A/N: This is the new version of the second chapter. Sorry about that. It contains identical sections salvaged from the last version, but it also contains many new parts. I'm much happier with it. I think it's a bit more concise and loyal to the theme.
Chapter 2: Symbiosis
:::
"It is interesting to contemplate a tangled bank, clothed with many plants of many kinds, with birds singing on the bushes, with various insects flitting about, and with worms crawling through the damp earth, and to reflect that these elaborately constructed forms, so different from each other, and dependent upon each other in so complex a manner, have all been produced by laws acting around us."
- Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species, November 1859
:::
Shepard gazed pensively at the pale line that marked the end of her right leg and the beginning of the synthetic one. Water was gliding down its length in glistening streams, and though she felt its warmth, she could not feel the slight tickle it brought to the rest of her flesh. She continued to wash her hair in silence.
The day had been an eventful one. She had woken up alone in the apartment that she had been given as a gift from the Alliance, since she 'had no available place of residency whose expenses properly reflected her deeds'. She had been reluctant to accept the abode, and made sure to offer some of its space to any of her former crew who needed somewhere to stay. Though the prospect of having a luxurious home all to herself was extremely appealing, she did not deny the disheartening pang that twitched in her chest when no one took her up on her offer. Everyone was off answering their calls to further duty, but Shepard remained in a protective stasis as ordered by her doctor and superiors. It was like being crystallized and made into a tall statue standing proudly above all peoples that must remain free of further wear and blemish. It made her sick. She had been absolutely restless. And so on that morning, while staring at the pristine white ceiling, the chirp of her private terminal had her eagerly rolling out of bed in a disheveled mess. Amongst the great multitude of messages blinking for her attention, one stood out with enough prevalence to rush her (late) morning routine and to make a call to a very dear friend.
:::
The pair stepped up onto the platform, searching for the correct area to await their tram in. Peoples of various species were busying about, all organizing into tidy lines of traffic that wove through and carried them to their destinations. A speaker crackled to life, announcing times and destinations to complement the large screen overhead that displayed the very same information; when it finished, an advertisement for the newest model of language translators echoed about the silvery interior of the station. Shepard bumped shoulders with other commuters multiple times while cutting a path through the crowds. Many heads did a double-take when she passed, and there were utterings of her name, but she was otherwise undisturbed by the time she made it to the edge of the platform with her companion safely in tow.
"This planet is too damn crowded," Garrus grumbled from beside her, looking around with great discomfort. "Well, in these circumstances it is somewhat expected, but that doesn't make me any happier."
Shepard smirked in dry amusement while folding her arms in front of her chest. "A lot of ships and their crews are still stranded here, Garrus, and a lot of public transportation was wiped out. That makes for a very inconvenient mix. We'll have to deal with it for a while."
"Exactly my thoughts, but my personal objection is more along the lines of 'where is everyone going?' and 'do they really need to be going there in the first place'?" he placed a hand on the shoulder of a salarian to guide him out of the way as he tried to hurriedly shuffle between Garrus and Shepard. "I suppose you could ask us those same questions, though."
As the sleek form of the tram came rushing into the station with a great whoosh of sound, Shepard shrugged at him with a slight smile. The doors hissed open, and they, along with the crowd of passengers, piled into the vessel's leisurely and immaculate interior. There were many large windows that bathed each individual car with clean, natural light, which made the journey comfortable and calm, much like the atmosphere of one's porch or the sitting room of an expensive home. They swiftly chose their seats. Garrus relaxed while settling in, reclining back in the comfortable bench beside his comrade and crossed a leg over his knee.
"So where are we headed to?" he asked with his usual brand of nonchalant repose. "Going to cause some unrest on the streets of Earth? You know, I've never had the chance to properly make fun of this planet before, Shepard. Please tell me that you've got something good for us to do."
"First of all," Shepard began while bringing up her omni-tool's interface. The engines droned back to life and the tram began to pick up speed. "We're going to France. The damage it suffered was hit and miss, depending on the region. Paris was hit really hard, but that's where we're headed. Apparently the periphery is relatively intact in some spots, and it's pretty lively there." She glanced out the window to her left, watching as the landscape became a smear of color. Flickers of green, grey, and beige sped past in a blur.
:::
Shepard stepped out of the shower, pulling a towel off of a metal rack and used it to roughly dry her hair. She brought it to her face, smelling the shampoo in its material, and proceeded to dry the remainder of her body before pulling on loose articles of clothing that she would eventually go to bed in. It vaguely occurred to her that she had not eaten in hours as she left the bathroom. After checking her omni-tool for any new messages, she meandered over the to the kitchen area.
It was well past midnight. She spent several long moments in front of the refrigerator, wondering if eating right before turning in for the night would facilitate strange and unwanted dreams.
Fuck it, she thought, retrieving the remainder of a slice of cantaloupe that she had failed to finish earlier that day. She took a seat at the island, spoon in hand, and placidly admired the polished marble counters while eating her tiny dinner. A stray drop of water from a lock of hair fell onto the marble, and she paused. She could hear the faint hum in the lights that illuminated the room. It was all too quiet. Anyone's company would have put her in a happier mood. She was completely accustomed to being confined to a ship wherein resided all sorts of people from all sorts of places. There was always someone awake at any given hour, and there were countless excuses for conversation, especially since she was their commander. Though she had not exchanged as many words with him as some of her crew, Garrus was one of her closest friends. He had been present for such a large portion of missions that developing a close bond was inevitable.
Garrus had never been one to openly express his attachments to other people, and certainly not if these attachments were strong. From their first meeting on the Citadel on the day that Shepard became a Spectre, she and Garrus had been nearly inseparable as inspired by their competition, banter, and hatred for common enemies. There was always a contest between them; who could handle a rifle the best, who fought with the most 'style', among countless topics that would have been perceived as pointless if not for their almost-siblinghood. And this all occurred within a strange silence between them; the wordless acknowledgement that they were of great importance and a delight to one another without having to compromise their rivalry through words of propensity. There were times when she'd reflect on brief memories of them walking side by side, rifles hoisted over their shoulders while discussing battle strategy as gunfire crackled in the distance, and she would suddenly be completely unable to even fathom a time when humans and turians were bitter enemies. A world where they would have been shooting at each other was beyond eerie; it was frightening and confusing.
Beyond simply the harmonious and somewhat unexpected friendship between the two lied the oddity of their entire force; especially during their opposition of the Collectors. "Bunch of psychopaths running around," as Tali had once eloquently said to Shepard in a volume that was just barely audible. But somehow, they had all been able to cooperate with one another and achieve their goal despite their great diversity of desires and personal codes. It hadn't been easy, as there were numerous incidents that she had to douse with calm words and charismatic praise to all parties, but their unity had seen them through in the end.
No one gets left behind.
Shepard had said this over and over with Virmire's pain still raging in her heart.
As her thoughts ruled her blank stare cast down at the marble counter, she realized that she was no longer hungry.
:::
She lowered her omni-tool between them and adjusted the volume on an audio message so that it was likely only they would hear the message over the chattering in the tram.
"Shepard," the recording's familiar voice began, "I heard that you came out of all this in only a few pieces, and that they've put you back together yet again. Come see me; I want to have a little chat with you, to discuss… business, if you will. Here's the location. Do not make me wait." A map projected up from the device, showing their current location in relation to the point of interest. The little blue dot that represented Shepard was crawling along an orange line that represented the tram's route. They were already crossing over the English Channel; beautiful deep blue hues of the glittering ocean were rushing by.
"What's Aria T'Loak doing on Earth?" Garrus inquired. "You would think that she'd still be stranded over on Omega."
"I suppose we'll find that out," Shepard replied, closing the message's window. "I'm not keen on going because she asked me to. We don't have that sort of buddy system. I'm mostly just worried about what the impact of her presence will be, or what sort of trouble she could be causing. So, in a sense, we're investigating. Doing some Spectre work, let's call it."
"And you brought me along just in case we need to crack some skulls, right?"
"Not what I originally intended. Come on Garrus, I wouldn't make you my bodyguard. You need to stay far away with your rifle as usual so no one can break you in half." she grinned.
He laughed, shaking his head with a sudden bemusement. "This is good, Shepard," Garrus decidedly said with a pleasant mirth in his voice. "These are good times. Real good. I know we're not completely out of the fire yet, but we will be soon. It's quite an excellent time to be alive."
Shepard's gaze rested on the back of the seat in front of her. As Garrus closed his eyes and reveled in the moment, the cogs in her mind were beginning to turn. It was indeed a good time to be alive, but so many would not have that privilege. All too quickly, she felt herself beginning to descend into that dark valley of her memory that was home to all the ghosts of people whom she was not able to save. She felt them reaching up to her with withered hands, clawing their way into her heart. A wave of illness infected her chest. Why was it, that she had been given so many more lives than anyone else? Why was it, that while everyone and everything around her fell apart and burned to the ground, she always emerged from the wreckage? A tiny irrational voice in her brain was screaming about a superstition wherein she only kept living because many people died, as if their departed souls were to be absorbed into a pedestal for her to stand on. It wasn't true in the least bit, but Shepard was haunted by them all. She had postponed her demise too many times now. Why was it, that while children had died right before her eyes, Shepard continued to exist on stolen time?
:::
Shepard sat down on the edge of her bed in the darkness of the room, facing the large square window so that the lights of the city glowed on her face. She remained there deep in thought, wondering if Liara was asleep some billions of kilometers away. She probably was, and it would not be polite to call in only to awaken her from well-deserved rest. It could wait until morning. She would try to catch her during the window of time between awakening and returning to work.
She lied down gently, eyes still directed to the sight beyond the window while pulling the thin sheets over her settling form. A sudden restlessness made itself present in her mind. It seemed to originate from the fact that so many of her friends were out helping rebuilding, and yet here she was, lying in bed with nothing to do like some idolized celebrity. The notion frustrated her. Everyone had insisted that Shepard take plenty of time to recuperate, but she was feeling that her allotted time had long expired. She was completely ready to rejoin them. She could jump into a shuttle and help look for stranded survivors, help clear out some rubble to make way for new cities, or deliver food and necessities to refugees with nothing. She could be using this damned apartment to house them, she realized. While burying her face into the pillow in discontent, she vowed to do at least one of these things even if someone tried to stop her. She wasn't going to just sit on some throne and pretend to be satisfied with her accomplishments; there was simply so much more to do. Her heartbeat was climbing even though her body remained motionless.
Liara certainly would have been more proud of her if she kept going anyway. Shepard's thoughts kept returning to her; the room was still dreadfully vacant. She extended an arm over to the empty space beside her, keeping her other one curled beneath her chest, and peered through the dim light from the city at her back while studying her fingers with half-lidded eyes. A deep and drowsy yearning for Liara's company ached in her bones. Vividly, she recalled the first time they had spent a night together, and with a unique mix of embarrassment and fondness, remembered that the sight of Liara's eyes swirling with a lurid darkness had initially alarmed her. Her irises had paled to ghostly rings, as if drained of their pigmentation in order to dye the whites of her eyes black, and they gleamed in the pale light like the daunting voids between stars. Though Shepard had seen these eyes before, and had submitted to intrusions of other minds, they had always a specific purpose that was much different than this. Seeing her hesitation, Liara had smiled sheepishly, brushing her fingertips against the side of her face, and Shepard allowed the intruding presence of another conscience to coalesce with her own. She had been gracefully introduced to immediate bliss of indescribable harmony; thoughts had enveloped her like a sea, and her senses were lighting up with so many echoes of information passed between their bodies that it was impossible to fathom anything in particularity. And as Shepard had been quite inexperienced with this transcendent level of intimacy, she had fallen into throes of euphoria much faster than expected.
She was introduced to another universe through the meld. She felt all the warmth that Liara was; kindness, compassion, patience, loyalty, curiosity, and intelligence. As intellect had passed her mind's front like the light of a sun, it had grown too hot, and too cold, all at once. She felt all the danger and ill that Liara was; secrets, breaking necks, shooting guns, biotics mangling persons whose names she didn't even know. There was blood, there was loss, great longings, doubts, and sadness. Memories of faces and smiles that darkened into husk-like snarls of anguish and Thessian gardens turned to ash. They felt each other's demons and delight, and accepted them all.
They were the peak of life and all its potential; a divine embrace.
:::
The lighting of the lounge reminded Shepard of that which her old aquarium once cast into her cabin back on the Normandy. Once reaching the coalition of seats, they were greeted by the sight of a familiar silhouette poised on a long, geometrically-constructed sofa whose natural color was feasibly white, but now reflected a neon blue. Aria sat with her arms languidly resting on the back of the sofa, legs folded, and idly bounced one foot in the air with much torpor. There was the usual cryptic air about her that Shepard always had a hard time understanding; though the self-proclaimed monarch of Omega carried herself with complete confidence, deliberation, and the forceful yet silent projection of raw power, there was always a strange uneasiness that followed in close proximity whenever she went. It was almost as if she and the atmosphere around her were perpetually at war, and she was always winning in such a brutal manner that the war manifested into something felt even by others. It wasn't the possibility that she did not belong in whatever environment that she placed herself in that seemed to bend the light of her immediate surroundings, Shepard realized. More so, it was that her environments were dissolving away from her out of pure submission.
Cruel eyes regarded the two, then cast a brief gaze on the spot where the sofa bent into a perpendicular extension. The subtle gesture was accompanied by a slight tilt of her chin that bade them to take a seat. They complied.
"Shepard," Aria acknowledged her, then momentarily examined Garrus, "and her bodyguard."
"What are you doing here?" Shepard asked immediately.
"In France? We had to land somewhere, obviously. And preferably not anywhere close to your Alliance dogs," the crime lord shifted her posture to a more comfortable one. "At least this nightclub is better than that Purgatory hellhole."
"No, I meant what are you doing on Earth?"
"What do you mean what am I doing on Earth?" Aria snapped. "I went to war with you, you idiot. Flew in with the Terminus fleet on the Eclipse's second-rate flagship and almost got blown to fucking pieces. I'm regretting it now, of course. Should have sat back and watched the show from Omega instead of deciding that these morons needed better, local coordinating."
"Wait," the human woman gave her a bewildered expression. The scene of Aria standing at the helm of a ship with arms properly folded behind her back, checking into the summit and agreeing to fight alongside those who embodied the sort of structured authority that she despised most was passing through Shepard's mind, and it was greatly disturbing her understanding of conventional reality. "You put your own ass on the line?"
"I need a drink..." Aria squeezed the bridge of her nose between her thumb and index finger. "You helped me take back Omega," there was a slight reluctance in her words, "so I helped take back Earth. Of course, my half was a lot more difficult. I wasn't even operating near the front lines and we still took a lot of heat. Don't think I did this as a favor or anything personal. This wasn't some immature artifice or answering a code of honor. It was nothing like that. I was simply… clarifying my business priorities."
:::
Her sleep was interrupted during those early silent hours when shadows hung flat and cold over the walls and furniture. While still in a dreamy daze, Shepard felt as though there were tiny strings holding the room together, and if she had even stirred a little, they would sever and the walls would crumble away. Yet it was all connected, all tied and secured by deft, cosmic hands, and the walls held.
"Shepard's got a dark side", she had once overheard Miranda insisting to Jacob. "If it comes to it, she'll do what she needs to."
"I don't think so," he replied. "She won't kick anyone off. She's determined to keep all these guys together."
"If it comes down to one person who could possibly compromise the entire mission, I really think she's prepared to make a sacrifice. She just doesn't tell anyone. It would probably make them concerned. You know she thinks about it; considers it. You can see it when she goes silent."
"I don't believe that. I just don't see it in her."
Months later, Shepard was herding Aria's gangs. She was absorbing bands of mercenaries, and seriously pondering the sabotage of the genophage cure.
It was salarian support. How could one pass that up? They needed ships and firepower, and badly. Only at the last moment did she reveal the scheme to Wrex. Later, he said to her, "I knew we could count on you. Don't worry, Shepard. Those salarians and the asari will eventually join your summit. They'll realize that they need us and come crawling back, throwing themselves at your feet and begging for you to save them. Those spineless pyjaks… Yeah, they'll come crawling back all right…"
It hadn't crossed her mind. In her blind desperation, she had almost made a fatal mistake. Not only did she actually consider betraying Wrex, who was a brilliant and progressive leader for the krogan and a dear, dear friend, but she would have lost krogan support. Wrex wouldn't have stood for it. He and his people would've gone on proudly to face the Reapers alone, and they would have been annihilated. No krogan support might have meant no turian support. No turian aid could have sent Earth into oblivion. And what other race would be summoned to an army of bleeding, empty shells of people? That single decision could have cost her the entire war, the entire galaxy. The little strings that held the room together had almost snapped; caught fire that would singe all hope, whose flames would leap from line to line until all was thoroughly burned.
In the darkness and silence of her room, Shepard suddenly became more aware of the fragility of life and its connections to other creatures than she had ever been in her life. To kill simple creatures as bees would be to kill plants, whose variation depends on cross-pollination; suffering plants meant starving herbivores, and starving herbivores would not satisfy the empty stomachs of their hunters. Her nightmares were accentuating the horrors of such a scenario, and she dared not move. She felt heavy guilt deep within her core and in her very marrow. Eventually, her bleary mind settled, and she slept again. The necessities of coexistence spitefully devoured her dreams.
:::
"How serious are you? With T'Soni?"
"Fairly."
"That's unfortunate." Aria said, lifting her drink from where it rested. She slid one over to Shepard across the glass surface of the table in front of the couch.
"Wait, why would that be unfortunate for you?"
"Because I have dirt on Liara T'Soni. And since you're more than just fucking her, I simultaneously have something on you." She took a drink. "You're not safe."
Shepard was utterly stunned. Her disconcertion immediately flared into a defensive retaliation. "What the hell do you have on her? Why do you need something on Liara? If you're still trying to strike a new deal with me, it might be impossible now."
"Your girlfriend is the head of an enormously powerful information network," Aria said vigorously while glaring at Shepard. "It would be stupid of me to not have some sort of defense against that. And the defense I have is simple, yet devastatingly effective. Her name." She firmly set the glass back down on the table, waiting for Shepard's reply with a superior leer.
"How do you even know? Who told you?"
"No one had to tell me anything. T'Soni came to me when she was looking for your body. The Broker was involved, of course, so I pointed her in that direction. She lost her little drell friend while getting your pile of meat back, right? A few months after you and I meet, I see the same drell skulking around Omega. Then it suddenly occurs to me that something's not the same about the Broker. Something's off. He's not as ruthless as he once was, and his agenda has changed drastically. He's gone from working with the Collectors to doing everything in his power to dump resources into Alliance hands as fast as he can. I would've thought that he would be stockpiling resources onto himself for self-preservation rather than giving his own arms and legs over to Commander Shepard's longshot cause. I can put two and two together, Shepard. I know what Liara is." She flashed her a look that held a distinct predatory glint. It was not exclusively an intimidation. It was also an advisory look; an attempt to convince Shepard that there was no wiser option than to be her friend rather than an enemy.
Shepard covered her face with both hands, hunching over and expelling a slow, heavy sigh. Her drink remained untouched on the table before her, diffracting the blue light of the room onto the glass with its liquid contents. The bass audibly thudded through the walls and reached her ears. After a long while of critically thinking through the conditions of their situation – and after trying to fight off images of what may come if the association between Liara and the Shadow Broker leaked any further than it already had – she placed a hand to her forehead beneath a few pieces of stray hair.
"Listen, Shepard. I'd still like to do business with you. This is what I wanted to discuss with you. We've had a very… mutually beneficial relationship thus far. I'd hate to see it end over an insecurity like this. I need leverage on T'Soni for my own health, and I won't hesitate to reveal her little secret and put you both in harm's way if it comes to that. But if you break it off, you will no longer be considered a worthwhile affiliation, and no one will come after you."
"You honestly think I'm worried about my own safety?" Shepard grimaced in exasperation. "Is it such a foreign concept to you, to think that maybe, just maybe, I care about something other than my own hide? Haven't I gone through enough over the past years to demonstrate that in a way even someone like you can understand? I'm not like you, Aria. I don't gain loyalty by coercing people through threats, violence, and bribery. I don't live every day wondering if my friends are going backstab me. I don't spend any time wondering if I'm paying them enough to beat out the competition. I don't need these complicated systems to make sure I have everyone in line. I know that at any given moment, even when I've screwed up or when things have gone to shit, there's going to be someone at my back. And not out of fear of me."
"I was afraid you'd feel that way. You've always been very naïve, Shepard. You need to understand that you can't run an empire that way. Our lines of work are incredibly different in case you haven't noticed. You deal with politicians, common citizens, and the military. All abide by standard laws and your own set of common decency rules. Things are different in the Terminus systems. We've crossed paths and engaged in dealings that benefitted us both, but things are changing again since the Reapers are gone. This galaxy will not be united for much longer. It doesn't need to be. Everyone will go back to their own selfish agendas, and quarreling will resume. As soon as your pretty doctor finishes her work on those relays, everyone will forget about each other. I'm taking advantage of this moment of silence, analyzing my options and preparing myself to resume my own enterprises. That includes finding out where you stand."
"You're only putting so much thought into my allegiance because you know how valuable I'd be."
"But isn't that how it always is? I would never have helped you in the first place if I didn't think you'd be valuable to me."
Shepard rose up from the sofa. It was evident that she was preparing to depart from Aria's company. "I should go," she said with sedation, straightening out her clothes. "I can't think of any circumstance where I'd further require any help from you. I think our time has passed. I'll leave you alone, so long as you do the same for me and my associates. If you cause harm to any of them, I will come after you."
Aria stood up, addressing her directly with deadliness in her approach. Shepard stood her ground as their eyes met, both pairs of irises quivering with resolution. The asari glanced down, extended a hand, and brought her gaze back up to await the human's response. Shepard contemplated the nature of the gesture with uncertainty.
"Humans do this, don't they?" Aria asked pointedly. "Well?"
After one more moment of hesitation, Shepard took the hand in hers and shook it once.
"Let's not get on each other's bad sides, Shepard. It would be counter-productive to both of our agendas."
She nodded. "Deal."
:::
Shepard awoke late once again. With a start, she abruptly peeled herself from the comfort of the mattress and stretched her body over to the bedside table where she checked the time on her omni-tool, and decided that if she contacted Liara, there was still a chance that she'd have time to talk. She sent a call while sitting upright again and combing her fingers through her tousled hair. After a brief moment, the welcomed shape of Liara was projected by the device.
"I haven't heard from you lately," Liara said with a slight smile. She seemed to have turned away from a desk.
"I'm sorry," Shepard replied, returning the smile. "I've been busy."
This elicited soft laughter. "You've been busy? You look like you've just been sleeping. You've just woken up, haven't you?"
"Yeah, I… I slept in a bit too long. I see I've interrupted something though. If you're too busy I can just get back to you later."
"Oh no, it's quite all right. I've just been studying up on physics. It's come to my attention that being too confined to just one field of science is more restricting than I once thought."
"You know, I'm pretty decent at physics, Liara."
"Okay, Shepard."
Shepard grinned with amusement. "I'm serious. I'm not as dumb as I come off to be."
Liara briefly diverted her gaze with a sigh. "I miss you, Shepard. It's only been a few days so far, I know, but they seem longer than usual. Listen, I've been meaning to talk to you about something. When we were in the park earlier this week, I was a bit cross with you. I said things that I probably should have said a bit differently, and I'm sorry for that. I was mentally and emotionally… over encumbered, if that description will suffice. I hope you're not angry at me."
"No, no, of course not. I understand. I mean, I wasn't feeling all that great at the time either. I responded in a less than ideal way."
"You seem to be in better spirits now, though. I'm glad."
"I am. I, uh, also have something of a bit more consequence to tell you. Did you know that Aria is on Earth?"
"No. But I knew that she fought on Earth. I just wasn't certain if she was among the numbers that left before the relays were no longer operational. I heard her arranging to board a ship into battle a few days prior to the assault. What of her? Have you spoken with her?"
"I did yesterday. She messaged me. Wanted to see if I was still interested in a 'partnership'. I really don't know what to call it. She said she knows… about you. Your network."
"I'm aware. I've taken the necessary precautions. You don't need to worry about that."
Shepard was quiet.
"What's with that look?"
"You never need me for anything anymore," Shepard said in good humor.
"I do need you, Shepard. I still need you very much. You may not be as vital as food or water, but your presence in my life holds an importance very similar to… shelter, I suppose. Or perhaps something else. A degree of comfort and much desired company. I like to hope that you still need me too in the same sense."
"I think I do."
"I'm glad. I should get back to work. Thank you for calling me. I will probably be back for a visit next week, and there's also a chance that my work here will be done since I feel as though I'm running out of usefulness. Either way, I will see you soon. Brush your hair."
"All right, Liara. And you remember to eat."
The call ended, and Shepard was left to make another to someone else. She was very much determined to get on a shuttle to somewhere, anywhere, that needed help with reconstruction. Shepard was not excluded from the organism of society, and she wouldn't be prevented to pull some of its weight.