Episode 11-Jack
Within some time, the different members split into small groups and got to work on different things. Jewel was with Liara, sifting through all of the information within the Intel Crystals with Ashley and Garrus overlooking them. Star stayed with Mordin, of course, as he continued looking through the data he collected on the girls' powers. Everyone else pretty much did their own things for a time. Splash went back to the Commander's quarters to spend the next few hours staring at his fish tank. No one was surprised by that.
A few hours later, they arrived at Grissom Academy. Everyone gathers by a massive, open window to look out at it.
Ashley: "There is it, girls, Grissom Academy. Are you ready to introduce yourselves?"
The girls continued looking out at the window, not knowing what to say next.
Jewel: "Umm….I guess…"
Liara: "Don't worry, we'll be with you throughout all of this."
Garrus: "Yeah, count on it."
Star: "Oh, I don't doubt that one bit. Aren't you going to come with us, Dr. Solus?"
Mordin: "Of course, much to look into, another great place for you to practice your powers, I believe."
Aera: "Is it really?"
Ashley: "Oh, I think as though it would be."
Miranda: "Assuming Jack makes them feel welcome. One thing for certain: I know that she would welcome them more than me."
Tali: "Oh, boy, is that true?"
Jewel continued to look out at the window.
Soon enough, the Normandy docked itself at the academy. The girls, along with several members of the Normandy consisting of Ashley, Miranda, Liara, Garrus, Mordin, Tali and EDI stepped out with them. There, they were approached by Kahlee Sanders.
Kahlee: "Welcome back, Normandy crew. It's so good to see all of you again."
Ashley: "It's good to see you, too. How has the academy been holding up during the aftermath of the Reaper Invasion?"
Kahlee: "Things have been tough but our students can and have endured. Everyone's been sticking together to pick up the pieces and rebuild their lives."
Liara: "That's great news."
EDI: "I can see that you have made a lot of improvements since the last time we were here."
Kahlee: "Yes, we have. It really has been a lot of hard work and I'm really proud of all of our students. Some of the newcomers of our school have also pitched in to help with the repairs."
Miranda: "Hmm, impressive."
Kahlee then noticed the girls.
Kahlee: "So, these must be the girls that I've heard so much about; the….Fayelons, as they're called?"
Ashley: "That's right, this is Jewel, Flare, Star, Aera and Splash."
Jewel: "Hello…"
Splash: "Good to meet you."
Star: "Hi!"
Kahlee: "Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you girls. Jack has been very eager to meet you as well."
Aera: "This….Jack person...she's OK, right? I don't like having her wail on us or whatever."
Kahlee: "Not to worry. She has been very excited ever since she heard about the news involving you girls. She won't do anything to you that upset you."
Star: "I sure hope so."
Jewel: "Well, regardless, let's meet her, anyway, just to see what she's like."
Flare: "Indeed, we must. I am curious to know what kind of person she is."
Kahlee: "If you would, please follow me. She's in the middle of teaching a class right now, but she will meet with you once she is finished."
Star: "Sure, let's go."
The group followed Kahlee through the facility.
They continued on their way through, the girls looked around at everything, amazed by what they were seeing.
Kahlee: "So, how has Commander Shepard been doing?"
Ashley: "He's the same as always...nothing has changed, so far."
EDI: "We have been monitoring Shepard constantly as a precaution to ensure that there are to be no changes that would be detrimental to his recovery."
Kahlee: "I see….and the same with Anderson?"
Ashley: "Yes, still no changes with him."
Kahlee sulked a little.
Liara: "We are all sad and worried for the both of them, especially Shepard, but we are confident that things will change. Maybe not now, but eventually."
Kahlee: "Yes, I...I feel that way, too. I just know that they'll both pull through."
Miranda: "We all do….somehow."
Kahlee: "By the way, the commander's cousin stopped by a while ago. We had a nice chat. She's still worried about her cousin, but she's hanging there."
Garrus had shifted his eyes a little, he seemed almost concerned.
Liara: "Yes, we understand that. They are close, after all. By the way, how has she been doing?"
Kahlee: "She keeps busy, it's been her way of dealing with what had been happening. She's been meaning to meet with all of you again."
Garrus turned his head towards Kahlee, almost startled.
Liara: "We've also been looking forward to seeing her again. The admiral has made certain to keep her preoccupied as a way of keeping her mind off of...her cousin…."
Kahlee: "Yes, he really doesn't want her to worry too much about him. He's a good man."
Liara: "Indeed."
Tali: "I hope we really do have the chance to see her again. I would look forward to that."
Ashley: "Yeah, we all do."
Garrus dropped his head, almost saddened, Mordin kind of took notice of this.
Soon enough, they arrived at where Jack was.
Kahlee: "Here we are."
Upon arriving, they saw Jack teaching an entire class of teenagers.
Miranda: "Wow, she's just as dedicated to her students as always."
Kahlee: "That's right."
Miranda: "Hmm, I never thought I'd see the day when Jack would become an instructor to young adolescents, much less a good influence on them."
Tali: "Oh, don't start that again, Miranda."
Miranda: "What? It's the truth and you guys know it."
Tali: "Yeah, that may be, but that doesn't justify you being harsh about it."
Miranda: "Well, the truth can be harsh. I'm just saying as it is."
Tali: "Oh, Keelah, no wonder why the 2 of you still don't get along."
At that moment, Jack looked over and noticed them. She was almost startled to see them.
Jack: "Alright, everyone. That's enough for now. Let's take a break."
She stopped her lessons and walked over towards the group.
Ashley: "Good to see you again, Jack."
Jack: "Same to you, Williams. Still taking charge of the Normandy?"
Ashley: "Yes, it's….the least I can do…"
Jack: "Still not the same without Shepard, is it?"
Ashley: "No...I can never be Shepard, or even the ship and its crew the same way."
Jack: "So, don't be Shepard. You're doing fine."
Ashley let out a petite smile at Jack.
Ashley: "Thanks, Jack."
Jack smiled back. She then looked towards Miranda.
Jack: "Oh! You again? Since when did you start joining the Normandy?"
Miranda: "Since the recent events. And it's good to see you, too."
Jack: "Yeah, yeah, keep being smug, Cerberus cheerleader."
Liara: "Alright, break if off before you start getting into it again."
Jack: "Yeah, sure, whatever. So, I heard something about you guys bringing along a bunch of magical girls or whatever."
Ashley: "Yeah, we did, they're right here, actually."
She pointed her towards the girls.
Ashley: "This is Jewel, Flare, Star, Aera and Splash."
Jack took notice of the girls almost immediately. She seemed a little shocked as she saw them.
Jack: "Oh, my god….they're….so young."
A tense look grew on her face as she turned back towards her class.
Jack: "Listen up, everyone. I want all of you to be on your best behavior and treat these girls with respect. If I see any one of you so much as even glare at them, I have you receive a severe right up and report it to your parents. Is that understood!?"
Student: "Yes, ma'am! Wouldn't dream of it!"
Jack: "Good! You better not!"
Miranda: "Wow, I'm impressed. You really have become quite the mature adult figure of this school. I'm glad I was wrong about you not growing out of some of your crappy behavior."
Jack: "Hey! If you're going to give out a compliment, do it correctly!"
Miranda: "My compliments are still not sufficient to your standards?"
Jack: "Perhaps they would be if you didn't sound like you're still trying to insult me."
Aera: "That's enough. Do we need to separate you guys?"
Everyone looked at Aera, almost startled.
Miranda: "Hmm, you know, she's right. Let's stop this, for their sake."
Jack: "Yeah, fine, but only for them, not for you."
Miranda: "That's fine, I couldn't care any less about that."
Tali: "Not bad, Aera."
Ashley: "I have to admit, I couldn't have said it better myself."
Aera: "Yeah, well, I just couldn't stand seeing them go at it. I don't care about what squabbles they had in the past, I just wanted it to stop."
Tali: "Easier said than done."
Star: "So, shall we get on to talk about a few things? We heard that you've been very eager to meet us."
Jack: "Uh, yeah, absolutely. I heard about you girls, that you were some sort of magical beings like in anime or something."
Aera: "This again?"
Star: "I find it funny how we're being compared to fictional characters constantly, almost as though that's all they could understand about us."
Splash: "Yeah, in fact, if we didn't know any better, I would say that we're also…."
Aera: "Shut it, Splash!"
Jack: "Sorry, I'm not insulting you in any way, am I?"
Jewel: "Not at all, this is all brand new to us. The concept of "fiction" is so foriegn."
Garrus: "Really? You girls don't have any fictional stories being told in your realm?"
The girls exchanged looks with one another then looked at him or shook their heads.
Garrus: "No books?"
They shook their heads.
Garrus: "No shows? Or plays?"
They shook their heads again.
Garrus: "Not even bedtime stories?"
They shook their heads once again.
Garrus: "So, basically every story ever told to you guys in your realm? No fiction, at all?"
Star: "Nothing like that. In fact….we hardly ever have done anything involving storytelling."
Garrus: "No storytelling of any kind? That is really weird."
Liara: "I don't believe it. So, how do you guys entertain yourselves?"
Star: "Well….we live in a pretty interesting world. Some places are better than others. We have so many memories; some better than others."
Aera: "Oh, boy is that true?"
Garrus: "You do realize that telling about things that you remember is a form of storytelling, right?"
Star: "Huh, never really thought about it."
Aera: "The concept of stories in general is still very new to us, which, we know, us being a sort of "fairy tale" connects with you people and your "stories" and whatever."
Jack: "You girls are weird, but you know what? I like you already. I'm so glad to be meeting you."
Jewel: "Well….in spite of what we have been presented so far, we're glad to meet you, too. You really are trying to leave a good impression on us, which is more than I can say about many back at home."
Jack: "Hmm, is that so?"
The Normandy crew stared at the girls in a concerned manner. Garrus and Tali exchanged those same kinds of looks with each other.
Jack: "Well, some of us may not exactly be on good terms with each other, we'll be willing to do everything we can to remain on your good terms."
Jewel: "We appreciate that."
Flare: "Yes, indeed, we are grateful for your hospitality and how good you have been to us."
Star: "And don't worry about comparing us to your fairy tales. I'm sure that they will still be a learning experience for us."
Garrus: "That is just as much true for you as it is for us."
EDI: "It's clear we still have so much to learn about your realm. This truly taught us that there is still much that we haven't figured out about you girls or how your homes are like."
Liara: "Well, I think we'll be able to learn all that we can from those Intel Crystals from that jewelry box. At the moment, Glyph is still figuring out how to penetrate the data from within them and upload them to our computers."
Jewel: "He would only be able to learn so much from them remaining inactive."
EDI: "Some of the crew members back on the Normandy have offered to try and utilize those Intel Crystals. Data on their usage is already being analyzed. We should have figured out some things by the time we're done here."
Jewel: "Sounds good. Perhaps I'll finally be able to talk a lot about how our magical jewels work."
Flare smiled at her in a compassionate manner, almost as though she knew something.
Kahlee: "In the meantime, we still have so much to discuss while we make our way through this entire place."
Ashley: "Certainly. It's been a long time since we were here. In fact, this place was still being overrun by Cerberus the last time we were here, so I really would like to check out how much this place has recovered since then."
Kahlee: "I would be glad to let you have a look around. There is still much we haven't recovered from, but we have healed quite a lot."
Garrus: "So, how has Cerberus been doing after it's been disbanded?"
Miranda was heard laughing.
Kahlee: "Obviously, not very well, considering that it doesn't exist anymore."
Jack: "Good! The a******* had it coming for a long time!"
Ashley: "I couldn't agree more."
Splash: "Um...what was Cerberus?"
The crew members looked at Splash.
Ashley: "We'll talk about it as we make our way through here."
Jack: "No way you're leaving me out of this! I still have a lot about that corporation that I still want to complain about!"
Miranda: "Don't let us stop you. It's probably the only thing that we would agree on."
Jack: "Yeah, you may be right about that, Cerberus cheerleader!"
Miranda: "Ex-Cerberus, mind you and it's been like that since before they disbanded."
They walked out of the chamber and continued on.
Jack: "I'd like to believe that Shepard played a huge part in that."
Miranda: "True, but I don't think he deserves all the credit."
Jack: "Surprisingly, I also don't believe that."
They continued on through the place, looking around, going from one section of the school to another.
Ashley: "Wow, I really have to admit that I'm impressed."
Kahlee: "Yes, it has been a hard road, but the students and their families have supported us throughout all of this."
Miranda: "I'm really sorry for what had happened here. I know I had no part in it, but being that I used to work for Cerberus, I can't have but feel partially responsible for what they did."
Kahlee: "No need, Miranda. I'm just glad that you were able to leave that corporation."
Miranda: "I admit, I knew about their shady past, but they did help me out of my horrible predicament and living situation, so I felt like I had to return the favor."
Ashley: "I would hold it against you if I wasn't aware that you felt you needed to owe them. Despite some of the good that Cerberus did, it barely did anything to justify a lot of the horrible things that they did."
Tali: "Oh, I can get behind that 100%."
Jack: "You and me both, Tali, but no one knows that better than I do."
Tali: "Oh, I'm very well aware of that."
Star: "So, what was Cerberus?"
Ashley: "Cerberus was a corporation run by humans."
EDI: "Their goal was to enhance human ingenuity in all fields in technology."
Miranda: "It was meant to be the human equivalence of special groups formed by aliens, such as the salarian's Special Tasks Group. We intended to advance ourselves just as quickly and efficiently as all the alien groups."
Ashley: "Unfortunately, the corporation, itself, developed a bad reputation amongst aliens and other humans and for a lot of good reasons. They did a lot of terrible things. Even the Alliance greatly detested them."
Splash: "What kind of horrible things did they do?"
Garrus: "They performed a lot of sick and cruel experiments on aliens. They were hardly above abducting or even murdering and their cruel experiments weren't even limited on aliens. They did a lot of terrible things to other humans as well."
Ashley: "Which was exactly why the Alliance never liked them."
Garrus: "They were also seen as terrorists because a lot of their actions pretty much made them exactly that."
Jack: "They were also not above experimenting on kids. I should know; I was one of them!"
Flare: "Wow, all of that sounded terrible. No wonder why they developed such a horrible reputation."
Star: "But why did they do such terrible things if they were meant to enhance ingenuity?"
Tali: "Because the man who ran it was a terrible sociopath."
Miranda: "Cerberus was run by a man who we have addressed as the Illusive Man. There was a lot about him that not many knew about. His past is a complete mystery; no one even knew his real name."
Aera: "And yet, there were people who were willing to follow this man."
Jewel forged another jewel in her hand.
Ashley: "Yes, who were xenophobic towards alien, hence why they would work under him. Although some joined because they wanted to enhance human ingenuity. I. myself, wasn't exactly fond of aliens, but I would never work with a group who was known for terrorism, especially towards other humans."
Flare: "I never would have guessed."
Kahlee: "Thankfully, the corporation, itself, has completely disbanded after the Illusive Man was killed near the end of the Reaper war."
Garrus: "Thank goodness. The b****** couldn't die soon enough."
Miranda: "But not before some of us left, myself and Jacob included."
Star: "Jacob seems like such a nice guy. Why would he join Cerberus?"
Miranda: "Perhaps you should ask him, yourself, Star. I'm sure he would love to tell you everything."
Star: "OK, I'll do just that."
Jewel: "Hmm….."
She seemed displeased as she looked into the jewel in her hand.
Star: "So, Jack, you sound as though you hold a serious grudge against Cerberus. Perhaps you would like to tell us what they did to you that made you so angry."
Jack: "To say that I hold a grudge against them would be putting it far too lightly. I was held at a facility on Pragia when I was a little girl. Throughout most of my stay there, I was kept in a cell. I was drugged, tortured, experimented on, everyone there hated me. The doctors, the other kids."
Star: "There were other kids there!?"
Jack: "Yes! Like I said, Cerberus was not above experimenting on kids. Also, a lot of those kids weren't obtained legitimately and many of them died under their "care"."
Flare: "How horrible…..!"
Jack: "Some died while being imported, others died during a lot of their cruel experiments."
Aera: "All of this was done privately, I presume."
Ashley: "Pragia isn't exactly a well-populated planet, so it would be a great place to build a private facility away from the public and law enforcers."
Aera: "That does make perfect sense."
Star: "Your thoughts on this, Dr. Solus?"
Mordin: "Horrible! Unacceptable! Inhumane! Such practices truly heinous, especially towards children!"
Garrus: "Yeah, a lot of this is illegal for a good reason."
Aera: "Heh! That would be apparent."
Jewel: "I wonder what everyone back at home would think of this."
Liara: "They would be greatly appalled to hear this, wouldn't they?"
Jewel turned her eyes to to her left with a displeased look on her face.
Jewel: "Some would…."
Liara looked at her in a concerned manner.
Splash: "Wow, I can't believe that happened to you."
Star: "But why did they experiment on all those children?"
Jack: "They were trying to forge a powerful biotic. I was their main test subject and tried to make me the most powerful biotic that they could ever conceive."
Aera: "I bet that backfired horribly."
Jack: "Damn right it did! I killed those b*******, every single one of them. Left that place with barely any survivors."
Splash: "Oh, how horrible….!"
Star: "Including the children!?"
Jack: "Yep, not like they gave me a choice, it was either me or them and it was pretty much everyone for themselves."
Aera: "I can't say I approve of what you did, but I can't really blame you, either. You were in a horrible place where horrible things were done to you."
Splash: "I don't know what we would have done if we were in that kind of position."
Aera: "And I thought we had rough childhoods."
Star: "Yeah, even mine seems lenient in comparison, but it still wasn't an easy one and I still won't stop complaining about it."
Aera: "Complain away, Star. You have every right to after the crap that you had to deal with."
Star: "Gladly."
Jack: "Umm….what's with her?"
Liara: "We have a reason to believe that she had a difficult past but neither she nor her friends disclosed what she had been through, not yet."
Ashley: "So far, they usually just sulk and vaguely give out their experiences."
Garrus: "We have our suspicions of the kind of things that go on back at their home, things that lead us to believe that their lives haven't exactly been happy ones."
Liara: "From what we can tell, their experiences have been too painful for them to disclose to us."
Jack: "Huh, is that right? Well…..I'll do whatever I can for them. My past may be far worse than what they've been through, but that doesn't make theirs seem truly better."
Miranda: "They would appreciate that very much. We must also really put forth the effort to do what we must for them, even if it makes neither of us happy."
Jack sulked for a bit.
Jack: "Yeah….I think I can do that…."
Both women smiled at each other.
Star: "So...mind telling me what they did here that you guys are still "recovering" from?"
Kahlee: "Cerberus invasion. They attempted to abduct the students here."
Jewel: "Why would they do that?"
Jack: "The same reason why they were so interested in me. Some of the students here are biotics."
Aera: "Biotics!? Really? Some of these students are biotics?"
Kahlee: "Of course, biotics are always welcome to be part of this school. We even have special courses for such students. When Jack became part of our academy, she has been a wonderful instructor many of our biotics as well as a terrific role-model."
Miranda: "Which was surprising, given her...shady past."
Star: "Her past as a Cerberus test subject?"
Miranda: "Not necessarily. Before we met Jack, she was a criminal who had committed countless crimes throughout the entire galaxy. Not that we're faulting her on that."
Jack: "Yeah, thanks for keeping it subtle."
Miranda: "My pleasure."
Kahlee: "We are very well aware of Jack's criminal past, but when she became a part of this school, it has served as a character-building experience from her."
Garrus: "Heh! No kidding, when we first met her, we extracted her from the Purgatory. That...was an interesting mission."
Star: "Because Jack was jailed?"
Garrus: "That and the facility was...less than decent."
Aera: "I'd love to hear that story later."
Jack: "I admit, I was displeased with you guys wanting me to join your crew, especially since your ship was owned by Cerberus, but...it was the best thing to have ever happened to me."
Miranda: "So glad we actually did something good for you. You distrustfulness towards us was a little unnerving but completely understandable, given your past."
Jack: "You've got that right, sweetie."
Aera: "And the story continues."
Kahlee: "So...how has the search for answers regarding these...strange occurrences going?"
Liara: "There's still much we don't know, not yet."
Ashley: "Yes, but...we've managed to hit a huge dent in all of this."
Kahlee: "What? You've found out a lot about what's been happening?"
Liara: "Yes, and it's all thanks to these girls."
Kahlee: "How so?"
Ashley: "Upon their arrival here, they provided us with a vital clue to this mystery."
Liara: "Yes, one such that is in the form of their magical powers."
Jack: "Um...sorry, I don't understand what that means."
Miranda: "Well, we already informed you guys that Mordin had been asked to look into this mystery as soon as he woke from his coma."
Jack: "Yeah and no doubt him being alive is part of that mystery."
Ashley: "After he analyzed the girls' magical powers, he found out something very shocking."
Liara: "And it is very much connected to the mysterious readings that have been showing up throughout the entire galaxy."
EDI: "Thanks to these findings, we made a very crucial discovery; that these magical readings consisted of magical energy."
Jack: "Magic? You mean magic is actually real?"
Liara: "Yes, very much real and there is no doubt that they have been responsible for the mysterious, miraculous survivals."
Jack: "Whoa...! No way! Is this all true?"
Miranda: "Yes, very much, although there is still much we don't know, there is no doubt that magic had something to do with those survivals. How and why is still something that we haven't found out yet."
Jack: "So, magic had been what's been saving so many of those people. I wonder why it's happening now."
Miranda: "That we still don't know, but we will find answers to many of those questions. There's still much that we can't uncover with just the discovery of magic."
EDI: "Indeed, such a miraculous phenomenon could have easily prevented the Reaper invasion long before the start of the first one."
Garrus: "But we all know how that turned out."
Liara: "Indeed."
Tali: "So, yeah, there is still much more to this mystery."
Jack: "You don't need to convince me of that."
Kahlee: "Yes, that much is true...it...it's just so hard to think about...everything that's been going on, how they turned out and why they haven't any other way. I really hope we do find the answers to all of this."
Ashley: "Yeah, I'd like that, too.
Everyone became silent as they lamented about this.
Kahlee: "In the meantime, is there anything you would like from us?"
Liara: "If it would be OK, we would like to have the girls enrolled here as honorary students."
Kahlee: "For what? Not many of us know much about these girls or their...magical powers."
Liara: "That's no problem, we can provide you with all that we were able to find out. It can help teach us about how we can help enhance and improve their powers."
Jewel: "Are you sure about that?"
Ashley: "Well, it's just a thought, the Normandy isn't exactly an ideal place to help train you girls with your powers. This school can provide us with more materials and resources to help with that."
Star: "But...we want to stay on the Normandy with you guys, with Dr. Solus."
Miranda: "Not to worry, this is just another option aside from the Normandy. Also, no need to worry about Mordin. He will stay by you at all times during your training."
Mordin: "Indeed, will need to stay to monitor your training and collect intel on your powers."
Star: "Really!? You would!? Oh, thank goodness! Nothing would make me happier than that!"
Jack was seen weirded out by Star.
Jack: "Geez, I really would want to hear her story."
Garrus: "We all do, although….I'm sure if I actually would want to…"
Star: "Now then, shall we get started on giving you guys a crash course?"
Jack: "Hell, yeah! I really want to see your powers and see what you...uh...magical girls can do."
Star: "That won't be a problem! We've been itching to display our powers for a bit now."
Aera: "Let's not try to overdue it. Remember, you'll impress the doc just fine without trying too hard."
Star: "Get off my back with that, Aera."
Jewel: "Well...if that's what you feel we should do, then I guess we can do that. We can come here as much as we need to and we look forward to working with a school system that would actually…."
Just then, she was instantly startled by something as she looked nearly behind her.
Jewel: "Oh, no!"
She and her friends rushed off in another direction, everyone else followed after her.