Family Ties

Henry Crawford was a quiet man, always had been. Born in London in 2130, he developped very early in his life a taste for mechanics. He just loved engines, and robotics, and it turned out quite nicely for him; he soon became a respected engineer and made himself a little reputation: he was a reliable and patient man who worked brilliantly. So, naturally he was selected to work on the Arcturus Station back when they were building it. Henry loved it there; he could get his hands on the most beautiful, complex and top-of-the-line pieces of engineering anytime he wanted – which was pretty much all the time. That is where he belonged, and it felt like perfection come to life, like bliss. He could ask for nothing more.

Lea Ben-Aaron, on the other hand, was not so quiet. Born in Tel-Aviv in 2132, she was in fact a passionate and hot-tempered woman. She was also a fighter and wanted to show it. She enlisted in the Alliance navy as soon as she turned 18 and chose to specialize in hand-to-hand combat. She also trained in the Special Forces, because that was the most challenging option she could find at the time. The adrenaline rush in her veins? She loved it, she craved it, and everytime she was on shore-leave, she only wanted to get back on the field.

The humans soon found out that they were not alone on the universe, and not even the most advanced race in the galaxy. Far from it, actually. But how could they really believe for a second that they were? After the discovery of the Prothean data on Mars, they had to suspect that there were other races out there, at least as much advanced and intelligent as themselves, if not far more. Well, if they did not, they sure learnt the truth the hard way! The First Contact War broke out. Not only were the aliens more advanced than the humans, but horribly so. Lea was deployed on Shanxi, and saw with her own eyes what the turians were capable of. And so was Henry, who had been reassigned to the SSV Agincourt after the completion of the Arcturus Station, Lea and Henry first met – briefly – on the ship. The humans hold off the turians for a while and with a certain degree of efficiency, but what would happen when the turians sent their reinforcements? What then? Fortunately for all humanity, some blokes called the Council prevented that from happening. And that is when humanity discovered the Citadel Council and the galactic laws they meant to enforce. And those had been established thousands of years earlier! Humanity was a newcomer, and a very young one. But they would learn. And someday they'd probably laugh at the misunderstanding that had almost destroyed humanity. But honestly, how on Earth were they supposed to know that it was strictly forbidden to reactivate dormant mass relays? They barely even knew what relays were at the time! Oh, well.

Lea fought bravely during the First Contact War – which the turians called the Relay 314 Incident. An "incident"! How arrogant can you be? – and she was promoted to Staff Lieutenant. She and Henry Crawford grew closer to each other some time after the war, during their following furlough. Henry Crawford. That was a man whom she never thought she could fancy. Nor be fancied by! But they fell in love. That is the beauty of the universe; its variety. Not just in DNAs and races and planets, but in characters and personalities too. They were like fire and water; two opposites inexorably attracted to each other. Of course they fell in love, how could they not? After a couple of years of relationship, they decided to settle down. But not on the Arcturus Station, they wanted more space, with real air, with actual sunlight to live under and perhaps to have children under. Even though they could spend weeks without seeing each other because of her being sent off somewhere in the galaxy and his being absorbed in some project or other. They lived in a cosy, if small, flat with a very nice view of the Thames, although it did not exactly run by their window, the tower was simply high enough, truth be told. But still, it was a pretty view, and thanks to the huge bay window, the sunlight coming through would bathe the living-room in white and shades of silver.

When Lea got pregnant, about 6 years after the war, something happened that neither her nor Henry had expected. What the physician said to the soon-to-be mother had to be some sort of joke – maybe that was the dry British sense of humour she'd heard about? She was bewildered. How was it possible? She did remember one rescue mission, on Earth instead of in space, of a crashed starship that had been shipping element zero. Yes, the accident had happened in Seoul, one of her first assignments, she recalled it with clarity. The ship had contained a massive cargo of eezo, and it had gone crashing down on a city of billions of people. The media had explained a little after that what kind of effects eezo would have on pregnant women and young children, but Lea hadn't even had sex in months! And Henry hadn't entered her life yet, so how could this happen now? As it turned out, element zero was a tricky material, and still might have effects that nobody could suspect or anticipate. And her baby was now showing signs that it had been infected from within Lea's body. What could they do? They asked the doctor for guidance and he reassuringly replied that the Alliance was becoming more aware of the biotic potential and was coming up with solutions to channel and take care of the gifted children. Lea and Henry relaxed. The doctor talked to them about the Biotic Acclimitation and Temperance programme, but they still had time before making any decision about their child.

Had they known what the BAaT programme turned out to be, they might not have felt so relaxed. But it was fortunately closed before their daughter was even old enough to actually use her biotic abilities, and all the better.

Little Raïzel had a happy childhood, even though she was quite often forced to accompany her father when both her parents were sent on missions – or projects as far as her father was concerned – (her mother's postings were obviously too dangerous for a kid). She actually enjoyed those travels; her father would tell her about starships, and stars, and planets, and aliens, and it was all fascinating. Little Raïzel would dream at night about all of it. In those dreams she was travelling, aboard her own ship, the fastest frigate ever built, and she was beautiful (the ship, not Raïzel, she obviously didn't see herself in her dreams) and she was discovering new planets, new life forms, she was fighting against dangerous enemies and always ended up victorious. While awake, Raïzel wondered if she would one day see other stars, other planets, travelling on a ship indeed when she grew older. How fantastic would that be?

Little Raïzel did grow up, but before her dreams of commanding her own ship might come true, she started using her biotic abilities accidentally. She was still pretty young when they started to show, and accidents happened more and more often; the older she grew, the stronger her biotics became, and she could not control it, not even one bit, and she could not help it. Her so far happy childhood was turning into a difficult adolescence. Very difficult and painful. Her biotics would sometimes hurt; she could burn herself when a biotic burst detonated out of her hands, she could get some serious bruises, and the migraines were severe, and becoming part of her everyday life. And when she was not experiencing those migraines, she felt dizzy. Holding the hand of her worried dad, she went to consult a doctor who knew a great deal about eezo-affected children, and she told them that Raïzel needed to eat a lot more: biotics were extremely protein-hungry and very draining. The migraines and the dizziness should disappear after a while, but Raïzel absolutely had to adjust her diet to her new biological needs. She also explained that Raïzel would soon have to go to a special facility in order to receive an implant and be trained according to her capabilities, so that she would manage to control them, instead of suffering them.

Raïzel found the idea of being "implanted" quite repulsive, but it seemed to be the normal and better way to go, or so the doctor said. But however she disapproved of the implant thingy, she wouldn't be given a choice, would she? She also positively disliked the idea of being sent away from home to go to an Alliance "special facility". What did that even mean? How could she leave? She clearly wasn't ready for this; she was 13! But then again, she would not have anything to say about that. She asked the doctor:

"Are there many facilities like that?"

"No. There were... attempts, but they didn't work out very well. However I hear they've built a whole station for gifted children, and there's an entire programme dedicated to biotics. And I must say, this one looks promising." The doctor smiled gently, and Raïzel found herself reassured a little.

"What's it called? Where is it?" asked her father.

"It's called the Jon Grisson Academy, and the programme for biotics is the Ascension Project, I think. They've built it in orbit over Elysium."

Raïzel knew of Elysium, her dad had told her stories about it, it was the great capital city that humanity had settled in the Skyllian Verge. They said that it was a beautiful colony.

"What is this Ascension Project, exactly?" her father asked again.

"I don't have any details, it hasn't open yet, but they mean to help biotic children and adults control their abilities for attack or defense, in a prospect of combat, and they also want to help them integrate into society, to make use of their gifts for greater good, as I understand. Or that's the idea at least, only time will tell whether they'll succeed or fail."

Raïzel's father remained silent for a moment and then stood up. He thanked the good doctor for her time and counsel. "Of course", she replied. And the father and his daughter left the surgery. On their way home, Henry Crawford asked his daughter what she thought of all this.

"I really don't know, dad. But I have to find a way to control this, don't I? And the best way, the only way to do that, may be to go to this Grissom Academy. But I don't want leave." And her eyes were stinging because of coming tears which she was trying very hard to hold back.

"We'll take the time to think this through, don't worry sweetheart, I won't send you away if you have no wish to go."

Raïzel held her father's hand tighter and wiped the tears off her face.

The decision whether to send Raïzel to the newly built Grissom Academy or not was postponed by the attack on Elysium, launched by pirates, slavers, and resentful batarians. Some combined – most of them – all of the above. Lea Crawford was deployed once more, and she had a bad feeling about this. Really bad.

She was part of the very first troops to be sent there and what she saw was brutal. Nightmarish pictures of people screaming and running in every directions, gunfire everywhere, civilians getting slaughtered, buildings being set ablaze in the dark blue sky of Elysium. The Marines took position, help up what barricades they could and tried to defend the colony. It was such a mess, a complete chaos; the batarians had come in force and numbers, they would overwhelm the humans if the Alliance didn't send the reinforcements they so desperately needed. They also needed to come up with a strategy to fight them off, or at least a way to survive until the reinforcements did arrive.

But the civilians were terrorized. The Marines rallied those who had better self-control and kept on firing at the enemy. They sent a message to Alliance Command to hurry up with the reinforcements, of course they did, but they still had to wait; that hellish situation lasted for two more days. Two days of fire, of blood, of screams, of chaos, of constant fighting, of death. But Lea had been through the occupation of Shanxi, she could survive this! She was sure that she had the nerves to bear this hell; she was in the Special Forces for crying out loud!

But however strong she was, little by little, her resolve gave in, her nerves of steel melted, and she almost lost her mind.

Later on the extranet, they talked about the victory that had been the battle on Elysium, "The Skyllian Blitz" they called it. They went on and on about the brave civilians taking up arms to defend their home against the barbaric pirates and slavers, holding up admirably until the Alliance reinforcements arrived. The Skyllian Blitz was now and forever a symbol of humanity's resilience and courage. A beacon of light in the darkness of space. And it was all very fine.

But what about the soldiers who had been there from the start? Who had sacrificed their lives to protect those panic-stricken civilians? What about those brave soldiers who weren't even mentioned on the extranet? A victory indeed. It did not come easily. Cetrainly not. Lea Crawford had lost too many people, friends, to the brutal assaults of the batarians. Those who hadn't taken a bullet between the eyes had either exploded because of a grenade, or been burnt to death by the pyro's flamers, others had simply succumbed to their bleeding wounds. And Lea couldn't not see them, couldn't stop seeing them dying and burning whether her eyes were closed or open. Her retina was marked forever with the images of the Blitz.

When she came back to her husband and daughter, she was not the same. She was like a broken doll whose heart had been torn out, then put back in, but upside down. She had always been passionate, a committed fighter, and now her passion was consuming her from the inside. What was she now? A broken and pathetic little thing, merely a deformed shadow of what she used to be.

She went to see an Alliance psychologist, of course; it was mandatory. But she didn't like what she was being told during those appointments, lying stupidly on that ridiculous leather couch which had seen too many bottoms and witnessed too many broken people. It was unbearable. Eventually, Lea stopped going, and started drinking instead. Obviously, that didn't help; she was changed even more. She became mean, even cruel. She had always been stubborn, tough, even bitchy, but never cruel, and certainly not to her beloved husband and dearest daughter. She loved them so much, she truly did, but she hurt them everyday with words like razorblades. However strong she had been before, the Blitz changed her, and that is why, in the year that followed the Blitz, Henry Crawford decided to send Raïzel to the Ascension Project and to leave his wife to move back onto the Arcturus Station, where a position as Chief Engineer was available.

When Lea Crawford came back to Earth, with both mental and physical injuries, her superiors gave her a position as instructor in one of the Alliance Formation centers for Special Forces recruits. Nevertheless, she was soon kindly asked to take a leave of absence because of her drinking habit. She was a decorated Special Forces officer, so they couldn't, and wouldn't, fire her, they did advise her to go see someone to help her stop drinking and get back on her feet, for her own sake. But that did not happen before a long time.

Raïzel was sent off-planet, to the Jon Grissom Academy at the age of 14, she felt conflicted about her father's decision: her mother had indeed become impossible to live with – she had never beaten her, oh no! She didn't have to: words were her fists, and she would beat her everyday with cruel remarks and insults. However glad she was to be away from her mother, Raïzel was deeply disappointed with her dad for giving her up like that; she felt betrayed and abandonned. Of course, they had been talking about the Ascension Project for months before the Blitz, but still! She was angry at her mother for letting herself go that far down, and at her father for abandonning them both to their fate. While she was sitting in the Alliance shuttle that was taking her to the Grissom Academy, she started crying bitter tears, silently, away from the neighbouring passengers' notice.

When they walked out of the shuttle, Raïzel and the other new students – mostly kids like her – were welcome by the head director of the Academy, Professor Dominic Quintela, who gave them a short speech before letting them in the hands of two teachers who gave them a tour of the station. They visited some classrooms, laboratories, training rooms, librairies, they walked through the grand halls with fountains and statues standing in the middle and huge glass windows which opened onto gardens lit by an artificial sunlight, roofed by an artificial blue sky which mimicked nighttime during the appropriate hours. At the end of the tour, they were led into the dormitories, they were told to unpack and settle in, to change and put on their uniforms before going to the refectory to have dinner. The different classes would only begin a few days later, because the teachers needed to conduct interviews in order to determine what classes the students would then take. Raïzel was not in the mood to chat and make friends and therefore decided to shut herself away from the other students, and thought taking a shower was a good way to subtly avoid the embarrassment. She sat alone at the dinner table, and reflected gloomily on her current situation; away from home, away from dad, away from her comfort zone. The world she had known had been taken from her, and she was left with a bunch a strangers, in a much too grand and impressive station that didn't feel homey at all. She sighed and did not finish her meal, she walked back to the dorm, laid on her small bed and tried to sleep her a bad day off.

Raïzel remained isolated from her peers for some time, and had no desire to change that. She wasn't sure why exactly, but she didn't feel like befriending the other students. Maybe because she loved her parents so, she had felt deeply hurt when they had left, literally or metaphorically it did not matter, she was still very much aggrieved at them. And sometimes she was angry at herself for resenting her own parents for their faults. No one was perfect, she understood that, but why was she paying the price for their mistake? And by that, she meant her mother in particular. Over time, she got accustomed to the fact that it was the way things were and that there was nothing she could do to solve it now.

One day at the Academy, between classes, some student came up to her and broke her solitude.

"Hi, name's Caroline, what's yours? You seem like the quiet kinda girl, but I'd like to get to know you, the girl was smiling at Raïzel, patiently.

"Raïzel. I haven't really felt like talking since I came here. It's nothing to do with you, though. It's just that... I really don't feel like it, is all."

"Well, we need to change that, don't we?" the girl's smile grew wider, revealing a set of white teeth, perfectly arranged. Caroline was a pretty girl, about 16 years old, taller than Raïzel by a good three inches, wore short brown hair and speaking with a Canadian accent. Raïzel's was a London accent, obviously.

Caroline kept on chatting, and Raïzel realized that she didn't mind it, she let herself get absorbed in that conversation which took her away from her usual dark thoughts. They found several common points of interest and eventually spend the rest of day talking between classes and getting to know each other. It was something quite new for Raïzel, for she didn't have many friends back on Earth, if at all. Some of her classmates had witnessed her biotic incidents, and had either grown afraid of her, or jealous, or their parents had insisted that they stopped hanging out with her. The words had spread and she had soon fallen into isolation. That was something she was very familiar with, but a friend? More than that, a friend who could understand her and accept her just as she was? That was new. And she liked it. Raïzel and Caroline became close friends during the following weeks, and eventually, Raïzel opened herself to some other students from the Ascension Project, and even some students from the Engineering classes, since she had decided to train as a sentinel. Of course, she didn't appreciate all the other students, you just cannot like everyone, that is not sane. She was beginning to consider herself quite at home there, at the Grissom Academy, surrounded by people like her who understood her and did not judge her. And when her dad would call, because he did every week, she would tell him about her friends, about her classes, what she'd learnt, what she liked, and everything else, and Henry Crawford was genuinely pleased – and relieved – to see her daughter blooming day by day.

For a time, Raïzel tried to call her mother, determined to try and fix their relationship and save what could be saved, but finally gave up, after the repeated insults, always muttered half-drunk or worse. She simply could not take it anymore. It wasn't Raïzel's fault that she was different. It was nobody's fault, really. Humans weren't natural biotics like the asari and Raïzel were constantly reminded of that when her mother was on the comm. What did she call her that last time? Oh yes, "a freak of nature". Splendid. Yes, Raïzel was an anomaly, but there was nothing she could do to reverse it, nor did she wish to! Raïzel never tried to contact her mother again after that, she had had enough of that shit.

Without Raïzel's ever hearing of it, Lea Crawford finally made the decision to quit drinking. It took a lot of time just to make that decision, but now that she had, she was determined to change her bad habit once and for all. In fact, she hadn't been that much determined for years, but better late than never, right? Or at least, that's what they said. She went back to see her psychologist and swallowed hard as the doctor explained to her her own problems, pointed out her demons and her faults, one by one. After six months of therapy and sobriety, her superiors welcome her back to the Formation center, even though she still missed the adrenaline from the battlefield like crazy, she was surprised to find out that she actually liked teaching, and those little brats whom she was teaching stuff. She liked her job more and more each day, or did she merely find less and less things to complain about? At any rate, it was her job now, she might as well make the most of it. Plus, the injury she had got to the left arm during the war had never healed properly, which left her with very few options. She was strict with her recruits, never let anything slide, barely even let them rest! But they were grateful to her for the hardcore training: that was what they had signed up for! And she was pleased to see them improve.

And when Lea was home at the end of the day, she would see pictures and memories of what her life had been, of her daughter and her husband, all over the place. Oh God, she missed her so! She would try to call Raïzel everyday, but her calls never got through. Who could she blame but herself? She knew that she had fucked up, make no mistake, she knew it all too well. And everyday Lea wondered about her daughter's life at the Academy; was it as good as she had heard? Were they treating her daughter well? Was she happy there? Making friends, becoming an amazing biotic and an intelligent woman?

And one evening, it struck her. Right in the face. How long had it been since Raïzel went away? How long, exactly? Was she still even there?! Lea was petrified. She realized that instant that years had passed while she had been drifting afloat on a derelict ship called Alcoholism, drifting through time, oblivious. Lea was stunned by her own carelessness. She tried to calm herself and think straight: Raïzel had been sent to the Ascension Project in 2177, the year after the Blitz. Four years had passed since then. Four years! Four bloody years! Lea was angry now, shooting the table of the living-room with her bare foot. Four years! Raïzel had turned 18 already! Lea had forgotton four birthdays, and when was the last time she actually said something nice to her daughter? Probably some time before the Blitz. Lea felt sick all of a sudden, sick about herself, disgusted; she had stopped being a mother to Raïzel a long time before, and a good one even longer before. She was disgusted with herself. And she smiled. Probably as disgusted as her daughter was with her. How ironic.

Lea turned on her omni-tool and tried to contact the Grissom Academy. She went through a couple of receptionists before she could receive some information about her daughter. She was told that Raïzel had left the Academy in May – which meant about two months earlier – to enlist in the Alliance, as did many kids from the Academy. Lea thanked the woman and decided to move to her own list of contacts, she was sure that someone, somewhere, would tell her where her daughter had signed up. After a few calls, Lea learnt that Raïzel was back in London, as a recruit, and what's more, a promising one. Raïzel was back in London, back home!

"Who is her instructor?" she asked.

"Lieutenant-Commander Campbell, ma'am" answered the male secretary.

"Johnathan Campbell?" Lea asked back, with a mix of surprise and hope in her voice.

"Yes ma'am. Are you acquainted with him?"

"Yes"

"Do you need his address or his number?" the young man asked politely.

"No thank you, no need. Thank you again. 'Evening."

"Good evening, ma'am."

Lea hung up. Her anger and her anxiety were gone, replaced by a little bit of relief. Campbell was a good man and a good soldier. And she realized that she could call him to ask about her daughter, directly to him, her commanding officer. Would it be alright if she called him right now? She looked at the clock, it wasn't really late yet, she estimated that she could, so she did.

"Hello, who is... Oh! I be damned! Lea? Lea Ben-Aaron, that you?" he sounded genuinely pleased to see her.

"Yes, how are you old friend?"

"What? Since when are you so fucking polite?" he teased.

"Oh shut up." But she couldn't help but smile back at him. They had always been good friends, ever since they had both entered the Special Forces, however, their path had seperated when they had received their first respective assignements, and hadn't had much time to catch up, and sort of drifted apart. But it was good to see him again, an instructor! Imagine that! He had changed so much, and yet, somehow, not at all.

"I can't say time has been kind to you", she mused, "you look like an old man!"

"Have you seen yourself in a mirror lately? You look like shit, old hag!"

"Fuck you, dickhead." And they laughed again like the teenagers thay had once been. Thinking of this, Lea's mind went back on track.

"I have something to ask you, Johnathan.

"What is it?" he asked, taken aback by the sudden seriousness of his friend.

"I've been told that my daughter is one of your recruits. How is she?"

"Your daughter?" he sounded perplexed. "What don't you ask her yourself?"

"We... We uh... haven't been on speaking terms lately. For a while actually. Years." she admitted.

"I see." he paused. "What's her name? I would recall someone named 'Ben-Aaron' around here."

"Raïzel Crawford. Crawford's my husband's name, we're separated."

"Ah, yes. I thought she reminded me of someone I knew, now I understand why." he smiled. "Good kid, very promising, and a sentinel at that."

"She seem happy to you?" Lea was getting nervous as she asked the questions.

"Happy enough yes, 'was a bit reserved at first, didn't talk much, but she seems to be getting along just fine with the other newbies. The kids at the Grissom Academy grow close to each other as I understand, so it's not always easy to be separated. But she's alright I think. She's focused anyway, and a fast-learner."

"Thank you Johnathan. That's very good to hear." Lea was so relieved to hear the news.

"No problem, you call me if you want some 'updates' about your daughter, okay?"

He smiled a sympathetic smile, he seemed to know a thing or two about rock'n'roll family relationships. She thanked him and hung up.

Raïzel would be alright, now Lea had faith.