A/N: Okay here's my first real fanfiction. I started a pervious one but it didn't work out the way I planned, but I assure you that I've put careful thought into how this story is going to go. It's an AU but will follow the basic mass effect storyline, starting from the beginning of ME2 and progressing until after the reapers. Shepard gets diagnosed with the Blacklight virus from Prototype. For those of you who have played that game, you'll know what it is. Shepard has the strain of the virus that Alex Mercer had, but she won't be able to turn into others or 'consume' other life forms. It's not exactly a cross-over as the only real theme it takes from Prototype is the virus. Nevertheless I do not own Mass Effect or Prototype. They belong to Bioware and Activision respectively. Please enjoy :)
Darklight
"We can't progress any further until we know for certain that she'll be stable! It was a huge risk even letting the process get this far!" Wilson exclaimed lividly.
"What would you have me do?" demanded Miranda. "Either we continue introducing the virus into her system and risk it taking over completely, or we do it your way, where her dying will be a certainty!"
Wilson buried his face in his right hand; his left remained against his chest, his arm in a cast. He muttered a stream of curses. Why had the Illusive Man ordered for Shepard to be diagnosed with the Blacklight virus? You know why. He thought to himself. If Shepard hadn't woken up in the middle of surgery they could've continued as planned with Project Lazarus, now they had to inject her body full of the most dangerous bio-chemical in the galaxy.
They had altered it of course – In order to make it less problematic for her health – but there were still risks. The virus may occasionally affect her behavior and state of mind, which could make her a serious threat. They couldn't get rid of that particular side effect without rendering the virus completely useless, but they had minimized its influence. That would neutralize some of Shepards new… abilities, but it would keep her and those around her safer.
It wasn't enough for Wilson though.
"You're far too reckless Lawson. If you gave us a few more days…" he began, but Miranda quickly overrode him.
"In a few more days Shepard will most likely die, and then we might as well be as well. She's the only one who can stop the Reapers and you know it. Either we continue as we are where we may die, or we wait, in which case everyone will certainly die."
Wilson cursed again. He hated it when she was right. Fucking bitch.
"Fine we'll do it your way." He snarled, obviously exasperated. "But I'm telling you, you're going to regret it later."
Miranda relaxed slightly. "Good. I hope your still up for lab work. We're going to need every person we have on this job." And with that she sauntered out of the room.
The first thing Allison Shepard noticed when she woke up was the painful throbbing in her back, neck and head. If was as if she had taken a beating from several angry Krogan.
She tried to lift her hand to massage her temple, but something heavy and cold was keeping her hand firmly in place. Her eyes cracked open and she was temporarily blinded by the brightness of the room. Shepard wanted to shield her eyes, but was unable to as the restraints refused to budge.
When her eyes finally adjusted to the brightness, she took in her surroundings. The room was small, white, and devoid on furnishings. Fluorescent tubes lit the room with their unwavering light. Shepard herself was in a huge metal chair, her limbs held in place by heavy clamps. What the hell is going on? Shepard wondered, trying to recall her last memories.
She was floating, falling, unable to breath. The Normandy was exploding around her, pieces of debris being hurtled into the atmosphere of the planet below or into the infinite expanse of space.
Her thoughts went out to her crew. Had they successfully evaded the unknown vessel? Were they safe? She thought of her friends. She thought of Liara, Kaiden, Wrex, Garrus and Tali. They wouldn't know what happened until Joker told them or the press released an official statement.
What would they think? Would they blame Joker for staying behind? Of course not. Would they blame her? Tears filled her eyes as that thought filled her mind. She'd never get to see them again, see anyone again. This was the end.
As her vision turned to black, her last thoughts were of the Reapers. They were coming, she wouldn't be there to stop them, and they would be the last thoughts she'd ever have.
Shepard head shot up as the sound of a door opening interrupted her thoughts. A tall, dark haired woman wearing a tight, black and white cat suit entered the room, halting a few meters in front of Shepard.
"Commander Shepard?" she asked cautiously.
"I'm dead." Shepard replied, in a low monotone. It was a stupid thing to say – of course she wasn't dead – but how could that be possible?
"Not anymore. We've been busy trying to bring you back for the past two years. We almost lost you on two occasions." Two years?
"Who exactly is 'we' and who are you?" Shepard asked, possibilities rolling around in her mind.
"My name is Miranda Lawson. I'm head of Project Lazarus, a Cerberus operation hell bent on bringing you back from the grave." Her accent made her voice sound so… flat, as if she had recited those words just for the occasion.
"So you mean to tell me, that not only did you bring me back to life, and that it was Cerberus who did it, but it's been two years since I… died?" Shepard shrank at the last word.
"Yes, yes and unfortunately yes. You would've fully recovered much sooner, but we hit a slight… speed bump. You woke up halfway through surgery, which sent your body into a state of shock. You would've died again if we didn't have a backup plan on standby."
"So I take it that's the first time you almost lost me," Shepard muttered. "But before you tell me the second, I want to know how you managed to recreate not only my body, but my mind as well." Shepard was grateful to be alive, but that didn't mean she trusted this person, or Cerberus. She wanted answers.
"It wasn't cheap." Miranda explained, "Billions of credits were used to fund Project Lazarus. It was an extremely complex procedure, so I won't bore you with the details. We used cybernetics to weave your tissue back together and some of the most advance nanotechnology to reform you cellular system. Like I said, I won't go into detail. Technically you were once again 'alive' by this point, but the cybernetics still needed time to fully and thoroughly knit your tissue back together. That's when you woke up and we had to use… other means to keep you alive."
Shepard caught the uncomfortable expression on the woman's face, an expression she knew all to well. "What aren't you telling me?" Shepard queried, feeling she wasn't going to like the answer. Had her crew been captured or killed by that enemy vessel? No, it was something else, something to do with her resurrection.
The woman took a deep breath before continuing. "The backup plan I mentioned… almost caused you to die as well, well not exactly die. More like loose your mind completely. We had to move quickly to stabilize your body when you woke up and what we used was the only thing that could do that quickly and effectively enough without killing you." She spoke quickly, as if she wanted to get explaining over and done with.
"We used a bio-chemical known as the Blacklight Virus. A small dose was enough to stabilize your condition but we had to introduce more to your system to bring you out of your coma. It had to be done slowly otherwise the virus could've taken over your body and mind, and used it against us, which it nearly did."
Shepard was both confused and worried now. She had no idea what this thing was but she didn't like the idea of it being able to control her.
Pushing aside her growing anxiety, she managed to weakly ask, "What do you mean 'taken over my body and mind'? What exactly is this thing?"
The woman held a data pad in front of Shepard (which she hadn't noticed she'd been carrying until that moment) and played what seemed to be a security recording.
Shepard gazed upon an image of herself, lying on what seemed to be an operating table, but with the same kind of heavy clamps restraining her limbs as the ones on her chair. Men and women in white lab coats surrounded her, all busy at work on their Omni tools. A single tube produced from her right bicep, connected to a machine slowly pumping an orange and black liquid into her body. The Blacklight virus is what Shepard assumed it was.
The recording stretched on for a while without any signs of change in either Shepard or the doctors, which bolstered her already growing impatience.
Just as she was about to voice her annoyance to Miranda, the video image of her jerked on the table, as if she was trying to escape the bonds? Her face was twisted in anger, though her eyes remained shut. The doctors babbled among themselves, as they tried to keep Shepards torso and head flat on the table, one producing a small syringe.
Suddenly Shepard's eyes snapped open, and her entire body flared with biotics. They were not blue as they had normally been, but a molten orange. It was as if she was engulfed in a raging inferno.
With almighty heave, the video Shepard broke the clamp restrained her left hand, the fragments pelting the doctors and equipment surrounding her. She then launched a powerful biotic push at the doctor holding the syringe.
As his body slammed against the far wall, his left arm landed under him awkwardly, resulting in an ear splitting crunch.
Shepard's free hand then materialized into three enormous, blade-like claws, a fourth, shorter one opposing the others like a thumb. She slashed at the doctor closest to her, carving four lines into the female's chest. The woman screamed in pain and fell to the floor as blood sprayed over Shepard and nearby doctors.
Another of the doctors had by now recovered the syringe and rushed to Shepards restrained side. He thrust the needle into her neck, injecting what Shepard assumed was a sedative into her body.
Shepard snarled and slashed at the man, ripping at his lab coat, but missing his flesh.
Shepard watched in horror as her video image thrashed and jerked with decreasing vigor until her hand went back to its original form, and slumped over the side of the table.
Miranda stopped the recording and folded her arms, looking properly unsettled as she waited for Shepard's reaction.
"What the fuck did you do to me?" Allison whispered. She couldn't manage anything else; otherwise she feared she'd throw up.
"There wasn't time, and it was the only solution available to us." Miranda stated simply.
"You had no…" Shepard was cut off by an explosion that rumbled throughout the compound. Both women froze as the sound faded, and was replaced by the sound of distant gunfire. Miranda was the first to react.
"I knew this was going to happen." She muttered darkly. "We're going to have to hold this for later Commander," she started unclamping Shepard's limbs from the chair. "I didn't bring you back from the dead just to loose you again to a bunch of deranged doctors." the final restraint fell open. "As soon as you're out of harms way we can…" Shepard leapt out of the seat and slammed Miranda against the wall, pinning her with an arm against her throat.
"You had no fucking right to do what you did to me!" Shepard snarled, her voice low, but increasing in volume with each word. "Do you seriously expect me to believe that this was your backup plan? I think you just wanted a test subject for some kind of sick experiment! Wanted to see if you can make the perfect mutant pet perhaps! I stopped Sovereign and the Geth, killed Saren, died saving a friend and you do this to me? Bullshit this was the only alternative! You better have a damn good explanation for turning me into this thing, a real explanation,or I swear I'll tear you apart with what you gave me!"
Shepard meant what she said, but she was still surprised by her outburst. She was usually well collected even in the most stressful situations. It was as if a voice in the back of her head was putting the words into her mouth and forcing her to say them. Nevertheless, it felt good to let this woman know that she would not stand for having her body manipulated against her free will.
"We had to bring you back." Miranda choked out. Shepard loosened her hold enough to let Miranda speak.
"You're the only one who's had any real experience with the Reapers. You know as well as I that they're coming, you more than anyone. Shepard, entire human colonies are disappearing. Who else could be behind it but the reapers? I swear this was the only solution and I promise I'll tell you everything, but we need to get out of here now."
Another explosion rocked the room. Shepard swore under her breath. If it had been anything short of the reapers, Shepard wouldn't have considered the explanation adequate.
Entire human colonies? The concept was almost too much to fully grasp. It had to be the reapers. Their technology was beyond that of any other in the galaxy. If anything had the potential to abduct that many people and still be out there, it would be them. And surely getting diagnosed with the Blacklight virus would be nothing compared to dealing with an entire reaper army, right?
Still, Shepard wasn't about to surrender to Cerberus' plans without people she trusted backing her. And she didn't intend to let them believe that she owed them in some way, especially after learning about the virus running through her veins.
Shepard pointed a finger at the woman's face. "If I do this, if I go along with whatever plan you have, I want my team and my crew, not just some random Cerberus crew that you strung together. I want people I can trust."
"I can't make any promises, but I'll do whatever I can to find them." Miranda seemed relieved that her terms weren't very steep. Shepard released her and turned towards the door.
"Then let's get the hell out of this place. I hope you had an escape plan ready."
Miranda moved past Shepard and opened the door.
The size of the complex astounded Shepard. She had expected a small medical facility on some desolate planet, or even a small cruiser equipped with surgical supplies. But all of the rooms they had gone through contained medical machines more advance and plentiful that a well equipped hospital.
What really unnerved and astounded Shepard however, was that most rooms they passed through contained data pads and terminals with information about project Lazarus and the Blacklight virus. When she questioned Miranda, she explained that the entire facility had been dedicated to the process of bringing her back to life. Shepard didn't like the idea that so much interest had been taken on her, especially by an organization with a history such as Cerberus.
The maze of hallways seemed to have no end. They twisted and turned and at some points, just seemed to stretch on forever. The journey was also made harder, as they had to avoid and evade groups of security mechs and personnel who seemed intent on finding and eliminating them. Shepard heard her own name as well as Miranda's mentioned by various personnel as they snuck past them, but they had already moved on before she really got the jist of what they were conversing about.
Miranda had armed the both of them with large pistols they had scavenged from one of the rooms, yet they were both avoidant of combat as they were outnumbered and outgunned.
As they made their way into towards their exit, Shepard tried to figure out where the most likely places were that her crew would be. Joker had probably gone back to the Citadel, but in the two years that had passed; a pilot of his skills had probably been assigned to another ship. Kaiden would have continued his service with the alliance, always the military man. Tali had already returned to the Migrant fleet a few weeks after they had defeated Saren and Sovereign and Garrus had reapplied for Spectre training. Shepard had no idea where Liara could've gone, perhaps she had returned to her field in archeology, though the last place Shepard had seen her was on the Citadel. Wrex would either be back on his homeworld, or working as a mercenary again on the Citadel.
Miranda stopped in front of a door, the lock panel glowing red. Miranda spoke as she tapped in the combination. "The shuttle's just through here. Once we get off the station we'll head to a nearby Cerberus base. The Illusive man will want to speak to you."
"The Illusive man, I take runs this whole thing?"
"He's the head of the entire Cerberus organization. He's the one who gave us the orders to find your body and raise you from the dead. He made all the dealings, spent all the credits, and hired the scientists and scavenger teams. He's the reason your alive now." Miranda explained.
"Oh, and I suppose he's the reason that a chemical weapon was pumped into me as well?" Shepard retorted. Miranda spoke of the Illusive man as if he was a saint. Shepard didn't approve of that view, not after what had happened to her.
"Shepard he only wants what is best for the galaxy, for humanity. That's what he's always strived for, what all of Cerberus strives for."
Shepard saw that there would be no swaying Miranda's opinion, at least not now. She could deal with this later. Right now they needed to get out of harms way.
The door hissed open; a hairless man stood in the hallway beyond, blocking it. A squad of security mechs was at his back, their guns ready. His left arm was broken and in a cast, but the right held a handgun, aimed at Miranda's head.
"I warned you Miranda but you wouldn't listen. I told you Shepard was too dangerous but you just wanted to go ahead and give her a virus that made a big fucking blood stain on human history."
"Wilson, I thought we cleared this up." Miranda snapped. "Shepard is the best hope humanity has. Hell she's the best hope they whole galaxy has! It's worth the risk."
"I don't think so. I had plenty time to think it over while recovering from the broken arm she gave me." Wilson sneered.
That's when Shepard recognized him. He was the man she had pushed across the room with her biotics while she was unconscious. She had felt incredibly guilty about the act, she still did, but she didn't appreciate being accused for something she had no control over.
"Hey, I had no idea what I was doing at the time, I was still out! Listen, I'm not going to let whatever this thing is dictate who and what I am anymore." She made sure to put emphasis on her words, hoping it would help him believe her words as truth. But that was not to be.
"You say that now Shepard, but you won't be able to control it forever. The last one didn't, and he ended up killing thousands of people. But that doesn't matter now, he's long dead. All that remains is you." He moved his aim to Shepard.
A shot rang out, and Wilson went flying backwards by the force of the impact. Another person had entered the room, a black male wearing black and white, light armor. He had a shotgun in his hands, the barrel smoking from the freshly shot round.
Miranda wasted no time, and sent a biotic warp at the security mechs, staggering two and destroying another. Shepard raised her weapon had took down another few mechs with a dozen pulls of the trigger. The man used his biotics to pull the last mech towards him, and ended it with a final blast from his shotgun.
"Jacob, glad you came by when you did." Miranda remarked, obviously relieved.
"Sorry I took so long. They must've been given the slip that I was helping you. I had to fight through a shitload of those metal bastards blocking the hallways." Jacob replied.
"Okay. Well I think we've wasted enough time here. Did you set the charges?" Miranda looked at Jacob.
He nodded and held up a small detonator.
"What about the rest of the staff?" Shepard asked, shocked that they'd risk innocent lives like that.
"The station is taken Shepard. Those who haven't made it out yet are as good as dead anyway. We also have to destroy all materials left on this base, including more Blacklight samples."
Shepard clenched her hand, knowing that they couldn't risk letting any more of that abomination loose in the galaxy. She exhaled angrily and strode past the two Cerberus and into the shuttle.
Shepard watched as the station exploded, hoping that all or at least most of the staff had made it out alive. It still disturbed her that so many had to die for her sake; they wouldn't have needed the virus if Shepard hadn't have died in the first place.
"Alright Commander, I promised you answers as soon as we were out of harms way. So whatever you want to know, ask now before we move on the next step in this operation." Miranda said.
"Let's start with the most obvious one then." Shepard snarled, not even trying to hold in her anger. "What is the Blacklight virus, why was it made, and what is it going to do to me?"
"In its initial stage, it was known as the Redlight virus which was originally intended as a bio-weapon capable of killing thousands of people within a matter of minutes or hours rather than days or weeks. This would minimize the risk of an infected person coming into contact with others outside the target zone."
Jacob picked up the narration. "A new strain was taken from the virus and dubbed Blacklight. This strain of the virus was even more dangerous than the first, capable of changing its hosts genetic material, however it was unstable and all infected people became nothing more than mindless husks, driven with the single purpose of spreading the virus to all non-infected humans on the planet."
"Eventually they perfected a more stable version of the virus," Miranda continued, "but infected a single host, and became almost impossible to destroy. Decades later we found remnants of the virus in a crater that we assumed, used to be a Blackwatch base. We spend years trying to prefect it, make it completely stable, and when we had to use it to save you, we had by then managed to eliminate some of its effects, making it less controlling.
"The only effects the virus will have on you now, is increased strength and endurance, making you harder to kill in battle, sharper reflexes, and increased biotic power. It will allow you to move faster, jump higher, last longer while performing exhausting activities. Also you will eventually be able to materialize your limbs into melee combat tools such as blades or clubbing weapons."
"Also the energy from your biotics can be dispelled in forms such as heat, allowing you to burn enemies or melt metal." Jacob added. "You may experience headaches from time to time but they should only be mild and easily handled by taking some painkillers."
"So, I won't turn into some kind of zombie and start killing everyone I see?" Sheppard asked nervously, her anger had seemed to drain away when she realized that she had not undergone any extremely drastic changes.
"No, defiantly not." Jacob reassured. "You'll remain in full control over your body and mind, so long as you aren't somehow introduced to more of the virus. Don't worry your not contagious either. Hell I'm willing to wager no one will even notice that you have the virus. Well at least until they see your new combat skills."
Shepard laughed, more in relief the amusement. Everything was going to be fine. That thing that happened while she was unconscious, it was a one time thing. She was sound. She was herself, just with a few extra skills now.
"Oh I forgot to mention; you're also immune to any kind of disease or form of sickness, including cancer and other incurability's. You'll also be able to eat any amino based substances including dextro, without an allergic reaction." Miranda added.
That made her grin. Maybe she'd invite Garrus and Tali out to dinner and give them a surprise. If I ever see them again that is. She realized then that if she did see her crew, her friends again, would they still trust her? Would they even believe it was her? Only time would tell.
"Okay I want to know the details of the colonies that have gone missing. If you need my help in this, I'll need to know everything about it that you do." Shepard said.
"Very well, we planned on telling you anyway." Miranda smirked
As Miranda began her explanation, Shepard couldn't help but wonder who were those people who attacked the Normandy two years back? Did they know she was alive? Did they have something to do with the abductions? Shepard continued to roll the thought around in her mind, as the shuttle glided smoothly through the vast expanse of space.
A/N: So there's chapter one for you. I hope you liked it. Reviews including constructive criticism are welcome. I'll try and update weekly, if not quicker. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of what I plan to be, a long and epic story.