Silence.
The remains of Cerberus soldiers scattered across the floor, and stench of husks alarmingly strong.
'What happened?'. Shepard whispered to the AI crouching next to her.
'They are retreating, Shepard', informed Edi.
'Well, we're not waiting around to see whatever they're running from. We have to find Garrus.'
'Of course'.
Garrus was ordered to go into the facility to try to bring Cerberus systems down from the inside while Shepard and Edi were distracting them.
They climb the stairs to the far side of the room, stepping over the corpses of their enemies. The only sound is their armor clinking against the steel floor every footstep. They walk into a large room, desks lined up in four rows with chairs to accompany them. Computer systems lined the walls; some were destroyed due to the small explosions of the battle. Shepard walked over to a flashing data pad resting on the desk.
'Schematics for an assault on Aria. I wouldn't have thought Cerberus were so foolish.' Shepard mumbled whist downloading the information onto her Omi-tool.
'Shepard, over there. Security footage.' Edi gestured to a console that was beaten up, but still usable.
'Good, we can see where Garrus is, cut down our search time'.
'It is recommended that we search for enemies that could be nearby'.
Shepard continued flipping through the camera screens of all the rooms. 'Got him, he's in the shuttle docks of the station, shouldn't be too far from-'.
Footsteps. They immediately pull out their weapons and aim at the door across the room. The only way in, and the only way out if it was trouble. The door opens, and closes a few seconds later. No one was there. Shepard looked over to where Edi was taking cover. Edi pointed to her visor, hinting that she could see someone using a camouflage ability. A chair a couple meters away moves, and the flicker of a cloak appeared occasionally.
'Show yourself!'. Yelled Shepard, running out of cover and aiming her weapon into thin air.
Edi joined her side. Slowly, the intruder reveals themselves, hiding slightly behind the chair. A human girl, kneeling behind it. Teenager. Her long blonde hair shielding her face from view.
'E-excuse me, don't point those things at me, please!'. The girl cried.
'Who are you?'. Asked Shepard, lowering her weapon.
'My name is Diane Clark. I was visiting here with my mother when Cerberus arrived…'.
'How long has Cerberus been here?'.
'They got here a week ago. I've been hiding ever since. They got everyone!'
'You should come with us, we can get you to safety.'
'Wait, who are you?'
'We should hurry Shepard.' Edi cautioned.
'Shepard? Wow, is it true you stopped Archangel?' Diane almost squealed.
'We don't have time for this. Are you coming, or staying?' Shepard questioned while walking towards the door.
'Uh, I'm coming. Yeah, thanks.'
'Garrus, we lost contact, what happened?' Shepard questioned the turian while walking the distance across the room towards him.
'Damn Cerberus. They had an Engineer waiting in the back room over there'. He pointed to a door concealed by the shadows of a nearby wall. 'He got me while I had my guard down. Fried my comm. unit.' He blurted whilst shaking his head in disgust.
'Can you fix it, Edi?
'Yes, Shepard'. Edi held up her Omni-tool and started to make the repairs.
'All that manners is that the plan worked, and we stopped them.' Shepard informed.
'Yeah, so far. Who's that?'. Garrus gestured towards Diane.
'Survivor of the attack. She's coming with us until we can get to the Citadel.' He nodded.
'I prepped a shuttle while we were separated, we can leave whenever.'
'We need to look around first. Edi, you're with me. Garrus, stay with Diane. I'll meet you back here soon'.
'Roger that.'
They headed to the nearest door, stepping over the dead Engineer that blocked their path. A large hallway greeted them, with multiple doors on each side. Through the windows were buildings shrouded with smoke and fire, the remnants of a previous attack, with a group of Cerberus soldiers stationed in the distance. They walk into a nearby elevator and the doors close.
'Be ready, anything could be up here'. Shepard noted, as Edi nodded her head.
The elevator stops at the next floor. It leads to a large room, a mess. Containment units filled with husks lined the walls, weapons and data pads scattered all over. A dead scientist lies next to a console, her skin a pale white.
'Abnormal genetic modification. Possibly a test subject'. Edi stated while scanning the body.
'A test subject? For what?'. She asked herself.
Shepard accessed the console, four flashing panels opened with the words 'System Failure'.
The sound of containment units opening filled the air, and husk's growls accompanied them.
'You triggered a Cerberus trap'. Edi stated, looking around for nearby cover as the husks were let out.
'Get down!', Shepard yelled, simultaneously killing a husk that was running for her.
She threw a Singularity at a group of husks, now being pulled into the air. Noises are heard behind them, but it's not a husk. The dead scientist, now pulsing white light, lifted herself up into a standing position. The light flashed brighter, and a huge shockwave threw them backwards, hitting the back wall. Her long white claws scraping the ground in the process. She sent another two husks towards the soldiers. Shepard sliced them both in two with her sword, Edi's attention purely on the former scientist.
'What the hell is that?'. Shepard yelled, trying to run to another cover spot near Edi.
'It looks like those Reaper-controlled Asari from the Monastery.'
A loud screech escaped the monster, as it teleported right in front of Shepard. Before she knew it, she was grabbed and thrown with biotics across the room. She got up immediately and noticed the creature was occupied with Edi, so she took the time to finish off the remaining husks running wildly around the room. It shrieked, pulsating with blue biotics, falling to its knees as if feeling the effects of the fallen husks. Silence entered the room as it knelt there, eyes closed, hand clutched against its stomach. Edi silently regrouped with Shepard, keeping her eyes on the beast as she walked.
Several minutes passed, with it sitting motionless on the floor. Its flowing biotics and white light returned with a high pitched screech. The force within its biotics grew fiercer, creating another shockwave throughout the room, smashing the windows and throwing Shepard and Edi a fair distance once again. When they came back to their senses, the creature was gone. The scientist lay in its place instead.
'I won't bite, you know.' Garrus eyed Diane, who was sitting on the other side of the shuttle.
'Well that's a lie, look at those teeth!'. Diane grinned, crossing her arms and looking to the floor.
'I have better things to do than go eat every human I see. Besides, it's cannibal'.
'Ooh, so you can eat people?'
'You don't spend much time with aliens, do you?' He questioned.
Garrus got up and walked towards the shuttle door, shaking his head. He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms.
'What's taking them so long?' He muttered more to himself than to Diane.
Garrus spoke into the comm.
'Shepard, is everything all right?'
No response.
'Can you hear me Shepard? Edi?'
'Maybe it's your Omni-tool. If it wasn't fixed properly…'
'It's not that'. He cut her off. 'Stay here, I'm going to go find them.'
'Uh, okay!'. She said in a worried tone, fearful of being alone in that place again.
Shepard approached the scientist slowly, fiddling with her Omni-tool, while Edi examined the console that triggered the attack. The woman stirred, opening her eyes to find Shepard standing above her. Edi joined them, eyeing her cautiously.
'Oh...' The scientist managed to get out in a croaky voice. 'Who… who are you?'.
The two soldiers looked at each other, confusion evident as to what to do.
'Where's…'
'Where's who?' Shepard asked impatiently, kneeling down to the woman. She wasn't known to have good patience with humans, although she was one herself.
'Where did they go? Did they escape? Oh dear…'
'She is referring to the husks, Shepard.' Edi mentioned, suspecting the Commander's confusion.
'They're dead. You sent them out to kill us.' Shepard spat.
'No… they're not dead. They are sleeping… in the hands of our Goddesses!'. The human hollered.
Shepard's brow raised, she wasn't expecting that. It reminded her of Thane, the way he would speak to his gods and victims alike.
'What is your name?' Edi asked while pacing the room slightly.
'…Serena. '
'Shepard?' Garrus halted to a stop at the door when he saw the three of them.
'Why are you here? I told you to wait for us. Where's Diane?'
'She's alright, I told her to wait at the shuttle. Another survivor?' He glared at the scientist.
'Sort of.'
He shook his head in confusion, knowing better to not ask anything further.
'You. Turian.' Serena raised a hand, motioning for him to come to her. They all stood still for a moment, then Shepard nodded, approving that it is safe for the time being. He knelt down to Serena, but still kept his distance. 'Is it you who guards my daughter from these beasts?' She whispered.
He glanced at Shepard, who shrugged, then walked over to Edi.
'Diane? Uh, yes, I suppose.'
'Then… You must leave. Leave and never come back.'.
'So ungrateful…' Shepard noted, crossing her arms.
'No, leave. Take her with you, now. Before they-' Serena was cut off by a large explosion that came from outside the room. Through the windows they could see Cerberus troopers en route, with another white monster following the group, the same thing that Serena was in the previous battle.
'We have to go, now!' Garrus demanded, making his way towards the exit.
'Wait!' Serena motioned to Shepard, who came to her side. 'Give her this.' She held out her hand, a small bundle of envelopes clutched.
Shepard took the envelopes, and nodded. Edi and Garrus were about to step out of the room and make a dash for the shuttle. She looked back down to Serena, her eyes pure white, her skin glowed the same colour. A loud screech blurred Shepards' vision. She tried to escape, but something was holding her down. Serena, now covered in light, looked straight into Shepard's eyes. Images portrayed from them, it was hypnotizing, and all she could do was watch. Geth. She thought, as she saw her team fighting them in Serena's eyes. The picture changed to Saren, then a huge explosion they barely escaped. Virmire. The last moments of leaving Ashley behind filled her mind. A tear ran down her face, the only human she ever got close to, and she wasn't around anymore. The only reason she tolerated Kaidan was because she didn't want Ashley's death to be wasted. Otherwise, she would have taken a shot at him ages ago. She saw the Illusive Man, sitting in his usual chair overlooking a planet. 'Don't let anyone stand in your way'. She heard him say. 'Yes sir.' accompanied her thoughts also. It was herself she was seeing, but she was different. Her hair was longer, and her eyes were blue with the same design as the Illusive Man's himself. Her scars from being resurrected shone bright blue, instead of red. The look in her eyes: determined, merciless, evil even.
She snapped back to reality as Serena closed her eyes, staying still for a moment, as if to recollect her thoughts. She looked over to see where her teammates were, they were nowhere to be seen. She felt pain in her left arm, looking down to see Serena's claws were imbedded, her blood easily noticed in front of the creatures white hand. 'Shepard!' Garrus' voice echoed through her head, as once again her vision dimmed. Her leg started to ache, making her wince. She looked into the eyes of Serena who was grinning at her, and it all faded to black.
Garrus sat in the Med Bay, lights dimmed, watching Shepard's lifeless body. She had bandages in random spots of injury, minor cuts noticeable on her face, intervening with her scars. His face full of guilt, he recalled the last memories of the day. They returned to the room to see an enemy clinging to Shepard. Her, pale from the loss of blood, stared straight at the monster, not trying to escape at all. What was she doing? He thought to himself, trying to figure it out. He had run to the beast, called out to her, trying to pry her away from its grip. Edi attacked it with Incinerate, stunning it, giving enough time to grab Shepard. After that he had carried her to the shuttle, as Edi kept the enemies occupied. They managed to sneak Shepard onto the Normandy without many crew members finding out about her injuries. Whoever noticed was told to keep out of the Med Bay, excluding Mordin, of course.
The door opened to Dr. Chakwas walking in, carrying a data pad. She glanced up at the turian, frowning.
'It's two in the morning, Garrus.' She stated while checking on Shepard's bandages.
'I know.' He replied bluntly. No emotion in his tone.
'Don't you think you'll need the rest? Especially when the crew finds out, and ask you and Edi questions. I assume you will have some explaining to do to Thane.'
Thane and Shepard had been very close since he joined the team for the Collector battle. She would spend all her free time with him down in Life Support. They insisted that they were just friends multiple times, though the crew always refused to believe it.
The doctor pulled off the large patch of bandages that were wrapped around the commanders' leg and disposed of them, before walking over to the desk for medical supplies. Garrus looked at the wound on her leg, shock flooding his face.
'Is that… blue blood?' He questioned quietly.
Chakwas moved over to the woman lying on the medical bed, and adopted the same dumbfounded look Garrus had.
'What on Earth…?' She mumbled to herself, grabbing another data pad. Garrus sat there quietly, knowing from past experiences to let the doctor figure it out in silence. 'Edi?' Edi's ship hologram came into view.
'Yes, Doctor?'
'Fetch Mordin please, tell him it's urgent'.
'Of course'. At that, the hologram closed.
'Was she exposed to anything in the previous mission?' She questioned the turian, not taking her eyes off the data pad in her hand.
'There weren't any hazards as far as I know.' The turian grumbled, shameful of his lack of knowledge on the matter.
'What were you fighting?'
'Cerberus, and some weird, white thing that looked like a Banshee. We've never fought one of them before'. He shrugged.
She gave him a stern look, criticizing his descriptive words in her mind. They heard the sound of the door, and the salarian doctor strolled speedily in.
'Doctor, came as soon as I could.' He said, rushing towards Shepard.
'I have some theories, but what do you think Mordin?' Chakwas leaned on the wall, waiting for his response. He stood there, hand to his mouth, thinking. Straight to business… thought Garrus.
'Hmm. Infection? Likely but… Poison, maybe? Must run tests, yes. Need tests, Doctor'. He muttered while taking the data pad from Chakwas' hand. 'You two go, I will stay. Run tests, you see?'.
Heard you the first time, Mordin! Garrus thought to himself, looking towards the ground.
'Okay Mordin, get me if you find anything. Garrus, get some sleep.' Chakwas stated, walking out the door of the med bay. Mordin nodded at him as he got up to leave. Garrus turned the corner into the elevator. How am I possibly going to sleep with this on my mind?
The next morning, crew members slowly started to flood the med bay door, worried about Shepard, as she obviously didn't do her daily rounds that morning. Zaeed stood away from the group, leaning against the wall. Jack accompanied him. Garrus approached the rowdy group, trying to enter the med bay, as they were all attempting to do also. The door opened and Mordin appeared, surprised at the group standing before him. Why don't they just stampede him to get in? Garrus wondered, blocking out the noise.
'Garrus, come in. Have you seen Thane?' Mordin said. He pushed his abrasive thoughts aside and entered the room, the door closing behind him with small whines from the crew.
'No, I haven't, sorry'. Garrus never seemed to see Thane that much on the Normandy. He was always either with Shepard or in Life Support, and he didn't think it was necessary to barge in there without anything important to say. He walked over to Shepard, who rested there the same as she did last night. She doesn't look any worse, or better.
'Garrus, good to see you. Any trouble getting in the door?' Dr. Chakwas questioned as she joined his side.
'There would have been, if Mordin wasn't there'. He chuckled. 'How is she?'
'Her readings are the same as yesterday. She hasn't changed one bit in any way. We have to change her bandages every hour. You'd think a turian got injured, I tell you.' She grinned.
'Every hour?'
'Yes, she's bleeding like there's no tomorrow, I'm afraid.' She stated, shaking her head.
The door sequence turned green, and Thane walked in with Edi.
'Ah, Thane, hoping you would come'. Mordin stated as a greeting. Thane responded with a nod.
'Hey! Why do they get let in, but not us?' One of the crew shouted as the door locked itself again.
'Should I go control them, Mordin?' Edi offered.
'Yes, would be good. Thankyou'. He turned around and approached a console near Shepard.
Thane followed him and joined Garrus. Lost in his own thoughts, he didn't acknowledge the Drell had sat next to him. Thane reached to Shepard's hand and held it in his own, closing his eyes and muttering to himself.
Jack and Zaeed had moved over to a desk near the Chef's station with another bunch of the crew. Outside of the med bay, they could see Shepard, and everyone else.
'They are totally dating!' Jack pronounced, pointing to Thane through the window, earning surrounding laughs from all the soldiers.
Thane opened his eyes, and glanced up towards the doctor. She was watching him, a soft smile on her face. He cleared his throat.
'Doctor, have you found anything? He asked eagerly. She was about to speak when Mordin rushed over to them to answer the question.
'Yes. Toxin, from a Reaperfied creature, ejects through claws. Very deadly, very rare. High chance of indoctrination. No cure, at the moment' He blurted, reading from a data pad.
'Wait, did you say indoctrination?' Garrus shifted uneasily in his seat, not wanting to hear confirmation of that statement.
'Yes, Garrus.' Chakwas said softly.
'You are saying she will be controlled by the Reapers?' Thane added to the conversation.
'Reapers are likely. But we think it would be the one who poisoned Shepard that will be able to control her'.
Garrus got up and paced the room. Guilt and worry evident on his features. The thought of Shepard being controlled scared him. What if she attacks? Will we have to shoot her? He huffed in anger and stormed out of the Med Bay. I have to find Liara, maybe she can give me some answers.