Chapter 4: Catching up.
"Tell me what happened. I need to know it all," Shepard requested.
"Are you sure? Right now?" Garrus said, doubtfully.
"Yes. I can handle it." She was lying of course, but the anxiety of not knowing was even worse. "I'll tell you what I remember afterward."
"Alright then. Well, while you were running for the conduit, I was coordinating one of the support teams. Then I heard on the comm link that no one made it to the beam, that our entire force was decimated..."
"You thought I was dead," she said.
"Yes. But you know I would have never let you die in vain," he expressed. "We regrouped. Anderson came out with another strategy, and we were set in motion. I didn't know, until later, that you were still breathing in there. My team was in charge of bringing down the Reaper that stopped you. Our inspiration was you... and Rannoch. You see, Commander, your madness wasn't left unnoticed."
"Good," she stated.
"And that was when the Normandy got wounded, as Joker says. You see, your crazy pilot crossed all the enemy forces to give us ground support in taking down the Reaper, it was a miracle that he made it so far or that they didn't crash upon reaching Earth."
"If someone could pull that off, that's Joker, to be sure."
"Yeah, I guess the guy and EDI make a good team after all. Apparently the modified IFF protocols helped a lot," he paused. "Anyway, Anderson and his team managed to get up there, to the Citadel. Minutes later, its arms opened, just as I learned that you were alive, barely. The field doctor who was attending you, told us about the patterns you drew. Anderson had taken them."
"And then what happened?" she asked, trying to keep on hold her anxiety.
"Well, the Citadel got red and shiny, and then I swear, the Reapers and their ground forces went puff. I don't know how else to describe it. One minute they were there, and the next they were all gone. Scientists said they 'suffered molecular disintegration.' Just like that, Shepard."
"I see," she nodded, thoughtfully, and then added, "I sort of have a name, you know."
"Oh, yeah..." Garrus sounded embarrassed, like he had been missed a big angry elephant in the room for the past three and a half years. He scratched at his nape, between one of his natural armor plates. "Sure you do, and it's actually a very nice name, Melody. It's just that... I got used to..."
"Of course," she smiled to him, and reached out to hold his hands. "No problem, Garrus, but it actually felt kinda weird when you kept calling me 'Shepard' in bed..."
"Won't happen again," he remarked.
"So, 'molecular disintegration'?" she asked, returning to the previous subject.
"That's right. Nothing was left of them."
"And what about the Reaper codes the geth used to improve themselves?"
"For some reason, nobody really knows why, the disintegration didn't affect Reaper based tech, as long as it was integrated with another kind of technology. Yes, it is a question a lot of people are asking themselves," he paused. "However, all across the galaxy, the Reapers disappeared, system by system. About the mass relays, well, I told you already they overloaded and got destroyed, but they didn't explode like the one on Bahak. A lot of people, me included, believe that we have your patterns to thank for it."
"What about Anderson?" she asked.
"He... didn't manage to get out of the Citadel on time. He died a hero."
"That should have been me up there..." Shepard said in a deep voice. A profound expression of grief dominated her features. Her eyes looked down.
"Melody, look at me," he told her, and she complied. "You did it, you saved us all, I do believe so. Anderson believed in you, up to the last moment, and I'm sure he wouldn't have liked it if you felt guilty for surviving. He sacrificed to give everybody else a chance, just like you were willing to do, just like we all were. I'm glad you made it not only because of what you mean to me, but because the galaxy still needs you. You're a peacemaker; I told you that already on the Normandy. Right now… people are too happy about being alive to bring back old grudges, but tensions are slowly arising among the different races fleets stationed on Earth, and it'll take a... you, to put everyone back in order again."
She nodded, slightly. Melody Shepard's method of dealing with strong emotions was pushing them back for later, and it was taking a toll on her. The bill was getting too large to pay off. She took all her regrets and self-reproaches about Anderson's death, and did what she new best; she postponed them to deal with. However, she had to admit herself this time that she didn't know for how long she'd be able to put it off.
"Only quantum entanglement communication works now," he continued. "Luckily all homeworlds and most of the important colonies had the devices installed, so the council can be rebuilt. They are working on that already. Kaidan Alenko is organizing all the meetings and discussions."
"Look at him... he's into politics, now?" she commented.
"Second human Spectre, he served on the Normandy... he became a symbol," he said. "Not to mention, he learned from the best. From me, of course," he joked. "Anyway, it's good to have a friend up there dealing with all the nasty, maybe he'll make things go right this time."
The Commander nodded, intent on never telling the turian about her lunch meeting with Alenko on the Citadel, when the human confessed he had feelings for her. She recalled Kaidan seemed upset when she turned him down, even mentioning that it was not the answer he was hoping for, and she had thought "Honestly, Kaidan, what were you hoping for? That I would just leave Garrus, the man I trust most in this galaxy, that went with me to hell and back, for yet another guy who doesn't believe in me?" but she had kept it to herself. The two persons who claimed having the strongest feeling for her, were just too busy or too distrustful to accompany her to the collector's base, therefore she couldn't help feeling good with herself for having rejected them both on board of the first Normandy, albeit she had had other reasons at the time.
"Yeah. After all that happened, friends are a good thing to have," she simply said.
"Sure," he replied. "Anyway, where was I?"
"Quantum entanglement comm," she told him. "What have you heard about your people?"
"Well, many civilians on Palaven retreated to less populated areas, and they survived. The evacuated are in the colonies. Had the Reapers not be defeated when they were, and-"
"Don't think about it," she whispered. "So, calling back the fleet was a good call, after all."
"Yeah. I heard from my family, they're fine."
"Good to know."
"They're not so happy about... you and me, though," he admitted. "Don't get me wrong, they totally admire Commander Shepard, like everybody else in the galaxy, but they just don't get..."
"A human and a turian being together," she finished the sentence for him. She wasn't so comfortable on being admired by the entire galaxy, but she said nothing about it. "It's OK, Garrus, it mustn't be easy for them. My dad won't get it, either," she paused. "I wonder..."
"I spoke with your mother," Garrus said. "She was helping evacuating human colonies, and got stranded like everybody else when the Reapers dissolved and the mass relays broke. You should speak with her when you have the chance."
"Does it mean...? My father...?" she asked, nervously.
He denied slowly with his head. "I'm sorry, Melody, I really am."
She lowered her head. Silent tears began pouring from the corner of her eyes, before she could attempt to stop them from flowing. He leant forward, still on the couch, caressing her face. She took his hand and pressed it against her chest. Her mouth opened to speak, but no sound came out.
"So much loss, with this war..." she said a while later, when she could speak. Her cheeks were still moist with tears. "My dad, Miranda Lawson, Mordin Solus..." her voice broke.
"Yeah," he said.
"Is there... a list of the deceased, yet?"
"No, not yet. Estimates are that each race lost more than half their population, even more in some cases, like the asari, elcor and batarian. It's very hard, but people are rebuilding. Life goes on and there is hope for the future..."
"Life finds a way," she whispered.
"Exactly," he made a long pause, all the time looking at her, trying to check on her state of mind if that was possible at all. "Right now, as we speak, there are scientists teams working together all across the galaxy, using QE comm, trying to find a way to rebuild the mass relays-"
"What?" she screamed, and jumped out of the couch in one movement. "No, no, no, no, no, Garrus," she said rapidly, distressed. She started walking in a line on the floor, coming from one end to the other, while gesticulating quickly. "They can't do that, no, no, the rest of the Reapers, the void between galaxies..."
"Please, calm down, Melody. Sit here and tell me what's on your mind," he requested.
She sat down, but her hands and eyes kept moving at a high speed. "The patterns. I told you about this at the hospital."
"Yes, but even then you admitted you didn't make sense," he replied. "Why don't you try to breathe slowly, clear your mind, and start from the beginning? There's time; even if the mass relays are a threat, there'll be years before anyone can figure out how to build them again."
"OK," she said, and took a deep breath. "Well, you know, when I was running to the conduit, and got injured..." he nodded, and she continued "I had hallucinations after that. In them, I got up and walked to the conduit and reached the Citadel. Up there I met Anderson and the Illusive Man..."
"He was never found, the Alliance's still searching for him," Garrus informed.
"He was heavily indoctrinated, in my vision. He talked to me, trying to convince me that he had found a way to control the Reapers, without having to destroy them. Of course I know now that nothing of that was real, but it sure felt so..."
"It's OK now," Garrus reassured her.
"Anyway, there was this... child, some sort of star-child. Nothing he said made any sense at all, but in the vision I just couldn't reply to him. Then he offered me three options: to control the Reapers, to merge organic and synthetic life, or to destroy them for good. You know? I remembered Saren, committing suicide when he realized the Reapers couldn't be controlled, that he had tried in vain and ended up indoctrinated himself. That last moment, when he regained his own mind and thoughts..."
"Thanks to you," he added. "It was you who made him see he was wrong."
"I wanted him to join us, not to kill himself."
"I know," Garrus said.
"Anyway... after I chose to destroy the Reapers, I had this visions I told you about the Normandy, and then some strange conversation between a boy and his grandparent... and then I woke up, on Earth, with rubble all over me. I realized at that very moment, that Harbinger had tried to indoctrinate me, and I was possessed with a maniacal homicidal fury."
"I've met your maniacal homicidal fury episodes, and you're not nice during them, Commander," he joked. "Those are the moments when one's glad to be on your side."
"I guess..." she said. "Anyway, it was then when the real vision came. In fact... it's hard to explain, but I noticed that when Harbinger touched my mind, in his attempt of subdue it, I also touched his, or whatever it is that Reapers have as an equivalent of mind. Just like the beacon in Eden Prime, except this time I understood what I saw. The dark energy patterns emerged clearly in my mind, and that's what I drew for Anderson. However, Garrus... I also saw there were a lot other patterns... one for each galaxy in this universe. There are Reapers in each, harvesting technically advanced organic life, all across the universe we can see..."
"Huh," was all Garrus found himself able to say.
"Our mass relays probably respond only to the patterns Anderson used, but these things created the relays. Other Reapers, from other galaxies, could be lurking now around us, seeking to revenge the ones we destroyed, and I imagine it wouldn't be hard for them to figure this galaxy's dark energy patterns and align them to their own, and invade again..."
"Well, Melody, we don't even know if they have a concept such as revenge, or if they can so easily travel between galaxies. Sure, the relays are their technology, but you said yourself how they have different patterns for each galaxy, and probably there is a reason for that. Even if they came back, we have defeated them once, and we would be more prepared. The relays are a need for the galaxy… and a lot of planets are missing valuable resources they could get if they were operational," he paused, and then added, "Including Palaven."
"I know what Palaven means to you, Garrus, but the risk is too high."
"We'll prepare for it, then. We can build another Crucible, be ready if they ever come back. But we cannot just give up on the relays. Galactic cooperation depends on them."
"This team of scientists could research on something else, something that is not Reaper based tech."
"That's what the quarians proposed, but scientists assure that it'd take centuries to develop a new tech that isn't based on the mass effect. The relays didn't vaporize like the Reapers, they just broke into many pieces, some bigger than others. They are studying those pieces, trying to make sense on how they all worked together."
"I... see," she said.
"It is you who taught me there is always a way," he said softly.
"Yeah... I really hope they will believe me, this time."