Hello readers! Sorry for not posting the other day, I was extremely tired that night and passed out when I got home. Celebrated my birthday today! Twenty, I'm so old! Anyways, enjoy this new chapter and review!
Ethan's POV
Ethan looked on at the instructor as they walked paced back and forth in front of the classroom, a room with a see through mirror looking into it behind her. The Quarian female looked up at the rest of the class room before pacing again.
"Today recruits, we will be doing a exercise that will test your mental capabilities and your mental strength. There are certain combatants out there that have the ability to enter your mind and see your most intimate memories and thoughts, thus turning around and using them against you as a weapon. I'll be partnering you up with someone else and you both shall be testing this out on each other. There will be no physical strength in this exercise, it shall all be mental and emotional strength. You both shall try to infiltrate each others memories, and whilst doing so, try and fight to keep your partner out of yours. Now let's start." the Quarian said as she took a good long look around the room before her eyes finally landed on Ethan. Ethan backed up slightly before bumping into another recruit who softly pushed him forward.
"You've got nothing to be afraid of Ethan, it's just a mental test." Nareenia said as Ethan turned around to see the Asari standing there smiling at him. He could feel himself beginning to sweat, he couldn't afford to let anyone know his secret of where's really from.
"Mr. Morgan, come up here please." Atia'Voza said as Ethan felt many different pairs of eyes staring at him from behind as he slowly walked forward and joined the leader at the front of the room. Ethan smiled weakly as Atia'Voza patted him on the back with her three fingered hand before looking back out into the crowd of recruits.
"Mr. Weir, you shall be Ethan's partner in this training exercise today." Atia'Voza said as she waved her hand to the front, Benny moving his way through the crowd as he smiled at Ethan and waved at him. Ethan just internally smacked himself as he felt his stomach sink down into his feet, beads of sweat beginning to form at his brow.
"Follow me gentlemen." the Quarian said as she put her hands behind her back and walked through a automatic door and lead them both into the room. Ethan watched as she picked up a mechanical device before turning around and looking at them.
"This will go on your hands and fingers, it detects brainwaves when connected to the temples of your skull. What your going to do is when I instruct you, place both your hands on each others temples and when I flip the switch on the other side of the room the process will begin. It'll be quick, so you must be ready to give it your all. Remember men, try to keep the other out of your head while also trying to invade the others." the Quarian finished as she helped both of them put the devices on and led them to the middle of the room. Ethan turned his head as he watched her walk out, the door closing behind her as he turned back to look at Benny.
"You ready!" Benny said excitedly, his smile beaming ear to ear with readiness as Ethan nodded his head, trying to avoid his gaze.
"Get ready men, I'll start the countdown when your in position." came the instructors voice from over the intercom. Ethan shakily raised his hands to Benny's temples on the side of his head as he closed his eyes, Benny doing the same.
"Three, two, one. Systems go!"
Ethan felt a sudden push before he opened his eyes to see he was in a completely different room. He could see a younger looking Benny sitting on a couch watching TV while a older woman sat next to him, knitting something. Ethan turned around to see tall towers in the distance, he could only assume this was Thessia, the Asari home-world. Ethan turned back to face the two as he felt the ground shake lightly, noticing both Benny and his grandmother looking around before he saw a screen on the wall flash open.
"Benny, sweetie, are you there?!" came a female voice as Ethan saw a young looking woman on the screen, her hair a dark brown that fell down to her shoulders.
"Mom! What's wrong!?" Benny said as Ethan noticed the panic in the woman's voice, her eyes darting from the screen to something else out of view.
"Hunny, I need you to listen to mom right now! It's the Reapers, they've broken through our line of defense. They will be here any minute, I need you and grandma to get to the evacuation shuttles! There is a Alliance ship waiting for you in orbit, but you've got to go now!" Benny's mother said before Ethan saw a dark shadow descend outside as he turned to see one of the Reapers hovering down into the city with many others scattering about the landscape.
"What about you and dad!?" Benny said as his grandmother got up and ran to the window, raising her hand to her mouth as one of the Reaper's shot out a beam, the light cutting right into a building as explosions began to rock the cityscape.
"Benny! We love you very much, but you have got to leave! Do you understand me, you've got to-" Benny's mother said as the connection finally cut out, Ethan watching as a building with the Alliance logo on the side collapsed as a Reaper shot a plasma beam into it's base. Ethan listened to Benny holler out as his grandmother grabbed him and began to drag him to the door. Ethan followed them as he walked out of the house, looking up into the sky as pieces of Asari ships rained down in a fiery inferno. He could see other humans running out of their homes as fighter ships began to fly overhead, shooting at the Reapers with no effect. He watched as a crying Benny left with his grandmother as they ran down the street towards awaiting hover cars. He looked up as another Reaper landed, destroying a few buildings down the street, it's beam scanning the ground as the humans fled for cover. Ethan finally felt a push inside his mind as he felt Benny begin to fight him out of his memories. Ethan watched as everything began to fade away until he was back in his own mind. Ethan pushed back as he tried protecting the truth behind who he was, his mind wearing thin as he exerted all his strength. He could feel Benny's presence inside his mind, desperately trying to break through his mental barriers as he fought back. Ethan doubled over to his knee's as he fought back, he knew he couldn't last much longer at this rate as he felt a drop of blood begin to trickle down from his nose. He knew he had to fight on, finally struggling to his feet as he pushed even harder.
Ethan's eyes shot open as he stumbled backwards before finally collapsing towards the ground. He took in deep breaths of air before looking up to see Benny on the other side of the room, leaned up against the wall with blood running down from his nose. Ethan's head turned as he noticed the door open as the instructor walked in, clapping her hands as she stared at Ethan.
"Well done Mr. Morgan! You managed to fight your way into your opponents memories and still keep him out of yours! That is the kind of mental strength we need everyone to exhibit, especially in the battlefield." the Quarian said as she reached down and picked Ethan up, turning around to walk over to Benny to do the same.
"As for you Mr. Weir, I know you fought hard and strong but you've got to dig deeper and fight a little bit harder next time. Ten laps tonight, am I clear?" Atia'Voza asked as Benny looked away for a brief moment before finally looking back at her.
"Yes ma'am." Benny said quietly, the instructor turning around as she walked back out of the room. Ethan opened his mouth to say something, but he was too late as he saw Benny walk past him and out of the room. Ethan felt glad that he hadn't compromised his identity but also felt guilt deep down as he watched Benny disappear in the crowd of recruits.
Later that Day
Ethan stared up into the sky as he jogged down the track field, his mind wandering as he tried to collect his thoughts. He looked over and saw Benny on the other side of the field, his face devoid of it's usual goofiness. Ethan faced forward once more, the burn in his lungs collecting more and more as he began to slow down until he was at a quick walking pace. Dark storm clouds moved over the area as he stopped and knelled down until he was balancing on his heels, collecting his breath.
"Was is the matter Morgan?" came Meno's voice as the Salarian jogged up next to him, his eye stalks looking down at him with curiosity.
"It's nothing...just tired is all. Long day of training and tests, it's only our second day." Ethan said through breaths as he finally stood up and began to stretch his arms out.
"You did well on your mental test, you showed strong mental capabilities." Meno's said as he began to jog next to Ethan who was sweating by now.
"I know I did...I just...I think I saw something that Benny didn't want me to know." Ethan said as they turned the corner of the track field. He looked down at the small screen like metal with electrical neon lines down the sides indicating each row. He looked off towards the middle of the field as he watched Turian's and Asari practice telekinetic.
"What are they doing by the way?" Ethan asked, noticing how each of them thrust their hand out and seemed to grab practice dummies with a force field.
"They have biotic implants, it uses mental power to control and bend dark matter to sheer will power. They will head to Grissom Academy when their training here is over to get better use of their biotic power." Meno's said, Ethan intrigued with the strange power before returning his mind back to jogging.
Ethan felt a hand on his shoulder as he looked over and into the green eyes of Meno's as the Salarian looked at him emotionless.
"We all had difficulty with the test, give him time to adjust. We are all new just like you, it's all taking a toll." the Salarian said before jogging ahead of Ethan.
"Mr. Morgan!" came a voice as Ethan looked over and saw Lorir standing there, waving him over as the Turian stared at him from across the field. Ethan quirked a eyebrow as he looked around before jogging over and running up to the Admiral.
"You've got a video call, make it quick recruit. I need you back to your fitness training." Lorir said as Ethan looked at him weirdly before walking inside to where Glyph was hovering. Glyph turned around at the sound of the door closing as it opened up a holographic image, Shepard now standing there as a hologram.
"Shepard! What are you doing?" Ethan asked surprised as he walked up, Glyph scanning him so Shepard could see him on the other end.
"I called early to see how your first couple days have been, how is it?" Shepard asked as Ethan smiled to himself.
"It's been somewhat hectic, but like you said, I'll survive. I..uh...had a problem this morning with my mental strength test. Nothing serious, I just think I made my roommate a little mad." Ethan said as he recounted the events of that morning, Shepard listening intently.
"Well, I'm sure it's nothing you should worry about. Talk to him if you think it'll make it better but don't ponder over it too much, you can't afford to be side tracked with all the training going on. You've got to focus on the priority right now. I'm not saying don't make friends, but also don't lose sight of what your aiming to achieve here. I...just don't want to see you fail at something that you really want...I want you back here in six months on this ship serving with us." Shepard said, staring at Ethan as Ethan smiled back. Ethan couldn't help but forget all the problems from earlier as he looked at Shepard's electronic image stare back.
"I will be, I'm getting this done come hell or high water. I do have to get back to training though...talk to you later?" Ethan asked as he rubbed his arm, a nervous tick of his as he looked down before looking back up.
"Of course, call me next time so I won't interrupt anything. Take care Ethan, Shepard Out." Shepard said before his image disappeared and Glyph hovered up next to Ethan again. Ethan smiled to himself, a new happy mood having taken over before turning around and walking back out.
That Night
Ethan walked into his dorm as he wiped at his forehead, wiping the sweat from his hard day away before noticing Benny sitting on his bed tossing a ball up into the air.
"Hey...what's that?" Ethan asked as he walked into their bathroom and grabbed a towel, coming back out as he dabbed it at his head.
"It's something my mother got for me, a small portable music box. I press a button and it opens up and plays a song." Benny said as he quit throwing it, turning over on his side as he grabbed a cover and brought it over his bare feet.
"I...I'm sorry about earlier in the training room. I...I didn't mean to see all that." Ethan said as he took a seat on his bed, taking a moment to see the moon coming out, half of it visible.
"It's not your fault Ethan...it was part of the training. I'm happy you showed skill, I...just wasn't ready for anyone to know what happen that day." Benny said as he finally turned back over to look at Ethan, his face serious.
"I understand...and for what it's worth...I'm sorry for what happen...to them. I...can't begin to imagine how you felt." Ethan said as he set the towel down before looking back up and into Benny's green eyes.
"Thank you...I'll...tell you more about it someday. For now, I am beat and need sleep!" Benny said with a goofy smile before finally turning back over on his side, Ethan happy to see his new friend smiling again. Ethan got up and pressed a button, the lights going out as he returned to bed and pulled the covers over him. He looked out towards the moon from the window, slivers of the Milky Way behind it, knowing that somewhere out there Shepard was patrolling on the Normandy.
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