Chapter 10
I leaped over the oncoming warp, my colossal leap barely high enough to avoid the edge of the attack. I had to quickly pull my leg up so it didn't clip the chaotic area, forcing me into some acrobatics to be able to land smoothly. I launched to the side the instant I landed, anticipating the explosion that would target the spot. Even with all the space I put between us, I was still struck by the edge of the explosion, my barrier flickering slightly.
She must have anticipated my movement as well, there's no way she was able to make a blast that powerful in such a short time, not after that monstrous warp. I had to boost my strength significantly to be able to leap over it, I had no other choice, I couldn't dodge to either side with how she boxed me in. I wish I could have taken a moment to rest after landing, but I knew Aria. She wouldn't give me the time, the time for my legs to at least adjust to the strain.
I haven't been able to boost my strength for very long, and it was very much a work in progress. I wasted a lot of energy doing so and my poor control means it horribly strains my muscles. Unfortunately, a 'work in progress' were code words for good enough for live combat, at least for Aria. I should really be mad about it, but I can't. I love doing this way too much.
With a wide grin on my face, I took off to the side, throwing out a warp of my own at my opponent. I put a decent amount of power into it, but it would only be a distraction for her. Sure enough, Aria raised a hand and swatted it to the side, somehow deflecting it even as she chortled at me. I really envy how effortlessly she can do that, but it wasn't unexpected. I thrust forward my arms, releasing the colossal blast I formed, barely controlling it. My arms shook with the effort, but I managed to aim it at least somewhat in Aria's direction. The biotic ball was blinding in its intensity. a small sun that quickly went supernova.
The sight was beautiful, filling my vision with its white glow even as my ears felt the thunderous impact. Thank God I learned to shield my ears finally. It's a good thing modern medicine was so good for hearing, I've certainly needed it.
The explosion filled my vision completely, probably because I was also too close to it, whoops. I felt the shockwave impact me, knocking the air out of my lungs and throwing me back. I hit the ground with a groan, my barrier flaring it's release even as I winced from the bruises I could feel forming, both on my front and back.
I laid there until I heard footsteps walking towards me, too tired to bother moving. Soon enough, an immaculate purple face appeared above me.
"Too close?" she raised an eyebrow. I could see the corner of her lips twitch and a twinkly in her eye.
"Too close." I sigh, accepting the hand offered to me. I braced myself against it even as she pulled me up, too quickly. I stumbled into her frame, her arms wrapping around me.
"Whoops." She chuckled. We both know that wasn't a mistake, but I just let it happen. She must enjoy physical contact, with how often she initiates it. If that's the case I don't mind letting her touch me, I trust her. She's been good to me, given me so much. She has more than earnt this. I remain in her arms for a few seconds before she releases the tight grip she has on me, letting me go. I stepped back as soon as she did, but I didn't rush it.
"You may have been tired, but you should never get caught in your own attack Fury." Aria chided me.
"I know. I just get too … invested in winning."
Aria gave an understanding nod but said nothing. I took this time to stretch out my aching muscles, especially my legs. It's kind of crazy how flexible I've gotten in the last two years.
Aria said nothing else on the matter, satisfied with my performance. I appreciate that, her trust in my understanding of my mistakes. She didn't think she had to spell it out to me, and I liked that. I liked that she talked to me seriously, she didn't dismiss what I said because of my age, not like so many others in the club did. I may be young, but I'm not stupid. Bunch of assholes.
Aria could be the biggest asshole of them all, yet … I didn't mind it. She didn't do it for no reason, it was always because someone was being stupid, distasteful or some other justifiable reason. Just like she trusted my opinion, I trusted hers. She knew better than me how to run this station, so if she wanted to perform power plays with others, I was more than happy to let her.
It's funny, that. I trust her, I'm not sure quite when it happened, when she got past my guard, but she did. I didn't want to care about what she said, what she did, but I do. I value her opinions, of me and other things. I'm not sure if it was because she was giving me the ability to better defend myself, or how she was friendly with me and looked out for me, but she managed it. It's … nice, to have someone care about you. She did it in her own brash way, her comments more insulting than not, but when I was injured she always made sure I was looked after. The touches were nice as well, they left me feeling warm, the sensation tingling on my skin long after she stopped.
I push my thoughts away, happy to ignore them but they do raise a question. I trust her, don't I? So why can't I …? Why can't I ask for her help. I still have the data-pad from the facility, nearly three years later and I am still no closer to accessing it. Whatever encryption it had on it, it was far more than my mediocre skills could handle. I've tried to learn how, but something about the process fundamentally just doesn't make sense. I've barely even touched the damn thing for the past 6 months, having basically given up. I can't open it on my own, but I want to know. I need to know why. Why the scientists experimented on me, why they isolated me, tortured me. Why they did everything to me. Do I dare …? I grimace, struggling to know what to do. I don't … I can't …
"Is something wrong Fury, are you hurt?"
Aria must have caught my mood, because she was looking at me with a concerned look on her face. I give her a weak smile, shaking my head, but evidently that wasn't enough. Aria's deadpan gaze is rather effective. She looks at me for a few seconds, and I finally decide. I need to know, and … and I wouldn't mind telling her. She's my … Mo- …, Mentor! Mentor and friend.
"I …" damn it all. Why is this so hard? I growl and shake my head before looking back up at Aria. "I need your help with something." My voice is solemn and Aria nods back, none of the normal amusement present now that she's gotten serious.
"I have something, something from the facility. It's a data-pad, but I can't access it." My mouth is dry and my voice almost cracks, but I get the words at. Aria stills, her gaze sharpening.
"You have an encrypted data-pad?"
I nod, not trusting my voice.
"All right, where is it?" Aria doesn't ask anything else, like why I'm only mentioning this now, accepting it without question. I'm grateful for that.
"My apartment."
We quickly return to the Afterlife and enter my apartment. Aria pokes around while I go and get it from the hiding place in the wall I made years ago. I give it to her slowly, my hand shaking slightly. Aris understands why and handles it gently.
"I'll have someone I trust work on it, he'll know to keep it private. I'll let you know if anything changes, all right?" Aria asks, her eyes softening. I nod, unable to say anything over the bulge in my throat and walk her out the door, she left after patting me twice on the cheek. Shutting the door quickly, I collapsed down to the ground, wrapping my arms around my legs. I haven't felt this … vulnerable, in a long time. Since before Aria started training me.
I don't like it.
"Fury, that's enough for today." Aria called out.
What? But we haven't even been going that long. I'm not even that tired yet, and my lungs don't yet ache. I look at Aria with my brows furrowed. She sighed, closing her eyes.
"The data-pad's encryption was cracked this morning."
I froze. It was cracked, finally…? I swallowed roughly, my fists clenched.
"What …, what was on it?"
Aria looked at me, her jaw tense as she exhaled roughly through her nose. My stomach sank. Was nothing on it? Did I hold onto it for so long for nothing?
"The pad you took doesn't tell us anything about who took you, what organisation it was, nothing identifying." No… "but …, it did hold medical records."
Really? Does it have me on it?
"I figured it would be best if we were here while you read the information." Aria pressed a button on her Omni-tool, sending the data-packet to mine.
"And Fury?" I looked up from the device, confused by how hesitant Aria sounded. That wasn't like her. "You may want to sit down before you read it. The information, it … it wasn't pretty."
I was already in a haze at this point, but I obeyed her words without thinking. I sat down on some of the rubble our fights had made, there was certainly big enough pieces. Swallowing one last time, I opened the data-packet.
On it was a bunch of folders, all numbered consecutively with two non-numeric folders. One of them was 'zero', I quickly pressed that folder.
[
Designation: Subject Zero previously known as Subject 217
Birth Name: Jennifer Marles
Age Acquired: 4 months old at 2162-01-16
Acquired from: Earth
Value: Immense
Subject Zero has the most Eezo nodules we've ever seen in a human, more than most Asari. It was extraordinarily lucky that she showed no health defects upon examination. All the previous subjects acquired with even a third as many nodules as her all showed some form of cancerous cells. This can be dealt with, albeit with difficulty, but not for subjects with as much Eezo in them as subject 0. Almost her entire brain is saturated with the element, and we aren't sure why she is fine.
She is the most valuable subject we have ever found, and likely ever will. Her safety is top priority, no risky procedures are to be performed on her, and she is to be watched at all times. She will become an extremely valuable asset in the future, and that will not be wasted. Considering her value, the exposure site Subject Zero was subjected too was investigated for any other anomalies. While a few good subjects were found this way, none hold a candle to Subject Zero.
]
I was taken at, 4 months old!? I thought I had just forgotten my early life before the facility. Instead, I never had it. That doesn't matter much now, but it means something to me. They took my entire childhood from me.
There was some more information after that, but it was mostly about where I was taken from and medical records for my parents, no names though. I didn't pay much attention to it, my life before the facility didn't matter to me.
[
2163-04-23
Subject Zero is growing well, we are now confident in saying she has developed no health defects from her massive Eezo exposure. Something curious is that she is showing high levels of brain activity for her age, possibly due to how much Eezo she contains.
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.
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2165-05-13
Today was the first procedure. Subject zero was given the gene mutation therapy previously tested amongst some of the other subjects. We have found that 3 years old is the youngest a subject can be before there are negative effects. We gave Subject Zero a little extra time in case it differed for her. We are still in new ground with how much Eezo she has, not enough is known.
]
They started experimenting on me at three?! How could anyone do something so callous to a child? The very thought of doing that to an innocent child makes my stomach turn. I skim through the next few years, but nothing really jumps out at me. I was subjected to few experiments, as they were apparently still testing them. I'm not sure how they were doing so, but they needed time for it. Simulations maybe?
Here something caught my eye.
[
2167-04- 30
There has been a development. Today, Subject Zero activated her biotics properly for the first time. She is more than we ever imagined, she managed to kill one of the guards, throwing him against the wall. It's very promising for the future, but it does beg another question.
If Subject Zero is already capable of this, how do we control her? If she was ever to properly fight back against us in the future, it would be costly to stop her. She attacked the guard because of one of the other subject's distress, so it has been decided to isolate her. This will serve two purposes, firstly by keeping her away from the other subjects and secondly as a method of control. Her isolation will make her compliant to commands. To help with this feeling, she is being moved to a room with a one-way mirror instead of a window. This will hopefully make her resentful against the other children and more malleable.
]
I grit my teeth. I already knew about the one-way mirror, but to do that to a 5-year-old to keep her controlled. Also, I don't know how to feel about my first kill being at age 5. I even remember it, I had nightmares about it when I was younger but I always thought he survived, Guess not.
[
2170-04-22
We have begun Subject Zero's combat testing. We are using steel targets for her to aim her biotic explosions at. With the other subjects we began by teaching them some basic techniques for biotics, but we will not be doing so for Subject Zero. She has too much power, she must be left untaught. She somehow managed to figure out how to throw biotic explosions and that will be enough for testing purposes.
We need to know what she is capable of, so she must be encouraged to try her best. It was debated among the council how to best do so, and electricity was the answer we came up with. It has the highest pain to damage ratio we can feasibly use without irreparably damaging her, so Subject Zero will be encouraged using it.
]
Bastards. They were right, but they were right bastards.
It was horrifying, reading about all the procedures they did to me. The reports were extremely detailed for each procedure, and I could probably point to every scar on me and be able to find out the exact day, way, and reason I had it. After a few dozen I could no longer stomach reading them, the words drawing out the memories of all the times they kept me awake. As best as I can tell, there was no reason for keeping me awake either either. No reason why I would feel every cut, would feel airflow inside me, hear and feel the reverberations when they cut bone and no reason why I couldn't move a muscle, helpless to stop them doing it.
I skimmed forward to the bit I knew was coming, I dreaded it but I couldn't stop, I needed to know.
[
2172-06-05
There have been some unforeseen complications. We thought Subject Zero was fully obedient to us, willing to follow any order we gave, but we were wrong.
To give Subject Zero some combat experience, we decided to have her fight against some of the unsatisfactory subjects. They were the ones that we couldn't even use for experimental procedures, having nearly rejected the last time we tried anything with them. They served no further use, until we gave them one.
Subject Zero was to fight them, gain experience with close quarters combat and get used to shedding blood. Instead, she refused to fight even under electrical encouragement. As a result, it was decided to have her face more aggressive opponents, in the hope they would draw out her own aggression.
She refused to even fight back, instead she let herself be beaten until we stopped the fight, worried about permanent injury. We attempted this many times, all unsuccessful. It was decided she was too used to pain, it had been used as a punishment to often and had lost effectiveness.
Another method was devised, sleep deprivation. Through the combination of lights, extreme temperatures, and lack of food, we hope to convince her. Where this reluctance even come from, we are all curious. Here's hoping this new method finds some success.
]
It certainly did. I can't help but feel bitter, knowing how successful they were at moulding me to their desires. I may deny it, but a large part of the way I am today is because of them, and I hate them even more for it. For the lack of social cues, the anger … the fear.
[
2172-09-20
While it was difficult, we were successful. Subject Zero now fights back against her opponents, winning every time now that she finally has the resolve for it.
It was a slow process, at first it showed no results. We were close to stopping it when she finally cracked. Subject Zero was close to permanent side-affects and severely malnourished when she started fighting back. She only beats them into submission, but that is enough for now. Once she grows use to it, the level of the fights can be elevated.
]
I almost held out. I close my eyes, my emotions a whirlwind. There was grief …, anger …, sadness …, rage and melancholy. I was so close to not fighting, but I gave in, and I let them win. Why didn't I hold out just a little bit longer?! If I did … if I did so many wouldn't be dead. I had to turn off the Omni-tool for a moment, too tense to continue reading.
"Fury," Aria's spoke from softly beside me, having sat down without my notice. "It's alright, you don't have to read it."
"Yes, I do." I grunt, too stubborn to stop, ignoring her and opening the file again. I couldn't stop now, I don't know if I'd ever start again.
[
2172-11-12
We are running out of time. Subject Zero is growing stronger and we need to finish making her obedient, before we no longer can. Fights to the death restarted today. Once again, we encountered resistance and had to halt the fight to save Subject Zero. This situation is vexing
.
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2172-11-19
Today was only more proof of our lack of time. Subject zero showed a new ability, a bastardisation of barrier than all the same managed to grant her victory. She still refused to kill her opponent. We tried to make her several times, and in the end had to kill the subject ourselves.
Sleep deprivation tactics are to be redeployed, hopefully they prove effective once more.
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2172-12-25
The sleep deprivation techniques have proven less effective than we hoped. We have decided to see whether more traditional methods may be of use.
]
I skimmed past this part, needing no reminders of what happened next. I still remember vividly, while both awake and asleep.
[
2173-02-04
We are beginning to run out of ideas of to how to remove Subject Zero of her hesitance. Conventional methods haven't proven effective, instead providing negative results as she seems more resistant to the sleep deprivation tactics we have previously employed.
We are trying our final idea, lowering her inhibitions with a chemical compound, and making her kill some of our failed subjects while under its influence. The plan is to place the subjects as another one of her targets, and slowly lower the drug dosage until Subject Zero realises what she has done. Hopefully this realisation breaks through her reluctance, as there isn't much more we can do.
]
That was…, that was when they finally broke me.
I thought it was from sleep deprivation and the numbness left over from the torture. I thought … I thought it was my fault. It … wasn't?!
How did I not realise! I knew the symptoms of sleep deprivation, they were almost normal to me, yet I just assumed that was it. The haziness of the memories, the way colours blurred in my vision Why didn't I even question the injection they gave me, I barely gave it a second thought in my indifference to anything not fighting, but it did me harm. It did the other kid's great harm. I had consciously not thought about the time, preferring to ignore it but I can't do that now. I had plainly forgotten about the injections, only now remembering them. The beginning of my massacre wasn't my fault. It was there's.
And the symptoms! I know those symptoms. Drugs are prevalent here on Omega, to say the least. Aria had even warned me about a few of them, how dangerous they truly were. I had listened politely to her, but nor caring for her words, dismissing them. For god's sake, I was even curious about trying some of them?! I felt sick at the idea now. How could I be so stupid? It's not happening again, I refuse. I can't lose my wits like that again, never again.
If I could rid this station of the wretched things, I would, but I know I can't. Drugs are a huge part of the economy of the stations, we are a producer, consumer, supplier and trader of all drugs in the galaxy, it's part of being the capital of the terminus systems. I can't stop that, I don't have the power. Aria doesn't have the power, so I'll have to ignore it. I growl at the thought, but I can't act on my feelings so I may as well go back to reading.
[
2173-02-28
Subject Zero is now compliant to our orders. The slow recognition of her acts seems to have worked, and we have so far found no issues with her obedience. As such, the training programme has been resumed.
Subject zero has begun engaging in elimination fights against the failed subjects. They have no chance of winning, unbeknownst to them, but they will serve one last purpose. Fury will gain experience killing on our orders, and her obedience training is now once again on track.
]
They pitted me against failed subjects?
Oh … that was when that year began, wasn't it. The year I fought against the weak subjects, killing all of them. There only purpose was to die for me, serving no further purpose. I know I've said it before, but these scientists were monsters. Even if I was being cynical, the subjects could still have been used as infantry soldiers. Biotics are rare, and so many of them were killed just because they could no longer be experiment on?!
[
2174-03-15
The last of our currently useless subjects was eliminated today, there are no more. These fights have long since served little purpose, subject zero grew used to them long ago, but we had nothing else to do with them and the useful subjects weren't ready yet.
In this year, we have been training the more successful subjects, teaching them proper technique in the hopes they will put up a decent fight against Subject Zero. We have also been testing many of our most radical procedures on them, and while many expired from it we have found many more viable procedures for Subject Zero's future enhancement.
Subject Zero will begin fighting them tomorrow, as their value is beginning to wane as well. Subject Zero can only go through so many enhancements before they stop having an effect. We have found this to be the case with some of the minor procedures performed on her. It has been decided that we will be focusing on major procedures now, carefully chosen for optimal results. This reduction also means that we now require less Subjects for testing, so they can be better used in granting Subject Zero valuable combat experience.
It has been decided to begin using positive reinforcement on Subject Zero in the form of drugs. This is to help further her obedience to us. She may be perfectly compliant now, but it doesn't hurt to be sure. She had been unusually resistance to our wishes when compared to the other subjects.
]
What? They tried to make me like it using drugs? Give it a positive association?
They were testing the procedures, the ones used on me, on the other subjects?
Many of them were killed because of these procedures, and the ones who weren't but were crippled by them were sent to me, the facility's personal executioner. I … they … was that why …, why some of them were so angry at me. So willing to fight me, to try and kill me.
I sucked in a breath, my hands clenching, my limbs rigid.
I thought …, I thought that was the way they were. Its why I didn't feel so bad at killing the obviously enraged ones who fought me. I figured, fair's fair. The anger was more and more common as time went on, I never thought about it, thought about why that was the case. It was my fault.
My head was beginning to grow fuzzy, my vision tinting blue. My body felt hot, almost buzzing with energy.
My fault they were angry, my fault they're now dead. I always secretly harboured some resentment for the other children, free to play in the yard. But I was always the one in the least danger. The facility wouldn't risk killing their 'prime specimen', now would they.
It …. was … my … FAULT
Blue fire exploded around me, but I barely registered the fact. I could barely feel anything, over the burning pit of rage!
"… Fu … Fury!"
I didn't see what was happening to the environment around me, the damage I was doing to it, the damage I was doing to me. I couldn't feel anything, not the heat on my skin, the pounding of my head. None of it mattered before my towering rage, a monument to my sins.
"Fury … Fury snap out of it!"
I closed my eyes, only seeing the blue fire around me.
"Fury … you need to STOP!"
A hand clamped down on my shoulder, gripping tight enough to hurt. The hand shook me back and forth, and I suddenly regained my senses. It hurt, everything hurt. I could feel the aura of energy around me, it was too much, too large. I had used much of what was left within me, considering my aching head and the sluggishness of my head. I needed to get rid of it, let it go.
The aura flew away from me in an explosion of force. The crack of the air hurt my ears, but at least I was no longer at risk of being killed by my own technique. My limbs felt weak, and I collapsed to the ground, unable to continue standing.
I laid there, my eyes unfocused and my head pounding. Exhaustion pulling at my eyes.
"Are you alright Fury." Aria asked, kneeling next to me. She was tense, her frame rigid.
"I'm fine."
"No, you're not." She sighed, holding out a hand to lift me up. I grasped It with my own, but the task was somewhat beyond me. Halfway up, my arm gave out and I began falling back down. Just as I was bracing for impact, Aria caught me with her other hand. My eyes were currently on her face, so I caught the small wince she gave at the action. As soon as she finished lifting me up, I grasped her hand and looked down at it.
The skin was dry, cracked, with a few small blisters. I did that.
"Aria …" I began, but the words refused to come out. She snatched her hand back from me.
"I'm fine." She snapped. I opened my mouth to retort but thought better of it.
I stumbled my way back to the rock we were resting on, sitting gingerly. The rock itself was warm to the touch and blackened in a few spots, the surrounding area was worse.
Many of the rocks around had been thrown away, more still shattered from unknown impacts and a clear circle of destruction surrounded is. I lost control, once more I lost control. I need to be better than that, it's not just me that could be hurt by it. Aria is proof of that. I glanced out of the corner of my eye at her. She sat beside me without complaint.
"I-" I swallowed. "I'm sorry."
"It's alright, I almost expected it. Why do you think I gave you the file here." She waved her non-injured hand around us. I … I suppose that was a reasonable assumption. I certainly proved it, didn't I.
There was no more distracting myself though, from the data file, what was on it. I was almost done, I needed to finish reading it, but do I have the strength. I growled at myself, of course I do! I opened my Omni-tool again and received an odd look from Aria.
"I'm almost done."
I read the rest of my file almost clinically, it didn't feel like it mattered. It was just more experiments and more fights. The only thing of interest was when my foot was cut off. They were pissed about that, the people watching that fight were all fired/demoted. It was very much unwanted.
I don't mind it now that I'd grown used to it. The foot had its uses, and it never hurt. It got me out of fighting for six months. It also wasn't made by the scientists. It was done by the girl, and I don't mind looking at that one. She didn't wrong me, in the end. It wasn't her fault we had to fight.
I went through a few serious procedures in the time, the scientists marked them as such. Those were the ones I wasn't even conscious for, and like I thought that was out of necessity. The operations were on too much of my nervous system, one of them my entire spine. I'd given up trying to parse exactly what they were doing, the medical terms too much for me.
I closed out of the file and opened the one above it.
[
SUBJECT Zero – Viable: A major success, the end goal of the program
SUBJECT 1- DECEASED
SUBJECT 2 – DECEASED
SUBJECT 3 – DECEASED
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.
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SUBJECT 92 – Inviable: No longer capable of being experimented on
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SUBJECT 123 – Inviable: Crippled by accident, slated for elimination
SUBJECT 124 – DECEASED
SUBJECT 15 - DECEASED
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SUBJECT 289 – DECEASED
SUBJECT 290 – Viable: a minor success, useful for field work
SUBJECT 291 – Viable: A valuable test subject for procedures, reacts well to experiments
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SUBJECT 345 – Viable: Still largely unmodified but shows promise.
]
345.
There were 345 subjects, and as far as I know they're all dead now. A few may have escaped, but I was lucky to have been taken to Omega when I was. I was able to free myself. Even if some of the others did escape, I'm not sure they're free, and there would be no way for me to find them.
345 subjects that were experimented on, for me. Many of them died by my hand. Many more died to further my power.
I closed the file, turning off my Omni-tool, and I just sat there, the memories washing over me. They were both vivid, yet indistinct. So many feelings, so many emotions. Much of it was confusing, hazy. That would be the drugs. It showed up frequently in my later years at the facility. Had to be obedient after all.
"I assume you've read the file as well?"
"I have." She nodded
"I despise them."
"As you should."
"I despise them, so why can't I remember, remember the damn symbol. Even now, it's an orange blur to me. I might recognise it if I see it, but there are too many symbols that might be similar."
"It's no fault of yours that you don't remember, secrecy was paramount for this facility"
"But how do I make them pay if I can't even find out who they were?!"
Aria placed her hand on my shoulder.
"Maybe one day you will know who they are, maybe you won't. But you've already made them pay, haven't you. You slaughtered all of them. All of the scientists, and all of the guards. Isn't that enough?" Her words were gentle, and she softly squeezed my shoulder.
"It doesn't feel like enough." My voice is low, raspy. Aria sighed next to me, keeping her hand where it was.
"It won't ever feel like enough. It might just have to be."
There is, some truth to her words. I closed my eyes, placing my hand over hers absentmindedly as I just think for a minute.
There really isn't anything else I could do now, is there. I have no leads, no clues, nothing to investigate. I could try going back to the facility, but I doubt there's anything left there after the last few years and the idea of going back is repugnant. So that's a no to that.
I can't do anything about my own captors, but maybe I can help stop it from happening again. This is Omega, I doubt it would be hard to find something like that here, but would I be allowed to stop it? Certainly not as I am.
"Aria." My voice is resolute, no trace of doubt in it, I'd made up my mind. She turns to face me and I her. "I want to do more than I am. I may not be able to do anything for my captors, but maybe I can stop it from happening to other children. Would that be possible?" I stare deeply into her eyes, trying to convey my reasoning to her, whatever that may be. It just clicked for me.
"I find that sort of thing repugnant as well, but it still happens. Omega is hard to control at the best of times, no matter how easy I make it look. If you asked about anything else except child slavery like what you went through, I would have to refuse you." She paused for a moment, before her eyes met mine once more, hers calm and measured. "But what you want to rid Omega of is possible. It would be difficult, near impossible, but all the same you would have a chance. Many of the denizens of Omega itself would support your mission. There is only one thing." I narrowed my eyes at that, waiting for her to tell me what it was. "You would need to become one of my enforcers to do so. Are you willing to do so? Is this really what you want?" Aria looked searchingly into my eyes, but she would find no doubts in them.
"Yes."
"It will be dangerous."
I offered no objections.
"So be it then."