Chapter Text
Kaidan was tired of going to doctors. Ever since he was young it seemed like his parents took him from one expert to another trying to help him. He knew he was lucky that they did this out of love for him and not because they thought there was something wrong with their biotic son. But this visit to the doctor made him think maybe there really was something wrong with him.
Everything that was known about biotic abilities came primarily from the asari. Turians and krogan were known to possess the ability as well but it wasn't as common. Every asari was born a biotic and they even had a special school to teach them how to use and control their powers. Humans were just starting to show that they too could be a biotic. For the most part their biotics seemed to work in the same way. But something was clearly wrong, because Kaidan was seeing things. Which led him here to the optometrist. He sat in a chair while the doctor held up a card with a green dot in the center.
“What color do you see?” Kaidan sighed and gave the correct answer. They went through every color of the rainbow with every one named correctly. Next the doctor showed him a picture of Kaidan's mother and told him to ignore the color of her outfit or the landscape in the shot. “Do you see any other colors?”
“No,” Kaidan reported.
“And what about me?” the doctor went on. “Do you see any extra colors?”
“No.” And that was the really strange thing in all this. If his weird hallucination was consistent that would be one thing, but the hazy glow only seemed to be around his parents. He hadn't been back to school since he started playing around with his biotics so he really had no means of comparison.
“Kaidan, your parents brought you for this check-up because you told them you've been seeing strange colors. I need to know if you're lying to me.”
“Not... colors, exactly.” Kaidan's brow furrowed as he tried to come up with an explanation. “Just this glow around my parents. I don't know why I can't see it on you.” The doctor hummed in thought and tapped out something on his datapad.
“Your medical file says you're a biotic.” Kaidan confirmed this with a nod. “I'm afraid I've never worked with a biotic. I'm going to get in contact with a colleague of mine who has more experience and consult with her. I'll let your parents know the next step after that.”
A few days later a person in an official-looking outfit arrived at their door. He snapped a salute to Kaidan's father. “Mister and Missus Alenko, I represent a company called Conatix Industries. We are running a program to teach and train young human biotics, and I understand that your son has a lot of potential. We believe that this program will help your son understand his abilities and also help humanity gain a better understanding of biotics.”
Kaidan noticed that this man didn't say he needed the parents' permission or even presented this opportunity as a choice. He noticed his parents exchange a look; they picked up on the same thing. Unfortunately they were out of their element. This company was the only chance they could see for Kaidan to learn.
“It's an amazing opportunity, son,” his father told him. “Think of it like... camp.” Kaidan frowned a little at that but the Conatix representative was already guiding him away from his family. Kaidan craned his neck around to keep them in view for as long as possible, using their glow as a focal point.
– –
He counted at least a dozen other kids his age assembled in the room. Some of them were in school uniforms or dressed for some outdoor sport practice. Others were in ratty T-shirts and sweatpants. None of them looked happy to be here but were all keeping quiet about it. A turian came out and stood before them. Kaidan recognized that posture from the many times his father adopted it: this was a soldier. A lot of turians were as he understood it but why was one here?
“Hello... humans.” If the turian had lips Kaidan was sure they would have curled at that word. “Welcome to Biotic Acclimation and Temperance Training. You have been brought here because you all have shown signs of biotic potential. In this facility we will teach you how to harness that potential and use. Due to the rigorous demands of this training, you have been provided beds in a dorm for the duration of your time here.”
“Wait, we can't go home?” Kaidan asked. The turian's eyes snapped to him. In a few quick strides the older male was standing before him.
“No, human, you cannot. The cost of sending you home would be detrimental to the work you put in here. I believe you humans are familiar with a similar concept called 'boarding school'. Now...” He suddenly seized Kaidan's face and squeezed just hard enough to hurt. “The next one of you who speaks out of turn will be tasting the floor.” He shoved Kaidan away, forcing him to stumble into the kid standing next to him.
The turian prowled back to his original position and once again faced the group, holding himself as if nothing happened. Kaidan set his jaw and mimicked the posture; he could play that game, too.
“My name is Commander Vyrrnus,” the turian continued. “You will refer to me as 'sir' or 'Commander Vyrnnus' at all times. I am the final authority in this facility. You will be expected to use your bioitcs when and how I dictate, and any failure in doing so will result in corrective action. Some of you may have already begun to experiment with your biotics. That ends today. You humans, especially your young, are incredibly reckless, careless, and stupid. If I receive any reports of biotics being used without my authorization, the perpetrator will receive corrective action. If you understand the rules so far, raise your right hand.”
Everyone's hand shot up in the air at once. Kaidan's heart was pounding a little. His father told him stories of basic training and the harsh tone of Vyrnnus's voice reminded him a little of those stories. Yet somehow he was hearing another layer in the turian's voice. Almost like he was as unhappy to be here as they were, and he was blaming every one of them for it.
“Before we begin training, I must bring something to your attention. A very unusual side-effect has been discovered in human biotics. We have received reports that you experience a visual oddity in the form of colored lights. You humans have taken to calling this an 'aura', referencing some spiritual belief in energy fields. As this is a relatively new discovery, we will be testing your visual acuity in seeing these 'auras' along with your other biotic abilities.”
Kaidan saw some of the other kids exchanging looks with each other. One of them caught his eye and raised their eyebrows. He gave a nod letting them know that yes, he had seen the “auras”. It was a relief to put a name to what was happening, and to know that it was apparently normal in human biotics if yet not understood. But he hadn't seen any colors. Did that mean something?
“For your first lesson, you will be breaking off into groups and taught one of the more basic skills: the biotic barrier.” Vyrnnus's body suddenly lit up as a blue glow covered his body. “This is what you are working toward. By the end of the day I expect all of you to pull up your barrier and maintain it while doing a second task. If any of you are hoping that poor performance will result in being sent home, you can let go of that delusion now. You will all be expected to work hard. Your skills are pathetic now but under my teaching you will get better, and eventually you will actually be worth something to your Alliance. Dismissed.”
A few adults stepped forward and proceeded to divide off the kids. Kaidan's group followed their teacher into another room where the listened to how a biotic barrier was produced. Kaidan followed the instructions while looking forward to when it was over and he could talk with the other kids. He wanted to hear more about the colors they were seeing.
Their dorm was revealed to be co-ed with all the beds on a “first come, first serve” basis. It didn't take long for some arguments to ignite over where they would sleep. All the beds looked the same to Kaidan but a few of the other kids insisted some were lumpier than others or had better pillows. He just chose one at random and looked around for the kids he noticed earlier nodding along to Vyrnnus's aura speech.
“Hey.” He gently tapped the shoulder of one of them. She was a girl about his age with long, dark hair and beautiful features. “That thing Vyrnnus was saying about auras--”
“Don't you mean Commander Vyrnnus?” she interrupted, her eyes glinting with mirth.
“No.” He knew he should be giving a military man proper respect but the way Vyrnnus talked really got under his skin. “But what he said about auras... Have you seen them?”
“Sure.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I didn't know what it was, but I started seeing all these colored lights on people. My parents thought there was something wrong with me and took me to get a CAT-scan of my brain. It's nice hearing that other biotics see them, too.”
“What kind of colors have you seen?”
“Mostly yellow. My parents...” She paused, thinking. “It's not really a color with them, just a glow. It's hard to explain.”
“I know,” Kaidan assured her. “I've seen that, too.” He could hear others around them talking and many of them were having a similar discussion. “So you see the yellow aura now?” The girl propped her chin in her hands and scanned the room.
“No. But I guess that's why we're here: so we can train our abilities and get better at them.” Kaidan didn't answer, lost in thought. “By the way, I'm Rahna,” the girl introduced.
“I'm Kaidan.” They shook hands, smiling at each other.
– –
It was maybe a few days later when Kaidan started seeing the colors. Every biotic in the dorm had the same green haze surrounding them. It was different from the glow of their biotics-- that touched every part of their bodies. The haze, or the aura, was something separate. It existed outside of the person and if he looked closely enough he could see the smallest space between their skin and the light. It was a little odd but he was pleased that he was at least seeing these colors now.
He started looking for them as he trained. All of the kids had green but he wasn't seeing the yellow Rahna mentioned, and their instructors didn't have any colors at all. When he stood in for his Aura Visual Acuity Assessment (AVAS for short, or just “ass” as the kids were calling it among themselves) Kaidan was quizzed on what colors he could see, their intensity, and how long the color stayed in his vision. They were very interested in the fact that as long as the person was in his visual range, so was their aura.
The humans might have been thrilled at learning more about auras but Vyrnnus was not. He constantly grumbled about them, claiming they were useless in battle because they would distract the biotics. He even decided to put that theory to the test by having one group go through an obstacle course while another group stood at various spots so their auras would be in view. When Kaidan's group took the run he found the auras fairly easy to ignore. Even the ones with the most intense green like Rahna weren't so visually overwhelming that he couldn't concentrate. A few from his group did get a little distracted but overall they performed well.
Vyrnnus made them run the course two more times. He had the other students pop into view randomly this time or just before someone was about to use a biotic power. He was determined to prove that the auras were a detriment. While he was able to prove they could be distracting, the fact that most of them still went through the course fine infuriated him. Kaidan watched him and noticed that a purpleish haze was starting to form around the turian. It was the first time he noticed an aura on an alien. No one else in the program had reported this happening so he kept it to himself.
– –
The doctors in the facility determined that auras became visible after the kids started using their biotics. Those with biotic potential but didn't learn to use it, they concluded, wouldn't see these auras. They still hadn't figured out why only humans seemed to experience this colorful visual. Their best guess factored in the humans' genetic diversity, which was the alien go-to in explaining anything weird the humans were doing that didn't affect other species.
The kids figured out the colors first. Every night they gathered together and talked over what they could see and bounced around theories on what it meant. Green was the most consistent color for them and it seemed to stick to just the kids. That had to mean the person was a trusted individual. Quite a few of them also admitted to seeing the yellow aura but it seemed more selective, only visible on those they considered friends. Naturally the yellow and the green often complemented each other.
“Have any of you seen an aura on our instructors?” Kaidan wondered. There were a lot of murmurs, some nodding and some shaking their heads.
“Vyrnnus has one,” a girl spoke up. Her aura was green to Kaidan's eyes. It made sense: they weren't often put in the same group and they didn't interact much in these nightly get-togethers. “It's really ugly.”
“It's gross,” agreed a boy who had the yellow-green mix. “Kind of a muddy purple, right? Like someone threw up on him after drinking something purple.” There were a few cringes and exclamations of disgust but no one argued that it was an unfitting description. Kaidan thought back to the aura he saw and yes, that was exactly what the color looked like.
“What do you think it means?” Kaidan wondered aloud.
“That the aura is telling us what we already know,” responded another kid. “That he is ugly and we all want to vomit when we look at him.” That got all the kids laughing. “And,” they continued, “he's not a friend or someone we can trust. And it's not like with our other instructors. He... I don't know, it's like he's got a personal vendetta against us. We've all heard how he talks about humans.”
They all agreed, though none could pin down exactly what it meant. Some of the kids admitted to being afraid of Vyrnnus while still seeing a shade of purple while others, like Kaidan, didn't have that fear but still saw purple. What they did manage to agree on was that they would be calling Vyrnnus “Vomit” among themselves from now on.
“Any of you guys seen a red aura?” a girl spoke up. Everyone turned in her direction. “It's just,” she began awkwardly, “I started noticing it the other day and was wondering if anyone else has seen it.” After a moment a few of the other girls admitted they had. The other kids were interested now and started asking for more information.
“It's really strange,” one girl admitted. “The other colors were kind of gradual. Like no auras when we first got here and then the green started showing up, then the yellow mixed in. Even Vomit's gross purple formed over time. But the red was just... there.” The other girls were nodding along.
Once again there wasn't any consensus about what the color meant. One of the girls mentioned that she saw a red aura off someone she barely spoke with, and one admitted to seeing it on one of their instructors. A few said they saw red on just the other girls or boys and some said they saw it on both. It sounded completely random.
Was it always going to be like this? Would random colors just keep showing up as people's auras and they wouldn't understand why? Kaidan was glad they had each other to figure it all out.
– –
Getting sent to the nurse was a common occurrence in the facility. Everyone had been beaten by Vyrnnus at least once, some multiple times. He claimed it was to help them be better and stronger biotics and since he was turning out results the Alliance wasn't looking into his methods too closely. At night they all huddled together and agreed that his vomit-purple aura was getting more intense the more he hurt them.
Kaidan settled onto an empty bed and waited for his turn. He glanced over to see Rahna there with a bruise on her eye. Her yellow-green aura was glowing brightly today. “Did you miss your target during biotic throw exercises?” Kaidan guessed.
“Only a few times.” Rahna fixed him with her good eye. “Did you drop something after lifting it?” He smiled and held up his hand, being careful with the broken finger.
“Once.” Rahna smiled back and gave him a thumb's up. She was becoming one of Kaidan's closest friends in the facility-- maybe even his best friend. But how could he not like her? She was charming, funny, intelligent, and friendly. She probably saw every kid in the facility with yellow-green auras by now, if not pure yellow for some. Kaidan never asked her what his aura looked like to her and the thought made him strangely nervous.
As days turned into weeks and he spent more time with her, Kaidan started noticing a shift in her aura's color. It was gradual like every other shift he'd experienced so far. The green seemed to be fading but instead of her becoming pure yellow another warm color was leaking in. After a while it stopped being yellow and became... orange. None of the kids had ever mentioned an orange aura.
None of them were shy about sharing when they saw a new color. More and more of them were seeing the red aura and they determined it wasn't as random as it appeared. That became obvious when two kids who said they saw the red aura on each other were found the next day making out in a corner. They concluded the color meant sexual attraction, as the person who had the aura matched the viewer's preferences.
But what did orange mean? The minute Kaidan asked himself that question, the answer came to him. He learned this in primary school when being introduced to the color wheel: yellow plus red equals orange. The revelation made him a little nervous. He had no idea if Rahna saw him in the same way and he didn't know how to broach the subject. And when would the yellow fade completely so all he could see was that red glow?
– –
Kaidan stood trembling all over. His instructors had to inject him with a sedative to get him to calm down enough to lower his biotic barrier. He couldn't stop staring at the spot where Vyrnnus fell. There was no blood but everyone was giving the area a wide berth anyway. The crack of the turian's neck bones echoed over and over in Kaidan's head. It hadn't been intentional, merely an act of self-preservation as the knife touched his throat. But Kaidan knew it hadn't entirely been an accident, either. He was already furious with Vyrnnus for breaking Rahna's arm. He wanted to hurt the turian for hurting her, and for all the abuse he inflicted on Kaidan and the other biotics.
He could have thrown Vyrnnus off him or lifted him into the air, but instead Kaidan used all he learned to gather his biotic power and kick the turian's face in. He knew that the blow killed Vyrnnus; he saw it the moment the turian's aura disappeared. It went out as quickly as turning off a light, and every kid who was close enough to see knew what it meant.
Kaidan wouldn't look at any of them. He was afraid of seeing their faces, of being able to tell just from their expressions that his aura had changed for them. Was he an ugly vomit-purple now, too? He didn't want to know, so Kaidan kept his eyes down and waited to be taken away.
– –
The Alliance wasn't going to turn down a biotic soldier no matter what was in his past. They were happy to accept his enlistment and start his training. It wasn't common knowledge among regular soldiers that biotics could see auras and Kaidan intended to keep it that way. His superior officers would probably be told but he would only inform them of the colors that mattered: green for an ally, purple for the enemy. None of the other colors mattered in combat.
As long as Kaidan committed to the mission at hand and kept to himself, those would likely be the only colors he would ever see.