Perceptions

Chapter Nine: Selected

Derek was in the crew's lounge, leaning back against the chair as he stared down a bowl of cereal. It seems the Normandy's pantry wasn't merely just bare-bones military provisions. At least, right now it wasn't. He took the spoon and started eating. They were cornflakes, but they weren't stale. The milk tasted fresh, and it made him happy. Good meals were hard to come by in the mines, their diets were at the mercy of the batarians with the scraps they had leftover.

It was then he got a message on him omni-tool. It detailed the next mission. It was going to be on a planet called Noveria, a wintery planet filled with businessmen. They were going to try and find the asari Matriarch Benezia. Though Derek's eyes were primarily drawn to the bottom, where it said who was coming with Shepard. The ether seer's eyes widened when he saw that he was one of the two that was going on the mission. The other person coming along was Garrus.

He pumped his fist. "Yes! I get to come along on the mission."

Kaidan leaned over from the other side of the small wall. "It seems you've earned the Commander's trust. I think it's a bit early, but it seems like you impressed him with the reports that came after Feros."

The teen shrugged. "I suppose. Thanks." It was after he said that when he heard a ping on his omni-tool. He looked and saw it was a text message from

Shepard. Derek read it, and blinked. "Oh. It seems Shepard wants to meet me in his cabin again. I think it might have to do with the mission."

Kaidan turned and started to walk towards the main battery. "I got'cha. I'll see you later, Derek."

Derek nodded. "See ya', Kaidan." He then walked towards the lift door, and pressed the button to summon the elevator.

The lift door opened, letting the seer walk inside. His stomach was once again a knot, the young man suddenly a bundle of nerves at the thought if his first mission. It was different from the times he just suddenly jumped in, he wasn't expected to do anything. Sure, the pressure was on, but now it was expected. For some reason, the thought along made it harder to process doing such thing.

But as the lift stopped, the errant thoughts faded away. The door opened to reveal Shepard's personal quarters. Derek stepped inside, and looked around. Sitting in his desk was the Commander, who turned to look at Derek. What the ether seer found surprising was that Shepard was in civilian clothes for the first time, at least around Derek. He wore a jacket, black with the N7 logo on it with black pants.

Chuck propelled himself to the side on his chair with wheels, and grabbed a folding chair. He set it down and patted the seat. "Take a seat." He said.

Derek nodded, and sat on the chair provided for him. Shepard turned and faced the seer, letting his hands rest on his legs. "So, Derek." He started, eyeing the young man critically. "I assume you saw the mission update. You're alright with heading out with us, yes?"

The ether seer nodded. "Of course. I've had a few days to practice, and I've gotten a few tips on my marksmanship."

Shepard thinned his lips. "You'll need more than that to deal with our odds. But Noveria should be a lighter mission. It's a business planet, and we're looking for an asari matriarch. We shouldn't run into too much trouble, so it'd be a good trial mission."

Derek gave a small nod, leaning on the back of his chair. "Of course, Shepard. I guess I need to prove myself out there before I face geth armies."

Chuck shrugged. "That's a good way to put it. But that's not the only reason I called you up here. I like to get to know my crew. What was your life like before the… incident?"

Derek blinks. "I was sent to a colony out in the Terminus Systems about maybe a week before the attack. I was going to shadow one of the engineers at the AA guns. We were close to setting them up before the attack happened, funny enough." He rubbed the back of his neck.

Shepard nodded. "I see. You wanted to be an engineer?"

The seer pursed his lips and shrugged. "Want's a strong word. I'd say I decided it'd be best to find something that'd put food on the table. I wasn't terrible at math, so I decided that I'd try to find work in the colonies. It got me the freedom that I wanted at that point. Grandma was kind of strict, but she was fair."

The Commander tilted his head. "Who did you live with? What happened to your parents?"

Derek let out a small exhale, before he shrunk back into his chair. "Well. My grandmother never told me. Ever since I could remember, I lived with her. She never knew where they went, and it made her sad to talk about it. My grandfather passed on a year after I was born."

Chuck frowned at that. "I see. Did she know about your ability to see auras?"

Derek brought up his legs, and sat cross-legged on the chair. "I used to talk about it when I was young. She thought they were just hallucinations. She always took my temperature after I did. She figured I must have had a fever. But soon enough, I kept quiet about it. I always heard stories at school. They were about kids who could do stuff with their minds, and when they found out they were taken away to do other stuff. Some of the stories were… not so pleasant. So I hid my abilities. I didn't want to end up like one of them, sitting in a lab and being subjected to painful testing. I wanted to be normal."

Shepard reached out and patted Derek's shoulder. "I assure you. The Alliance had always done good thing with biotics. Kaidan Alenko was one of the students in the Ascension program, and even with an experimental amp, he made it out fine."

Derek initially shrunk back further at the touch, but he took in a deep breath and leaned forward somewhat. "I… guess. But I'd still feel more comfortable finding this out for myself, the whole ether thing. If I go at my own pace and figure out things they could use… I might come forward with it. But until then, I want to test my own limits. You guys seem trustworthy." He nodded. "Especially you, Shepard. You're really nice."

The Commander gave the seer another pat. He gave a warm grin that bristled his mustache just slightly. "Thanks, Derek. I'm glad you're happy with the crew, so far. If you're as resilient and resourceful as I think you are, I know the crew will be just as happy to have you along in and out of the battlefield." He pulled himself up from his chair, stretching his arms with a groan. "I'm going to suit up. We have thirty minutes before we land on Noveria. I suggest you do the same. We might even have that new armor broken in by the time we get what we need to do done."

Derek nodded, and rose up as well. "Thanks for the talk, Shepard." He said, as he walked to the lift. He gave a smile, lighting up his youthful face despite the recovering marring of malnutrition.

Shepard nodded. "Always here if you need me." He turned and opened his locker, taking out various padded underclothes. Derek stepped inside, but waited to press anything, feigning ignorance on the interface.

He saw his Commander take his jacket and shirt off, getting a brief glimpse of his body before he pressed a button on the console absently. He drank in the soldier's physique, a thick torso dusted with red hair. The image was burned in his head as the lifted moved downwards, making sure that image stayed in his mind. His abdomen was strong, but it wasn't a washboard set of abs. Everything was firm, but not rock-hard. Derek felt his face heat up, as the seer gulped.

The knot in the pit of his gut was back. Oh joy.