." She smiled at him - then stopped. I saw regret flash through her eyes. 'She never wanted to get too close to her subjects' I think. 'She's trying not to get attached, but it's going to happen. John was always Halsey's favorite.'

"Can we play again?" asked John.

Dr. Halsey stood and took a step back. "That was the only one I had, I'm afraid. I have to leave now," she told him. "Go back and play with your friends."

"Thanks," He ran back, shouting to the other boys, "Look!"

Dr. Halsey strode back towards Keyes. The sun was reflecting off the asphalt, causing the temperature to rise. She stepped under the canvas swing and asked him, "Tell me you recorded that."

Keyes handed her the datapad with a puzzled look. "Yes. What was it all about?"

Dr. Halsey checked the recording and then sent a copy ahead to Toran on the Han for safekeeping. "We screen theses subjects for certain genetic markers," she said. "Strength, agility, even predispositions for aggression and intellect. But we couldn't remote test for everything. We don't test for luck.

"Luck?" he asked. "You believe in luck, Doctor?"

"Of course not," she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "But we have one hundred and fifty test subjects to consider, and facilities and funding for only half that number. It's a simple mathematical elimination, Lieutenant. That child was one of the lucky ones - either that or he is extraordinarily fast. Either way, he's in."

"I don't understand," Keyes said as he started to fiddle with the pipe his carried in my pocket.

"I hope that continues, Lieutenant," Dr. Halsey replied quietly. "For your sake, I hope you never understand what we're doing."

She looked one last time at Number 117 - at John. I looked at John as well. He was having so much fun, running, and laughing. When I looked at Dr. Halsey's expression, I saw it again. Regret, and this time with also sadness. I knew what was going through her mind.

With that, I stepped out from the shadows before saying, "Are you sure that it has to be done? Doctor Halsey?"