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drelldreams · 7 months

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N7 Month 2023 Challenge Day 7: Varren

Note: I had this dream where Samara came across Teltin facility during one of her investigation. So this fic was born.

Under the cut.

Fic Title: For Every Wicked One, There Is Someone Well Meaning Out There

Somewhere in the outer edges of the Terminus Systems, 2173.

Samara’s gaze wanders from the unconscious child in her arms to the disasterous view from the shuttle’s window. The flames have swallowed the facility whole by now, burning down the planet’s fruitless forest. Like the rest of Pragia it is grey and plain and too overgrown with poisonous, infecteous plants to ever offer any hope of terraforming it to provide a sustainable environment. It is rare that Samara has to take such measures to destroy an entire place. Normally, Samara’s job is not to commit arson, really; it generally goes against the Justicar Code. But this whole facility was build with one purpose: to torment. Thus, by the Code, Samara was compelled to destroy it.

Though the child could awaken any second, and is likely to attack Samara, the Justicar holds herself calm. She is a danger, that is certain. In her nearly a millenia of life, centuries of which she spent travelling across the galaxy as a mercenary, Samara has never come across someone with such tremendous biotic poweress. Especially not across someone as young as this girl was. Not even Samara herself, a Justicar with finely honed powers, could claim she surpassed this little human’s strength. That they have abused her in such horrific ways, all just to test the limits of human biotic potential?

Samara has faced many horrors in her long life. But this.. this was beyond all measure. Horrifying. Repulsive, on every level. Despite her conditioning, Samara felt a tinge of nausea in her stomach. Who could do this to a child so young and innocent?

She has not felt this way since she first learned what horrors her daughter had committed after her escape from Thessia.

A part of Samara thinks that shall this child awaken, perhaps she should.. perhaps she should not do anything. If this young human feels compelled to kill Samara, how can she blame her? The Justicar has read the notes left in the facility before she burned the place down. ‘Subject Zero’ has been raised in this place since she was a baby, treated as nothing but an experiment meant to be tortured solely for the sake of scientific results. Conditioned to kill. She could not tell right from wrong.

She never had someone who taught her that.

If this child— Samara refuses to dub her ‘Subject Zero’ in her mind— choose to attack her.. She was not sure if she could, or should, defend herself.

Maybe Samara was more resigned than calm, after all.

—

Samara has been correct with her assumptions. As soon as the child found consciousness, she hit Samara with a biotic blast so hard it would have killed one of the scientists back at the facility. But Samara was well armored, and the child was weakened from her earlier massacre. With a loud thud, Samara’s back hit the wall, and the asari found herself shockingly accepting of whatever this child decided she would do with her.

Samara’s Code did not compel her to kill this child. Not because of her age, no. But because she was unaware of what she was doing. The girl was scowling, but Samara had seen the heart wrenching fear in her eyes the moment she had awakened. She could tell by her stance and the tense set of her jaw how terrified she was, how horribly abused she had been.

It was allowes to act in self defense, but not obligatory. The choice was up to Samara; rarely did the Code offer such freedom.

She could feel the biotic field tearing at her when she thought of Morinth.

No. Samara had to end this. She had to take out Morinth, or she would continue to leave behind astronomical body counts; some of which were young, innocent children, like this poor human was;

She couldn’t die.

And, just like that, Samara felt the biotic field tearing at her perish.

But it wasn’t because Samara had been fighting it.

No.

"Why did you kill the scientists? Why did you take me with you?"

Samara had expected this young girl’s voice to sound different. It did not sound angry, nor could Samara detect any obvious fear. Though Samara could tell she was scared, the girl didn’t make it seem obvious. Rather, her voice sounded awfully monotonous. Weathered. In a way she reminded Samara more of herself, a ruined, broken vessel; an accomulation of centuries of hardship. A girl that young was not supposed to evoke such an aura..

"I am Justicar Samara, a servant of an ancient asari order. By my Code, I was compelled to bring justice and kill your tormentors. I was also obliged to save you.", Samara explained, her tone full of compassion and serenity.

"What.. what Code?", the young girl asked, still wary of Samara. "And why are you blue?"

The blunt question, had the circumstances been any less tragic, would have made Samara’s lips quirk up in a smile ever so slightly. But she could not smile. Not now.

"I am blue because I am an asari." Samara explained patiently. She remembered that this human child likely never had seen someone of another species. "We are one of the many space faring species; among your own race, the humans."

"Asari….", The child repeated, quietly. "Your Code made you save me?", she asked in disbelief.

"Yes", Samara confirmed without hesitation. "That is what I do. My role is to bring justice upon this galaxy; to protect innocents like you, from people like those scientists at the facility."

"But why are you different?", she asked, still as if she was not believing Samara.

"You may find it difficult to believe, young one, but there are many more people like me", Samara stated. "I will not lie to you. The galaxy can be a cruel place. There will be more people out to harm you, people like those scientists. But for every individual as wicked as that, I can assure you, there is someone well meaning out there."

The young biotic did not seem to miss that Samara had been evading her question. "But why are you not like them?"

"I could not bring it over my heart to harm someone young and innocent like you. It is as simple as that."

Samara was not sure if the child understood, given the puzzled look on her face. How shocking, that a child had been raised under such brutal conditions that it could not comprehend how someone could not be cruel.

"You have not yet killed me", Samara noted, gently.

"….You haven’t tried to hurt me yet", the child replied, quietly.

“And so it shall remain. What is your name?"

"They call me Subject Zero." Her answer was clinical, lacking any sort of inflection.

"No. I will not call you Subject Zero, dear. Those days are over. You are not a subject."

"I don’t have a name."

"Then it is time we shall give you a proper name."

---

Samara could not say that the child had ceased to see any violence that day. It was only shortly after they have arrived at the next port, that pirates had attempted to steal the girl. Much to their dismay, she was in company of a Justicar. Between the possibly powerful biotic in the galaxy— which surprisingly was not Samara, and herself, a Justicar, the pirate band stood no chance.

Samara hoped that this young human would soon finally see another part of reality; the beauty of this galaxy. She had saved children before, but never had she come across one as deprived of the beautiful parts of life such as her.

It pained Samara to know that she had to leave this child soon.

---

"Jack", the young child spoke after a long period of silence, as they ate together in the safehouse.

"Pardon me?" Samara answered.

"My name", she explained between hungry bites. She ate as if this simple meal Samara had prepared had been the most delicious in the galaxy. "My name is Jack."

"Jack?", Samara asked, a hint of surprise in her voice. She hadn’t ever come across the name before, but then again, she rarely ventured outside asari space.

"It’s an old name. I saw it.. somewhere..", Jack replied, the image of the tattoo studio they’d passed on Omega flashung through her mind. "Jack’s Killer Ink."

She hoped she could visit Omega again, one day. Jack hoped she could get one of those tattoos, cover the marks on her skin.

---

"That’s what you want, kid? A tattoo?" The asari spoke with an amused smirk on her face. "And here I thought human girls your age wish for ponies, or those lego stones or whatever you call ‘em."

"What’s a pony?" Jack asked, innocently.

"Some kinda Earth creature- really cute and human kids love ‘em, I hear- ah, never mind. I’m just.. surprised ya wanna get inked, that’s all." Aethtya spoke. "Don’t really think it’s legal. I mean, you’re like— what, ten?"

"I don’t know. No one ever told me my age."

"Ah, crap. Know what. Think I can probably find someone who’ll get you a tattoo, whether you’re ten or not." The woman smiled. "Maybe we can get you a pony tattoo."

"I want a varren."

"A varren? Oh, right. You don’t strike to me as the pony type of girl, anyway. Way too fierce to be one. Alright, a varren tattoo, it’s gonna be."