Miranda Lawson has seen many horrible, traumatizing things in her lifetime. As a high-level Cerberus operative, she has overseen projects that would make the scientists' stomachs turn. She had an ability to distance herself, never becoming too taken in by one subject. But there is one sight that Miranda cannot purge from her memory.
Two years ago, Miranda had gone as the representative for Cerberus to meet with an asari of interest. She was a young woman, by asari standards, and Miranda was surprised to find her in Alliance issued armor. Her eyes seemed steeled over, but her voice had the faintest of quavers. She was cold and broken. The Illusive Man had already arranged an agreement with the asari, Miranda and a few officers had come to collect.
The asari led them to a private residence on Illium. She spoke in a hurried voice, trying to explain her last month fighting the Shadow Broker. She didn't speak about what she was fighting for, Miranda noticed, her voice always caught. The asari stopped at a locked door. She put in the code and then hung her head as she opened the door, shielding her vision from the room. In the center sat a stasis cell. Miranda walked up, and peered through the glass. Her breath caught, and the taste of vomit burned the back of her throat.
Inside the chamber lay a human woman, barely recognizable as Commander Shepard. Many places of her body had started to decay; others were frostbitten from the extensive exposure to space, or burned from the reentry through a planet's atmosphere. Her skin was nearly transparent, with a bluish hue. Miranda could almost see her skeleton; nearly every bone was fractured multiple times. Gaping wounds covered her, probably from her rough landing back on the planet's surface.
Just days ago, Miranda had seen an extranet vid on Shepard's death. It had shown her with warm, light skin, sharp blue-grey eyes, and a smile that reminded everyone that she was the Paragon of the Galaxy. She had known that she would be receiving Shepard's body, but she had been prepared for this. She had the image of Shepard as how she was alive. Now, the Commander was nothing more than shattered, torn, and disfigured wreck. The asari put the transport cover of the cell back on. She stared up at Miranda with tear rimmed blue eyes.
"I do not trust Cerberus." She said simply, then placed a hand on the cell. "But if you can bring her back… Please." She pleaded. Miranda awkwardly placed a reassuring hand on the asari's shoulder. They watched as the Cerberus officers carried out the stasis chamber. A sick feeling had nestled in Miranda's stomach. She gave the asari a curt nod as she followed.
Over the next couple of years, she watched as Shepard was slowly rebuilt. Nearing the end of the Lazarus Project only a few scars lasted, the most obvious of which on her face. There was the one, brief moment where Shepard woke up. She was heavily sedated, and couldn't move. Even though her eyes were groggy and barely open, Miranda could see the steely blue color and the fire of her spirit. The Commander's premature waking was a setback, but it was the first sign of hope for Miranda, the first time she had seen Shepard as her old self.
Now, Shepard sits before her on the rebuilt Normandy. Miranda was telling the Commander about her sister, after they had successfully relocated her. Shepard had a small smile on her face. The facial scars were unnoticeable now. The woman that sat before Miranda now, was the same that stopped Saren and Sovereign.
Yet as she stood up and left the operative alone, Miranda could not help but flashback to the decimated corpse that has haunted her for two years.