OoO( 3 )OoO
2183.126 CE - 1328 CST
Prothean Beacon Research Camp, Eden Prime
It only took minutes for the trio to make it from the beacon dig site to the research camp uphill. But the speed with which they move was immediately halted as they crossed over the crest of the natural ramp and stumbled into something none of them had seen yet. All three of the soldiers stared up in horror as they saw several mechanical devices anchored into the ground by the invaders. They towered over them, with a giant metal spike shooting into the sky, each one bearing the body of a human colonist or soldier impaled gruesomely.
"What the hell is this?" asked the gunnery chief as she lowered her weapon to stare at the atrocity before them.
"It looks like they're displaying them…" said Alenko as he looked away from the horrific sight.
"It might be fear tactics," said Shepard, getting looks from both of her subordinates. "They're machines. They don't participate in barbarism like this for fun. It's likely they're doing it to scare any other defenders away."
Williams growled in anger and immediately began marching towards the small compact buildings with a new fire in her eyes and her weapon raised again. But Shepard and Alenko's eyes looked up as they noticed the spikes beginning to move. "Williams! Get back here!" shouted the Lieutenant as he immediately raised his assault rifle towards the machines.
The gunny stopped in her tracks at the screeching sound, her eyes locking onto the device and her weapon raising to zero in on it. But she froze in place as if petrified when she saw the body that had once stood as a flag of fear now rising from the ground. Its skin was all but gone, and it looked as if its body had been implanted with so much tech that the former soldier was now basically a walking machine. But what really chilled her to the core was its pale blue eyes, hollow and soulless, staring directly at her. "What the fuck!?" she gasped as she backpedaled and began firing indiscriminately towards the monstrosity.
The two soldiers behind her began to unleash fire as well, but more spikes began to descend as the abomination soaked up their bullets as if unaffected. Alenko reached forward, his aura springing to life again, and tossed the nightmarish creature across the hill where it impacted one of the buildings hard enough to break its mechanical body in half. As soon as it impacted, human screams were heard from within.
"We've got live ones inside! Focus on taking them down and find a damn weak spot!" shouted the commander as she swapped her assault rifle out for a pistol. Raising her weapon, she took aim as another of the shambling creatures raised its arms and dashed straight for her. Unleashing a storm of bullets, she blew holes through its horrific form. But the holes seemed to begin repairing themselves as soon as they were made.
Williams, who had already been closer than the others when the attack started, began firing on them from the cover of a shipping crate that she had dove behind. Unfortunately, they were too close. She fired to take out the legs of one of the zombie-like monsters, but immediately it let out a wail of agony before the ring-like wound in its chest began to glow. Whatever the attack was, it hit her like a truck. Her shields fried immediately, and she was thrown back against the cliff wall, which crushed the wind from her lungs and left her gasping for air. As another began to sprint for her location with its arms raised, she raised her rifle and fired directly at its head as she tried to recover her breath. So when a round punctured the creature's head, causing it to fall face first to the ground, she was mildly surprised. The glowing eyes, the glowing ring, and all of the lights that formerly ran through its body were now dead. "Shoot it in the head!" she shouted as she finally caught her second wind and began to push back against the small swarm.
Shepard heard the call, and her pistol raised, aiming directly at a charging abomination's skull. Squeezing the trigger, the round blasted through the weak armor, splattering what was left of its brain, and causing it to crumble to the ground. "Good work Williams!" she shouted, wondering why she hadn't tried that first.
With their weakness exposed, cleaning up the rest of the shambling horrors wasn't difficult. After all of the bodies lay lifeless on the ground, the trio grouped up again. "So much for fear tactics," groaned Alenko as he held his head with an expression of pain on his face.
"I don't recall the studies of the geth ever saying that they had technology like this…" said Shepard as she stared at the corpses.
"It might be new. They've had almost two hundred years alone in their pocket of space. This might have been developed after the quarians left," responded Williams as she kicked one of the bodies lightly to make sure it was actually dead.
"We'll figure that out later," said Shepard as she scanned the impaling device with her omni-tool. "Right now, let's find out what's in that building," she ordered, turning away once the scan was complete. Moving up to the door with her pistol ready and the two behind her with their own weapons raised, she once again used her electronic magic to open the door. As soon as it slid open, someone inside screamed in panic before she entered the room. Swooping in, she turned and found a human man and woman cowering at the back of the small enclosure.
But, as soon as the woman saw the commander, she immediately stopped screaming. "Humans! Thank the Maker!" she shouted with a sigh of relief.
But her male counterpart pointed at Jane with a look of frozen horror still on his face. "Quick! Close the door before they come back!" he pled as he pulled back his finger and began to fidget wildly.
Williams and Alenko stepped a bit closer, likely getting a better look at the unhinged man. "Don't worry, you're safe now. We cleared the area of hostiles," said the commander reassuringly.
"Thank you. I think we'll both be okay now," said the female doctor as she cradled her head in her hands.
The gunny looked over at the woman again before speaking up. "Doctor Warren? You were the one in charge of the excavation! Do you know what happened to the beacon?" asked Williams urgently.
Nodding to the soldier, the short-haired doctor looked at the ground as she spoke. "It was moved to the spaceport this morning. Manuel and I stayed behind to help pack up the rest of the equipment," she said, her voice becoming burdened with guilt. "When the attack came, the marines with us fought off the invaders so we could hide here. They gave their lives to save us…"
Suddenly, Manuel started laughing from his corner. "Saved? Nobody is saved. The age of humanity is at an end! Soon, only corpses and ruin will remain," he snapped morosely before hiding his head in his hands.
Shepard eyed the man curiously, wondering what he was going on about. But, she had more urgent matters to attend to. Turning back to Doctor Warren, she set her gaze firmly. "Do you know anything about the invaders that might be able to help us?"
But again it was Manuel that spoke. This time he didn't shout, instead opting for a low, grim tone. "Agents of the destroyers, bringers of darkness, heralds of our extinction. We are to be culled by the machines and their turian prophet."
Immediately, Shepard and Alenko both whipped their heads towards the man. "Turian? What turian?" asked the commander sharply as she took a step forward.
"The prophet, the chosen one to unleash the darkness upon us. I saw him, he was here before the attack," said the man as he shook his head violently.
"That's impossible. Nihlus was on the ship with us before any of this happened," said the lieutenant firmly as he glared at the man.
Before Shepard could question the man, Warren spoke up. "Unfortunately, we were hidden from sight when the gunfire started. We can't tell you much beyond what we heard through the door and walls."
"You may be blind! But I saw it myself!" he shouted towards Warren. Then, he turned and stared the commander dead in the eyes before continuing. "We have unearthed the heart of evil. We have awakened the beast, unleashed the darkness," he said without a trace of lying in his voice.
"Manuel, please! Now isn't the time!" said Warren sharply as she crossed her arms.
Shepard stared at the man a long moment before turning to the female again. "Is he going to be alright?" she asked curiously, wondering if the stress of the situation had crushed the man's mind.
Doctor Warren sighed, reaching up to rub her head with her hand. "Manuel has always been a bit, unstable. But he's incredibly brilliant. They say that genius and insanity are two sides of the same coin. However, after working with the beacon, he seems to have flipped that coin again," she responded tiredly as she looked over at the man as he stood up.
Staring into Shepard's eyes through her visor again, he spoke with a monotone so chilling that it even spooked her a bit. "Is it insanity to see the future, to see the destruction rushing towards us? To understand that there is no escape, and no hope?" he asked, shaking his head grimly before turning around and thumping his head against a wall. "No, I am not insane. I'm the only sane one left…"
OoOoO
2183.126 CE - 1330 CST
Constant Space Port E6, Eden Prim
Thus far, everything had gone according to plan. While he hadn't anticipated Nihlus showing up and confronting him, the former spectre was only a hiccup in an otherwise flawless plan. Turning to a geth unit nearby, he eyed the machine sternly. "Set the charges. I want them to be able to see the crater it makes from space, and make sure to erase all of the evidence that we were ever here," he ordered, getting an odd chirp from the mechanical soldier.
The geth turned and walked away to perform its duties as the turian turned back to the prize. It stood tall, like an elegant spire of knowledge, glowing down the front with pale green light. Moving forward, he stood in front of the beacon and stared up at it, waiting for its call. Then, he felt it. As if an invisible hand had reached out and grabbed his body and his mind, lifting him from the ground and flooding his vision with images.
"Come on...give me the key…" he growled as his senses were overwhelmed by the flashes flooding into his mind. He saw flesh and machine weaving together, a sentient creature being swallowed by an inescapable presence as its body was torn apart and reconstructed by machines no bigger than the smallest insect. Then came the vision of a facility, maybe prothean, maybe something else. In the center of the floor were two beings alone, emanating a sense of despair and horror. Then his mind filled with a rending cry of agony, a creature once independent, now a slave, it's masters overwatching them from the looming sky as they were forced into battle against their own kind as they fled from the abominations. The message finally ended with a loud cry and dropped him to the ground, where he landed and punched the dock. "Damn it...another dead end…" he growled as he slowly stood to his feet and looked up at the beacon.
It was another warning beacon. He had found a few in the past with the same message, but they did not provide him with the key. Reaching down, he took the pistol from his side and glared at the beacon hatefully. Regardless of whether it was useful or not, it couldn't fall into the Council's hands. Raising his weapon, he fired three rounds into the device, making the green glowing surface shatter and blast across the docks. Nobody would get a warning. By the time he found it, it would be too late to stop.
OoOoO
2183.126 CE - 1335 CST
Constant Cargo Tram Station, Eden Prime
With the mad doctor's thoughts running through her mind, she guided the others towards the tram station. He was definitely unhinged, there was no question about that. But when she thought about their cargo, an actual working beacon of Prothean origin, it wasn't out of the realm of possibility that whatever was inside it may have affected him. She began to wonder exactly what it was he saw in the device that led him to the conclusion that they were doomed.
As they approached the stairs to the terminal, she noticed geth bodies lying around with holes blasted in them. Recalling the spectre's weapon of choice before he jumped off the ship, she smiled and moved forward onto the platform that led to the tram. And immediately she felt her heart beat increase as she saw the body laying on the ground. "Weapons up! Secure the area!" she shouted as she immediately stepped towards the fallen turian.
As she knelt down, she grimaced at the destruction he had suffered. Whatever had shot him had blasted a hole deep into his chest, deep enough to hit a lot of vital organs. Bringing up her omni-tool, she scanned him. The first report was that it had been done with a shotgun. Looking up, she spied his own weapon laying next to him, wondering if it was his own doom.
The next report gave his time of death, less than ten minutes ago. "Hey, get your ass out here!" shouted Williams from her position near the stacked crates.
Trusting the gunny, Shepard continued to scan. This time, she searched his omni-tool in case he had recorded what happened. Unfortunately, whoever did this to him was smart, and wiped all data from his device. Clenching her fist, she finally stood and glared over at the gunnery chief who was interrogating a human who had been hiding behind the crates. She walked over in time to hear his explanation.
"Look, I was just hiding from those creatures, okay? I wasn't trying to spy on you or anything!" cried the man defensively as he raised his hands into the air.
"Take it easy Williams. He's about to wet himself," said Shepard as she clenched her pistol at her side. Eyeing the terrified man, she took over the questioning. "Who are you and how did you get away from the geth?"
"M-My name is Powell. I'm a dock worker here, mostly loading crates and logistics work with the cargo logs," said the man as he slowly lowered his hands now that the soldier's guns weren't trained on him. "A-And...I was already behind the crates before they landed, so they never saw me…" he said, looking at the ground with a grim stare. "Unlike the others."
Williams glared at the man suspiciously. "Why were you the only one who survived? Couldn't anyone else have hidden with you?"
Powell shook his head and let out a heavy sigh. "Look...I was already behind the crates because I was trying to sneak in a nap during my shift away from the foreman. None of the others had a chance because as soon as the attack hit, they were still on the floor," he finished and began rubbing his face in frustration.
Williams lost her look of agitation and replaced it with surprise. "You survived because you were lazy?" she asked incredulously.
Shepard shrugged as she stepped forward. "Lucky break," she said in amusement. But her amused tone quickly shifted. "So, you were behind the crates during the attack. Did he see what happened to him?" she asked, pointing back at the turian's body on the ground behind her.
He nodded and began fidgeting with his hands. "I-I did...sorta. I looked between the crates and could hardly see, but I heard everything clearly. It was another turian, and it sounded like they knew each other. That one called him Saren, and they started to fight. But he was overpowered. He didn't stand a chance."
Shepard thought for a moment on the man's words, her hand squeezing the pistol grip harshly. "I guess Manuel wasn't as crazy as we thought…" she said, then looked at the man. "You're sure it was a turian named Saren?" she asked with a look that screamed of a bloodbath if he was lying.
"Yes! It was! I heard it clearly, he called him Saren! But after he killed your friend, he got on the tram with some of those robot things," he said anxiously. "Look, are we done here? Cuz I need to go. I can't stay here with everything that's happened."
Shepard nodded, then pointed behind her with her thumb. "There's a research team back in one of the shelters. We've cleared the path all the way there, so bunker down with them until more Alliance arrive." He nodded to her, then began wandering off as if in a daze. Turning to the others, Shepard put her pistol away and pulled off her sniper. "Come on, we need to get to that beacon and take down this Saren if he's still here," she ordered, getting a nod from both of her squadmates. But they all froze in awe and looked up towards the skyline. Previously, it had been hidden by the mountainous rocks from the quarry, and the buildings around them. But now, it was in full view.
She was right. What she was looking at was some kind of H.P. Lovecraft nightmare. It was kilometers tall and towered over the entire colony. But now, it let out a loud, mechanical roar as it began to ascend into the sky. When it finally vanished into the dark clouds, the three looked at one another anxiously.
"Commander, are we going to have to fight that thing?" asked Williams nervously.
"I don't know. But if we do, then we're going to send it back to whatever hell it came from," she growled as she checked her weapon. "Let's get moving. We've been idle for long enough. We need to find that beacon and make sure this Saren doesn't get his murdering hands on it." Both of them saluted and prepared their weapons for battle. Shepard turned towards the stairway down to the tram with a glare. While she was relieved that the turian spectre had been innocent, she now had another life to avenge.
OoOoO
2183.126 CE - 1345 CST
Constant Space Port Tram Station, Eden Prim
It had been a hellish few minutes in the tram station. A few of the geth had been left behind to guard the monorail, making their trip that much harder. After clearing the platform itself, they then had to board the tram itself and clear it of the mechanical soldiers, resulting in a back and forth firefight that took a few more minutes than she would have liked. Williams, with all her rage cleared the first car herself by rushing towards the clustered machines and bowling them over when it looked like a firefight wouldn't work. From that point forward, the three of them began taking advantage of the many passenger seats to hide behind.
Shepard took the rear of the group with her sniper scope trained on the insurgents. Once their shields were overpowered, the other two began to focus fire on the metal invaders. Eventually, they wore through them and into the lead car which appeared to be for cargo. Several crates were stacked on either side, while the middle path was left open for the crew and movers to walk through. This allowed them plenty of cover from the incoming fire. And it swarmed them like angry hornets as soon as they crossed cars. Geth communicated instantaneously without any kind of radio, which meant as soon as they killed off the geth on the platform, every other unit in the colony knew they were coming.
With this in mind, they used their talents in concert. Shepard cloaked herself, moved out from the crates while Williams provided covering fire, and blasted through their shields with her sniper. Alenko waited until units got too close to their position before gripping them with his biotic power and slamming them into the ground with enough force to crush their metal bodies. Together they worked until they were finally down to the last of the invading force. But, being alone didn't mean anything to this monstrosity. He stood over nine feet tall and looked as if he could crush their entire bodies with a single one of his three-digit hands.
To add to his intimidating nature, he wielded as shotgun with enough force to blow holes in any cover they decided to hide behind. Alenko was still alive only thanks to the biotic barrier he had donned before taking cover, the blast sending him rolling backwards hard enough to knock a less persistent person senseless. As the lieutenant went to rise again, Shepard tossed a grenade at its feet and detonated, but its insane shield blocked most of the damage, and it continued to walk slowly forward with its weapon primed on her position.
"Commander! I don't think we're going to stop him before he reaches us!" shouted Williams as she helped Alenko to his feet again. The formidable shotgun roared once more, blasting another hole in the small amount of cover they had. Fortunately, it missed all three of them.
"Lieutenant, do you have another throw in you?" asked Shepard as she pulled up her omni-tool.
"Yeah, but it's really grinding me down. So make it count," he said as he breathed heavily.
Nodding, Shepard slid a small cylindrical grenade towards the gunnery chief. "Williams, take this. When I say now, you sprint as fast as you can and slap it onto its body. Understood?" she asked, getting a surprised nod. "Ready?" Donning her cloak, the commander stood and aimed her omni-tool directly at the juggernaut. "Now!" she shouted as her omni-tool lit up.
The mechanical giant's optical light flashed brightly and it froze in place. Immediately, the gunnery chief sprinted out of cover and growled at the goliath before reaching forward and slamming the device directly onto its chest plate. "Burn in hell you son of a bitch!" she shouted just as the monster broke the commander's hold and raised its weapon. But, before it could even aim at the soldier, at was covered in a mystical blue aura that prevented its movements. Suddenly, the automaton flew into the air, exploding as soon as it got to the peak of its flight.
Williams dove backward as the tram car was showered with flaming scrap metal and geth parts. Shepard let out a sigh of relief as Alenko slumped against their hole-filled cover to catch his breath. "Good plan Commander," said the man as he took off his helmet long enough to wipe the sweat from his face. Shepard noted his condition, figuring that his use of biotics was draining him faster than normal.
"Thanks, but it's not over. There's likely going to be more at the docks. So take your rest now, because when we get there, I doubt they're just going to hand the beacon over to us without a fight," she said as she activated the control panel and got the tram moving.
"No problem Commander. Rest is for the weak," said the lieutenant as he stood and slid the helmet back onto his head. Shepard smiled at both his tenacity and his humor in light of their situation. Even Williams chuckled lightly as she patted the man on the back.
"You pack a hell of a punch with that fancy space magic," said the gunnery chief playfully.
"Yeah? That must be why the Alliance won't let me retire," he said as he stretched himself out.
While the two bantered back and forth, Shepard watched the path ahead as the tram made its way towards the docks. For all she knew, they were too late. The beacon could very well have left on that horrific mother ship, and their arrival would be met with an empty dock. But regardless of the potential outcome, her duty wasn't finished until she saw it with her own eyes.
It took another minute or two before the tram finally slid into the station at the docks. And as soon as they hit tground, they were fighting again. Another of Shepard's stunning sabotages made their first two targets easy, allowing both Alenko and Williams to tear through their shields and bodies with relentless assault rifle fire. But, as soon as they took cover behind one of the dividing walls of the docks and started firing back, the stakes jumped from serious to critical.
"Uhhh...Commander?" came the voice of Alenko as Williams and Shepard fired from opposite sides of the partition.
Shepard looked over at the man, confused as to why he wasn't helping, and immediately got her answer. Her eyes widened immensely as she stared down at the device at his feet. It was a cylindrical object the size of a large duffel bag and consisted of many wires hooked into its central core. "Is that was I think it is?" she asked as she put her weapon away and knelt down next to it.
"That was my question…" said the lieutenant as he took her place at the partition and began trading fire with the geth forces.
Shepard opened her omni-tool and linked to the device, cringing as she saw that it was exactly what she thought it was. "Can you disarm that Commander?" asked Williams as she ducked back to escape the return fire.
"If I can't, then we're all dead. So let's hope I can," she growled as she went through the schematics on her omni-tool. Unfortunately, she didn't know where the kill spot was, or if it even had one. One thing that did worry her though was the five minute readout that her omni-tool was showing her. Immediately she began assaulting its circuits, trying to rip apart the schematics to find anything that would allow her to figure out the geth made device. Her eyes widened as that last thought passed through her head. "I need a geth!" she shouted to the other two.
Williams looked at her like she was insane, but Alenko just nodded. "I got you, Commander," he said, then turned towards the partition again. Reaching out with one hand, his aura lit up once more. And in a matter of seconds, the metal body of a geth flew through the doorway and slammed into the wall next to the bomb, breaking its optical light, but not killing it. Williams stepped forward and blasted the limbs off of its body as Shepard linked to the mechanical creature.
"Don't want it trying to grab you," said the gunnery chief as she turned back to the doorway and fired through again.
"Good job you two. You're both promoted in my heart," said the commander as she linked to the automaton and began scanning its memory core. Immediately, she noticed it start to fry everything in an attempt to counter her hacking. However, she managed to find what she needed before its movement died off entirely. "Got it!" she cried before turning back to the bomb and typing away rapidly on her omni-tool.
Less than a minute later, she jumped to her feet and drew her weapon. "Thanks Commander. You just saved a lot of lives," said Alenko as he took aim with his assault rifle and ended the last of their targets in sight.
"Don't thank me yet. We've still got three more somewhere around here, and there are only three minutes left on the timer," she said as she drew her pistol and moved through the cleared corridor down to the docks. "Keep your eyes open for the other three and tell me if you spot it immediately! I can link to them long distance, so even if we're not that close, I can still disarm it!"
OoOoO
2183.126 CE - 1350 CST
Constant Space Port E6, Eden Prime
An entire horde of geth and three bombs later, the trio finally stood on dock E6 where the beacon stood tall at the end of the shipping pier. Unfortunately, from the looks of the device, it had sustained severe damage. Shepard growled as she looked around for anyone, anything that might have been responsible. But there was nothing left. No geth, no turians, no nothing. They had gotten here as fast as they could, and failed.
Sighing to herself, she reached up and activated her comm. "Normandy, the beacon is secure. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear to be in good condition. Requesting extraction immediately from Constant Port E6."
Joker immediately replied over the comm, his voice filled with relief, despite his efforts to hide it. "Captain's not gonna be happy about that. But I'm glad to hear you made it Commander. Coming into Port E6 now."
While she signaled the ship to their location, Williams and Alenko stared at the beacon itself in awe. "It's amazing. Who'd have thought that Eden Prime of all places would have had a working beacon?"
"Alenko, we need to go over something before the ship arrives," ordered Shepard as she killed her comm. The lieutenant nodded and walked over as the gunnery chief continued to stare at the large obelisk of prothean technology.
Despite its destroyed appearance, she could still hear a faint humming coming from the device. "It wasn't doing that when they dug it up…" she said as she stepped closer to the towering beacon. "Something must have activated it." As she moved forward, the humming became louder, prompting her to take another step. Suddenly, the front face of the device lit up like a rave stick and she began to slide closer to the object against her will, as if being pulled by some kind of gravitational force. "Commander!" she shouted as she tried to step away. However, it continued its forceful pull of her regardless.
Shepard looked over to her squadmate, and immediately sprinted towards Williams. Making it to her in record time, the commander grabbed the gunnery chief and hurled her aside and out of the devices pull. Unfortunately, she was now encompassed within its well of force and began sliding even faster without proper footing to resist. She flew, jerked towards the machine before being held up like some kind of puppet, her blue eyes now wide in shock as she felt visions invade her mind.
"Shepard!" shouted Williams as she reached out towards the officer. But Alenko immediately pulled her back.
"No! Don't touch it!" he shouted, watching in horror as their commander floated in front of the glowing beacon, her arms splayed out and spasming as if she were being electrocuted.
Shepard slammed her eyes closed, the visions assaulting her mind. Visions of nightmares, death, destruction, oblivion, all attacking her consciousness from every angle until finally, she blacked out. As soon as she did, the beacon went dark again and exploded, sending the commander flying towards her squad.
OoOoO
2183.126 CE - 1430 CST
? - ?
"We identified the ship that touched down on Eden Prime. The SSV Normandy SR1, a human Alliance vessel," said the woman, her voice wavering, unsure of how to relay the next bit of news she had for him. "It was under the command of Captain David Anderson."
Immediately, the turian growled and clenched his talons together. "And the colony?"
"According to the geth drones, all of the bombs were disarmed before detonating," she said, standing more rigid than she ever had in her entire life. Also…" she started, but he interrupted with his menacing voice.
"There's more?" he asked in a venomous tone as he flexed his other claw dangerously.
"It...it appears that the beacon wasn't completely destroyed when you left. One of the humans managed to use it before finally exploding," she said, her voice as calm as a lapping ocean wave despite her anxiety.
But her demeanor almost crumbled as the turian stood to his feet in a rage and backhanded the terminal set in front of him, sending it crashing into the wall and shattering. Roaring in fury, he spun around and closed in on her, then grabbed her by the face with his lethal talons. She stared into the cold malice of his blue eyes as she stood still, not wanting to anger him anymore. Suddenly, as if doused by water, the flames of his rage died, and his growling stopped.
"This human must be eliminated," he said, instilling in her a new fear. It wasn't a request or a proposition. It was an order, with failure only being rewarded with death. Saren never asked for anything. If he wanted something, all he had to do was say it and someone either got it for him or died. She nodded her crowned head before turning away from him and exiting the room hastily.