Authors Note:
Hello all. This is GriffenUnion.
So in this chapter we shall be jumping back to 2165.
Timeline wise, Jack and Subject One are taken in 2165. Chapter One is fast forwarded to 2172.
So in this chapter, and starting from this point the Main characters are 4-5. In 2172, they would be 11-12.
And finally, for the timeline the story of Mass Effect one takes place in 2183. So we have some time til then. Sure hope you will enjoy the journey :)
Here is the third chapter of The True Jack
"Talking"
"Thinking"
Year 2165, CE
Pragia's Teltin Facility
With a push of downward thrust the shuttle rocked sharply before leveling out again. Turning around in his chair, the pilot quickly said,"About five minutes til we reach the facility ma'am."
With a nod, Doctor Maria Castor looked out the window at the jungle below. "Top of my class at Harvard, graduated with Honors, twenty three prestigious jobs begging for me to grace them with my presence, and I never thought I would end up in a place like this."
"PRAGIA," She thought with a sneer on her lips. "A planet once called the "Breadbasket of the Batarian Empire". They did nothing but ruin a perfectly good planet," she thought bitterly. "And now here I am."
Words and images quickly rush through her mind as she recalled things she had learned years ago rushed into her mind. . With a grimace, she rubbed her temples and rummaged through her thoughts.
She is sitting in her dorm room at Harvard. Book in front of her, open to chapter 21, page 578. News reporting in the background. It's raining outside, people run through on their way to class. The smell of coffee wafts from the next room, where her roommate studies for her final exam. She turns towards the news, something having caught her attention. A slim women of Asian descent. Obviously fake breasts. Too much mascara. "Breaking News," she says to her viewers. "We have just received a report from the Dakka System. The Batarian planet known as Pragia has been officially evacuated. Wildlife introduced on orders of Colonization Authorities has thrived on the natural geothermal conditions, to the point of driving off the flourishing Batarian colony. Attempts to re-colonize are now underway, but so far no word on the success of this venture. We are getting disturbing reports of new venomous and even, if you can believe it, carnivorous plants. We shall have more on this story as it develops. Back to you Thomas."
Snapping back to the present, Maria looked down and towards the jungle flying by. "This is not a place to trifle with."
From her seat on the Kodiak shuttle, she wondered, "How can something so normal look so... Alien." The trees resembled palm trees of Earth in places, reaching heights of thirty and forty feet. The density however, was much different. There didn't seem to be any space for new trees to grow with how tightly the foliage was forced together. Somehow they found a way though. Trees seemed to grow out of one another, just to fuse back together moments later forming a wall of vegetation that stretched as far as the eye could see.
It didn't help that as far as the eye could see was only a couple hundred meters in any direction. Rain so heavy it was almost a constant sheet pelted the small ship over and over again. The noise was a consistent dull roar in the background of her mind. With a *crack* light blossomed across the sky for a split second, illuminating the area. In the distance, for just a second she caught a glimpse of her destination.
"There!" Through the rain she could finally see her new home, and it took her breath away. Seemingly carved from the forest, a structure juts unnaturally upward in the dense trees. Vines and leaves crawl along the sides of this three story building as if trying to bring the structure back into the jungles folds. The roof came into view as we approach, and from her view she saw a glass ceiling that gave sight to the facility below. Bright florescent lights shown through the windows giving off a beacon in the darkness.
With a final push of acceleration, the pilot whipped the ship around and it landed with a dull *thump* on the landing pad on the roof.
The door swung open as the pilot landed, and what was once a dull roar turned into a monstrous yell as the cabin was opened to the elements. Rain whipped into the compartment and Maria only had moments to jump off the shuttle before the door slammed shut again, and the Kodiak is flew away. Her white lab coat is soaked within seconds, and she turned and watched the shuttle for a second before it vanished in the rain.
Turning around, she quickly notice bright red lights marking a path off to the right of the roof. Jogging towards them quickly, she saw a set of metal stairs that she quickly descended. As Maria went down the stairwell, she noticed that there were four large towers on each of the corners of the base. How she missed those in the shuttle she didn't have the faintest idea. Each had a series of lights along its' height giving light to the walkways connecting them.
Straight ahead lay a large double door, with a light that flickers on as she approached. The doors slid open with a hiss, and with a burst of speed she finally got out of the rain.
Stark white floor tiles glare up at her as she walked into the room. The bright white florescent lights reflect off the floor like spot lights, searing into her brain.
"Working here is gonna be fun... I can tell."
Finally getting the glare out of her eyes Maria looked around the room. Located directly in front of her was a small desk, in which a male human sat. He looked to be of average height, solid build. More than anything though, he looked incredibly ordinary. He had not said a word the entire time she had been standing there, dazed from the lights. All he did was watch, and observe. Now that he had her attention however he stood up and finally addressed her.
"Excuse me ma'am. Are you Ms. Castor?"
" Umm...it's ah... Doctor actually. Doctor Maria Castor."
"Yes...Quite," he said distractedly as he pulls out a datapad from his desk. "I hope you don't mind, but would you come over to the scanner? I'm afraid I can't let you proceed without it."
It was only then that Maria noticed the tall metal arms next to the door. With a motion, the guard moves to the machine and starts tapping buttons on his side of the desk.
Feeling a little flushed, she walked towards the machine. "Way to make a good first impression Maria," she thought to herself. "First person you see and you can hardly say a word."
As the machine gave a noise and began to move up and down her person, Maria got a chance to look around the room in more detail. Crates and boxes were stacked to the right of the desk going all the way to the wall. A small window looked out into the storm outside. The human guard looked all together very bored as he watched the machine. "Seems as if they are still getting unpacked to be honest."
From the other side of the scanner the sound of a door opening alerts Maria that they have company.
With a *Whoosh* the door turned from red to green, and a human male walked into the room at a brisk pace.
The man was older, looking around the age of fifty standard years. His balding silver hair shone in the light, and his face was lined with wrinkles. Small round glasses rested on his nose, and grey eyes stared from them in a glare. The armor that he wore however, showed that while he may be aged, his body was still fit. The armor was a dull grey that looked different than the armor of the guard at the desk. More than anything, it was the age of it that set it apart. Where the guard had new age technology visible on his suit, from his omni-tool to the tools on his belt. The new man wore armor that had nicks and repairs seeming to stretch back decades. In some way, it almost looked archaic. The armor told a story more than anything. One of bloodshed and victory.
With a final whirl, the machine turned off. "You're all set ma'am." The guard said. With that the older man stepped forward and extended his hand.
"Ahh, we have been expecting you Ms. Castor. My name is Captain Niska. You may address me as Captain, or Mr. Niska."
"Um... yes, thank you. It's Dr. actua-"
"Come now Ms. Castor, we can talk later. Much more to see today," Captain Niska said. With an abrupt turn he marched the way he came. "Back to work Corporal."
"Sir, yes sir," the guard said. Leaning in to whisper, he said, "You may want to hurry ma'am. And take this."
With that he shoved an item into her hand and hurried back to his post, looking straight ahead at the door to the roof.
Shaking her head in a daze, Maria hurried to catch up to the Captain as he rounded the corner ahead of her. She ran to catch up and rounded the corner at almost a full sprint, only to skid to a halt moments later. Just in front of her was the Captain, head turned as he gazed at her in amusement. Surrounding him were three other human guards that chuckled quietly to themselves. "Ahh, thank you for joining us Ms. Castor. Here we have one of our security checks. They are scattered at key junctions throughout the facility, to help with internal security."
With that he handed something to the guard at the desk and stepped through the scanner. With a whirl it spun about and proceeded to scan him, and Maria stepped up to the desk as well.
"ID please ma'am," the guard said kindly, reaching out an arm to her still clenched hand.
"What? I-ID?" she stuttered numbly as she nonetheless unclenched her hand and handed the guard what the previous man gave her. Low and behold, what she revealed was a laminated card with her picture on it. The man swiped the card and motioned for her to step into the scanner as well.
"When ever you are ready Ms. Castor," the Captain joked from the other side of the room.
Maria stepped into the scanner less hesitantly than before, and as the machine whirled to life once more she glanced at her hand again.
The card was pretty straight forward. Teltin Facility ran across the top. A current picture of her sat on the right, and a basic description lay on the left. At the bottom however, sat the words Head Medical Supervisor in bold letters. "That's new...," she thought to herself.
As soon as her inspection was over the machine shuts off with a putter and she stepped through.
"Right this way Ms. Castor. I shall proceed to give you a tour of the facility."
With that the door on the right turned green and opened as Captain Neska and Maria approached.
She entered the room on a walkway, and saw another floor beneath her in this large room. From floor to ceiling was stacked with crates of all sizes. On the left and right there seem to be multiple hallways, all leading to this large rectangular room. The windows from the roof open to this room, streaming streaks of brightness from the lightning outside.
"This is the Atrium,"Neska said spinning in a circle slowly. "Four different hallways lead to this point, and it can get you anywhere in the entire complex."
As Maria walked down the stairs, she truly saw how giant the crates were, standing twice her height.
"These are what we use to transport the cargo here. We have a total of 152 subjects at the moment. Of course we shall need more," Neska said with a chuckle. "Have you ever heard of Shan Yu?" Neska asked as they walked through the crated towards the far exit. "He was a great man. Fancied himself quite the warrior poet. Wrote volumes on war, torture, and the limits of human endurance." Captain Neska sounded almost proud as he told the story. "He once said, "Live with a man 40 years. Share his house, his meals. Speak on every subject. Then tie him up, and hold him over the volcano's edge. And on that day, you will finally meet the man.""
Maria was silent for a second, but then a thought jumped into her head. She consciously realized that she shouldn't antagonize this man, but she couldn't resist one quip. "What if you don't have a volcano?"
"hmph." Neska chuckled under his breath, "well I'm sure we shall make due. This way, Ms. Castor."
As we approached the end of the room, Maria caught sight of a ring of sorts made using concrete barriers.
"Ah yes, this is our arena," Captain Neska said. "Dr. Milanes thought of it. This way in a controlled environment we can see how the implants and training is doing. If one particular approach does not work, then it shall show in the fights. Plus its an easy way to make some quick creds, haha," The Captain laughed loudly at his joke. Maria quickly chuckles once he looks at her, but clearly it was hollow.
A door in front of her opened, and the two of them quickly proceed through it. A turn left, and then right. Your guide goes through a random door, and you hurry after him. She noticed more than anything that there were more boxes in corners, stacked upon themselves, but no one seems to give them much mind.
"In this room we have our Procedure Room 1, and 2 is just down the corner. Figured that the more room there was, the faster we could test new ideas," the Captain said. Just between the door to Procedure room 1 was another checkpoint filled with two guards. Quickly they jump up and snap off a salute at the captains arrival.
Looking up absent mindedly, she saw two turrets mounted to the ceiling next to this station. "I didn't see any of those before, but that doesn't mean they weren't there..." Going through was just as easy as before. A quick swipe of her new card and a scanner and they were moving on.
The door to the right opened as we approached, and she was again surprised at how vast this complex is. "From the sky, you can just see the three story upper floor barely peaking from the trees. Underneath the tree canopy this place must stretch for half a mile. From what I've heard, they must have had to build quickly. The trees grow back almost overnight."
Another metal walkway runs in front of us, connecting to a doorway. Beneath which she could see many doctors and scientists scurrying around, getting their work and preparations done.
We entered the doorway, and before us was a long tunnel leading much deeper into the facility. The incline was much steeper than anything else she had seen so far, and the length of the hallway indicated that she was now deep underground.
Offices line the corridor, and within each a member of the staff was hard at work. The tap of keys on omni-tools was loud in the hallway as it bounced off the walls.
We went through the door at the end, and in front of us stood a huge room. Its large arching walls met in the center, giving the room a dome like appearance. One entire side of the dome was made up of nothing but windows. The jungle seemed to be slowly creeping up the windows, with vines clinging to the bottom panes already.
The center of the room sat lower than the doors, with stairs going down into the area. It was dominated with cubical, each filled with a human scientist looking over data and unpacking equipment. Four large columns rose from this center area, reaching the ceiling and instilling a sense of separation from this area and the rest. Behind this a wall roses seven or eight feet in the air, and beyond that sat a face Maria recognized.
With a glance up from his work, Dr. Milanes caught Maria's eye. With a smile on his face, he stood up and headed towards the pair.
"Thank you Adelai for escorting Dr. Castor. She is going to be very important to the next couple of years. I dare say she may do work here that will better all of humanity." The smile on his face didn't quite meet his eyes as he spoke.
"High praise indeed sir," Captain Neska said curtly. With a nod he headed back the way we had come.
"Come Maria. I wish to show you the progress of your work already. Those test subjects you picked out from Edin Prime are some of the most promising we have had yet. In fact, there are two in particular you should see."
The two of them headed towards the only other entrance to this area, and next to the door Maria could see the words Test Subjects labeled clearly.
The doors slide open as we approach, and instantly the air seemed to change. "There's something else in it, I can tell... and suddenly I can place it, and a sick feeling sets in my stomach. The air is filled with fear, to the point that it is palpable." Clear glass cells litter the sides of the hallways, each and every one filled with a child. "All shapes and sizes present it seems, from a glance." Black, White, Asian, and all different ages as well. As we get to the end of the hallway, she saw that the older children were gathered in one corner. They all appeared around eleven or twelve, and through their cages they tried to whisper to each other.
"You will probably notice that we don't have any subjects over the age of twelve or so. We have found that after puberty hits, a lot of potential is wasted. I'm sure we shall learn more as we go on, but at the moment these that we have shall be the first to get tested. They are on a time limit after all." He chuckles at this, and quickly moves on down the hall.
"Here we are," he says as he pulls to a stop. In front of him lies another hallway, this one with only two doors in it. One was on the left of the hallway, with the other being directly at the end. Each had a guard situated outside as well. "Lets do this one first," he said, striding to the room on the left. A quick nod to the guard later, and the door was pulled open.
"More lights," that's the first thing she noticed. "It seemed this entire place was built to give you a headache." A large window spanned the far wall, and through it she had a view of a common area of sorts. A couple of younger children mill around, seemingly lost in the large open room.
However, in the room she noticed a bunk bed sitting next to the window. The beds were neatly made and folded, but no sign of the occupant. A bookshelf, desk, and a sink completed the room. "Overall it's pretty bare, but much nicer than the clear cells back in the hallway."
Suddenly she heard a sound. A muffled sob. It was hard to place, but it seemed to be coming from the direction of the desk.
Dr. Milanes seemed to have the same idea, and with a smirk said, "Now zero, why don't you come out of there. Otherwise I might have to get the nice guard outside to get you."
With that the desk gave a small jerk, before a girl tumbled out from underneath. Long black hair topped her head, easily reaching her shoulders. Pale skin almost the color of the floors peaked out from the curtain of hair, and one brown eye was visible. On her neck was a metal collar of some sort, and a bright blue light shown from the center.
Maria winced slightly as images flashed across her mind.
Laying upon the bed is a small girl, no more than four years old. She is wearing clothes that have seen a lot of wear, but have been cared for. The patches on her knees have been very carefully stitched together, and its obvious she did not come from a wealthy place. Her dark black hair hangs messily from two braids, with strands laying across her face. Doctor Castor calmly walks forward, and placing a hand on the girls wrist, quickly takes her pulse. "Hmm... seems those sedatives were a little strong," she mutters to herself as she inspects the girl.
"Dr. Castor, you remember subject Zero. Of all the initial test subjects, she out preformed them in all aspects bar none. Therefor, we determined that she was too valuable to lose. She scored in the 98th percentile in human biotic potential, higher than we have ever seen. Ever dreamed!"
Maria unconsciously tuned out Dr. Milanes as she watched Zero. Throughout all of this Zero had stood there. Perfectly still. The only expression Maria could see was from her one visible eye. That expression was fear.
She jumped a little as Dr. Milanes said, "Thank you Subject Zero. Remember, we are going to have more tests this afternoon." With that we turned and headed for the door. Zero gave a shaky and fearful nod and watched our every move til we were out the door.
With a *whoosh* the door closed swiftly, and quickly turned red as it locked. Turning to his new colleague, Dr. Milanes said, "Now for the interesting part, follow me."
And with that he hurried down the hall to the only door left. He motioned quickly for the guard and rushed into the room at a brisk pace. When Maria cleared the doorway, she stopped in her tracks, eyes wide. So far in her journey throughout the facility she had seen many personnel, but everyone still seemed to be setting up most of the equipment. Not so in this room. Computer monitors lined almost every wall, with each depicting a different sight.
The one that held Dr. Milanes attention was one of the larger monitors, located directly center in the room. A chair was situated in from of it, of which Martin helped himself to as he slip in. He seemed almost giddy as he tapped buttons on the console. "Did you see him?" Martin said quickly, "did you?"
"Ahh, no. I only saw Subject Zero. Who was I looking for...exactly?" Maria asked confused.
"I told you that Subject Zero out preformed every other candidate from the initial testing group," Dr. Milanes stated. "However, I wasn't entirely accurate. One individual did beat her in a very specific field, and it piqued our interest. Watch."
With that, he hit a key and pointed at the screen with glee.
Turning, Maria looked at the screen and with an eyebrow raise.
"Wait for it, he will be there."
Watching the screen, Maria didn't see anything out of the ordinary. The girl, Subject Zero, was looking at the door still. Obviously waiting to see if we were coming back.
Suddenly,"There!" movement on the side of the screen. Maria got closer to the screen, mesmerized. She could just make it out now. Tiny fingers gripped the side of the bookshelf, just out of sight. With a visible show of effort, a figure pulled itself up and on top. Then with a shuffle, the boy got to the edge and jumped off.
Maria had to admit, even when jumping off a bookshelf twice his height he made it look graceful. As he came into focus she finally got a good look at him. Suddenly more images hit her like a shuttle on Ilium.
Major Metropolis Edin Prime Proper. Bustling, busy, and all together unpleasant. People pass by on their way to and from the city. Tall hundred floor buildings surround us. Agent Barrow is with me. We are in a city alleyway. The floor is littered with trash. 26 alcoholic containers, 25 and a half empty. The last in clasped in the hands of a man at the end. Unshaven, body odor emanating, most likely homeless.
Suddenly a boy runs into the alley. Short, possibly four years old. Black hair, possible Asian descent. This is the boy we were looking for. Lost us in the traffic in the city proper. Made us chase him this far. But the reports are promising. This one has a lot of potential. His eyes widen marginally. Fear most likely response. Suddenly blue light emanates from him, signaling a biotic discharge of some kind. With a start Agent Barrow runs forward to stop him. However the boy quickly vanished from his current position, only to instantly reappear approximately 5 meters to the left, farther down the alleyway With another glance towards us, he lights up again and preforms a no handed cartwheel, disappearing in midair. The alley is illuminated for a split second as he reappears at the far end of the alley, but the boy falls to the ground, unconscious.
"Is that the boy from Edin Prime? The one found in the streets. I remember him."
"Ahh yes, your Eidetic memory. That shall come in handy here I believe. I do believe I did mention your work on Edin Prime was very well done. Not only did you manage to locate Subject Zero personally, but you managed to find Him as well."
The boy made his way over to the girl, and placed an arm over her shoulder. The two of them went to the window and looked out at the other children. "Seeing them together is quite a sight." Both dark of hair and eyes, Zero had much paler skin than the boy. She was already taller than him, though they both appeared to be around the same age.
"He truly is a mystery. We haven't been able to find out anymore than you and the agents of Edin Prime. Here is both of their files. You will be working closely with them both I feel."
Taking the datapad from Martin, Maria quickly opened it up and found the files in question already loaded.
Teltin Facility, Pragia
Date: 2165 CE
Report by:Dr. Martin P. Milanes PHD, MD
Subject:Zero
Age: Four
Location found:Edin Prime. Helios Medical Facility. Population 34,678 humans
Physical Description:Female, dark black hair. Long, hangs to the shoulder. Dark eyes, brown . Skin color very pale. Average height, 70th percentile.
Administered Medication: Standard boosters for all 1-12 year old. We have administered the X-32 drug on the orders of Dr. Milanes. Child might otherwise remember Edin Prime, or her family. This should erase all previous loyalties.
Biotic potential:Scoring in the 98th percentile for known human biotic potential, Subject Zero is an amazing find. Already she is showing signs of being one of the most powerful biotics we have ever seen. By my estimation within five to six years, we should have her being able to rivaling Asari Commando. The work on Zero could very well advance biotics for the entire Human species.
Locating agent:Dr. Maria Castor
Possible training regiments: Shock conditioning, Drug therapy. Pitting her against other test subjects. Subjecting her to the elements to see if the biotics will grow in a time of stress. Mental training. Physical training. Endurance training. Weapons training. More to follow.
Ideas for future growth: with any luck, Zero shall be the most powerful biotic in the universe. Ideally that is the goal of this entire facility. We shall see how she does pitted against her fellow test subjects. If we can mentally break her, the body shall soon follow. From there we can work on building her back up.
Scrolling down, she quickly found the other file and loaded it up as well. It seemed to follow the same concept as before, and she quickly looked it over as well.
Teltin Facility, Pragia
Date: 2165 CE
Report by: Dr. Martin P. Milanes PHD, MD
Subject: One
Age:Four
Location found:Edin Prime Proper. Heart of the major metropolis on Edin Prime. Population 356,594
Physical Description: Dark black hair. Long, hangs to the shoulder. Dark eyes, brown or black. Skin color gives hint at possible Asian heritage. Small for his age range, landing in the 40th percentile.
Administered Medication: Standard boosters for all 1-12 year old. We have withheld the memory injection X-32 on this subject. X-32 locates and attacks the long term memory banks, deleting any memories of family ties and other loyalties. With the subject in question being homeless, and X-32 being in rare supply, we have decided to withhold the injection at this time. If future action is required we shall act at that time.
Biotic potential:While he scores low in terms of orthodox biotic talent, Subject One seems to possess an ability that we have not encountered before. A passive visual repelling field seems to be present around the individual at times of high stress, making the user unable to see him. Further testing should prove whether this applies to the other senses as well. At the present, movement seems to disrupt the field, causing the subject to return to visibility.
Additional Comments: Another note needs to be made as well. While we have not been able to confirm this in the lab, initial reports from the capture state that the subject seemed to be able to "Move swiftly across a great distance through some sort of biotic teleport. He seemed to phase in at one location, only to disappear and reappear somewhere else." This reported technique is how the agent and Dr. Castor were able to capture the Subject, as he passed out after two "jumps". Dr. Castor and the Cerberus Agent in the field have both been questioned, and we find no reason for them to speak falsely about this incident.
Locating agent:Dr. Maria Castor, Agent Jack Barrow
Possible training regiments: Shock conditioning, Drug therapy. Weapons training. Stealth training. Attempting to unlock the teleportation ability. Hand to hand combat training. Intelligence testing. Hacking training.
Ideas for future growth: My goal for Subject One is for him to be able to single handedly infiltrate any building in the universe. A lofty goal for sure, but not unheard of. I wish for him to have hacking, stealth, and the ability to access any information, all the while killing silently.
Finishing the reports, Maria placed them on the table. She turned towards Dr. Milanes who was staring at her with another fake smile on his face. He stood up and started inspecting more of the monitors in the room, and started talking.
"Zero has blown the chart in biotic potential, and many researchers are thinking that given the right stimulus training, she can rise even further. She could single handedly push humanity into the future of biotics. The boy, Subject One, has the strangest ability to hide in plain sight. We think it is a passive form of biotics that he is using unconsciously. So far it only works when he doesn't move, and often times he has to hide first for him to activate it. We think that we can change that. They are only 4 after all, we have nothing but time."
Turning back to look at the screen, Maria wasn't too shocked to only see Subject Zero. "So these were their most promising experiments. The most powerful biotic human in existence, and the potential for the best spy the galaxy has ever known."
With a smile coming to her lips, she thought, "Maybe this wont be so bad after all."