Another week passed in that sterile cage they called a facility, and I lay awake long before the morning rotation of scientists and security shuffled in. I was becoming good at waking before them...something about the silence of these halls before the lights brightened made it easier to think.
Time with Matriarch Yelara had become routine over the last seven days. Every session followed the same pattern: Meditation, and controlling my biotics. She would start to push me...emotionally, and mentally. It was never enough to break me, but enough that the pressure was constant.
Her voice echoed through my memory: "Your biotics are strong for a human and one so young. Subject 13, but your human emotions can affect your biotics more then the average person."
She made me meditate until my legs ached from sitting still, made me focus until holding the singularity between my hands was like breathing. She wasn't gentle, but she wasn't cruel either. More like a strict mother who was fair but expected me to give 100 percent to everything I did.
Then came the stress tests.
At first it was simple: She would tell me to adjust myself from my stances to my biotic control. It was to the most mynute detail, but nothing I haven't been through before. Then she left me alone with her two Asari guards. The one in the sleek blue armor, Sula, never minced words.
"You're weak," she said flatly on the first day. "Soft. Fragile. It's a miracle you can use your biotics, but you will never be good as an Asari."
Her voice was cold enough that a normal four-year-old might have cried. But I wasn't normal, and mentally I was 30 years old. Compared to them I was probably a child, but I knew how to handle baiting when I saw it.
She tried to make me flinch, stepping forward sharply, hand raised into a fist as if to strike me. I held her gaze steady. I didn't flinch or blink, I just stood there silent and still. She clicked her tongue in irritation.
Then there was Ela, the one in purple armor, bouncy, bright, smiling far too much for an Asari guard. She crouched down in front of me. "Hi! I'm Ela. An Asari Commando, and part Matriarch Yelara's security detail. That grump over there is my sister Sula. Sooo… who are you? Besides Subject Thirteen?"
She said Asari Commando! That means these two are not to be fucked with. Why are they in this facility, and if there are only two of them then they must be incredibly dangerous.
I hesitated. "…That's my name. I don't have another."
Ela made a dramatic gasp. "That won't do. Not at all! We need something cool. Something awesome. Thirteen is kinda cool, actually...very ominous." She spun around, hands flying as she brainstormed out loud. "Or… ooh! How about Target?" She said menacingly.
She spun back toward me, pistol already out and fired.
Bang...bang...bang. Three shots cracked through the room.
My blood spiked but I didn't think...I reacted. My hands snapped up and a biotic barrier flared into existence, shimmering, humming against the rounds. Sparks flickered as the shots splashed across the purple barrier.
Ela squealed like she'd just watched fireworks. "Good job, Thirteen! Amazing instincts!" she said with a wide smile cheering.
"You shot me," I deadpanned.
"Don't worry 13, my aim wasn't to kill," she said proudly. " Plus the gun's set to stun! See?"
She turned, aimed at her sister... Bang.
The rounds bounced harmlessly off Sula's armor's shields. "You idiot," Sula groaned. "We have armor on. The shields stop high velocity objects regardless."
Ela just grinned. "Oops! Always next time."
"What do you mean next time?" Sula demanded.
I burst out laughing...actual laughter. Loud, sudden. The two reminded me painfully of my sister and me from my past life. Annoying, ridiculous, but very familiar.
Behind the one-way glass, Yelara stood observing with the Warmaster Korgath.
"Your plan seems to be working," Yelara murmured.
Korgath grunted approval. "If the kid's got my DNA, he won't be weak. Tomorrow I take over."
Heavy footfalls echoed down the hallway, loud enough to vibrate through the floor. I stood from my small bed immediately, my expression calm as I prepared myself. The door slid open with a hiss.
A mountain of scaled muscle marched in...a Krogan, massive compared to what the games showed me and compared to my tiny child body. His narrow gray eyes locked onto me with intense curiosity.
"Subject 13." His voice was gravel. "I'm Warmaster Korgath. I'm in charge of you for the next week. Your coming with me." He didn't wait for my response. His huge clawed hand scooped me up like I weighed nothing. "Let's go."
He carried me down the corridor like cargo. Researchers scampered out of his path, some nearly flattened as he bulldozed forward. His presence was like standing next to a volcano...dangerous, and unpredictable.
We entered the same wide training chamber I'd used with Yelara and Dr Kline. Scientists were already waiting with equipment.
Korgath tossed me onto the floor. " Listen up. While you're with me, kid, I'm gonna push you hard. Gotta see if you really got any of me in you."
I blinked up at him, confused. "What… does that mean?"
His scarred face twitched in a smirk. "Make it through the week without whining, and maybe I'll tell you."
That was not encouraging. The scientists strapped sensors and omni-tool monitors onto me. Heart rate, neural activity, muscular tension, every movement captured and recorded. I stepped onto the running pad and began to jog.
I braced for exhaustion quickly. Knowing this body was still underdeveloped and hasn't been conditioned yet. But instead after jogging for a few minutes, I felt… great. Still energetic and stronger, like my body was waking up.
Korgath saw the excitement in 13's face. Then he gestured to the scientist. "Increase the speed."
The speed increased. then a few minutes later it did again and again.
"Set it to ten," Korgath said coldly.
The treadmill whined as it ramped into a full sprint for who knows how long. Sweat rolled down my forehead, but my legs pumped like pistons. My lungs burned, yet I didn't feel anywhere near collapsing.
Korgath watched with a curious tilt of his head. "Hmph. Interesting."
Next came the strength testing. A sled with adjustable weight plating scraped across the floor.
"Push it until you can't anymore," Korgath said.
I nodded. "Yes sir!"
As I pushed the sled the resistance grew heavier and heavier until my arms began to tremble violently. My feet slipped. My breath came ragged.
"I… I can't, push anymore" I panted.
"You moved it a few inches," Korgath replied. "Means you can still move it. Keep going." I knew I couldn't out-argue a Krogan...that much held true.
"Yes sir." I said grunting. I pushed until the sled for what felt like hours until it wouldn't budge an inch. My arms felt like rubber. Sweat soaked my clothes. But inside… something else thrummed. A strange energy I didn't fully understand. I felt like my body got a good pump in, but also like I could keep pushing myself somehow.
Then the temperature in the room shifted. The hairs on the back of my hair stood up and I felt the air shift. It was danger.
My body reacted before thought formed. I jumped aside leaning close to the floor. What looked like paint rounds hissed past my face, splattering against the wall and floor.
Korgath grinned. "Good. Your instincts do work."
He hefted a belt loaded with paint-ball guns, scanners, launchers...some modified with what looked like experimental rounds. The scientists backing away in green-stained suits told me everything I needed to know.
"Last test, your reflexes" he said. "Dodge. Or don't. I hear these hurt like hell."
My eye twitched. What is it with these aliens and shooting at me. I thought miserably, What the hell did I do in my past life to deserve this?
Then I grinned. "And what if I steal your guns and ammo, and use them against you?" I said coldly.
Korgath let out a deep, delighted rumble. He does remind me of Kline with that serious look. Like he is gonna accomplish whatever he set's his mind to.
"Your free to try. Pull it off and you might just earn my respect."
I inhaled slowly and exhaled smoothly. As I felt my biotic energy curl through my limbs. Like electricity. Then My eyes glowed with purple eezo energy.
I smirked.
"Let's rock."
I charged forward full speed.
Korgath raised his first paint gun and fired...
Purple energy swelled through my limbs and I shot my hand forward.