My name is Deana. I was born in 2184 and it's rumored that Commander Shepard is my mother. Though no one from this place is willing to give me a confirmation, I did a little research. Through the extranet, and from talking with Aunt Miranda, I've also deduced that she doesn't know I exist; nor does my father. I had a hunch about who my father was but that wasn't as clear. And being stuck on this station was nothing short of boring, I had to find ways to entertain myself.
Somewhere at the beginning of the Reaper Wars, more specifically after the Collector's disappeared; Artemis Station became a 'drifting' orphanage. The ship slowly made its way from system to system, planet to planet, looking for children who had lost their homes and families to the Reapers. Hundreds of children of various species resided here and like the Quarians, when they turned their species equivalent of eighteen, they could leave if they chose too. It varied from species to species but when you left the ship, there was little chance of returning. Some have spent their entire lives aboard this ship, they are the ones that usually helped with the smaller children as nurses and teachers, along with the chores that had to be done to keep a ship this size running smoothly.
The others would go and if they came back, they usually brought news with them. News from the outside was rare and to us older kids, hints onto what was really out there. Even though the news they brought was usually grim, that didn't stop it from spreading. The adults try to keep most of it under wraps, but like I said before, gossip spreads quickly.
Like most of the kids here, I've been here nearly my entire life. Aunt Miranda doesn't like to talk about my younger years and no one else knew anything about before I got here. She also never explained what happened to my parents.
When I was about six or seven, she would come and visit me regularly; a lot more than she does now. Her visits as of late had become less frequent and I had begun to wonder if I had driven her off.
I shifted in my seat trying to find a more comfortable position on the long couch that was pushed up against a wall of glass. I turned to look at the stars that were flying by and began to think about what I could do next. My mind drifted to the topic of why I was stuck here. Being only sixteen, I wasn't old enough to leave and look for information with my own resources. Miranda's sister Oriana would sometimes send me information to help my research and sometimes it was just the news. But she did this secretly for me so of course Aunt Miranda couldn't know about it. Plus, she had her own life to live and rarely had time to send me even the news.
I turned away from the window and stood up. I walked out into the commons area and looked around. Noisy with all the chatter of the other kids; I walked down the pathway that divided the large area. I strode into the elevator and nodded to the operator. All the elevators on the ship were operated by guards as the younger kids didn't know how to operate them. I rode in silence and kept thinking of theories about what my mother and father would be doing if they were even still alive.
I know, I know; I was torturing myself but I couldn't help it. Aunt Miranda didn't help with containing my curiosity either. She would let things slip like, how much I was just like my mother. This would lead to a barrage of questions from me and that only lead her to scold me and clam up. She apparently knew my father as well. When she wasn't looking, I would steal glances at her PDA and from what I understood I got my biotics from him. No name was mentioned in these reports, but yet again Miranda had always kept it under strict wraps.
That was the only time I really got to see her. When she would come see me, it was usually for a check-up. She would send me a message telling me she was coming and when she got there I was always there at the docking bay to greet her. She would pull me into a hug and tell me she was glad to see me. After all the hellos and greetings, she would always get straight down to business. Like any other check-up, she made sure my implants and me as a whole were healthy. Sometimes I felt like she was just using me because she would get so into her work that she would forget about me and ignore me. But there were also times when she treated me like I was more than just a patient. When something truly upset me she would hold me close and comfort me. Aunt Miranda was the closest thing to family I had and I held on to that. When I was younger, she would come by to read to me and rock me to sleep. That stopped when I turned six though. I guess you could say she was more my mom than anyone. Since she was the only one from the outside world who really cared and she couldn't have children herself, I guess she saw me as a daughter. A voice broke my train of thought.
"Deana, come to my office immediately please. I would like to speak to you in private." Oh great, what did he want. It was never a good sign when your Captain decided it was time for a 'private' chat.
"Yes sir. I'll be right there." I looked at the operator and he just nodded, pushing a few holographic buttons.
The elevator continued to hum as it made its way to the top of the station where the captain's cabin was located. I dwelled on the fact that I was being summoned. I hoped that they had gotten a new kid who had been explained what this place was and was then ready for a tour, but that didn't happen often as most of the kids that were picked up were to young to understand what was going on.
The humming of the elevator came to a stop and the glass door slid open, revealing a hallway. I brushed off the fuzz that clung to the front of my uniform and walked out. Standing outside the door; I took a deep breath, knocked and then walked inside.