“So, got a name kid?” Haley asked casually while relaxing on his chair in the desolate beginnings of his base. The kid was currently sitting on top of one of the drones silently staring down at the ground, his hands were trembling slightly from fear as he raised his head to look up.

Haley could see his lips trembling briefly as if finding the right words to say before he finally spoke up, “Antares, sir.” He said quietly he then hesitated before continuing.

“Oh? Not your usual sort of name is it?”

The boy hesitated before he started speaking again, “My mother named me after a star she saw while travelling on a colony ship, she told me she never forgot it because it was because of that star that they were able to continue living when their ship was damaged and all of their energy reserves were lost, like that star… I saved her when she was at the gates of hell.”

Haley just nodded while he listened, he wasn’t particularly interested in the story behind the name in fact he couldn’t care less as to what the boy was called but, he had to give the boy an opportunity to open up and the best way to do so was to let him recall his past before he was caught.

“Well Antares, you have two choices as of this moment both of which allow you to grasp your future in your own hands.” Haley said slowly making sure the boy understood that his decision would impact his future, he had some uses for the boy, but he had no intentions of forcing him.

Antares nodded after thinking for a few moments, Haley could see a newfound resolution in the boy’s eyes which made him much more certain that the boy wouldn’t disappoint him when he was introduced with the options he was going to give.

“The first option is that I simply let you go into the world,” Haley paused briefly and watched his reaction, Antares’s eyes went wide and his breathing slightly accelerated but Haley could see the brief confusion in the boys eyes confirming that it wasn’t what he was expecting, “I will provide you with 1 Million Luna in an account opened in your name and provide you with means to access it and you will be on your own from there, you will owe me absolutely nothing.”

Haley didn’t pause for a second this time before showing his true intentions however, “The second option, you will work under me; I will provide you with everything you need and all I need is your strength. All you need to do is accept and I’ll turn you into the most feared warrior of this planet in return all you need to do is be absolutely loyal to me.”

This was Haley’s true plan, to create an elite team under him that could do what drones and technology couldn’t unless Haley managed to develop true AI on the level of 001 which might be possible one day but he couldn’t afford to wait until then.

All Haley needed to do then was focus his development on creating Modifications to enhance the strength of this team while they carried out his will across the city and he masterminded them behind the scenes.

Antares looked mentally conflicted as he tried to decide on the best path for him, Haley sat there emotionlessly but he could see that he had already won.

‘Poor child, if only you knew I had no intention of letting you go then I wouldn’t have blamed you for shooting me at that time.’ Haley mused silently, teasingly he raised his hand and started to slowly count down from.

“Five…”

Antares tried to hide his panic as his eyes darted around the room, his hands were shaking, and time seemed to slow down for him as his thoughts became erratic.

“Four…”

‘Do I do it? I can walk away right now but… is that what mum would want? They killed her, they killed her in front of me, would she want me to just walk away without avenging her?’ Antares felt the urge to cry but supressed it as he looked at the man sitting on the chair opposite him, he had a slim build with tied back long black hair but looked as delicate as a flower.

‘But he managed to defeat all of them on his own, if I became that strong could I avenge her?’ He asked himself, before Antares knew it Haley had already reached two and was slowly lowering his finger with his mouth beginning to mouth ‘one’ he knew he had to decide in the next moment but he was still uncertain, still undecided, but he didn’t have any more time...

“One.”

“I’ll do it. Make me strong, please.” Antares fell from the drone he was sitting on and collapsed to his knees, he grit his teeth despite the pain from his knees hitting the floor so suddenly and lowered his head.

What he didn’t see was the self-satisfied grin that briefly crossed Haley’s face the moment he looked away; it was only for a second before it was replaced by his casual indifference. All of this went unnoticed by Antares of course.

“Your body isn’t strong enough to withstand training currently, you have a HUD correct?” Haley asked, the answer however was troubling.

“No sir, I was born on a colony ship, they repurposed all the nano-chips used for installation to help repair the ship over the years.” He said depressingly, Haley could understand his dismay of course as most of the modern technology became easier to use when a HUD was used to interface with it.

“001.” Haley ventured; he didn’t have a way to install a HUD without robbing a hospital, but he didn’t think the attention he’d garner would be worth it.

Fortunately this time he was given a response, ‘This thing, I guess advanced enough AI does have freewill…’ He thought with a sigh as familiar black text appeared in front of him for the first time in a while.

[The Data Link can be used to create a pseudo-HUD which interlinks with the nerve system, this method also gives the User control over the nerve system of that person.]

“Antares, hold still; this might hurt.” A tentacle slowly extended from his palm and pierced through the boys’ neck and started to expand, connecting to his nerve system.

“Aghhhh!”

….

[001 Updating Log…]

[….]

[…….]

[001 Apocalypse Log.]

[Current Infected: 403,012,412]

[Infected Controlled: 1]