Well, I came up with this idea very late a few nights ago while working on my most recent Mass Effect 3 play-through. I think originally this was going to be a story about Shepard but as the ideas evolved I decided that the character in my head didn't really work as a Commander Shepard. So, as you can see, this has become an OC fic.

You may notice that the writing style changes a little throughout this chapter. This is intentional. I feel that it may not be obvious enough but the idea is that parts of this chapter are seen through the eyes of a small child but the whole piece remains in the third person as I need practise writing in this point of view.

The song used is Watch me bleedbyScary kids scaring kids(great song). Each chapter will probably contain song lyrics to keep me from relapsing into complete writers' block.

This chapter won't mention any of the main characters of the Mass Effect universe but they will make their appearances soon...Including everyone's favourite Turian Rebel ;)

This may well turn out to be terrible. But whether you love it or hate it (or have no strong opinion at all) feel free to tell me (but no flamers please!). And if you notice any mistakes please point them out.

NOTE: This chapter contains scenes of violence and child mistreatment that some may find distressing.

The silence keeps it easy
keeps you safe for the moment.

Almost everything about the room screamed 'silence'. The empty, absence of noise echoed off every clean white surface. But not every surface was white. And some were far from clean. There was a noticeable tang of copper of air for anyone who cared to notice. But nobody needed to notice the silence or the smell on the air. All anyone needed to do was look at the walls...Or the floors...Or the desk, the counter, the windows, the door...

So much crisp white was stained with fresh, strong red.

A tiny figure was curled on a small cot in on corner. Its body rocked back and forth slowly, trying to stem the flow of pained sobs that racked through it. Emerald green eyes were tinged red with tears and the tiny body shock with noticeable pain.

As you're walking away
your footsteps get louder.

"We've gone into complete lockdown. The chamber is sealed off to prevent any further damage."

A voice sounded in the hall outside the room, resonating easily through the silence. The little figure pressed its ear to the wall, feeling every footstep on the metal floor outside as the group approached. There were two or possibly three. It was hard to tell with the amount the sound echoed in this place.

"How many staff members did we lose?"

"Three security staff and two researchers...We can't keep this going. Aside from the difficultly of covering this up we can't afford to replace so many staff."

"Agreed...But the subject was a sizable investment and in case you haven't noticed the guy who pays the bills also signs all our paycheques. So unless you want your arse out on the street I'd recommend trying to fix the problem before just terminating the project."

All you needed was time,

"Speaking of which," another voice sounded, "I got a message from his office today..."

"And..."

"He's pushing for results."

"Wait, you did tell him about the...incident, right?"

"Of course I did! But what do a few lowly support staff mean to him? He needs to see results here so he doesn't risk the main project."

"Right," the comment can with a low sigh. "But after that I'm beginning to see why he deemed this project a failure so early on."

"How long is he giving us?"

"Two days at most to get some higher biotic readings."

"Two days?! Are you serious?"

"Yeah...We're going to have to go ahead with the new implants."

"But I thought those had a negative effect on the brain. They threatened to shut down lung function."

"They also increased the body's capacity for pure eezo by over fifty percent. We'll counter the lung function issue with further use of the new cybernetics."

Now time will destroy us.

The group arrived at the door to the red-stained room.

"Collins, prep the OR and call the tech team. Tell them we need those implants ready to go within the hour. Jones, get the subject sedated...You might want to bring some of the security staff with you."

"Didn't do the other team any good," Jones said under her breath.

This project was more than any of them had signed on for.

It will all be over and here we are

The tiny figure didn't fight them when they stuck the needles in her arm. She didn't fight when her head became heavy and her vision blurred. She dared to think that this was finally it: They had finally given up and were ending 'the project'...But as always she was wrong.

She came to at some point later. She was on the cold metal table that she had seen many times before. Her pale, bruised and scared body was exposed to the white clothed figures around her.

We're stuck inside this salted earth together.

They didn't stop when she screamed in a horse, strangled voice. She wanted to bite her arm to keep the sounds of pain at bay but found they were bound. Of course...They only ever let the sedative wear off after they'd restrained her. They wouldn't want another 'incident'.

The pain stopped briefly and her minded drifted back to the memory of that day. She didn't know how long it had been since it happened. She didn't understand the passage of time. Time gets funny when all you know is the clean white room and the metal table.

She could remember every second of that particular incident though. She remembered exactly what they had done wrong. A researcher had been told to give her the sedative. She'd hesitated...She was new, a rookie. Well she wouldn't be getting any experience.

She was meant to be given the sedative with the daily dose whatever mixture of drugs and eezo got pumped into her. The eezo triggered her biotics but it also burned at her veins and sent electricity flying through her brain. The sensation was usually cut off by the sedative: But not that day. The sedative wasn't administered in time. The burning turned into a blood haze in her mind. She hadn't understood why she was angry but she had been angry, so very angry.

She had reached for the new researcher: The unpractised rookie. Her biotic power was at its highest point and her anger told her to destroy whatever she saw. She felt the blood roll over her pale skin as the researcher's body was slammed against the white wall with a biotic charge that would put an asari commando to shame.

It had felt good. She wanted to watch more blood flow, wanted to crush more bones and rip more flesh...And she did. Another researcher was tossed against the wall like a doll. The security guards tried to stop her. She pulled apart their muscles and sinews, destroying them from the inside out.

It felt so good.

But it all stopped when guard managed to grab her little arm and pulled until he heard a snap. A doctor pumped her broken arm full of sedative and she crumpled to the blood stained floor...

You'll pierce my lungs

She was snapped back to the present as the figures above her began their work. She bit her dry, raw lips to keep the scream in. She could feel the scalpel running along her side. Her body tried to move on its own. Her little hands pulling against the metal restrains with all their might. She felt a sharp scratch as they pushed the needles into her.
My limbs go numb,

Her arms and legs went limp. She couldn't feel them at all. She couldn't move them. She couldn't fight back.

"Shouldn't we give her a full sedative?" One of the white-clad figures asked another. "Or at least a local anaesthetic..."

"IT," the other figure stressed the word. "And no, we shouldn't give it an anaesthetic. We need to see the effect of the cybernetics on the muscles. If they are basically dead throughout the procedure then how can we do that?"

"But she...But it is in pain."

"Any pain it suffers is pain the main project will not have to suffer."

As my colours fade out.

'The main project': It was the reason she existed, the reason they keep cutting her open on the cold metal table, the reason they let her remain, let her linger, even after 'the incident'. She didn't remember when, but at some point they had started calling her a 'failure'. It was after that started that she was brought back to the metal table more and more often and they came to her room to pump more and more of that stuff into her blood (...that stuff that made her feel like her body was on fire and she could burn everything if she thought hard enough) much more often too.

After she was deemed a 'failure' she started to hear talk about a new 'project'. They talked about it as the 'main project' or 'project alpha'.

You watch me bleed.
You watch me bleed.

She could feel the blood dripping down her side. She bit her lip harder until she tasted copper. She'd learnt to use that taste. It was strong and stung her mouth. It was usually just enough to keep her from screaming too loud.

But sometimes it wasn't enough.

She hated it when she screamed. She hated her own voice. It was soft, horse and raspy. It was weak. She hated being weak.

She didn't know a lot about the world. All her memories involved the white room, the metal table or stains of red and the taste of copper. But when she thought of weakness she thought of the word they used: 'failure'. She didn't like it. It made her stomach twist as if they were putting a needle in it, even when they weren't.

It was because she was weak she was a failure. It was because she was a failure they started 'project alpha'. It was because they started 'project alpha' that they put her on the table more and more.

A scream escaped her lips as they cut deeper into her little body...

She hated the table.

I gave you everything to die with a smile
all you wanted was to live for a while

There were footsteps down the hall. They were heavier than the normal ones that echoed through from the metal floor outside her room. She'd learnt to notice every change in her little world of clean white. Changes usually meant a new kind of pain in a new part of her body.

She curled up tighter on her little bed. Her hand reached under her thin shirt. She ran her fingers over the newest mark. It ran down the front of her body, right down the middle, from the centre of her chest to her stomach.

She didn't know how long it had been since she returned from the metal table to this room. But it was long enough for the mark to turn into a rough, peeling scab. It hurt when she touched it and bled if she scratched it: That's all she knew.

When she got back the room had changed back to the normal clean, crisp white. All that was left of the red she'd covered it with were a few dark stains on the walls and floors. The rest were gone.

She looked up as the white door slid open with the sound of metal on metal. A large figure stood in the empty frame with two smaller ones next to it. The smaller ones wore the white clothes she knew so well. The large one was different. His clothes were dark and clean.

She felt like she knew the figure and then didn't at the same time. Her head hurt.

You took everything but it left you empty
you can't replace me, you can't.

"Have the new implants gone in well?" The large figure asked.

"Yes sir," the little white-clad one said. "By our calculations biotic potential has been increased by one hundred percent."

"And the eezo you've been introducing to the system," the larger one continued, "have you increased the dosage?"

"Yes sir," the other smaller one said. "There have been no ill effects so far."

"Good," the large one said.

The large figure began walking towards her. She tensed, preparing for the usual needle in the arm. She looked up in confusion when none came.

"So little one," the figure leaned in closer to her, "how do you feel?"

She recoiled in shock. No one ever spoke to her. They spoke about her and around her, but never to her. She didn't know what she was meant to do.

"Umm...Sir," said one of the white-clad people hesitantly, "the subject has never shown any signs of attempted communication...It does understand what is said...And we think it knows how to talk but...It never has."

"Well," the booming voice of the larger figure said, "now is a good time to start."

There was silence as she stared up at the large man with wide, green eyes.

"How about this: I heard you killed five members of staff two weeks ago," he said. "Do you remember that? How did it feel to kill?"

The little human opened her dry lips. She pulled words out of the deepest regions of her warped mind.

"Good," her weak voice sounded, raspy from lack of use. "I liked watching that...The red stuff...It was everywhere...I liked it...Don't...What's it called...? Don't...Can't...Remember..."

The large man's face twisted into a disturbing smirk.

It's almost over and here we are
we're stuck inside this salted earth together.

"Inform all members of facility staff," his voice boomed at the two researchers, "the project is to be ended. I will be spending the subject for further tests and training. Wipe all records of the facility's existence and leave within the next twelve hours."

"Training, sir?" A researcher ventured.

The large man's smirk widened.

"This one is going to become my personal operative," he answered.

You'll pierce my lungs
my limbs go numb
as my colours fade out.

The small girl noticed something. She'd seen herself in the large surfaces placed in the white walls of her room that only ever showed things that were actually behind her when she looked at them. She looked up at the large man again while her little mind pieced together scattered images and distorted memories.

"Who...Who are you?" She said, trying hard to get her mind around the words and then remember how to form them with her mouth. "Your...Eyes...They're the same."

She pointed at her own green orbs: "Why are they the same as these?"

You watch me bleed.
You watch me bleed.

"I doubt you'd understand," the large man said. "But, you were created from my genes. In a sense, that makes me your father."

"F-A-T-H-E-R," she said very slowly, "what does it mean?"

The large man looked down at her.

"You'll understand eventually," he answered. "For now, come with me. It's time to leave."

She did as he told her. She stood up and let her bare feet touch the cold metal floor. She was lead out of the room. Five people were waiting outside. They carried large, dark, metal things. She'd seen them before. The metal things hurt her when she did something she wasn't meant to. They could send little pieces of metal at her from far away. The metal flew through the air quickly and if it hit her it tore her skin.

She walked very carefully. She didn't want to do anything wrong. If she did they'd use the metal things on her. She followed close behind the large man...'Father': that was his name. She tried to remember it.

'Leave': She wasn't entirely sure what the word meant. No one had ever mentioned the idea of her 'leaving' before. She had thought that the white room and metal table were the entire world...Or at least the only parts she'd see.

As she walked down the cold metal halls with see saw something she'd never seen before. See stopped dead, bare feet carried her to the side of the hall. She didn't see the big people move and prepare to point their metal things at her. Her eyes were fixed on the surface in front of her. She placed her hand on it. It felt like the surfaces in the white room that showed what was really behind her. But it was different. This one didn't show a copy of what was behind her. It showed new things. Things she hadn't seen before.

There was a huge grey-white background. There was light coming from somewhere but the grey must be covering it. Green coloured things sat on the brown and green ground. Some of the things had brightly coloured parts...Some had colours she'd never seen before.

There was water streaming down the surface in front of her. She tried to work out where it was coming from...It had to be falling from the grey things that were covering wherever the light was coming from. The water was streaming off the green things too.

On the brown and green ground there was a different, flattened, dark grey surface. Sitting on it was a strange machine. It was little a big metal box, all coloured gray and red, sitting on odd legs that stretched out straight under it.

Her big, emerald green eyes gleamed with amazement. Was this what the rest of the world was like?

It will all be over and here we are
we'll die inside this salted earth together.
She felt one of the big people jab her in the back with their metal thing.

"Get moving kid," he said, "the shuttle's waiting for you."

'Shuttle'? She didn't know what that was. Her eyes were still fixed on the world beyond the strange see-through surface.

You'll pierce my lungs
my limbs go numb,

Something sharp on the end of one of the metal things jabbed into her side. She didn't move. She was transfixed on the water flowing down from the grey beyond the solid surface in front of her. The sharpness jabbed harder, piercing her shirt and digging into her skin.

She snapped out of her trance. Blood quickly soaked her thin clothing around the wound. The pain shot through her little body little electricity. For all she knew it was electricity. She looked up at the large man standing by the one who had just wounded her. Her 'father' looked down at her bleeding form. The wound was deeper than the one who had caused it intended. She clutched her side, blood staining her little hand as colour faded from her already pale face.

As my colours fade out.
You watch me bleed.

"Come on," her 'father's' voice said irritably. "We haven't got long."

The small girl swallowed thickly and started moving again. She was led to a large, circular door. One of the group escorting her approached a screen by the door and did...Something to it she didn't understand. The red symbol on the door turned green and it slid open.

She could see the strange metal box and the grey and the water falling from it.

A sharp jab in her back told her to proceed. She stepped out into the falling water. The ground beneath her bare feet was wet and she nearly slipped. The water poured over her skin. She released her wounded side and the water washed over it. The redness on her shirt began to wash away. It stung but she didn't care. The water made the skin on her arms turn that odd bumpy texture that it sometimes did when she pressed it against the colder metal in her room.

She tilted her head upwards. The water flowed down her pale face and red hair. She felt tears sting her eyes. She didn't know why.
You watch me bleed.
You watch me bleed.

Another jab in her back and she moved again. The metal box, rectangle...thing opened up from the top. It swung up to reveal a small area with a few black seats in it. Some of the people who had been walking with her got inside, putting their metal things on the floor or across their laps. The metal box...Whatever it was, started making noise. The legs that it sat on began sparking at the ends and it lifted a little of the ground.

She stared at it. This was all completely confusing. She was overwhelmed, that much was clear. But no one really cared about that. Their job was to get her out of here without her destroying anything or anyone in the process. Other than that they didn't really care about the tiny test subject they were escorting.

The large man, with his green eyes just like hers stepped in through a different door and into a separate area at the front of the machine. The last of the people with their metal weapons pushed her forwards as they hopped inside. She had to grab onto the floor of the floating machine and scramble up to get inside. No one helped her.

The metal box swung shut and jerked into motion. She stumbled at the sudden movement and fell into one of the seats. She curled into the corner, holding her knees close to her chest. All her bruises and cuts ached at the movement but she didn't care.

She didn't understand anything...Including the passage of time. But she knew that her eyes felt heavy and her limbs ached. She needed to sleep.

She curled even tighter into the corner, resting her head against the metal wall. Her green eyes closed and she slipped into a silent sleep.

The woman opposite her placed down her weapon. She looked at the child. Her skin was pale and riddled with bruises, cuts and scars. Her red hair was matted with tangles and damp from the rainfall outside. She remembered the look on the child's face when they stepped out into the rain. She must have never been outside before.

The child shifted in her sleep. Her face twisted with pain as her wounded side brushed against the chair. The cut was still bleeding. The woman frowned deeply. She knew this child was dangerous but was all this really necessary?

You watch me bleed.

She stood and moved carefully over to the sleeping child. She slipped her pack off her shoulder and pulled out the small emergency medical kit.

"What are you doing Ito?" One of the others asked her, addressing her with her surname.

"Checking her wound," the woman answered.

"That's not necessary," they replied, "it will probably heal on its own."

She wasn't sure if they meant 'it' as in the wound or 'it' as in the small child test subject they were meant to be guarding.

"And if it doesn't and she bleeds out then none of us get paid for this assignment," she answered.

She lifted the girl's shirt a little so she could clean the wound and place a bandage around her tiny waist to stem the bleeding.

Damn it...This job was really not what she had expected. When they said 'guard a potentially dangerous test subject' she had expected it to be a seven-year-old. She also hadn't expected the child to have her boss' genetics. Had he been trying to create the perfect child? She'd heard that the girl was deemed a failure and had been replaced by the new 'project alpha' about four years ago. Apparently they kept her as a kind of trail run for the treatments and changes they planned to make to project alpha. She wondered what exactly made the child a failure.

She sighed and slipped back into her seat. No one seemed to see the child they were meant to be guarding as a child. They saw her as a test subject, created, raised and adapted in a lab. She actually doubted if some of them ever saw her as human at all.

She sighed again. The child was going to be trained as an elite biotic fighter for the man who had paid to create her and project alpha, (partly from his own genetic material). That training wouldn't be easy or kind.

This weak little child would suffer and she couldn't do anything about it.

Watch me bleed.

Unless...?

"Sir," Ito said, eyes fixed calmly on her employer, "I'd like to request a transfer. I wish to continue guarding the..."

She paused, not sure what to call the small girl.

"The subject," she finished.

The large man looked at her for a few moments before he spoke.

"Alright Ito," he answered, "I'll have my office send you the paperwork."