Chapter 1: The Shepards
"Troy! Troy! Come on, Troy!"
Hannah Shepard stood at the threshold of her family's prefab unit, looking for her oldest child. The past 16 years have been both a blessing and a curse. Troy was a bundle of joy, albeit a handful one. He was a generally good-natured and obedient kid, rarely throwing temper tantrums or being overtly defiant. Because of his easy going attitude, very few people in their small settlement had anything negative to say about the young Shepard boy. He was friends with everyone in his class and acquaintances with the majority of the school. Although not the most outspoken of people when not around family or close friends, he was rarely found without a smile on his face and in good spirits.
Ah, that smile. It would get him out of as many confrontations as it will get him in. It was the same stupid grin his father had. The same one that made Hannah's heart melt whenever it appeared on his lips. Troy seemed to use this lethal weapon the same way his father did. Many times, Hannah and John caught Troy sneaking into his room, more than likely trying to hide his late night with one of the young ladies around the colony.
They had chalked up his adventures to the hormones that puberty had begun pouring into his blood stream. Still, there was one characteristic quirk that Hannah wished she could beat out of her son: his insatiable desire to scare and torment her with pranks. They were nothing too destructive: the automatic doors opening at random intervals when she was alone, lights that would flicker, a stove that will shut off after being on so long. Troy would watch the fruits of his labor, her startled face, later on a camera he had rigged to capture the spectacle. He was getting surprisingly good at hacking and fixing tech; Hannah just wished he would use it for more productive endeavors.
"Troy Rexford Shepard, where the hell are you?"
"I'm right here, Mom."
Hannah jumped at the sudden presence behind her and listened to her son laugh at her expense. How could Hannah forget the other talent Troy used to pester her? He had an incredible knack for sneaking around unseen and unheard. It made her wonder how many times her son has snuck out of the house without her or John's knowledge.
She watched as her firstborn moved from the back door to the table. He was a lean, toned young man from the years of helping his father on the farm. He stood at about 5'8" with more growing to do, and his already tan complexion only grew darker as Troy spent more time out in the sun. Over all, he was an average looking kid with brown eyes and dark brown hair. His most distinguishing feature was the Native American bump on the nose that stems from the Mexican portion of the Shepard's heritage.
"Crap, Troy! One of these days, you're going to give me a heart attack."
"I was only coming to see what you wanted. I came as fast as I could."
"Where were you?"
"In the barn with Felt. Someone has to take care of her."
For as good natured and well liked as he is, Troy had a penchant for being alone. He often took solace being alone in the barn, looking after the family mascot, Felt the sheep. Hannah always wondered what drew him to the barn and being alone in general, but never bothered to question him too extensively. Whenever he was upset or needed to work something out, he would head to his spot and return a few hours later refreshed and smiling.
"That stupid sheep," Hannah said with a smile on her face. "I have no idea why your father brought that thing here. Do you know how expensive it was to get one of those things to the Traverse? Eight hundred …"
"Eight hundred fifty credits" John interrupted with a roll of his eyes.
"Don't you roll your eyes at me, Troy Rexford. Don't know why your father even wanted that blasted thing."
"You know why," Troy responded. He sat up and intimidated his dad as best he could, "We are Shepards. It's our job to look after sheep."
"Rex is right, babe. It's a Shepard's duty to look after those that under their protection."
Hannah turned and saw John walk in with bags of groceries and a smile. He placed them on the counter, strode over, and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "And don't think I didn't see you roll your eyes, Hannah. Where do you think Rex learned it from?"
"Well he gets his horrible sense of humor from you, dear." She said the last word with a sarcastic grin on her face. She was never one to use terms of endearment like her husband. "Where is Daily?"
"She is bringing in the last bag from the car."
"Tsk. Using your own daughter to do all the heavy lifting. What a lazy man I married."
"Mom, I'm not as fragile as you think. Besides, Dad only left me with one bag to carry in. Hardly a heavy load," Daily responded, walking in with the last bag of their daily trip to grocers.
Daily came as a surprise to the Shepard family. After Troy, Hannah vowed to never have another kid so she didn't have to go through labor ever birth again. Unfortunately, a romantic date with John while young Troy was away with a babysitter changed that. Hannah was about to make good on the threat of having John stuffed for doing this to her, but she figured what's done was done. She just hoped that the new baby would be easier on her during delivery. Her prayers were answered, and, only an hour and a half after the first contraction, the Shepards welcomed a new baby girl into their family.
However, Daily proved to be a bit of a trouble-maker in her 14 years of life. She was headstrong which lead to quite a few tests of wills with Hannah. Despite her slim and small statue, her outgoing and obstinate personality gave her a very commanding presence. Where her brother would use guile and charm to get what he wanted, Daily chose to bludgeon until she got her way. It was quite the amusing site, witnessing a 5'3" teenager stare down a 30 year old dock worker just to see the dock worker back down.
Troy was fiercely protective of his little sister. Shortly after she was born, John took Troy aside and told him, "As a big brother, it's your job to protect your little sister when Mommy and Daddy can't." Troy took it to heart and would keep watch over her, especially in the past couple of years. Whenever Daily's sharp tongue and stubborn attitude got her in over her head, Troy was there, trying to talk down the offended party before things escalated into a brawl. It didn't always work, and he has come home many times with a black eye or a bruised lip, trying to comfort his sister who felt sorry for getting him into such a predicament. Troy always got back at Daily for getting him into fights though as she was another favored target for his many pranks.
After Daily putted the groceries onto the counter, she stormed over to her brother. Placing her fists on her hips, she loomed over him. "What did you do to my terminal, Rex?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about, Day," he responded with a shrug.
"Don't give me that. It won't let me chat with my friends anymore, and I can't access any shopping sites."
"I think you should thank whoever did this kind service for you. Now you have fewer distractions so you can get all the school work you complain about done," Troy said smiling.
Daily huffed, spun on her heels, and stormed off to her room to futilely attempt to undo the damage that her annoying big brother has done to her only connection to the galaxy outside their small colony.
"Rex, go fix your sister's terminal. You know how ornery she gets when she hasn't talked to her friends or seen the latest shopping crazes from the Citadel," John told his son.
"All right, fine," Troy responded resentfully. As he started walking to Daily's room, he shouted, "I'm coming, Day! Don't touch anything! You're more likely to make it worse than better."
As Troy entered Daily's room, Hannah turned to her husband. "Those kids are going to be the death of me. If it's not from fright from all of Troy's pranks, then from a brain aneurism from fighting with Daily."
John walked up to her, took her hands into his, and gave her forehead a kiss. "You and I both know that you are stronger than that. You wouldn't go down without a fight. Besides, we can't have our grandkids not know what it's like to be spoiled by their grandparents, now can we?"
"Yeah. It will be nice to be able to spoil kids instead of disciplining them. Guess I'll just have to survive a little bit longer." Hannah turned to the groceries and started to take them out of the bags and placing them in their respective spots. "Well if they don't kill me, they will surely eat me out of house and home. Those two eat more than I have ever seen kids eat."
"They are still growing up, Hannah. They need all the energy they can get."
"I know. But still. It's almost like they are biotics. Like that Jefferson boy. The only way their family is holding it together is because the Alliance is subsidizing their expenses."
"Ah right. I talked with Robert the other day. He said Scott would eat 2 to 3 platefuls of food just to feel full. At most, I've seen our kids eat 1 ½ to 2. They are just growing."
"Maybe you're right. Come on and help me get dinner ready."
John chuckled. "Yes, dear."
After dinner, Troy retired to his getaway in the barn. He welcomed the emptiness and quiet that he found there. While he did like to take care of Felt, he was more interested in his many tech projects that he hid in a secret compartment in the floor. He was no savant, and he knew it, but Troy couldn't help himself when he was tinkering with omnitools, shield projectors, or mass effect field generators. They were hard to come by in the rather small colony that Mindoir had, but he could often find discarded tech next to the security building. Over the course of 4 years, Troy had gathered enough materials to put together a couple of new toys including an omnitool and a small, low-powered shield projector.
He was even able to upgrade the rifle his Dad had given him. John kept a few guns around the house to protect them from any wildlife that wasn't too friendly. He had taught Troy how to shoot, and the kid was a very good shot. He had the patience to line up the target and not pull the trigger until he felt absolutely ready.
Troy liked the force that the rifle put into its bullets, but didn't like that the gun was useless due to overheating after three shots. Troy found broken heat sink tossed carelessly in the garbage. With a few tweaks and a missing part from the tractor, he was able to fix it and double the amount of shots the rifle could produce before needing to cool down.
Tonight, his mind was focused on getting more power from his shield projector. He had asked Scott Jefferson to biotically throw small rocks at him to test the strength of the shield. It had taken a couple smaller pebbles without causing the charge of the shield to change. When he asked Scott to put more force into his throw, the shield was unable to cope with the extra force and fell with one stone. Fortunately, the energy of the stone was dissipated enough that it did not do any major bodily harm to Troy when it hit him. However, it did knock the wind out of him, and he crumpled, trying to catch his breath. That halted any further tests from being conducted.
"Gonna try to make your little shield be able to stand up to 2 rocks next time, Rex?"
Troy turned from his project to look up at his sister. She was standing at the door, petting Felt who had come to greet her. "Yeah. I was thinking I could put in a larger capacitor that would hold a bigger charge, but then the projector might not be able to handle the increase load. I'm also thinking about putting in a bigger battery, but…"
Daily cut him off. "You lost me at capicater. That kinda stuff was always your thing, not mine. You get so caught up in this stuff; you don't hear Mom calling you to come in. She and Dad figure that you are off with some girl, but, most of the time, you are just here, working on your projects. You are such a nerd," she said with a grin.
Troy laughed. "What can I say? Tech stuff interests me. And what do you do, besides chasing boys around, trying to get them to kiss you?"
"I don't chase boys around. Just the one."
"Ah, right. Scott. To be honest, Day, I think he likes you. He kept asking about you today."
"Really!? Like what?" Daily couldn't hide her excitement or the blush that began to form on her cheeks.
"Just about how you've been, and why he hasn't seen you around lately. I told him it was because of all the school work that the end of the semester brings. He also asked how you were doing with your… well, ya know."
Daily's former excitement vanished and a sullen look replaced it. She petted Felt without much thought, trying to find support in the family pet.
"When are you going to tell them?" Troy asked.
"Who?"
"Our parents."
"About what?" Daily asked, trying to skirt the issue.
"Stop being difficult, Day. About joining the Alliance. About being a biotic."
There it was; the little bomb that the two Shepard kids were hiding from their parents, from almost the entire colony. They found about Daily's abilities in the same barn over 2 years ago.
Troy had done something especially terrible that "ruined her life" as Daily put it. He had posted on her social account her crush on a boy at school. She had stormed toward the barn looking for him, ready to deliver some real pain. When she found him, Daily started yelling and crying. Troy simply stood there and took it. He didn't realize that spilling the beans was this condemning.
When he finally was given some time to speak, he said, "I'm sorry, Day. I didn't think it was that big of a deal."
"IT IS A BIG DEAL!" Daily pushed him. Except this was no ordinary push.
Troy saw a flash of blue emanating from his little sister and felt her small hands against his chest. The force behind the hands did not feel right though. It reminded him of the time his Dad pushed him out of the way of a runaway tractor. One moment, he was standing in front of his little, 12 year old sister, and, the next, he was on the ground a few feet away looking up at her in surprise. He noticed a trickle of blood coming from her nose.
Daily looked down at her hands with a mixture of wonder and terror. She turned and ran out of the barn as quick as she can. She ran and ran and ran until she could run no more. Daily fell to her hands and knees, trying to catch her breath, trying to understand what just happened. How did I do that? She couldn't finish her train of the thought as she heard footsteps coming her way. She tried to get up to run away again, but her legs wouldn't cooperate.
"DAY! Are you okay?"
She didn't answer him, only posing the only thought that was going through her mind. "How could I have pushed you so hard?" she asked in gasping breathes.
"Day," Troy put his hands on her shoulders and made her look at him in the eyes. "I…. I think you're a biotic."
No. I can't be. Not that. She shook her head. "I can't be a biotic. Why wouldn't it show up sooner?"
"I don't know. We will have to do some searching to find out if any eezo was spilled before you were born. But that is the only explanation that comes to mind," Troy responded, wiping the blood that started to congeal under her nose.
Daily shook free from her brother, put her hands on her head, and started to pace, "This can't be happening. This can't be happening. This can't be happening."
"Day, it's going to be okay. We have to tell Mom and Dad about…"
Daily cut him off, "NO! We can't tell them. They will make sure I see a doctor to confirm and all that. Then everyone will know. Remember what happened to the Jeffersons did when they found out Scott was a biotic? They lost all their friends because people thought they were all biotics and could read their minds. I can't let Mom and Dad go through that. No. It's been hidden this long. I can hide it until I'm old enough to live on my own."
"Are you serious?! We can't keep this a secret from them! What happens if you accidently use your powers on someone in the colony? There will be people at our door with pitchforks."
"I can learn to control it. Scott can teach me. He has been getting some training at the Alliance recruiting office. Please, Rex. Don't tell anyone."
Troy looked at her incredulously for a moment. Then, his eyes softened.
"Fine. We'll go talk to Scott tomorrow. You do know this means I'm going to be watching out for you a lot more than I already am."
"I'm not Felt, Rex. I don't need your protection."
"Too bad. You're getting it anyway." Troy pulled his little sister into a strong hug.
There, wrapped in her brothers arms, Daily finally let the magnitude of the situation overcome her. She felt bitter for the normal life she had lost. She felt ashamed for not sharing her burden with her parents. And she felt sorrow for putting her big brother in such an awkward position. So she cried, terribly, until there were no more tears left.
"I'm not even sure if the Alliance will want me. I'm not that strong. I can barely lift a small rock. I can't make anything big," Daily finally said.
Troy had found the reason for Daily's latent abilities after a couple of months of searching for any element zero spills. A freighter that was bringing in supplies to the colony had a small, but substantial leak in their engines. Daily was only a few weeks along when the leak occurred, and Hannah worked on the other side of the colony. She never gave it a second thought. It was the same leak that gave Scott Johnson his abilities, though Mrs. Johnson was much more noticeably pregnant than Hannah and worked much closer to the leak. Troy believed that this must be the reason why their power levels where significantly different.
"You and I both know that, with the right implant, you could push, pull, and throw things much heavier. You might even be able to create a small warp field if you practice enough. You definitely wouldn't have to use a crummy shield like the rest of us lesser folk," Troy said with a grin. "And I saw those messages on your terminal, Day. As soon as you mentioned the possibility of being a biotic, those recruiters were all over you."
"Yea, I don't think I should have said anything about it. Thanks for deleting those messages and searches. Although, I could do without you messing with my terminal." Daily lightly punched him in the arm.
Troy mockingly winced, but then started to laugh. "How could I pass up a perfect opportunity to mess with my little sister? It's my job as the older brother."
Troy turned back to his project, and Daily petted Felt absent-mindedly. They shared an amicable silence. After a couple of minutes, Troy broke the quietness with a question that has been bugging him ever since he saw Daily's messages.
"Why would you want to go into the military? You aren't exactly the military type."
Daily jumped at her brother's sudden question, but quickly recovered. "What do you mean I'm not the military type? You think I can't handle the training?"
Troy laughed. "Not at all. Actually, I would be scared for the drill sergeant who tried to tell you what to do. What I meant was that I don't see you as a military woman. I can see you being a journalist or even a fashion designer, but not a soldier."
"It isn't my first choice. It wasn't even on the list before I found out that I was a biotic. But now that I know, I don't have much choice. Either live life as a solider that is accepted or as a civilian being hated for something I had no control over."
"All right, all right. But you need to tell Mom and Dad. About both the biotics and the Alliance. You can't keep hiding this from them."
"I know, I know. Geez, Rex. You're as annoying as Mom is sometimes. And you roll your eyes like her too." Daily smiled at his discomfort as she caught him rolling his eyes. "I'll tell them in a year and 10 days. I promise."
"The day after you turn 16. I guess I can keep your secret a little while longer. Come on. We should probably go inside before Mom sends out a search party," Troy said as he walked to the barn door.
Daily smiled at the fact that her brother remembered that her birthday was only 9 days away, soon to be 8. She hurried to her brother's side and looked at him.
"Not going to sneak away and spend some quality time with your girlfriend tonight? You know Mom thinks you run around with all the girls in the colony with how much you sneak around. But I know that there is only one you have any interest in. You can fool her, but you can't fool me, Rex. How is Amanda doing, by the way?"
Troy didn't answer her, but felt the heat rising in his cheeks. He tried to hide it, but to no avail. Daily had caught on and tormented him with giggles all the way back to the prefab units the Shepards called home.
