Scientific Method

Chapter 1

An asari sat at the table, staring out at the beauty of the reflected sunlight off of the rings of Saturn and the surface of Titan. Littered across the viewscape was a vast amount of wreckage that had been pulled, towed, and dumped here to Valhalla Station, a fitting resting place – so it was called.

"So many years ago…" she sat pondering. "All of the destruction the Reapers caused so much loss of life." She turned from the window and looked down at her untouched drink.

Elysium on Valhalla Station was known for its soothing and reflective environment. It was not like the other bars and nightclubs, the music here was serene, yet occasionally haunting, as it could open corridors of thought and remembrance – regardless of the race. Turians, Volus, Salarians, Elcor, Humans, Quarians, Batarians, and even Krogan were touched by the music. Asari, Drell, and especially Hanar were known to be able to tune into the music and sometimes find deeper understanding.

It was fitting for this station, Valhalla, being built as a memorial to all that was lost in the war against the Reapers. All of the races came here now seeking solace; understanding; or just to view what was left of the great final battle that took place in the near-orbit of Earth.

After several moments, she turned her head to the window. "So many lost…" her thoughts began to drift along with the help of the music. A faint glistening appeared at the corner of her eyes.

Three salarians entered Elysium, two younger males surrounding a visibly older salarian; all three were dressed in similar light gray clothing indicating that they came from the same clan. They paused briefly when they entered the oldest stopping and looking around at the patrons and workers and then pointed the younglings to the bar. A brief argument could be seen taking place between the three of them, the end result of this being that the youths moved to the bar where they did not order anything but they became very attentive to their elder and all of the other goings on.

A Hanar waiter was making its rounds about the bar looking to see where if could be of assistance.

The aging salarian stood where he was for several moments, eyes closed, appearing to draw on inner strength and reserves. When he opened his eyes they were deadlocked on the table with the asari. He took a deep breath and slowly walked over to the table.

"Please excuse this interruption but I am looking for Justicar Seminda," he said very quickly and barely above a whisper.

Continuing to gaze out the viewport, the asari's mental focus now centered upon this old salarian which stood before her table and as she motioned for him to sit she said, "The justicar you seek died defending Illium."

The salarian reflexively nodded his head, thinking, "That was the proper code response, said in the exact intonation." And then said "Illium rises," as he sat down accepting the invite.

The asari turned her head to face the now seated salarian, her full attention upon him. "This is the contact?" she thought. "He is older than most salarians live to be, time to find out what he seeks."

Before she could ask a question, he said barely above a whisper, "My name is Vardis. I have information which will soon be lost upon my death. I believe that the Shadow Broker may have need of the information some day after I am long gone."

In a casual tone she said, "The Shadow Broker knows what the Shadow Broker needs to know."

The salarian smiled a crooked, wrinkly grin and lowering his voice even further said, "This is true, but what does the Shadow Broker really know about 'The Keepers'?"

Liara T'Soni's eyes buried deep into the salarian. If Vardis truly has information on the Keepers this could be important information. Keepers maintained the Citadel and had done so for eons, and no one had come to understand them. Wait, she remembered, there was a salarian on the Citadel that had done research on them…

"Such information would have required research."

Vardis nodded again then said, "Yes. I shall elucidate. My brood brother was Chorban who was obessessed with the Keepers. He stole technology from a research company he worked for, modified and adapted it all for the purpose of scanning The Keepers. This information was used by 'The Shepard' to defeat Harbinger and its attack on the Citadel many, many years ago. "

Liara knew all of this information as she had been personally there but gave nothing away, "The Broker already knows all this."

"As expected," he quipped back. "There is much more to this story beyond Chorban, which only I know. I will lay odds, similar to which are made by volus when betting on the Galactic Championship of the Krogan Football League, that the broker does not know that Chorban's work continued."

Liara raised an eyebrow and said, "Those are very high stakes. I would have to have more information to relay to the broker before any payment could be made."

A final nod of the salarian head, a brief closing of his eyes then words began to quickly fly from his mouth. "Upon Chorban's death, I received all of his belongings; amongst them was the device he used to research the Keepers. Searching through some of his personal archives, I was able to find fragments of the research results and through several years of work, augumented Chorban's design. With that finished design, I visited the Citadel and in a remote location scanned several Keepers as they passed by. I became surprised when one of the Keepers stopped its normal functions and actually looked and 'saw' me. This lasted for just a moment as I did not have any way to communicate with the Keeper, and it picked up on the task that it had been doing."

"After this meeting, I was inspired to further refine and expand the device into a collection of instruments. I also requested some very restricted technology from the Salarian Intelligence Service. With all of this technology, I studied the Keepers from afar and found some common gathering points. At one of those points on the Citadel, I placed this equipment and let it function. After some time, there was a breakthrough – I found that I had enough information to create a device that could communicate with several of the Keepers, but what may be more important is that I discovered more about them than was widely known and the most significant - information as to the areas of the Citadel that 'house' them."

"I have sifted through the information and found out such things as the actual number of Keepers, where and how they live, eat, and otherwise function."

"Vardis, what use is this to the Broker?"

"I have also learned that scattered over the Citadel, in areas only accessible to the Keepers, are certain pods that provide for all of the Keepers needs. After Harbinger's attack on the Citadel, the number of Keepers was drastically reduced and the intelligence behind them began to direct the creation of new types of pods to protect The Keepers. Thousands of these new pods were created, according to my accounts. They could be considered hibernation pods. Through my research I have been able to determine the frequency at which they operate and are in use - all of this prior to the Reaper attack on the Citadel. After the attack, a significant number of pods came online until all of the pods were in use. And they remain so, although the life signs within the pods are not Keepers."

Liara leaned forward and said, "Not Keepers…"

"Yes. I do not know much more than this, but I have design schematics and other information that needs to be safeguarded. This is what I need the Shadow Broker for, to protect this information. I believe that the Keepers may have gathered personnel from the Citadel – some of whom were badly injured – and placed them in these pods. The final purpose is not known to me, but the Broker could make sure that the information is put to proper use and investigated."

Liara nodded her head, some of what Vardis had just said filled in some holes within Citadel records of "Unaccounted Personnel". It seemed Vardis held a very formidable hand and the Shadow Broker was going to have to pay a very tidy sum. She cleared her throat to address Vardis, but before she could speak he held up his hand.

Sighing and letting go of a weight on his shoulders, he said "Not much time do I have left. The burden must be passed." The hand he raised now moved to an inner, hidden breast pocket. He drew out a chain with a gold medallion containing six crystals scattered about it. The medallion was no bigger than an inch in diameter. He extended it to Liara, who extended her hand and let the medallion and chain fall into it.

"It is all there. It must properly decoded, you must 'follow the line.'" And with that, Vardis slowly moved to stand by the table. He took two steps away, they turned slightly to Liara and uttered barely a whisper, "Only you, Shadow Broker, can protect this and properly use it and solve a riddle lost in eons past."

With that, Vardis turned and walked back to his escorts, who had seeing him coming, and were waiting to escort him away from Elysium.

Liara T'soni, the current Shadow Broker, sat stunned in silence, her hand closing tightly on the medallion. She would have much to – beginning with finding about more about this 'Vardis' and figure out what to do with all of the information. Her sources were going to be heavily reviewed.

ELSEWHERE:

Deep within the planet Baelenshok, a forgotten enemy stirred from its slumber and started to put into motion it's devious plan.