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Kelly-087 by Tristan Wolfe
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Kelly-087: Prologue
Date: 29 November 2002, 1:30 am
August 27, 2517 (military calendar)
Chi Ceti 4, Maxwell’s School for Gifted Children,
Track and Field Stadium 2.
Kelly crouched, ready to burst forth with speed on the
running track. She eyed her opponents, who were also crouched. She
felt confident she would win the race. She always did.
She was the fastest, and youngest runner on the track team.
Her coach would watch in
awe at her speed. She was only 6, and could beat any older runner in
any type of foot race. Even other teams she had competed against had
never beat her.
The gun fired, signaling to the runners to start. Kelly
flexed her legs, and flung herself forward, and accelerated to her
top running speed. She forced herself to look forward, and not pay
attention to the other runners, just to look at the finish line, one
hundred meters ahead. She barely felt her feet touch the ground.
The crowd in the stands flew by as she ran at her astonishing speed.
She reached the finish line, twenty meters ahead of the nearest
runner. She had won.
The crowd cheered for her. Only at the age of six, she
was already a county star. She felt a rush of pride for herself, but
she fought down some of it. Too much pride leads to failure, she
thought to herself.
She started to walk towards the showers, but then two
strangers, a man and a woman in casual attire, stopped her. The
woman had a computer pad in her hand, and a stylus in the other.
Kelly stared at them quizzically, and said, “Hello.”
“Hello little girl,” the woman said. “We just wanted to
congratulate you on winning the race. Well done. We have come to
offer you a,” she paused to search for the right words, “promotion.”
Kelly, always being the suspicious type, said, “What kind
of promotion?”
“We’ll explain at a later date, we just want to ask you a
few questions first,” replied the woman.
Kelly looked at the man. He seemed as thought he’d
rather not be there at the moment. “What questions?”
“To start off, we’d like to ask you your name,” said the
woman.
“I’m Kelly. How do you do?” Kelly held out her hand.
Just like the last one, the woman thought. She gripped
Kelly’s small hand and shook it, replying, “I’m fine, thank you. We
were greatly admiring your speed. Do you always run so fast?”
Kelly merely nodded.
“Hmmm.... do you like games, Kelly?”
Again Kelly nodded.
“Well, I have a little game for you.” The woman took out
a ruler. “Now, I want you to try and grab this ruler as fast as you
can, right after I drop it. Keep your hands at your sides, then
reach for it as soon as I drop it.” The woman dropped the ruler, and
Kelly’s hand shot out and grabbed the very bottom tip of it. It
didn’t even drop two centimeters! Such speed! Imagine what she may
be able to do after the augmentations!, the woman thought. “Very
good. Now, do it again, only I will throw it towards the ground
instead of drop it.” The woman held up the ruler and threw it
towards the ground, Kelly’s arm shot out, and grabbed it. Not even
two centimeters again! Amazing!
Kelly, frustrated with the fact that this “game” was
more of a test than a game, said “Is that all?”
“Yes that is all.” The woman turned towards the
man. “Shall we go?” she asked.
“Yes, we best be off,” replied the man.
Kelly watched them walk off into the distance. What
was that about? she thought. She started towards the locker room.
She got there, changed her clothes, and went to the bus stop to board
the bus for her home.
Later that night......
Kelly lay in her bed, trying to sleep. She heard the
front door to her house open, but no foot steps fallowed. Who could
that be? she asked herself. Both Mom and Dad are home. She sat up,
and then, the door handle to her room turned, and the door started to
open. She darted to the door and kicked it shut. A older man’s
grunt of pain sounded from behind the door. Kelly knowing the danger
in this possible robbery, tied her neck length blue hair (dyed) into
a ponytail using a rubber band she had left in her pocket, and
prepared for a fight. The door opened again, and two men, in
military uniforms came through silently, one grasping his wrist,
obviously in a little pain.
Kelly was dumbfounded. What could the military want?
Did it involve the man and the woman from earlier? One man saw
Kelly, and tried to grab her. She quickly dodged his grab. The
other man, who had easily taken up flanking position, grabbed her and
held on tight. The other man reached into his pocket, and pulled
out a device, which was then pressed against her neck, fallowed by a
hissing noise. Kelly, always having a knack at analyzing confusing
things, thought to herself, a sedative! Why didn’t I yell for Mom
and Dad. She then collapsed to the floor, unconscious. The two
soldiers then carried her out of the house quickly and silently, not
waking the unexpecting parents.
2300 Hours, September 23, 2517 (military calendar)
Epsilon Eridani System, Reach Military Complex,
planet Reach.
Kelly awoke in a tube of some kind. The tube’s door
swung open, and Kelly felt cool, conditioned air against her skin.
She sat up, and found herself unclothed. Kelly turned around, and
saw the tube she was in. Cryo sleep? How? Why? she thought. Then
she remembered the military men who had held something against her
neck. She had been kidnaped. She was greeted by a military officer
of some sort, perhaps a medical officer.
The officer handed her some clothes, and said, “Please
cough up the bronchial surfactant in the grate below you, then put
these on.” The officer then turned and left the cryo bay.
Kelly, suddenly aware of a cool, mucous like liquid in
the back of her throat, doubled over and coughed it out with a grunt
of disgust. She then put on her clothes, and started to walk towards
the automated door at the opposite side of the room. She was greeted
by another officer, who held up a the object that had given her the
sedative pressed it on her neck. Kelly cursed, and collapsed on the
floor.
Kelly awoke again in a large bus. She observed her
surroundings, noticing about seventy other children her age, who were
also just becoming conscious. The bus halted at an amphitheater, the
children got off the bus, and were herded into the amphitheater. The
children were stopped in front of the same woman that had given Kelly
the “test.”
The woman looked disturbed. She eyed the children then
spoke, “As per Naval Code 45812, you are hereby conscripted into the
UNSC Special Project, codenamed SPARTAN II.” She paused for a
moment, looking confused about what she had just said. “You have
been called upon to serve,” she explained. “You will be trained....
and you will become the best we can make of you. You will be the
protectors of Earth and all her colonies. This will be hard to
understand, but you cannot return to your parents.”
Kelly felt nothing of this loss. Her parents had never
really paid attention to her. The only nice thing they did for her
was put her in Maxwell’s School for Gifted Children.
The woman continued, “This place will become your home,
your fellow trainees will be your family now. The training will be
difficult. There will be a great deal of hardship on the road ahead,
but I know you will all make it. Rest now, we begin tomorrow.” She
turned to another officer, and said, “Have the children..... trainees
escorted to their barracks. Feed them and put them to bed.”
The officer replied, “Yes ma’am, fall out!”
The children were then herded out the doors. Upon
exiting, Kelly overheard one of the officers address the woman as Dr.
Halsey. Kelly then thought to herself, Interesting, I never thought
myself as a military soldier. Perhaps this is for the better
though...
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