The Third Child

When are we starting this?

Soon as all the profiles are done.
I'm hoping tomorrow in other words.

Name: Kayla Wolfe

Age (No younger than 20): Secretely 17, but her father pulled some strings after she said she wanted to get rid of the illegal children because all they do is cause suffering, anger, and hate. Of course, few can tell when she's lying. Everyone in the population control thinks she's 20.

Gender: Female

Appearance: Kayla's short, but slim and curvy. She had wildly curly light blonde hair, and bright bright blue eyes.

Spoiler

Personality: Kayla, having once been a third child, knows the pain and sufferage the thirds go through. To become legal, she was forced to kill her older brother when she was merely ten years old. Her older brother had become very sickly, and her father, seeing her as the stronger one, told her to kill him. To take her brothers life, the one person who'd been her best friend for the ten years of life, was insane, but she had to do it, and it's affected her since then.

Strengths:

Weaknesses:

Fears: Being caught as the double agent, her father's hatred and disappointment in her.

Rank: Double agent for the population control

Up For Love: Yepp

Other: Nada

Hai. Traitor to the rescue. WIP.

Name: Zachary Stein

Age: 15

Gender: Male

Appearance:

Spoiler

Personality: A mouthy, arrogant and confrontational kid, with issues about trust and no qualms about lying or stealing. Doesn't take no for an answer, would rather run away than get kiled, only to come back later. He's inventive, likes to get his hands dirty and hates taking orders from anyone that hasn't beaten him into submission first. Selfish and unlikely to put others before himself. He tends to hoard stuff and doesn't like to let go of what little he has.

Strengths: Zach's pretty brave in his own way, and not afraid to speak up his mind, without being stupid enough to do it when it would put his life in danger. His creativity and quick-thinking got him out of a quantity of trouble, and he's a survivor.

Weaknesses: He's too self-centered to play well with others for any long span of time, and his lack of morals and respect for property do nothing to help. He doesn't take a hint, will insist and wheedle to get what he wants, and overall make a pest of himself.

Fears: Cages.

Family: All dead. Zach's been out on the streets for three years, scraping by with no ID and little but the clothes on his back, and while he knows he's probably not going to last much longer, he's not about to give up.

Up For Love: Wanna risk it?

Other: N/A.

Alright, we're starting For all who haven't acutally posted profiles, post them in the DT. For those of you with unfinished profiles, well obviously just edit them xD

CORMEN DELLZ

I swallowed, staring at the the girl slumped in a puddle of blood. Her blood. I averted my gaze to the gun in my hand, biting my lip hard enough to draw blood. This was my job, and I would perform it without question, but it didn't mean I didn't still get queasy when it came time to dispose of a Third.

It still made my hands tremble, my stomach churn and twist into horrible knots. I took a deep breath and stepped out of the cell, turning to one of the guards. "Mark down Tanya Greenlin, age eleven as disposed of. Get that mess cleaned up while you're at it," I ordered, tone even despite my discomfort.

The guard nodded, face grim and set off to take care of business. I doubted any of us really like killing the Thirds, but it was what needed to be done and so we would do it.

I turned to the stairway, taking the steps two at a time. I needed to go find out a bit more about Tanya's family and those who knew she was being hidden. They needed to be properly prosecuted for their crimes. Speaking of which, Amanda might have upturned a bit more about them.

I took a quick detour around the corner, headed for Amanda's office.

MARK SINQUIST

I sat at the kitchen table, drumming my fingers on its surface and eyeing my bun with slight disgust. I hated dry bread, but we had to 'save' the jams and butter for lunch. My sisters bounded out the door, on their way to school. School was a very taunting word to me. I would kill to be able to go, but killing wouldn't get me far.

"Can I go outside now?" I asked, eyeing my mother who was bent over a cook-book. Probably some other gross soup recipe she wanted to try out.

"Not till you finish your bun and the bus drives out. And hush up Mark, the window's open!" she answered without turning around, her voice low.

I rolled my eyes. "There are blinds in front of the windows, they can't hear me. And I hate plain buns."

My father stepped through the doorway seperating the kitchen from the rest of the house and gave me his infamous Do what your mother says and be thankful you have anything to eat at all glare. I frowned at him and shoved the bun into my mouth, attempting to chew.

"Mark, really?" Dad asked, holding his glare steady.

I nodded, downing the rest of my bun. "Now can I go?"

"Wait two minutes and then go. And be careful," Mom said, this time turning to me.

I smiled. "I always am." It was true, the last thing I wanted was to be caught by one of the twits from the Population Control. Not my fault I was born, I didn't ask for it. I watched as the clock ticked by two extremely aggitating minutes before darting out the door.

I sprinted for the pond in the corner of our yard, ripping off my shirt and jumping in.

Kennedy

On the screen in front of the assembled Tracker Department of Population Control, the current Head of Department screamed incomprehensibly. He was strapped into a chair, his eyes wide and frightened, like an animal's. It was impossible to see what he was screaming at, as it was off screen. The assembled Tracker Department knew it was Kennedy, though. People only screamed in Population Control when Kennedy was around.

The Head of Department's head exploded on screen, as a deafening gunshot ripped through the screen's speakers. A collective gasp went up from the assembled Tracker Department.

Kennedy paused the tape, and rewound it, to the moment the shotgun pellets first hit the Head of Department's skull.

"This," he began "is why you check your numbers. This is why you get the facts right. This is why you keep everybody up to date." He paused, looking at the terrified group of officials. "One more botched job and I'll start getting irritated."

He turned and walked out of the open door. In the corridors people flattened themselves against the walls, ducked back into offices, suddenly turned away. He ignored it.

He flipped out his phone, dialled Cormen Dellz' number and pressed it to his ear, still walking briskly.

"Dellz. Meeting. Five minutes." He spoke smoothly and quickly, leaving no time for Dellz to speak. "One more thing: You need a new Head of Tracker Department. Ciao"

He put the phone away and walked faster. His black shoes clicked on the white office halls.

Twitch

I tilted my head. 2 by 4, lash to AX. I scribbled onto the sheet of blue grid paper in front of me, laid flat on top of dozens of others, marked all over in silver marker pen. Repo was mewling and draining her morning supply of oil, tracking a butterfly around the room. I rolled up my blueprint and slipped it into the canister that held all the others.

It wasn't much, where I was living. A hotel, not far from a school, and just a touch further, a house. A nice one, too. With woods, and a pond... I sighed. It was five miles away. Besides which, I couldn't function outside of the city. I mean, I could, but I wouldn't like it. I shrugged.

Miss Lainey peeped in. "Twitch, hun, here's breakfast," she said, walking in with a tray.

"Mind the laser," I mumbled, pulling my laser out of the way. It was my only cutting device. Well, no, it wasn't. I lie. I did have a power saw, but it made quite a racket, and I had yet to build a silencer. It was what I was working on now. I shuffled my blueprints into a neat-ish pile and pushed them aside, grabbing my tray.

Miss Lainey smiled and ruffled my hair (to which I protested) and sauntered out, probably to a young and wealthy bachelor. I didn't blame her, or him. So long as they only had two kids, in the future, and didn't invite me to the wedding.

Repo leapt onto my shoulder, pawing at my hair. I rolled my eyes and scraped my eggs onto another plate that Repo pounced on. She needed oil, but she could eat regular foods. Someday, I promised myself, I'd have a personal chef, and he'd cook Repo all the eggs she wanted.

Yeah, totally. Right about when Thirds become legal and the CIA realize I stole two dozen of their blueprints.

Steph:

I held my breath as I tiptoed across wood floors. Mrs and Mr.Engle had company downstairs. I could hear their voices like an annoying buzz in the back of my head. When one of the floorboards creaked I jumped and fell onto the floor with a thud. There was a brief silence below. It passed when someone spoke quickly. Footsteps pounded against the stairs. Then another pair. And another.

My eyes widened and I immediately stood up and looked around the room for a hiding space. When the feet moved to the wood in the hallway I dropped to the floor and scooted under the bed. I heard Mr.Engle say "John I told you, it's probably just the cat." The door flung open and I placed my hand over my mouth to lower the sound of my breathing.

In a husky voice the man said "Cat? I don't remember you ever having a cat Thomas." In her hushed voice Mrs.Engle said "John, we got the cat a few days ago." Then as if calling to a cat Mrs.Engle said "Lily dear, come to mommy." After a minute Mr.Engle said "She must've bolted out of here when you opened the door."

"Really John," Mrs.Engle said "let's go back downstairs. Isn't it about time for you to leave? I'm sure Julie is waiting for you, and I am meeting with some of the girls in a few minutes." After a few seconds they walked away, closing the door behind them. I didn't come out until I heard the glass door slam.

I crawled out from under the bed and blew the dust from my face. That was close.

**I'm going to assume that technology is more advanced now.

Amanda - Population Control

Amanda watched carefully as lines of code scrolled down her wall screen. She had been working on developing a new program that would help the Tracking team be able to find suspects quicker. Rumor had it that Kennedy had been breathing down their necks recently. Amanda sympathized, and wanted to help. After all, she'd originally come from the Tracking Department. And it was still what Amanda was most comfortable with. No faces, just names and DNA sequences.

Amanda's phone rang, breaking the silence in Amanda's office. Amanda sighed, and tapped the wall screen to stop the code.

"Davenhearst here."

"Amanda," came Cormen's voice. "Kennedy just called a meeting in five."

Amanda groaned. "The man's been complaining that we aren't efficient enough! How are we expected to get any work done if he keeps calling all of these meetings?"

"... He said we need a need Head of Tracking, too."

Amanda's jaw dropped. She was silent for a moment, before replying bitterly. "I don't suppose Kennedy just fired our old Head?"

"Didn't sound like it."

Amanda rubbed her face. "Be down there in a sec," she said monotonously before disconnecting the call. Kennedy was getting worse and worse by the day. He'd have the entirety of Population Control reduced to a whimpering pile of jelly before long.

Cormen was waiting for Amanda when she reached the Conference level of the Population Control building. The two exchanged looks before wordlessly walking into Kennedy's private conference room. The man himself sat at the far end of the room, observing Cormen and Amanda dispassionately. Amanda felt a shiver go down her spine.

Twitch

I sighed. The darn window was driving me insane. it was taunting me... with its blasted sunniness. I scowled and slipped my rolled up blueprints in my canister, strapped it to my back, and slipped on my messenger bag, scooping up Repo.

"Going for a walk," I announced to Miss Lainey. The comment went largely unnoticed. The second I hit the street, I shoved my thumb out, getting a bright yellow vehicle to stop right off the bat. "Five miles west," I told the driver, shoving a wad of folded bills over the console.

I sat back and ducked my head, hands twisting in my lap. A whiles later, we pulled up... in the middle of the road. I shouted a thanks over my shoulder and slammed the door, taking off swiftly with Repo peeping out of my bag. I shoved her head down, warning her that high speeds could set off her command systems. She mewled defiantly, but slipped back in.

I reached around and patted my blueprint canister affectionately, then swerved into the trees. I got thwapped in the face with a slim branch. My laser fixed that right quick. Smirking now, I turned until I was in full view of the pond. I lost my breath for a second. It was almost a perfect circle, with a surface like pure glass. Tall grass, flowers floating aimlessly, a silver fish here and there, darting around as if they were playing a game.

It was all shattered as someone surfaced- a blonde boy, up to his shoulders and treading water. He glanced to the trees, and I bolted.

I just hoped I wasn't too late.

KENNEDY

Kennedy watched the pair enter his private conference room. He had one in every government department he was involved with, but didn't use them regularly. He was constantly on the move and just didn't have the time.

Today, though, he had made the time. This was important to the people above him.

He ran his tongue over his teeth idly for a moment, eyeing the pair. Amanda would go far after this Department was finished, definitely. Cormen would probably get dragged down when the Department started sinking. Kennedy didn't mind either result.

"Now you're going to do one of two things. Either you'll tell me that the rumours around statistics showing more and more families daring to have Thirds are untrue, or you can tell me the rumours are true and what you're doing about it."

Kennedy reached into his pocket subtly to fish out the statistics, which were a few pages of graphs meant only for Population Control's eyes. If Dellz denied it, maybe Amanda would be getting a promotion sooner than expected.

They both looked nervous. Kennedy liked that.

MARK SINQUIST

I pushed myself to my feet and took off after the girl, trying to down my panic. No way on earth was she seeing me and getting away with it! I was not being turned in, no way no how. The forest here wasn't very big, and it didn't take long to make it to the other side, where there was a little gravel road. I couldn't let her get to the gravel road.

If she got there, I would have to stop and then I'd be done for.

I shivered, ducking a low limb. I was catching up. And what will you do when you catch up with her? I asked myself bitterly. I was no fighter, but I couldn't let her get away. "Hey!" I shouted, breathing hard.

She didn't turn back, didn't stop running. I rolled my eyes and made a grab for her wrist, just missing it. I bit down on my tongue and attempted a lunge, knocking us both to our feet. Good, now keep her pinned. I grabbed her wrists, pinning them to the forest floor and sat on her stomach, which was a little awkward, but hey, I wasn't gonna let myself get turned in because I didn't want to feel too 'awkward.'

"Where's your I.D.?" I hissed, still breathing heavily from the run. If she didn't have one, I might just be the happiest kid on the face of the planet. No I.D. meant that she was either an orphan since birth, or that she was another Third. (How lucky would that be?) Of course, she would still pose a threat, I wouldn't let her go anywhere. Third or not.

CORMEN DELLZ

I drummed my fingers on the top of the table, eyes shifting from Kennedy to Amanda and back again. Kennedy would like to think he was all-powerful, that he had a heap of authority over me. In truth, he was above me, but not by much. If he pulled a stunt on me like he did Head of Trackers, he'd have the same punishment. Right?

Well, it was possible, but I was still quivering inwardly. It was true, and denying it would probably be stupid. But after what had happened, I couldn't bring myself to say anything.

"Well?" Kennedy prompted.

I placed my free hand on my gun holster, feeling slightly more comfortable. I took a deep breath and looked Kennedy straight in the eye. One rule of this game was dont' show your fear. "The rumours are true," I answered calmly. Burrying my fear was my specialty in life. "The devision is doing everything it can. We're working on a new law. Every service from hotels to calling a cab will require a flash of the customer's I.D. If they don't have an I.D, they're turned in."

Kennedy arched an eyebrow. "And when will this new law be in effect."

"In a matter of days," Amanda answered for me.

I stole a quick glance in her direction before focusing on Kennedy again. "We're doing everything we can. Most of the Thirds aren't willing to say anything about their families, no matter what we do to them. It's still a fairly slow process. And without our Head of Tracking," I narrowed my eyes just slightly, "it'll be even slower." I would liked to have spoken on the man's behalf, something like, His name was Michael and he had a wife and a little girl! He may have made a few mistakes on the job, but killing him? A demotion most certainly... You're a screwed up man Kennedy. Completely screwed.

Of course, I kept my mouth shut.

KENNEDY

Kennedy nodded slowly.

"Good." He murmured. "Good."

He felt pressure building behind his eyes. He needed to meditate again. He stood up sharply, watching the flickers of fear on Amanda and Dellz' faces.

"Propaganda Division's fucked up again, I'll be out of town for a day or two. I'll pass this to them while I'm with them. Keep working."

Click, click, click went his shoes as he slipped out.

"Ciao." He murmured, to no one in particular.

Twitch

I glared down the blonde pinning me down. "I don't have ID." I growled before lurching up and ramming my head into his shoulder. He sprawled off of me, and I instantly grabbed my charge gun, pointing at him, still laying in the leaves.

"Tell anyone you saw me, I shoot," I said in a low voice.

"I'm not going to."

Slowly, I lowered the gun, slipping it into my bag and stood. "Repo! C'mon, come back!" I said, patting my thigh. A silver blur launched into my arms, and I stumbled back. "Good robo-kitty," I mumbled, letting her back in the bag. I unfastened the buckle of the canister strap, and unscrewed the lid.

"Are you alright? No water? No tears?"

"Um, I'm good. Wet. But good."

I snickered. "I was talking to my prints."

"Your prints?"

I turned the canister so Blondie could see the rolls of blue in my canister. "Blueprints. I invent." With a shock of realization, I yanked the bottom of my shirt up, tucking the hem under my chin. Whimpering, I undid the thick tool belt I hid under my shirt and let the shirt itself fall.

"Ooh... crud... kay, the spin blade's still good, laser's functioning, net ball's working, ultra card... kay. We're good." I announced to no one in particular. I tied the tool belt around my waist, at an angle, and faced my gadgets inward. I glanced at the blonde, who looked determined.

"S'pose you won't let me go now."

"Nope."

I'm not exactly sure on what we're supposed to be doing right now so I'm just going to do this. Tell me if I should change it.

Steph:

Mr and Mrs.Engle came back up, giving me a tired look. I know what it means. It means they're getting tired of having to cover for me and putting their lives in danger. Mrs,Engle sighed and said softly "Stephanie, I'm going to go out with my friends and Mr.Engle has to go to work. Can you handle being here alone?" I nodded slowly and said quietly "Yes." With that, they turned and left.
***
I shoved all of my things into the army green bag and slung it over my shoulder. Opening the rectangle case with the butterfly on it I placed an old pocket knife, some money, and the bracelet my sister gave me into it. With a click it closed and I put it into the slot in my belt. Slinging the bag over my shoulder I went over the the screen on the wall. My fingers tapped on it, selecting what I want. I found a map of the town and another of the city. I printed them both out.

Taking them from the printer and folding it up I placed it into my pocket. I cautiously went downstairs and got out a piece of paper. With a black pen I quickly wrote

It's time for me to move on. Thank you for keepng me as long as you have.

P.S burn this

Leaving it on their bed I got out Mrs.Engle's black box and dumped the contents onto her dresser. Opening up Mr.Engle's drawer I took the things he kept in case people found out about me. He wouldn't be needing them now. I placed the laser pointer, the small explosives, one of the guns, and some bullets. After I placed them all into the black box I put that in my belt too.

I heard voices just outside and ran up the stairs. I would have to do this the hard way. I grabbed the black trench coat and opened the window. Climbing on the sill I jumped out to the nearest tree, causing the branch to sway a little bit. Sitting on the branch I took of the bag and put on the coat. Putting the bag back on I climbed down the tree and ran into the forest.