A/N: While I was writing Revenants more recently, and sort of gave up on it because of real life things constantly keeping my attention, I remembered that I also had another fic that I'd been producing. It was completely different than anything I'd done before, and I have to say it was extremely rewarding since it was more of my own creation. Obviously I use the characters from the original Mass Effect trilogy, but as this is a continuation of that story I don't have to fall back on canon. I can create my own story as I want it.
I actually published this story before under a different account which has since been deleted, but I wanted to put it back up. A lot more of it has already been written so it gives me breathing room to produce when I can while still maintaining a decent release timeframe. Plus I've decided to re-tool some of Revenants Vol. II to get it back on track as well. No promises of course, but without forcing myself to write I believe I can get back into the swing again. Anyway, turn out the lights and enjoy this darker version of the Mass Effect universe!
Prologue
2185 CE
Voyager Cluster
Yangtze System
Planet Binthu
For Professor Kirk Sanchez, this day had started much the same as the hundreds before it. He had awoken early, and toured the facility's subject containment cells to confirm that no unexpected anomalies had taken place during the night. After his walk he had continued on to the mess for his usual breakfast of tasteless synthetic coffee and a protein bagel with strawberry cream cheese. After he finished he would have made his way to the lab to work on samples gathered from the previous day. Only today he had barely sat down at one of the long empty benches in the deserted mess when the lights started to flicker and sway while dust trickled down from the ceiling.
For a few moments he figured it was simply the environmental systems team bungling through another systems check. He brought his steaming cup of coffee to his lips, but an even larger tremor rocking the subterranean research station caused him to second guess his assessment. It was at that moment a wild eyed security guard came bursting into the room, and very nearly tripped over his own feet. The young man eventually lost his fight with gravity as another bone rattling quake thundered through the complex. Professor Sanchez swore, and jumped up from his bench trying to keep the scalding hot liquid that had leapt from his cup to his coat from reaching his skin. He angrily turned to the security guard who was already frantically scrabbling to his feet.
"What the hell is going on?"
The gangly youth, who couldn't have been older than twenty, didn't even turn to acknowledge the shaggy bearded professor.
"It's coming! Run!"
"What's coming? What in God's name are you blathering about?"
Sanchez got no more information out of the guard who had taken off running toward the other end of the mess in sheer terror. "Idiot forgot his gun." Sanchez huffed to himself as he stooped to pick up the frightened man's sidearm.
He keyed open the radio from his omni-tool and switched to the station's security channel as another tremor fluttered through the hardened concrete floor. "Chief Pollard? This is professor Sanchez. One of your new recruits just came tearing through here like a bat out of hell. What the blazes is going on up there and where are these quakes coming from? Over."
He waited several seconds for a reply but none came. "Security Chief Pollard, this is Professor Sanchez. Do you copy? Over."
Again his query was met with silence. "God-damnit." He growled under his breath as he headed out of the mess toward the lift that would take him to the Security Chief's office. He dropped the pistol he now carried into one of the oversized pockets of his lab coat as he irritably trudged along.
More than once he nearly lost his footing as the floor beneath him periodically pitched in sympathy to the tremors that were continuing to intensify. "I bet it's those fools down in the power plant running some new sequence on the reactor. Those glorified electricians wouldn't know their assholes from a hole in the ground."
He swore again as another bone jarring vibration sent him sprawling against the bulkhead to his right. Weak pools of illumination glided around the interior of the cramped complex as the lights hanging overhead jumped, and danced with every seismic jolt. The walls of hardened concrete, and reinforced palladium, pinged as the foundations supporting them settled after each rattling tremor. Dust continued to trickle down from the ceiling in tiny streams that were briefly visible when a light played across them, but just as quickly disappeared when the erratic illumination swung away. As the professor continued on toward the lift it became increasingly difficult to see where he was going. At first he had thought the lights were simply losing power, and even tried to wipe off his glasses to no avail. Then he realized it wasn't the amount of light that was the problem. It was the thin veil of wispy smoke that was steadily drifting down from above. Countless hours researching amidst all manner of embalming fluids, and chemical cocktails, without access to fresh air had robbed his nose of any ability to detect even the most potent of concoctions.
His previous irritation at the interruption of his daily routine was now slowly being replaced by a steadily growing sense of trepidation. That feeling was only magnified when he turned a corner and found what looked like a war zone. He couldn't make out many details in the hazy gloom, but what he did see caused his blood to turn cold. Nearly a dozen security guards were sprawled in a bloody tangle along the corridor. Swinging lightbulbs provided fleeting glimpses of the gory ruin in the unsettling smoky haze.
"Oh my God…" Sanchez had to work hard to keep what little was in his stomach from rising into his throat as he turned away from the grisly scene. After a few seconds of concentration he was able to exert control over his churning stomach once more and turned back to the carnage in his way.
"Chief Pollard! Dammit Chief answer me!" He called out over his radio again, but with the same results. He tried several other frequencies to reach the other departments of the facility but static was the only reply.
It was now clear in his mind that he wasn't dealing with some run of the mill hiccup in the station's normal activities. They were under attack. From who, he had no guess. Cerberus had no shortage of enemies and if any one of them found out the kind of experimentation being done within his facility, he had no doubt they would come to put a violent stop to it. Still the gratuitous spectacle in front of him seemed out of place for what any of those enemies would have done if they were conducting an assault. As he slowly inched forward he could see that most of the bodies were no longer whole. A lucky few were only missing large chunks of flesh from their upper torso and head, while the others were missing entire limbs or were so mangled as to be rendered completely unrecognizable as Human. His heart started to pound in his chest as a chilling thought flashed through his brain.
"The subjects have escaped…" He breathed to himself in a constricted whisper.
He quickly picked his way through the remnants of the security detail, and mass of gore slicking the floor, being careful not to slip when more tremors shook the complex. Unfortunately he was fighting a losing battle and ended up pitching forward to land heavily on the crimson flooded floor. He let out a strangled scream as he came face to face with the horrified death mask of one of the guards decapitated heads. He didn't even notice the sticky scarlet liquid soak into his under trimmed facial hair as he levered his rotund frame up onto his hands and knees to scramble forward, batting away the disembodied visage as he went. Eventually he made it out of the red swamp and back to untarnished concrete. He laboriously righted himself and bolted for the lift ahead, completely heedless of anything else around him. To his relief the lift door was already open and the car was empty. He frantically typed in the code for the level containing the security office with pudgy, blood stained fingers. After several failed attempts he finally forced himself to calm down, and enter the code correctly. The lift car lurched upward in fits and starts on a warped mag track.
The professor slowly regained his breath from running down the nightmare hallway and relaxed his thudding heartbeat. As the car slowly climbed skyward he took stock of his current situation. It seemed highly likely that the various test subjects housed in the complex had somehow escaped to wreak havoc on their jailers. It also seemed highly likely that he was the only one of the Cerberus staff still alive and if by some slim chance there were still others they would need to fend for themselves. He knew the Illusive Man would be livid at the loss of an entire facility due to faulty containment, but he would still rather escape and take his chances than stay trapped with whatever was loose in the complex. To that end he planned to make his hasty exit through the shuttle bay on the far side of the security office checkpoint, and do his best to disappear after getting off world. Who knew, maybe he could even start a new life as some hyped up cosmetic surgeon for the galaxy's elite. He'd live like a king surrounded by fabulous wealth and gorgeous women.
He had already started to plan how he was going to start his new life when the lift finally ground to a screeching halt at it's destination. Thick oily smoke billowed into the elevator car as the doors cycled open, enveloping the professor in an almost impenetrable blanket. He hacked and coughed as the thick plume was sucked into his already burning lungs and threatened to overwhelm him. He ducked down as low as he could while still standing and used the lapel of his rapidly crusting, gore soaked lab coat to cover his mouth and nose. His eyes burnt and stung as he shuffled forward through the inky black shroud toward where his best guess of the security office should be. For several tense moments he feared becoming disoriented and slowly succumbing to smoke inhalation before he could find his way out. Just as he was beginning to consider that he'd become turned around he spotted the tiniest flicker of orange light ahead. At first he was elated that he'd been going the right way, but his joy was short lived as it dawned on him what was producing the light.
He could feel the heat from the fires burning on the impassable wall of rubble left by the ceiling caving in as he neared. With a heartfelt expletive he turned and headed back for the lift. It was a sizable setback, but he wasn't without a plan B. Although that alternative meant he would have to again brave whatever stalked the lower levels in his bid for freedom. His vision swam and his head throbbed from the lack of clean air as he stumbled over the threshold of the lift. With great effort he cycled in the code for the lab department. The doors noisily slid shut in front of him although he couldn't see them and the elevator started it's journey back the way it had come.
Straining air circulation units worked hard to rid the lift compartment of the suffocating cloud that had accompanied the professor in from the hall. He crowded into the corner where barely filtered air was streaming in from a small slitted vent, and took a deep breath of the delicious life giving oxygen. Even when the lift car had been mostly evacuated of the acrid plume he remained glued to the vent trying to suck in as much of the recycled air as he could while trying to settle his protesting stomach. He finally tore himself away from the vent when the doors of the elevator cycled open again. He was more grateful than he had ever been in his life that no smoke had reached this level of the bunker as he stepped out into the dimly lit corridor.
He hurried off on his way toward the far end of the labs and the hidden second entrance to the facility that just happened to be located behind his own office. None of the rest of the staff had been informed of it's location and he had intentionally neglected to mention it's whereabouts to any of his colleagues. He was happy his forethought would pay off. There were perks to being the head researcher of a station like this one. Since no one else knew about it it was unlikely that they would have attempted to reach it and therefore would have led whatever was lurking in the complex away. Sanchez would still have to traverse the breadth of the lab sector without becoming another casualty himself, but once he reached the other side he would be home free.
With all the stealth he could muster, he trundled from shadow to shadow in his quest to traverse the labyrinth. As he did he felt the weight of the previously forgotten pistol still in his pocket bumping against his thigh. He reached in to scoop it out and relished the satisfying weight in his hand. He'd never trained with firearms and barely knew how to even use one except on the most basic level, but it still gave him a feeling of power to possess a weapon in his current situation. He fiddled with it for several moments before figuring out how to chamber the gun and turn off the safety. He clutched the handle tightly as he continued on his way. As he progressed he began to mentally congratulate himself for being able to stay cool under pressure and managing to be the only survivor out of a full research staff of almost one hundred and fifty. The tremors had even stopped. He started to feel almost confident as he brazenly pushed onward becoming less concerned with staying hidden. That was until he reached the darkened halls of the containment wing.
His newfound confidence at having a weapon quickly evaporated as he imagined the horrors prowling through the darkened hallways on the other side of the door. For almost a minute he stood rooted to the spot staring at the hatch in front of him trying to muster the courage to continue on. His mind raced to find any other possibility of escape but in the end could not. He gripped his pistol with white knuckle intensity, and finally convinced himself that whatever was loose was most likely on a completely different level. He had probably been as close to it as he would get when he waded through the gory mess left in the passage on the staff housing level.
He kept trying to convince his terrified brain that this was the case, but his legs still refused to even shuffle forward. Then he heard the faintest whisper of some unknown body part sliding against stone behind him. The gun came up in an instant as he whirled around to point it's muzzle back the way he'd come. His eyes wildly searched for a target over the trembling sights of his pistol, but couldn't see anything in the dimly lit gloom. He stood motionless for what seemed like an eternity but nothing came rushing out of the darkness to messily dismember him.
At long last he reached out with his free hand to cycle open the door and stepped through. He immediately closed and locked it behind himself. Just as the flickering display on the hatch shifted from emerald to vermilion something loudly impacted the other side. His mouth opened, but no sound escaped as he stumbled backward away from the hatch. His back butted up against a solid surface which halted his retreat. He stood in petrified terror as his eyes jerked from shadow to shadow. His pulse thundered in his ears and his flabby chest heaved with every adrenalin fueled breath as he finally looked over his shoulder at what he leaned against. Two reflective black orbs stared back. He screeched as his knees buckled and he landed in a heap on the floor. He desperately squirmed backward flat on his back while bringing up his gun. A single shot spat from it's muzzle, but instead of burying itself between the creature's blank stare, it spattered against the glass barrier that contained it. A spiderweb of cracks splayed around the bullet's point of impact to completely cover the deathly visage of the Thorian creeper emotionlessly standing in it's containment cell. Several more twisted, haunted faces gathered around the first to glare at the paralyzed Sanchez.
He lay there in stupefied horror, gun still pointed at it's original target before eventually regaining his wits enough to get to his feet. The unnerving gaze of the Creepers followed him as he shuffled away from their cell. He clutched at his chest trying to regain his composure and steady his breathing before doubling over and retching out a stream of bitter bile onto the floor. His body convulsed several times before he could straighten and wipe his blubbery lips with the crusty sleeve of his left arm.
"Son of a bitch…" He shakily cursed to himself as he activated the flashlight function on his omni-tool and pointed it further down the corridor.
His legs felt like they were filled with ice water, but through force of will he managed to get them moving. He tightly hugged the wall furthest from the observation windows of the various containment cells and played his light across their glass surfaces looking for the one that was ruptured and would signify what exactly he was dealing with.
Eventually he neared the end, but could plainly see that none of the cells had been breached. Just as he let out a sigh of relief the lights cut out completely plunging him into utter darkness save for the small beam of light emanating from his omni tool. The blood in his veins stopped cold as he turned back to see the crimson display on the hatch in the distance flicker and wink out. Without another thought he turned and fled in sheer panic. Any thought to fight utterly overridden by the overwhelming need to escape.
He started to scream as sounds of his pursuer gaining on him reached his ears, but he didn't dare look back. By no small amount of pure luck, and survival instinct, he tore around a corner and through the door of his own office. As he cleared the threshold he tripped over something and went tumbling to the floor. He continued to scream as he brought the gun and his flashlight up again and madly swept it around looking for his assailant.
His breath hitched in his chest as the meager light made played across another nightmare like what he'd seen in the staff housing passage earlier. The office was painted from floor to ceiling in sticky red gore. Unrecognizable chunks of meat and pieces of bone were strewn about like bits of confetti. He tried to frantically right himself and flee but couldn't get any purchase on the blood slick concrete.
"Prof… Professor?"
He froze and shined his light toward the source of the weak voice off to his right. The small pool of illumination settled on the ashen face of a young woman sitting on the floor with her back propped against the rear of his desk.
"Mo… Morgan?" He barely croaked past his tortured throat.
"Professor…" She whispered again.
"Morgan, thank God." He wheezed trying to scoot over to her.
"Professor… Get…" She said.
"What? Morgan I don't und…" He started to say as his light dipped downward and illuminated her lower half. "Oh God…"
A ragged tear laterally split her abdomen allowing her internal organs to spill out onto her lap. She was using both of her hands to fruitlessly try to hold them in.
"Morgan… Who… What did this?"
"Professor… Get…"
"Yes?" He craned his neck so he could hear her tiny whisper.
"Professor… Get… Away…"
"What?"
"Get… Away… You'll bring… It… Back…"
His mouth tasted like a desert. "Bring what ba…"
Suddenly she let out a blood curdling scream as something grabbed her from the other side of the desk and wrenched her into the darkness. Sanchez tried to scramble away, pistol completely forgotten, while sickening gurgling noises escaped from Morgan's throat in her dying moments. He let out a pathetic whimper as he attempted to crawl away on his hands and knees trying desperately to wake from whatever nightmare he'd fallen into. He felt breath on the back of his neck but didn't turn until something heavy slammed into his side and flipped him over onto his back. He lay there staring up into the blackness above him. Each breath coming more difficult than the last. He stared up at nothing for a few seconds before a pair of gigantic sinister glowing eyes appeared in his field of vision. He tried to move, to grab for the gun he had dropped, and shine the light on the face of his attacker, but his body no longer responded to his commands. The slit pupil eyes came closer until he could see the gleam from huge, unnaturally sharp teeth twisted up into a predatory grin below them. That enormous grin was the last thing Professor Sanchez ever saw.
