Chapter 13. Outlook on life

The incomparable feeling of flying among the clouds was again replaced by the emptiness of dark space and all-consuming horror, and I felt the appearance of a huge figure before I saw it with my eyes.

"We are the harbingers of your destruction," the monster's eerie growling voice echoed through the surrounding space like thunder.

And then, echoing him, the darkness retreated, revealing flashes of lights and attacking me with an eerie cacophony of explosions and screams. Thessia lay in ruins. And as if the harbingers of the apocalypse, huge monsters hovered over her, watching the unfolding picture with their emotionless eyes, periodically spitting out red rays from their insides that cut through everything in their path, and on the ground all kinds of monsters, only vaguely reminiscent of turians, asari, salarians and representatives of other races, exterminated the population my world, driving its inhabitants into complete despair.

"Ivon!" I heard a familiar voice to the side of the unfolding picture.

Turning around in search of the owner of the voice, he noticed Liara hiding among the rubble of a building and the crumpled frame of a heavy truck, intently trying to show with signs that one should go to her. Only she had already been found; behind her sister, a tall figure of a disgusting parody of an asari with disproportionately long arms crowned with sharp claws had grown up, stretching its paw towards the unsuspecting girl.

And a moment before Liara was torn apart, everything disappeared, and I found myself screaming in horror, while my sister tightly hugged my body pounding in panic and whispered soothing words, trying to bring me to my senses.

In the end she succeeded, horror released me from its chilling grip, leaving behind a throat raw from screams and a body slightly shaking and wet from cold sweat.

"Liara," the asari groaned as she pressed me to her, showing that she had finally come to her senses.

"Ivon!" my sister finally noticed my conscious state and reached for the glass of water standing on the nightstand next to me. -Do you want to drink?-.

No words were needed, but alas, nightmares have been my constant companions for as long as I can remember. So, just nodding gratefully, he eagerly fell to the glass of water, feeling with pleasure how the cool liquid gave relief to his sore throat.

"Will you sleep with me?" I quietly asked Liara, who was still hugging me, as she finally caught her breath.

"Of course Ivon," the sister just smiled, lowering herself onto the pillow without breaking the hug.

Well, now at least I don't have to worry about nightmares, they always recede when I sleep with my sister...or my mother.

***

As soon as the first rays of the sun touched my face, the dream instantly went away, and I opened my eyes, feeling cheerful. However, the sister lying next to me only winced cutely from the sun's rays and pressed her head closer to my chest, trying to hide from the attention of the luminary.

Yes, my older sister Liara, born three years before me. My best friend and also the dearest person in the world. Perhaps this was facilitated by the constant absence of Benezia's mother, as a result of her employment in asari politics and the leadership of the leading companies "Binery Helix", "FreeMan Armory" and "FreeMen Incorporated", but almost from childhood Liara and I were left to each other. No, adults, subordinate mothers took care of us, but that's not it.

"You're already awake, stop pretending." I felt a change in my breathing and noticed the characteristic trembling of my sister's eyelids.

True, she didn't want to get up and I had to tickle her scallops so that my sister jumped out of bed with a cheerful squeal. An asari has a very sensitive spot, which I have used many times.

"Ivon!" my sister was indignant. —It's not fair, and there are still two hours before school, we could have stayed longer.—.

-Yeah, what about morning meditations? Do you remember what Aunt Shiala told us? To develop biotics, you need to devote time to meditation every day, at least half an hour in the morning and in the evening. — he shaved off his sister's indignation. —Let's go get ourselves in order, meditate and we'll still have time to watch a movie.—.

Although I am only seven years old, and Liara is already ten, sometimes it seems that I am the eldest, and not she. On the other hand, asari mentally mature more slowly than other races, a feature of a very long life span, and even at a hundred years old they are perceived by other asari as teenagers. Well, I have no idea what race I am, but according to my personal psychologist, I grow up ten times faster than asari, although I am not inferior to them in terms of lifespan, according to my mother.

Having cleaned ourselves up, meditated, got dressed and had breakfast (with which the home VI helped), we were actually able to briefly watch another film about a brave asari justiciar exploring the secrets of the Protheans, before we were taken by Shiala - an experienced biotic, asari commando, and also assigned Mom is our nanny, teacher and bodyguard at the same time.

"Ivon, Liara, are you ready for school?" the asari smiled kindly as she watched us put on our school bags with tablets and personal belongings inside.

-And why was it only mom who insisted on going to school? Why couldn't you study at home?" Liara remarked grumpily as she headed towards Shiala's aircar parked on our site.

"Matriarch Benezia did this for a reason," Liara gently scolded her sister, but not noticing any reaction, she just sighed and, waiting for us to take our seats, started the car and took off upward, quickly joining the highway moving into the city center.

***

Athena Nebula, Parnitha system, planet Thessia. The personal office of Matriarch Benezia in the House of Parliament of the Serraian Asari Republic.

Benezia was extremely unhappy and fatigue did not add to her good mood. Although it seems that billions of loans, a large number of followers and a colossal influence on asari politics should have the opposite effect, but... no. Credits, of course, are a useful thing, especially in large quantities, but three companies, the position of an asari spiritual mentor, membership in parliament, all this consumed a colossal amount of time and effort. Time was especially a pity, because instead of listening to the next complaints of the colonies or searching for consensus in a dispute between the two republics, she could spend time with her children.

The asari's gaze involuntarily fell on the frame depicting their small family during Liara's birthday, celebrated at Ivon's insistence. Liara, her ray of sunshine, a little chick who will one day grow into a beautiful bird. And Ivon, named after Benezia Yvonne's "father." Mature beyond his years, incredibly smart and...the last gift from his father.

Benezia was brought out of her reverie by the appearance of a hologram of an asari who was now on the other side of the galaxy.

"Sien, you must have a damn good reason to waste my time." Because of your message, I had to take over the emergency communication channel for the matriarchs and wait for a free window, missing the children getting up for school." The matriarch raised her heavy gaze to the hologram of the fidgeting scientist from Binery Helix.

"Lady Benezia, we were able to decipher the genetic material you provided," the woman blurted out, but noticing the stunned look of Benezia who had jumped up, she shrank and continued much more quietly. -Almost. Well, or rather, we just understood how it functions.—.

Having put herself in order after hearing the news, the matriarch majestically nodded to the asari awaiting permission to continue and prepared to listen.

—Hmm, the cells of the resulting biomaterial are much denser than all analogues known to us, and the tissue from these cells has the strength of krogan skin, while having a softer texture similar to asari skin. Metabolism does not deviate from the norm, but when stimulated it exceeds the salarian one, increasing the reaction rate by more than two times, and the cells also have an adaptive property and can interact with both dextro and amino acids. Also, when dividing, the cells of the biomaterial do not accumulate genetic errors, remaining identical to each other, and when treated with harmful substances, they were split into safe microelements, which together indicates the biological immortality of the donor! - The asari could not restrain herself in the end, but noticing Benezia's impatient look, she continued. "But the most important structure of cells presupposes, at least in part, their inorganic structure, which ensures such indicators. In fact, this is a real synthesis of organics and synthetics and... I thought you should know. More complete research results are at the risk of the Binery Helix laboratory in the Termina systems and I did not dare to transmit them remotely. And Lady Benezia, could I research the donor of such incredible biomaterial? This would make the work much easier, just imagine what can be achieved...—.

"NO!" the subordinate matriarch cut short her dreams, horrified by the thought that her son would become a laboratory rat in the hands of knowledge-hungry white-coats. —Siena, the status of information on the facility is changing to top secret. Nobody should know about this. I'll move out as soon as possible. And yes, you're great.—.

Having finished the conversation, the beautiful asari tiredly leaned back in her chair, mindlessly wandering her eyes around the office while her mind tried to comprehend what she had heard until her gaze stopped at the image of the family.

"Gordon, what...how..." the asari whispered, but immediately pulled herself away. -It doesn't matter, we need to meet with the children, everything else will come later.—.

***

An asari school, especially in the capital of one of the republics, was a rather useful, but noisy place. One class accommodated fifty students, each of whom was assigned a single desk with a built-in school computer. The desks were arranged in rows, the rows arranged in a semicircle around the teacher's seat, and each back row was slightly higher than the front.

In general, education could be received at home using a special course or remotely from home, but my mother decided that for socialization it would be useful for us to study live with other children, and since I did not want to study without Liara, I had to take several classes as an external student and immediately get into the fifth to Sister. However, it was not difficult, only some basic knowledge had to be improved, and in natural sciences like physics and chemistry or biology, I understand more than some teachers. I don't know where, I just... I know. Yes, and it's much easier for me to study than other children, which is helped by an ideal memory and a higher speed of the central nervous system. Although this does not mean that I can go through the entire school with a click, the galaxy is too vast and there is too much that needs to be studied and you need to start with basic knowledge from biology, xenobiology, chemistry, physics, programming, history, political science, sociology... although from I would refuse painting and literature. On the other hand, physical education turned out to be quite useful, especially the way our teacher sweats, and her sports uniform fits and outlines her toned figure... well, purely from an aesthetic point of view. In general, there are a lot of school subjects, it takes a long time to study them, and to completely graduate from school you need twenty years, a year for each grade, and then another ten at the university to receive higher education.

On the other hand, children are cruel, and bullying occurs quite often in children's groups, especially if someone is unlike them or behaves differently.

"Hey T'Soni, what are you reading?" distracted me from collecting my things, like a personal tablet and a small VI processor that I am trying to create and finalizing in the process in my free time.

At first I thought that they called me, but then I noticed how Rana and her gang surrounded the sister's desk, even though the teacher had already left.

-Protheans? Such antiquity has surrendered to you. Or do you think that you, as a justiciar, will unravel the mysteries of the Protheans?" I ran my eyes over the text from the archaeological article on Liara's tablet, which she had previously snatched from my sister's hands.

"Rana, give it back!" Liara tried to look angry, but her darkened cheeks betrayed her embarrassment.

"Try, take T'Soni." Rana grinned, after which her eyes glowed, and the tablet was enveloped in a film of biotic energy and flew above them, causing Liara's eyes to moisten.

By the way, control over biotics was also taught at school and Rana was the best in our class.

Not wanting to watch my sister being bullied, I decided to intervene and return Liara's tablet. What did Shiala say? Do biotic fields neutralize each other? Well, let's try.

Having tuned in and entered a semi-meditative state, when you can barely feel the signals of your own body, I tried to envelop the tablet myself in biotics, but...

The huge carcass of the krogan, covered with a biotic field, fearlessly rushed forward, ignoring repulsor shots and stray shots from the pirate ship's own crew. Fifteen meters separated us and they were quickly closing. The gas for the repulsors has already run out, and I'll use regular cartridges to chop it up until the Reapers arrive, all that's left is the biotics. I focus on the core, collect a charge of dark energy into a sphere of Deformation, capable of grinding the strongest armor of Terminator-type mechs, and throw it at the xenos head, not covered by a helmet, decorated with ugly scars in anticipation...

Before the krogan's head shattered into pieces, the picture changed and my deformation almost reached Liara's tablet covered with a barrier. There was no time to think and I simply jumped on my sister, knocking her to the floor and covering her with my body, the next moment I felt the sound of an explosion and a powerful push in the back that knocked all the air out of my lungs.

When I was able to get up, I saw how the gang of Rana, who were standing closest to the explosion, were lying unconscious, but there were no visible injuries. Nearby desks and chairs were bent and sparking with damaged wiring, one chair was completely uprooted, and some of the more impressionable asari began to scream and cry. The teacher who came in also rushed around in a panic, demanding something, oh, now we'll also be detained at school. It's a pity that the tablet was destroyed.

***

The incident is actually not particularly serious, in biotic society such incidents happen from time to time, and in this case, no one was even really hurt. The girls suffered a minor concussion and were released from classes for two months, and replacing damaged equipment costs nothing at all, considering how rich their mother is. Although the teacher gave me a fair scolding, and Shiala, who flew in to pick us up, has been hanging out in the principal's office for half an hour.

"Hey," I called Liara, who was slumped over and clearly in her not-so-rosy thoughts. -Everything will be fine. You'll see, tomorrow everything will be fixed, but no one at school will say a word to us. It's just a pity about the tablet, sorry.—.

"Nothing." The little sister smiled and quickly kissed him on the cheek. —My personal justiciar.—.

"Actually, I would rather be a SPECTER," Liare objected, but the opening door to the ill-fated office did not allow the conversation to continue.

—Liara, Ivon. Are you okay?" Shiala asked again, sitting down next to her.

The first time she asked was immediately after the incident, after conducting a superficial inspection. Now she is most likely interested in our mental health.

"Everything is fine," Liara nodded.

"Ivon, how did you manage it?" Shiala shook her head, smiling at the corner of her lips.

—Well, you yourself told me that biotic fields neutralize each other.—.

"The biotic fields are approximately equal in power, and you, using the flimsy barrier of a small girl, gave out a full-fledged Deformation, albeit a very weak one compared to an adult asari," Shiala explained and stood up with a sigh. -Okay, let's go. Let's stop for a snack on the way, you should be very hungry after such intensive use of biotics.—.

As Shiala promised, on the way we actually stopped for a bite to eat, where Liara and I had a little speed-eating competition. Well, I was just really hungry, and Liara just loves sweets. But after a snack, instead of home, we flew to a place that was not the most pleasant for me - to the office of a psychologist, with whom I periodically conduct consultations from the very moment I learned to speak tolerably. However, a pleasant surprise awaited us there; my mother in her official suit was waiting for us next to Dr. Casely's office.

"Mom!" we rushed towards the asari, squeezing her in our arms.

Well, or rather, I rushed, Liara, for the sake of decency, sulked at the constant absence, but also hugged her parent.

"I heard someone decided to play with biotics at school?" Benezia arched her eyebrow, but noticing Liara's dejected appearance and my pursed lips, she just smiled. - It's okay, this happens sometimes. However, biotics are dangerous, and therefore they must be controlled, which means that now, under the guidance of Shiala, you will truly develop your biotics. And also Ivon, I received a report from VI that you had a nightmare again, which is why we came to Dr. Casely.—.

"I took the prescribed pills, but they don't help." He looked pitifully at his mother, receiving a gentle smile.

-I know, let's go.—.

Before entering the office, I pulled out a tablet from my bag and, unlocking it, handed it to Liara.

- So it won't be boring. Just don't delete my projects, okay?" he handed the device to his sister and finally walked through the open door, following his mother.

It was quite cozy and bright inside: a light brown cabinet made as if from wood with fancy stone figurines, furniture covered in natural leather, an aquarium with colorful fish...

In general, it would be nice if she weren't sitting in the hostess' place...a Turian. Back-curved shins, predatory spurs and claws on the toes, a chitin-covered body, a motionless face, mobile mandibles that evoke comparisons with insects, and dagger-sharp fangs. Honestly, when I was first brought to her for an appointment, I was scared, and although now I'm no longer afraid of turians, I still feel uncomfortable being around her. Who even let a turian girl onto the asari planet? And who thought of giving her a license as a child psychologist? No, I understand that she is married to an asari and that she is a really good child psychologist, but still.

-So, Ivon. "Did you have nightmares again?" Doctor Casely asked softly, moving her mandibles lightly and seeing a nod, she continued. —Was it something new or were there still huge, black, flying monsters with tentacles and other monsters? As far as I know, this time the reaction was much more intense.—.

—Reapers. These monsters are Reapers, and this time they almost killed Liara," he answered quietly, watching the turian make notes on her computer.

After my confession, Benezia pressed me closer to him, tousling my hair and starting to run through it with his fingers, knowing how much this calms me, but the doctor gave me a little time and asked. —Are you taking medicine?—.

"They don't help, doctor," Benezia answered instead of me.

- That's how it is. Well, it turns out that nightmares don't appear only in the presence of a loved one, clearly," the doctor looked thoughtfully to the side. —It would be nice to use the embrace of eternity.—.

-What?! "Are you crazy?!" Benezia instantly became furious at such a proposal, causing me misunderstanding.

- Sorry, just thinking out loud. Just given...the uniqueness of Ivon and his dreams, perhaps someone tried to transfer information directly to his brain after birth and it settled like this, causing nightmares and "daydreams." The embrace of eternity would help understand Ivon's memory, find the root of the problem and save him from these nightmares," the turian shared.

-So what now? Should he look for some kind of sh...azari for...this?! Or herself?!" Mom was seriously wound up, but as soon as she put her hand on her leg, she began to calm down.

-No, of course not Lady Benezia, but in the future perhaps the boy will really need the services of an asari. Now he is really small, and his nervous system may not be able to withstand unity with the nervous system of an adult asari. I can only recommend going to bed with someone close. And so Ivon... - Dr. Casely again began asking me about nightmares, my well-being, problems and other standard questions.

***

We returned home in the evening. Or rather, we returned in the afternoon, but as soon as we left the transport, washed, and changed clothes, evening had already come. Fortunately, we don't have to go to school tomorrow, because no one canceled the weekend. And since mom was at home for once, we decided to spend time together, for example, watching a movie.

This time the choice was mine, and therefore today we watched "Tarvus Krayt - Secret Wars," a film about the turian SPECTER, who reveals betrayal within the SPECTER organization.

Somehow it happened that while watching, Liara placed her blue head on my lap, and I began to caress her combs, while Benezia fingered my hair, giving pleasure to me. Eh, a rare family evening and yet... I have the best family and I wouldn't trade them for anything.