Status One: Agent (Book One)

CHAPTER THREE

The Ambassador watched as a two-year-old boy with brown curls and big brown eyes played with his small army of stuffed animals behind one-way glass. He was unaware of the lethal weapons hidden in the four corners of his playpen. He built towns and created whole communities as she and her assistant watched from the other side of the glass.

The walls of the outer playroom were bright but forgettable and toys of all kinds lined the walls. She hand-picked each and every one of them. Small child-sized tubs filled with more distractions were tucked into the built-in shelving that came no higher than her knees.

The Ambassador and her assistant stood rather than subject themselves to one of the three uncomfortable chairs at a square steel table.

"He's beautiful. I haven't seen that smooth caramel-colored skin in ages," the Ambassador said as she touched her own worn face. Where had the time gone?

She looked down at her hand, wrinkled with age. She'd pulled her silver curls back from her face into a tight braid giving her eyes a slight lift.

"I have the perfect name for him, I know he'll surpass the others, he's already showing the signs."

"Yes, Ambassador, of course." Arianne her assistant for five years tilted her head slightly in acknowledgment.

"See how he listens with his head and eyes down. He gives no sign he is at all aware of anyone else in the building let alone the world. But he knows. I believe he even senses us in here."

"How could he? At this phase of development, he's just a-"

The little boy threw a toy at the glass using telekinesis cutting off her next words. She jumped as the toy hit the pane between their heads. Then he glared in her direction. It pleased the Ambassador to see he didn't tolerate anyone thinking less of him. It would serve him well in the future. Though for now, he'd need to learn his place.

The Ambassador opened the door to the small playroom and picked up the toy he'd thrown and without a word walked back out. His bottom lip quivered before he started to cry.

"So smart," The Ambassador said as if speaking to herself. "I believe he'll be the one to save us."

"Soon? But he's only two," Arianne said as she turned to the ambassador in confusion.

"Our enemy's hands are about our throat. But soon, very soon."

"Are you considering using the accelerant?"

The Ambassador didn't answer the question, instead, she smirked and said, "Make sure we schedule a visit. I'll read him a bedtime story tonight, his favorite."

The little boy behind the glass rubbed away at the tears in his eyes then nodded in agreement as if she'd spoken to him. Never taking his hands off of his make-believe world he continued to play, several toys twirling in the air around his head.

"I've heard rumors they're already testing the accelerant on," Arianne stopped speaking when she realized they were no longer alone.

A bald man in his forties entered the room. He stood with his hands at his side fidgeting as he waited for her acknowledgment. The Ambassador kept her eyes on the boy behind the glass refusing to turn around to face the man.

"What do you want?" She asked her voice tight with annoyance.

He cleared his throat before speaking in a voice too high for a man.

"We have a problem."

"I think what you mean to say is that you have a problem," she said without taking her eyes off the child.

"Yes, um yes, a problem has come to my attention," he said as he wrung his hands.

"Mr. Sinir, your incompetence precedes you."

The Ambassador turned to pin her eyes on him. She squared her shoulders back and somehow although still shorter than the bald man she looked down her narrow nose at him. He drew back from her a slight tremor visible on his chin, he pulled his small shoulders in as if that could help him avoid her piercing stare.

Without another word, she stormed out of the room and stormed down the hall in a hurry, her long pink robes a whisper as she crossed the tiled floor. The nervous Mr. Sinir had to run to keep up with her. Arianne followed them as far as the corridor before turning in the opposite direction.

"It's the family of the soldier. They're refusing the procedure," he said huffing between words. "We told them everything, as you said, but they won't concede. They're even threatening to create a breach."

Disbelief and frustration rang clear in his high-pitched voice. That brought the Ambassador up short in surprise.

"They want to go public? Well, that's an interesting turn. I'll handle them, prep the room be ready to go in half an hour."

"They're adamant."

She spoke with a hand on the door. "As am I."