Author's note: My sincerest of apologies for the lack of updates. For the last couple of months, I've had a very bad case of writer's block across the board. Hopefully, the worst of it should be over. Also, I will probably insert an end note at the end of each chapter to let you know which character's experience I will work on next.
Samara: Eternity's Embrace
The omni-tool of the asari justicar exploded in a flash of green light, and Samara found herself stumbling out of the room while her partner and Shepard got shut behind the door they had walked through only a few seconds prior. Her eyes looked like they were seeing orange holograms, and the door they tried to open previously was now open to only her.
"So this VI will allow only me to pass. I must find it and stop it from unleashing more havoc," she said to herself as she walked down the new corridor."
"STOP!" yelled the VI, previously only intelligible as a series of sounds that combined animalistic growling and electronic shrieking.
"That voice… sounds as if it is suffering. I must be careful."
As she ran down the corridor overlooking the main chamber, geth attacked her almost continuously, but when she shot them, they disintegrated into holographic green cubes. As she reached the door at the end of the run, she couldn't help but feel disconcerted by this and by how her vision had been tampered with. When she opened the door, the discomfort only increased as the world turned a turquoise-green color and spawned human holograms.
"Square root of 906.01 is 30.1. Square root of 912.04 is 30.2" one hologram was speaking.
"There are no options left. How to get the geth's attention?" the other, a hologram of Gavin Archer, asked. If this was Gavin, then the first hologram must have been his brother David, the brother who was now stuttering in the fashion of the geth.
"The robot says hello."
"Eureka. David, you're a miracle worker.".
"Troubling," Samara voiced to herself as the world returned to its orange color, and a green sphere of datacubes appeared. "I'd best not make any assumptions yet, however."
As she touched the new sphere, the room hologram returned to its green color, again showing Gavin and David, the former asking: "David, can you repeat my notes from Thursday's experiment?"
"Square root of 918.09 is 30.3."
"David, please pay attention!"
"Loud! It's getting loud in here!"
"He doesn't like loud noises?" wondered Samara.
"I'm sorry, you didn't deserve that," Gavin continued. "Would you please repeat my notes from Thursday's experiment?"
"Log 137.3. The experiment yielded no discernable patterns of geth obedience. End dictation now David. Hell, the Illusive Man will have my head for this."
"Thank you. And how you are feeling today?"
"Square root of 924.16 is 30.4… earplugs would be good."
"Impressive memory, even by asari standards," Samara noted as the hologram world returned to its translucent orange color. "But the noise isn't too loud, and yet it still causes pain to him."
A third data sphere emerged, and when she touched it, the world turned to green again. Now there was Dr Archer, David, an assistant and another geth. "David, I want you to order the geth to take a step forward," stated the former, whereupon David stuttering again and the geth began walking in place.
"How does he do it?" the assistant wondered.
"David is a mathematical savant. His autistic mind can interpret the geth language in its most basic form, and mimic their phonetics. With his photographic memory, cross-referencing the meaning is a snap. He is literally a human computer."
"And you think he can interface with the geth's neural network?"
"I do."
"Is that even safe, Doctor?"
"I see no harm in trying."
"A decision I hope he has since come to regret," stated Samara. "Gavin's decisions are unusually reckless for his chosen profession, even if he was working under pressure."
As Samara entered another chamber after killing more holographic geth, another scene was playing out, with David repeating equations in a panicked tone of voice.
"We're ready. Open a connection to the geth network," David ordered.
"No…" was all Samara could say.
"QUIET…" David yelled, as the virtual geth around him raised rifles.
"David, NO! Tell the geth to stand down!"
"QUIET PLEASE MAKE IT STOP!"
As the world returned to its holographic orange and the VI began uploading to the Normandy, all Samara could think was that, right then, the poor child must have been experiencing the equivalent of bonding with an Ardat-Yakshi mind but without the mercy of a quick death. However, she needed to save the Normandy, and so she put these thoughts aside and fired upon the connection nodes.
"Pull the plug! Tell Vulcan Station to cut the power!" a virtual Gavin Archer shouted in another scene that played.
"It's too late! We've lost control!"
As Samara continued to shoot the uplink nodes, she couldn't help but note that they forfeited their control the moment they began torturing David. Eventually, the VI Core Shell broke, revealing David Archer himself suspended off the ground, with wires jammed in his arms, entire circuits forced down his throat, his eyes forced open and welling with tears. Seeing him like this, Samara knew that, not only as a Justiciar, she must take him away from this place.
"Wait, asari!" Gavin Archer yelled from the entrance to the chamber, running towards her. "I'm begging you, don't do anything rash."
"First look into yourself and swear to me that your own actions weren't demonstrably rash," Samara stated, feeling a personal anger rising.
"I know how this must look but I never intended any harm to come to him. It's not like I planned this. Seeing David communicate with the geth… it all seemed harmless."
"Bonding with an Ardat-Yakshi seems harmless at first until your mind is crushed by the force of her will. That is no excuse for your irresponsibility,"
"Yet even in that, you discover something new, and prevent future occurrences of their unique murder. Any war we fight with the geth will be bloody. I was asked to prevent that."
"All wars are bloody. The Rachni Wars. The Krogan Rebellions. Sovereign's Attack. All with a great many deaths. Such is the way of war, and ill-advised torture of innocents will do nothing to change that."
"Don't make light of my work! Many things that people saw as useless became instrumental in shaping our societies. If my work spares a million mothers mourning the loss of a million sons, my conscience will rest easy."
"Will your conscience truly rest easy knowing the damage you have inflicted onto your brother?"
"The damage may not be permanent. He may recover some semblance of his mind."
"But what of his freedom? Are you content to keep him as little more than an experiment?"
"A well-cared-for experiment. At least he'd still be alive."
"And do you think your conscience would rest easy if you knew that he knew you brought him an endless degree of pain that will plague him for years to come?"
This seemed to strike something in Gavin, who turned back to David. The latter's voice sounded over the intercomm: "Square root of 906.01 is…"
"30.1." Gavin replied. "What I've done to David is unethical. If he dies, it's unforgivable. Please… let me take care of him."
"Quiet. Please make it stop."
"No." Samara declared. "It is written in the Code that I am to save the innocent from those who would bring them pain, and is it by the Code that I will relieve you of the custody of this human child."
"No, leave him! He's too valuable!" Gavin drew a pistol and fired at Samara, who quickly hit him with a biotic blast that caused the weapon to fly out of his hand.
"And that is why I will keep a vigil over him, and protect him from you. If you try to retrieve him, you will be treated as a kidnapper and face judgement as is dictated by the Code."
"Where will you take him?"
"That is not for you to know, but know that I will not let him come to harm."
Samara activated her communications link and continued speaking. "Shepard, I've shut down the VI but there is a child in dire need of medical attention."
"Roger," Shepard replied. "Dr. Chakwas will come with the shuttle to treat him."
"Gavin Archer, find peace in the embrace of the Goddess."
Next: Tali