AN: First (or second) day and Synthetic has more follows and favs than Templar. Well.
Guess I'll try to work on this chapter first.
Having started this quite a while ago, I can't actually remember what I was going to do with it, and have ended up running into quite a few dead-end possible directions for the story, where to go past it would need -unrealistic- stuff to happen. It's already happened in this chapter, early readers would have seen that.
Canon Femshep appearance, by the way.
Chapter Two, Nepheron
It had been two minutes since the 'Commander' ([A rank of command], the database finally specified, as it began delving further into the definition) had spoken to me, before leaving to stand near the Airlock.
Some of the outsiders had followed her out of the room and were now walking around the base for some reason. Some of them hadn't. The Quarian was one of them, and when I had tried to ask her questions she had looked away and didn't speak again for a comparatively unusual amount of time.
I'd since decided to observe silently while waiting for 'Chakwas'.
Leaning back against the wall, arms crossed, Shepard's eyes were on Sergeant Valentine as he walked toward her with an active datapad. "Commander. I've collected all the data we've been able to pull from the base into this. It's not much, Cerberus managed to flash most of it before we got them." he detailed, handing it over. "Good work, Valentine. Keep watch over the...whatever she is." Shepard ordered, reviewing and collapsing the datapad for maglock stowage. "Yes sir." he replied, almost saluting before heading back through the base.
"We're coming through now, Commander." Chakwas reported as the airlock began cycling once, and then again, before finally opening. The doctor strode through with her marine escort, wearing a full white hardsuit with both Alliance and Citadel standard medical insignia, and her full field-kit locked to the back of her hardsuit. Taking off her helmet and fixing it to her belt, she leveled her gaze at Shepard. "What do you need from me, Commander?" she asked impatiently. Gesturing to the escort to guard the airlock and for Chakwas to follow her, Shepard headed back through the laboratories.
"Cerberus left behind another test subject, and I need you to take a look at this one and explain what you find." she explained, stepping around bodies as she did so. "I need to know what she's made out of, how it works and how much of a threat she is." Shepard detailed. "I'll see what I can do." Chakwas replied as they came to the last door. Stopping a moment beforehand, Shepard glanced toward the doctor. "It's…disturbing, Karin. Be prepared." she said, before opening the door and walking through.
As the Commander walked into the room, I focused on 'Karin Chakwas' walking beside her.
Was she a scientist? Which science? Shortly after walking through the door and seeing me, she stopped moving. Hands fisting, face tightening. Some of the older scientists had had that reaction as well. [Question.]
"Are you a scientist?" I asked her, simply. She twitches, others react similarly and focus on her. "No." She replied tightly, eyes fixed on me as she starts forward again. "I'm a Doctor. Medical." the said Doctor stated, bringing up an unusually complex omni-tool and initializing it. With a few controlled movements the tool lights up into a series of holographics and haptics, one quickly establishing an in-depth scan of my organic systems. A glance and a flick and the scan suddenly included dull-toned synthetics, building a much more complete picture, and she began reviewing it silently.
Six seconds later, she froze. Another six seconds. "What's wrong?" the Commander asked, hand shifting to rest on the killing device on her leg, startling the doctor. "Shepard." she said [redesignate?], staring at me. "This woman is essentially brain-dead. Vegetative. I don't believe her implants aren't meant to help her survive. I think she's helping them become Sentient."
After her declaration, there was silence [shock] for a moment. "AI." The Quarian spat, raising her device and - "HOLD FIRE!" the [Commander/Shepard] shouted. I feel cold. [No temperature sensor is installed.] The Quarian recoils a moment; "But - " "I'm well aware, Tali. Hold fire." she repeated, taking hold of the unfolding device on her thigh. Why? "Why?" I finally vocalise, and she looks at me. "I haven't decided if you're too dangerous to allow to live yet." the Commander coolly replied. I remained silent. Cold. [No temperature sensor is installed.]
Turning back to the doctor, she asked simply: "Explain." Chakwas resumed her review for a moment. "I've actually heard of something like this. President Huerta of the UNAS [No Data] was in a similar vegetative state before he died for ninety seconds, and his brain functions were apparently transferred to a VI system." the doctor reported. "The uproar over that is still ongoing. Nevertheless, Cerberus may have been attempting to recreate that with a more advanced system. Tell me, do you remember who you were?" she asked me.
"No. I have only been 'alive' for twenty nine days. I lack any pertinent data of myself beforehand." I repeated. "Such data would likely have been held in the console in this room. It may have been erased" I admitted, focusing on it for a moment. They would decide soon, without more data. Cold. The Commander's gaze flicked to the Doctor. "What can she do, then? What are the cables for?" she asked, eyes flicking back to me. "Well, most of the cables seem to be an external life support system supplying a variety of nutrients to internal storage containers. Parenteral nutrition, essentially. Some of the cables are powered, however. I assume at least one of those is a power supply for all of the more demanding implants." the doctor noted. "She said she was connected to the base cameras." one of the other humans, previously referred to as 'Alenko', mentioned. "Connected how, exactly?" the Commander questioned, firmly.
"Hard line communication to a closed network. My soft line communication transmitters and receivers have been physically unlinked and disabled." I specified, and elaborated. I needed to be non-dangerous. I would not mention the drones. "Confirm it." Shepard ordered, gesturing to the Quarian [Tali] who stood still for a moment before folding and attaching the device that nearly [-] to her back, and activating an omni-tool scan, running it over me. "...There are no active transmitters." Tali reported sullenly. "Anything else?" Shepard asked, pointedly. "No. No weapons or traps. No internal power supply. Cerberus didn't give this thing anything to hurt us with. How good of them." the Quarian muttered, shutting off her omni-tool. "I'm going back to the ship." she said flatly. The Commander watched her silently as she walked out of the room. [Cameras tracking.] I returned my focus to the Commander as she fixed her gaze on me.
She remained silent. [...Eight - Nine -]
"What would happen to you if we take you down from there?" She asked, suddenly. Does this mean that she - "[Internal Capacitors will function for five hours after source disconnect. Provided power, Life Support will function for sixty hours before internal nutrient stores are exhausted. Implant maintenance requirements unknown.]" I read out from the previously established estimates. Her eyes narrowed. [Negative expression.] The database supplied to what I already recognized. Positive. Positive. 'Polite'.
"Please." I vocalised before quickly shutting down on the sentence. Please what? I began attempting to match words to the rogue statement, as her expression remained unchanged. I could not feel temperature, and I felt frozen. [No -] I shut down the database statement.
"Alenko. Figure out how to get her disconnected. Williams, see if you can't figure out which cable's the food supply, and if it's portable. Let Chakwas see it once you've found it. The rest of you, help Chakwas sort out her stretcher. I need to go and check on Tali." The Commander stated, turning to leave. I felt -
Polite. Polite. Polite.
"Thank you." I said to a departing back. She said nothing in return, and the door closed.
Stepping out into the hot methane atmosphere of Nepheron, Shepard idly wondered if Thresher Maws even needed to breathe - having evolved in an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere, yet still being here, there, and everywhere - while listening to her life support kick into gear.
They probably only need to eat to live, she surmised as she trudged back to the ship, where she saw the Mako being loaded back into the cargo bay. A look at the Codex later would probably clear it up.
Stepping onto the ramp as the unwieldy brick began reversing into a surprisingly sedate climb into the bay, she followed, listening to the low whine of minimum throttle as it rolled into place, stopping neatly in it's usual spot. "The Commanding Officer is aboard." the usual digitised and toneless voice rang from scattered speakers. "XO Pressley stands relieved." it added. Waving off the salutes of the marines standing guard atop the ramp, Shepard noted just how much life simple tonal changes would seem to give to the VI. Like the AI-woman-thing she was having brought aboard, she realised.
Just alive enough to be allowed to live, Shepard supposed.
Walking through one of the side door-airlocks into Engineering, Shepard instantly caught sight of the Quarian she was after, alone in the room making a check on the oversized core spinning in the background, illuminating everything. Approaching her, she stopped at her back and waited; Tali had developed a justified level of paranoia over time, and Shepard knew she never turned off her trackers anymore. A fact proven by the tensing of her shoulders, and her typing slowing to a stop.
"Tali." She poked. The Quarian froze entirely for a moment. And then spun around, hand pointing towards Shepard's face and eyes glowing in fury. "I've told you about the Geth! How they murdered us without mercy, how nothing they say can be trusted! I've seen the reports of what they did to Eden Prime! AI have reduced my species to less than thirty million people, all trapped in these Prisons of suits for almost our entire lives while they laugh at us from our Homeworld!" Tali'Zorah almost screamed at her, gesticulating wildly and pulling at her suit's wrist. "After all of that, you want to bring one here?!" she yelled, her gestures accidentally triggering her Omni-tool. Shepard's hand rocketed into a grab, redirecting it upward before it finished flash-fabbing it's tech launcher. "Tali, calm down. Now." Shepard demanded, following her hand to level a hard stare into an opaque mask. Quickly freezing in the face of the Commander, the Quarian slowly brought up her other hand to disable her tool. When it flickered out, Shepard released her grip and Tali let her arm fall into her hand, shrinking back in shame.
"Tali." Shepard started. "I remember what you've told me, I know exactly what the Geth deserve for all they've done." she told her, fists tightening. "But I also know that, whatever that thing is, a Human or an AI, it's not a Geth. It's not guilty of anything the Geth have done. Possibly anything in the first place." Shepard noted. "But-" Tali started - "The Geth are the only kind of AI we've ever seen, Tali." Shepard interrupted. "I need to know if they're the only kind of AI there will ever be - Mass-murderers that would turn on us at the first possible moment, or something else. If the Alliance had decided at Shanxi that the Turian invaders were all there was to Alien life, things would be very different right now, and not just for Humanity." she pointed out. "This Woman-AI...thing, it can't hurt us. It has no way to hack anything, it doesn't even have arms or legs, and it can't feed or maintain itself alone, so it's perfect for just...talking. Figuring it out, seeing if all AI really deserve to die just because they exist." Shepard told her, resting a hand on her shoulder. "Do you get that, Tali?" She asked, looking into a mask nearly dulled to black before the blue sweeping glow of the core behind it. The faint flickers of light inside looked away. "Yes. I get it, Shepard." Tali admitted. "I don't like it, but I get it." she told the Commander.
"Good. I'm not being blind about this, Tali. I'll okay system access later so you can keep an eye on things." Tali'Zorah froze in shock. "For now It'll stay in the Med-bay, so you know where to avoid." Shepard told her. "Right now though, I need to go write a report. See you at dinner, 'Zorah." She said, walking off with a wave back into the cargo hold.
"System Access?" the now lone occupant of the room said to thin air.
The illumination levels were dimmer in this room than they were in the room I'd left.
In fact, there were no lights as I had seen before: Almost all of the light was emitted from the walls evenly, providing no brighter focus point. The walls were the lights.
I had no idea of why they didn't just use regular lights. [No data available.]
The unfolded box I'd been put in [Stretcher.] had had regular lights. As well as transparent viewports for outside light. Like after the airlock. Before the new structure.
I didn't have enough data, and couldn't identify any of it.
This chapter turned out surprisingly short, basically part two of the first chapter. Third should be beefier, but that won't be for a long while.
Mass Effect NCO ranks are confusing, since you can't find any details at all of what they actually do. So I'm just going to ignore them and slap Sergeant in there for brevity. Maybe I'll figure out a ship organisation chart later.
Behold, Handwavium Vegetative/Implanted state. President Christopher Huerta of the UNAS is canonically stuck like that, except in VI-form rather than AI, and focussing on the organic side rather than the synthetic side. Unless they literally just made a VI copy of him the President, which the Wikia sort of leaned towards.
