Disclaimer: I do not own or make any claim to the Mass Effect universe or the characters contained in this story, all of which are owned by BioWare and Electronic Arts.
Redemption: Come What May
Chapter 1: And so it begins...
Arcturus Station, Barton Medical Clinic (January 18, 2159, 1320 Hours, Station Time):
"Drake and Hannah Shepard, please continue down the corridor to Room C-8; Doctor Han has the test results for you to review," the synthesised voice of the clinic's VI came over the PA in the waiting room.
Humanity was still experimenting with Virtual Intelligence technology, but huge leaps and bounds were made after they began to integrate with the Citadel races. However, most of Arcturus station's VI's were already installed before contact was made with the galactic community two years ago and as such, the current suite of VI's was rather lacking and already slated for an overhaul, once the rest of the station was completed. It would take a couple more years before it was finished completely but it was already home to 8 000 permanent residents and the 'nexus of humanity' was a popular location with ship captains for shore leave; the shipyards allowing any ships, even the massive Dreadnoughts, to be refitted and repaired. As an added bonus, it was only one relay jump away from Earth.
Colonisation of other worlds had begun almost as soon as Humanity had found suitable candidates, Terra Nova, Demeter and Eden Prime most notably, but the vast majority of humans still live on Earth. The First Contact War with the Turians and the news footage of what was left of Shanxi had severely tempered people's enthusiasm for colonisation at first, but now that humanity had been accepted into the wider galactic community, people were starting to branch out again. Still, it would be a while before Colony life would be anywhere near a popular as living on Earth, so Arcturus' proximity was a definite bonus for many.
It certainly was for Drake, Hannah mused. While she didn't have much in the way of ties to Earth, despite a strong military tradition in her family, Drake had a large family that he loved to visit whenever possible and he made a point of it every time they had some leave time on Arcturus.
Service Chief Drake Matthew Shepard, 6ft tall, defined Eurasian features and a veteran of the First Contact War. He was also her husband of seven years.
They had first met at a recruitment day that the Systems Alliance had held at their College. Hannah was there because Military service was her family's favourite past-time, while Drake just thought it would be a good excuse to see something more than an overindustrialised Earth. They had gotten along surprisingly well, considering their seemingly clashing personalities; Drake was an optimist who couldn't hold a grudge if he tried, while she was far more reserved and calculating, with an admittedly fiery temper when provoked. Still, they must have balanced each other out, because one thing led to another and they found themselves happily married four years later, both pursuing different paths within the Alliance
A gentle squeeze of her hand brought her attention back to the present and the sharp blue eyes of her husband. If she were honest with herself, all this reminiscing was really just her way of masking the overwhelming anxiety that was gnawing away at her insides, and even though war and bloodshed had calloused them both somewhat over the years, Drake could still read her like an open book.
"Don't worry, whatever happens, we'll still be okay, John will still be okay," Drake whispered softly. "Come on, we shouldn't keep the good doctor waiting now, should we?" He questioned with a grin and stood up. Hand in hand they walked down the sterile, white corridor until they came to room C-8.
"Hannah, Drake, good to see you again, please come in and take a seat," Doctor Han greeted them with familiarity; they had been regulars for over a year now, after all.
After sliding into the well worn office chairs, the nervous couple waited for the news.
"The biopsy results came back and I am very happy to tell you that the growths in John's nervous system are definitely not cancerous and appear to be utterly benign."
Drake let out a sigh of relief, but Hannah knew something was still wrong.
"But…" Hannah prompted expectantly, gesturing for him to continue. While she was glad that the abnormalities weren't cancerous, she knew that there was more to the story; simply calling them to tell them the results would have sufficed, otherwise. She just wanted to know if there was anything wrong with John.
Doctor Han bowed his head slightly in acknowledgement and continued.
"…But the tests also confirmed that they are Eezo nodules, caused by your exposure to Element Zero during the incident on the Wellington 16 months ago. Thankfully, your exposure was rather limited, so the nodules don't appear to be interfering with normal nerve functions or neurological activity; it does, however, mean that John may develop Biotic capabilities," he paused for a moment to allow the news to sink in.
"The Alliance is very interested in children with Biotic potential at the moment, it was only last year that we finally confirmed that humans even had biotic potential. The higher ups believe that we need to study human biotics in order to effectively compete with other races like the Asari, or the Turians…" there was an unmistakable bitterness in the doctor's tone whenever he mentioned the vaguely avian species, an animosity bred from the loss of number of his relatives during the brief occupation of Shanxi by the Turian Hierarchy. "Still, I am bound by doctor-patient confidentiality, so it's up to you if you let the Alliance know. And even if you do, they would still have to get your consent to use him in… whatever it is they're doing."
The news hit Hannah like a Cruiser at FTL. It was the situation she had feared most; cancer and neural damage could be treated and, in many cases, cured. Biotics though… biotics were something wholly new and alien, and with the Alliance's sudden interest in human biotic potential, Hannah found herself terribly conflicted.
More than anything she wanted to stay with John and let him grow up and have a normal childhood, let him live a normal life and watch as he grew up and started his own family one day. But with the recent spate of fear mongering and vitriol towards biotics as a whole and biotically gifted individuals in specific, she wasn't sure any of that would ever happen. She also had no idea what would happen if the Alliance decided they needed to conduct research on him, but it was quite certain that he would receive the furthest thing possible from a normal childhood in that situation.
On the other hand, she was an officer of the Systems Alliance Military, if her superiors believed that they needed to study biotic potential in humans, then who was she to say no?
She glanced over at Drake and she could see the same turmoil in his eyes. As a career soldier in the Marines, he felt the conflict of family or duty as strongly as she did.
Dr Han continued speaking, pushing past the disconcerting quiet that had settled in the room.
"John has a very limited number of the nodules, and current research suggests that there is a link to the number of nodules and an individual's biotic capabilities. You wouldn't need to worry about him potentially harming anyone in a fit of rage or anything; all biotics need special amplifiers to effectively utilize the ability, even the Asari are quite weak without amplifiers, and their entire race is naturally biotic. Believe me, he will not be a danger to anyone and his biotic potential could very well be minimal; I just thought you should have all of the facts. I'll leave you two alone for awhile to discuss this, just ask the VI if you require assistance," he finished with an awkward nod as he slipped through the door that separated his office from the main hallway, leaving the Shepard's alone with their thoughts.
Hannah and Drake sat there in silence for the better part of five minutes, neither knowing precisely what to say. It was Drake that spoke first.
"We both knew this was a possibility, if nothing else we should be thankful that it wasn't something worse-"
"Worse! What could be worse than this?!" Hannah shouted, her previously repressed emotions finally boiling over after weeks of tension.
She stood up and began to pace while continuing her emotional outpouring.
"John isn't even a year old and we already have to decide his fate! It's not fair! It's not fair for us and it's definitely not fair for him! And all because I tried to play the hero," she moaned as she slumped back into her chair, the tension she had felt leading up to this point, all of the stress and anxiety, flowing out as she began to cry quietly, struggling in vain to retain some semblance of dignity.
For his part, Drake simply watched and listened; relieved that she was finally releasing the burden she had been carrying. He got off his chair and kneeled down next to hers, placing a hand on her knee and rubbing soothing circles with his thumb.
"You know what's not fair? You, blaming yourself for this. You didn't try to play the hero, you were the hero. You helped save everyone aboard the Wellington. I know this isn't an easy decision, but I will stand by you, whatever choice you make. You are my wife, and I made a couple of promises to you that I plan on keeping," he stated firmly, the conviction evident in his tone. "I'm also not stupid enough to go against my superior officers wishes; I have a career to think about," he whispered in her ear with a grin on his lips
His last comment got a derisive snort from Hannah.
"Please, you follow orders about as well as John walks at the moment."
After another brief period of silence, she looked over at him, the beautiful, compassionate man that was her husband, and a small, genuine smile graced her lips.
"Thank you, for standing by me. I just feel like this is my fault, that I put us in this position. It isn't exactly fair on you, and I –"
"Never think that, ever. This is not your fault," Drake interrupted with a rarely seen forcefulness, his eyes begging her to understand. "If you had of stepped back and tried to save your own skin instead of saving the ship and going so far above your duty to help everyone else, then you wouldn't have been the woman I fell in love with. I choose to be at your side whatever happens, not because it would be easy, but because it would be worth it. Sure, this is a bad situation, but what would you be thinking now if you had of let someone else do the job you did? What if the core had of overloaded and destroyed the ship? You made the right choice, but sometimes the right choice doesn't get the perfect happy ending."
"You're pretty eloquent when you want to be, for a jarhead," she grumbled, accepting his logic and letting her previous thoughts fade to the background, for the moment at least. Sighing, she sat up straight and wiped away the remaining tear tracks that had wound their way down across her cheeks.
"Okay, we don't tell the Alliance. John stays with us, he gets to live a normal life; no one ever needs to know that he could be a biotic. He can just have a normal life, with us. Is that alright, with you?"
His beaming smile answered for him.
They laughed and cried and hugged, fluctuating between the three states as they finally released all of their fears and concerns and anxiety, and began to look forward to a future together with their son.
Arcturus Station, Systems Alliance Primary Education Facility Wing D (November 7, 2167, 1730 Hours, Station Time):
Like many things that the Systems Alliance had constructed in its early days, Arcturus Station's Public School was not gifted with an imaginative name.
As a result it was quickly renamed by the pupils who attended it.
The Systems Alliance Primary Education Facility (SAPEF) had become APE, which the kids quickly (and erroneously, but no-one had the heart to tell them) translated to Monkey and within six months the school was almost universally recognised as 'The Monkey House', which, considering the remarkably large (artificial) park and Jungle Gym present at its centre, wasn't entirely inaccurate.
Originally, Arcturus Station had been planned as a centralised Command/Control Station for the Alliance, housing the Parliament, shipyards and most of its military and intelligence services. As such, the need for a school hadn't been factored in. But with the sudden influx of men and women after First Contact and the Alliance's rather relaxed position on Marriage between members of the service, it found there was a significant demand for children's education. The result was one of the most modern schools in Citadel Space (even if it had one of the most uninspiring official names in Citadel Space).
It was here that the first full generation of human 'Spacers', those who have lived their whole lives in space, grew up and went to school; one John Shepard included.
"Ah, Mr and Mrs Shepard, please come in and take a seat. I trust your most recent deployment went well, Hannah?" John's teacher asked as she ushered them inside the brightly coloured classroom, its walls adorned by the children's artistic attempts and streamers from a recent party.
"All quiet on the Western Front as usual, Sonia. How has the class been?" Hannah replied in good humour.
Sonia Hartmeyer had been John's teacher for the past four years and so the Shepard's had gotten to know her quite well. She was, in fact, reasonably well known in the field of cross-cultural studies and psychological development but had jumped at the opportunity that the teaching position provided, both as an extension of her field and, as she said, she 'just loved children'.
"The class has been wonderful… mostly; you know how children can be sometimes. All of them are so excited for the holidays, as I'm sure you can see," she said as she gestured grandly towards the various pictures arrayed around the room, ranging in style from computer generated images to old-fashioned crayon drawings.
"It looks like you've got a couple of Picasso's in your class and maybe even a Van Gough or two; or is that more of a Dali…?" Drake quipped with a smirk gracing his lips as he carefully lowered his solid frame into the small chair.
"And while I regret to inform you that John is not among those, he certainly has skills in other areas," Sonia replied with her own smirk, not missing a beat. "He's been excelling in physical activities and he has a knack for logic problems and lateral thinking, always puzzling over some new riddle or optical illusion during free time. He does appear to be a bit isolated from his peers at times, but I think that has more to do with his rapid mental development, and he certainly isn't being bullied; his height sees to that."
She's right, Hannah thought to herself, for whatever reason, John's nearly 10cm taller than the next kid; he basically towers over the rest of his class.
"Eh, I was an early bloomer myself; I'd bet he'll balance out by High School," Drake commented with a shrug.
"There is one behavioural point I did want to bring to your attention, though; John doesn't react well when things are taken out of his control. If he has a plan set out and one of the other kids does something that deviates from that plan, he will either retreat from the others and withdraw into himself, or he will… 'erupt', for want of a better term. I think it's largely tied to his rather advanced mental development compared to his peers and as such it should resolve itself in time, but I would suggest you keep a close eye on it to make sure it doesn't develop into a fixation on control or a source of significant anxiety for him, particularly in the teenage years," Sonia explained, slipping into the familiar role of developmental advisor that had been her longest standing job before entering academia.
Both Hannah and Drake nodded carefully as they processed this information, thinking back to see if there had been situations they had seen that fit the description.
In hindsight, they could definitely see what Sonia was referring to.
"What about his grades?" Drake asked, curious as ever about his son's academic potential.
"The same as usual, nothing overly spectacular, but he does appear to be becoming more and more bored with what he's being taught. It's not affecting his work in any obvious way, but I suspect he could be doing much better if he really wanted to, not that it would actually impact anything at this age. But it does lead us on to my main point that I wanted to discuss with you; his IQ result."
Drake and Hannah exchanged a quick glance before turning their full attention back to Sonia. IQ tests were a compulsory part of the Systems Alliance's schooling program and they began in their fourth year and carried onto until graduation, in an effort to plot any possible effects that the unique 'Spacer' lifestyle might have on the students. It was also used to shortlist possible candidates for officer positions in the Military once they had finished school.
"He scored very highly, 138 to be precise. It's just shy of Genius level and puts him in the top two percent of the human population. This level of intelligence would explain many of his behavioural quirks and it means he will have a lot of potential when he reaches the secondary education system; in fact I'd almost guarantee that he'll be offered the chance to study on board a ship with you on your tours of duty. In the mean time, I would encourage the self-guided aspect of his learning; let him research things on the extranet and try different skills and hobbies until he finds something that really grabs his attention."
Drake smiled happily at the revelation while Hannah nodded in surprise as she processed her son's intellectual potential; it certainly explained his insatiable appetite for knowledge. She'd have to set up a (well filtered) Extranet account for him over the holidays.
"Well, now that the official stuff is out of the way I've got half an hour until my next appointment, so how about we catch up over coffee and you can ask me any more questions you might have once I have some caffeine in my system again?" Sonia asked happily, already knowing what the answer would be.