It was her third migraine in as many days.
If Step Nine came with any benefits, it was that they indulged her a few hours of rest when her brain turned traitor. Curled in on herself, Kalyani did her best to block out the relentless hum of the station, blankets strewn across every emergency light, and tried to ride it out. Stars exploded behind her eyes, supernova that burned along every nerve, colliding with the dull ache at the base of her skull. She drove her eyes against the point of her knees; she had to resist the mad urge to rip them out with her thumbs.
It would pass. It would pass, it would pass, itwouldpassitwouldpassitwouldpass.
The door to her compartment ground open. Her nails sank into the scar tissue surrounding cool metal. The sting did little to lessen the explosion of noise screaming along her raw nerves. Light streamed in from the corridor, piercing every crack in her armor, until it flooded her senses as readily as if she'd opened her eyes. Kalyani shuddered.
"Madan--" The voice stopped for a brief moment. "Madan--we're mustering with Vyrnnus in observation. Are you--"
"Yeah--yes, I'm--let's go."
There were four of them now, the Step Nines. There'd been five last week. Coccetti had managed to piss off an instructor and slammed with enough demerits to drop her two steps. They lived in eternal limbo, trying desperately not to fall as they grasped for another step that didn't exist. In years past, they'd seen Step Nines age out and disappear on shuttles. Kalyani had been a Step Nine for five months, eighteen for nearly four. There were no more shuttles.
There was very little chatter as they idled in the gleaming compartment. Brooks and Wheelock gossiped at the massive window, ignoring the endless sprawl of space. An omnitool hummed, casting an orange glow across a haphazard collection of seats. Sat on a red, faded couch, Kalyani pressed a hand to her eyes and did her best to ignore the rolling waves of nausea. The warm line of Coty's arm pressed against hers felt like it was all that was keeping her together.
"Attention on deck!"
Somehow, Kalyani found herself at attention. Her body moved without instruction, conditioned to obey. Anything to avoid another hour of training, of shouting, of whatever punishment amused them most. The world was blurry, her vision stubbornly refusing to unify. But her spine was straight and she managed not to puke on her boots.
The Commander was terrifying, even among turians. His authority was absolute--even the sadists like Caelnus were quick to defer to Vyrnnus. It was no mystery why. He commanded a room simply by entering it, like he owned every inch of space. Somehow, Kalyani knew he'd killed more people than she'd ever known.
"At ease," The discordance in his voice was more pronounced than in other turians. Perhaps it was a product of the avian equivalent of two packs a day for twenty years, or whatever had left one side of his face so mangled. All Kalyani knew was that it made her skin crawl.
Vyrnnus strolled through the massive compartment, hands folded in the small of his back, the perfect picture of supremacy. They watched in silence--even Brooks, the very worst of them, didn't dare speak. He paused at the massive window, beady eyes surveying the heavens, as if deep in thought.
"You might have noticed," he began, "That the curriculum has changed. We're implementing a new, ah, let's call it a capstone project."
--
She was going to kill the asshole who'd brought her to Jump Zero. She was going to find a fucking way off this station and track the asshole down and rip him to fucking shreds. He'd pay for every fucking year she'd spent here, for every swallowed protest, for every broken bone. The Alliance will have need of good biotics, he'd said, and her mother had squeezed her shoulder, so fucking proud.
The datapad exploded against the bulkhead. Wires and metal went flying. The dismembered skeleton of the datapad crumpled to the ground, leaving only a gouge against her wall. Breathing heavily, Kalyani pushed loose hair off her face, and tried to calm down. She had to think. Had to think--
Instead she screamed, launching the frame of her cot into the opposite wall with a flare of blue light. The crash was deeply unsatisfying, only serving to aggravate the pounding in her head. Kalyani swore. She paced.
A fucking capstone project, Vyrnnus called it, like writing a fucking paper or making a poster.
Breaking another person was not a fucking project. It was fucking bullshit--who the fuck among them was going to need to withstand torture in their future? He'd been so full of shit, banging on about learning best through experience, about emerging stronger, better, about how they'd get to go home afterwards.
Just one more project, he'd smiled, and then you're done You have your assignments. Get to it. Someone must have thought it funny, assigning her to rip Nagamura to shreds.
One more project.
God, she just wanted to see Earth again.
--
Time was meaningless out here. Jump Zero had synced their clocks with Arcturus Station, but this deep in the void, they could have as easily chosen anywhere else. The station mimicked day and night cycles well enough, brightening lights and dimming them accordingly. Eighteen on, six off, in endless refrain.
The station was still dark. Kalyani's boots clicked as she followed familiar corridors. The stillness of the station had been unnerving once; Earth had been so crowded, even when her parents had managed to take leave to the countryside. The quiet had frightened her when she'd first arrived. Now she could scarcely imagine anything else.
The corridor terminated in a lift, which carried her down towards the heart of BAaT. Kalyani smoothed out the crisp blue fabric of her uniform. After five years in the same red fatigues, her skin didn't look like her own anymore. Her knuckles whitened, nails curving crescents into the flesh of her palms.
It started today. Four students, four mentors to break them. Brooks had laughingly proposed a race. Kalyani was horrified when the others agreed--and yet, she'd said nothing.
Lights flickered to life abruptly as artifical day dawned throughout the station. The training room beckoned.
Earth.
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