CHAPTER #7

Author's Note: This, I think, is the longest chapter. Consider it a comeback. For the break I took. This, I wanna say, is my interpretation of BAaTT based on what we heard on the game and heard from Kaidan. I haven't read the comics. So, sorry if some differences bum you out.

After that, I was escorted towards my room, by two armed turians, the air seemingly colder the deeper we went into the maze. I kept quiet, following my plan of inconspicuousness, though something told me that, even if I tried to initiate conversation, it would go nowhere. One push inside and the doors were locked behind me. I suppose it is more effective than telling a teenager a bunch of curfew rules and then expect her to follow them. I tried to map the place as best I could with them stopping me from looking anywhere but forward, but I knew one way to the airlock, and that was enough for now.

Not dropping the act, I took a look around my surroundings. A single thin bed with drawers underneath, a data-pad on a table with one chair, and a door to what I assumed was the bathroom. The rest were metal walls, and a light switch. Full-blown military grade, there was no doubt about that. With that, I confirmed there were no cameras and dropped the uncertain little face, instead flopping down into the bed and taking a little tired breath, distractedly noting the softness of the bed. I almost made a small, private snarky comment to myself but I knew from experience sound devices were much smaller, and much easier to hide.

Coming over with food bags on my hands, having offered after the smell of alcohol became too much. Stopping short, my heart beat rose, and there I saw my friends being apprehended by the police, one on the floor bleeding, no-one seeming to care. In truth, I didn't know them long. But they had given me a bed since I escaped the orphanage, asked for nothing but to stay out of the way. I saw Sara screaming in rage as they forced her into the police car, Thomas pressed against the floor as he struggled uselessly. No. No. No. No-no-no-no-no-"Nnn-!" I felt a hand cover my mouth. Fight. Scratch the hands, the arms, stomp your feet to the floor, don't get dragged. Don't get dragged. "Shut up girl, it's for ya' own good!" said the voice, once around the corner hiding me in the shadows. "I will let go, don't scream, don't run." I gasped, deep pants, wide eyes, turning to see a man twice my size. "You can do nough for your palls, girl." Said the man, hands on hips. "Too small a thing, too weak. Were I a sick mother-fucker, this woul' be a different, easy endeavor."

I shook my head in outrage. "But they- I can't just-"

"Thinking like that, you won't last long. Come, girl, and don't be stupid." He said, hand on my shoulder, dragged me again, this time back around the corner, hand tightening when they came into view. "I live around, and by my accounts, there live five people in that apartment of yours. One is half dead, one is you, two now under custody. Pray tell, who's the one missing?" I squinted up at him, unsure what he wanted to say but answering nonetheless. "Thomases' brother, um- Joseph?" Came my reply. He was silent for a moment, before looking down at me, meeting my eyes. "You just say 'Thomas's brother' girl, now look." He gestured with his head. And there he was: Joseph came out of the building, patting an officer in the back. I frowned. "Confused girl?" I heard the man, his voice almost in the background. "He is working for them, exposed them with evidence, most likely." He explained. I saw the officer turn and hand him something, Joseph looked down at it, shifted it, and its shadow became recognizable as money. "But his brother…" I silently exclaimed. "You don't trust nobody, girl, heck, you shouldn't trust me." He said, and then murmured as an afterthought. "If you were slightly more important and if I was offered whatever I'd take you to the next police station." I saw Joseph take out something from under his shirt, presenting it towards the officer. "What's that?" I asked, as the man held it between his thumb and forefinger. "A listening devise." So tiny, I thought, smaller than the tip of his finger.

"Now come girl, lest he looks over here." He pulled me behind the corner again. I took the opportunity to pick up the food bag, having dropped them when the man stopped me from getting involved, clutching the plastic as the life-line I just knew they had become. I was alone again. Once in the shadows, he looked at me. I was weighting how long I could make the bags last. "Girl?"

I looked up. "Yeah?"

"How old are you?"

"12 now." I answered.

He raised an eyebrow. "Twelve now?"

"I mean…my birthday was yesterday." I explained, and he nodded, looked me up and down. "And your name?" I raised my head, then, knowing the usual reaction to my unusual forename. "Prinle." He smiled then, an amused expression coming on immediately. Then, he registered my eyes, daring him to comment, and whatever he was going to say was toned down to "that's a new one." I felt my shoulders sag a little, relieved. The guys- the guys that had just been taken- they had laughed at it. I had not truly cared, but they made so much fun of it, at random times, it seemed inappropriate not to address the house keepers every time, as annoying as it had become. "Well, Princess, you don't look twelve, you look ten. Sure you've hit puberty yet?" And that, was how I met Kein. After that, he took care of me, said it was because it was convenient, and truth be told, I never doubted it for a second. I would do his chores, clean the house, but there was a bond there. He taught me a lot, much of which I ignored. But I knew we truly cared for each other the day my biotics surfaced, it seemed puberty was not the only thing that I hit late. Around the same time, I was looking more of a woman and less of a girl, and he used that to take my mind off things, flirting with me in what I knew was as harmless as my actual dad flirting with me. After all, mom's lost ramblings never hid how he was actually, truly, and forever a good guy. Maybe that was why I felt a need to be polite, back then.

But Kein always told me, maybe in a contradictory act, that as much as it may hurt him, his main rule and responsibility, would always be to himself. The day it did not benefit him to protect me, or simply have me around, the first thing I should do, is scratch him off the list of people I can count on.

And I guess the day of… "the incident" was as much proof of that as ever.

I breathed in, realizing memories and a bit of melancholy had taken over me. What was I, an old wrinkly man in remembrance of old loves and broken hearts? I was too young to be like this. Back in the present and curious, I decided to see what exactly I was allowed to do. I reached for the data-pad, thankful that the desk was right beside the bed and I needn't stand up, and tapped on it. The first thing that appeared was a message in bold letters:

THE STATION TIME IS EQUIVALENT TO 11:20pm ON EARTH. SLEEP IS RECOMMENDED.

I tapped on the screen again expecting the message to go away. It didn't. "Seriously?" escaped from my lips, unhelpful, unnecessary, disobedient. But in all honesty, this was one thing I expected never to encounter with my lack of family quality, strict bedtime. I threw the data-pad back towards the table without thinking, it clanked, slid across the surface to the very edge, but it didn't fall off. I rolled on the bed so I was across it, my head hanging off the side, and opened the drawers.

The first one had identical shirts with the same pattern, the first row were turtle necks with long sleeves, the second short sleeves and the third long sleeves without turtle necks.

The drawer next to that one had thick pants, long shorts, and knee high skirts.

The drawer under it made me wonder if anyone blushed, sports underwear and normal underwear laid out in order of size.

The other under drawer had sport white shoes, and formal black shoes. With the exception of this one, all the others were filled with the exact same color scheme: dark blue, white blue, gray blue, some back.

Yup, there was no escaping the monster that was Alliance military influence.

With nothing left to do, except explore the bathroom, I rolled up in the thin sheets, and as always, my mind decided it wanted to bother me until I found the perfect conditions of sleep. I ended up with the turtle neck, curled into a corner of the bed, and my face completely exposed.

….Thruuuuu….…..Thruuuuu….…..….Thruuuuu…

I felt the call of awareness calling me, and I turned my face towards the mattress, preferring the heat despite the obstruction of air. Reality waited civilly outside my ear for a few seconds, permitting me my privacy, before jumping in, impatient. I just like that, I passed from enjoying the blissfulness of one who sleeps, to shooting up into a sitting position. It took me a moment, but eventually I focused on the thing that vibrated with such diligence. It was lucky; the tremors had taken it to the center of the table, as opposed to helping it fall off. Leaning over, I tapped the black screen of the data-pad that was not winning over my affections. And again, I was greeted by a message, almost like a memo at this point.

YOU HAVE 00:26:19 MINUTES BEFORE TRAINING BEGINS.

I watched the seconds count down to fourteen, slowly coming to terms to the fact that I had submitted myself to routine. Then, I jumped out of bed, without giving myself a moment to lazy back under the sheets. The shower had pretty straight forward controls, and I relished the moment when I picked up the shampoo knowing no one would be angry 'cause I took a tad much. And then, I opened the curtain, reaching for the towel for I had the bad habit of forgetting to leave it hanging close by when a painfully different spot came into view from my reflection. There, on the left side of the abdomen, was a strangely shaped ball. Suddenly not caring about dirt on my feet after having just bathed, I towards the counter and sat on it with my legs to the side to examine the circle. It was my biggest scar, a record, and it was somewhere rather appropriate for a scar. In this kind of situation, I would be cheering, but this was not a long, thin, elegant scar. This was a ball, no… a… disk? Broken disk it would be, so not that… a planet. The round outline was eerily close to perfect, and within, it was a whole landscape of its own. There is the mountain, there is the river, there is the valley, and there is the Everest. Knowing from treatment that my memory did not deceive me, and the thing had actually gone through, I turned around. I was way past wondering what kind of miracle workers were the doctors. In my back, I found half the circle, with much less terrain inside. So, the cursed thing hadn't broken, in just fell off from its place intact in order to impale me with maximum damage, so charming. I narrowed my eyes at it, suddenly feeling like I had to compare it to something now that I had done so with its brother. Come to think of it, it did look like a half "moon!" A smile broke through my face. Moon and Half Moon, now they had names. With new found fondness, I stepped down, began drying myself and putting on underwear while admiring the new marks of my body. And then "thruuuuu…. Thruuuuu…" the data-pad called. Running into my room, now with slippers, I tapped the screen.

FIVE MINUTE WARNING.

Oh, how kind of them, I chuckled. And confident I could work with that, I threw on the warmest shirt from the collection. That is turtle-neck and long sleeve. Then I hesitated. Then used the method of elimination.

Skirts, never.

Shorts, kind of ridiculous with what I had chosen.

Pants it was. Sport shoes, I'm set.

As I came out, to find, of course, two turian guards, different from the ones from yesterday, I looked at them to figure out the direction. And they began walking. Yeah, ok, so, school was a very limited experience for me, but I knew I didn't want to be there late. So no. I jogged, and they were forced to do so too to keep up with me and directions. Finally, they stopped at either side of a door, and I came through. The first thing I recognized was a Turian with his back to me, in better armor than the rest, standing stiff and with his talons clasped behind his back, somewhere in my mind the thought of some things carried across species came through. And then, I saw them. A whole bunch of kids, or well, teens, fellow teens, I often forgot I wasn't that old myself. All together on the other side of the classroom, at least ten of them with scared looks on their faces, and behind them, a big, thick door.

They had come in a group.

"Today we have a new trainee." Announced the turian.

It was impossible for every single one of them to have an escort, it was simply not practical.

The turian looked behind him. "Shepard."

They must have come from adjacent rooms, not isolated.

"Step forward." He ordered, and I did, until I was beside him, with a meter of separation.

It meant I was already picked apart. I did not know why, but I knew my plan was not going to work.

He turned towards me, I faced him too. "Listen, human…"

I couldn't rely on the organizers or teachers or anyone in charge to lower their guard around me.

"I am your trainer. I am Commander Vyrnnus, and that…"

If I couldn't get them on my side, it meant I needed my fellow students on mine.

"…is how you will refer to me. You will not speak during training, and you will follow orders."

Which meant…

"If you wonder about me, simply put,"

…I was going to have fun.

"I was at the helm of the dreadnought that killed your father." He stated maliciously.

And I smirked. "Really? I thought he died on a car crash, Commander, but you have opened my eyes." I said, mockingly, joyfully, eyes wide in pretend surprise. Instantly, I heard the muffled chuckles, the intakes of air, and one, scared, little feminine gasp.

Author's Note: Uh Oh.

Anyway, guys, what ya' think? I wanna know. I have to admit, I have truly enjoyed writing this chapter. Which is part of the reason it is so long. I have not checked it, so if you noted an inconsistency, please, PM me on it.