Meet the Wolfthorns
Wolfthorn Manor
It was a bright sunny morning in New London... as usual. Calling it a cliché morning would pretty much sum it up. I hate clichés... they're so trivial that its boring to even use them to summarize things. Even though I just contradicted myself by using one from the gecko. God today's going to suck big time.
"Good morning master Shepard, it is now seven o'clock am, Tuesday, October twenty sixth," The butler-inspired virtual intelligence announced, automatically opening up all the blinds in my bedroom which caused my eyes to flicker and freak out.
"Go to hell!" I snapped, tossing the nearest pillow at the neon orange hologram of an old geezer butler. I'm too tired that I didn't give a rats ass that I had completely missed.
Defiant to get up, I pulled over the bed sheets to shield my face from the blinding sunlight.
"It is now seven five am. According to the calendar it is now your fifteenth birthday- Happy Birthday master Shepard!" The VI or Geezer as I've learned to call it: enthusiastically cheered with a british accent.
"Stop calling me Shepard god damn it! Leave me alone so I can sleep."
"Your mother estimated that you might make such a request and I have been programmed with an appropriate response!" Geezer replied, taking a brief momentary break before continuing, sort of like taking a deep breathe.
A few seconds the program started;
"Ohhhhhh! We- wish you a merry christmas! We wish you a merry christmas! We wish you a merry christmas! And a happy New Year! With good tidings we bring-"
"Wrong fucking season moron!" I scream in utter agony as Geezer continued to sing an ancient carol from the time when humanity hadn't discovered the old Prothean ruins on Mars.
What made it worse was that Geezer, for whatever reason, was Krogan. So it absolutely butchered the high notes, replacing them with graws and grr's
I'm pretty sure that when sang properly the carol was really nice to hear. But as of now it was fucking hell, and that's probably why Ma chose a christmas carol for Geezer to sing... well played Ma, annoying- but well played.
Aggravated, I slowly climbed my way out of bed, with slaggy pj's and a bad case of bed hair. Stumbling, I attempted to dash away from Geezer who hadn't finished running its course while still the butchering the high notes. So logically the best place to get away and give my ears serenity was the shower which I high tailed my ass over, striping and jumping in immediately.
I let the warm, steamy water brush over my face allowing my senses to fully become awake. During this of course Geezer, who must've finished singing, continued listing all the things Ma wanted to remind me of. Wash yourself with soap, wash your hair, brush your teeth, and so forth. I cussed at Geezer to shut up but Geezer did not respond. VI's are boring compared to AI's. Speaking of which...
"Hey Geezer," I started, while drying myself off with a towel Ma got at a Turian market. It was rough on the skin but great at absorbing the water.
"Yes Master?" the program replied.
"How long before Citadel Day?"
"About six days from now. Shall I book off your schedule?" Geezer offered but I declined. Hadn't made up my mind on what I was going to do.
Citadel Day was the name given to the day of remembrance of the brave men and women; human and alien alike that die within this land, fighting a good fight against the Reapers. Led by the valiant legend, Specter-rank Commander Shepard, the united galactic forces were able to push forward at the Reaper front; fighting wave after wave of wretched Reaper minions until finally assaulting the Citadel itself, which the Reapers had captured previously. From there historians can only speculate on what happened exactly; however its generally accepted that Shepard and gang found a way to activate the crucible and thus defeated the Reapers.
Yeah well I guess that's okay. Can't expect to get all sources of history properly recorded.
"I will request the services of-" Geezer was about to say her name before I interrupted,
"Do not send that request Geezer. I'm not a baby I can find my own way down."
"As you wish."
"Learn a new catchphrase,"
"I'm sorry Master, that goes against my programing?"
"God your useless." I muttered in angry as I left the bathroom fully clothed.
Freshen up, I began my descent down the stairs to the lower forum. Problem is that the downstairs, is actually made up of three floors: and its a goddamn labyrinth. There are so much decor, paintings, statues, and other junk that made it nearly impossible to navigate the numerous corridors in less than ten minutes. An reoccurring issue with being born a Wolfthorn. We have so much damn money, that me and my siblings have a hard time deciding on what to buy. Mainly because we can buy practically anything. Sometimes I found it bad to have the kind of money the Wolfthorn's had, because; say there was a politician that we really wanted to get elected for a political seat. Issue was that he or she was not doing very well and would likely end up dropping.
All it would take was a mill or two credits and we could buy the political system. Temper with this given poll, expose an embarrassing and career crushing secret, forge a bribery and wall-la our likable politician is in office.
See, its this kind of money that corrupts society. Oligarchs have too much power causing the lesser voices to be even less heard. Fortunately the Wolfthorn family was better than that: we gave to charity and we form communal centers for the less fortunate to go and stay. But still...
Anyway, I mangled my way through the labyrinth which took me approximately ten minutes. Insane I know, but it was nice especially the corridor with all the expensive yet intriguing artworks of earth history. Past that was the gallery alley, housing dozens of sculptures ranging from Asari to Elcor design. The most prestigious was the sculpture of the Normandy and its crew: the center being Commander Shepard. Society today was so consumed with Shepard this or Shepard that, that it was nauseous. I say so what? Not to discredit the guy, but he was just one human being. What about all the other people who died saving us? You know; the Alliance soldiers that remained behind Reaper lines to resist the occupation of Earth. Or the Turians who held the line against an overwhelming force. Or even the Batarians- no seems to care about the demise of the Batarians. And that sickens me: we are so focused on Shepard we began to treat him like a God when really he was just one piece of the whole picture, the whole effort towards the eventually defeat of the Reapers.
Like for pete's sake, historians have begun to erase parts of history which show more of Shepard's darker side. Take for example his time with his Cerberus crew when during a mission, he was forced to ram a huge astroid into the Alpha Relay in order to delay the Reapers. By doing so caused the immensely huge device to go critical, creating a super nova like explosive which engulfed the entire system. Claiming the lives of over three hundred thousand. Yeah in a few years no one will ever know he did that. Nor will they know that he was with Cerberus for a time or the fact that it was Cerberus which rescued him, and not the Alliance as modern historians want people to believe. Henceforth why I don't give a shit about him. I might've in the past but not anymore.
Going onward I continued my way to the nearest kitchen. Massive in scope compared to standard house kitchens, it was quite easy to be overwhelmed. And the strangest fact is that its just the secondary kitchen. The estate has three each ranging in size. This one was the middle sized one; meant for the servants where they could eat and drink coffee. I'd normally be escorted to the Social Hall to get food, however ever since I was seven I've hated been served: makes me feel useless. Unfortunately that feeling is amplified by Mrs. Arronsa insistence of me being a proper gentleman. 'Be like a Wolfthorn,' she'll say or 'Act like a mature master,'. Agh, its super annoying.
"Now where are you?"I mumbled out loud searching cabinet after cabinet for a particular sweetened shortbread that Helara bakes. It wasn't so much the bread, but rather the flavour and texture it has. Unfortunately by the time I discovered the fresh batch, none other than Mrs. Arronsa- the whore- shows up.
"Mr. Wolfthorn!" Arronsa furiously snapped giving me the jumps. Arronsa was as subtle as an fox and as loud as a Rhino so it was easy for me and my siblings to be startled."What in the world do you think you're doing!" She continued, stomping around the kitchen table with her homunculus cladidal or clad-boots. Think of really big black, steel-toed boots and you've got a good idea of the clad-boots. I have always- always hated Arronsa. She's mean, rude, has no sense of fun, always proper: and God- she's fucking ugly. With her huge mole on her chin's left side, her flaky-wrinkly skin and her unusual usage of Krogan fragrance. Why on Earth would she wear such a thing, is beyond me.
"Leave me alone Arronsa!" I commanded but it did little to stop her. Over the years Arronsa has developed a backbone as strong carbon-steel. In the past I could get away with ordering her to go away. But with some encouragement from Ma and Pa, such simple tricks won't sway her anymore.
"Your father has an important business to discuss and you are late! Now move!" Arronsa yelped yanking me up like I was weightless and proceeded with escorting me to the Social Hall.
"I'm not in the mood for one of his talks,"
"Well too bad. Wolfthorn's are civil people and civil people follow tradition. Your father calls and you answer!" Arronsa replied laying one hand on my shoulder, tightening up me to look like a gentleman. Combed hair, straight and static free shirt and pants, button up overcoat and so forth. Traditions like these make me hate being rich.
"Geezer! Executive order 2-2-9-2-0-0-8!" Arronsa ordered abroad as Geezer accepted the order.
"What's that for?"I asked, still attempting on resisting Arronsa's lead.
"So you couldn't order him to trigger the fire alarm."
"Oh... right." I said remembering the time of when I was eight and had Geezer falsify a fire so I could bail on a family gathering. Yeah Ma wasn't happy with me while interesting Pa on the other hand, was annoyed but was did seem impressed that the Geezer-card now disable my options of bailing were quite limited. Yet I still had one card to play...
The walk to the Social Hall took about me and Arronsa down two sets of stairs and a shortcut through the mansion's gymnasium. Probably a fifteen minute march which provided Arronsa enough time to fancy me up... I look stupid, all dressed up like I was going to prom.
Along the way, we came across a group of servants cleaning the four by twenty window. The servants, each dressed in their formal black and white clothing, were using an array of assortments; from scrubs to mops. Focusing on an unmanned mop, I commanded it to smack Arronsa in the face.
Rick, rick, rick
The mop began to move, charging up in biotic energy. Unfortunately my ability to biotically move an object was not the greatest as Arronsa gave a light smack on my head.
"Nice try. But your biotics can move objects." Arronsa mocked shoving me forward.
If you haven't guessed it yet, I'm a Biotic. An individual capable of manipulating Mass Effect fields to physical change my surroundings. However my biotics are... different. Unlike those who specialize in telekinesis, known as controllers- I can create biotic constructs or formations to do my biding. So yes it was true that I couldn't physically move the mop, I could however create a pair of pliers to move it. Or just create a mop formation and smack her with it... but she probably see that coming and avoid it. Ah I know!
"Ah ha! Not happening this time boy!"Arronsa laughed as my biotic trip line dispersed just as Arronsa's clad-boots came in contact with it. In the past, if I was really moody, I would snatch Arronsa's leg with a rope formation and dangle her off from the ceiling. To her credit she refused to be scared away, continued being my nanny: a personality trait Pa appreciates. Which is probably why he created the clad boots with that new Salarian metal alloy which was just developed recently. What's unique about the alloy was its innate ability to resist biotics, a real bothersome thing, making it perfect for Arronsa to continue being nanny without having to worry about biotic trip lines. If memory serves me right I think it's called Thaezum.
At last we made it to the Social Hall. Compared to the rest of the mansion, the Social Hall was in my opinion the best. Most notably because of its more round architecture and its Asari inspired art and furniture. The design was a gift from Ma for her lady's maid's two hundredth and fifteen birthday. Ma's lady's maid name was Helara; an Earth-born Asari who has never seen the Asari homeworld, Thessia. So when Ma told Helara that she could do or add anything she liked to the Social Hall during its construction; Helara took the opportunity to bring Thessia to her. Hence why everything was purplish.
Anyway upon entering the Social Hall's upper forum, me and Arronsa began our descendent down a set of curved stairs when suddenly I'm ambushed by Cassy- my older triplet sister.
"Die maggot!"Cassy screamed like a mad woman, barraging me with a burst of biotic bolts, followed by a RPG-like blast. Similar to me, Cassy was an formationalist as well, which meant that each blast resembled physical objects. In Cassy's case the bolts were bullets and the RPG... well was an RPG.
"Ah!" Arronsa yelped while I responded with forming multiple three by three hexagon shaped biotic barriers called Hexbarrier's. Luckily the hexbarrier's were successful in absorbing Cassy's biotic attacks, giving leeway for me to follow suite and counter by launching my own biotic volley which came in the form Gladius's which was an Roman legionnaire short sword. Since I had the height advantage however my attacks had a greater velocity, causing them to generate more G force. It was a fundamental law of biotic forming that the higher the formationalist, the greater the velocity for each attack equating to more damage dealt.
In response Cassy decided to evade my attack rather than deploy her own hexbarrier. If she had done so my gladius's would've ripped her apart and that would've been bad cause I'd be grounded for life if such a thing happened to her. Sometimes I wish I could just... let go.
"Your going to need to do better than that if you want to hit me! Bird brain!"Cassy mock, dodging another of my volleys. The two of us proceeded in our fight, taking turns launching volleys of biotic attacks at the other than head for the next immediate cover. In the background I could hear Arronsa yelping in distress calling us to settle down. Yeah not happening.
"Bird brain? Is that the best you can come up with four-eyes?!"I replied forming in my hands a large two handed hammer, then throwing it at Cassy the minute she moved for the nearest purplish white pillar. Cleverly she formed two small cannons which then fired immediately at the hammer, canceling it.
"How original for a swine!"
"Bitch!"
"Bastard!"
"Whore!"
"Rapist!"
"Cocksucker!"
"Motherfucker!"
As you can see, it doesn't take much to escalate things between me and Cassy. The two of us continued our fight until we reached the climax where we pulled out our triumph card. Triumph cards are formationalist-slain for ultimate attack; where the formationalist deploys the last remaining reserves of biotic power into a final strike: this often being the most powerful. Cassy's triumph card consisted of twenty cannons and a huge stack of rifles, machines and rocket launchers. Mine was a swarm of ancient human weaponry; from gladius's, to katana's, to battleaxes and warhammers, to tomahawks and spears- you name it, I've probably got it. This took about a minute of constant forming, but once we were finished neither of us moved a muscle. Most disturbing of all was how quiet it got: pin drop quiet if you get my meaning. It was like the entire estate was holding its breathe... literally actually since apparently our commotion brought an considerable crowd of servants.
What made triumph cards dangerous, besides the sheer amount of formations involve; was that they're often uncontrollable. The potential for destruction is gigantic and that's only amplified by the individual formationalist's current emotions. I was doing a okay job of keeping a cool head: but Cassy was furious. One of things that your taught during formation training is that unlike the other breeds of biotics, emotions weigh heavily on formations. Becoming angry causes given formations to have more G force, causing more physical damage. However they're brittle in comparison to formations from a cool headed formationalist: whose formations do less damage, but are faster and more precise.
Everything from her stance, her breathing, to the microscopic breaks in her formations revealed that Cassy wanted me dead. Why I did not know... but I'm equally curious to find out. The two of us remained in deadlock for what felt like eternity when suddenly a angry, booming voice broke the silence in a single word.
"Rez!" Pa commanded as within a nanosecond of being called, Rez: my older triplet brother, formed two sets of blue omni-blade formations around me and Cassy's necks in a crisscross pattern. Rez has always been the most proficient with his formations; clean, smooth and damn near impossible to break. Which is why me and Cassy automatically surrendered: there was no way we could escape Rez's cross-throat formation as its referred to as. When it was clear that neither I or Cassy were going to continue, Rez dissipated the formations which whined in a erky way.
"Now then, are we all cooled level? Or do I need Rez to smack you two a new one?" Pa boomed, standing over the central purplish circle table. His greying hair peppered his beard so much that it looked like Charlie, who sat in far right corner with his nanny; had spilt salt and pepper all over it. Pa was wearing his formal tuxedo with the family crest, a wolf in a tangle of fiery vines: imprinted into the left breast. This meant that he he was about to leave for business, which was confusing and disturbing since Ma hated it when business entered the Social Hall. So logically, Pa wearing family crest meant something big.
To his left was Ma, dressed up in a scarlet dress which sparkled in the light. Her golden brown hair was curled in some new braid variant which was pretty to look at. She was quietly eating while waiting for me, Cassy and Rez to join. Rez approached behind me, nudging me forward with a simple nod of the head. If Rez is serious, then something shitty has will happen. A split second later all three of us, with Rez in the middle; sat across from Pa, as he panned his head observing us.
"Good." He proclaimed before turning his attention to Cassy.
"Since everyone has calmed down, why not start telling what the hell that was all about? Care to share Cassedalle?"
"My omni-tool is missing and I'm doing something on it thats important!"Cassy explained pointing her index finger at me.
"Tragic but how does that have to do anything with Corner?"Ma asked, slightly raising an eyebrow to me as if saying: did you?
"Because Corner has repeatedly threaten to steal it for himself!"Cassy replied with a fluster of angry and worried emotions.
"Ah, that's a far fetch exaggeration. I never threaten."I replied which didn't shake Cassy.
"But you did say you'd take it?"
"Of course I would, it's a fucking Yotta Polaris! Who wouldn't want to use it, but I wouldn't steal it."
"Yes you would." Ma corrected with a stern mocking tone.
"Okay yes, I'd steal it but I haven't seen it at all for this entire week."
"So you agree that you would, but didn't take Cassedalle's omni-tool." Pa summarized cutting straight to the point.
"Yes."
"Bullshit! I know it was you!"Cassy yelped, jumping up for a fight.
"I just said that I didn't take your damn omni-tool!"I replied, frustrated that she was being completely fixated on this assumption. Pa was annoyed as well since before me or Cassy could do anything, our hands had been clamped down by biotic hand cuffs to the chairs. For a moment I thought it was Pa, but another closer look and I figured it was Rez. Figures, Rez's always been a good boy.
"Sit down." Pa groaned angrily as me and Cassy obeyed. "As for your omni-tool I am sorry that its missing but stopping blaming your brother."
"Sure whatever, dad. But that doesn't explain why its missing?"
"Perhaps you've accidentally miss placed it?" Ma suggested although Cassy did not agree.
"It never leaves my room." Cassy replied, jabbing a death look at me despite Rez's formation pulling harder on her hand in retribution.
"If I may Cassy," Rez began to imply, first clearing his throat, "If I remember correctly, Corner wasn't the only one who mentioned taking your omni-tool."
And like a flick of the switch Cassy instantly realized who most likely took her omni-tool.
"Vecktor! Where are you bastard!"
"Vecktor's not here hun." Ma said as Pa took a big sigh.
"Moving on, obviously the three of you can see that your mother and I have business to attend to. We'll be gone for a couple of hours. In the meantime,"Pa explained, taking a moment to pull up a orangish hologram of a school, "I want you three to spend the day at Meinster's Academy."
"Meinster? I thought it had burned down?" I asked.
"It did but I've been putting a lot investment into its reconstruction. It should be fully functional in a matter of days."
"Oh no! Please don't tell thats why you called us!?" Cassy whined, just as I cued in to what she meant. Pa was sending us off to school... again.
"Yes that is exactly why I called. You three are perhaps amongst the most powerful biotics known to date. You are also the most uncontrollable and chaotic," Pa answered, confident in his decision.
"But we already had lessons."I said.
"In being able to harness your abilities yes,"Ma implied, "but you haven't had any schooling."
"All three of you are gifted- there's no doubt in that. However, you need refinement and the only way to get that is through school."Pa finished in regards to my and Cassy's open disapproval.
While Rez remained silent, me and Cassy continued our plea to not go despite it being obvious that Pa nor Ma were going to budge. This stopped when Geezer announced that Uyr, the family driver, was ready to leave at Pa's discretion.
"Time to go Victoria,"Pa announced as he and Ma stood up.
"Please do this for us, sweet hearts." Ma pleaded as she followed suite and joined Pa. However just before they left, both gave their good byes to Charlie, who was currently having a blast with an Salarian toy called Kinetic Block.
A minute later, I could hear in the distance the awakening sound of a hovercar's engines rear to life, then silence.
After the masters had left, the entire estate continued on it normal routine. Clean this, make this straight, bake a fresh bake of this, etc. Normal as usual. Only me, Cassy and Rez remained in our current positions. If I were to guess Rez and Cassy were contemplating about going to Meinster's just as I was. Mainly because Rez's formations dropped. The way I figured, if I didn't at least check it out Pa would get mad... so why not, I'll go. However...
"Since your omni-tool issue has been solved," I began, smirking my face towards Cassy, "I suppose you owe me an apologize."
"I don't owe you anything." She replied grumpily, "And I don't apologize."
After that I didn't see her for the rest of the day.
"So Rez?"
"Hm?"
"You going to go see the academy?"
"Eventually. Right now I have business to do with a friend in downtown."
"You do business?"
"Small stuff, nothing major."
"Right,"
"Oh before I go," Rez began sitting up straight, "With Uyr gone with Ma and Pa, Arronsa will be driving me. Do you object?"He asked. In case your wondering, all three of us have a personal servant: mine being Arronsa, so formally you have to ask to borrow someone's servant.
"No go right a head."
"Thanks. With Barren in hospital, Arronsa's the only other servant who's got a car. Thanks again Corner."Rez thanked before heading off.
After he left it got really quiet in the Social Hall. With exception to Charlie, not even a dust particle rustled in the air currents of the room. And that's what makes today so dumb, boring and sad. No one remembers...
"Always today..." I muttered under my breathe, "They never remember."
Then something surprising happened. It was as if she had been waiting for the right to time to give a little candle-lit cupcake, covered in blue whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles.
"Not everyone has forgotten." Helara whispered kissing me on the cheek. "Happy birthday master." She smiled before heading off with a bow.
I was still pleasantly stunned even after Helara had left. I couldn't help myself by blushing, cause it was really nice.
"At least I have you to remember." I smirked before digging in the cupcake.