Onboard the Mars military orbital station a serious meeting was taking place to decide the fate of the unknown child.
John was the first to speak "Sir, that boy knew our fighting style and to a high level. It is as if he had been trained in one of our systems".
"That was not the only odd thing. Lisa did you find out anything about the technology", asked the General
"No sir, We can't investigate the ship because of the shield and the suit is worthless. Watching the recording of the fight in the docking bay and the sensor reading. I estimate that the ship is at least 20 years ahead of us." Lisa was the senior science technical officer stationed on the orbital ship. "We don't yet understand how they could survive the forces involved. If we can bypass the shield I'm sure we will gain a technological advantage over the other factions"
"We have a young child who flew from the outer reaches of our solar system in a craft far more advanced than anything we have. Who could also fight at an advanced level and had some form of automatic systems in place to deny access to its technology. The only thing we know is that he claimed to come for the youth soldier competition." The General summed up the current situation. "Guess it's time we had a little talk with him."
The Interrogation had been proceeding for more than 5 hours at this point. This was not Null first interrogation. Zero did not understand the nuances of human society, so when they choose to use a super-soldier program, they didn't comprehend the depths it would go to.
No program designed to create a super-soldier would be kind. Null had faced multiple types of interrogation before from physical torture to psychological. The main difference this time was he was unable to cheat as he did in the pod, and he couldn't understand a word of what was being spoken.
Null and Infy were having an internal debate on what to do next. "I know Zero said not to use fields, but I think we should teleport back to the ship and go home." Suggested Null.
"No. we can't use fields no matter what. The council would find us. If only we could find someone with communication technology or latent psychic abilities we could communicate " Infy just wanted to talk their way out, he was getting frustrated with the situation.
The lead interrogator was getting tired as well. 'This smug bastard doesn't even react to anything. He just keeps staring at me with those eyes. I know I've been told not to harm the boy, but this isn't working. Maybe some pain will loosen his tongue.' He then proceeded to try and smash the kid hand with his stun baton, but before he could hit the target he was thrown across the room by an energy wave. He lay on the floor wide-eyed as he saw the child easily break the restraints.
Infy was not powerless. He had, had enough of this so when the guy try to harm Null, he had released some of this energy. This had two effects, it threw the interrogator to the ground and also supercharged Null physical abilities. Sadly, this did not come without a cost, as this also inflicted a large amount of pain on Null body.
Null quickly stood up but instead of making a break for it, he started gesturing towards his mouth and ears. Trying to make them understand he couldn't speak or understand them. Lisa ran into the room. "Wait! I think he trying to communicate. Are you deaf and mute? Oh, silly question. Quickly someone go and get a communication device."
Before the device could arrive, Lisa was in for a shock. She heard not one but two voices in her head. "Finally, someone we can communicate with. Hello, I am Infinity" and "Hello, I am Null, sorry about this, but we can't understand anything that is being said and it seems I'm unable to speak."
Infy then took over to explain the situation. "Sorry, we didn't want to force a mental connection, but you were the first person who had the prerequisite to do so. Our mentor told us it would be rude to do so, but the situation is currently extremely stressful for us. Now that we have established a connection if you speak, we should be able to hear it over the connection."
Lisa was in shock but decided to test it out. "Hello, my name is Lisa. Can you understand me now?"
Once Null had confirmed he could 'speak' to the new arrival he sat back down quietly on his chair and gave Lisa a large smile. Now the interrogation could begin for real.
"now I just have to step outside and have a talk, I will be back soon" stated Lisa. "Uhm I need the bathroom, can I please go" Lisa recognised the voice in her head as the one belonging to Null. 'Who is Null and who is Infinity...so many questions to ask'. "I will ask, but I believe you would need to be escorted by John" Lisa pointed toward John who was standing next to the doorway.
"Oh him, he is really strong. I hope I get to be that strong" answered Null as he turned to look at John and gave him a strange looking grin. Lisa chuckled to herself and walked outside to talk with the General. 'He really does feel like a child'.
"Sir, would it be possible for Null to go to the bathroom?" Lisa asked.
"Granted, John can you escort the child to the bathroom but be careful" The General was actually happy to do this as it would allow them to talk more freely without the boy listening in.
"Ok Colonel, explain yourself" instructed Alexander, he usually didn't like to remind people of their rank but he was a little on edge after watching a boy break the restraints and throw a man across the room without touching them. He was even starting to suspect that Lisa might be aligned with the boy.
"Sir, I can't explain it, but they spoke to me in my head. They said they can't understand us and that they physically can't speak. They said I was the first person that had the prerequisite for forming a mental link with" Lisa continued to give her report. "I can't explain it, but when they spoke, they do seem to be children, sir."
"There is only one child. So why are you saying they?"
"Sir, it is because there are 2 voices when speaking in my head. They call themselves Null and Infinity but that is all I know."
"Ok Colonel. You are to oversee this interrogation now. We need to know who they are, where they come from and why is there technology is so advanced. Failure is not an option. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes sir!".
General Alexander had his doubts about Lisa story, it seem too fantastical to be true. He didn't see any reason not to try to let her communicate with the boy. It would allow him to observe and see if she was in league with him.
The twins had returned from a bathroom break, they had decided to tell the truth as much as possible but knew they were forbidden to talk about Zero. They were once again connected to the lie detector machine. This was a pointless act as they had been trained how to manipulate the results.
Infy then went on to explain to Lisa the best way to set up the communication device so they could communicate. It was set up so that Null and Infy could respond in text, and it would be read out loud in two different voices.
Before Lisa could start the interview. A ball of spinning light about 3cm in diameter left Null head and entered the communication device. The soldiers reacted quickly pointing their weapons at the device. Lisa put her hand up asking them to stop. "What is that?" she asked.
The device then started to display an answer that was read out loud. "Sorry, that was just me. It would be easier to communicate if I was in control of the device. Oh I'm Infy".
A part of infy had to be connected to Null at all times but being made of energy he could make miniature clones that he could send out to interact with the world. This would come at the cost of losing some of his natural Angel energy what would take a significant amount of time to replace unless the clone could reintegrate with Infy.
Lisa then looked at Null. "So, your Null?"
Once again, the device read out an answer but in a different voice. "Yes, that is correct". Everyone inside and outside of the room was shocked he didn't even move a muscle but was able to answer. This did not conform with their worldview.
Lisa mutter to herself "what exactly are you?" she didn't realise that with the mental link the volume didn't matter.
Infy was the one to respond. "Well Null is human, and I am an artificial energy lifeform. we are bonded together so you could think of us as conjoined twins." It was taking an incredible effort for Lisa to keep her body language neutral. Inside her mind, she was reeling. 'I am one of the top military scientists and I can't even begin to imagine that energy lifeforms exist, but there someone out there that can make one?'. Some of the others in the room were unable to keep the shock off their faces.
Null noticed this so asked, "what is that unusual?"
Before anyone could answer the General barged into the room. "Everyone below the rank of Colonel, clear the room. Anything you heard or saw in here is classified as Top Secret. Anyone who leaks this information will be dealt with, if I make myself clear" everyone left the room except for Alex, Lisa, and John.
Infy was confused. "Sorry, we can't understand you. Either Lisa needs to speak, or you must type it. Did we do something wrong?"
"No, you didn't. It is just the information you have given us has come as a bit of shock. To answer Null question, we didn't even know energy lifeforms were possible." Lisa hoped that being honest with the boys might allow them to gain more information.
Before they could continue with the interview Null suddenly stood up and faced towards his ship. "You have to stop your people from trying to enter our ship. Right now" said Infy.
The General then went up to the device and type in his response. "What if we don't?"
"Then you and everyone on this station will die. You have breached the plasma shield and the auto-destruct has been engaged. If we don't stop it an antimatter explosion will wipe out this station" Infy had calmly given his answer predicting their doom.
Lisa was stuck in her thoughts. 'Energy lifeforms, antimatter, and now it seems they are linked to their ship. Where did they come from?'. "Won't you also die?" she asked.
Null looked at all three of them in the eyes and his 'voice' came from the device. "No, we would survive. We don't wish to hurt anyone, but that ship is not yours and our mentor told us we have to protect it."
All three in the room could sense the sincerity in his words. They had no idea how they would survive but they were sure they were serious. The General got on the communication and order everyone to back away from the ship.
General used the communication device to talk to the twins. "I have ordered everyone to stand down and not go near the ship."
Null looked like he zoned out for a bit before Infy decided to reply. "You are correct, we have re-engaged shield and deactivated the self-destruct for now. Note if it happens again, we won't be able to stop it. This is a failsafe that is activated after a ship is put into lockdown mode a second time."
The General wanted to end the interrogation here. He needed to report this to the upper echelons as he was not in a position to keep asking questions but there was one question, he wanted to be answered. He whispered his question into Lisa's ear.
"One last question before we take a break. Who is your mentor?"
"Sorry, All information about our mentor is forbidden, this is for your protection" replied Infy. Null had his own question to ask. "Can we go? We came here to meet people for the first time and compete in YSC. This is not fun I want to go home we can find something else to do."
Lisa was once again reminded that it was only a child in front of her. A strange and powerful child. She could not work out either of their personalities. Sometimes they were serious, other times childlike. "I am sorry Null, but you have to stay a bit longer. We will have some more questions for you."
"I think you overestimate your position. We are not bound here we could leave at any time. If you force us to extract ourselves from this situation, it would have dire consequences for humanity. This is not a threat but a statement of fact." Infy final statement shocked people in the room. The Infy clone then left the device and integrated itself back with the main body.
Null then closed his eyes and started to meditate.
Lisa could feel that the mental link had been broken.
John was first to speak up. "I do not like the sound of that last statement. It is almost like they don't consider themselves part of humanity."
"I don't feel the mental link, but I think we should leave this room before discussing anything further". The General agreed with Lisa, and they left the room.