A Crow In The Darkness

5 The Choice

0900 hours, March 3, 2013
Coordinates unknown—
Clementine Elementary school, Class #107

Dr. Greene had come across a class that had remarkable IQ capacity, and felt that he needed to study the students closers and in person.

He has disguised himself in a suit and tie and called the school in the form of a substitute kindergarten teacher.

"Class," he says with a bright and genuine smile. "Let's get started." He claps his hands and all of the small children sit near his feet.

Dr. Greene knew this class was definitely different, he knew him and his facility could use them for the greater good. "My name is Mr. Greene and today is going to be a fun day, I'm going to get all of you guys to continue playing with your toys, and I'm going to call you one by one to come see me and we are going to see how good of a student you are, okay?" He ends, pursing his lips into a flat smile.

The class grinned in unison, they all seemed compliant as long as they had their toys. "Yes, Mr. Greene!" They say together before getting up and splitting into small groups in different sections of the room.

Greene had a tablet from the facility that contained data on each of the students in class 107 ranging from where they were born, to what their favourite book was, to what they had for dinner last night...

The tablet had an installed AI named Eena who always seemed to crush on Dr. Greene. His eyes scanned and his finger tapped the screen while Eena watched him through the camera until he found his first of many names.

Harrison Rivers. Dr. Greene knew she was watching him, and Eena knew he felt odd not being in his standard uniform. "Relax a little, you're scaring the kids." Eena whispers through the small speaker in the tablet.

"I just feel weird dressed like this." Greene admits, loosening his tie around his neck.

"Well for what it's worth, I think you look great." Eena states, making Dr. Greene a bit flustered.

Dr. Greene always stood tall, but when she said that, he stood even taller.

"You can do it, they are only kids right now." She says.

He exhaled sharply. "Harrison?" He announced and looked around till he saw a face that looked back at him. A young boy playing with giant building blocks stood and made his way to Dr. Greene.
The boy held out his hand without saying anything. The young man just stared until Greene took his hand.
Harrison had calluses that Dr. Greene could feel on his palms from the monkey bars and had scabs on his knuckles from hitting kids that didn't like him. He thought they're just jealous he's always king of the hill. Harrison had a strong grip that stood out from all the hands Dr. Greene has ever shook in his life. He seemed to be king of the hill.

"Good morning, Mr. Greene." The boy says with a lisp.

"Good morning, Harrison. Shall we get started?" Dr. Greene says, smiling.

Harrison nodded and rests his furrowed face, looking more friendly than before. "So, do you like school?" Dr. Greene asks, the boy nods. "Why?"

"Because everyone does what I say at recess." He says, looking straight into Greene's eyes.

Greene liked that. But Eena showed a message on the screen that in the future he was a risk at rebelling against orders and living on his own. This is something they would later discuss.

Dr. Greene frowned and proceeded with his evaluation, and in conclusion, Harrison was remarkable at problem solving. Whether it be a puzzle, or murder mystery. Harrison had shown to Dr. Greene that he may have problems at home. He desperately wanted to take this boy into the facility, and give him a purpose, but at the end of his evaluation, he placed Harrison under the Denied list. When it's time, little Kade and Ander will have to work around this list. Dr. Greene will keep watch over his profile.

"Thank you, Harrison. I can tell you will make a fine man in the future." Dr. Greene smiles as Harrison returns to play.

Dr. Greene looked back at his tablet. "Gold," he stuttered at such an odd name. "Gold Lithe?"

The doctor saw a little girl raise her head at a round table, isolated from the rest of the students. She was writing on a piece of paper, either drawing or practicing maths. Eena flashed her profile and Dr. Greene read her review, which stated that her mother committed suicide after giving birth to Gold due to postpartum depression, leaving her dad to raise his daughter all alone. Dr. Greene would take precautions of this, regarding Gold's future mental state.

"What were you working on over there?" Dr. Greene asks, still smiling.

"My multiplication skills, sir." She replies.

This girl had good manners. "Do you like math?" The doctor asked.

She nodded. And Dr. Greene took this opportunity and challenged Gold, asking her high school math problems, and have her solve them with no hesitation. He made the questions harder, but found that college level math was at the little girl's edge. "How do you know all this math, Gold?" Dr. Greene questions, astonished at her level of IQ.

"My dad's office has a lot of math books. I like reading them." She says, quietly.

After a few more questions, Dr. Greene felt he no longer needed to evaluate Gold, he had a strong feeling that she would make it in the facility. Eena knew this too which was good enough for Greene. This girl had fight buried deep in her eyes that he knew would come out in battle.

"Sir, is that all?" She asks.

"Yes, thank you, Gold."

Doctor Greene continued evaluations with many of the students, and was amazed by how smart this class really was. Lots of them couldn't quite complete their school work, but in other ways, each student was of high intelligence. But one student that stood out to Dr. Greene was one boy. This little boy kept himself well put and seemed a bit out of place wearing a sweater over a dress shirt with jeans and sneakers. Under his eyes were dark and drained. He slouched in his seat, doing absolutely nothing except watching others play.

"That kid," Eena expressed, concerning Dr. Greene.

"Hm?" He asked.

The screen on the tablet worked on its own, pushing through files and data collections till Eena found a very detailed description of Blane.

It explained basic information, and informed Dr. Greene about Blane's past. He was placed into an adoption centre after the murder of his parents and treated for a mild anxiety disorder. Currently has shown no signs of mental stress, but lacks a critical amount of emotions and sympathy towards others. Dr. Greene thought about all the other students on the Denied list and why Eena thought Blane would be of good use to the facility, but he remembered how she took in Kade and Ander after their traumatic incident. Dr. Greene didn't put him on the list.

Dr. Greene began to feel sad for the children. A sense of sullen overwhelmed him, and Eena suggested he'd leave, and the children innocently wondered where their teacher went. He found it unfair how some of them had to die, and some of them got to live and become something useful for them. Dr. Greene was almost lying to himself, denying that he was being so unfair as Eena drove him back to the facility.

Greene loved children, he dreamt of having kids in the future, but the death of his wife had put that off. He felt so helpless for the children, he had wished that they'd all make it to the Facility, but unfortunately there would have to be a few that wouldn't.