It was nearly a month, before Fox had finally deemed that Artemis had learned her lesson. She was still on very thin ice with Fox, but she had spent nearly three weeks doing everything in her power to convince the older woman that she was back. The pure physical torture for the most part had stopped when she had thrown herself at Fox.
The sudden sexual interest hadn't been nearly enough to convince Fox that she was now loyal, but she had thrown herself into the role with everything she had. She had done everything that Fox had asked of her going above and beyond in her attempts to get Fox to trust her. Which was why she hadn't complained when Fox had finally caved into Victor's incessant whining and allowed him access. The incident had been as horrendous as she had imagined it to be, at the very least Fox had ordered him to wrap it up and had given her the morning after pill just in case. She had taken the pill with little fanfare, she didn't want to be carrying that bastard's spawn inside of her.
Artemis eyed her numb hands and rubbed them, as she sat in the emergency room. She hadn't touched a gun since Fox had brought her in, even if she had she doubted she would have felt anything. She was losing sensation in them, she worried that it had been a result of Fox's torture but she needed to be sure. She had told Fox of course, it wasn't something that she could avoid telling her.
Artemis had been forced to live in with the woman and had been forbidden from seeing her crew. She hadn't earned the right to do so. Stewart seemed to be leading in her absence, it was a disaster of course. She had heard snippets of what was going on, it seemed as if all the law enforcement agencies seemed to be taking an interest in the Reds activities after someone had ordered the death of an infant.
She rubbed her hands again, it was a pointless endeavor if she couldn't feel the cold then she most certainly didn't feel the heat from the action. She hated hospitals, they were expensive and they were unnecessarily nosey, not to mention expensive. She had the credits now, it's not like she could spend it on giving Avery's family a funeral that the girl deserved. It had been one of Fox's many tests and she had nodded her head for her freedom.
She already knew that she was a coward, it didn't matter if they were going to die anyway. At least this way she had spared them the horrors of having to go through what Avery did before she died. That was the justification that she used in her head, but it like most of her other arguments ran hollow. The guilt was eating at her and even the Christmas festivity didn't seem to be anything to assuage the guilt, so she shoved it aside like she always did. She would deal with the guilt later, right now she had more pressing matters to attend to.
"Artemis Shepard."
Artemis stood up and followed the nurse into the examination room. Taking a seat on the examination table Artemis rolled up her sleeve, to allow the woman to take her blood pressure and some blood, ignoring the gasp that slipped from the woman's mouth. Artemis isn't sure if it's because of the tattoos, or the bruises or the fading scars, but one glance at the woman's horrified face and it tells her that it's probably a combination of the three.
The woman quietly takes her vitals, "The doctor will be in soon, you'll need to put on the gown," she states quietly before taking a step to leave the room, pausing at the doorway. "Is someone hurting you at home? You said you were only sixteen and if someone is doing that to you it's not right."
Artemis's eyes flicked to the woman in front of her, she was being nosy. There wasn't an ounce of care in her voice, there wasn't any worry it was just fatigue and possibly curiosity. It would be a waste of time and resources to get CPS involved now, she had been emancipated the moment she turned sixteen and she was less than two years away from being an adult. Plus they wouldn't be able to save her from Fox's wrath.
"My girlfriend is into some kinky-ass sex games." Artemis stated bluntly watching as the woman's face turned a bright shade of red and she scurried out the room muttering something about perverts. Artemis couldn't help the snort that came from her lips and crossed her legs ignoring the hospital gown that lay beside her.
It's a good two hours more before a female doctor arrives, and Artemis frowns upon seeing the Alliance medical uniform. "Doctor Karin Chakwas, pleased to make your acquaintance," she extends her hand in greeting.
Artemis ignores the proffered hand, "What is the Alliance doing here?" she asked glancing at the nurse from earlier, the woman flushed again and looked away.
"We are called in for all expected cases of human biotic's," Dr. Chakwas dropped her hand and eyed the teenager who met her gaze back. "It says that you're emancipated."
Artemis watches the doctor's face and shrugs her shoulders as she leans back, "I am," she says simply crossing her legs. "I'm not here to talk about that though, I just want to get the numbness in my hands dealt with; unless you mean to tell me I got one of those tumors."
Artemis's movement caused her shirt to ride up, exposing her abdomen and the tattoos and scars that littered her lower abdomen and waist, and Chakwas's eyed the teenager suspiciously, it was already more than clear that this girl was in a gang. She turned to the nurse, "I want a full work up of her blood done, especially searching for STI's." The nurse nodded and quickly hurried out of the room, leaving Chakwas and the young Artemis Shepard in a room together.
"I don't have any diseases," Artemis hissed angrily, she had just wanted to make sure that she was okay.
"You are sexually active," Chakwas says dismissively, she had dealt with unruly soldiers this angry child didn't scare her in the least. "It doesn't hurt to check, besides I only used that as an excuse to get you alone—"
"I'm flattered but you're much too old for me. And isn't that a bit improper?" Artemis interrupted holding up her hand.
Chakwas stared at the teenager for a moment before ignoring the comment, "I wanted to have you alone to ask you how long ago was your exposure to Element Zero. I noticed that you had some healing bruises on your arm, red sand that hasn't been properly refined is toxic. I've seen it before, some people think it might be a quick high before it shuts down your system. I know that some pimps use the sand to control their workers."
Artemis tilted her head, "I'm not a whore," she said coldly reaching forward to grab her jacket so she could leave.
Chakwas flushed this time embarrassed by her assumption, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean. Well you know what they say about making assumptions."
Artemis paused from where she was fixing her jacket and stared at the woman, "No, I really don't."
"You end up making an ass of yourself more times than not, but you have been exposed to Element Zero. That isn't an assumption it's mostly a fact and the red that you're wearing indicates you're a Tenth Street Red at the very least, if I'm wrong do correct me."
"What does what I do have to do with my hands being numb," Artemis interrupted.
"Possibly everything, we might have to do some more tests to make sure that it isn't something else of course. But your hands being numb could be a suggestion that your nervous system is still going through the change. The feeling will probably return in a few weeks if not months. How were you exposed to element zero?"
Artemis gave Chakwas a look, which suggested she wasn't going to speak about it before taking a seat back on the examination table.
"Wrong question, when were you exposed to it?" Karin asked studying the girl, whose face scrunched up in thought.
"A few days before my sixteenth birthday," Artemis said simply, "And I don't do drugs. I don't touch the stuff," she said quickly upon seeing where the conversation was going. "I was exposed to it months ago, I don't do drugs, I don't sell it either. Again I don't understand what this has to do with my hands."
"Do you know what a biotic is?"
Artemis shrugged, "Aren't those Asari chicks who do that freaky thing with their eyes and have like telekinesis and what not biotics?"
Chakwas rolled her eyes, "The Asari aren't women. Yes I am aware that they look female and they certainly have all parts of the female anatomy, but they are a mono-gendered race the term female doesn't truly apply to them. But you are correct they do have biotics, they can generate mass effect fields with their mind. It seems your exposure to Element Zero has started creating nodules in your body, which will allow you to do the same thing as they do."
"So I'm going to have super powers?" Artemis asked bluntly.
"If you wish to become a biotic with any sort of skill you're going to need to get a bio-amp, the only ones currently on the Market are modded L1s, the L2s were a disaster and putting one inside of you would do you a great disservice. However the Alliance does have access to the new bio-amps that are coming out next year the L3s, as you are emancipated we can offer to take you to Grissom Academy, you will be given an education a safe place to live and you will be outfitted with a new bio-amp. The surgery will be paid for of course."
"And in return?" Artemis prompted raising an eyebrow, there was nothing that was free in this world everyone knew that.
"You'll become part of the Alliance, mandatory service for five years, unless of course you are injured in combat."
"Can't I just get an L1 and then upgrade to an L3 when they hit the market?"
"The surgery for upgrading is dangerous, many people don't survive it, it will be better to just get the L3 when it comes out," Karin said. "Grissom is off world, if you're worried about them finding you, it's in a secure facility. You could of course wait if you don't wish to join the Academy of course, however the L3s are expensive, I think the starting price is around fifty thousand credits. This is a golden opportunity Shepard, you can leave all this behind."
Artemis said nothing and pulled on her jacket, "So the feeling will come back?" she asked.
"Yes it should come back in a few weeks at best, if it gets worse we might have to put in the bio-amp," Chakwas said confused by Artemis's attitude other people had jumped at the opportunity. "Do you really not want to leave, we can have you on a shuttle by tomorrow. If you're worried about retribution from your gang mates. I know the saying well, we have a few people who are like you who managed to survive and get out of the life. If what you need is reassurances that you will be safe."
Artemis pulled away from the doctor, she had no idea that the Alliance was recruiting so heavily, "I didn't come here to get recruited into joining the Alliance. I came here about my hands and if you're telling me that this is just some side effect because my body is going through some form of fucking puberty all over again, then that's fine. I am not going to some prison camp that you call a school, so I can become an indentured servant to the Alliance for five years," Artemis sneered upon seeing the surprised look on Chakwas face. "Yes indentured servant, I may be a high school dropout and I may not have had your fancy ass education with all your fancy degrees and I might even be a motherfucking gangster but I am not an idiot," she snipped angrily, clenching her fist hard.
Chakwas took a step back before a flash of blue caught her eyes and she turned her attention to Artemis's fist where there was the familiar glow of a mass effect field surrounding the limb, it sputtered for a bit before dying out as the girl relaxed and began to zip up her jacket. "Did you—"
"I don't care," Artemis said icily brushing past the arrogant doctor and storming out of the emergency room. She would join the Alliance when she was good and ready to do so, she wasn't going to become a slave to anyone ever again. She would fulfill the terms of the contract, but joining the Alliance would be on her own terms. If it came out now that she was a biotic, Fox would either kill her, if she was merciful, or she'd be broken down and made into the perfect puppet. The Alliance wasn't going anywhere, and she had business to attend to.
Artemis brushed past people as she hurried out of the hospital, she had heard footsteps behind her and she wasn't going to let that woman catch up with her. She nearly slammed into another member of the Alliance and winced, they weren't going to cart her away were they? She dodged the larger black man ignoring the fact that he was wearing a lieutenant commander uniform as she exited the place.
Lieutenant Commander David Anderson watched mildly amused as the teenager barreled past him, before turning to Chakwas who had given up chasing the girl and stood beside him. "Was that her?" He asked his rich London accent filling the empty hallway
"Artemis Shepard, sixteen years of age. She generated a mass effect field in front of me, it wasn't strong but she doesn't have an amp in her. Which means she's got quite the potential on her, she turned down Grissom though, and judging by the tattoos she's in a gang. The Tenth Street Reds I believe. She's not like the other gang members that we've taken a look at before, she seems relatively well read for someone in her position and she speaks well, for an admitted high school dropout. She wasn't a prostitute and she claimed not to be a drug dealer but the amount of element zero found in her blood, was quite a lot. The drug panel did come back negative though."
Anderson watched the retreating figure, accessing her posture and the way she carried herself. There was more grace in the way she walked especially for a sixteen year old, it was as if she had received some form of military training. He had seen the hardness and determination in her eyes as she stormed by him, she had killed before, but there was no evil in her face, no malice. She was a soldier, at least that's what his gut told him. Someone who wasn't going to be bullied into becoming the Alliance's slave for five years. It was quite possible that he'd be seeing more of her in the future, and he had a feeling that this child was going to be important. It was just a gut feeling and David Anderson always listened to his gut. The one time he hadn't had been quite costly for all parties involved, damn that Saren. "She's sixteen, we can't recruit her anyway, but we can keep a file on her. We need to find out everything there is to know about her, if she shows that much biotic potential."