The Jon Grissom Academy.

Year: 2185; Time: 2000 Hours

-/\/7-

Sue wasted little time in getting the group back up to speed. The group also adjusted to the even, purposeful steps she made as they progressed down a labyrinth of cross-connecting hallways and walkways.

"You will have a hard time recruiting the adepts to your cause. The training methodologies of the whole corps are very pacifist while the students themselves do not have front line mentalities. You might find a single fighter in every thirty students you survey."

"Such as Gideon Lewis?"

"Far from it. Gideon is a strong biotic, but actually more reserved than anything else."

Jason scowled. "I'm not sure what you interpret as 'reserved' but I have a feeling our definitions vary, Miss."

"On the contrary Lieutenant Pitcairn, Gideon has the soul of poet. He can get defensive and occasionally moody but far from him to be openly antagonistic."

"Then why the Alliance hatred? That doesn't just spring from nowhere Sue." Abby inquired.

Sue sighed and looked at the female N7. "Gideon is from Mindoir."

The three N7's whipped out their data pads simultaneously and began searching for Gideon.

"My report doesn't say anything about Mindoir." Jason exclaimed.

Abby supported him, tapping away at the Data Pads menus. "Neither does mine. Why would the Alliance lie to us?"

"Dossiers on the top ten percent?" Sue asked, as though inquiring about the weather.

Ward looked to see her glancing over his shoulder, scanning the names of the students. When she looked up from the data pad their eyes met.

"What? This is Grissom Academy! HAX lives for that kind of shit. Top earners get the best perks and assignments. Biotics have it easy compared to tech students, we just have to pass exams and not ruin our amps. The engineers on the other hand… It's not pretty."

"Why is that exactly?" Jason asked.

"It's better seen then explained. Unlike some of the other groups here though, they actually work better together than some of the others." The three stopped outside a similar looking door manned by two black unformed security guards. Neither saluted the N7's, a fact not missed by the three marines. Jason glowered at the guards.

"ERCS Spooks, don't even try with the formalities big guy. All right, I've got some errands to run before the curfew falls over the whole ship." She looked at Jason sympathetically. "I am sorry Gideon lashed out at you. I will talk with him about service. He could use some movement in his life. In the meantime, anyone else you want me to swing for tomorrow?"

"That's awfully generous of you Sue, but why do you want to help us out?"

She merely smiled. "I'm a big fan of the program. And you know, I've got a great appreciation for the armed services. I'm such an elated fan, a wolf cub of to the big bad wolves of the program if you will."

Abby sent her a message with the names: 'Allen, Germaine, Styron-Goodwin, Lewis, Hi.' She winked at Ward before heading back to the Adept Dormitories. "I'll work my magic." She emphasized her last words with biotic jazz hands.

Abby and Ward exchanged a silent look. Jason was still frowning at the ERCS guards. "We need make introductions with the staff. Please move." Ward asked.

"I'm sorry sir, but all dormitories are off limits without permission from an administrator."

"We have access. Check for our names: Ward Thompson, Jason Pitcairn, Abigail Callais. We are right there." Ward pressed, internally wondering if HAX had even granted them access.

The guard eyed Ward suspiciously before opening his Omni-Tool. "I don't see your names on here. I can't allow you three in."

"Bullshit, I caught that last panel before you closed it. Allow us in."

"I'm going to have to ask you to leave once more before I call Captain-"

"Andrew Heifetz. I'll put him on right now if you'd like, then I'll explain to him how you denied three of Headmistress Augustine's guests access. Seeing as this is both an Alliance Naval Station and we are N7 marines, and you two being in the employ of the Alliance this will go straight to the Alliance Military Courts." Abby finished smoothly. The words were neutral, but the tone was enough to give a deaf man pause.

The silent guard went from smug to pale instantly. The offending guard lost a measure of his confidence. After tensely staring at Abby, the Guard reopened the Omni-Tool and scanned over the three marines. "You three have access to the Dormitories now. Please do not interrupt the students at work. All photographic devices are banned from usage here, and any attempt to utilize surveillance equipment will be forbidden and punishable with seditious actions.

Ward nodded to the man before stepping into a long hallway capped by another door at the end of the room. The doors closed behind the three N7's. As the three walked towards the door a humming filled the room. The pitch was shrill, but overall it was quiet. As it increased in sound the three N7's stopped in their tracks and assessed the walls.

An electronic face appeared on the wall to their left. "Good evening honored guests. The time is currently 8:11 PM, the day is Tuesday, and your Omni-Tools will be disabled for the remainder of your visit. Please do not disrupt the Engineers while they are working. Have a wonderful rest of the day."

With an electronic hiss, the humming increased. The Omni-Tools were filled with loud, rumbling static until the three N7's turned them off. Jason turned to Ward and mouthed 'What, the fuck?!'

Ward gave a nod in the affirmative as the humming lowered and the doors at the end of the hallway opened to reveal the Common Room.

As opposed the luxurious interior of the Adepts room, the Engineers Common Room was brightly lit, furnished spartanly, and sparsely populated. The change was so dramatic that the N7's were surprised by the change. Given the design of the rest of the ship, it seemed like a radical departure that the Engineering students were living modestly in comparison. A stocky Caucasian student was casually chatting with a gaunt Hispanic student whose dark expression contrasted the Saxon to a comical degree.

The Hispanic whispered something to the Saxon, who wheeled around to face the N7's.

"Greetings friends! Welcome to Grissom Academy, what brings you to our fine arc of the sphere tonight?" The stocky student spoke with a light British accent. He had short brown hair styled with gel, and bright mahogany eyes.

"Just checking out the degrees and angles, Mr.…?" Ward knew that she knew who the students were. Asking them was just confirming looks.

"Oh, right. Oswell Raglan at your service, my friend is… Harado! Stop acting like Cas and get over here!"

"I'll be right back." The Hispanic student half-shouted, half-murmured across the room. He moved through a set of doors and out of sight, leaving the N7's alone with Oswell.

"Don't mind him, he's friendly enough just work driven. He never lightens up. Anyways, you three must be the N7's we've heard all about. Truth be told it would have been nice to leave the Dormitories…" Oswell glanced around the empty room, as if looking for someone, or something.

Satisfied, he moved closer to the trio and whispered. "Will talk later about conditions, for now, we need to get you introduced to the others. Just watch what you say and follow along. The Steward could pop in at any time."

Harado returned with a large group of students. Ward caught on that the average skewed towards younger when it came to the groups' collective age. The crowd stopped just shy of five feet to the Marines.

Ward cleared his throat. "Good evening students of Grissom Academy. My name is First Lieutenant Ward Thompson, N7 Marine. I'm sure by now you three have heard about our arrival-"

Two dozen pairs of eyes widened at Ward. It wasn't surprise, but complete and utter joy. Ward knew that look, and what was going to come next. A pale, petite girl observed the N7's intently, watching Ward's every move. Another girl, slightly older than the first, was sweetly smiling, eyes brimming with tears. A young man with a southeastern-asian look nodded approvingly at the trio before elbowing the girl who was beginning to cry. She wiped the tears threatening for form at the corners of her eyes and smiled again.

"We will be accepting applicants for the entrance exam into an N-Level training group. The exams will be held in several weeks. We look forward to having you sign up for the program. We will be here to answer questions for as long as we can."

Abby and Jason moved to the side, where Harado began to herd the majority of the students. Oswell turned to Harado and nodded. "Ava, Lily, Javas get over here!" The inquisitive and crying girls along with the southeastern-Asian young man moved over to Ward and huddled behind Oswell.

"The Steward is distracted, look I'll make this quick: There is more going on than it looks like-"

"Enough of this horseshit. Guards on a sealed common room? Constant internal surveillance? Disabled electronics? Is this a school or a prison?!" Ward hissed at Oswell.

"Guards? Oh Christ, that's new." Oswell's face paled before he shook his head and regained his composure. "It sure as hell seems like it Lieutenant. I can't say much, before the Steward starts to watch. Just trust me when I say we will go over this later." He motioned for the older girl to come forward. "Lily, you are the only one who can get out of here on a daily basis. You need to explain the situation to them tomorrow. I know you can sweetheart, don't panic. We are going to get through this."

"I want a straight answer!"

Oswell blanched as the humming returned to the room. The same VI interface returned to the common room. Curfew has fallen. All visitors are required to leave at once. The lighting switched from white to blue, and the crowd dispersed fluidly, the other students began to slip away back towards the various hallways, leaving Oswell and the N7's.

"You need to go now, I'll talk to Doctor Isaacson about permission for leaving. Until then, go meet up with the others. Check in with the other cubs." The lighting switched to orange, Oswell saluted the N7's and moved out of the room. The doors sealed around the common room, save for the exit. The three exited the Engineering Dormitory and back into the sphere.

Once back outside Ward turned to Abby. "I fucking knew it."

Jason cocked his head at Ward. "Apart from that messed up bullshit with the VI, what was that about the cubs and shit?"

Abby pinched the bridge of her nose. "Emile placed sleeper agents in the Dormitories. I bet you twenty credits that we will meet three more if we were to go on."

"Which is why I need you to go track down Emile and get some straight answers out of him. Jason and I will go see the other dorms. Hopefully they aren't nearly as fucked up as that was."

Abby nodded and pulled up her map. "My Omni-Tool says he is on the other side of the ship… with our gear."

"Double time Lieutenant!" Abby strode off towards Emile's signal, leaving the two N7's two ponder their ever more disorienting situation.

Writing this was a bear, and I since I rarely suffer from writer's block I will perceive that as a bad omen.

This story wasn't originally going to have Grissom be screwed up, but I felt like some prime issues with the educational system can be tackled while still being Mass Effect like. It is during times such as these that I completely rely on readers like you to help me out. I've got a wonderful beta who has agreed to the Herculean task of editing and yelling at me when I do things wrong. While I do fear for her sanity, I do note that she will probably have a lot of fun bossing me around.

Until next time faithful readers, thank you for reading, post some reviews or send me PMs if you have questions, and I will see you in a few days with the Sentinels ;)