Disclaimer: I dont own Mass Effect

This would be my second one shot on this section of the site. I recently finished playing Mass Effect 3, the ending was a disappointment, not bad but things could have been done way better. But I'm going through a second, and third, and fourth playthrough :) cause my interest in the Mass Effect series still hasnt been destroyed.

There are massive spoilers in the writing ahead for those that haven't completed the Cure the Genophage mission. This fic pays homage to a scientist Salarian and his final moments and thoughts. There are some parts of the fic where I wrote it in the style that Mordin would have analysed a particular subject. Anyway this is kind of tragedy/ hurt and comfort but I like to see something that is very important for stories like Mass Effect, hope.

Anyway enough rambling, enjoy

The very model of a scientist Salarian

Life is all about the choices one makes and how those choices affect the people around them. Throughout our lives we learn, succeed and fail and take those accomplishments and failures into account, we learn from them. In a way people are changing constantly, either because of the events in front of them or the people around them.

For Mordin Solus it has been both the people around him and the recent events. Maelon was once his most prized student. Yet he had taken everything he had taught him and twisted it to justify his means. Mordin could see the logic in Maelon's decisions and methods, but it still wasn't necessary. Torture, execution and experimentation on live subjects, unacceptable, completely unacceptable things to Mordin Solus. Commander Shepard however was a case of "no compromise". It was an attractive concept to follow, but still naïve. Yet still people followed Shepard, people still follow Shepard and will follow Shepard towards the end. Mordin Solus is on such man. From his methods with STG to his work on Omega, Shepard questioned Mordin's every action. He didn't believe in the necessity of controlling Krogan birth rates, he called it sterilisation and even murder. Murder, Mordin took a deep breath and sighed, if that kind of distinction was made for people that took lives then perhaps everyone on the Normandy was a murderer.

No, Joker's condition makes it impossible to take a life (Collectors don't count, simple Husks, no souls). Chakwas medical doctor, no military training, Kelly Chambers purely incapable of killing for several reasons. No, not everyone on the Normandy had taken a life so Shepard won that argument. Plus Shepard himself admitted faults several times, and he was willing to fix those faults too.

'Naïve view point, but still not wrong,' Mordin thought.

In the time you could read this Mordin would have already have reflected on his life. Not because he was a Salarian or a scientific mind beyond his time.

'Hmmm, wouldn't have gotten this far without Maelon's research, though anyone else would have gotten it wrong…perhaps I really am galaxies smartest Salarian…wait, that's insulting to nephew, second smartest then!'

He had reflected on his life so quickly because he was now a man facing no regrets. True he had failed to teach is student the true moral reasoning a scientist should have, and he had also failed in his STG work. The Salarian intervention had made things worse for the Krogan, Shepard was right in that regard. It was true he had looked at the data too much. He had "dehumanised" himself as Shepard would probably had put it. He'd seen numbers and figures when he should have seen the future social, economic and moral consequences of his actions. But none of that mattered really, all his mistakes would be fixed with one moment.

Everything had been extracted from Eve, she had survived and would make a good match for Wrex. The thug needed someone to keep him in line.

'Make honest men out of Wrex and Krogan,' Mordin thought, tapping at the controls.

Debris slammed into the ground around him. That was no consequence, he had already calculated the probability of one hitting him.

"Mordin!"

The Salarian turned around, seeing a brown haired human in N7 armour rushing towards him. Shepard stopped in front of Mordin, looking at the destruction around him. Mordin was happy to know a man like Shepard, an honest man who chose telling him about the STG's sabotage of the Shroud tower.

"Mordin, we need to get out of here," Shepard said.

"Cant Shepard, need to counteract STG sabotage, must be done manually at top of Shroud," Mordin kept his back to Shepard.

"Your going up there?"

Mordin nodded his head, walking towards the elevator.

"Mordin wait, you don't have to do this, we can find another way," Shepard said.

"Has to be this way Shepard, my work, my cure, my responsibility," Mordin said as he got to the elevator.

He turned around, a look of peaceful contempt across his face. The Salarian took a deep breath, a sign of acceptance for him.

"Would have liked to run test on the sea shells," he smiled.

"But Mordin…" Shepard squeezed his hand into a fist, unable to accept what his friend was saying. "I'm sorry I couldn't find another way," he whispered.

"I'm not, had to be me Shepard, someone else could have gotten it wrong," Mordin said as the elevator doors closed.

As the elevator went up, Shepard ran in the opposite direction. He shook his head in a mix of anger and regret. Mordin however hummed as the elevator took him upwards. Occasionally he would look at his watch.

'Hmmm, elevator slow, odds of possible death due to explosion increased, should have installed faster elevator,' Mordin thought.

But even in this final moment, Mordin sighed not with disappointment or relief, but with content. As soon as the doors opened, Mordin walked forward. Explosions blazed around him and the loud speaker warned him of the temperature malfunction.

'Very simple matter, account for temperature variance and engage coolants, should reduce heat build up enough for shroud dispersal of cure," Mordin thought as he reached the control console.

Despite the situation, Mordin Solus began to hum. It was like an innocent day at the office for him as he tapped one button after another.

"I am the very model of a scientist Salarian," he sang.

An explosion suddenly threw him away from the console. He rolled across the floor, coughing blood onto the floor. The flames were spreading around him, causing sweat to run down his face.

'Simple solution, should freeze nicely,' he engaged his cryo blast, extinguishing some of the flames around him.

Getting up off the floor, Mordin clicked his back into place. Age was really catching up with him, but that didn't matter. He was still fit for a fight, or at least a noble sacrifice. His hearing wasn't as bad as Shepard said it was either.

"I've studied species Turian, Asari and Batarian," he pressed a few more buttons, still humming the song as the temperature returned to normal levels.

The explosions were still going off around him, but his work was complete. There was no need to worry or be afraid, fear was pointless, and exactly what reapers were counting on. Regret was pointless too, there was a new future for the Krogan and in time, Mordin had no doubt that Shepard would create a new future for the whole galaxy.

'Good to hope,' Mordin thought.

The sky of Tuchanka lit up as the shroud dispersed the Genophage cure. It was like a giant cloud emanating from the tower; a sight more beautiful than anything the Krogan had laid eyes on. But in the middle of all of this, Mordin Solus found time to sing one last time.

"My xeno science studies range from urban to agrarian, I am the very model of a…"

The explosion of the shroud released the cure as far as the eye could see. White particles fell like snow flakes across Tuchanka. Shepard watched the particles fall, grabbing one as it flew near him. He looked up at the ruined top floor of the shroud with a look of pure regret. But somewhere inside him he felt something else, something he hadn't felt since the war began.

'Hope Solus, that was your legacy, hope for the Krogan, no matter what Mordin I wont regret this,' Shepard thought as Wrex and Eve approached him, patting his back in applause.

Shepard hated this part of the job. He had started doing it ever since the incident in the Bahak system. Even if he would never know the names of the thousands of Batarians that died, he would make damn sure that everyone remembered the names of those that died fighting the Reapers. The list was long even before the war officially began, and one more name would soon be added to the board. He removed the plate from the carving laser he had bought from the Prisidium and looked at the name.

"Mordin Solus," Shepard read.

Taking the elevator to the crew deck, Shepard walked to the memorial wall. He took the plate and the screws and began the long task of fusing the plate to the wall. Yet strangely, while Shepard had felt sad when he was putting up the other names he felt an odd sense of content as he put the name on the wall.

"Xeno science studies range from urban to agrarian, I am the very model of a scientist Salarian!" Shepard blinked in confusion as he stopped his singing.

He chuckled slightly, remembering his fondest memory of Mordin Solus:

"I am the very model of a scientist Salarian, I've studied species Turian, Asari and Batarian. I'm quite good at genetics (as a subset of biology) because I am an expert (which I know is a tautology). My xeno science studies range from urban to agrarian I am the very model of a scientist Salariaaaaan!"

Shepard stepped away from the wall, admiring the new name on it. It was a name to admire after all. Mordin Solus, the very model of a scientist Salarian.

"Rest in peace my friend!"

The end

There we are, I hope everyone enjoyed (or at least didnt dislike) the chapter. I'm definately planning on doing more Mass Effect one-shots and even multichapter stories. So please leave a review and tell me what you thought.