-Matthew’s P.O.V.-

“So, at that point, the team is almost to the finish line in the gauntlet. They survived the waves of biotics, they got through and secured the location, and everything looked good.” Daniel recounted a story of one of the academy teams recent runs. “But, for some reason, they wanted to do a team pose in front of one of the overpasses. They’re old by now, and they’ve just been fighting around this area a lot. So, when Burt leans up against it in his mech, the whole thing comes tumbling down. Traps half their team in rubble right at the end.”

Terry laughed, “Oh, man, I bet they were pissed.”

“Nah, they expect it. Burt’s nickname is Bad-Luck Burt.” Daniel grinned, “That team gets into the weirdest stuff. But, they’re good. Granted a bit unpolished and not quite ready for real biotic hunting yet, but they’re all coming along real well.”

I smiled as I leaned back in my seat, sipping at some water. There was nothing wrong with Daniel having found a new cause in life, but there would always be a part of me that wanted him back on the frontlines with me. I knew full well that I was obsessed with hunting biotics, but the others weren’t, and someday we wouldn’t have any more biotics to hunt.

While I didn’t know what I would do when that happened, everyone else had some other goals they could pursue. Distractedly, I nodded my thanks to the server as they put a plate of food out in front of me.

Automatically, I ate some of it, whilst thinking of where I would need to resume my search to find any other hidden colonies of biotics. As I did, I scarcely noted the taste of the food, mostly due to the fact that my sense of taste was becoming duller over time.

“That is some good orange chicken.” Daniel commented from across the table, another plate of food beside him in front of an empty chair.

“Mmm,” I agreed emptily, eating at a measured pace. While I couldn’t taste the food very much, that didn’t mean I had to bring that up here. The others ate heartily, talking about things that had happened during their days recently.

‘I’m… quite bored, aren’t I?’ I thought to myself with bemusement. The others were good friends of mine, but it was true that I didn’t quite connect with their day to day routines any more. Occasionally they would ask me what I’d been up to, and the answer was always the same.

“Hunting biotics.” I would say, and that would generally be the end of the conversation. I could talk about the finer details, but at this point it was like clockwork.

The Determinators, for all their virtue’s, were not especially innovative after finding an effective strategy. Some of them were developing something that approached individuality, but they were predominantly focused on their mission, just like me. The most I could talk about were the various types of biotics that I’d found.

“I need a hobby.” I tapped the plate with my fork absentmindedly, realizing that I hadn’t taken a day off in… too long to recount.

“You need a hobby?” Terry asked, shooting a curious glance over to me.

“Hmm?” I looked up, focused once more, before I realized belatedly that I must have spoken aloud. “Ah, I’m realizing somewhat that I’ve been doing nothing but hunting for a long time.”

Rachel leaned back in her seat, “I mean, there’s plenty to do. Terry likes to shock himself.”

“I work with electricity,” He clarified after shooting a mild glare at Rachel, “I’m not shocking myself for kicks.”

“I woulda believed it,” Daniel shrugged, and then laughed at the mock outraged look that appeared on Terry’s face.

I chuckled, “Well, I think it’d have to be something completely unrelated to my day job.”

“Crochet?” Rachel suggested, “Is that even a thing anymore?”

“Pottery? Getting high?” Everyone stopped and looked at Daniel, “What, I’m just saying?”

“Probably wouldn’t have any effect on me,” I commented dryly, “And, no, I don’t think either of those are up my alley.”

Terry drummed his fingers on the table in consideration, “Well, what do you like to do?”

I opened my mouth before surreptitiously closing it. ‘Killing biotics,’ had almost slipped out of my lips. What was I supposed to say when I literally could think of nothing else that I really liked doing.

Before the silence could linger overtly, though, someone else approached the table.

“Sorry I’m late,” Fran sighed, looking thoroughly worn out.

Daniel pulled the chair out for her, “Hey, love, you’re fine. We’re just talking about hobbies and stuff.”

Fran gave him a grateful look and sat into the chair before scooting closer against him, “Hobbies? You mean those fun things you do when you have free time?”

Rachel grinned, “I take it the politician's life is a time-sink?”

“Only when someone wants something,” she made a face, “So, all the time?”

“How was the Summit?” I asked nonchalantly, already having read her report.

She let out a relieved sigh, “It’s done. The Legion is the official task force of the Terra-Union now. Now it’s business as usual, just with less red-tape.”

Terry snorted, “You’d think that with what’s out there people would be a bit more receptive to getting help.”

I smirked at that, wishing that it had only been so simple…

-Yaga’s P.O.V.-

Life was a puzzle. Not just the biological components, but in fact the social dynamic that individuals willfully fit themselves into. It was infinitely more complex than any kind of mathematics that I’d worked with, and while science covered a depth and broadness of such topics that I doubted I’d ever run out of things to learn, it was being social that I found the most challenging. Though, to say I didn’t find it fun would be incorrect.

“Now, I’ll need you to get that rod there-” I gestured vaguely to three rods that were side-by-side, each one an ion cell that was charged and ready to be installed into the enhanced machine that we were putting together, “-that’s the power supply. Careful for the two that are radioactive isotopes.”

At that, I turned and walked away before the assistant could potentially ask me to clarify. It was funny how humans would get wary of the little details. Especially since they were all clearly just ion cells, and lacked any kind of radioactive warning labels. He had to know I was joking.

But if he didn’t, well, all the better, honestly.

“Yaga, you sure about this shielding?” Dr. Ross called out, gesturing to the barrier that was still being placed.

“Of course, Dr. Ross,” I said, putting my hands on my hips and looking up at the still forming skeleton of the Psionic Field Amplifier. “Why, do you see an issue with it?”

He sighed, and immediately I wondered at what I could have possibly done wrong at that point. True, there were a few ways the ever moving shielding could go wrong, more moving parts could result in greater issues. But, with the refractor barriers in place, and proven technology for a-

“You’re gonna get somebody sucked into it and blendered, you know that, right?” Dr. Ross gestured to the shielding, namely at the base where it was locked into several concentric rings. Each plate curved upwards from that ring, leaving gaps between each one. With seven such circles, the innermost bearing two plates and increasing by one for every ring that went out further. Above, they connected into a similar cap with concentric rings, caging the entire thing within refractor barriers.

“I don’t see how that can happen.” I admitted, “Just keep away from the barriers and everything will be… fine?” I hesitated, seeing the bewildered expression on Dr. Ross’ face. There were times, before, when I’d begun to become annoyed with how the human would sometimes look at me like this, but after a while I accepted it. Often, it was because he was right; I wasn’t always accounting for all the details I should. For as much as my brain could process information across several of my selves to more than match any super computer, I was likewise well aware that I wasn’t infallible.

Many times I’d become aware of that, in fact.

“Yaga, where do you think the controls are? Or the emergency shutoff?” Dr. Ross asked, not looking anywhere but directly at me.

“They are… Oh.” I stated dumbly, looking directly a meter away from the outermost ring, such that the ring itself would be uncomfortably close to whomever was at the console. In fact, if they leaned forward… “I’ll see if I can make some adjustments.”

“While we’re at it, I’ve a few other suggestions. If we can make them work anyways,” He shrugged, “I’ll leave that to your expertise.”

We walked a bit away from the setup, pouring over a 3D model of the finished product. This was the part where I could shine, being able to put together theoretical information in my head and cross check it with schematics. Steadily, Dr. Ross gave me a few suggestions on enhancements and safety measures, just in case something went wrong. Overall, his ideas were sound, however there were a few impractical ones that we had to throw out. For instance, reactive force fields would likely only shelter from any kind of physical damage, whereas we had no idea what would happen during a critical failure for this device. And aside from that, having force fields that would simply be active all the time would be easier on our available computational resources.

“That sounds like a plan then.” Dr. Ross nodded, “Lets update the construction team, they’re still bringing in more materials down the elevator.”

I nodded, “Excellent. Then we’ll…” I began, before trailing off.

“What is it?” Dr. Ross asked me before following my line of sight.

The both of us looked to the cage with the wolf, and I couldn’t help but frown. Up until a short time ago, the feral biotic couldn’t manage to keep quiet. Now, it was incredibly quiet, and I noticed, was staring straight at us.

“That’s… creepy.” Dr. Ross commented just as a worker walked in front of it, breaking its line of sight. Instead of following the assistant, its eyes never left our position, continuing to stare at us. A disquieting sensation crept up my spine as I watched back, Dr. Ross beside me likewise staring back.

“It’s just staring.” I stated, “That isn’t ordinary wolf behavior.”

“Perhaps the experiment caused a change?” Dr. Ross posited, bringing a hand to his chin in thought and stroking the slim beard he grew there.

Then he froze and his voice dropped low, “Yaga, kill it.”

I frowned and turned my gaze to the human I’d known for years now, and noted the way color had drained from his skin. “Why?”

“Because that doesn’t look like a dumb biotic staring back at us, does it?” A fearful tremor undercut his voice, “I think this is a security breach.”

Incomprehension filled me for a few seconds before I turned my attention back to the biotic. It was clearly just a wolf in form, but something that he’d seen had evoked a very different response. What was it that he-

And then I looked into its eyes, and I knew what he was talking about. Wolves were generally very vacant-eyed - most biotics were - but there was a splash of almost amber color in the center of the eyes, an intelligence far beyond what this biotic should have.

Then it smiled, somehow appearing full of contempt and arrogance even as the creature sat confined.

Instantly I moved to the cage and wrenched the door open to expose the creature within. In spite of that, it didn’t move at all, simply continued to stare at me, the smile expanding into a toothy grin. What almost sounded like a barking laughter surged from the creature’s throat, a sound so alien that I couldn’t help but pause.

But then I moved forward, a strike as fast as a snake as I gripped its head and twisted, the resounding snap of biotic bone filling the air.

“Sound the alarm. Tell the Reaper that something is aware of our experiments,” Dr. Ross shouted out the moment he was sure that the biotic was dead, “Dispose of that body and make damned sure that it decays. Destroy it yourselves if you have to!”

The urgency in Dr. Ross' voice forced the room full of scientists and workers into overdrive. In moments the alarm sounded through the facility, and I knew that he would be contacting the Reaper to inform him personally of the breach.

All the while, I couldn’t take my eyes off of the still smiling body of the wolf before me, and for the first time in a long time I felt a cold mantle of fear settle on my shoulders...