The quiet hum of recycled air filled the dark room as Jasen sat cross-legged on the stiff bed. A small pulsing singularity hovering between his tiny palms like a trembling star. Purple eezo radiating softly around his body. The Purple eezo light gave off a soft glow in the darkness, casting shadows across the sterile walls.
Jasen's breathing was calm, his mind steady, and his biotics were controlled. The silence before the morning cycle began was almost comforting. It was one of the few times he could think uninterrupted. Meditation came to him easier now. The singularity formed faster. His mind settled quicker.
He reflected on the week spent under Warmaster Korgath's brutal mentorship. Korgath's voice still echoed in his skull as if the big bastard stood right behind him. A week with a Krogan would do that to you.
The Krogan him pushed harder than anyone else so far. Physically harder than Yelara's emotional discipline. More engaging and harder than Dr. Kline's cold experiments. Korgath treated him like a recruit, no softness, no compromise. Just relentless pressure.
One day he said something that I still pondered on.
"Subject 13. You carry some of the best's blood in your veins, so you're not gonna break that easily." Korgath would say while I struggled beneath holding some immense weight. Each time he said something like that, the words dug deeper into my mind. Am I related to someone important?
He asked what Korgath meant. And every time, the Krogan went quiet, and gave a small grunt, brushing it off.
"Don't worry about it, kid."
Kid. He only started calling him that after Jasen crawled out of a particularly punishing biotic endurance drill covered in sweat and bruises yet still standing. It was strange… almost affectionate.
But Jasen did worry. Especially now, after seeing what his body was capable of. His strength wasn't normal for a child let alone a human. His endurance and reflexes weren't even close either. Let's not even talk about his biotics which weren't even close to the average human biotics.
A four-year-old shouldn't be able to sprint like a trained athlete. Dodging high speed projectiles. Jasen even got injured one time. A accident were a giant cut and gash was left on his face. The wound healed and closed up in mere seconds. It was like the wound never existed. Between endless laps, sprints, impact drills, dodging tests, strength trials. Jasen realized he was not normal in any sense of the word, and was scared to know what these people wanted to do with him. He wondered what did they put in him or if they spliced him with anything crazy.
Growing an extra eye or limb would be crazy. Jasen then inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. Letting all those questions forming in his head dissolve into the singularity before him.
Jasen then reflected how he saw Korgath used his own biotics. He was Brutal, and overwhelming, but never uncontrolled. It was like watching a storm that new when to strike and when to wait.
And then there were Ela and Sula. Their eyes watched him from the shadows of the facility. Testing him to make sure he was observant of his surroundings. They even managed to get Captain Stone in on it. From recognizing the hallways we walked through, or when my food tasted different.
Even during the night, he felt eyes on him. Behind Dr. Kline's viewing glass, long after lights-out, Ela stood perfectly still. Her face was blank, posture rigid, eyes cold as the vacuum of space.
Her bright purple eyes narrowed as she stared at Subject 13 sleeping on his tiny cot. Her face held no brightness, no warmth. Then slowly a smile curled the corner of her lips. A predatory smile stretched across her lips.
She looked like a hunter memorizing the movements of her prey. Jasen didn't know why he woke with chills that night. He didn't see her. But he felt something was wrong, something watching, something patient.
So now he meditated before dawn, biotics ready to ignite at a moment's notice. Then without warning or notice a voice spoke.
"Subject 13, it's time to begin work."
Jasen's eyes snapped open wide instantly...
Jasen moved without thought. He immediately shot into a kneeling defensive stance in the direction of the voice. The singularity disappearing as his purple biotics flared around his body. Element zero energy rippled against the sterile walls.
But when he saw the figure in the corner… confusion replaced the adrenaline. In the far corner stood a tall. Thin figure with elongated limbs. Big oval eyes with dark purple irises. Skin a mottled gray, shifting between pale and charcoal with the room's lighting. With a cold, calculating gaze.
Jasen recognized the alien anywhere. It was a Salarian. Another alien? Seriously? How many more species walk these halls? What kind of facility is this? Fuck… how did I miss him?
Jasen had checked the room before meditating. He had been alone. Completely. He hadn't even sensed the door open. The alien was simply there. The Salarian hadn't used the door. Maybe Cloaking tech? Or was he here the entire time, or is there a secret passage in this room?
While the Salarian stared with unreadable calm at subject 13. His arms folded neatly behind his back. "Subject 13," the Salarian spoke, voice clipped, fast, monotone. "Your biotics will not be necessary at this time." He gestured toward the desk along the wall. Where several holographic tablet's laid.
Jasen's blood chilled slightly, but he didn't lower his guard, still breathing hard. "How did you...?"
The Salarian tilted his head. "If you are wondering how I appeared in this room, do not bother," the Salarian cut in. "Figure it out yourself. Good mental exercise."
Of course he answered before Jasen finished. Damn Salarian's think to quickly.
The Salarian then paused.
"And I apologize for the late introduction. You may call me Dr. Vorath. I will be your examiner for the week. You will Get used to my face, and become familiar to my presence."
Jasen's eyes narrowed as he lowered his hands and relaxed biotics, though cautiously. "I understand, Dr. Vorath," Jasen said evenly.
"Good. Your lessons begin now." Vorath said then spoke fast, even by Salarian standards, and with such a monotone delivery it was unnerving.
Jasen inwardly sighed. He new he would have to get used to the Salarian fast-talking weirdness, he guessed.
Vorath flicked his omni-tool, projecting rows upon rows of linguistic symbols and audio files. Vorath moved with twitchy precision, lifting one holopad and offering it like a teacher presenting a book.
"I will be teaching you languages," he stated. "English is your native tongue. You will learn Warlock Break for Krogan dialect studies, High Thessian for Asari cultural compatibility, and Bartuk… for reasons you need not know yet."
Jasen blinked. "…Multiple languages? All in one week?"
"Yes," Vorath said simply. " Please keep up. Slow responses hinder learning. Now begin."
Jasen stared at the holopad. So now I'm becoming multilingual? Great. Maybe next week they'll give me a doctorate. He mused internally. But he obeyed. Because playing along was how he survived....
Three Days Passed and the lessons were brutal.
Vorath spoke little except when giving instruction—dry, clinical, always focused. He rarely blinked or paused. He moved from topic to topic with lightning speed. English grammar, Asari formal speech structures, and flowing curvature. Krogan guttural syntax, Salarian high-speed phrasing patterns… He barely gave time to process. And not once did Vorath slow his pace for a moment.
But for three straight days, Subject 13 kept up and processed everything. He studied and practiced, and absorbed it all. It was unnerving, even for him. He was shocked at how well he excelled.
Hours of repetition. Writing and speech ,and hours of tests. Subject 13's brain felt… faster. Clearer. Like pieces snapped together instantly, like his mind was accelerating far beyond what he remembered from his old life. It was like his brain processed the information instinctively, piecing patterns together faster than he ever could in his past life.
He remembered school, how focusing had always been a struggle unless it interested him. But here? His mind was like a machine. He felt pathways opening. Patterns forming. Speed increasing.
It scared him a little, but he kept going. He knew Salarians were geniuses, with fast metabolism, fast thinking, fast learning. But he didn't expect to keep up with one.
Day 4 – The Examination....
Vorath projected a test onto the holographic interface. Five hundred questions. No multiple choice. Four languages. Historical Roots. Grammar variants. Cultural nuance. Dialects. Masculine vs feminine vs neutral tones. Phonetic transformations and cultural idioms.
Jasen started typing away. Vorath watched 13 carefully, and minutes passed. But It felt like no time at all. Jasen finished , and Vorath took the pad and graded it with terrifying speed—his fingers a blur.
When he finished, he said nothing. He simply nodded once and said: "Wait here."
He vanished out the door. Then ten minutes later the door hissed open. He returned… flanked by Dr. Kline, Matriarch Yelara, and Warmaster Korgath. Kline's sharp eyes scanned him. Yelara's gaze was focused. Korgath crossed his arms, smirking faintly.
Vorath gestured to Subject 13. "Begin."
Without context each one stepped forward.
Yelara spoke first, in High Thessian: "When was the High Thessian lexicon standardized?"
Jasen answered fluently in the same language.
Korgath growled a question in Warlock Break. A language loud, harsh, and violent in sound. Jasen responded perfectly, matching tone and dialect.
Vorath asked several advanced Bartuk phrases, the Salarian equivalent of theoretical linguistics.
One at a time, they fired questions at him. Rapid-fire with complex and random questions. Kline just stood there and watched. Jasen calm and relaxed answered them all. Every answer came out of him with perfect cadence. Perfect fluency with no hesitation.
He switched between languages sounded effortless it felt surreal even to him. Like he knew what they were gonna say before they even said it.
When it finally ended, Vorath clapped his hands together sharply. "Enough. You may leave." Each scientist fell silent. Yelara raised a brow. Korgath snorted in amusement. Vorath looked satisfied. Kline's expression didn't change, yet her eyes gleamed with something sharp and calculating. Then the three departed silently.
Jasen stared at the door, unsure what the test meant… but certain something monumental had happened.
The room fell still, and Vorath turned to 13 and stepped closer.
"Subject 13," he said finally, "I will speak to you now as I would to an adult. Your processing capability is advanced. Your behavior suggests high-level inference. You will understand what I am about to say."
Jasen posture straightened instinctively. "Yes, Doctor," Jasen replied.
Vorath stepped closer, lowering his voice.
"You will receive no answers here. Not from me. Not from the others. You will have to uncover the truth yourself."
Jasen's pulse quickened. He's giving me a warning.
"I cannot tell you who you are," Vorath continued. "Nor where you are. Nor what you are meant to become."
His purple eyes narrowed.
"But be aware: Be aware of your surroundings and the people in it. Those around you have power, influence, and authority. They are not your allies. They are your jailers."
"…Yes, Doctor," Jasen said quietly.
" Attempting to coax and gather information gathered from others will be unreliable. The truth will be hidden. Distorted. Even manipulated. You must learn to question everything. Verify everything yourself. Think independently, and never stop observing."
Jasen nodded slowly. "I understand." The warning was clear and unexpected. I don't know why he's telling me this but I know one thing. He is not my ally, but he doesn't want the others to succeed. And the fact that Vorath is warning me at all… meant the danger was worse than I realized.
Then the door hissed open. "Good afternoon Doctor, Subject 13," Captain Stone greeted." Vorath glanced at his omni-tool. "Our time is up. I will see you tomorrow, Subject 13."
Jasen inclined his head. "Good afternoon, Doctor." Vorath then left without another word.
Kline's Office...
Dr. Kline sat her desk before a holographic terminal overflowing with data. Vorath's report, brainwave scans, aptitude charts.
"This is truly remarkable. Subject 13's neural processing speed is extraordinary," she murmured surpassed recorded human prodigies and approached the capability of top-tier Salarian youths."
She typed rapidly, logging every observation. "His hyper-metabolism, though stable, was a concern for the future. Something to monitor closely.
She typed into her console, preparing her report to the benefactor. Then her screen blinked a message notification. It was from the benefactor.
Benefactor: Any signs of Donor X's traits?
Kline brows tightened as narrowed her eyes, then sent her updated data. Moments later, another message came through, longer this time.
Kline read it. Her eyes widen as her expression froze. The benefactor wanted an alteration to the project. A major modification. One that contradicted their original design and all prior planning.
Kline leaned back, exhaling through her nose.
"…This goes against everything we built," she muttered. "Who invests millions of credits into a project only to just…?" She didn't finish her sentence. The benefactor's reasoning was not hers to question. They've always been elusive.
She typed one word: Understood. She inhaled slowly, and sent it. Closing the terminal, she then went to looked down through her observation window at 13's room. He slept peacefully below… unaware of the chains tightening around his future.
"The benefactor and I have big plans for you," Kline whispered. "Once Donor X's traits awakens… you will show everything I have been working for. Then my existence will no longer be ignored...."
Below, Jasen dreamed.
Jasen slept… but not peacefully. The darkness around him softened, reshaped itself into. He saw a girl. A little girl with short red hair the color of autumn leaves. She wore the same sterile clothes he wore. Stood in the same white room he lived in.
But she had no warmth. No emotion. Her face was… blurred. Skin pale from lack of sunlight.
Clothes identical to his own.
.
She moved stiffly, She moved like a puppet—mechanical and hollow. Her lips opened. Static swallowed the sound. a doll mimicking humanity. The dream flickered like broken film. His ears caught fragments of voices.
"Subject..."
But there was no number. Each time the word glitched out.
Jasen felt something inside him twist. Then her head snapped toward him. Jasen felt an ice-cold jolt.
Her head tilted. Her voice was hollow.
"Who are you?"
Jasen jolted awake, sweat chilling his skin. He whispered to himself in the dark: "…Who… or what… was that?"