The Illusive Man
Investments

They always saw the star first.

A deliberate design, as with everything in his office: when the quantum entanglement communication system activated and the holographic image appeared from the floor up, they were greeted with the churning surface of dying Anadius. The luminescent array of the entire visual spectrum. And of course, the vastness of space surrounding it. The speckles of stars, among which Anadius was one of many—though not for long.

They always saw the star first, but they never recognized the symbolism.

No, the weaselly scientist only gaped as the vista overtook his world. When he laid eyes on him, he drew his composure together as best he could. As expected: the Illusive Man had recruited him for his brilliance. He had other operatives with personal skills.

The Illusive Man smothered his cigarette. "Doctor Silas. You're late."

"Apologies, sir." Silas brought up his omni-tool and a haptic window. "As you requested, I've sent you the latest reports from Project Machai. I'm glad we were able to recover the data from Chasca and Binthu. We've made a breakthrough on the biochemical aspects of the—"

"I trust your report is accurate. I'll peruse it after we're done. Unfortunately, it's the last you'll be sending in a long time. Send your data to Central and erase all local copies. I'm freezing Project Machai indefinitely."

Silas's sunken eyes widened, but the Illusive Man continued, "Whatever discoveries you were on the cusp of can wait. Operator Anaya Sanchez will arrive on-site within the week to take command of your team. She'll give you the details of your new project." Silas opened his mouth, but the Illusive Man continued, "Don't worry. Sanchez doesn't have your expertise, but she's a more-than-capable leader. This project will require a… greater sense of direction." Greater than you can provide.

"I… yes, sir."

"I realize this must be difficult for you, especially after the disruptions you've suffered. But the galaxy is changing, and Cerberus's situation with it. We need to be able to adapt. Rest assured that Sanchez has equally meaningful work in store."

Silas raised his eyes, the biologist appeased. "As you say, sir."

"Good." A gesture brought up a blue window next to his hand. "I look forward to the results of your new project. Doctor."

Half-paced and deliberate, his fingertip hit the dismiss key. Silas's image faded.

Another press turned his chair around towards the vast array of haptic windows. Blinking came from one of its corners: the report. Opening it created a long display: tables, diagrams, and stills, descriptions of biochemical processes down to the genetic level, of the nanotechnology in Reaper spikes.

The Illusive Man frowned, finishing his glass of bourbon. The geth acquired those spikes from Sovereign. But almost two decades prior, another Reaper device rested in the unexplored depths of Shangxi. Entombed in a crumbling temple, did the same nanites lurk inside? And for how long? What civilization, what species, had allowed it to pervert them when they turned it into an object of worship?

Then thousands or even millions of years since that civilization's fall, the device converted Ben Hislop and Desolas Arterius into mindless, shambling monstrosities, then lashed the Illusive Man across the eyes with a burning blast of lightning….

A ping cut that train of thought short. No time to reminisce. There's always work to be done in the now. The Illusive Man glanced at Anadius, then thanked the operative at the door and allowed her inside.

Tap-tap-tap went the footsteps of sharp high heels behind him. "More organizational changes?"

"That's for Machai Cell to know, not you," the Illusive Man said, noting to have his office swept for listening devices again.

Operator Miranda Lawson stepped up to his side, gazing at Silas's report. "We both know the reasons behind all the changes are because of my work. Housekeeping, I take it?"

"We're about to welcome a very special guest with… different tastes from ours. Cerberus needs to be presentable when he awakens. Though it seems from your last report…"

"Only for a few seconds, despite the sedatives. Any longer and we might have lost him. I'm beginning to suspect Wilson's dedication to our success. He shouldn't be making these kinds of mistakes."

"Have him watched and keep me informed." Lazarus is too important to take risks. "And the recruiting efforts?"

"Successful, so far. Jeff Moreau's agreed to join us on one condition: he wants to see Shepard in person before he wakes up. Jacob's little presentation of the Lazarus Project got his attention, but he isn't convinced."

A click as the Illusive Man lit up a new cigarette. "That can be done. Tell Jacob he can bring him to the research station as soon as he's able to. We'll need to start his own treatments anyways. What's important is that we've brought one of Shepard's close friends into the fold."

"He'll be grateful for the work on his legs—and for the ship—but he won't be loyal to us."

"No, but he'll be loyal to Shepard."

"A lot of terrorists think they're helping. They're not," Shepard told him during the Nepheron raid. After Admiral Kahoku and the first attempt at Project Machai, the Illusive Man knew the futility of contacting Shepard then. But he did so anyways; better to be certain where the Commander stood.

Then death ripped Shepard from his entrenchment within the Alliance and the Spectres. For all the practical reasons of bringing him back to life, the Illusive Man savored the irony of Shepard's impending situation.

"What about the other potentials?"

"Jacob's on Mars right now, working on Doctor Karin Chakwas. If she accepts, she may be able to bring more ex-Normandy crewmen with her. Engineer Gregory Adams, maybe."

"Kaidan Alenko?"

"A dead end. Lilium deemed him too hostile towards Cerberus."

"That's acceptable. Friction between him and Shepard might even prove desirable. Now…" He glanced aside as messages from Leng and Archer appeared in his inbox. "How would you evaluate Jacob's performance? You were spectating Moreau's recruitment."

"I was, for part of it. He was ideal for the task. Softened the blow when he revealed he wasn't exactly a Cord-Hislop representative, made Moreau more open to the possibility of working for us." Miranda chuckled. "No false identities required. He has a certain sincerity that Cerberus tends to lack."

"We'll need that sincerity to keep Shepard invested."

Miranda walked ahead towards Anadius. "All this manipulation and maneuvering wouldn't be necessary if we just installed that control chip. A simple surgical procedure would've let us put our efforts elsewhere."

"Think of the larger picture. We isolate Shepard and make him realize that we're his best chance of stopping the Reapers. Then we show everyone that he's working with us willingly, and we become more than a terrorist organization to the galaxy."

"Since when did public opinion matter to us?"

The Illusive Man allowed himself a small smile as Anadius's shifting colors cast Miranda in a silhouette. Maybe she saw how despite all the star's splendor, it was its death throes. After the tiniest slice of the universe's lifespan, it would be snuffed out, leaving only remnants adrift in the black.

The Council stood in the opaque shroud of the Serpent Nebula, convinced of their power and their invincibility even after Saren and Sovereign came close to extinguishing it. The Illusive Man sat facing Anadius and the reality it represented—and, with some arrogance, his own. "Implants," he told everyone who asked, never once suggesting an accident or a time limit. Or what came after the time limit passed.

"It doesn't," he said. "But we can't stay hidden forever."

The Cerberus of mythology, after all, did not guard the entrance to the Underworld from the shadows. Soon. It has to be soon.