Now that We've Lived to See Tomorrow

by Shain-of-Ireland

They say to be a good soldier is to expect the unexpected. That's fine in theory, but can one honestly be prepared to handle whatever life throws at them? As the Reaper threat returns and 'Expect the unexpected' starts to become an unwritten rule instead of just a simple saying, Shepard and her crew may need to rethink what exactly it was they signed up for.

6. Chapter 6

I would like to state that any canon and copyrighted characters of Mass Effect that appear in this story are property of Bioware. I do make no profit from posting this, yada yada yada, you know this disclaimer from the beginning of my previous chapters.

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Chapter Six

"I'm sorry, Commander. I didn't expect her to react that way."

Shepard and Garrus stood in the Normandy's Main Battery room. While it probably would have made sense to simply go to her private quarters or even the Communications room like she did for usual briefings, Shepard felt it best to stay as close to the med bay as possible should Chakwas need her assistance with Mavis again.

Mavis's first meeting with Garrus had been, for lack of a better word, disastrous. There hadn't even been a chance to properly introduce them to each other before Mavis had started screaming like she'd just seen a Thresher Maw. Both Shepard and Chakwas had attempted to calm her, but the second Garrus had taken a step forward to join them, her screaming increased and she had recoiled into the far side of the bed.

That was when things truly got out of hand. Mikhail grew upset that Mavis was screaming and was further bothered by the fact that she did not seem to find comfort in his reassurances, no matter how hard he tried. Mavis's screaming and cowering quickly devolved to shoving Mikahil behind her and going so far as too push him off the bed entirely, presumably to keep him out of Garrus's reach. She had managed to back herself up so far against the bed that she almost fell off the other side of the mattress, which had prompted Garrus to rush forward to grab her before she did so. Of course that only succeeded in scaring her even more and caused her to intentionally lunge off the bed. Shepard, seeing no other option, had called for EDI to send down assistance while Chakwas joined Garrus in attempting to get hold of Mavis. Above all the din Mikhail could be heard torn between crying fretfully and accusing everyone of purposely upsetting Mavis.

By the time Jacob and two of the crew had arrived on the scene, Mavis had successfully managed to unplug herself from several machines while reopening some stitching. She had barely managed to get a foot on the ground when she discovered that the attack on Horizon left her with a sprained ankle that she really shouldn't walk on, causing her to topple to the floor in a mess of limbs, bed sheets and a thankfully empty bedpan. The necklace she had been holding had clattered away across the floor in all the confusion as she thrashed around. She hadn't been exactly thrilled with Jacob and the two crewmen attempting to restrain her either, squawking hysterically like an indignant parrot and biting at their fingers when they got too close. It was when Mavis tore out her IV and actually tried stabbing at Garrus with it that Shepard had finally had enough of giving orders and decided it was time she take matters into her own hands.

With what Chakwas would no doubt later admonish her for as unnecessary roughness, she had launched herself into the fray and gotten hold of both of Mavis's arms. She had then proceeded to straddle the irate woman's legs and pin her to the ground while Jacob reinserted the IV under Chakwas's guidance. Chakwas went to work right away in sedating Mavis after that. The injured woman still had some hysteria-born fight left in her though and put up something of a struggle while the sedation took effect, so they deemed it necessary to use restraints once she was deposited back in her bed.

By the time everything was squared away and back in running order, they had gathered quite the crowd outside of the med bay. Well it hadn't been much of a crowd so much as it was a segment of uniformed crew all standing suspiciously close to the windows while still trying to look like they were doing something remotely productive. Once Shepard's eyes had landed on them, the majority of them dispersed, eyes on the ceiling, inconspicuously wandering away like they hadn't been staring at all, she was sure that she had even heard some of them whistling nonchalantly. Not everyone left right away though. Zaeed had lingered behind. He had stood staring back at Shepard through the window, looking for all the world like he had had the good fortune of stumbling upon front row seats to some great performance. He had seen the whole debacle unfold with something suspiciously like amusement, having apparently deemed the whole mess interesting enough to watch but not important enough for him to have been willing to lend a hand to. He simply gave her a shrugged before sauntering away. Smug bastard.

While Chakwas had shooed the stragglers away and calmed down Mikhail, Shepard had remained behind to figure out just what the hell had happened. Considering Garrus was pretty much the unwilling catalyst of the whole spectacle, she thought it best he stay behind too. Chakwas however had been wary about Mavis having another outburst should she wake up and see Garrus again and had insisted they not be in the med bay when Mavis did come to so they retreated to Garrus's usual abode on the Normandy.

And so now she stood in dim lighting of the Main Battery with Garrus apologizing to her for something she couldn't honestly hold him responsible for in the first place.

"I really am sorry, Shepard," Garrus said again.

"You have nothing to apologize for," Shepard reassured him, pinching the bridge of her nose, "I doubt anyone thought she would freak out like that. I get that she has been through a lot but I'm not used to dealing with someone so…all over the place with their emotions like that. This is why I prefer not to deal will civilians. Soldiers are trained to handle most any situations so that they can function enough to get the job done without compromising their entire team. But civilians are so upfront with what they're feeling; I'm not used to having someone looking to cry on my shoulder."

"You'd think I was one of those husks from the way she reacted to me," Garrus stated pensively. It was clear he was bothered by it; most people who cringed in fear of him reacted that way because of his formidable skills and deservingly earned reputation, not because of his race.

"Try not to take it to heart, Garrus," Shepard told her friend, placing a hand on his shoulder; "At least her kid likes you. We'll be rid of her once we reach the Citadel anyway. Then her xenophobia will be C-Sec's problem."

Garrus shook his head, "I don't think that's it, Shepard."

Shepard frowned, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I don't think that little display back there was the typical xenophobia."

"What," Shepard asked, more than a little confused now.

"You saw how she reacted," Garrus gestured helplessly with his hands, not exactly sure how to put his thoughts into words, "She wasn't acting like that out of hate or distrust towards me because I was a foreigner in her eyes; we've encountered that type before, Terra Firma being the biggest offender of racism in large numbers. But her, she was terrified of me. She looked at me like she had no idea what I was; like she had never seen a Turian before." Garrus paused, "Shepard…I don't even think she knows what a Turian is…"

Shepard looked at Garrus like he had sprouted a second head. "You're kidding."

"I'm afraid he isn't Commander."

Chakwas walked into the Main Battery solemnly.

"Forgive me for interrupting, Commander," she apologized, "I have Jacob watching over Mavis and Mikhail right now; I felt it was important I speak with you."

"I take it that it's about what happened back there, huh?" Shepard guessed.

Chakwas sighed. "Not even an inkling of familiarity to Turians," she said despairingly, "And she didn't seem to recognize the term 'Salarian' when Mikhail was telling her about Mordin. She even seemed genuinely shocked to learn that the doll she found on Horizon was of an actual alien race, the Elcor."

"You heard her back there," Garrus said to Shepard, "'What the hell is that,' those were her exact words. She had no idea what she was looking at when she saw me; I was something completely new to her."

"Well amnesia would have something to do with that, right?" Shepard inquired. She looked to the doctor for reassurance.

Chakwas shook her head, "Generally no. Amnesia does not normally affect Non-declarative memory; the things we know and remember reflexively if not instinctually," she explained, "Things like how to eat, how to tie our shoes, that a bed is for sleeping, what silverware is used for. Things that are taught to us in youth and are essential to our daily living and understanding are a different aspect of memory than those of specific names and events or episodic memories; they are a different section of memory entirely and they stay with us, knowledge we recall without much trying."

"So that's the same part of the memory that should recognize what Garrus is?" Shepard asked, glancing at her friend.

Garrus gave her a shrug.

Chakwas hummed in affirmation, "Races and ethnicities generally fall into the Non-declarative memory category. A human with amnesia still knows they are human and they normally don't find it strange to see someone of a different race or ethnicity provided it was something they knew reflexively prior to losing their memory. And humans have been aware of alien races like the Turians for decades."

"Especially the Turians, if not any of the others," Garrus pointed out, "The First Contact war marked humans' first encounter with sentient alien life to begin with."

"It's a basic part of our history," Shepard added, "Has been for years."

"Exactly," Chakwas agreed, "And yet here we are with a case like Mavis. The only way I can make sense of such knowledge not being Non-declarative and reflexive to her is if it hadn't been taught to her as common knowledge to begin with."

"How is that possible?" Garrus asked, "Horizon is far from a cloistered human environment. They are fully aware of Citadel races and I am willing to bet some have even married into their families at this point. She would have had to been raised in a bubble to not know what a Turian is."

Shepard tilted her head in bafflement, "I don't think it's even possible to be raised that sheltered in this day and age."

"That's not all," Chakwas said, "Remember when you first brought her in to me? She was suffering from airborne infection; she hadn't been properly vaccinated before coming to the colony."

Shepard nodded, "That's right. I remember you mentioning that during her initial treatments. So even without official records we can surmise that she truly didn't live on Horizon."

"That in and of itself is strange," Garrus stated, "she wasn't listed in the registry for Horizon and no on remaining on the colony knew of her. And so far we haven't found any other record of her in the shuttle logs to and from the colony."

"So we've all but ruled out Horizon as being her home now, that's good," Shepard said, "Now we just need to figure out how she got there and how she managed to skip medical protocol."

"Then you should also try and find out why she lacked any form of communications device," Chakwas stated.

Garrus perked up, "That's right," he recalled, "When we found her, I tried to talk her down and she didn't seem to understand me at all. There wasn't really any external device with her that could have translated for me so we had to use the function on our omni-tool."

"Not that it did much good anyway," Shepard said, "she passed out pretty quick. As it is, the ones on the omni-tool aren't as efficient as our sub-dermal implants anyway. I still kept my omni-tool on when we first brought her in for treatment me though, just in case."

"Miranda pulled protocol on me," Chakwas admitted, "She requested that I put in a sub-dermal implant."

Shepard eyed her warily, "Requested, or ordered? Did she pull protocol on you? On my ship?" The eerie blue currents of the commander's biotics crackled around her fists as she squared her shoulders and headed for the door, prepared to give the self declared 'perfect human' upstairs a piece of her mind. It was Chakwas hand coming down on her shoulder that stopped her.

"She impressed upon me the importance of doing so," Chakwas sighed, "Mavis had been flitting in and out of consciousness for a while and Ms. Lawson thought it prudent that she be able to understand Mordin if he was present when she came to. I had intended to use a handheld device with her for the duration of the journey back to the Citadel, but Ms. Lawson insisted. I wanted to speak with you first but she had you quite occupied with dealing with the fallout of the colony's abduction. To a degree I can see her reasoning, an implant, while not the simplest of procedures, is the most convenient for longtime use," she shifted uncomfortably, "I only wish I had been given more time to consider the matter before the choice was made for me. I still haven't told Mavis about the implant. I'm not entirely comfortable with having done it without consent of the patient first."

Shepard frowned, "I'll admit it makes the most sense; sub-dermal implants are the most common and durable. But I still don't like that she went around my authority to have that done to someone under my guardianship," she sighed, "I'm sure Miranda means well, but her way of going about things leaves a lot to be desired. She can't make decisions like this on someone's behalf and then use the whole 'it's for the greater good' excuse to justify it." She scoffed in frustration, "Of course it wouldn't be the first time Miranda did something without getting permission first. She certainly didn't ask before reviving me."

"Try not to sound to bitter about being resurrected, Shepard," Garrus quipped, hoping to lighten the mood some before Shepard could go off into some dark, brooding place in her mind.

"I assure you, every day spent with you and your wonderful sense of humor more than makes up for having been a Cerberus experiment without my consent," Shepard muttered sarcastically.

"You're missing the point, Commander," Chakwas cut in, "Mavis had no means of communicator or translator on her person when you found her and she lacked any implant of one as well. A woman her age should have some form of device to aid in communication, especially if she was traveling to the colony from another planet. In this age it is a bit unheard of for someone traveling inter-planetary without any precautions for interacting with other races. Most children grow up with standard language courses at the least."

"And judging by how little she understood Garrus on Horizon, it doesn't sound like she had any of that teaching," Shepard mused, "So aside from her first name, she's pretty much Jane Doe with no knowledge of alien life and she managed to travel to a colony on a different planet without standard procedures," Shepard sighed, "Great. Now what the heck are we going to do?"

"Well for starters, I think we should probably tell Miranda," Garrus suggested.

'Oh goody," Shepard groaned, "Because I just love telling her every single solitary detail of what happens on my ship," she muttered sarcastically.

Garrus allowed himself a small smile at that, "You certainly aren't her biggest fan, are you?"

"It's not that I hate her," Shepard insisted, "Though her methods could use some severe moral questioning. I mean, it's almost hypocritical. She spends her childhood resenting the lack of say in how she lived her life and then when she gets away and has some freedom, it's like she is unable to sympathize with how others must feel when she waltzes in and takes control, flinging around her claims that it is the best way to go about things!"

She paused and took a deep breath, exhaling deeply through her nose, "But no, I don't hate her. I'm just…she frustrates the hell out of me sometimes. Call it biased or petty or a grudge, whatever you want to call it, but I don't feel much like cozying up to someone who barely batted an eyelash at bringing someone back from the dead only to drag them into a gunfight the second they are conscious. But I digress; it's her boss I've got a problem with. He's got his own agenda, and I don't like being someone's pawn. I didn't take down Sovereign so that I could be someone's lackey." She crossed her arms, "I agreed to stop the Collectors and save the colonies, but that doesn't mean I appreciate having him keeping tabs on me to make sure I am doing it to his exact specifications."

Garrus grinned, "It could be worse; for all we know he could have bugged your room."

Shepard crossed her arms, "I wouldn't put it past him and I bet you Miranda would do it if the order came down. In fact I'm pretty sure that I can't even take a piss without the Illusive Man knowing about it somehow." Shepard mimed reading off of a file in a prim and professional, though monotonous tone of voice, "9:35am Shepard entered restroom in personal quarters. Proceeded to urinate. Urination lasted 6.5 seconds. Three sheets of bathroom tissue used. Shepard exits restroom; forgot to wash hands…"

Chakwas laughed dryly, "Really, Commander!"

Garrus shook his head, chuckling, "Very crass, Shepard."

"Hardy-har-har," Shepard drawled, punching him lightly in the arm, "So...about our guest."

Garrus followed her gaze to the door, "Like I said Miranda will want to know about this. And I think it would be a good idea for Mordin and me to get to know Mavis."

"Really? After all that?" Shepard asked, bemused. She shook her head, "But you're right, I see what you're getting at. We're taking her to the Citadel, one of the largest integration of Alien races. If Mavis is bothered by you, she's going to have an aneurism in C-Sec alone; more than half the officers are Turian and Salarian. It would be best if she knew what to expect before she got there. But we will need to go slow with her. Chakwas will never forgive me if I cause her patient to try and run off again before she is healed. Will you, doc?"

"You know me well, Commander," Chakwas agreed.

"Wait…" Shepard paused on her way to the door, "I just thought of something."

"Yes Commander?"

"What is it, Shepard?"

Shepard stared at a fixed point on the wall, thinking, "Chakwas, back before Mavis woke up, a day ago I had mentioned that the security feed we collected showed Mavis hiding in someone's home with Mikhail." She turned to address Garrus as well, "The pantry was their chosen place of cover, remember? But from what I could tell, Mavis didn't seem too sure of how the haptic interface worked; Mikhail had to open it for her." She frowned, "After Mikhail mentioned the trouble Mavis had in remembering her own name, I considered the possibility of her memory loss having an effect on her knowledge of technology." She turned back to Chakwas, "You didn't outright tell me I was wrong, but now that I think about it, you didn't exactly look too convinced about it either. This isn't normal, is it?"

Chakwas shook her head, "Like I said, if such technology was used in her everyday life, she would still know it now due to it being a part of routine, something she encountered on a regular basis ingrained into her mind reflexively."

"So she should have still known how to operate the door in that house even with her mind being in the state it was." Shepard paused, lost in thought.

"Shepard?" Garrus asked her concerned.

"Garrus," Shepard murmured, "If Mavis being afraid of you is because she's never seen a Turian before…then she doesn't know how to use the tech on the colony because she has never seen technology like that before…" she looked at Garrus in utter bewilderment. "Just where exactly did this girl come from?"

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"We'll be at the Citadel in no more than a week," Miranda began, addressing those gathered around the table in the Communications room, "It would be best if our time there were brief, no more than a few days at best."

"We'll need to restock our supplies," Jacob stated from her left, "requests were made from engineering for some necessities."

"The same goes for Gardner in the kitchens," Shepard added, "the crew thinks his food could use some better ingredients and frankly I'd have to agree."

Jacob snorted, "I think we can all agree on that. Then there is the matter of the two colonists we will be dropping off."

"We'll discuss that in a moment," Miranda cut in, "First things first. We've been tasked with enlisting the help of Kasumi Goto, an expert infiltrator and saboteur, mastering in stealth combat with a penchant for retrieving information. Our attempts at contacting her have failed. She is no doubt well known by the higher authorities on the Citadel; her work isn't exactly legal and her elusiveness would put her case file under higher jurisdictions than common C-Sec officers. It would be Spectres who would get the assignment to apprehend her. Shepard, you can use your Spectre status to access any files they may have on her activities to better pinpoint her location."

"Uh, won't she have to reinstate her Spectre status first?" Joker's voice piped up over the comm system.

"Remind me again why Mr. Moreau is a part of this meeting?" Miranda asked.

Shepard shrugged, "He's part of my crew," she said simply, "I trust him."

"Plus my charming personality tends to lighten the mood," Joker stated smugly, "And I'm just saying that Shepard's technically still dead as far as anyone outside of Cerberus knows."

"Aside from the civilian we will be leaving Mavis and Mikhail with," Garrus said, "She knows that Shepard is the one who saved them, right?"

Shepard shrugged, "Kelly is the one who contacted Koskov to alert her to her sister's abduction. Technically all that was stated was that a ship formerly under the Alliance Navy rescued her nephew." Technically the current Normandy was only modeled off the one formerly under Alliance command, but if the majority of alien supporting humans had less than positive views on Cerberus, it was best they not go around telling everyone about Shepard's current work with the group.

"So my point still stands," Joker said, "As far as anyone on the Citadel is concerned, Shepard's still dead. First she'll probably need to make a 'back from the dead' entrance and deal with all the countless eyebrows that it's going to raise. Her Spectre status died when they thought she did so she'll probably have to get reinstated before she can start making orders to see any classified files."

Miranda nodded, "I suppose you have a point."

Shepard smiled. "See," she said, "That's why he's in on this meeting. He's smarter than you give him credit for."

"Don't forget how good looking I am—,"

"Don't push it, Joker," Shepard cut him off, "I can just as easily put you on mute."

"Shall I, Commander?" EDI's disembodied voice offered.

"Hey!"

Shepard smirked, "Not yet EDI. But I'll keep it in mind."

"Anyway," Miranda said tartly, "I agree that Shepard will need to deal with the reinstatement before anything else on the Citadel is done."

"I'm going to meet with Anderson when we get there," Shepard stated, "He contacted the Normandy himself. Apparently there are at least rumors of my return to the living and he wants to confirm for himself that it is true."

"He's a Councilor now if I recall," Miranda said thoughtfully, "He'll no doubt be able to reinstate you."

"Regardless of whether he can or can't, I want to see him," Shepard declared adamantly, "He's the most trusted person I know on the Citadel, especially when it comes to the Council. He deserves to know about my working with Cerberus as well as my reasons for it and I want him to hear it from me and not some idle gossip or rumors."

Miranda pursed her lips, "Fine. Then I guess the next matter to address is the two colonists down in the Med Bay."

"We will be looking to get clearance to put them both in the care of Anna Koskov," Shepard confirmed, "We won't hold any responsibility for them after that and can continue on with stopping the Collectors."

"Shepard," Miranda began, "Having them on board could provide us with an opportunity to gather further information on the Collectors. They experienced the attack firsthand; the majority of the survivors were tucked away in the safe houses whereas these two Colonists not only were out in the middle of the worst of the attack, but also made it out alive and evaded capture."

Shepard considered this carefully, "So they might have noticed things beneficial to us."

Miranda nodded, "I admit it is a slim chance, but that's still better than none. I have already sent Yeoman Chambers to speak with Mavis about her recollection of the attack; without Mikhail present." At the surprised and questioning look Shepard shot her, Miranda added dryly, "Despite what you may or may not believe, I am not so unfeeling as to interrogate a child, Shepard."

Shepard cocked an eyebrow, "Glad to hear that you have a heart."

"Commander," EDI interrupted, "Ms. Lawson requested thatI report any information discussed between Yeoman Chambers and Mavis pertaining to the Collectors."

Shepard leveled Miranda with an exasperated glare, "Really? Just when I thought you had some morals."

"Any information she might have on the Collectors is vital," Miranda insisted.

"The nature of Chamber's session with Mavis has moved its focus onto what transpired on the colony," EDI informed them, "Shall I transfer it through to you."

"This could be considered a complete invasion of privacy," Garrus stated. A quick glance around the table showed that most of those present weren't too comfortable with it either.

"In case you haven't noticed, we haven't exactly been on the straight and narrow up till now," Miranda reminded them, "We've enlisted the help of a Turian sharpshooter exacting vigilante justice on Omega, a trigger-happy bounty hunter, a convict responsible for the destruction of a Cerberus research facility and the countless deaths of those inside, including children and we're attempting to recruit a master thief who has eluded some of the Alliance's most skilled Spectres and authorities. And this transgression against Mavis pales in comparison to the number of questionable judgment calls you have made in the field, Shepard. I understand your reservations on the matter, but the threat the Collectors pose against the human colonies is dire and whatever information Mavis may have could prove useful to us. Mavis will be unaware of what we are doing anyway."

Shepard frowned, disapproval clearly written into the lines of her face. "Let it be known I don't approve of what you're doing Miranda," she said. She sighed, massaging her brow tiredly, "patch it through, EDI."

"Yes Commander," there was a moment of silence and then Kelly's voice came through over the comm system.

"I'm sorry about your friend, Mavis," Kelly said softly.

"She wasn't really a friend," Mavis's voice was distant, tired, "she saved my life and I'm grateful, but I was only with her briefly before they took her…you're sure that…Tursin guy's gone?"

"Turian," Kelly corrected her, "Yes, he's gone. As I stated before he is on another level of the ship right now; he won't come in here unless you agree to it. But really, you have nothing to worry about. Garrus is a truly kind person. He would never harm you. In fact, he was quite concerned for your safety and has been a wonderful friend to Mikhail."

"I'll take your word for it," Mavis said, "He…he startled me. He looks so…I wasn't expecting him."

"You're uncomfortable with him," Kelly said sympathetically, "Don't dwell on it for now. Let's change the subject. Tell me more about Katiana. Are you sure you didn't know her before you lost your memories. Perhaps you two were friends."

"N-no. No, she said herself that she didn't know me. And there wasn't exactly anyone I could stop and ask to see if they knew me either; we were all trying to escape. They were all just running past me when I woke up; Katiana was the only one who even stopped to help me."

"So you were just lying there?" Kelly asked.

"Yes."

"You don't recall anything prior to that?"

"No," Mavis said, "everything's a blank."

"Is there anything of significance that you can remember from when you woke up then?" Kelly prompted, "Anything at all?"

"Not really. When I opened my eyes I was looking at the sky, just lying there in the grass. My head hurt. And my chest…my arms too. Everything hurt, really."

"You were already injured before the attack?"

"I guess so. Katiana said I looked pretty beat up. I know it doesn't make sense, but when I was with her, it didn't hurt as bad. She was soothing, I guess."

Kelly was silent for a moment. "She was a parent; she was probably very nurturing to you which in a time of fear and confusion would be a comfort to anyone. You formed a close bond with her in a short amount of time, which is understandable, given your lack of memories of any close or familiar ties. And you seem to have done the same with Mikhail; taking it upon yourself to look after him. You almost lost you life in doing so."

"I was doing it as much for myself as I was for him…"

"Does that bother you?"

"Not really. I mean, I wanted to live. I was terrified and I wanted nothing more than to get away. Looking after Mikhail just gave me more reason to try and survive. And having him with me made me feel less alone."

"Understandable. Mavis…do you mind if I ask you about the attack itself?" Kelly asked, "We've talked about Katiana and your injuries, but you've avoided talking about what actually transpired after you were left with Mikhail."

More silence. Mavis sounded hesitant when she next spoke, resistant even, "I…We were…"

"Take your time," Kelly coaxed.

"Where do I even begin?" Mavis asked bewildered, "I guess…at first I thought…I thought the bugs that came after us were all I had to worry about."

"But that turned out not to be the case."

"Yeah. There were other…things out there, but the bugs came first."

"Let's focus on that for now. What can you tell me about them?"

"They were like…this big dark cloud in the sky. They came after us in droves. They moved so quickly. They-they singled people out and bit them, or stung them, or whatever it was they were doing and people just froze up."

"So they targeted the colonist immediately?"

"Yeah…they honed in on people with no trouble at all. I saw some people frozen behind crates and boxes. It was like the swarms knew exactly where to look; they knew where to find us. If I hadn't locked us in that pantry, Mikhail and I wouldn't have gotten away; they didn't seem capable of getting through solid objects. I guess that's why the people in the safe house made it out okay. Either that or they decided we weren't worth taking…"

"But you didn't stay in the pantry. Why is that?" Kelly asked.

"I hated sitting there in the dark," Mavis admitted, "I think I might be afraid of the dark, I guess. Not sure if that is a memory or not, but the darkness was terrible. It made everything scarier. I couldn't see; how would I know if they were there? What if something worse was hiding in there with us? I'd never see it coming, now would I? I kept waiting for them to find us; it was driving me crazy. I even started to wonder if being found by them would be better than sitting there scared stiff waiting for them; it was torture sitting there in the dark, waiting for the buzzing to close in on us. And what if they did find us? We were corned; I barely knew how to protect myself, let alone Mikhail." She sighed, "I left the pantry because…I guess I was hoping I would find someone who could help me, someone else who could protect us both so that I wouldn't have to. Like Katiana had done for me. A part of me kept thinking, 'I didn't ask for this responsibility. Why do I have to be the one to fix this? Why can't someone else do it?'…is that selfish of me?"

"Not at all, Mavis. You were scared. You barely knew what was going on and you felt you lacked control over the situation, right?"

"Yeah…"

"It isn't wrong to want help, Mavis."

"…"

"What did you find when you left the pantry?"

"At first, nothing," Mavis replied, "The place was deserted. It was…eerie. Everything was so quiet and still. Even the bugs were gone. Not knowing where they were was just as bad as having them chasing us. And there were these…tracks in the grass."

"Tracks?"

"They had sealed people in these pod-like things," she shuddered audibly in disgust, "the pods looked like insect shells; bug-like… just like those creatures."

"I see."

"Some of the colonists were still awake in those pods when I found them," Mavis said, "One of them was looking at me. Then they just…fell asleep or something. I think the pods did that to them."

"So like stasis pods?" Kelly asked.

"I don't know…maybe?" Mavis said in frustration, "I don't really know what they were. Those things just used them to carry people away."

"Those beings are called Collectors," Kelly clarified.

"Collectors?" Mavis asked.

"They're not like other aliens," Kelly said, "To be honest, most people think they're just myths or stories."

"Well they seemed real enough to me… a living nightmare…"

"You didn't see them when the swarms first came out?"

"No, they came after. After everyone was paralyzed or in the safe house. But I…I think I saw what brought them…"

"You think you did?"

"Yeah," Mavis sounded confused, like she wasn't even sure her own words could be trusted, "When Mikhail's mom—when Katiana ran into the swarm, we had been running to the safe house with a bunch of other people. We were sort of following them when…something shot overhead and uprooted some trees, right in our path."

"What was it?" Kelly's soothing professionalism wasn't enough to keep the intrigue out of her voice.

"I-I'm not really sure. It might have been a ship, I guess? It was flying. I hadn't been looking up when it happened. There wasn't any time, it had moved so fast and the next thing I knew there was screaming and leaves and tree bark flying everywhere and everyone ducked. The ground was shaking and there was like this big invisible force that nearly knocked everyone over like a huge gust of wind or something and then trees just ripped right out of the ground at the roots. I don't even think the thing actually touched them. It was like…the force of it shooting by was enough to pull them clean out of the dirt."

"Think back carefully; is there anything at all you can recall about that moment when it passed over you," Kelly pressed.

"I'm not sure…"

"Close your eye; try and picture it. That moment before the trees fell, did you get a good look at what made them fall?"

"I…well it was big. Massive even. It was more the shadow of it that I saw more than anything else. I'm pretty sure it was a ship when I think about it now. It was black…maybe…maybe brown…gray? The shadow had this funny shape to it, like maybe there were things sticking off of it. That-that's all I can remember about it. Then the swarms came back and everyone was screaming again…"

"What you told me was enough, Mavis, thank you for trying. You did a great job."

"…"

"What is it Mavis?"

"…the swarms came first…then that ship came down low like that…and-and then those things came out…I didn't see a single one of them when we were running. No one mentioned them; all anyone could talk about was the bugs. I was in the pantry for a few hours, I think…and then those things were there…the collectors; just hauling all those people away. They only came down after people were paralyzed or hiding…"

"Mavis?"

"Why…why would they wait? They-they had guns a-and those blue glowing creatures. They could fight…they fought me. They caught me and when their nails sunk in…it hurt so bad…" her words ended in a choked off sob.

"Mavis? Mavis! Deep breaths…just take deep breaths. Hold my hand. Calm down; you're safe here. No one is going to hurt you now. Just take some deep breaths. Do you want me to get Dr. Chakwas?"

"No…no, I-I'm fine. It's just…there's so many thoughts running around in my head right now."

"I only have a few more questions. Then you can take a nice, well deserved rest, okay? Do you feel comfortable enough to continue?"

"Y-yeah. I think so."

"Now I know this is difficult for you," Kelly said softly, "But tell me about the Collectors."

Mavis inhaled sharply.

"Whenever you're ready," Kelly added patiently.

"I tried not to follow the tracks. I hadn't seen what made them yet, and I didn't want to. I thought maybe I could find the safe house myself if I kept going the direction everyone else had been heading. For awhile everything was okay. Mikhail was falling asleep in my arms and everything was so quiet and…then I rounded a corner and saw the pods." She took deep shuddering breaths.

"That's it, just breath, Mavis," Kelly encouraged, "You're safe here. You're no longer on the colony."

"I…I knew I should have looked at the pods. I-I didn't want to. Oh god, I didn't want to, but my feet were moving before I realized it and…I looked anyway. And there was this man just staring back up at me. He looked as scared as I was. And then Mikhail starting crying and," her voice was cracking, "a-and then those things came around the corner and I hid. They were awful. All hard shells and insect bodies. Those…those creepy limbs…and I couldn't see a mouth on them. But they were talking, I think…this clicking weird noise, back and forth but like…all at the same time and then they started dragging everyone away and I kept thinking 'what if they do that to us?' They started walking away a-and I thought we were safe. But then one of them saw me!"

"What did you do then?"

"I just wanted to stay still and hide until they went away; just close my eyes and pretend I wasn't there. But then it turned and saw me and its glowing yellow eyes landed on me and I—I panicked…I just ran…"

"Mavis…"

"Next thing I knew they were shooting at me and those blue things came running out of nowhere and everything was so loud. They were all screaming at me and Mikhail was screaming and I was screaming and they kept catching up to me. I had to…I had to drill a hole in one of their skulls just so it wouldn't get me and there-there was this blood or something just everywhere! It didn't look like blood but it came out of its skull like blood would. And then-and then the swarms came after us again and I tried burning them away but then one of them got Mikhail! And I couldn't stop it! One of those blue zombie things was on me and it pinned me down, trying to claw at my face and eyes and I was just screaming. I bashed its head in…," her voice rose in pitch, becoming more hysterical, "oh god I did! I bashed it until it was one big mess. And then I just picked up Mikhail and ran, and I kept running and running and my ankle hurt so bad and I was bleeding and I just kept running, but I couldn't get away. So I started that fire…what the fuck was I thinking?! That was so stupid! But they kept coming so I grabbed that hammer thing from my bag and started hitting them. And hitting and hitting and hitting! And they were bleeding everywhere. And then there wasn't anything and I thought we were good…I thought we were okay. B-but the fire got bigger and I couldn't stop it and it almost got Mikhail. But it got me instead! It hurt so much! I-I couldn't breathe and I just wanted it to stop. I just kept crying and crying and screaming and things were getting all hazy and I just wanted the pain to stop and I…I…" she broke out into a fresh wave of wracking sobs and said no more.

"Shh…shh," Kelly cooed, "it's okay. I'm here. I'm here…everything's going to be alright…"

"EDI," Shepard commanded, "turn off the transmission. We've heard enough."

"Yes Shepard," the audio cut out abruptly, leaving the scarred woman in the med bay to her privacy.

~OoO~OoO~OoO~

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~OoO~OoO~OoO~

Author's Note: I did research on Declarative and Non-Declarative memory and the effect amnesia has on both, so I hope what I wrote makes sense.
As for the omni tool being used as a temporary translator of alien languages, when I went looking for information on the way communication between alien races works in the Mass Effect universe, various sites explained that the Omni tools more general functions outside of military use included video, audio and holographic communication, which makes it seem plausible to me that it can be used for understanding other languages, so I tweaked it a bit to make it work here. As it is, the explanation I found in the Mass Effect wiki for communication between races was that translators can come in the form of PDAs, devices in clothing and accessories and implants, so the Omni-tool seemed to fit in with this explanation. While it also stated that it is practical for children to grow up taking some form of basic alien language courses and I would assume someone like Shepard would, it would also make sense to me for some as well prepared as Shepard to carry a translator device on her in case she encounters a language barrier outside her experience in communication. So I hope my use of the translator concept in this chapter was acceptable

I'm also trying to be fair in the opinions of characters in regards to other characters. I am not Miranda's biggest fan, but I do try to see things from her perspective for the sake of fairness. Still, my Shepard is a strong willed and at times bossy person who likes to have control of the situation and doesn't like having the reigns taken from her. I did my best in demonstrating that while avoiding being too biased harsh on Miranda. I hope I accomplished that.

Read and review please! Once again please feel free to give me feedback.