Author's note: This project is a little different from my usual. While Miranda is a central character, she's going to be sharing the stage with a number of original characters, including her love interest. My intention isn't a cast of Marty Stus and Mary Sues but to tell a story I couldn't otherwise. It also gives me considerably more hope for finishing this story.

The tubing shattered and that thing fell to the ground with a sound almost like a scream. I walked to the edge of the platform and looked down to see nothing but an abyss stretching ever downwards. A stupid, impotent rage clawed at my nerves. I wanted to see the Reaper larva's broken remains for myself. The entire crew bar Chakwas had been liquefied to create it. We'd all known the risks when we signed on for a suicide mission, but they were still my team just as much as they had been Shepard's. I wanted vengeance for them. I wanted to know that Jacob's death had not been in vain, that the mission had succeeded in spite of my stupid arrogance. I needed to know for my own sake, and for the sake of everyone who had died, that the Collector's plans had been dismantled. And I wanted to spit on the Reaper corpse. No such luck.

"Chakwas just made it back." Joker's voice was grave and the skin on the back of my neck prickled. "But the Collectors got Mordin just as he reached the shuttle."

It took me a second to process what he'd said. First the crew, then Jacob, now Mordin. No. I wanted to scream. He and I had been true colleagues. We'd been able to speak freely without simplifying our thoughts for a less educated audience. We'd spent hours in his lab discussing some fine point of biotechnology or his STG work. I'd had subordinates and associates but few equals. I had already lost so much on this mission. Why did that have to be taken away too?

Shepard bowed her head and picked up a grenade. "Well, let's make it count, then. I'm blowing this place to hell and gone."

"Uh, Commander? Might want to wait a second on that. Incoming call from the Illusive Man. EDI's patching it through. Channel 823 Kappa."

I switched on my omni-tool and turned around so the Illusive Man and Shepard could speak to each other face-to-face. "Commander, you've done the impossible." I could hear the pride in the Illusive Man's voice as he spoke.

"I didn't do this alone. I've lost a lot of good people." Shepard's gaze flickered over me as she said it. I couldn't tell if it was anger or pity I saw on her face, and I didn't know which was worse.

"I know, and their sacrifice wasn't in vain. You've done the impossible and acquired the base. I had assumed that the best we could hope for was simply salvaging whatever was left after you destroyed the Collectors, but the schematics EDI uploaded suggest we have another option. A timed radiation pulse would destroy the Collectors, but leave their technology intact. Think of what secrets we could uncover!"

I winced. There was a timed I would have been nodding my head in enthusiasm. There was so much that we didn't understand about the Reapers, and this base was filled with their technology. It could give us a vital edge in the war and beyond. But I'd seen an entire team turned to husks and listened to the logs on Teltin. Cerberus was supposed to do things that the Alliance couldn't or wouldn't do to defend humanity, but we weren't supposed to be sloppy and pointlessly cruel. Archer had forced his brother into that machine because the Illusive Man was impatient for results. How many more like him were out there?

"I don't know." I closed my eyes and thought of Jacob and Mordin. "Seeing all this firsthand… We need to be careful. I'm not sure most Cerberus scientists would be up to the challenge, and getting ourselves indoctrinated would make a mockery of everything the cell sacrificed."

"And not using it would mean that they died for nothing." The Illusive Man's voice was sharp, the way it had been when he'd discovered I'd passed the information about the Gernsback to Jacob. If I was losing faith in his ability to lead, he was also losing faith in my ability to follow. The idea didn't bother me as much as it should have.

I could almost see Shepard raise an eyebrow. "You have got to be kidding me. Cerberus nearly unleashed a rachni army on the galaxy, and you want me to give you access to Reaper tech? How long do you think it'll be before I have to save you from some indoctrinated scientist who decided to put a few more people into these tubes? I'm not even sure Reaper technology can be handled safely."

"It can be," I said, almost before I could stop myself. Even if I was conflicted, there was no sense in lying to make the decision easier. "EDI is based on Reaper technology. So is the Thanix Cannon the Normandy uses." And the only reason you're still you is because we used Reaper technology to restore your memories. "But I've seen again and again what happens when Cerberus gets hasty."

"Even your loyalist is second-guessing you. If I know you, you'll end up trying to grow your own Reaper. I should just blow this place up so you don't get any ideas."

"And if the key to defeating the Reapers is in this facility?" There was a subtle panic in the Illusive Man's voice. My skin prickled again. He wanted this facility too much, and greed made people foolish. "Could you live with yourself if you destroy it and condemn billions of people to death because of how much you don't like me? I didn't discard you when you died because I knew you still had value. Don't be so quick to discard this facility before you even know what its value is."

It took a long time for Shepard to answer. I could imagine her choosing to destroy the base. I could imagine the Illusive Man ordering me to stop her. What I couldn't imagine was what I would do once the order was given. I owed my life and Oriana's safety to Cerberus, and I still believed in the advancement of humanity. The question was whether the Illusive Man and I still meant the same thing when we talked about it. And I had spent two years of my life rebuilding Shepard. She was supposed to be our great hope against the Reapers. I had given birth to her in a laboratory, my way of defying the doctors. She was the closest thing I would ever have to a child of my own. So don't make me choose.

"No, I couldn't live with myself, but I still don't trust you. Tell you what: I'll let you have your precious base on one condition."

"We're talking about the fate of the galaxy, and you're setting terms?"

"I'm the one with the grenade. The way I see it, I've got all the negotiating power."

The Illusive Man sighed. "And what is it you want?"

"Nothing too hard. I don't trust you, but I do trust her." Shepard pointed at me. "So it's real simple. If you don't want me to blow this base into so many fragments that you'll never find them all, you'll put Miranda in charge of exploring this facility."