"...What the flying fuck!?" Shepard exploded. "Cerberus!? The same Cerberus that slaughtered dozens of innocent people in their experiments!?"
"Shepard, a lot can change in two years." Jacob said. "We're not the same Cerberus you encountered. I don't know how I can prove it, but it's true."
"...Fine." Shepard cooled down. "You haven't given me any reason not to trust you so far. Come on, let's get to the shuttles." Shepard took charge, leading the other two to the shuttle bay.
The door opened, revealing several mechs on the other side. The three instantly opened fire, tearing through the mechs, and successfully making it to the shuttle.
"Come on." Wilson said, as he started to override the door. "We're almost at the-" The door opened, revealing a very pissed off woman on the other side. "Miranda? But you were-"
Miranda pulled the trigger on her pistol, blowing Wilson's head off, and scattering blood everywhere.
"What the hell are you doing?" Jacob demanded, rushing over to Wilson.
"My job." Miranda answered. "Wilson was the one who betrayed us."
"Kinda got the feeling he was looking to shoot me in the back at the first chance." Shepard said, holstering her pistol. "And my feelings are never wrong."
"Good instincts." Miranda complimented. "Some are far too trusting to see that coming."
"So?" Jacob asked. "What do we do now?"
"We get off the station." Miranda said.
"What about the others?" Shepard asked.
"There aren't any." Miranda said. "Us three are the only living things in this entire station."
Shepard sighed. "Then let's go."
"Come on." Miranda guided. The three stepped into the shuttle, and flew away from the station. "Before you meet the Illusive Man, we have to ask a few questions to evaluate your condition."
"Alright." Shepard nodded. She could understand where Miranda was coming from.
Jacob activated his omni-tool, and pulled up Shepard's file. "Okay, says here you were born on Earth, and found abandoned by police in Norway at Dårlig Ulv Stranden. You were then taken back to Canada by an Alliance Captain and your adoptive mother, Hannah Shepard. At eighteen, you enlisted and served on Elysium in the 501st garrison. Later, you almost single-handedly held off an attack by Batarian slavers on the colony. Sound about right?"
"Remember it clear as day." Shepard said. "Never knew who my biological parents were. Only that, for some reason, I wasn't good enough for them."
"I'm sure that wasn't the case." Miranda said. "Okay, let's try something more recent. You had to leave behind a squadmate on Virmire, where you destroyed Saren's cloning facility."
"Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams was KIA." Jacob picked up from Miranda. "You made the call. Why did you leave her behind."
"I had to sacrifice a friend that day, and I didn't do it casually." Shepard said. "Either one of my team died, or Saren's army would've been free to rampage across the galaxy, and she wasn't about to let Kaidan sacrifice himself. If she hadn't... We'd probably all be dead right now."
"Understood, Commander." Jacob didn't press further.
"Shepard, think back to the Citadel." Miranda prompted. "After saving the Destiny Ascension, you nominated someone to be the new human councilor. Who did you choose?"
"Captain Anderson." Shepard stated simply, not hesitating.
"Yes. Captain Anderson is now Councilor Anderson. Though from what I hear he preferred life in the military."
"I can imagine." Shepard chuckled.
"Your memory certainly seems solid." Miranda said. "But there are other tests we really should-"
"Come on, Miranda. Enough with the quizzes." Jacob said. "Shepard's memories are there, and I can vouch for her combat skills personally."
"I suppose you're right." Miranda conceded. "Hopefully, the Illusive Man accepts our little field test as evidence enough."
Shepard nodded, and relaxed, waiting for the shuttle to finally get to where they were going.
The Doctor, after getting everything that he could from something called a 'public extranet terminal,' started making his way back to the TARDIS, only to realize something.
"What!?" He shouted, channeling his tenth incarnation for a brief moment.
The alleyway that the TARDIS was supposed to be in was completely vacant.
"This is most certainly not good." The Doctor understated. In a bit of a eureka moment, he remembered that all TARDISes, no matter the type or mark, leave residual artron energy where they visit. If the TARDIS was simply picked up and moved, then he should be able to follow the trail by sensing the energy fluctuations with his body alone. Barring that, he could just recalibrate a computer to detect the energy.
Deciding it couldn't hurt, the Time Lord closed his eyes, and smiled once he found exactly what he was looking for. He reopened them, and set off.
Shepard's shuttle docked, and the three got off. Miranda led Jacob and Shepard into a waiting room, and got to her own work. "The Illusive man is waiting for you in the other room." The Cerberus operative said.
Shepard nodded, and proceeded into the room Miranda pointed to, and walked down the steps, onto a circular platform.
The moment Shepard stepped on, a holographic grid rose up from the circle, surrounding Shepard. The grid flickered, and replaced Shepard's view of the room with a large chamber, with a big window overlooking a dying star. A man was sitting in a simple yet elegant chair in the center of the room.
"Commander Shepard." The Illusive Man greeted, taking a drag from his cigarette.
"Illusive Man. I thought we'd be meeting face to face."
"A necessary precaution." He said, tapping the ash of his cigarette. "Not unusual, for people who know what you and I know."
"And what is that, exactly?"
"Humanity's presence in the galaxy is a lot more fragile than we like to think. And now, we're up against the greatest threat of our brief existence."
"The Reapers."
"Good to see your memory's still intact." TIM smiled. "How are you feeling?"
"Noticed I had some upgrades a few minutes ago." Shepard said. "Hope you didn't replace anything too important."
"No. We needed you as you were when you defeated Saren and the Geth."
"Okay..." Shepard said. "What was it that made you decide to bring me back."
The Illusive Man stood up, and approached Shepard. "We're at war. No one wants to admit it, but humanity is under attack. While you've been sleeping, entire colonies have been disappearing. Human colonies. We believe it's someone working for the Reapers. Just as Saren and the Geth aided Sovereign. You know more about the Reapers than anyone else in the entire galaxy. Cerberus could have trained an entire army with what we spent to train you, but they wouldn't have your knowledge on the Reapers. Training an army ultimately becomes useless when you know literally nothing about the enemy you face."
"If this is a threat to humanity like you say, you need to contact the Alliance and tell them to mobilize."
"They suffered substantial losses fighting Sovereign." TIM explained. "They're rebuliding, and their forces are stretched too thin to waste their resources verifying the Reaper threat. Blaming the abductions on mercs and pirates is easier, and more convenient."
"But Sovereign was trying to harvest all life. Why would the Reapers only attack human colonies?"
"We don't know, not for certain. Perhaps it may be because a human killed Sovereign."
"Okay, say I do believe you and buy that the Reapers are involved. What would you want me to do?"
TIM turned around, and moved to sit in his chair. "I have a shuttle waiting to take you to the most recently attacked colony - Freedom's Progress. Find any clues you can. Who's behind the abductions? Do they have any connection to the Reapers? I brought you back, Shepard. It's up to you to do the rest." TIM tapped a button on his chair, and terminated the commlink.