Delta's Path/Uncertainty

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"Have you heard of the Spartans?"
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Chapter Summary=
Uncertainty is a short story part of the Delta's Path collection and written by . The story focuses on delinquent youth Daniele Veracruz during the conclusion of his interrogation by the Office of Naval Intelligence and his adoption into Delta Company. While he didn't consider the consequences of becoming a Spartan at first - it wasn't until his last confrontation with his friends like William Morse that consequences started to become evident. This story was written with the intention of participating in the The Weekly contest.
===Character Cast===
*Daniele-D003
*Jeffery Korn
*Reyna Zhou-Romero
*William Morse
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The silence in the little concrete box was suffocating. Daniele didn't speak a word but he was struggling to stifle his nerves. The Asian woman sitting across the steel table from him just stared down at her data-tablet and sipped a glass of water. Her brown eyes were glued to the screen, seemingly oblivious to the little boy's twitching.
Five minutes and forty-three... forty-four seconds. The redundant ticking of an analog clock at one end of the room was the only noise bouncing off the weathered-white walls. Boredom was Daniele's greatest enemy - it made him hyper and grouchy.
Daniele's chair screeched slightly as it moved across the stone floor with his subtle vibrations. Daniele froze suddenly upon hearing the new noise. His eyes darted to the lady across from him. Her eyes didn't budge at all. Glancing closely at her features, he caught the woman's cheeks curving up into a small smirk before relaxing back into an expressionless stare. She'd seen his antics, and she was ignoring it on purpose.
He grimaced at being toyed with. Daniele attempted to raise his hands above the table but was reminded of his restraints. Metal handcuffs wrapped around his wrists and kept him tied to his chair from the other end. Pulling at the restraints only produced a rattling sound in response. Nothing new there.
It had been seven minutes and ten-ish seconds since the lady had previously spoken. What was she waiting for? God. Daniele just wanted to break the silence and demand to know what was going on. He'd been locked in this room for the last two hours or so, forced to take random comprehension tests. Some of it didn't make sense, but for the most part, it was easy. He performed all the exams on the lady's tablet, however, she didn't even have the decency to let him keep it to placate his boredom. Daniele blew air out of his nose in frustration but didn't speak out.
Daniele glanced at the ceiling, still agitated. He wanted this period of nothing-happening to just end already. He performed a few breathing exercises to pass the seconds by. Exhale and inhale. Three times in a row with slow expansion and full deflation of his lungs. Just like William had recommended. Thinking back to William, Daniele recounted the events of the last few days - the San Diego riots that started this whole downward spiral. The adults, both cops, and crooks, trying to take advantage of the child thieving-ring, the Child Crusaders, for their own purposes. The children, mostly war orphans, had been detained and run through criminal court. They were filed, processed, and sent to juvie. Then this lady showed up.
No name. No motive. Just questions and tests. And then silence.
Thinking back to the boredom techniques that William had taught him, Daniele decided to try tile-counting this time. He was about to announce one in his head when the security door at the other side of the room suddenly clicked open. Voices entered from the hallway beyond the door as a blonde-haired man in a grey-military uniform stepped into the room.
Someone beyond the door yelled at the military man. "This isn't your jurisdiction!"
"We're in a war, everything is my jurisdiction!" He shouted back.
"You can't take him."
"Try and stop me," The military man yelled again before slamming the door behind him. He turned to face Daniele and the woman sitting at the table. "...so. How did he do?"
"About twenty minutes, still counting." The Asian woman replied, finally looking away from her tablet.
"Damn. That's kinda impressive." The military man as he takes a seat on top of the table.
"What is going on?" Daniele asks, finally breaking his silence.
"An ultimatum. We're with the UNSC Navy's Office of Naval Intelligence." The military man replied cryptically. Upon closer inspection, Daniele could make out the man's name as 'Korn' from his name-tag.
The woman asked Daniele, "Have you heard of the Spartans?"
"Unbeatable warriors, that kill the aliens right?"
"That's right. How would you like to become one?" Korn-Man asked.
"...what?" Daniele asked, not sure about what he was hearing.
"I asked, would you like to become one?"
"I'm not sure..."
"Let me put this into simpler terms - do you want to become a Spartan or do you want to stay here, in prison?"
Daniele was thought it over. His mind was still trying to process what was being asked of him. They wanted him to become a Spartan? Was that even possible? And who didn't want to be a superhero? The answer was obvious, even if Daniele still had some uncertainties about this. "Yeah. I want to be a Spartan!"
"That was fast." The Asian lady commented as she typed something down on her tablet.
"Well, given his options and how I put it - I don't think anyone would say no, Mrs. Zhou."
"Just get him out of the chair Korn. We better take off."
"Wait, you're just leaving?" Daniele asked confused as Korn stepped behind him and unshackled the boy's restraints.
"Well. You're coming too obviously." Korn explained, uncuffing Daniele from the chair. The boy rolled his freed wrists on instinct.
Mrs. Zhou gently gripped Daniele's shoulder and guided him toward the door. Outside the room, he saw three police officers leaning against either side of the hallway. They scowled at the ONI agents but said nothing as they passed. The two ONI agents stood on either side of the boy like over-protective parents.
The passed some of the prison cells that housed the juvie inmates. They passed the cell that once housed Daniele and three others. Said three children jumped upon seeing Daniele pass their bars. William was the first to reach out. "Hey! You get us out?"
"He sold you out."
His eyes went wide, snapped to Korn who was already turning back to look forward.
Behind the pair, he could hear William shouting obscenities. Daniele didn't dare look back. Regret was already settling in. He wanted to say something but nothing rolled out of his half-agape mouth.
"Where we're going, they cannot follow," Korn stated softly. Those words didn't improve Daniele's mood. It wasn't a promise he was sure of but those children were the last string keeping him tied to San Diego. All he could do now was look forward.
Category:The Weekly