He was deaf. Clods of debris rained around him. A few seconds passed and he lifted his head and scanned the devastation. The landrover was on its side, the rear wheel spinning gently to a stop. The dust of the road patterned the side of his face and he scuffed the grit from his eyes. The ringing in his ears subsided and he pulled himself upright. A minute had passed. Three corpses, no friends, dotted the scene.

The training kicked in; position and distribution on hostiles, threat level, level of immediate tactical advantage, recovering the team. Like a machine he rolled to get a better view to assess the situation, devoid of emotion he relaxed back to meet the sideways gaze of a young teenager with and AK47. The boy glanced down and slowly shook his head. Renn followed his gaze and recognised the look. The boy smiled ironically and walked away.

If only the boy knew the mistake he had just made.

So much for March 29th Good Friday 2013. It was turning out like one of those MMORGS Renn was so fond of in his spare time.

The throbbing pain in his chest was staring to swamp his thoughts, his leg was twisted awkwardly. Blood was seeping everywhere. He thought he only had a few minutes of consciousness left. He pulled a card from his deck that he took everywhere and stared at it.

He ignored the heated conversation in Pashto not far from him. He ignored the approaching footsteps and cocking rifle. His entire focus was on the card. He forced himself through to safety.

***

He fenced the awkward demands on how he passed unnoticed through the perimeter guards as he was admitted into the infirmary. Later he doctored the notes on when he had left on recon to begin with and the severity of his injuries. Sometimes he felt it would be easier to just die.

---

It was November 1999. Jayne had succumbed to her cancer over a year and a half ago and Carl was doing his best to juggle Renn’s needs with the demands of the foreign office. However he needn’t had worried, Renn’s Grade 2 teacher Miss Thistle-Thwaite in Kessler elementary school had told Carl that Renn was a gifted learner with an amazing talent for art.

Carl was not artistic, and as far as he knew neither had Jayne. He was uneasy at this as it highlighted the quirks of IV to him, but he dismissed this along with the thick jet black hair as a throwback to some previous generation. Renn filled sketch pads endlessly and his tutors suggested that Renn’s talents should be encouraged, so Carl and Renn spent their weekends at art galleries and national parks where Renn would spend time sketching. Renn enjoyed these trips to the point of being frustrated at not going away at every opportunity. On a number of occasions he had wandered off into town to visit museums or shops on what he joked as 'prison' weekends spent at home. Carl had assumed Renn had an unsettled outlook due to his own career choices.

Naturally Carl wanted the best for his son and in an attempt to give him a consistent education despite the constant threat of being moved about by the foreign office he discovered a bright lecturer who in Carl’s opinion seemed too good to be true.

He was sharp eyed and eloquent with bizarrely similar features to Renn, and an other worldliness that Carl couldn't put his finger on. Still, he had an amazing breadth of knowledge, his references were excellent, he was reassuringly expensive and Renn took to him. He introduced himself as Dr Umber.

Dr Umber pushed Renn over the next four years, teaching him a wide variety of skills alongside and outside the standard curriculum chiefly concerning martial training, outdoor pursuits and artistry. Carl on occasion watched in amazement at what his son could achieve, how fast he could run, how astonishing realistic his drawings and paintings were. So many sketches from memory of his mother and endless pictures of his room at home. It was Dr Umber who taught Renn the power of his pictures. To everyone else these were simply accomplished watercolours or charcoal sketches but Dr Umber showed Renn how to see the extra dimension through them. Depth was not it, they could create space, a world of imagination so real that he could feel or touch reach into and about the scenes. The more he practised the quicker he could achieve this artistic state. It was more a state of mind and the pictures became less important. Less of a key and more of a handle. Then came the point Dr Umber had promised, he had meticulously drawn the counter of the local corner shop detailed with a bewildering array of sweets neatly arranged like soldiers seen from above. Renn imagined he could reach out and touch the counter the sweets and the slightly stuffy sweet smell in the air. His hand curled around a candy bar and he smiled as there it was. The candybar conjured from his picture and the revelation was intense. He swore softly to himself and opened the packet. It was real and sweet, and he devoured it.

When Dr Umber arrived later that day he recounted his experience and curiously all he did was give a satisfied nod and advised him never to tell a soul and to continue practising.

---

Carl came into the apartment holding the BFO letter, it was just Christmas 2003 say he had been requested back to England in the first week of the New Year. He wrote letters to the school and Dr Umber, who came to say farewell and good luck. Renn had read many military texts and had become enamoured of the rigid organised life a military career might offer him and it was at this point he approached his father and Dr Umber and suggested it.

Dr Umber agreed that Renn was more that capable and that if time allowed he would visit if this was acceptable. Carl enrolled Renn in an Eton college impressing on the school that Renn was to go to Sandhurst as soon as possible. Without the constant tutelage of Dr Umber, Renn was forced to become more self motivated and self reliant.

***

The modem speed was ropey but he could still play. It was easier having pretend friends across the globe and getting lost inside virtual worlds, it appealed to his sense of wonder. It was surprising how little sleep he could function on. But without his now remarried father or Dr Umber he found his mind needing engagement outside the school life. Joudelays was a boarding school; it took some ingenuity to rig up the modem to his room tapping from the main line two corridors away. His laptop warmed his bed as the MMORG world and denizens unfurled in front of him. He ended up captaining the fencing club and the rifle club. He enjoyed the canoeing trips, the rock climbing and abseiling events arranged by the school.

***

The local pub was great and Renn had taken his sketchbook. He was only 14 but he was tall and growing a wispy beard. He spent some time absorbing the atmosphere getting it just right, imprinting it on his memory. He made a couple of detailed sketches of the bar and for the sake of humouring him the barman as well. The boarding house locked down of an evening so Renn used his skills to circumvent the rules occasionally to perfect his understanding of artistic transition as he named it. It was far from perfect, many times he had tried to infiltrate the bar and failed but the odd time he succeeded but fortunately the resultant hangovers were thankfully short-lived. He had already spent a lot of time getting the measure and drawing his own boarding room, Not once had he failed to get back.

***

Renns' first day at Sandhurst was a revelation. Even collecting his wages was fraught with danger. A specific approach, a smart salute recounting his number a wheel and march away. Failure at any point could spell disaster – not only not being paid but being delayed for your next assignment. This neatly summed up army life. By the book. Respond without question. Obey orders.

He was being assigned to the Royal Corps of Observers after he left Sandhurst as second Lieutenant. He was assigned 30 soldiers and he excelled. He frequently received commendations for innovative manoeuvres and creative thinking. His men were inspired and loyal. Leadership came naturally to him and he treated it like a game. Some real life MMORG, at some points he no longer saw his men as people but chess pieces. It was easier as there was no real danger of death at this stage, but one day it would matter and that would be the test.

***

The picture of base camp was secreted in his top pocket. He had chosen a small patrol to join him on a Forward Observation mission to confirm a couple of drone strikes. Lt Renn pinched out his rollup. Then the world exploded.

---

Timeline

1 Feb 1986	Carl Benedict joins the civil service
27 Nov 1987	Carl is seconded the the British Foreign Office on a short term tenure.
13 Jan 1988	Carl is awarded a full time contract within the BFO
12 May 1990	Carl Benedict is instructed by the BFO to take up extended duties as liaison officer to Max Baucus, Senator of Montana, USA based in Helena.
3 Jan 1992	Carl marries Jayne Palmer, daughter of Max Baucus's senior aide Henry Palmer.
21 Nov 1992	Renn Marcus Benedict born to Carl and Jayne Benedict as a result of IV. IV donor is an Amberite.
13 Jan 1995	Jayne is diagnosed with breast cancer
15 Apr 1998	Jayne dies of pneumonia caused by complications from chemotherapy. Carl remains in USA instructed to pursue 'British Interests' within the Max Baucus administration.
31 Dec 2003	Carl recalled to the UK by the BFO no reason is known to Renn.
5 Jan 2004	Rodian War breaks out
6 Jan 2004	Carl enrols Renn (age 12) in Jourdelays, Windsor
2 Apr 2004	Rodian War ends
13 Aug 2004	Carl marries Hazel Staveley daughter of Rt Hon Sir Thomas Staveley permanent secretary to the Minister of Defence in HM Government. Divorcee of Mr John Cabal, mother of Myrian (29) and Abby (26)
27 Sep 2008	Renn has a 4 month relationship with Pt. Harriette Milton.
22 Jan 2009	Carl returns under instruction of the BFO to Helena.
18 Jun 2010	Renn leaves Jourdelays (age 16) to pursue a commission at Sandhurst as an officer cadet.
21 July 2011	2nd Lt Benedict (age18) is promoted to Lieutenant second class in charge of a platoon of 30 soldiers in recon specialist training and operations from Sandhurst.
30 May 2011	Last known communication from Carl to Renn from Helena.
22 Feb 2013	Lt Benedict is up for promotion (age 21) to full Lieutenant retaining responsibility for his platoon.
16 Mar 2013	Renn is put on special ops recon duties in Afghanistan and is temporarily released form his platoon duties.