Colonist/Torfan Pre-Service History 2/? (FemShep, prior noncon)
anonymous
June 11 2015, 17:42:21 UTC
Zabaleta left, and Karin guided her new patient to the exam table right next to the fish tank. She pulled the curtain around the padded bed as the girl scrambled onto it.
“I’m Dr. Chakwas, by the way,” Karin said. “How are you feeling, Ms. Shepard?”
“I guess I should feel lucky.” Shepard bit the inside of her lip. “I’m alive.”
“That doesn’t answer the question.” Karin opened a new patient chart on her datapad. “How do you feel? Any pain?” Remembering the colonists’ stubborn disdain for weakness, Karin added, “Honestly, if you please. It’s not polite to lie to your doctor.”
“No, ma’am,” Shepard said. “I am in some pain."
“On a scale of one to ten, with ten being the worst pain imaginable and one being a papercut, how bad would you say your pain is?” Karin asked.
“At least a five or six, ma’am.”
A Mindoir five was at least an Earth seven. Karin estimated the girl’s size and offered her a tablet in the appropriate dose. The girl let it dissolve on her tongue without even inquiring what she was taking.
“That will help with your pain and anxiety,” Karin said. “Now, Ms. Shepard, I’d like to examine you. That cut on your face look like it’s been infected for a couple of weeks, and I’m all too familiar with the other injuries batarian slavers inflict on their victims. But please remember, it’s perfectly all right to stop me at any point. If I do anything that hurts or upsets you, I’d like to know. Do you understand, Ms. Shepard?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Shepard said meekly.
Although the people of Mindoir were proud and fiercely independent, they taught their children to obey physicians without question. From a public health standpoint, it was a helpful attitude to instill in the first generation of new colonists. A society that trusted its doctors stood a chance of surviving deadly new plants, animals, and pathogens.
In this situation, however, there was nothing to gain from intimidating an already fearful patient. Karin tried to think of a way to comfort her patient while the medication began to work.
“Do you like hot chocolate?” she asked.
Shepard nodded.
“Let’s have some,” Karin said. “It’s not good to take that pain medicine on an empty stomach.”
While the water was heating, Karin washed Shepard’s face with a cleansing wipe. She dug the dried yellow pus out of the scabs on the girl’s face and packed the remaining trenches with antibiotics and Medi Gel. The teenager barely flinched from the pain, even though there was no way she could have been fully drugged yet.
“You’re tougher than half the soldiers I patch up,” Karin remarked.
“Am I?” Shepard asked.
“Indeed. You’ve sat as still as a statue for this whole procedure.”
“You said not to move,” Shepard said, as if that explained everything.
“I see,” Karin said. “Still, not many adults have scuffled with the batarians and lived to walk away from it. And you did it at… what, fourteen? Fifteen?”
“Sixteen,” Shepard said.
“Sixteen, and as tough as any soldier I’ve ever met.” Karin swabbed the clear gel into the exposed dermis, listening to the water finish heating. “There’s no delicate way to put this, so I’ll just ask-- do I need to perform a rape kit for you, Ms. Shepard?”
Shepard brought her thumb to her mouth, and Karin thought for a moment the girl might regress to infancy and suck her thumb. Instead, Shepard chewed on her thumbnail.
“Ms. Shepard?” Karin asked gently.
“I don’t know exactly what that is,” Shepard admitted.
“Rape? Or a rape kit?”
“Rape kit.” Shepard pretended to be very interested in the fish swimming next to her. “I know plenty about the other.”
“Ah.” Karin trashed the empty Medi Gel packet. “A rape kit is how we collect DNA and other evidence, in case you decide to press charges against the batarian government.”
“Will I get in trouble if I don’t?” Shepard asked.
“Don’t what, dear?”
“Any of it.”
“No,” Karin said. “It’s a personal choice, as long as you’re twelve or older. You have the right to refuse the rape kit, and you certainly don’t have to file grievances. You also don’t have to do one to do the other. You can skip the rape kit and still request an investigation, and vice versa.”
Colonist/Torfan Pre-Service History 3/? (FemShep, prior noncon)
anonymous
June 11 2015, 18:09:03 UTC
“What’s the point?” Shepard scowled. “The batarian government doesn’t give a fuck about humans. Besides, the only justice I care about is the kind the Alliance soldiers are dishing out on Mindoir right now. Lieutenant Zabaleta killed most of the batarians who were with me. I doubt I’ll get better than that from the batarian government.”
“Very well.” Karin washed her hands. “I’m all finished with your face, by the way. I’m afraid you might have some scarring.”
Shepard shrugged. “I’m alive. My parents would tell me to stop bitching about minor details."
“I see.” Karin set the mugs on a chrome table near Shepard. “I hope I haven’t upset you.”
“You haven’t,” Shepard assured her. “I appreciate you telling me. I don’t like being kept in the dark. I just hope the scars make people think twice before fucking with me.”
“I hope so too,” Karin said. “Drink your cocoa, Ms. Shepard.”
Shepard sniffed her drink and then took a sip, making a confused face as she did.
“I expect it’s different from what you’re used to,” Karin said. “Up here in space, we have to rely on the powdered stuff. No fresh varren cream or home-ground cocoa for us.”
“We don’t have varren on Mindoir,” Shepard said, and then blinked sleepily. “Wait, was that a joke?”
Karin smiled. “Yes. A poor one, sorry.”
“No, it's just... I think the medicine is working,” Shepard said. “My head feels fuzzy.”
“Excellent,” Karin said. “Do you mind if I tend to the rest of your injuries while you drink your cocoa?”
“No, ma’am.”
Karin fluffed up several pillows and helped the girl sit back. She cleaned the needle-like teeth scratches on Shepard’s neck and breasts, then worked on the larger claw marks on the girl’s hips. Shepard drank her hot chocolate pensively.
“I wish I was eighteen,” Shepard said abruptly.
“Why is that?” Karin asked.
“So I could enlist and keep another Mindoir from happening.”
“Ah.” Karin finished treating the superficial injuries and covered the girl’s upper body with a clean sheet. “There is a junior officer’s program. It’s not the same, I know, but it could give you a head start on a military career.”
“I’ll do it,” Shepard said immediately.
“I’ll make a note in your file.” Karin pulled the stirrups out of the end of the table. “If you wouldn’t mind scooting down to the end of the table, I’d like to examine you for rape-related injuries.”
Shepard slid down the table without hesitation. Karin saw the cause of Shepard's pain as soon as she slid the gyn probe in.
“Goodness," she remarked. "You put up quite a fight."
“Barely,” Shepard scowled again. “It hurt so bad I didn’t want to.”
“Most people don’t,” Karin assured her. “The barbs seem to have evolved to prevent victims from struggling. That’s likely why they kept you unchipped.”
“Um, what?” Shepard asked.
Karin furrowed her brow as she stared through the scope at Shepard’s internal injuries. The older ones were swollen and inflamed from infection. Karin would need to do some extensive work to repair the damage and stop the infection. She shot numbing lube from the probe and examined the girl’s bruised cervix while she waited for the local anesthetic to take effect.
“The slavers kill perceived threats and chip the people who surrender,” Karin explained as she worked. “Those who are powerless but refuse to surrender… the slavers seem to keep those ones for themselves. The average slave owner wants an obedient slave. But the slavers seem to go into the business because they’re sadistic, so it’s only natural they’d want a prize that screams and tries to escape whenever they abuse it.”
“...Oh.”
“This might sting a little.” Karin used the laser attachment on her probe to burn away infection.
Shepard’s body shook with sobs. Karin looked up, surprised. Shepard hid her face in the blue sleeves, trying to turn her head away so Karin wouldn’t see.
“Does it hurt that badly?” Karin asked, perplexed.
“No, ma’am,” Shepard wept. “Sorry, ma’am.”
“There’s nothing to apologize for,” Karin said. “This is the one place in the Alliance where soldiers can feel safe crying. I’m a good listener, if you feel like talking.”
Colonist/Torfan Pre-Service History 4/4 (FemShep, prior noncon)
anonymous
June 11 2015, 18:25:50 UTC
Shepard didn’t speak right away. Karin’s gloves were covered in anesthetic lube, but she managed to knock the tissue pack onto the bed with her elbow. Shepard fumbled with a few tissues and blew her nose.
“My parents got melted so I’d have time to escape,” Shepard finally said. “But I didn’t escape. I got captured. And the only reason I’m not a zombie like the others is because… because the fucking batarians thought I’d be fun to torture!” Tear slipped from her eyes, and she quickly rubbed them away.
“You’re still alive because you had a desirable personality,” Karin said. “Life is strange like that. I once treated a soldier who'd eaten poisonous berries and been off dealing with severe diarrhea when his entire squad was ambushed.”
"No way." Shepard giggled into one of her blue sleeves. “You made that up.”
“I did not, in fact. He went on to be a tremendous military leader, although he’d have my head if I told you his name.” Karin bit her lip as she lasered off a few more patches of infection. “Your parents didn’t die in vain. You did escape. You’re here on an Alliance cruiser, your brain completely intact. I’m certain you’ll do your parents proud.”
“Thank you, ma’am.”
Karin removed the probe and dropped it into the sanitation box. She swapped her gloves before helping Shepard roll onto her side. As she’d suspected, Shepard bore a brand on her back like most of the other rescued slaves. Karin cleaned it, but there wasn’t much else she could do.
“There are surgeries you can have to remove this,” Karin said.
“I don’t want it gone,” Shepard said. “It makes me angry, and I need to be angry to avenge my family. My planet.”
“I believe in you.” Karin pulled the blue jacket back down. “And that reminds me to recommend you for the junior officer's program. Is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable before I go?”
“No, ma’am,” Shepard said. “I’m very comfortable. I feel like I might fall asleep any second now. Thank you for treating me, doctor.”
“Your transport will be here in a few hours.” Karin stripped off her gloves. “Your social worker will be on board with some clothes and other essentials. I expect the medicine I gave you will keep you knocked out until then, but just in case…” She put a ration pack, water bottle, and the call button on the table next to Shepard’s bed. "If you need anything at all, our student nurse is on call. She’ll only wake me if there’s an emergency, so don’t hesitate to use this. The poor girl is trying to get in two hundred hours by next week, so she won’t mind.”
Shepard nodded, her eyes already drooping closed. Karin covered her with a thicker blanket and went to get some much needed sleep of her own.
Karin hadn’t expected to see the girl again. She was surprised (and somehow not surprised at all) to see the girl's name nearly a decade later. This time, however, Shepard was being called "The Butcher of Torfan."
"Well, good for her," Karin thought as she saved the news article to her Scrap-Pocket account. Karin had never much cared for batarians.
It was an even more pleasant surprise when Karin wound up stationed on the same cruiser as Shepard. Karin wanted to tell Shepard how proud she was, to see that broken little girl all grown up and protecting the galaxy at any cost. There had been no hint of recognition when she’d shaken hands with Shepard, however, so Karin said nothing.
“I’m Dr. Chakwas, by the way,” Karin said. “How are you feeling, Ms. Shepard?”
“I guess I should feel lucky.” Shepard bit the inside of her lip. “I’m alive.”
“That doesn’t answer the question.” Karin opened a new patient chart on her datapad. “How do you feel? Any pain?” Remembering the colonists’ stubborn disdain for weakness, Karin added, “Honestly, if you please. It’s not polite to lie to your doctor.”
“No, ma’am,” Shepard said. “I am in some pain."
“On a scale of one to ten, with ten being the worst pain imaginable and one being a papercut, how bad would you say your pain is?” Karin asked.
“At least a five or six, ma’am.”
A Mindoir five was at least an Earth seven. Karin estimated the girl’s size and offered her a tablet in the appropriate dose. The girl let it dissolve on her tongue without even inquiring what she was taking.
“That will help with your pain and anxiety,” Karin said. “Now, Ms. Shepard, I’d like to examine you. That cut on your face look like it’s been infected for a couple of weeks, and I’m all too familiar with the other injuries batarian slavers inflict on their victims. But please remember, it’s perfectly all right to stop me at any point. If I do anything that hurts or upsets you, I’d like to know. Do you understand, Ms. Shepard?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Shepard said meekly.
Although the people of Mindoir were proud and fiercely independent, they taught their children to obey physicians without question. From a public health standpoint, it was a helpful attitude to instill in the first generation of new colonists. A society that trusted its doctors stood a chance of surviving deadly new plants, animals, and pathogens.
In this situation, however, there was nothing to gain from intimidating an already fearful patient. Karin tried to think of a way to comfort her patient while the medication began to work.
“Do you like hot chocolate?” she asked.
Shepard nodded.
“Let’s have some,” Karin said. “It’s not good to take that pain medicine on an empty stomach.”
While the water was heating, Karin washed Shepard’s face with a cleansing wipe. She dug the dried yellow pus out of the scabs on the girl’s face and packed the remaining trenches with antibiotics and Medi Gel. The teenager barely flinched from the pain, even though there was no way she could have been fully drugged yet.
“You’re tougher than half the soldiers I patch up,” Karin remarked.
“Am I?” Shepard asked.
“Indeed. You’ve sat as still as a statue for this whole procedure.”
“You said not to move,” Shepard said, as if that explained everything.
“I see,” Karin said. “Still, not many adults have scuffled with the batarians and lived to walk away from it. And you did it at… what, fourteen? Fifteen?”
“Sixteen,” Shepard said.
“Sixteen, and as tough as any soldier I’ve ever met.” Karin swabbed the clear gel into the exposed dermis, listening to the water finish heating. “There’s no delicate way to put this, so I’ll just ask-- do I need to perform a rape kit for you, Ms. Shepard?”
Shepard brought her thumb to her mouth, and Karin thought for a moment the girl might regress to infancy and suck her thumb. Instead, Shepard chewed on her thumbnail.
“Ms. Shepard?” Karin asked gently.
“I don’t know exactly what that is,” Shepard admitted.
“Rape? Or a rape kit?”
“Rape kit.” Shepard pretended to be very interested in the fish swimming next to her. “I know plenty about the other.”
“Ah.” Karin trashed the empty Medi Gel packet. “A rape kit is how we collect DNA and other evidence, in case you decide to press charges against the batarian government.”
“Will I get in trouble if I don’t?” Shepard asked.
“Don’t what, dear?”
“Any of it.”
“No,” Karin said. “It’s a personal choice, as long as you’re twelve or older. You have the right to refuse the rape kit, and you certainly don’t have to file grievances. You also don’t have to do one to do the other. You can skip the rape kit and still request an investigation, and vice versa.”
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“Very well.” Karin washed her hands. “I’m all finished with your face, by the way. I’m afraid you might have some scarring.”
Shepard shrugged. “I’m alive. My parents would tell me to stop bitching about minor details."
“I see.” Karin set the mugs on a chrome table near Shepard. “I hope I haven’t upset you.”
“You haven’t,” Shepard assured her. “I appreciate you telling me. I don’t like being kept in the dark. I just hope the scars make people think twice before fucking with me.”
“I hope so too,” Karin said. “Drink your cocoa, Ms. Shepard.”
Shepard sniffed her drink and then took a sip, making a confused face as she did.
“I expect it’s different from what you’re used to,” Karin said. “Up here in space, we have to rely on the powdered stuff. No fresh varren cream or home-ground cocoa for us.”
“We don’t have varren on Mindoir,” Shepard said, and then blinked sleepily. “Wait, was that a joke?”
Karin smiled. “Yes. A poor one, sorry.”
“No, it's just... I think the medicine is working,” Shepard said. “My head feels fuzzy.”
“Excellent,” Karin said. “Do you mind if I tend to the rest of your injuries while you drink your cocoa?”
“No, ma’am.”
Karin fluffed up several pillows and helped the girl sit back. She cleaned the needle-like teeth scratches on Shepard’s neck and breasts, then worked on the larger claw marks on the girl’s hips. Shepard drank her hot chocolate pensively.
“I wish I was eighteen,” Shepard said abruptly.
“Why is that?” Karin asked.
“So I could enlist and keep another Mindoir from happening.”
“Ah.” Karin finished treating the superficial injuries and covered the girl’s upper body with a clean sheet. “There is a junior officer’s program. It’s not the same, I know, but it could give you a head start on a military career.”
“I’ll do it,” Shepard said immediately.
“I’ll make a note in your file.” Karin pulled the stirrups out of the end of the table. “If you wouldn’t mind scooting down to the end of the table, I’d like to examine you for rape-related injuries.”
Shepard slid down the table without hesitation. Karin saw the cause of Shepard's pain as soon as she slid the gyn probe in.
“Goodness," she remarked. "You put up quite a fight."
“Barely,” Shepard scowled again. “It hurt so bad I didn’t want to.”
“Most people don’t,” Karin assured her. “The barbs seem to have evolved to prevent victims from struggling. That’s likely why they kept you unchipped.”
“Um, what?” Shepard asked.
Karin furrowed her brow as she stared through the scope at Shepard’s internal injuries. The older ones were swollen and inflamed from infection. Karin would need to do some extensive work to repair the damage and stop the infection. She shot numbing lube from the probe and examined the girl’s bruised cervix while she waited for the local anesthetic to take effect.
“The slavers kill perceived threats and chip the people who surrender,” Karin explained as she worked. “Those who are powerless but refuse to surrender… the slavers seem to keep those ones for themselves. The average slave owner wants an obedient slave. But the slavers seem to go into the business because they’re sadistic, so it’s only natural they’d want a prize that screams and tries to escape whenever they abuse it.”
“...Oh.”
“This might sting a little.” Karin used the laser attachment on her probe to burn away infection.
Shepard’s body shook with sobs. Karin looked up, surprised. Shepard hid her face in the blue sleeves, trying to turn her head away so Karin wouldn’t see.
“Does it hurt that badly?” Karin asked, perplexed.
“No, ma’am,” Shepard wept. “Sorry, ma’am.”
“There’s nothing to apologize for,” Karin said. “This is the one place in the Alliance where soldiers can feel safe crying. I’m a good listener, if you feel like talking.”
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“My parents got melted so I’d have time to escape,” Shepard finally said. “But I didn’t escape. I got captured. And the only reason I’m not a zombie like the others is because… because the fucking batarians thought I’d be fun to torture!” Tear slipped from her eyes, and she quickly rubbed them away.
“You’re still alive because you had a desirable personality,” Karin said. “Life is strange like that. I once treated a soldier who'd eaten poisonous berries and been off dealing with severe diarrhea when his entire squad was ambushed.”
"No way." Shepard giggled into one of her blue sleeves. “You made that up.”
“I did not, in fact. He went on to be a tremendous military leader, although he’d have my head if I told you his name.” Karin bit her lip as she lasered off a few more patches of infection. “Your parents didn’t die in vain. You did escape. You’re here on an Alliance cruiser, your brain completely intact. I’m certain you’ll do your parents proud.”
“Thank you, ma’am.”
Karin removed the probe and dropped it into the sanitation box. She swapped her gloves before helping Shepard roll onto her side. As she’d suspected, Shepard bore a brand on her back like most of the other rescued slaves. Karin cleaned it, but there wasn’t much else she could do.
“There are surgeries you can have to remove this,” Karin said.
“I don’t want it gone,” Shepard said. “It makes me angry, and I need to be angry to avenge my family. My planet.”
“I believe in you.” Karin pulled the blue jacket back down. “And that reminds me to recommend you for the junior officer's program. Is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable before I go?”
“No, ma’am,” Shepard said. “I’m very comfortable. I feel like I might fall asleep any second now. Thank you for treating me, doctor.”
“Your transport will be here in a few hours.” Karin stripped off her gloves. “Your social worker will be on board with some clothes and other essentials. I expect the medicine I gave you will keep you knocked out until then, but just in case…” She put a ration pack, water bottle, and the call button on the table next to Shepard’s bed. "If you need anything at all, our student nurse is on call. She’ll only wake me if there’s an emergency, so don’t hesitate to use this. The poor girl is trying to get in two hundred hours by next week, so she won’t mind.”
Shepard nodded, her eyes already drooping closed. Karin covered her with a thicker blanket and went to get some much needed sleep of her own.
Karin hadn’t expected to see the girl again. She was surprised (and somehow not surprised at all) to see the girl's name nearly a decade later. This time, however, Shepard was being called "The Butcher of Torfan."
"Well, good for her," Karin thought as she saved the news article to her Scrap-Pocket account. Karin had never much cared for batarians.
It was an even more pleasant surprise when Karin wound up stationed on the same cruiser as Shepard. Karin wanted to tell Shepard how proud she was, to see that broken little girl all grown up and protecting the galaxy at any cost. There had been no hint of recognition when she’d shaken hands with Shepard, however, so Karin said nothing.
Some memories were better forgotten.
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