YEAR: 2011

“Thank you Ryan.”

Number 3 exited the vehicle with everyone else following behind

“As requested Number 0 has agreed to a meeting but it must be short as a flood of requests have been coming in lately. Shall I guide you to him?”

“No that’s quite alright, I’ll head there now.”

As Number 3 walked towards the office of Number 0, Ryan suddenly noticed that two children were following behind

“Excuse me Number 3 but are these children you’ve collected for the Templar program?”

Kosuke and Izumi both gathered closer to Number 3 thinking the short man would take them away

“Yes that’s correct but they are also the topic of the meeting so they will be coming with me to meet 0.”

“Understood sir, my apologies.”

Number 3 continued to walk towards Number 0’s office but as they got closer the boys had a puzzled look on their faces as the structure they were approaching seemed to be a storage silo

“Why are we going there mister?”

Kosuke tugged on Gabriel’s shirt

“We’re going to meet your new boss in that tower. Now do not speak unless spoken to, that applies to both of you, understood?”

They both nod in understanding

“Good, now let’s continue.”

As they stood outside the silo both boys were amazed at the size of it, it was at least twenty metres tall and when they entered it was still impressive, Number 3 told them that there were 3 floors in total, the first floor was like a library made up of all kinds of maps with a round table in the middle that had a screen showing a video map of the world with red dots scattered around.

Number 3 grabbed Kosuke and Izumi by their arms and brought them up the stairs as they were getting distracted. Once they reached the second floor it was a much more organised but rather empty space with a desk adjacent to the stairs and a projector hanging from the ceiling.

At the desk sat a middle aged man with a rather large frame and impressive beard, meanwhile a woman stood in front of the desk and seemed to be discussing something with the man before noticing Number 3 and stopping the conversation and leaving but not before greeting Number 3

“Good to see you 3.”

Number 3 seemed to look annoyed by the woman

“Kill yourself 2.”

The lady, Number 2, chuckled before heading down the stairs. As Number 2 exited the building the man who was seated at the desk looking through papers spoke, this man was Number 0

“Are you here to make a report Number 3?”

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Number 3 saluted to 0 the same way Ryan did to him and the other Numbers

“Yes sir, and I have something to show you.”

Number 0 grunted before looking up from his papers

“Hmph, get on with it then.”

Number 3 brought Kosuke and Izumi forward

“Who are these children?”

Number 3 introduced them to the commander

“This one’s name is Kosuke, the child of the previous Numbers 1 and 2 however due to the recent incident he has lost nearly all his memories.”

Despite hearing that Kosuke was the child of the previous elites, his expression remained unchanged

“I see… now what about the other one?”

“This one's name is Izumi, we’re unsure of his origins but we believe he’s rather smart for his age. He is also the only one who has remained intact within Kosuke’s memory but lost both pinky fingers during the same incident.”

“Alright, I assume you will turn them into templars?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

Number 0 stared at them for a moment before pointing at Kosuke

“You, come closer.”

Kosuke seemed nervous while approaching Number 0

“Y- Yes sir?”

“Tell me, do you want to kill?”

“No sir.”

“Will you kill?”

Despite being a child, Kosuke adopted a face that you could only find on seasoned soldiers

“I’ll do it if I need to.”

Number 0 looked satisfied

“Good, you can go back down, I’ll have someone guide you to your barracks.”

As Kosuke headed down the stairs, Number 0 called Izumi forward. As Izumi took each step, a sense of nervousness washed over him thinking how he would answer Number 0’s question

“Tell me, do you think you can fight?”

Izumi was taken aback by the question since it was different than what he was expecting

“I- I don’t know mister… but I want to help Kosuke.”

Number 0 got up from his desk and handed Izumi a steel rod and gestured for him to take it and so he did

“I want you to grip this as hard as you can.”

Izumi did as instructed but almost immediately his hand felt weak and the rod slipped from his hand, he tried with his left hand but the same thing happened

“Why does it feel funny when I grab it?”

Number 0 placed the rod back on the desk

“It’s because your pinkies were removed, it’s caused your grip strength to be at least less than half of its original strength.”

Izumi looked confused but it was an expected reaction for a four year old child to give

“It means you can’t use anything like guns or bladed weapons efficiently.”

Izumi just stared at his hands

“Does that mean I can’t help Kosuke?”

“No you can help but you will be placed in a separate area while being in the Templar program. You will be a scout focused on intelligence gathering and sometimes assassinations.”

From his expression, Number 0 knew that Izumi didn’t quite understand what this meant and sent him back over to Number 3

“We’re done here, you may take your leave.”

Number 3 saluted 0 and exited the building

…

Outside the Number 0’s office, Kosuke was being guided by Ryan to the further outskirts of the camp to a building that looked like a rather large abandoned but well maintained house that seemed to be from the mid to late 20th century.

Ryan turned to Kosuke who was nearly eye level to him and begun to explain

“Alright kid, this is your new home. Here you will rest, eat and train, inside there are already 4 others and you will share this space with them for as long as you are a part of this place. Do you understand?”

Kosuke nods

“Now enter, the other children heard you were coming so don’t keep them waiting.”

He stepped up to the door and knocked on the door

*KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK*