DT 2023: Why Merlin?

The right person in the wrong place and wrong time. Or something like that.
. . .
Korn found Doctor Zhou-Romero, or just Dr. Romero, slow-tasting some kind of alcohol glass at a bar in the officers' club on the inner colony-world of Ballast. He knew she would be there, in the city of Vallejo, on the local seaside installation. He was her military escort, and her partner-in-crime considering their hush-hush Naval Intelligence assignments. Especially this ONI assignment.
On a work night before sunset, the bar was mostly unoccupied. With low attendance, Korn didn't see anything wrong being a little casual considering the times and their job.
"What you drinking there?" He greeted with an appropriate icebreaker.
Her shoulder-length black hair fluttered as she turned to the voice of the ONI logistics officer. "I didn't ask. I just told the guy something that would let me keep my brain with the fuzz."
Korn quirked his lips, "I think drinking was a mistake if you wanted to keep sober."
Romero shifted her drink to the side, gesturing with an open hand for her fellow spy to take her drink. "You can finish it if you like."
Korn picked up the cup and sniffed it. Deciding it was to his tolerance, he downed it in a gulp. He shook his head and the sudden flare in his cheeks and nostrils. "Hmm. Not bad."
"I thought you were babysitting Merlin tonight," Romero said, moving the two from formalities to business.
Korn glanced back at a couple naval officers and some spouses in the room. He reached into his pocket and placed a small plaster puck on the bar counter. The remaining alcohol droplets began to ripple in his cup but no one heard or noticed a change in environment.
"Reminder: secure environment first. I got a couple of the non-coms visiting with the orphanage on a auditing visit, another following the boy around. The civilian staff aren't going to notice anything."
"And Merlin?"
"Alive and healthy."
"That's good," Romero muttered.
Korn frowned. "What's bothering you?"
"It doesn't feel right, doing this to him."
"We've nabbed more than two hundred kids now, Doctor. One boy isn't special or make some difference of conscience. Not to the Rear Admiral, and not to Beta-5 Oversight. You getting cold feet all of a sudden?"
The doctor's eyes flashed to her associate. "Not at all. But this boy is different, his mother trusted me to take care of him."
Korn went silent, staring at the vibrating droplets in his finished glass. He had his fair share of concerning self-reflections about kidnapping children and producing child-supersoldiers. The familiar, numb feeling coiled in his stomach. The sign returning he already asked himself too many times.
He looked to Romero, "What would you do different if he didn't fit the health threshold?"
"I don't know..." She admit.
"Considering SIGINT is expecting another attack before August, our extraction window is closing quick."
Romero sighed. "If he wasn't predisposed to Spartan augmentations, I guess I would just pull some strings with Colonial Security. Get him a ticket to Earth or Reach, keep an eye on his Child Protection Services case."
"You wouldn't have the time, we'll have our hands full at Camp Ambrose dealing with new recruits. And CPS has notorious book-keeping these days. He would disappear into the system, I don't have to tell you that."
The doctor hummed a confirmation.
"Just appreciate you can keep an eye on him. This is your way of keeping your promise to his mother."
"Do you really think Rebecka Boyd would appreciate this if she was alive?" Romero asked with a humorless laugh.
Korn pursed his lips. "I suppose not. If I was the kid's parent, I would probably strangle you to death. But I've never been a parent, not my area of knowledge."
"We have that in common. I agree, she would kill me."
"Despite that, we don't have room for doubts or regrets."
Romero nodded, letting out a slight sniff. "I know. What's one more drop of guilt on the pile, I guess?"
"Right," Korn agreed solemnly. "Well, do you want me to wrap this up tonight?"
Romero offered another nod. She made to vocally confirm or offer more detailed orders but Korn's hand terminal warbled, beating her for attention.
Korn glanced at the screen, "Merlin returned to his family home. Seems he still has his father's bus pass, got off without flagging the bus AI. He had some brief altercation with the new resident - a Marine."
The doctor's eyes shot up as she took an urgent step over to also look at Korn's hand device. "Is he alright?"
"Yeah. Snuck into the backyard to do something it seems. He's back on the bus and headed to the orphanage now."
"First time he's done anything irregular since our interview with him. Maybe he's anticipating us."
Romero nodded and stepped away from the bar. "I'll call the prowler to prep for leaving port. Grab him tonight, no reason to wait for a sudden Covenant invasion fleet."
"Ma'am," Korn confirmed, removing his noise canceller from the bar top. "Give my guys two hours and we'll be back to the ship."
Romero spun on her heel and marched out of the officers' club. Korn watched her go as he mindlessly confirmed to his agents to kidnap the boy by text. Dr. Romero's dilemma tickled at his mind, he couldn't quite get in her head. He never had a personal relationship with a target before. She lived in a different world than he did, and yet she continued on this path anyway.