26 22 – Jack: Subject 0 (2)

JACK POV

My name is Jack. I don't know my surname and even if I did, it wouldn't matter.

I don't have many memories of my childhood, and the ones I have are filled with pain. I don't know my mother or father.

I was an experimentation subject for an evil company. A few years ago I discovered the name of said company, Cerberus.

A fitting name, as from a history book I read before, Cerberus was supposed to be a dog gatekeeping hell. Well, for me, they were hell incarnated.

For as long as I can remember, I've been moving from place to place, always to another base, but the reason is the status is the same. To be experimented on, all so that I can grow more powerful.

At first, I was alone for a long time, but they started to introduce me to new kids after some time. I thought that was a good gesture from an evil person, but I found out later that it was just their sadistic nature taking over them.

It was difficult at first, to make friends, as I was isolated from the rest and didn't have much conversation abilities. But guess what, neither did those kids.

So, after some awkward times, we became colleagues. Every day my "colleagues" and I were experimented on by various scientists to develop our biotic powers.

If that were all there was to it, I could accept it, since as soon as I grew strong enough, I would be able to escape.

The problem is the thinking of the people who experiment on us, or just Cerberus, who believes that only the strongest of the experiments can survive. And they believed that with conflict and without relationships, we would become stronger...

So, ever since I could remember, I was forced to kill my so-called ' colleagues''. Yes, they pitted us against each other in a fight to the death.

Over the years I've had several people I've connected with, but the result was the same, after a while, we were forced to fight to the death.

And as I was the most powerful subject, I won most of the time. There were times I wish I hadn't, but for some reason, I don't know, I wanted to win.

Maybe because of revenge, or something along those lines.

After years of doing that, killing the people I connect with, it broke me down little by little and made me who I am today.

Subject 0.

One of the only people who had been alive since the beginning of the experiments and who was more powerful than all the other guinea pigs.

An 18-year-old girl with no friends. I learned to not connect with anyone since I was usually forced to kill them.

I even started a ritual of tattooing myself to honor the memories of the people I was forced to kill. There were so many that my body was riddled with tattoos, with hardly a place without them.

It was a small gesture and one of the only ones I could do for them since I was locked in facilities all my life.

Even though I was the most powerful in the base, I was still hiding my real powers from Cerberus, waiting for the perfect moment to escape. And that time was near.

I was shaking with anxiety, as I couldn't wait to kill everyone who tortured me every day, in the most painful way possible.

I dreamed about what I would do to them.

Until it happened...

A few days before my plan to escape was about to begin, since we were going to change location, someone started attacking the base where I was staying.

I thought those people were going to kill everyone, but clearly, they were only targeting Cerberus agents. And that didn't make me happy, since they were taking away my opportunity for revenge.

Of course, I couldn't see everything, since my cell was the most remote and smallest of all, since I'd tried to escape before, but I could see enough. I was also being restrained with several chains, making it difficult to move.

It was then that I noticed a person in armor different from the others approaching my cell.

The person in the armor was strong, the strongest I've ever seen. You may wonder how I knew that. Well, after years of being tortured, I sort of developed certain instincts, which have helped me stay alive to this day.

And those same instincts were screaming that the person in front of me was dangerous. So, even though these people who were invading were only killing Cerberus agents, I had to use part of my escape plan and quickly got rid of the chains and prepared my biotic powers, just in case.

Then, the door opened to my cell and I prepared to attack.

But, the only thing the person said was, '' Hello there!''

--

A FEW HOURS AGO

Samael and his crew were approaching the planet where Jack was, Pragia. It was a planet with various mutated plants, isolated and lacking a population.

At first, it was a normal planet, with not a single intelligent species living on it, untouched by everyone.

That changed centuries ago, as the Batarians chose this isolated planet to make the food for their species. Then, they introduced non-native flora and mutated plants into the ecosystem of the planet.

Safe to say, it was a mistake. The mutated plants started to evolve beyond what the Batarians could handle, started to kill everything in sight, and forced them to flee the planet.

Studies said that in 60 years, the planet would die thanks to mutated plants. Another mistake in a long list of fuckups from the Batarians.

Fuck them.

Anyway, the problem with the mutated plants is that they grew in the direction of killing anyone on sight, so it was a very dangerous planet, that very few people visited, and the ones who ended up regretting it.

Thanks to that, it was home to various types of people, mainly bad ones. It was known to be the home of drug lords, smugglers, mercenaries, and the location of one of the Cerberus bases.

In a past cycle, Samael had once lived on this planet for some time and knew the type of people who lived there. They weren't exactly what you would call nice. So, he authorized his crew to attack with deadly force if necessary.

They would arrive on the planet in a few minutes, so Samael went to check on Natasha. He entered her room and noticed she was already wearing the armor he gave her alongside a gun.

'' Are you ready? Things will get ugly down there.''

Samael was being honest. This was above the thugs he had faced before, and while not at the same level as him, they could pose trouble to his crew, even more so to Natasha, a civilian.

But even after hearing that, Natasha didn't change her mind. '' I will save my daughter, no matter what.''

Samael could see she was prepared to die, so he gave her a piece of advice, '' Listen, we will save your daughter, whether you're there or not. I know you had the thought, 'If I have to die to save her, so be it', but you have to think of about after you saved Jack. She never had love in her life, so you need to stay alive to show her a little bit of that.''

''After all, dead people can't help their loved ones.''

Natasha accepted what he said but said nothing more. Her resolve didn't shake one bit.

Samael sighed internally, '' We will arrive where she's being kept in a few minutes. When you're ready, go to the cafeteria as I will do a briefing with the entire crew.''

After that, Samael went to the infirmary to talk with Javik.

The Prothean had started training everyone on the ship a day ago, all while not being 100% recovered. He was a little bit disappointed with the level of the crew but saw the potential.

Jaret training was good after all.

He did not have much to say about Veronica, John, and Miranda, as they were a level above the rest of the crew. He did, however, make a separate training course for Miranda and the other biotics on the crew.

There are only a handful in the ship, but they could be used as a hidden card if the need arises.

So imagine Samael's surprise when he entered the infirmary and saw Javik with armor and a few guns on his waist.

Samael knew the Prothean well enough, and based on what he was seeing, he wanted to fight too.

' I'm surrounded by reckless people... well, I'm also one.'

He would not tell Javik to stay on the ship, as after him, he was the most experienced 'person' on the ship. Even a not 100% recovered Javik would mean trouble for Cerberus.

So, Samael just said, '' Are you ready? We will be meeting at the cafeteria in a few minutes for a brief rundown on the operation.''

Javik nodded, '' I heard about this... rescue and destroy Misson. I don't know why all this fuss, as in my cycle, we also experienced other races and species.''

'' Times change, Javik. What was normal then is not normal now. There are some lines we can't cross. Kidnapping babies to experiment on them is one of them.''

While Samuel did get Cerberus's intention of growing stronger, they should have done this in a normal way. Heck, he knew if they announced they were experimenting on people to make them stronger and called volunteers, a lot of people would flock to their bases for a chance.

But no, they had to go the other way and be evil for no good reason.

'' Hmmm, is that so? Well, it doesn't matter to me. After training those green sprouts, I was itching for a real fight. The closest one I had was when I had just woken up.''

Javik was talking about the 3x1 against Miranda, Veronica, and John.

Knowing the Prothean, Samael offered a spar, '' How about a spar after this? Just you and me.''

Javik liked that, '' Good. Even if I'm not recovered, I don't like being ordered to just rest. I want to move my body around as much as I can. After all, I slept for a very long time.''

Samael patted the Prothean holder, '' You will have enough to fight with us, I guarantee you that.''

At first, he wanted to invite Javik to LD, but it was too soon. Besides, the Prothean will be busy after talking with the Council.

' After all, there should be some Prothean alive in Illos. There are still a few years until the canon starts, so Vigil, the VI overseeing the remaining Protheans, should have enough powers to sustain a few of the cryopods.'

Illos was a planet home to the Protheans. The only way to gain access to this planet and its cluster was through the legendary Mu Relay, which was still untouched on this cycle.

On that planet, there is a base filled with thousands of Prothean pods. In the games, by the time Shepard and her crew arrived on the planet, Vigil had been forced to shut down the majority of the pods, thanks to the passage of time.

In his last cycles, Samael never bothered to check if there was any other Prothean alive, and when he did go to Illos, it was generally too late for them anyway.

Now, as it was his last cycle, he wanted Javik to have a chance to rebuild his race. Who knows, maybe there could be some other Prothean alive in Illos.

This future trip to Illos also ignited Samael's passion for new things, so he was more than happy to help with that.

So, after talking with the Council in the next few days, he would send Javik there, along with a few other people from his crew. They could then grab some information from Vigil and Illos and show it to the galaxy.

That way, they would have no choice but to believe the Reapers are real. But Samael didn't bet on that, as he knew how stupid the Council was.

Well, that was a problem for the future, and for now, Javik was still the last Prothean alive.

After that, Samael went to the cafeteria and waited for everyone to arrive. He nursed his drink and ate some fruits that were around the area.

'' We will arrive in 5 minutes.'' Veronica's voice came through the speakers.

After that, everyone came to the cafeteria.

After confirming everyone who should be there was there, including Natasha and Javik, Samael gave a brief rundown.

'' First things first, the planet is hostile to any living being. The plants there were enough to kill all of us, so be careful not to separate from us. With our stealth system, we will go directly above Cerberus base, so there should not be a problem with getting lost.''

Then, he showed them the armor Cerberus agents used alongside their guns.

'' They are way above the thugs we faced before, so go with caution. Cover your comrade, and stay alive.''

'' Our mission this time is to rescue some test subjects and kill all personnel inside the base. Everyone in this facility knows the full scale of what happened to the test subjects, so none of them are guilt-free. Again, you're authorized to kill everyone.''

No one said anything about that, as they knew, based on the documents Samael gave them a few days ago, that they had committed many atrocities with those kids.

'' After this, we will go to the Citadel, then deal with Cerberus once and for all.''

'' Any questions?''

No one said anything.

'' Good. Javik, you and Miranda go together to the east side of the base; there is the place with the most soldiers, so deal with them. Veronica and John, you will lead the rest to the north and south. I'll take the west side of the base alone... Natasha goes with Veronica and John.''

Just then, an RR voice came through the speaker, ''We arrived.''

'' Good. We all know our role and mission, so let's give them hell!''

Everyone nodded solemnly at that and prepared to destroy this Cerberus base.

'' RR, you stay on the ship and kill the people who manage to escape. Also, block their communications.''

'' Leave it to me!''

Then Samael and his crew arrived on the base, ready to kill and save people.