Chapter Seven - Speak Up
Charles pushed his way through a group of students from basics as he tried to get as far away from the classroom as he could. His eyes were tearing up from disappointment, but also anger. He was infuriated with Kahlee Sanders for letting him humiliate himself like this.
How could she possibly think that he would be successful in advanced class, when he wasn't even able to answer ten percent of the questions that Jack had asked in their test?
Was she just messing with him?
His dark thoughts were interrupted by Kurt and Vera who came running after him down the Ascension Hallway. He quickly wiped his eyes before they got close enough to see that he had been close to tears.
"Hey buddy, where are you off to in such a hurry?" Kurt asked, smiling as they caught him.
"Is something wrong?" Vera asked softly, noticing his red eyes.
"I.. I don't think I belong here," Charles said in a shaky voice. "I can't control my alleged biotic powers, and I was unable to answer almost all of the questions in the test."
"Don't worry about it," Vera said, placing a comforting hand on his arm. "You've had very little time to get used to all of this, but your biotic abilities will develop very soon, I am sure."
"Yeah, mate," Kurt added. "And we will help you with the theory, if you want us to. You haven't had the time to read all of the theoretic material yet, and to be honest, the theory is actually not that complicated once you've got it."
"Thank you, but what do i do until I get it? And until my biotic powers develop? I probably won't be able to participate in most of the things we will be taught," Charles said, still not convinced that he belonged in the same classroom as the five others.
"I'm sure that Jack, what a crazy name by the way, will understand your situation," Vera said.
"Exactly," Kurt contributed, "when we were in basics, we didn't all develop at the same rate, and we've never been obligated beyond our individual abilities."
"Come on, let's get out of here. You should come see where we live," Vera said, pulling Charles by the wrist.
Charles followed willingly. He was still very nervous about how Jack would react to his poor test results, but he realized that there was no return for him. He had committed to this project, and he wouldn't back out now.
As the three of them exited Ascension Hall, they turned in the opposite direction of what they would have, if they were going to Charles' room.
Again, Charles noticed how all other students seemed to get out of their way, as they walked down the hallways.
As if he knew what he was thinking, Kurt explained.
"You notice how everybody looks at you differently in that uniform? It's not fear, not really. They just respect us, and most of them are probably too shy to talk to you. So, If you want to speak to one of them, don't wait for them to open the conversation."
"Dr. Sanders has warned us about being cocky about it. She doesn't want us to see everybody else as inferior, and we try our best to break down the barriers," Vera explained, as she smiled and waved to a bunch of girls in lab coats. They all smiled nervously and huddled closer together.
"Of course, Prangley is being a bit of a dick. He really enjoys the way that the other students react to this uniform, and he often uses it to boost his own ego," Kurt said. "Uses it to pick up girls as well. Some of the ladies on this station are REALLY curious about men with biotic abilities."
"Is that so?" Charles asked mischievously.
"Oh yeah," Kurt nodded.
"Do tell," Vera said dryly.
"Well, maybe they think the ability to manipulate gravity might come in handy in the bedroom," Kurt said in a sultry tone.
"You're such a pig," Vera hissed, but couldn't help but laugh as she noticed how sleazily Kurt and Charles were looking at each other.
"You know, there might be other reasons girls like Prangley," she added.
"Such as?" Kurt asked.
"His charming personality?" Charles giggled.
"No, but he does have some physical traits, that some women find attractive," Vera answered patiently.
"Some women, huh?" Kurt snickered, completely unable to maintain a straight face.
"Oh, shut it!" Vera laughed and punched him in the chest.
The hallway ahead of them divided into two, and Kurt pointed to the right.
"The twins live down that way, should you ever need to find them."
They walked in the opposite direction for a while before arriving at a door with Kurt's name on it.
Kurt Nielsen,
Ascension Project (Advanced)
Kurt pulled his ID card from a pocket in his uniform and swiped it. The door retracted into the ceiling with a swooshing sound and allowed them access to Kurt's room.
The room was identical to Charles', but the walls were covered with posters and pictures, and it was quite messy.
"Nice to see you've cleaned up for your guests," Vera said sarcastically.
"It's not like I planned this visit," Kurt retorted.
"It's just fine," Charles said diplomatically, as he wandered around the room looking at Kurt's posters.
He stopped in front of a calendar with pictures of semi-naked blue women with tentacles for hair.
"Asari, right?" He asked, pointing to the calendar.
"Yes, lovely creatures indeed," Kurt smirked.
"hmmm... I've never met any aliens, but I sure wouldn't mind running into a few of these," Charles hummed.
"Men..." Rodriguez sighed, "you really do have an unhealthy obsession with those asari."
"What? You mean like you and Alliance Marines? Besides, it's an all female race. What's not to love?" Kurt said smilingly.
Eventually, Charles managed to free himself from the calendar, and a poster of a football team caught his eye.
"You like football?" He asked, gesturing to the poster.
"Yeah. That is the local team from our colony back on Terra Nova," Kurt explained.
"Your colony?" Charles lifted an eyebrow. "You guys come from the same colony?"
"Yes," Vera nodded.
"We never talked to each other before we found out that we were both going to Grissom Academy. Since then we've just never left each other alone," Kurt said, putting his arm around Vera's shoulders.
"Oh, so you two are... dating?" Charles said, feeling a bit uncomfortable.
"No no no," Vera said, waving her hands dismissively. "We are close friends, more like brother and sister actually. Nielsen here is actually in a long distance relationship with one of my friends back on Terra Nova."
"But..." Kurt interrupted, "...Rodriguez here is single, if you want to get some action."
Vera turned pink and she elbowed her friend straight in the ribs.
"I'm sure Charles has a girlfriend at home," she said.
Charles shook his head.
"No? I can't believe that. So tall and handsome... And those amazing blue eyes of yours." She purred, making Charles' face redder than his uniform.
"Ooh, watch out, Magnus! You're in her sights," Kurt was now laughing so hard, that he was clinging to the doorframe for support.
"Shut up," Vera screamed. "Don't be an asshole! But I mean, look at those eyes. The girls in his village must have been blind not to notice those eyes."
"Yeah, they're precious!" Nielsen screamed with laughter, now curled up on the floor grabbing his stomach.
"Well, I guess I am just way too shy to talk with girls," Charles said, shrugging his shoulders.
"You've been talking to me," Vera interjected.
"True," Charles nodded. "But I thought that the two of you were together, so that kind of took the pressure off."
"Are you planning a career in The Alliance military after school?" Kurt inquired, as he regained self control and rose from the floor.
"Maybe," Charles said. "Let's see if I am any good first, shall we?"
"Yeah," Kurt said, pretending to be thinking hard. "You probably won't have a shot with Vera here unless you become a soldier. She is very picky like that."
Vera nodded.
"For once you are actually telling the truth. I love me some Alliance marines."
All three of them laughed.
A few minutes later Vera was leading them down the hallway to her own room.
Vera Rodriguez,
Ascension Project (Advanced)
As they entered, Charles immediately noticed how much tidier than Kurt's her room was.
The walls were covered by posters of heroic looking alliance soldiers, which made Charles laugh.
"See, I told you so. She's obsessed. At least I only have one asari calendar in my room," Kurt said as he entered the room.
"That's different," Vera complained. "Your asari sluts are naked. My guys are all in uniform."
Kurt demonstratively took two long steps, stopping in front of a poster of a muscular shirtless man with an N7 tattoo on his chest.
"So you're telling me that this bad boy..." he pointed to the poster, "...would be allowed to go into battle like this?"
Charles snickered and Vera couldn't help but smile as well.
As he scanned the rest of the posters, he saw at least five portraying Commander Shepard. He stopped in front of a poster that honored the commander for becoming the first human Spectre.
"Ah yes, Shepard, her favorite. She even has a Commander Shepard VI that talks dirty to her," Kurt stage whispered, fully intending for Vera to hear what he was saying.
"It does not talk dirty. It just gives me random compliments, and lets me know if I have any messages," Vera explained.
"Random compliments?" Kurt grinned. "Like this? I'm Commander Shepard, and yours is my favorite ass in the galaxy," he said in a coarse voice.
Vera was just about to yell, but she gave up and surrendered to laughter along with Charles and Kurt.
"You guys up for lunch?" Kurt asked, when they were all done laughing. "I'm hungry like a krogan."
Charles felt his stomach complain and realized, that he was quite hungry himself. Like a krogan? Probably not, but still, he could eat.
Orion Hall was teeming with life, and after picking up their rations, it seemed impossible for them to find a place to sit.
"Maybe we should play the Ascension card and get some of these science geeks to give us their table," Kurt joked, earning a stern look from Vera.
"There's Prangley and the twins, let's go sit with them," she said, pointing to the recognizable figure of Jason Prangley in the distance.
"Hi there, have a seat," Prangley greeted as they neared the table.
They sat down and started to eat their lunch.
"What did you think of the test?" Seanne Bellarmine asked.
"I thought it was good, some of it was very basic, but a couple of the questions were pretty tough, so it will probably give her a good idea of where we stand," Vera said thoughtfully.
"It was too easy," Prangley said. "I wish it would have been a practical test."
"Speak for yourself, Prangley," Kurt said. "I thought it was challenging enough, and I am sure that we will be putting our skills to use soon enough. Our new instructor doesn't seem like the bookish sort, does she?"
"Speaking of our new instructor, what do y'all think about her?" Prangley asked, before taking a huge bite out of a protein bar.
"She's so weird," Seanne said, looking over her shoulder, as to make sure that Jack wasn't standing right behind her. "And I must say, that I am a little worried that she's a criminal."
"I understand," her brother Reiley said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "But we can't forget that she used to work with Commander Shepard. She can't be all bad."
"She seems so young too. I don't think she's that much older than us," Vera added. "My best guess would be that she is in her mid-twenties."
The others nodded in agreement to her assessment of Jack's age.
"Hello!? Aren't we forgetting something important here?" Prangley interrupted.
"What?" Kurt asked.
"She shows up in a uniform that is showing more skin than an asari dancer's, she's covered in tattoos, her head is shaven in the sides and she was trained at a place crazier than BAaT. She is overall freaky, and all you can talk about is her age."
"Don't forget that I swore in front of the head director," Jack said calmly, as she stepped up to the table, causing all six students to jump in their seats. "Anything else we need to hear, Prangley?"
"No, Ma'am," Prangley said, staring at his half finished lunch.
Jack turned to face Charles.
"Magnus, right?"
He nodded.
"Please come with me, I would like to discuss your test results."
Charles sighed. He had known that she would want to discuss his crappy test at some point, but he hadn't thought that it would be on the same day.
He quickly finished the rest of his lunch as Jack addressed the other students.
"The rest of you. It seems that basics wasn't a complete waste of time. Your test results are acceptable, and I feel that I have something to work with."
She turned to face Vera.
"Rodriguez, I should probably congratulate you on your perfect test score. Kudos. Prangley, you were one point short of the same score."
Kurt patted Vera's back and Prangley looked even more satisfied with himself than usually.
Having finished his meal, Charles got to his feet and followed Jack towards her office.
As they left the table, he heard Prangley's voice from behind his back.
"You know, the poor guy probably didn't even get a single answer right. Maybe he shouldn't be here."
Charles' chin sank to rest on his chest and he sped up to get away from the table faster, but Jack had frozen in place at the words coming from Prangley.
She marched back to the table, her boots aggressively squealing against the floor as she came to a halt.
"Prangley, you should probably change your uniform, you seem to have spilled something," she said, her voice cold as ice.
"Where?" Prangley asked, searching the upper part of his uniform for stains.
Jack flicked her wrist faster than any of the students had thought possible, there was a blue flash of light, and Prangley's lunch tray catapulted the remainder of his food into his face and all over his uniform.
"There!" Jack said calmly before turning on her heel and walking out of Orion Hall with Charles in her heels, leaving Kurt, Vera, Seanne and Reiley in roaring laughter, as Prangley tried to clean himself up.
Charles was thankful that Jack had put Prangley in his place, but he was worried about how he would react to this. He didn't want Prangley to start calling him teacher's pet or anything like that. Remembering what he was supposed to talk about when they reached Jack's office quickly shifted his thoughts back to his poor test results.
Arriving at Ascension Hall, Jack swiped her card, and Charles followed her down the corridor until they stood in front of her office.
Ascension Project - Advanced Class
Instructor Jacqueline Nought
Jack walked in and slumped into a chair behind her desk, she gestured for Charles to take a seat in a chair on the other side of her desk.
"I understand that you have no other classes today?" Jack asked.
Charles nodded. They were free to do what they wished for the rest of the day.
"Beer?" she asked.
Charles didn't know what to say. Sanders hadn't specified any drinking rules, but it did seem a bit strange to him. He decided that he probably wouldn't get in trouble for accepting a beer from their instructor. Also, he felt like he could really use one.
"Sure. Thank you," he said.
Jack got up from her chair, disappeared briefly into her personal quarters and returned with two cans of beer.
"Ever had asari beer, Magnus?" she asked, as she handed him the can.
Charles looked at the unusual markings on the can in his hand and shook his head.
"It's pretty good, a bit stronger than most human beer, but it tastes like fucking fruit juice," Jack said, leaning back in her chair and flinging her booted feet onto the desk.
She opened her can and took a large sip, closing her eyes as she enjoyed the feel of the fizzy drink in her mouth.
Charles opened and took a hesitant sip of his beer. Its taste was very unfamiliar, like nothing he had ever tasted at all, but in no way uncomfortable.
"It's good," he said, taking another sip.
"Told you so," Jack said and picked up a datapad from her desk.
"You know why you are here?" she asked, dragging her finger across the datapad in a sweeping motion.
Charles knew, but he still wasn't sure what to say. He opted for the truth.
"Yes. M-My test score is really bad," Charles stuttered and took a large sip of his beer to calm his raging nerves.
"Well, let's be honest," Jack said, still looking at his results on her datapad. "Your score is significantly lower than everybody else's."
Charles heart sank. He already knew this to be true, but it still hurt to hear it said so directly.
"Which made me think..." Jack continued,"...That something was horribly wrong. So, I went to talk to Sanders, and she told me about how you just had your amps implanted a few months ago."
Charles nodded.
"And you have only been reading the theory for a couple of months as well?"
Charles nodded again.
"Then there's no reason for me to expect you to know the answer to any of these questions," Jack said, throwing the datapad back onto her desk.
Charles let out a sigh of relief and took another sip of his beer.
"When Sanders presented you as the new guy, I didn't know that you were actually a NEW guy in that sense," Jack joked, finished her beer and placed the empty can on the desk.
"Ma'am, you should probably know..." Charles muttered, "...That my powers haven't developed yet."
"I would be surprised if they had," Jack replied quickly. "It won't be a problem, just promise me that you will concentrate really hard on the boring theory stuff until they do."
Charles nodded. He was already sleeping too little, because most of his nights were spent studying the theory behind biotic abilities, but he was determined to learn it all, and Jack's words had only increased his determination.
"Good, and you let me know if that Prangley kid rubs you the wrong way, and I'll rip his fucking head off," Jack growled and her hands started glowing in a light blue color.
Not wanting to escalate the situation, Charles waived his hand dismissively.
"That won't be necessary. He's not that bad."
"If you say so," Jack shrugged and sent her empty beer can flying across the room with a slight hand movement. The beer can slammed into the wall and dumped into a trash can on the floor.
"Will that be all?" Charles asked.
Jack nodded.
"Thanks for the beer, Ma'am." he said as he rose to his feet, walked to the trash can and threw out his empty can.
"Hey Magnus," Jack said from behind her desk. "Don't worry about your biotic abilities. Everything will be cool, and I will personally assist you in reaching your true potential."
"T-thanks."
"And hey, you're a nice guy. You should speak up a little, don't be so shy. As I said, everything will be fine, and you have nothing to be ashamed of," Jack said with a smile. "Now get the hell out of here, I'm about to get hammered."
Charles smiled and left Jack's office with a spring in his step.
"Damn it, I'm getting good at this teaching stuff!" Jack said to herself, as she rose from her chair to get another beer.
