Drew Karpyshyn: Ascension

"Ready?" she asked.

"Ready," Nick said through tightly gritted teeth, and she pushed the needle into the gap between two of his vertebrae with a firm, steady pressure.

The boy's body tensed up and he let out a soft grunt as it entered, then relaxed. Kahlee pulled an omnitool from one of her other pockets and glanced at the readout to make sure Nick's data was transmitting properly.

"Did you used to be a soldier, too?" Nick asked, head still bent forward.

Kahlee blinked in surprise. The Grissom Academy was a joint Alliance-civilian facility. Much of the funding came from the Alliance, but for the most part it was modeled after a boarding school rather than a military academy. Parents were free to visit their children at any time, or to withdraw them from the curriculum for any reason. Security, custodial, and support services were provided by fully uniformed military personnel, but the majority of the instructors, researchers, and academic staff were civilian. This was particularly important for the Ascension Project, as it helped allay fears the Alliance was trying to transform children into biotic supersoldiers.

"I used to be in the Alliance," Kahlee admitted. "I'm retired now."

A brilliant programmer with a knack for synthetic and artificial intelligences, Kahlee had enlisted at the age of twenty-two, shortly after her mother died. She had spent fourteen years working on various top-security-clearance projects for theAlliance before returning to civilian life. The next few years she had served as a freelance corporate consultant, cementing her reputation as one of the foremost experts in her field. Then, five years ago, she had been offered a lucrative position on the Ascension Project by the Gris-som Academy board of directors.

"I figured you were a soldier," Nick said a little smugly. "You look all tough, like you're ready for a fight all the time. Just like Hendel."

Kahlee was momentarily taken aback. She had basic combat training; it was mandatory for all Alliance personnel. But she didn't imagine herself bearing any resemblance to a battle-hardened veteran like Hendel. The majority of her service had been spent in research labs surrounded by computers and other scientists, not out on the battlefield.

Except for that time you helped Anderson kill a krogan Battlemaster, a small part of her mind chimed in. She tried to push the memory away. She didn't like to think about Sidon and everything that came after it: too many friends lost there. But with Saren's face constantly appearing on the news vids over the past few months, it was hard not to dredge the memories up. And every time she saw images of Sovereign attacking the Citadel, she couldn't help but wonder if there had been some connection between Dr. Shu Qian's illegal research at Sidon and the massive alien starship Saren had used to lead the geth assault.

"Miss Sanders? I think I'm done."

Nick's voice snapped her thoughts back to the present. The transmitter in his neck was beeping faintly.

"Sorry, Nick," she muttered, withdrawing the needle. Nick sat up straight, rubbing the back of his neck.

She pocketed the needle, then checked the readout on her omnitool again, verifying she had the data she needed. This was the core of her work on the Ascension Project. The newest biotic implants, collectively called the L4 configuration, were equipped with a network of virtual intelligence chips. The VI chips monitored the brain wave activity of a biotic, learning the complex thought patterns of their host and adapting their own performance to maximize biotic potential.

By analyzing the data collected in the chips, Kahlee and her team could also make subtle, customized adjustments to the VI program coordinating an individual's amps, resulting in even greater gains. So far tests showed a 10 to 15 percent increase in biotic ability over the older L3 configurations in 90 percent of the subjects, with no apparent side effects. But, like most research into the field of biotics, they were only beginning to scratch the surface of what was possible.

Nick lay back on his bed again, drained by the ordeal of having his spine tapped. "I'm getting stronger, right?" he said softly, smiling ever so slightly.

"I can't tell just by looking at the readout," Kahlee replied, evading the question. "I need to get back to the lab and run the numbers."

"I think I'm getting stronger," the boy said confidently, closing his eyes.

A little alarmed, she patted him gently on the leg and stood up from the bed. "Get some rest, Nick," she said, leaving him alone in his room.

As the door to Nick's room closed behind her, Kahlee noticed Hendel coming down the hall, wearing his customary attire of tan pants and a black, snug fitting, long-sleeved shirt. He was a tall man, a few inches over six feet, and thick through the neck, chest, and arms, with a closely cropped beard and mustache that covered his chin and upper lip but left his cheeks bare. His rusty-brown hair and first name were clear evidence of his Scandinavian ancestry. However, the darker tone of his skin and his last name, Mitra, hinted at his mixed heritage, and he had actually been born in the suburbs just outside of New Calcutta, one of Earth's wealthiest regions.

Kahlee assumed his parents still lived there, though they were no longer a part of his life. Her dysfunctional relationship with Grissom was nothing compared to Hendel and his family. He hadn't spoken to them in over twenty years; not since they'd abandoned him to the Biotic Acclimation and Training program when he was a teenager. The BAaT program, in contrast to the openness the Ascension Project enjoyed at the Grissom Academy, had taken place in a top-secret military facility before it was shutdown as a dismal failure. The minds behind the program had wanted the BAaT instructors to act without interference from the families, so they had made every effort to convince the parents that biotics were dangerous. They tried to make them feel ashamed and even afraid of their own children, hoping to drive a wedge between the students and their families. In HendePs case they had done a wonderful job.

He was approaching with both speed and purpose, propelled by his long, quick strides. He ignored the children peering curiously out at him from their rooms as he went by, a frown etched on his face as he stared intently at the floor.

Now there's someone who walks like a soldier, she thought.

"Hey!" Kahlee called out in surprise as he blew past her, seemingly oblivious to her presence. "Watch where you're going!"

"Huh?" he said, pulling up short and glancing back over his shoulder. Only then did he seem to notice her. "Sorry. In a hurry."

"I'll walk with you," she offered.

Hendel resumed his pace, and Kahlee fell into stride beside him. Every few steps she had to break into a quick jog to keep up.

"You were just with Nick?" he asked.

"He's sulking," Kahlee replied. "Thinks you're being unfair."

"He's lucky," Hendel grumbled. "Back in my day he would've gotten a smack upside the head hard enough to make his ears bleed. Now all we have are lockdowns and lectures. No wonder half these kids leave here as arrogant, snot-nosed punks."

"I think that has more to do with being a teenager than being a biotic," Kahlee noted with a small smile. Hendel talked tough, but she knew he'd never allow any harm to come to the children he worked with.

"Somebody needs to straighten that kid out," Hendel warned. "Or he'll end up as one of those guys who goes into a bar, hits on anotherman's date. . then uses biotics to knock the other guy on his ass when he takes a swing.

"He'll think it's all just a big joke… until someone in the bar freaks out and bashes him over the head with a bottle when he's not looking."