Well here we are once again, all I can say is I hope they make a DLC to correct the ending to ME3. What a F%*ing jip! Different colored lights across the screen, REALLY!
Anyway that is not why you are here. I do not own ME3 or any of the affiliated props. Enjoy the story!
CHAPTER #7
Adapting
Everything had happened so fast that I still did not understand all of it. Liara and I arrived on the bridge of the ship, finding Pressly giving orders to the security teams. The whole room was on edge, two security teams stood at the front of the ship, near the helm, weapons pointed at the doorway leading out to the Feros docks. We approached Pressly, I looked to the doorway of the ship where a pounding noise was coming from. All the guards looked tense and on edge. A video display near Pressly showed a large group of people beating on the ship's door with steel poles, chunks of rock, and some even had bloody fists which continued to pound away on the door futile.
"Damn." I said softly, continuing to watch the video.
"Officer Pressly, how may we assist?" Liara said firmly.
Pressly looked up from the data pad in his hands, his eyes looked over the both of us, he seemed to linger on me, his scowl deepening.
"Dr. T'soni, assist Lt. Kaiden there at the entryway. Mr. Dante go to Medical and assist Dr. Chakwas." Pressly stated, his eyes going back to the data pad in his hand.
Liara moved off towards the entryway; I remained where I was.
"Sir I can fight." I stated.
"No, you think you can fight and your biotics are insufficient." Pressly said, not even glancing at me. "You asked me what you could do to help, so what was not clear?" Pressly stated icily, his gaze unwavering.
"No sir." I turned back towards the stairs heading back the way I had come.
I was upset, but by the truth of his words I was lead to one depressing conclusion; I was useless.
One day later…
The colony at Feros was saved from the Geth and some killer plant that had used spores to turn the colonist into what was referred to as 'mutant zombies.' The Normandy was now on route to an ice planet called Noveria, where more Geth had been reported being seen. I sat on the medical table waiting for Dr. Chakwas to finish her check up on me. Not much was going on on the ship at the moment. Shepard had the whole team in the briefing room going through a debrief of the whole mission.
"Your nosebleeds getting any better?" Dr. Chakwas asked, her hand pushing her shoulder length gray hair back.
"They don't last as long, but yeah, they're still happening." I replied.
"Your shocks still as powerful?"
"No, the static shocks have been less bed since I have been discharging the build up more often."
"How has your appetite been?"
"The way Kaiden works me, I wouldn't care if it was still running if the mess served it up."
"That hungry huh?" Dr. Chakwas said smiling.
"Heck yeah!" I replied smiling.
"Remember anything new?"
"No, still nothing." I replied, the smile leaving my face.
"These things take time, don't push yourself." Chakwas said in a comforting voice.
"Yeah that's what I am afraid of. Everyone has some role or specialty, me on the other hand…" I let the thought trail off.
The door whooshed open and Liara entered the medical room ending our conversation.
"Give it time." Dr. Chakwas said, smiling reassuringly as she moved towards Liara.
"Easier said." I muttered darkly, rolling my eyes.
Dr. Chakwas walked over with Liara in tow.
"Really Dr. Chakwas, I am all right, just tired." Liara said trying to steer towards the back part of the room where the door to her lab and all her data discs were.
"You're swaying a bit too much for my tastes, please sit down." Dr. Chakwas said firmly; Liara sat obediently.
"What happened to you?" I asked.
"I saw Shepard's memories." Liara commented nonchalantly.
"Short show hu—wait what?" My full attention on Liara, "You probed his mind?" I asked, my mind suddenly began to think of a possible way to solve my own problem.
"I melded my mind into his and viewed the memories given to him by another asari." Liara turned towards me, "Why do you ask?" Liara then saw the questioning look on my face, "Oh." She said, surprise in her voice.
"I think I understand where you're going here Dante." Dr. Chakwas said, putting down her data pad and moving towards Liara who was sitting on the exam table. "Would that work Dr. Tsoni?" Dr. Chakwas asked.
"Have you heard of anything like this before?" I asked.
"No, I-." Liara seemed a bit flustered, taking fire from both sides. "No, I have never heard of anything like you are suggesting, but I don't see why it would not work." Liara finished.
"Would you be willing to try?" I asked hesitantly, unsure if she even wanted to. "If you don't want to, I understand." I said, not wanting to force her into this.
Liara smiled and looked at me, "Thank you, but I have been wondering how you keep going." Liara said.
"Oh, you mean this is your chance to dissect me." I said slyly with a serious look on my face.
"What? No!" Liara said, alarm in her voice and panic on her face.
"Let's try first shall we?" Dr. Chakwas said ending our discussion.
Liara and I looked to each other then to Dr. Chakwas before nodding. Liara stood and walked to the middle of the room. I followed suit and stood facing Laira, a little over an arm's length away.
"So what do I need to do?" I asked, nervous and apprehensive at the same time.
Liara sighed then took a step towards me, "I need you to relax Dante. This should not take long Dr. Chakwas."
Liara took another step towards me. I was nervous not knowing what to expect; Liara sensed this.
"Relax Dante, I need you to relax for this to work." She said soothingly.
She took another step toward me, grabbing my hands in hers. She was so close now, it was hard not to look at her. As tense as I was, I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply only to have Liara's scent fill my lungs. She smelled different but good. This did not help me relax, hell now I wanted distance because this was beyond awkward. My eyes snapped open only to see Liara's white and blue eyes staring into my eyes, our faces inches apart.
"Relax Dante and embrace eternity!"
Liara's eyes changed and became all black where they had been blue and white. All else fell away from me to be slowed down by darkness which kept pushing on me, threatening to overtake me; then the darkness surged away from me and I heard a scream. My mind suddenly burned as if on fire as thousands of images flooded into my conscience. I screamed in pain as each one fought to be at the forefront of my mind. I fell into blackness, all of it overloading my mind as I felt a heavy weight hit my back and the darkness consumed me.
My eyes slowly opened as I inhaled deeply. My eyes focused and I saw the all too familiar ceiling of the medical room on the Normandy. Propping myself up slowly, I avoided smacking my head, but then I noticed something warm touching my arm. Looking down, I was taken aback to find Liara sitting at the side of my exam table asleep. One of her hands was touching my arm while the other arm was being used as a pillow. I watched her breathing rise and fall slowly but steadily, her head nuzzled against her elbow. The tip of her head facing and her face turned towards me. She looked peaceful when asleep, I sighed but smiled.
"Well I'm stuck." I muttered to no one in particular.
I heard the door to the medical ward whoosh open and Dr. Chakwas walked in with a blanket in one arm and a data pad in the other that she was staring at very intently.
"You stare at that any harder and you're going to run into something or someone Doc." I said quietly so not to wake Liara.
I might as well have been yelling because Chakwas' head snapped up and she stopped in her tracks, "You're awake." She stated, surprise all over her face.
"Shhhh-!" My finger to my lips, tilting my head towards Liara's sleeping form.
Chakwas walked over to her desk depositing the blanket and data pad.
"You fell all right? Any problems?" Chakwas said quietly, Liara still slept on, undisturbed by our conversation.
"What happened?" I asked, not sure how I came to be here or how.
"You don't know? You have been out for the last 18 hours while Liara was only out for two hours. She has been worried about you since the meld." Chakwas finished glancing at Liara.
"Why? What happened?" I asked again.
"Liara said she did not see anything but blackness then she said something happened and the both of you screamed then fell backwards." Chakwas said. "What happened when you melded with Liara?" Chakwas asked, not even calling Liara by her Doctor title.
I thought back to when Liara had started melding with me, "It was all dark and then this bright…" I trailed off, my eyes unfocusing. Chakwas stood there, waiting for me to continue.
"Dante?" Chakwas said softly.
I remained unchanged, Chakwas placed her hand on my shoulder, squeezed firmly and said loudly, "Dante!"
I jumped at least an inch, "What?" I shouted.
Liara spirred by the shouting, sprang awake, "What's wrong?" Liara said, looking around the room in shock.
"It's all right Little Wing." I said, smiling warmly.
Liara's eyes bulged and Chakwas stood there, staring at me with an odd look on her face.
"What? What's wrong?" I asked looking from Liara to Chakwas, but receiving no answer. Chakwas spoke first, "You just called Liara Little Wing."
"What?" I asked, now confused.
"Only my mother called me Little Wing and I have never told that to anyone before. How do you know that?"
The way Liara's eyes focused on me made it feel hot in the room, "I know because…I remember her tucking me into bed and saying that to me." I finished with a confused look on my face, "but that makes no sense. She is your mom not mine, at least I hope not." I said smiling. Neither Liara nor Chakwas laughed, "Sorry, not funny." I said rubbing the back of my neck nervously.
"What else do you recall?" Chakwas asked.
"Um…I-." I stopped, a slow smile creeping across my face.
"This!" I stated thrusting my palm outwards towards Chakwas' desk. Blue fire flared briefly all over my body as a blue sphere as big as a softball shot forth from my palm and scattered all the contents of the desk on the floor. Liara and Chakwas stood there open mouthed staring at me.
"Oh yeah!" I exclaimed, throwing my arms in the air, then I started bleeding profusely out of my nose.
Later, after some tests and a lot of bloody tissues, Liara concluded that what had happened during the meld was that a feedback loop of sorts had occurred. In Liara's attempt to access my memories, Liara's memories had been looped into my mind. I was amazed that in the 20 seconds that Liara was in my mind, about 80 years of memories had been downloaded into my mind. While I was amazed that I now had a full understanding of biotics and standard technology, I was grateful that my brain had not exploded. The Normandy had arrived at Noveria, a planet covered in snow and ice. From what I had learned from Liara and several of the crew members, Noveria was a corporate controlled world where the rules were more lax on certain areas of research and development, for the right price that is.
Since the mind meld, Lt. Kaiden, Liara, and even Wrex were helping me with my biotic training. Each took their time helping me to refine my techniques, but their training methods on the other hand, were all quite different. Liara and Kaiden were content to watch and point out weaknesses in my stance, angle, or type of biotic power which I was using to complete the specific goals and tasks they assigned to me. Wrex had a whole different way of training new and promising biotics.
"Dante stand at the opposite end there." Wrex commanded in his deep gruff voice while pointing to a spot 15 feet away from him.
"Sure." I walked, wiping blood from my nose.
I got to where Wrex had been pointing, turning to see Wrex enveloped in blue flames, a wicked grin exposing all of his sharp teeth.
"Um Wrex," I began, backing up slowly no liking how the Krogan stared at me. "So what do you want me to do? Move the box or what…?"
My voice dropped as Wrex's grin became a frown. Wrex roared, thrusting his palm out sending a sphere of biotic energy right at me.
"Shit!" I yelled, jumping to my left. The ball just barely missed me. "What the hell Wrex-oh shi-!" I shouted jumping from where I lay to dodge another ball of biotic energy.
"Raid, pillage, and plunder, for tomorrow we die!" Wrex shouted over my pitiful cries and curses as another biotic ball sprang forth from his hand.
"Fight weakling!" Wrex roared.
"I don't have node implants you psycho toad!" I yelled at him standing up slowly, watching his every move for him to launch another biotic ball at me.
I saw Liara, Kaiden, and even Garrus stand in the back, just watching.
"Thanks for stopping the crazy toad with biotic powers guys." I muttered darkly under my breath.
The flames covering Wrex slowly began to flicker and die as he strode towards me on heavy footstep at a time till he stood before me. I stared into his red eyes too tired and sore to care, but above all else, I was pissed at Wrex.
"Even with the nodes you need every weapon you can get to fight and win. Buy yourself some armor on Noveria, and get some weapons from Ashley." Wrex stated, turning but stopped. "Next time I want a fight, not a game of tackle the Varren." Wrex finished as he turned and left.
I slumped down to the deck just sitting, staring at the floor. Blood red drops fell to the floor from my nose. I reached for the blood stained cloth in my back pocket only to find it gone.
"Here." Liara said handing me a clean cloth.
"Thanks." I replied, accepting the cloth, applying it to my nose.
"Let's get you cleaned up and then we will take a trip into Noveria. Shepard wants to see us." Liara said, politely offering a hand up.
"Thanks." I said pulling myself up with Liara's help.
Looking to the elevator I saw Garrus, Kaiden, and Wrex inside as the doors slid closed. I moved to the elevator heading to the crew quarters for a shower.
"Dante, can we talk for a moment?"
I turned to look at Liara, she seemed nervous. "Yeah sure Liara, what's on your mind?" I turned, walking back to Liara till I was about arms reach from her. She looked at me hesitantly.
"I guess there is no easy way to say this but-."
"This is about your memories right?" I ventured. Liara nodded. "While it is great that thanks to you I now understand Biotics, I feel like I'm watching most of your life, or like I'm reading your diary without your permission." I rubbed the back of me head, feeling guilty to say the least. "You saw nothing of my life?" I asked.
"No, I saw nothing, but I am happy that I was able to help in some way. What I want to say is that please don't tell the others anything if they ask please." Liara told me calmly.
"Hey, I'm no gossip." I stated, backing up while grinning, "At least I don't think I am." I let the thought trail off as a confused look clouded my face. I glanced to Liara to see her not smiling at my act. Sighing, I walked to Liara and stared into her eyes. "You have nothing to be ashamed of or to fear, none the less I will not tell the others." I finished.
Liara nodded, saying her thanks as she began walking towards the elevator.
"That doesn't mean I'm not going to blackmail you. That Turian who asked for your email address had some cute eyes, among other things." I teased as I walked by Liara.
"Dante." Liara said in a worried tone.
"Dibs on the shower!" I yelled, breaking into a run for the elevator.
"Dante!" Liara yelled from behind me.
I made it to the elevator doors only to be pushed into the wall beside them. I lay on the floor trying to process what had happened when Liara popped into view, smiling.
"Not if I get there first!" Liara stated smugly, and then entered the elevator.
I rose slowly, "No biotic pushing doing it!" I yelled only to see the elevator doors close.
"Wow, she got you good." A female voice said.
I looked to see Tali standing there looking at me. If not for the face mask, I swear I could see her smiling.
"Tali, you're a tech expert right?" I asked, a wicked grin spreading across my face.
"I guess you could say that." Tali replied, tilting her head as if wondering where this was going.
"Good, now come over here and help me shut down the elevator. Stupid smurf, I'll get the last laugh yet!"
"This is only going to end badly." Tali muttered.
Liara, Kaiden, Shepard, Tali, Garrus, and I all exited the Normandy and made our way through the various cargo crates to the entrance of the hub that works as the main office and headquarters for all the activities and development projects going on across Noveria. All six of us made our way to the entrance, three security guards waiting for us. Two human females and a male Turian all stood eyeing the lot of us suspiciously. The middle aged Asian woman spoke first,
"Welcome to port. While you are here, please obey any orders by the security guards or any of the administrative directors. Also, we will need to confiscate your weapons while you are in port."
The two security guards to either side stepped towards the group. Shepard whipped his pistol out, leveling it at the nearest guard,
"I keep my weapons with me at all times!"
The whole group drew their weapons while Kaiden and Liara's bodies became engulfed in blue biotic fire. The three security guards backed up slowly, weapons trained on our group.
"Stand down before you get added to this Spector's kill count; besides it's six to three." Shepard said smugly.
"Bullshit. There are no human Spectors ma'am."She then looked at Shepard smiling wickedly, her shotgun pointing at Shepard. "Oh and it's five to three dumbass!" She nodded indicating someone behind Shepard.
"Dante!" Shepard growled out angrily.
"Hey, scre-." I started.
"Captain Not'Suio stand down! Spectors are allowed weapons on Noveria!" A voice boomed over the P.A. system.
I breathed out the breath I had been holding and lowered my arms; at least the danger was over. A hand shot out and grabbed my shirt and jacket, jerking me forward till I was face to face with Shepard.
"What the hell was that?" Shepard yelled in my face. "How are you going to help with your hands in the air? We're on an alien planet where we can be attacked at any time and you're acting like some damn tourist!" Shepard glared at me inches away from each other's faces.
"Good thing we're here then." I said quietly, but firmly. "Because I can't shoot people without a gun, my biotic lack implants, and I won't make it without some armor. Then again, I might live longer if you weren't trying to pick a fight with everyone that gave you a hard time or didn't give you what you want, sir." I hissed venomously.
Shepard stared at me, anger in his eyes that would kill, if looks could. Shepard relaxed his hold, saying loudly, "Bring a side arm next time at least, clear?"
"Yes sir." I replied, then added more quietly, "Just make sure Officer Pressly and Chief Williams get the same message sir."
Shepard nodded, turning he headed up the stairs with Kaiden and Tali in tow. Garrus and Liara stood looking at me; Garrus had a smirk across his face.
"What?" I asked extending my arms out to my side.
"Nothing. At least you didn't act like you did have a gun."
"Yeah I may have amnesia, but I know better than that." I looked to Liara, an annoyed look across her face.
"Liara, you okay?"
Liara shot me an annoyed look, "You tell me, is getting stuck in the Normandy's elevator okay?"
"No." I replied, turning away from both Liara and Garrus, my hand covering my smile.
"Liara." Kaiden called. He walked towards us with a worried look on his face.
Liara headed for Kaiden, I made to follow, but I felt Garrus' three fingered hand on my shoulder, holding me back.
"What happened between you two?"
"Not much, I just beat her to the showers, that's all." I stated with a sly grin across my face.
"That's not what I meant."
I turned to Garrus confused. "How so?" I asked.
"She seems like she is more herself around you than anyone else on the ship."
Garrus and I looked over to Liara and Kaiden.
"We met and were trapped together at the dig site in the Artemis Tau Cluster, it was trial by fire for me and her." I stated, turning back towards Garrus, his brows arched.
"No I meant you two compliment each other."
"How so?" I asked.
"Ugh." Garrus groaned. "Never mind, let's get going." Garrus turned to where Shepard and Tali stood talking to a woman behind the counter. I followed behind Garrus, his words echoing in my head.
The Hanar store owner here at Noveria did not have a lot of human armor suits, but the ones he did have were top of the line. Kaiden and Liara gave me different suits to try on for flexibility and overall fit. Kaiden kept helping me fix straps and giving me tips. Liara gave some input here and there, but her mind was elsewhere. I ended up with an Alkel Line body suit, which has more shields than armor, so it was lighter overall in weight, and as long as my shields did not give out, I would be okay.
"If your shields do fail, find cover and they will recharge in less than five seconds guaranteed." The Hanar beamed proudly, its in light glowing. "Can this one be of anymore service?"
"Not unless you know a good neurosurgeon for biotics, but thank you for your service." I said hauling the cases containing the new armor off the counter.
"Is this one joking or serious?" The Hanar asked quietly.
Exchanging looks between Liara and Kaiden I nodded.
"There is one here that this one knows of that can perform the task you need for a price."
"I'll handle this, you two wait outside." Kaiden nodded towards me and Liara.
The two of us left the Hanar's shop and sat in silence watching the blizzard rage outside.
"You want to talk about it?" I waited, but Liara remained quiet staring out into the swirling white oblivion.
"A decade." Liara said quietly.
"Uh, a decade?"
"It has been over a decade since I last saw my mother." Liara turned staring at me, "We did not end on a good note and I fear that it will be worse this time." Liara finished looking away.
"Your mother, Lady Benezia, is here?"
"She's in league with Saren and I may have to confront her." Liara stared at her feet, a cold emotionless mask.
We sat there for a while not saying anything, just watching the world around us.
"She loves you."
"What?" Liara stared at me.
"From what I've seen." I smiled, twitching my eyebrows skywards while tapping my temple, "Your mother loves you and has always had your best wishes at heart. She may not agree with your career choice, but she does love you." I nudged her arm with my elbow reassuringly.
"Thanks Dante." Liara smiled a sweet smile looking into my eyes kindly.|
"Dante! Liara!" Kaiden called. "Dante, I got the name of the neurosurgeon, we're all set to get you the implants. Liara, Shepard is waiting near the garage for you, along with Wrex."
We stood and gathered our things, and Liara turned to leave.
"Liara!" She turned and looked back to me, "Best of luck with your mother!"
She nodded and left. As Kaiden and I headed to our own destination, I couldn't shake that feeling in my gut that things were not going to end well. This feeling stayed with me till it was drowned out by the anesthesia as the surgery to install the L3 Biotic nodes began with the first cut into my flesh.
