It's been two years since Commander German Shepard had been killed following the destruction of the original Normandy, and her crew disbanded following her death. Two years later, by some divine circumstance had her body been recovered and brought back to life by Cerberus, giving her a second chance in her fight against the Reapers. Cerberus had brought her back to life for the sole purpose of gaining the knowledge on the Collectors and Reapers contained within her brain, but the disappearance of human colonies was not the only mystery on her mind. Who was the one who went through all the effort to recover her body in the first place, and why? She was recently told by Miranda Lawson, the leader of project Lazarus, and one of the bitchiest women she'd ever met, that it wasn't Cerberus that recovered her body originally, rather that an anonymous informant retrieved it and sent it to Cerberus, because they said they could bring her back.
"I guess it doesn't really matter. As long as I'm still alive, right? As long as I'm still me."
She shook off the thought and continued her path from her cabin to the Normandy's bridge, passing Kelly Chambers, her somewhat okay looking yeoman that she definitely planned on sleeping with eventually.
"Commander, you've received a new message at your private terminal." she called.
"What? Oh, yeah. Thanks." Shepard, obviously still distracted by the train of thought she'd been trying to shake off thought what better way to distract yourself than checking emails?
She continued on checking her messages.
"Let's see here, Krogan male enhancement, Illusive man stuff that I don't care about, Chakwas telling me how to live my life... oh, message from Liara T'soni? How did she find out I was alive?" Regardless, Shepard opened the message.
From: Liara T'soni
Subject Line: Is this really you?
Shepard, I don't know whether or not this is some sort of sick joke or not, but I have sources telling me that you've returned. I saw you get blown away on the Normandy, and I just want to know... If you find yourself on Illium anytime soon, please come find me. I would love to see you.
- Liara
"Liara on Illium, eh? Yeoman Chambers, set course for Illium immediately."
When Shepard arrived on Illium she was immediately greeted by an Asari concierge.
"Greetings, Commander Shepard, and welcome to I-"
"Yeah yeah, I get it. I'm a big deal. Could you just do me a huge favor and point me in the direction of Liara T'soni's office?
"Oh, certainly. Her office is on the second floor. She'll be delighted to see you."
"Thanks, ma'am."
Shepard continued to the office and was stopped once again outside the door by Liara's assistant, whom identified herself as Nyxeris.
"Commander Shepard! Fancy finally meeting you in person. Liara has mentioned quite a bit about you and I'm sure she can't wait to see you!"
"So what does Liara do around here, exactly?"
"She'll explain everything once you're inside. You two have QUITE a bit of catching up to do."
Seems pretty suspicious, Shepard thought as she headed inside.
"Have you ever faced an Asari commando unit before? Few humans have. Let's make this clear, either you pay me, or I flay you alive... WITH MY MIND-"
"Liara?"
"Shepard! Nyxeris, hold my calls." Liara seductively strolled over to Shepard and took her hand as they embraced and shared a kiss.
"So Liara, flaying people alive with your mind now?"
"Shepard, I've missed you. Please, have a seat. We have a lot of catching up to do." She rushed, obviously avoiding Shepard's question.
Shepard, thinking Liara hadn't heard her the first time, reintroduced the topic.
"So what was that all about? That didn't sound anything like my innocent Liara."
"A lot has changed in the past two years, Shepard. I'm sure you're wondering what I'm doing on Illium."
Shepard nodded as if to say continue.
"Well, shortly after you... went away, I had to find another way to make ends meet, so I became an information broker, and a very good one. That's how I found out you were alive, in case you were wondering that as well."
"Information broker?" Shepard thought. "Well, how good are you?"
"Quite." She responded.
"So if I asked you to find some information for me, do you think you could pull through?"
"Maybe. And what sort of information are you attempting to get a hold of?"
"I want to know... who gave my body to Cerberus?"
Liara, taken aback by the question, flashed Shepard a look of concern.
"Why might you want to know that? All that matters is that you're alive."
"That's what I tried to tell myself, but I just can't seem to shake off the thought. I mean who would go through all that trouble to find my body, and then find someone who was willing to spend an exceptionally large sum of cash on a project to bring me back to life? I know it shouldn't matter, but I know this'll eat away at me unless I find out. I just want to thank whoever went through the effort to give me my life back."
Liara stood up and walked behind her chair, facing the window away from Shepard.
"After you were gone, I got a tip from someone saying that your body had been found and they needed help taking it from the Shadow Broker who'd been trying to sell you to the Collectors. They also said that Cerberus had put out a reward for anyone who was able to find you, and they guaranteed they'd be able to bring you back. So I met with... a man claiming to be an old friend of yours. We fought hard to retrieve your body, for a chance to bring you back. And now, here you are."
"A man? What kind of man? What was his name?"
"I'm sorry, I can't disclose that information myself, but if you'd like to speak with him personally, I can give you directions to his address. He lives on the Citadel. I think you'd be very interested in speaking with him. He'll explain everything."
"Uh, thanks, I guess. I'll let you get back to your information feeds. Oh, and one more thing."
Shepard pulled Liara in for one last smooch before heading out the door. She made her way back to the Normandy's docking bay and set forth coordinates for the Citadel.
