Initiatives
The day had barely started and Jak wanted it over and done with already. The facility, more properly known as Singer Psychiatric Hospital, was a known quantity in Jak's life and had been for the last two years. He hadn't wanted to come here, but the Veterans Affairs people had insisted and finally, he had given in. It wasn't a bad place at all, and most of the time, he was content with his life, if uncomfortable with some of it. The bed wetting came high on that list. The doctors and nurses here really wanted to make a difference and for many, they did. Kooper in particular was getting better. Jak figured that the sergeant would be leaving in a few months and get back to work, maybe not as a Drill Instructor again, but as something Alliance related. Jak didn't have that choice.
What had been done to Jak had hurt him on a fundamental level. He wasn't cognitively impaired, instead his hurts were mostly physical with dreams that left him a wreck and the odd waking flashback. His fine motor control had taken a serious hit from what the slavers had done to him. Add to that the potential for seizures and he was never going to fly again. No one wanted a pilot who might have a seizure in mid-flight after all. He had only had them when his meds were out of whack, but he had endured them. Luckily, he had never started drinking, but it had only been a matter of time.
Jak's life hadn't been a lot of fun even before the slavers. He hadn't had a family, instead growing up on the dirty, smelly downside streets of Earth. His life prior to the Alliance had been a long string of petty crimes that had culminated in the colossal stupidity of trying to rob a recruiting center with a small gang. Looking back, Jak had to scoff at his naivete. He had seen the uniforms, the clean bodies and with his 'hombres', had assumed the Alliance soldiers were weak. Big mistake.
When he had woken on the pavement outside the recruiting center, after being soundly thrashed by the smallest and slightest of the recruiters and literally tossed out like garbage, Jak had undergone an epiphany. His gang had run away, those who were conscious. The smallest of the recruiters -a girl no less!- had resoundingly trashed five big strapping toughs and hadn't broken a sweat doing it. He wanted to be like that. That confident, that capable, that everything. He had dusted himself off, gone back in, apologized for his stupidity and asked for information. The recruiters had been less than enthused, but the girl who had tossed him and his fellows about like ragdolls had taken pity on him. She had answered his questions, all of them. He had signed up on the spot.
Only afterward did he realize that only a fool would send weak or spineless people to man a recruiting center in the slums of Old Madrid. He had found out much later that the little girl who had trashed his gang was an Olympic finalist in martial arts as well as a decorated combat veteran. It had not surprised him. What had surprised him was that she had not killed any of his compatriots. She could have far more easily. In the course of Alliance training, he found himself pushed to his limits and beyond more than once. He had excelled in training and been pushed into flight school. Truthfully, he had never looked back, never once gone back to Earth after leaving.
But not even Alliance training could have prepared him for what he had gone through after being captured just before the Skyllian Blitz. It was a wonder he had survived what he had and often, Jak wondered why he had.
Jak finished his breakfast and put the tray in the pile to be cleaned, separating the utensils carefully out of habit. Lara looked up from where she was eating with the girls, but she was only halfway through her meal and no matter her wishes, the docs insisted she eat. She was not the half starved wreck she had been when she had arrived, but she was still underweight. Jak smiled as Talitha, her roommate, pushed her to continue eating. The two girls had banded together over shared horrors, and they were inseparable generally. Not every patient here was allowed to have a roommate, but both Talitha and Lara were better for it. Talitha hadn't been alone since being rescued. She had been taken in a batarian raid on Mindoir and had spent sixteen years as a slave. She really needed the focus. Lara couldn't talk, but her heart was in the right place. Both girls looked out for the other and they were both making progress. He paused as Talitha looked at him. She smiled a little hesitantly and nodded before returning to her meal. She wasn't very good with people yet, but she did help Lara and that was a good thing.
Jak started for the door and paused a Doctor Kassidy appeared in it. The man nodded to him and made a head gesture at the door. The room was loud enough with fifty people eating that conversation was essentially pointless even if it wasn't private. Kassidy was a good one, a civilian but with the soul of a drill sergeant. He oversaw the physical well being of everyone present in the facility and he brooked no trespass when it came to their health. At the same time, he made allowances for many of the patients. It made no sense for someone like Talitha to try and match Jak's level of stamina, for instance. The girl was tough and wiry, no question, but she didn't have his endurance or training. The fact that she had survived being enslaved at size years old spoke volumes for her determination and grit, but she wasn't physically capable of what Jak was. She never would be.
"Doc." Jak said quietly as Kassidy led him out of what Jak always called the mess hall.
"You going like that?" Kassidy's dark eyes held no reproof, simply curiosity. Jak looked down at his robe and sighed.
"It is this or my uniform, doc and I don't feel right wearing that." Jak admitted. He glanced back at the mess hall where Ensign Sinclair said in a fairly faithful reproduction of a British Admiral's uniform from the Napoleonic Wars. He stifled a wince but the doc had sharp eyes.
"You are not like him. They didn't formally discharge you. You are on special assignment" Kassidy's tone held no censure at all and the Jak appreciated that. His life was hard enough at times. "You have the right to wear it still."
"I am not on a special assignment, all I am is in limbo waiting for them to get the paperwork done so they can boot me out." Jak said more or less automatically and then flushed. "Sorry, had a bad night. I am out of sorts. Didn't feel like wearing my civvies. Not that I have many civilian clothes."
"At least you travel light." Kassidy smiled and Jak had to smile with him. A few of the patients in the place had arrived with luggage, some of them with a lot of luggage. By contrast, Jak's small bag had taken up half of a locker. He had filled the other lockers since with stuff.
"Never had much and you learn to keep your travel allowances small." Jak agreed. "What is the deal? Any idea why this bigwig is here?"
"No." Kassidy shook his head. "Thing is, I did a little research when he arrived. His name is Alec Ryder and he was an N7."
"Wait." Jak stopped in midstep. "Alec Ryder? The Ryder that was with Grissom? That Alec Ryder?"
"Yeah." Kassidy made a face. "Apparently, he made some messes and was kicked out of the Alliance. Not sure why."
"I heard some rumors, but they didn't make any sense." Jak admitted. "Not that rumors ever make much sense." Kassidy smiled at that and Jak continued. "He was... I mean, the man was a bit of a legend in the forces. One of the first N7s, one of the first humans through a mass relay, one of the first humans to meet an alien, -he survived the First Contact War for god's sake!- and then, one of the first military people assigned to the Citadel, always the first to go and see things…" He paused. "I don't know much more than that. There was a bunch of talk about why he got the boot, but nothing specific."
"That is pretty much all that is on the extranet too." Kassidy shook his head. "So whatever this is, it isn't public. Do you think it could be some kind of off the books Alliance operation?" Jak thought about that for a moment and then shook his head.
"No." Jak said firmly. "You don't use someone that well known for black ops. He might be used as a front man for such, but if half of what I have heard about Alec Ryder is true, trying to use that man as a patsy would hurt. A lot."
"So you have no idea why he is here." Kassidy mused as he started off again.
"Nope." Jak shrugged. "No idea why he wants to talk to a pilot who can't pilot anymore."
"You are making solid progress, Lieutenant." Kassidy said with a nod. "Far better than some here. You have already been a month and a half without a seizure."
"I wet the fricking bed last night, Doc." Jak said sourly. Kassidy did not comment. "I know it was reaction to the memories. But… Damn, I wish they could just wipe the bad ones and leave me the rest."
"You and me both sometimes." Jak looked at the doc and the older human looked worn and tired for a moment. Jak didn't bother with pithy comments or anything. He just nodded.
"Anyone have any idea why Lara fixated on me?" Jak asked as they walked. "I mean, I don't mind her fawning on me. Much." He made a face as the doc chuckled. "Laugh it up, doc. I ain't touching her. She looks like jailbait no matter what anyone says her real age is. I saw girls her age turning tricks on the streets of Lower Madrid when I was a kid and I wouldn't touch them then. Certainly not going to touch her now." He shook his head. "Damn slavers."
"Agreed." Kassidy said with a grunt. He nodded to the door. "You want me inside? He wants to talk to each person alone, but the rules say no."
"I doubt he is here to kill me, doc." Jak smirked at the doc's expression. "Most of what I have heard about him says he is a straight shooter. Then again, I have been out of the loop. Come on in, if he asks you to leave, I will decide then if I want to hear him out or not."
"Fair enough." The doc replied and led the way into the room.
The room wasn't very large. It was designed for conferences between doctors and comfort was a distinct second place to efficiency. A small table with a set of holo projectors, a series of chairs around said table and not much else. The only concession to life was a coffee maker set on a small table that was built into the wall. As Jak walked in, he saw a stranger in a not-quite-a-uniform fiddling with the machine. The man turned and Jak fought hard not to brace to attention. It was him.
Alec Ryder looked old.
That was Jak's first thought. His second was that in no way, at no time, did he ever want to mess with this man. The N7 on Ryder's chest was almost insignificant next to the man's sheer presence. Ryder was not visibly armed. Indeed, he held only a cup of coffee. But the man radiated competence and ability. Jak had known more than a few like that, hung out with more than a few like that when he had been with the Alliance, bad asses all. Ryder didn't look like a loud one and that frankly scared Jak. There were few things worse than the quiet bad asses. People who went 'bump' in the night were not supposed to be like-able, after all. That wasn't their job.
"Want some?" Ryder nodded to the coffee maker.
"No, thank you, sir." The 'Sir' came automatically to Jak's lips and he took refuge in the formality.
"I will take a cup." Kassidy said with a nod. Ryder nodded back and worked the machine again. He was good with it. In moments, he had a cup and extended it to the doc who took it. Ryder waved a hand at the pile of sweeteners and such nearby and the doc shook his head. "I need the jolt. Long night last night."
"I know the feeling." Ryder smiled a bit sadly. "I am not nineteen anymore either." Jak felt his eyes widen and Ryder shook his head. "It happens to us all no matter our wishes." He shook his head. "I understand why the doc is here and frankly? I applaud it. You have been through hell, Lieutenant and you are still going through it. I bet you have a million questions, Lieutenant. I have only one for you. If you had a chance to go forward, to find a new way to live. Would you take it?'
"Sir?" Jak asked carefully. "I do not understand."
"I am putting together a team for a long term expedition." Ryder replied. "Your name came up on our list of potential pilots." Jak stiffened and he could see Kassidy stiffen as well.
"Is that a joke, sir?" Jak fought hard to keep his voice level.
"No." Ryder did not react to Jak's sudden tension. Indeed, he took a sip of his coffee.
"Unless you are completely blind, sir." This time, the 'sir' came out bitterly. Jak fought hard to step on his temper and succeeded. Mostly. "This is as psychiatric hospital. Are you trying to get admitted too?" He was not expecting Ryder to laugh. Jak stared at the older man. "Sir?"
"Son, I have been called insane more times than I can possibly remember." Ryder was smiling a bit wistfully. "My first drill instructor said I would get my ass handed to me, because my head was in the clouds so much." He shook his head. "Now, I am not saying it would easy, or it would even work, but there is a possibility. Would you take it?"
"What kind of possibility?" That wasn't Jak's voice, was it? There was no way he could be so calm, not after so long as this half crippled thing that remembered being a pilot and soldier. Then he jerked. He hadn't spoken. Kassidy had. Jak was so fuddled that he hadn't even realized he hadn't been the one speaking.
"It is experimental and involves a brain implant." Ryder said with a small frown. "I will not sugar coat it. There is an element of risk involved. It is also proprietary, so the ones who hold the technology do not want to let it out until they can be sure no one will steal it."
"If they can help people like Lieutenant Collains..." Kassidy breathed and then paused. "Oh no… No." He paled. "You cannot even think that!"
"Doc." Ryder raised a hand. "I am just a soldier. I don't understand all of the medical jargon." He scoffed. "Hell, I don't understand half of it.
"Doc?" Jak asked slowly and carefully. Kassidy for his part was glaring at Ryder who seemed unfazed. "Doc? What is the problem?"
"The problem is that the damage to your brain was caused by an implant." Kassidy did not -quite- snarl that.
"Yeah." Jak said a bit dubiously. "The slaver implant hit my piloting one when it was put in and both shorted. I remember that." He shivered. "Too vividly actually."
"There have been experiments with VI implants." Kassidy said with a scowl worthy of a krogan. "President Huerta was only the highest profile of those." Jak looked at him and Kassidy made a face. "You didn't hear?" Jak shook his head and the doc sighed. "Christopher Huerta was diagnosed with a terminal disease. It was..." He paused and shook his head. "In layman's terms, it made his body shut down." Jak nodded in understanding.
"So the VI was running his body." Jak mused. Ryder and Kassidy both nodded. Ryder looked calm, Kassidy angry. "And that is what you would want for me?"
"No." Ryder replied, taking another sip. "But I cannot say what it is until and unless you sign a Non Disclosure Agreement. There is far too much at stake right now."
"You were kicked out of the Alliance for AI research." Kassidy said suddenly. Jak stared from him to Ryder and back. "I remember that although the specifics were vague."
"People drew the wrong conclusions and got upset." Ryder took another sip. "Nothing new there."
"You want to stick an AI in my head?" Jak demanded.
"No." Ryder replied. "The AI that I designed wouldn't have worked for you. However, there have been advances in support implants for people with PTSD and other such illnesses. The group I am involved with has accelerated research into such things."
"That is illegal." Kassidy said softly.
"Not where we are going." Ryder retorted. "Here? Yes. But they won't be used here, so it isn't technically illegal. Believe me, when they brought me onboard, they looked into the law of such things, as murky as it is. It is legal and if we can help the Lieutenant here? All the better."
"You cannot help me." Jak said flatly, turning for the door.
"As long as you believe that, Lieutenant, it will be true." Ryder said as Jak left the room. "I will leave my contact information if you change your mind."
"Fat chance of that..."