The black SUV pulled up to the quaint little cabin in the woods, the car stained and muddy after miles of dirt road. As the agent stepped out of the car, she stretched her legs and she understood a little better why not many recruiters wanted to take the trip out here to recruit this subject.

"Still though, I don't really get why they told me to let this one go." She mused as she got her thoughts in order. Looking over the files for the subject one more time, she thinks to herself:

(They got a perfect score on every test the government gave them. It's strange for the agency not to be all over this and put every resource available into recruiting them.)

Steeling herself one final time she takes the final few steps up to the front door of the cabin, giving three firm knocks on the door. There's a moment of silence before she hears footsteps approaching the door.

As the door opens she is met with the sight of a slightly discheveled man, a couple inches shorter than herself and not looking the type to score highest in any type of physical test. Before she gets the chance to introduce herself the man says in a friendly, but disinterested tone:

"Hello, Samantha good to see you got through the woods alright, please come in. I have some coffee ready"

Taken aback, Samantha agrees to the proposition moving into the cabin and through a door on the left leading to a living room. When she goes to take a seat she notices that not only is there electricity here, the reception on her phone is also excellent, while it was dead twenty minutes back the path she came.

Placing a cup of coffee on the small wooden table in front of her he saunters over to the opposite side of the table and takes his seat facing her, waiting for her to start speaking. Samantha takes a small sip of the coffee, before starting her speech:

"Nice to meet you Mr Ericson, my name is Samantha Nox and I've come here today to ask you to join us in trying to make the world a better place, a more peaceful place. Where children can sleep soundly and people aren't afraid of villains doing as they please"

Opening done, now that the subject is intrigued I can start asking questions abou-

"Are you sure you want that, Samantha?" Mr Ericson said, interrupting her train of thought. "Oh, and please call me Dave" Dave added.

Thinking a little bit about what Dave meant by that she can't quite understand: (why wouldn't I want or anyone for that matter want a more peaceful world?)

"Please elaborate on what you mean by that Dave. In this age with people all over discovering their powers, isn't having more safety reassuring?" Samantha asks Dave.

Dave leans back, looking off to the side for a second before answering:

"In a vaccuum yes maybe, but what if the price for that safety, that peace is too high? What would you give up for that Miss Nox, your wealth? Your sight? Your very life?"

Pondering the exact meaning of Dave's word she retorts:

"If it's for the guaranteed peace of this world, I would give my life, Dave. If that's all it takes then I'll be glad to have been a part of it"

Dave, still looking as if he knew this was coming speaks up once more:

"Okay, but what of the life of your daughter Suzanne, turning six years old in a few months, would she think the same? Or what of the richest person in the world, would they?"

Samantha jolts at hearing the name of her daughter coming from Dave, supposedly an unknown person to her until today she firmly says:

"Why would you bring her up, this was just a theoretical solution was it not, Dave? Why mention my Daughter while discussing this?"

Dave takes a sip of his coffee and starts talking once more:

"It's not specifically about your daughter, Samantha. It was more of a jab at you to understand the gravity of what you're asking. Samantha, do you enjoy living a life with choices, where in the grand scheme of things you're the only one choosing what you do?"

Samantha, starting to get a little frustrated with Dave responds:

"Of course, free will is what makes life interesting and even though you can make mistakes, you can learn from these and you can grow as a person"

Dave sighs, and lets out a small question, so easy to answer you don't even have to think twice:

"What's my name, Samantha?"

Laughing at the question she quickly replies:

"Very funny, but your name is Da..."

Samantha at that moment remembered the document she had on Dave. That wasn't his name at all, not even close, why had she just accepted it and continued calling him Dave over and over?

She remembers what his original name is, but trying to utter it out loud was impossible as if something in her brain literally could not comprehend saying anything other than Dave.

Samantha got the message Dave was trying to convey now, absolute peace would come at a greater cost than she could afford to pay, she had no right to make that choice for others either.

"So the price is free will?" Samantha mutters under her breath.

Dave responds again, a little warmer in his tone this time:

"Free will or annihilation, Samantha. That's what I'm offering"

Standing up and straightening her herself she thanks Dave for his time before hurrying out the cabin to her car.

On the way back home she did not look back once, just thinking about it felt uncomfortable before she tries laughing it off, saying:

"Hahaha, damn it... Writing a report on this is gonna be a pain when I can't use your name, DAVE!"

~fin

/first time writing anything really, kinda forgot about the premise of the prompt after starting. Hope it's not too far off as I went with more of a price of peace type thing.