Mass Effect: Reaper Dreams

To Have and Have Not

"And now my bitter hands cradle broken glass of what was everything. All the pictures have all been washed in black, tattooed everything..."

Pearl Jam

December 12th, 2187

Subject Zero

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"Excellent, Sophie!" said Jack. "Do you see this, everyone? Dryden couldn't even make a barrier when we started. Now look at her. She's kicking ass. Tell me Sophie, if I pulled a standard issue pistol out of my desk and started firing at you, how long could you hold up? Be honest."

The kid smiled with confidence. "It would take you at least eight rounds with a standard pistol, unless you had ammo mods designed to tear down my barrier."

"You want to test that?" asked Jack.

"Hell, yea!" said the girl.

Jack opened her desk and retrieved the dummy pistol that Kahlee had authorized her to use. Most of the students gasped and fled to their desks, or even to the back of the room. The Dryden girl, however, stood her ground. Her grin spread even wider. There was no hesitation. The kid was bold. Jack couldn't have been prouder. This was what it was all about.

"Go ahead," declared the girl. "Fire away!"

Jack leveled the pistol.

"No way!" screamed one student. "You can't do that in here, I'll call the admin."

"This is so messed up," said another student. "You're going to get yourself killed, Sophie."

Jack laughed, then waved the pistol. "You can relax the barrier, Dryden, this isn't a real gun. I just wanted to test you."

"Ah, darn," said the girl. "I wanted to see."

The girl dropped her barrier. Her forehead was covered in small beads of sweat, and her hands started to shake from the adrenaline.

"Ok, that's just crazy," said an older boy.

"And that attitude is why your barrier sucks, Wilson," said Jack. "Think about it, when we started, you had the best barrier here, but now look at you. If someone came after you, you'd be dead. Do you know why?"

Adam Wilson's face reddened. He shook his head.

"Because this is just a game to you," said Jack. "You're spending every weekend messing around, trying to scam crappy booze from the reds so you can party with your friends. Meanwhile, Sophie here has been working her ass off every weekend. Putting in the time, putting in the discipline. What is being a strong biotic all about? Tell them, Dryden."

"Focus," said the girl.

"Exactly," said Jack. "Now, we're two days away from winter break. After you get back from lunch today, we're moving on from barriers, and we're going to start with pull fields. I want you to have the basics down, and when you come back from winter break, I don't want hear: 'Teacher, teacher, I forgot how!' Are we clear? I want to take what you learn in the next few days and actually practice it and improve on it, because when you get back in January, there will be a five point quiz first thing in the morning."

The students groaned in unison. A chime sounded, indicating lunch break. Jack was keying in some notes on her pad when one of her students interrupted her.

"Hey, teacher," said Adam. "I think your girlfriend's here. Try not to be too late getting back from lunch!"

The students who hadn't already run out the door started laughing. She looked up and spotted Miranda standing just inside the classroom doorway. Jack let loose a scowl on the remaining kids, which emptied the classroom in seconds. She was alone with Miranda.