|| Sunrise Gray ||
3.
Back to the present…
"I used to train at BAaT— Biotic Acclimation and—"
"Temperance Training," Braith finishes and smiles, "…I was sent there with my brother, a few others before it happened."
He bats his lashes in some surprise, "…No kidding."
"I wasn't there more than twenty-four hours," she tells him, Jenkins, Joker and Karin listening, "…We were smuggled out before the communicators were installed…It was perfect. Every one of us was injected with something that put us to sleep…We'd all been inoculated and given trackers, and then the doctors put us in bins and shipped us out, clocking everyone as if we were in the school, manipulating the tracker codes with other students that were physically on site…They shipped us to some place in bins separately but as a group, used the trackers to find us…But by the time they came, we'd already gotten out of the bins and were standing in a freezing cold warehouse."
"I heard about the scandal," Karin said, looking sympathetically to Braith, "…Dozens of children were being moved…I'm surprised BAaT was not shut down after that."
"Took killing one of the instructors to do it," Kaidan says, his voice a little reserving of his true feelings, "…I was there for a time with a bunch of kids, too…We had to suffer under a turian named Vyrrnus…He was hurting kids…Hurt a girl I cared about and that…that was the last straw for me."
"What happened," Joker asks.
"I killed him…It was an accident really, but he pulled a knife on me—one of those talons they issue to their military."
"Those are meant for cutting up krogan," Jenkins says.
Kaidan nods, "…It was a big knife…Anyway, I lost control of my power and I kicked him…Stepped back and spun, just like that," snapping his fingers, a loud click, "…Broke his neck."
"They put you out after that?" Braith asks softly.
"Yeah, well, no…They put me in a box for a while, blockers on, everything," he does a spin gesture with his fingers over his head, "…I know what it's like to feel helpless…" He looks briefly at Braith. "I feel bad about it still, but that Vyrnnus had it coming to him."
"I'm glad you killed him." Braith gets looks from all around, but she focuses on Kaidan, "…Biotics isn't something you can teach…People just want to control you…They want to control what they don't have themselves."
"Vyrrnus was a biotic."
"I bet he wasn't a strong biotic…Maybe he envied you all—kids."
"It was about trying to help us figure out how not to make our noses bleed or hurt people—"
"Biotics…is about controlling something that doesn't want to be. Lieutenant." She lowers her head, chin to her chest, "…We were wild and free…Should have just…"
"Let you waste or blow yourselves up?" They all turn to Anderson, standing by the casing around the ship's lift. "Like you and Matthias almost did when I first met you?"
Braith shakes her head and looks back at Kaidan.
"Like we almost did," he chuckles.
"How did that work," Jenkins, listening with eager face to learn about a world he's only witnessed some of, and in two of the people he's supposed to role model after, "…I've heard of biotic combustion and detonations, but how do you not blow up yourselves even now?"
"It's a triggered response," Braith explains, "…Fight or flight…The energy is really like," she purses her lips and considers how to share it, "…A singular entity inside someone…It protects itself, and the body it's in."
"Like a parasite?"
Kaidan laughs, "…That's an interesting way to describe it, but no, it's not the same meaning…I get where you're going with it," he says this to Braith, "…It's a separate part of you, and it combines with you, kind of like…an avatar."
"Yeah," her eyes crinkle at the corners, "…That's right…A really powerful avatar that protects you from others like it and not."
Joker and Jenkins look at the two, lieutenant and commander smiling at one and other's agreement, "…So if you two hook-up—"
"Joker," Braith rolls her eyes away to him, "…Really?"
"Well, I think it's a justifiable question," Jenkins supports the helmsman, "…You know regulations don't mean much when you spend all your time together on a ship…We just want to know if we're going to have to run to the evac pods if you two ever combine—"
"Jenkins," Anderson snaps his fingers, "…go get dinner out."
