Drew Karpyshyn - Ascension

The artificial mass effect fields generated inside the ship's hull dampened the turbulence and g-forces of their lift-off, but his pilot's instincts could still feel the motion. It was familiar, reassuring. Within minutes it had rocked him to sleep.

"We have a new assignment for you," the Illusive Man said, and Grayson realized he was dreaming once again.

They were alone in Grayson s apartment, just the two of them . . and the infant sleeping quietly in the Illusive Mans arms.

"I was impressed with your work on the Eldfell-Ashland job. I know it was a difficult mission."

"It was for the greater good, " he replied.

Even if he wanted to, there was nothing else he could say. He had believed it back then, with every fiber of his being. He still believed it, though the part of his mind that knew he was dreaming realized things weren't as simple as they used to be.

"I have a special assignment for you," the Illusive Man said, handing over the child. "She's biotic."

Grayson took the little girl in his arms. She was warm and soft, and lighter than he'd expected. Disturbed by the transfer, her eyes popped open and she began to fuss. Grayson shushed her gently, rocking her in his arms. Her eyelids drooped, she blew a small bubble, and then she was asleep again.

Based on her age he had no doubt as to how she had been exposed to element zero.

"You're going to be working for Cord-Hislop as part of your cover," the Illusive Man informed him. "Sales for now, but you'll climb to the executive ranks over the next few years. We want you to raise the girl as your own."

"Who's my partner?"

"None. Your wife died when your daughter was born. You never remarried."

Grayson wondered what had happened to the girl's real mother and father, but he wasn't foolish enough to ask.

"Do you understand how important this mission is? " the Illusive Man asked. "Do you see what biotics can ultimately mean to humanity?"

The younger man nodded. He believed in what he did. He believed in Cerberus.

"We went to a lot of trouble to find this particular girl. She's special. We want her to look up to you. To trust you. Treat her as if she is your own flesh and blood."

" I will, " he promised.

He had offered the vow without understanding the consequence of what it really meant. Had he known the true cost, he might not have been so quick to reply. . although in the end the answer would have been the same.

The baby gurgled softly. Grayson stared down at her scrunched-up little face, fascinated.

"You wont be alone in this," the Illusive Man assured him. "We have top experts in the field. They'll make sure she gets all the proper training. "

Grayson watched, transfixed, as the girl fidgeted in her sleep, her hands balling up into tiny fists that traced tight little circles in the air.

The Illusive Man turned to go.

"Does she have a name? " Grayson asked without looking up.

"A father has the right to name his own daughter," he said, closing the door behind him.

Grayson woke, as he always did, with the echo of the closing door from his dream still in his ears.

"Lights — dim," he called out, and a faint glow from the bedside lamps cast the dark shadows from his room. Only an hour had passed; seven more until they reached the Academy.

He climbed out of bed and pulled on the robe, then picked up his briefcase. He carried it over to the small desk in the corner of the room and set it on top, then settled into the accompanying chair and punched in the access code. A second later the case opened with a soft, depressurizing hiss.

Inside were several dummy documents to help with his cover as a Cord-Hislop executive — contracts and sales reports, mostly. He pulled them out and dumped them on the floor, then lifted up the case's false bottom to reveal the contents underneath. Ignoring the vial Pel had given him — he wouldn't need that until he actually saw Gillian — he reached for the small cellophane bag of red sand.

Grayson wondered how much the Illusive Man had actually known about the girl on that night he'd given him Gillian. Did he know about her mental condition? Did he know the Alliance was one day going to start a program like the Ascension Project? Had he given the little girl to Grayson, fully aware he was one day going to order him to give her up again?

He opened the baggie and carefully poured out a small pile of the fine dust. Enough to take the edge off, nothing more. Besides, he had plenty of time to come down before they reached the Academy.

It was easy in the beginning. Gillian seemed like any other normal young girl. Every few months she was visited by Cerberus experts: taking blood samples and alpha-wave readings; checking her health; testing her reflexes and responses. But even with all the doctors, Gillian had been a happy, healthy child.

Her symptoms began to manifest sometime between the ages of three and four. An unnamed dissociative disorder, the experts told him. Easy to diagnose but difficult to treat. Not that they hadn't tried, unleashing a barrage of drug and behavior therapies on the young girl. Yet their efforts had been in vain. With each year she grew more distant, more closed off. Trapped inside her own mind.

The growing emotional gulf between them should have made it easier on Grayson when Cerberus decided to give her over to the Ascension Project. It hadn't.

Grayson didn't have much he could cling to, apart from his dedication to Cerberus and his devotion to his daughter. The two were inextricably linked; after Gillian had been given into his care he had been pulled from active-duty missions so he could better focus on raising his daughter. Caring for the helpless infant had filled the void in his life. And as she had grown — as he had raised her from a baby to a beautiful, intelligent though troubled young girl — she had become the center of his world. . just as the Illusive Man had wanted.

Then, two years ago, they had ordered him to send her away.

He resealed the plastic bag, stashing it safely away in the false bottom of his case. Then he got up, went into the bathroom and returned with the blade from his Ever-Sharp razor. Using the edge, he divided the pile of red sand into two long, thin lines.

The Illusive Man had wanted Gillian to join the Ascension Project so Cerberus could piggyback their own research on the Alliance's cutting-edge work. And whatever the Illusive Man wanted, he got.

Grayson knew he had no choice in the matter, butit was still hard to let her go. For ten years she had been an integral part of his life. He missed seeing her in the mornings and tucking her in at night. He missed the rare moments when she broke through the invisible walls that separated her from the outside world and showed him genuine love and affection. But, like any parent, he had to put his child's welfare above his own.

The program was good for Gillian. The scientists at the Academy were pushing the boundaries of biotic research. They had made advances that went far beyond anything Cerberus could have achieved on its own, and it was the only place Gillian could be properly fitted for the revolutionary new L-4 amps.

Sending his daughter away was also necessary for the greater cause. It was the best way for Cerberus to study the absolute limits of human biotics; a powerful weapon they would one day need in the inevitable struggle to elevate Earth and its people above the alien races. Gillian had to play her part in the Illusive Man's plans, just as he did. And one day, he hoped, people would look back on his daughter as a hero of the human race.