Chapter 2: The Professor

"This is Tali'Zorah vas Neema nar Rayya, requesting to dock with the Rayya."

"Our systems have your ship flagged as... The Galactic Coalition?" There was a pause. "Please verify."

"After time adrift among open stars, along tides of light and shoals of dust, I will return where I began."

"Verified. Please go to external dock 17. The ship is dropping me off so a cleaning team is not necessary."

The Normandy made its approach to the sphere-shaped ship. The external dock clamped onto the side of the Normandy. Shepard and Tali stood in front of the airlock. "I wanted you to have something before you go." He held up a Geth weapon and a white pistol.

"What is that?" Tali cocked her head.

"It's a Geth Plasma Shotgun. Cerberus had several of these things in the armory. They shoot three beams of plasma energy. And this is a M-5 Phalanx. I thought these would come in handy."

"Thank you, Shepard."

"Good luck on your next mission, Tali."

"Thank you. I'll be right back as soon as it's over."

Shepard took her right hand and held it up. He planted a kiss on the suited hand. "And if you need any help, any help at all, just let me now."

"I will," she said with a giggle. "Good luck to you. I hope you get that chip removed."

"Same here."

Tali went into the airlock. After it underwent its cycle, she entered her familiar ship. The Admiralty board was waiting for her. Before she went to the courtyard, she watched the Normandy unclamp from the Rayya and fly away. Eventually it disappeared into the abyss. She sighed, knowing full well that this was going to be a yelling fest.

She entered the courtyard with four Admirals standing before her. Admiral Ywer'Wola recently passed away and the Board was still discussing who to replace her with. There stood Admiral Shala'Raan, Zaal'Korris, Han'Gerrel and her father: Rael'Zorah.

"It's good to see you came back safely, child," Shala said in a greeting tone.

"Yes, despite leaving her mission," Zaal added.

"According to Private Prazza, with good reason," Han chided.

"You're here to give your explanation," Rael said in a stern tone. "Because Prazza's explanation of what happened on Freedom's Progress is ridiculous at best."

"We landed on Freedom's Progress to locate Veetor. We found the colony deserted except for the security mechs that Veetor reactivated. We were forced to take shelter in a pre-fab unit until we came up with a plan to reach Veetor. It was then two Cerberus agents and Shepard-"

"What?" Han said out loud. "You mean Prazza was telling the truth about Shepard?"

"Yes. Shepard is back."

"So where the hell was he all this time? Working for Cerberus?"

"No!" Tali yelled. "Shepard was held captive by Cerberus for the last two years while they repaired his injuries, experimented on him and implanted him with cybernetics."

"Why would Cerberus use so many resources to bring back one soldier?" Koris asked.

"Shepard saved the Citadel and the Council. He's the only hope this galaxy has against the Reapers. Cerberus wanted to use Shepard for their nefarious plots. That's why I had to go with him to free his crew. I needed to make sure he wouldn't fall under their control. If he did... If he did, Cerberus would become the most powerful organization in the galaxy."

"According to reports, you stood between your squad and Shepard, even when he pointed a gun at you," Rael said. "What the hell were you thinking? How could you trust him when he did that?"

"He was implanted with a control chip," she shot back. "He fought to disobey the order Operative Miranda gave him. This galaxy needs him. That is why I stood there. I knew he could fight it. And fath- Admiral, you once told me that being a leader means knowing when to follow your gut feeling. Shepard resisted the control chip and killed Miranda. He's now heading to Omega to get the chip removed by Mordin Solus."

There was a brief silence before Shala said, "I believe Tali'Zorah exercised good judgment here. Considering Shepard's abilities, it was wise to make sure Cerberus did not have control over him."

"I agree," Han said. "Anyone else object?"

Zaal and Rael shook their heads.

"Good job, kid. The mission was successful, and Prazza admitted they wouldn't have made it through without Shepard's assistance. You're dismissed until your next mission."

"Thank you." Tali nodded and walked out of the courtyard.

"Hopefully Shepard takes that organization down," Han mumbled.

"We should notify the Council about this recent development," Koris added.

"Yes. I'm sure the Alliance will be glad that Shepard's alive."

vvvvvv

Anderson walked into his office on the Presidium and sighed loudly. Another damn day of banging his head against the wall. Why the hell would Shepard give him this position? While it wasn't him directly, his recommendation still put him way ahead of all other candidates. Anderson looked over the balcony. The only real perk of being the Councilor was the view he gets from his office. He heard a beep from his desk.

Anderson walked over to his desk and his monitor came up. It was a message from the Migrant Fleet. It was simple entitled: "Shepard."

He opened the message and read. His eyes widened.

vvvvvv

"We are making our approach to Omega, Commander," Joker announced over the ship's systems.

"I'll suit up. Tell Jacob to be ready."

"Aye, aye."

Shepard looked over his room again. Despite it being two days since he woke up, he still has not slept yet. An unknown side effect of not having a controller is that he had terrible headaches. It felt like a constant hangover without the disorientation. He opened his armor locker and started taking out his Kestrel armor piece by piece.

Since taking off with the Normandy, Shepard made his rounds around the ship to get to know the crew. They were shock and anger with Cerberus and what they tried to do. They were also very thankful for Shepard rescuing them.

After getting his armor and weapons together he met with Jacob at the airlock to enter Omega. Upon entering the station, it felt like Shepard was punch in the face from the smell. It smelt like months-old body odor mixed with a lot of pollution. The two were quickly approached by a Salarian who was overly excited by the new arrivals. He must have been high on some drug.

"I can always tell if you're new-"

"Leave now!" a batarian in armor said as he approached from behind.

"Oh, whatever you say, Marglak," the Salarian said before retreating back into the station.

"Damn scavengers. Welcome to Omega, Shepard."

"You know who I am?" Shepard asked in surprise. He has been barely alive for a few days and already other s know?

"Of course. You're not as subtle as you think. Aria wants to know what a dead Spectre doing on her station. I suggest you go see her, now."

"Hey, cut the attitude! I'm not here to cause problems for Omega."

"Things explode around you, Shepard. You can't blame Aria for being cautious." The Batarian then promptly leaves.

"I guess we should see her," Jacob commented. "She might know where we can find Mordin, and maybe she'll have an idea what race those bug things are."

They walked through the corridor only to be stopped by a middle-aged scarred man in yellow armor. "Hey, are you Shepard?" he said in a deeply accented voice.

"Who are you?" Shepard asked.

"Zaeed Massani. Mercenary. Cerberus put one hell of a bounty on your head."

Shepard looked to Jacob. They both started reaching for their pistols.

"Relax. If I was going to collect, I would have sniped you from a distance instead of introducing myself. From what I've heard you're on a mission to take on the ones who are taking the humans colonists around the galaxy, and you're going to need help with that."

"That's right."

"It just so happens I was given a mission a while ago to take back a refinery from Blue Suns mercenaries. It's one that requires people of skill, like you. I heard you a man to come to, to get things done. I can't take on the Blue Suns by myself. Now mostly I wouldn't take a job for free, but if you help me with my mission, I'll help you with yours."

"Chances are my mission against the abductors will be suicidal. Why would you risk your life in exchange for one mission?"

"Ever heard of Vido Santiago?"

Shepard shook his head.

"He nearly killed me a while back. He's leading the Blue Suns forces at the refinery. Help me kill him and complete the mission and I'll help you with your mission."

"How do I know you won't try to kill me in my sleep to collect the Cerberus bounty?"

"Betrayal is not good for business. Sends the wrong message for future clientele."

Shepard raised a brow. He reached forward. They shook hands. "Welcome aboard, Zaeed. You can get your gear aboard the Normandy. Meet us in front of Afterlife after you do."

"See you there."

Jacob was close to voicing his concern, but decided against it. Zaeed was one of the dossiers, though it wouldn't make sense to make his presence known like that only to attack. They continued to the entrance of Afterlife, cutting in front of the line.

"Hey they're cutting in front of the line!" the man at the front said to the elcor bouncer.

"Annoyance: They have priority."

"And when am I going in?"

"Sarcasm: I'm sure it'll be any minute."

Shepard and Jacob went through the doors only to be stopped by three Batarians. "What are you looking at?"

"Don't you have anything better to do than pick fights with people you don't know?"

"No," he growled. "Just the ones who get in my way."

Shepard pulled out his machine gun pistol. "You see my gun? Do you really want to do this?"

"Uh, no. You're off the hook. For now..." The Batarians quickly made their exit out of the club. Jacob let out a small chuckle.

The two went through the club floor to reach the back area. The music was loud and the floor vibrated. A circular platform surrounded the giant holoscreen. They went up the stairs. Shepard saw a purple Asari facing away from him. Must be Aria. He walked up to her only to be greeted by her guard with a gun. The other guards and even the two strippers pulled out weapons.

"That's close enough," she said.

"Stand still," the guard notified Shepard as he scanned him with his omni-tool.

"I was told you're the one to talk to for some answers."

"They're clean," the guard announced.

"That depends on the questions," Aria replied.

"You run Omega?" It was more of a statement that a question.

Aria chuckle. She turned to the dance floor and announced to the room, "I am Omega!" Aria turned around, "But you need more, everyone needs more something, and they all come to me. I'm the boss, CEO, Queen, if you're feeling dramatic. It doesn't matter. Omega has no title ruler, and only one rule." Aria sat down on the couch. "Don't fuck with Aria." She gave a small grin.

"I like it, easy to remember."

"If you forget, someone will remind you."

"And I'll toss your ass out the nearest airlock," the guard said.

Shepard sat down on the couch across from her.

"So what can I help you with?" she asked.

"I'm looking for Mordin Solus. Know where I can find him?"

"The Salarian doctor? Last I heard he was trying to help plague victims in the quarantine zone." She turned her head away. "I always like Mordin. He's as likely to shoot you as he is to heal you."

"How do I get to him?"

"If you really need to find him, take a shuttle to the quarantine zone. No guarantee they'll let you in, of course."

"One more thing. I'm currently investigating the human colonist abductions."

This grabbed Aria's attention.

"I have security footage from one of the colonies that shows a race I've never seen before. I was hoping you might recognize them." Shepard played the footage from the colony.

Aria's eyes widened as she leaned forward. "The Collectors."

"I thought they were a myth."

"They're very real."

"What do you know about them?"

"They usually makes exchanges between merc groups for odd requests like so many Batarian twins, or pure Quarians and such. But recently they shifted their focus to your kind. Come to think of it, it started just a month after the Battle of the Citadel. You might have something to do with that." Aria looked to her guard. "Marglak, get me the Blue Suns data."

The Batarian nodded. He pulled out a data pad and handed it to Aria. She then handed it to Shepard. "This was a datapad I found on a Blue Suns mercenary. They were the first group I heard of who tried to sell humans to Collectors."

Shepard took the datapad and read it. Before him was a list of all human colonies in the Terminus and Council systems along with population figures. A collector hit list. The first dozen colonies were in order of those taken. It can only be assumed that this whole list is in order of which to be collected. "And this is accurate?"

"Yes. Your race has made a powerful enemy."

"Thank you for the information." Shepard got up from his seat. "Though tell me. Why are you just giving me this information?"

"The Collectors broke the only rule of Omega. I figure sending you after them will make them pay for that mistake. And it saves me from sending any of my people after them."

Shepard nodded and walked to Jacob.

"We have a Salarian scientist to find."

vvvvvv

"You don't honestly believe this?" Velarn said. The Turian's mandibles scuttled in irritation. "There was no way Commander Shepard could have survived that attack."

The three Council members talked to Anderson through the hologram projectors in his office.

"He did survive," Anderson countered. "His reappearance was confirmed by the Quarian Marines."

"And we're supposed to trust the word of Quarians, Councilor?"

"One of those Quarians was Tali'Zorah vas Neema, who I recall is responsible for you breathing right now," Anderson shot back.

"Enough!" Tevos interrupted. "We will assume that the report is accurate and that Shepard is alive. What concerns me is where he was during the two year period of his disappearance."

"According to Tali'Zorah, he was captured by Cerberus while they experimented on him as part of a super-soldier program. They implanted him with a control chip as part of that experiment."

"Then he's been compromised," Yelor said.

"No, he's not," Anderson corrected. "According to Tali, the Cerberus operative named Miranda Lawson tried to order Shepard to kill her and her squad. He was able to resist the control chip and killed the Cerberus operative. After killing her they went to the Cerberus station to rescue his crew and hijacked one of their ships. He's heading to Omega to find a scientist named Mordin Solus."

"Mordin?" Yelor gasped. "You mean STG Mordin Solus?"

"Yes. They're going to get him to remove the chip."

"That is good news," Tavos said.

"Though we really should discuss Shepard Spectre status. He was declared dead which ended it."

"It might be best to discuss this when he comes to the Citadel. We need to be sure that Commander Shepard is in the right state of mind."

vvvvvv

"What?" The Illusive Man snarled.

"Shepard resisted the implant and killed Operative Lawson," the assistant replied sheepishly. "And we can't gain access to the ship. It's likely that they unshackled EDI."

The blue sun behind TIM lit the room in a blue light. He took a puff of his cigarette and put it out in the small tray in his armrest.

"Lawson ensured me that implant would work," he sighed to himself. "I want every available agent to go after him. Try to take him alive if possible. I also want the ship back. We spent three years budget on the two."

"Yes, sir. Right away." The assistant ran out of TIM's room like his life depended on it, which it probably did.

TIM rubbed his forehead. Two years of the most advance medical research to bring a body back from the dead. Two years of the most advance ship technology and construction. Two years creating the most advance AI in the galaxy based partial on Sovereign. All of it gone, because Shepard's will was more powerful than the control chip Miranda implant in him.

Now the Spectre is going to have a vendetta against his organization. TIM took a swig of his scotch. Idealistic fool. He thought to himself that maybe allowing Lawson to implant him with the control chip was not one of his smartest decisions. Maybe if they gave him that freedom, he would have been more compliant. Shepard was until Lawson tried to test out the damn chip. One less operative. One of his best operatives.

I made you, Shepard. I brought you back from the dead. You owe me everything.

vvvvvv

The shuttle landed at the entrance of the plague zone. Shepard, Jacob and Zaeed stepped out and saw the blockade ahead. They approached. Two Turians popped up from behind the barrier. "Hold your fire," the one said to them other. "They're cleared to come in."

The three reached the last doorway into the plague zone. The Turain nodded to Shepard. "Before careful in there. The Blue Suns shoot anything that moves."

Shepard thought the smell of Omega was bad before. This was worse. Way worse. Up ahead they could see a couple of mercs just chatting to each other. "Jacob, pull field."

Jacob raised his arm and the two mercs flew into the air. They screamed as they hurled towards the group. Shepard and Zaeed raised their ARs and shot the two floating mercs. The pushed forward and found a sick Batarian sitting against the wall.

"Humans, I should have known," he scoffed. "Not bad enough that you created this plague, now you lack the decency to wait until I die before you steal from me."

"Do you need help?" Shepard asked while crouching down. He was met with a hand cannon.

"Get away from me! You've already helped me enough."

Shepard gave him some space. "Do you know of Mordin Solus?"

"Humans looking for the human sympathizer. Humph! I hope the Blue Suns and Vorcha burn his clinic to the ground! I hope they- They- Dammit!" the Batarian started coughing up blood.

Shepard moved forward and injected some medi-gel into him. "Stay with me!"

His pain was relieved enough for him to stand up.

"This won't cure the plague, but it may help."

"You- You helped me. Why?"

"It's what I do. I don't know if there's a cure to this plague, but I'll try to find it."

"Your words seem... genuine. Maybe it's the plague, but like you said, 'what do I have to lose?' What do you want to know?"

"Where can I find Mordin Solus?"

"His clinic is on the far side of the district. Just keep heading in that direction"—he pointed in the direction—"and you'll find it. I would go there, but even the Blue Suns are hesitant to go there."

"Why?"

"When Mordin opened his clinic up, some of the mercenaries tried to shake him down. He used a neural poison on them and then executed them. He displayed their bodies near his clinic as a warning. Another merc group was stupid enough to try the same thing. Same fate."

"Thank you. Now I'll try to get Mordin to send someone to get you."

"Thank you, human. You've given me a glimmer of hope in my darkest hours."

Shepard nodded and moved forwards.

"I'm surprised you helped him," Jacob commented. "Especially given your history with Batarians."

"Or that's he's Batarian," Zaeed added.

Shepard shrugged his shoulders. "He needed help."

Jacob and Zaeed just looked at each other with a bewildered look on their faces.

vvvvvv

Tali finished up her work on the Neema's drive core. Drive output went up by ten percent. She sighed in relief. Several hours of work finally paid off. Tali went over her shift by five hours before she was relieved by another engineer. She walked off to her private room. The hallways were filled with her people. Some children playing, some running off towards their next assignment, and some who were taking a brief break.

Tali reach her room and inputted her entrance code. The door slid open and she entered inside. The room was very small. Just enough space for a mattress. It was more of a closet. It was still considered a luxury compared to what most Quarians get.

Tali fell to her mattress, face first, and stretched her arms and legs. It was just yesterday that she sent her request for a transfer to the Normandy. Now she was eager to get her next mission done so she could be back on the Normandy. Back with Shepard. It felt like a dream. Not only is he back, but he felt the same way about her and she does about him. It sent chills down her spine.

She rolled onto her back and activated her omni-tool. An image came up that appeared over her face. The image was of Shepard and his crew after the defeat of Saren. Before the events of the last few days, the image used to bring sorrow to her, but now... It made her happy. In the middle of the image was Shepard. His right arm was wrapped around her. Her right hand was held up to her face in embarrassment. Garrus was to his left with a hand on his shoulder. He was laughing. Wrex was a little off to the right of her with his head held high. Kaidan was to the left of Garrus. He had a wide grin. Liara was, standing straight, next to Kaidan as if believing that this was to be a formal photo. Joker was next to Wrex. He had crutches and was giving a quick glance to Wrex, as if making sure he wasn't going to attack him.

This was the original photo.

It was heavily modified when it went into circulation. In the Human media all of the aliens, including her, were replaced with human crew members. His arm was wrapped around one of the security officers as oppose to her. In Asari news, just Liara was left in. In some cases, it was her with Shepard's arm around her. This led to many news reports of Shepard's romantic involvement with the female human or Liara, despite it all being based on the heavily modified photos. Never would they imagine that Shepard would have a thing for the Quarian Engineer.

"Shepard..." she cooed.

She closed the image and pulled up an article entitled, "Human/Quarian Relationships." Tali started her research as soon as she returned from Freedom's Progress. She wanted to be able to "be" with Shepard as soon as possible. Tali wanted him to see her face. The guide was fairly straight forward. A relationship with a human was made to sound simpler than she originally thought. While she can't just yank off her mask and take him, she can still boost her immune system to have some time with him. At the very least she wanted a kiss. The guide specified how a Quarian's immune system will eventually adapt to the partner, as long as they both take precautions and are patient. As soon as she was back on the Normandy, she was definitely going to kiss him.

vvvvvv

Shepard, Jacob and Zaeed put their weapons away as they entered the clinic. Shepard could over hear a rapid voice speaking. They walked over to one of the rooms and saw a Salarian dressed in a doctor's uniform. They entered.

"Professor Modin Solus?" Sheppard said.

Mordin looked to Shepard and did a scan. "Hmm. Don't recognize you from area. Too well armed to be refugees. Here to clean up vorcha?" He shook his head. "No. Vorcha is symptom not cause. Here to study plague? Possible usage as bioweapon. No! Too many guns, not enough data gathering equipment. Soldiers? Yes, yes, soldiers! Hired-"

"Relax, Professor," Shepard said to interrupt him. "I'm Commander Shepard. I'm on a critical mission and I need your help."

"Mission? What mission? Can't go, plague spreading too fast. Who sent you?"

"No one," he replied. "I recently woke up from a coma, too find out that Cerberus implanted me with a control chip. I heard you might be able to remove it."

"Mordin looked up from his patient. "Cerberus... A control chip you say? How do I know you're not under Cerberus control?"

"He killed the operator," Jacob added. "Shepard has one hell of will. He's able to resist the chip, but frankly we want it out as soon as possible."

Mordin did a scan of Shepard with his omni-tool. A holographic image of Shepard's body appeared. The hologram zoomed in on Shepard's head to show some of the cybernetics he has. The image zoomed in more to show the chip. "Hmm. Very advance design. Anyone else tries to remove it, could vegetate or even kill him."

"Can you remove it?" Shepard asked.

"Yes. But I doubt your mission is just that."

"Colonies have been disappearing around the Terminus systems. A race known as the Collectors."

"Hmm. Collectors. Interesting. Our goals may be similar. Plague is engineered. Collectors one of few groups with the technology to create it."

The lights went out and the fans stopped.

"What the hell is this?" Zaeed said.

"Vorcha must have shut down the environmental controls. Please go and start it up again before district suffocates. Inject the cure into the system." Mordin handed Shepard with a large vial. "One last thing. My assistant Daniel went into Plague zone. Hasn't returned."

"I'll keep an eye out for him. Also there was a sick Batarian near the entrance to the district. He could use some help."

"Still dangerous out there. I'll see what I can do."

vvvvvv

Several figures moved past the Turians guards. They entered the district while pulling out their weapons. Each of them cloaked. They passed a Batarian who was unconscious. Their speed was inhuman. They ran through area after area, passing the bodies of dozens of Blue Suns mercs. They ran by a human couple. Only the passing wind of their speed gave their position away. The clothes of the couples rippled briefly from the sudden gust. The lights of the district went out, as they got halfway to the clinic, leaving red emergency lights on.

vvvvvv

"Both fans are running!" Zaeed announced.

"We should get back to Mordin," Jacob added.

The three turned back out of the fan room and back out into the opening. Bodies of Vorcha were all over the place.

"I think they smell worse alive than dead," Zaeed commented.

"I think you're right," Shepard said.

A shot was fired. The round hit Shepard's tech armor causing it to explode right away. Jacob and Zaeed were wearing an IFF device that prevents them from feeling the blast from the tech armor. Each tech armor shoots out a specific frequency of energy blast. The device Jacob and Zaeed wore gave a negative energy field that is specific to Shepard's tech armor. The negative energy field repels the wave and so the blast goes around them.

"Sniper!" Shepard yelled while taking cover. Jacob and Zaeed didn't hesitate when they took cover.

"More Vorcha?" Jacob asked.

"Vorchas don't use sniper rifles!" Zaeed chided. "It must be Blue Suns."

Shepard peaked around the corner and saw no one. "I don't see anyone."

Another round hit near his head.

"Must be cloaked."

"I have an idea to draw them out," Zaeed said.

"Yeah?"

"Give me some cover fire. I'll through a grenade their direction."

Shepard and Jacob nodded. They opened fired in the general direction of the sniper. Zaeed rolled out and threw the grenade roughly where he thought the sniper might be. Several fireballs escaped from the grenade.

"Aaaaaaaaahh!" a loud shriek came from the shadows. A figure, while on fire, dropped from the upper catwalks. Several more figures appeared in the shadows. The cloak they wore was glitching excessively. They tried to maintain it, but it ultimately failed from being too close to the grenade explosion.

"Cloaks are down!"

Shepard and Jacob came out from their cover and fired at the unknown assailants on the catwalks. They lacked the battle armor for a straight up fight and they were easily taken down with several shots. Each of them fell to the ground.

Shepard, Jacob and Zaeed rushed over to their bodies. Shepard crouched over one and flipped him over. Over his left breast was the Cerberus emblem. "Cerberus assassins," Shepard stated.

"I've heard of these guys," Jacob said. "They are some of the best assassins in the galaxy. It was just by luck Zaeed's grenade disrupted their cloaks. These guys usually kill their targets long before they're noticed."

Each of the assassins had cybernetic eyes. They were red color. Their weapons were Anti-Material rifles.

"Frankly, if you didn't have that tech armor running, you would have been dead Commander."

"We're going to have to be more careful now. This now confirms that Cerberus is after us." Shepard pulled out his omni-tool and tried to scan the assassins' omni-tools. All of them were fried as soon as their hearts stopped. TIM doesn't want intel leaks. "Come on. We should get back to Mordin."

vvvvvv

"Sir, the Shadows were killed."

TIM sighed in annoyance. "They were supposed to be some of the best trained assassins in the galaxy and they failed?"

"Yes, sir."

TIM took another puff of his cigarette.

"If I could make a suggestion, sir?"

"You may."

"Maybe we should allow him to do what he wants."

TIM raised a brow.

"I mean you brought him back to stop the Reapers and the colonial abductors."

"We brought him back to be a symbol for our organization. He was meant to make our organization more powerful. Now we lost all control."

"Maybe not, sir. I suggest we play nice. Provide him Intel and some resources. Make him hate our organization less. Show him that we are useful to him. Any other option will only provoke him and in turn cause us more harm than good."

TIM sighed. "As much as I hate to admit it, you're right. Call off the operatives. I'll try to contact him."

vvvvvv

Mordin, Jacob and Shepard walked into the conference room. "It's an honor to have you aboard the Normandy, Professor," Jacob said.

"Yes, will be interesting to take on the Collectors."

"They have abducted thousands of colonists. There's not even any evidence that anything went wrong, other than every man, woman and children vanishing without a trace."

"Hmm. Gas? No gas would be too slow. May-"

"You don't have to stand there and guess, Professor." Shepard said to him. "We collected samples from a colony for you to work on, but before you get to that. I need the control chip out of my head."

"Yes! Right! Need operating room."

"Med bay has all of the resources need for the operation," EDI chimed over the ship's speaker.

"Who's that? Pilot? No, synthesized voice. Emotional inflections. Could it be... No. Maybe. Is that an AI?"

"This ship is equipped with an Artificial Intelligence."

"Interesting. Well, let's get the operation out of the way."

For the first time in several days, Shepard was asleep. It felt like a few minutes, but it was enough to calm his nerves. He came to on the med-bay bed. The headache was gone.

"He's up," Chakwas said.

Mordin walked over to Shepard. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Two."

"Follow my finger with your eyes."

Shepard's eyes followed.

"Rank and name."

"Lieutenant Commander Shepard."

"Combat class?"

"Sentinel."

"Good, good. Reactions seem to be in line. Memory seems alright. Operation was successful."

Shepard reached up and rubbed his head. All of his hair was shaved off. A confused look came across his face

"Had to shave head for the procedure."

"It'll grow back," he shrugged. Shepard always had his hair very short, just a buzz cut.

"Device was successfully removed with no damage to your brain."

"So Cerberus can't control me anymore?"

"Yes."

"That's great news."

Jacob walked into the med bay. "I see you're up, Commander. How're you feeling?"

"Much better. Headaches are gone. How long was I out for?"

"About ten hours."

Shepard looked to Mordin. "You were able to perform that surgery in ten hours?"

"I'm the best at what I do, Commander. One of the reasons your recruited me." There was a hint of arrogance to his voice.

"Right, right. We can finally get back down to business."

"Ahead of you on that, Commander," Jacob said. "I found a dossier for another recruit here on Omega. He's a Turian vigilante who goes by the name of Archangel. He's an expert sniper and tactician. I went around gathering news and found that he's currently held up in a building, holding off every mercenary in Omega."

Shepard got to his feet and stretched. "Well... We better go find him."

"After the surgery you went through, I would suggest more rest," Chakwas commented. "But, knowing you, you'll just go anyways. The scars on your head should heal soon enough, just like your facial scars." She gave his facial scars another good look. "They are healing nicely. No longer glowing like they were."

"Jacob, Mordin. Let's go find ourselves a Turian angel."