I do as he says and place the pistol back safely under my pillow. After that I go back to the job of packing for school just as instructed. After all, it's not like I could argue with my legal guardian. I'm frankly lucky that he lets me keep a gun at all. Most CIA agents wouldn't be so accommodating to ex-terrorists. Even at my age. I shouldn't even be in the States anymore. If the mission that my previous employers sent me on had been a success, I'd be on a boat back home to do the next suicide mission; I had grown quite adept at those. It was my current guardian that caught us. They'd known from the beginning we were going to attack that base, and exactly where we would hit it, too. The commanding officers of the Western Cell had acted so clever, but in the end they were always a few steps behind. Led us straight into a trap. From my understanding, a trap planned and set by the man standing in the room with me. He put the dots together, found out exactly how to catch us, and executed it perfectly. Nobody on our team suspected a thing until the tear gas was being thrown. Then, to further my surprise, he didn't have me thrown into a black box to never be heard from again like I had been expecting. Instead spending 8 months with me in a suburban house, teaching me the fundamentals of being alive. *choice #It doesn't change that he's the one who caught me *set daniel_warden true *set hatedan +1 Even if my life is better for it, I can't help but take it personally that after all my training, and everything I endured to get that training, this guy was almost single-handedly responsible for my failure. For the most part, I've put up with having a warden and he's put up with my undisguised contempt for him, presumably because he feels sorry for me or something. *set daniel_decker -20 "Come on, we don't have all day," he said casually, not having the energy to be actually annoyed without his morning coffee. "Maybe you should have woken me up earlier in that case," I snark back but nonetheless pick up the pace in packing my bag. I believe the books said teenagers were typically snarkers. *page_break Next *goto 1-1opening-4 #Nevertheless, I can't help but be wary around a fed *set daniel_warden true *set hatedan +1 Maybe it's the conditioning, the fact that so many have shot at me, or the fact that I've killed so many; either way, I've never been able to get over my guardian being one of the "enemy," even though it's been months since I've ever considered the CIA an enemy. The subconscious is funny that way. *set daniel_decker -10 "Running out of time," he said neutrally, casually tapping his watch to emphasize the point. "Yeah sure," I mumble back as I continue packing the bag he gave me while keeping an eye on him out of the corner of my eye. I can't see any potential weapons near his hands but I know he keeps a gun in the left pocket in his suit and find myself flinching every time he suddenly moves his hands. Old habits are hard to break. *page_break Next *goto 1-1opening-4 #I don't really think one way or the other about him *set daniel_guardian true It's hard to care much about anything, much less someone who seems to have taken an active effort to not become close to me in any way. Living together for almost half a year now hasn't changed our relationship as much as you'd think it would; for the most part I only ever talk to him when I have to. "Running out of time," he said neutrally, casually tapping his watch to emphasize the point. "Uh huh," I grunt noncommittally and keep packing my bag at the same lazy pace as before. Does it really matter if I'm a little late? It's not like before where failure would mean death or worse; in this case the worst consequence I can think of is getting a mean look from teachers who aren't authorized to do anything to me. *page_break Next *goto 1-1opening-4 #I'm thankful for what he's done for me, but I wouldn't say we're close *set daniel_guardian true *set frienddan +1 I try not to be ungrateful, but I've never really been able to think of him as anything more than my legal guardian. Sometimes it seems better that way since he's as reluctant to get close to me as I am to him. I try not to be a problem and he's helped me get adjusted to this new life; I guess that's all either of us really need from each other. "It's almost time to go," he reminded me softly but retaining the face of neutrality I've gotten accustomed to. "Okay," I respond simply, hurrying my effort to pack my supplies into the bag my guardian supplied. I've come to trust that if he wants something done it's for a good reason. *set daniel_decker +10 *set combat -5 *page_break Next *goto 1-1opening-4 #It's just one more thing I have to be grateful for *set daniel_father true *set daddan +1 I mean if he hadn't been so good at his job I would be on a ship back home, going through the motions of that poor excuse for a life; and if he hadn't cared I would probably be rotting in Guantanamo Bay, which while not as bad since it would at least involve less suicide missions, is still a fate I am glad to avoid. Since moving in I try to make it up to him whenever I can though he seems to be trying to keep a distance from me; I wonder if it's because of our relationship or if he's just naturally cautious about forming attachments. I can certainly relate with the later. "It's almost time to go," he reminded me softly but retaining the face of neutrality I've gotten accustomed to. "Yes sir," I respond immediately and hurry up the pace of preparing the bag he bought me so that I don't keep him waiting. It's a bit hard to move quickly while making sure not to hurt the bag. *set daniel_decker +10 *set daniel_decker_rom +10 *set combat -1 *set firearms -1 *set humanity +1 *page_break Next *goto 1-1opening-4 *label 1-1opening-4 Eventually I have the bright green backpack stuffed with everything that my guardian said was appropriate for an American High School student to be carrying around. Some notebooks, extra notebooks, pencils, extra pencils, paper, extra paper, and a lunchbox full of the nutritious vitamins needed for a growing adolescent. "I'm ready," I say with a step toward the door, ready to see if the past eight months of training for social encounters and catching up on the basic knowledge a 9th grader was supposed to know have been worthwhile, before he stops me with a firm hand on my shoulder. "Hold on. The ankle bracelet," he says while gesturing to the chair. I sigh but do as he commands and wait while he rolls up my pant leg to inspect the cuff around my ankle. A device meant to track my every movement, implanted by the CIA as a contingency in case I decided to "wander off." The precaution is needless, but even I can understand why they wouldn't want to take any chances. *if daniel_decker <40 As part of keeping me under lock down, it's my warden's job to inspect my ankle bracelet every morning to make sure it is still functioning normally. *if daniel_decker =40 It's my guardian's job to make sure that the bracelet hasn't been tampered with; the most obvious reason being me trying to escape but also in case it starts to degrade or somehow gets hit with something strong enough to break through government issued hardware - like maybe a train. *if daniel_decker =50 My guardian's bosses have him check the bracelet every morning to make sure nothing has gone wrong with it, though I've done everything I can to make it clear to him that I have no intention of giving him any trouble. *if daniel_decker_rom =10 "You know I'd never run away." *if (daniel_decker =50) and (daniel_decker_rom =0) "I'd hoped we were past this by now." *if daniel_decker <50 "If I was going to try anything don't you think I'd have done it by now?" "It's just protocol," he says while looking the ankle bracelet over, checking for any signs of tampering or natural decay and finally making sure that the bracelet is transmitting correctly. The cuff can be a bit annoying at times; especially since it never comes off but... *fake_choice #I couldn't get it off if I tried. And I have *set bored +1 #It's just a part of my life now. No point complaining #It's a small price to pay for a new life It wasn't coming off anyway. At least not anytime soon. "Everything seems fine here," he said, keeping his eyes firmly placed on the brace and finishing his examination quickly. I always found that odd; in all other matters of security he never took any chances yet he always rushed when checking my bracelet, even when we were starting out. *choice #He made me stop wearing skirts after the first time *set gender "Female" *set female true *set he "she" *set him "her" *set his "her" *set boy "girl" *set mr "Miss" *set man "lady" *set daniel_name "Daniel Decker" It was a rather annoying discussion. I'd taken a liking to skirts; they were nonrestrictive and let me move freely, especially in comparison to what I was told ordinary adolescent girls wore. Not to mention how much easier it was to conceal my weapons. In the end I gave in when he said I could wear boy's pants which were much more flexible and even had more pockets. Though I never did learn why he didn't want me wearing skirts. "Alright, let's head out," he said, leading me out the door into the suburban neighborhood that the CIA had been housing us for the past eight months. The picture of an ordinary American home for an ordinary American ${boy} and her ordinary American father. We walked across the ordinary lawn to my guardian's ordinary car, and stopped just before we got in. "Here, before I forget," he pulled a small mobile phone out of his suit pocket and handed it to me, "In case we need to get in touch. Don't lose it." It was about as alien to me as everything else I'd come across in my short time here but by now I was used to dealing with strange objects. I recognized the symbol usually associated with "on" and pressed it, watching the little box hum to life. From there I found a list of contacts with only one name; Daniel Decker. *if daniel_decker <40 My warden. *if daniel_decker =40 My guardian. *if (daniel_decker =50) and (daniel_decker_rom =0) My guardian *if daniel_decker_rom =10 My father. *page_break Chapter 1: Arrival *goto_scene 1-2school-1 #I wonder if he would prefer if I was female *set gender "Male" *set male true *set he "he" *set him "him" *set his "his" *set boy "boy" *set mr "Mr." *set man "man" *set jessy_stewart 40 *set junior_beach 20 *set daniel_name "Daniel Decker" I remember the instructors were sometimes nicer to girls, at least in comparison, though they were always more unhappy for some reason. I didn't really get it but I wasn't in a position to be wondering about things. Anyway, maybe the same was the case over here. "Alright, let's head out," he said, leading me out the door into the suburban neighborhood that the CIA had been housing us for the past eight months. The picture of an ordinary American home for an ordinary American ${boy} and his ordinary American father. We walked across the ordinary lawn to my guardian's ordinary car, and stopped just before we got in. "Here, before I forget," he pulled a small mobile phone out of his suit pocket and handed it to me, "In case we need to get in touch. Don't lose it." It was about as alien to me as everything else I'd come across in my short time here but by now I was used to dealing with strange objects. I recognized the symbol usually associated with "on" and pressed it, watching the little box hum to life. From there I found a list of contacts with only one name; Daniel Decker. *if daniel_decker <40 My warden. *if daniel_decker =40 My guardian. *if (daniel_decker =50) and (daniel_decker_rom =0) My guardian *if daniel_decker_rom =10 My father. *page_break Chapter 1: Arrival *goto_scene 1-2school-1