Sorry had to repost chapter due to technical issues.
Welcome readers of The Wildcard. So Plague is now on deck.
The Wildcard
Part 7
"What cloaking modal is that?" Kasumi asked on their way to Afterlife.
"What do you mean?" Plague asked back. "It's manufacturer? The specks?"
Plague could make out the slight movement under the thief's hood that lead him to believe she was raising on eyebrow. "I only know how it works and how to repair it. Other than that… no idea except it's from China. Why you ask."
"Well it cloaks you but when you had me…incapacitated I heard a slight…humming. While I'm at it, how did you see me?" the thief asked as she looked into Plague's reflective visor.
To answer Mrs. Goto's question Plague looked at her as parts of his visor went red as he tapped one of the red parts.
"Thermal vision, night vision, motion tracker, hearing amplification, add that to my already present augmentations I can both hear and see you."
Kasumi looked in awe and was about to ask another question when Shepard interrupted. "Kasumi, hold all questions for when we get back on the Normandy. Faster we get off this station, the sooner Garrus stops twitching."
With that Plague looked at the turian and noted the look of alertness as his eyes darted to empty shadows around him.
"Normandy Shepard?" he asked looking at his soon to become commander.
"That's my ship." she answered flatly. "Anyway, Aria wanted me to bring you to her before you leave."
"Oh?" Plague said with a raised eyebrow that went unnoticed to the others. "I was actually going to visit her anyway."
"Why?" Garrus asked as he inserted himself into the conversation. "She doesn't strike me as nice company."
"I don't know about that. She and I get along well in my opinion."
"I'll believe that when I see it." Garrus retorted in a joking tone.
After that conversation the walk to Afterlife went quiet. Throughout the walk Plague couldn't help but examine the group and commit the faces to memory.
Commander Taylor Shepard wore a unique looking red armor and he couldn't help but notice how form fitting it was. He also took note of the barely noticeable scars on the left side of her face. She had piercing dark blue eyes, high cheekbones, no makeup but that didn't mean she couldn't draw a man's attention. Her skin tone was slightly tanned. The last thing to note was her short Black ponytail that was shoulder length held by a dark braid that was almost unnoticeable.
Next he looked at the turian. Grayish scales, blue facial tattoo on the left side of his face. The other side sported a nasty scar. Plague's experience told him it was from an explosive of some kind. His blue eyes tolled Plague he was looking at a man who was very precise. He reminded him of the NCR rangers, and a friend of his named Boone. Explained why he sported a sniper rifle on his back. He wore damaged blue armor. Most of the damage was focused on his right side and showed almost the same kind of explosive damage as his scar.
'Must be one hell of a story there.' Plague thought to himself.
Finally he looked towards Kasumi Goto.
Like with Shepard, the first thing he noted was her outfit. The point that she wore an almost skintight outfit earned her a few more seconds of Plague's full attention then when he looked at Shepard. Next was her face. She was clearly Japanese and had a slender look. Plague saw some purple lipstick in the center of her lower lip and a little under it. He could almost make out some dark makeup around her eyes under the shadow of her hood. That brought his attention to her eyes. He could barely see them. Somehow they seemed to glow faintly under her hood whenever a light managed to find its way to them. Plague was however unable to tell what color they were.
It only took Plague five seconds to fully examine the people he was walking with. But when he looked into Kasumi's eyes those seconds just ticked by. He couldn't seem to look away.
"Is something wrong?" the thief asked when she noticed Plague's visor aimed at her.
Quickly Plague looked forward when she looked at him.
"Sorry. Just spaced off there." 101 answered as he looked forward thankful for having his helmet on to cover the embarrassed look that was almost rare to him.
With that answer Kasumi shrugged her shoulders and couldn't help the smile forming on her face.
Taylor Shepard POV
The guard in front of the Afterlife entrance gave a slight nod in greeting that Shepard was sure had to be directed to the newest member of her group.
The guard opened the door for Plague and let them in. Almost instantly Plagues body language showed he was irritated by the music that washed over them.
The former Specter could already tell that the man she was walking with was one who preferred the quiet.
She couldn't help but show a look of confusion when she saw him signal to the bartender who handed him a glass of batarion ale. Sure she was no stranger to a bar but when an empty glass flew over Plague's shoulder as they walked past the bar, she thought she would have to pay for a new glass until she saw the turian bartender catch it out of the air as if the two had a unique routine going on.
Throughout the whole thing Plague was leading, so none of the others saw his face as the visor slid back to cover it. Shepard noticed the glances the guards and what she assumed were the regulars giving the Wildcard as they gave him a wide berth. Not out of fear, but respect for the man's space. Within that short time he had been working for Aria he must have earned the proper respect.
"Plague, I see you found the Commander." Aria T'loak stated as they walked into the booth.
To add to the Shepard's astonishment, Plague sat on the couch without getting signaled by his employer.
"What can I say? They were persistent." Plague answered making a smile appear on the queen of Omega's face.
'That is rare.' she noted to herself.
She could imagine Garrus's eyes going wide behind her.
"Have they told you why they were looking for you?" Aria asked.
"She has a job for me. If you wouldn't mind, I would like to partake in her little mission."
Aria's face changed and seemed to look a little saddened by his words, which took the others by surprise.
"If you feel that you should then by all means. Although I will miss your sense of hummer." her face then changed back to a look of business. "As part of our deal, you will move out of the safe house and remove your belongings before tomorrow when it will be cleaned out." a smile appeared again. "But if you ever want your job back just let me know. Hell you're the only human besides Shepard here who I get along with."
Her and Plague both laughed at that.
"No need to worry about my stuff. You know I carry everything on me." Plague's words caused Shepard to give him a quizzical look.
'That's all he has?' she asked herself as she looked at the man sitting where Aria would usually let her sit.
She couldn't see those antique weapons she heard about. He didn't have a change of clothes, bags, anything. In the end she assumed he made his gear disappear and must make it reappear like she saw on the video feed.
"Well, that wraps up everything then. Have fun." Aria said as she looked back at her data pad.
"I'll come back after the mission." he said as he stood up. "Don't slack off four eyes." he said to one of the batarion guards who gave him an irritated look.
'Of course he would come back.' Shepard thought as she gave Aria a nod. 'A queen needs a court jester.'
Plague POV
Plague let out a sharp whistle when he saw what he assumed was the Normandy through a view port.
"That disserves some of my personal time to examine." he said as if the ship was a brand new shiny fat-man with the ability to launch multiple mini nukes.
"I better not find you dismantling it." Shepard warned as they entered the airlock.
"Alright." he said as he raised his hands up in surrender. "I'll respect your privacy and toys if you respect mine."
His new boss seemed to let out a sigh of relief as the decontamination started. Everything looked normal until the sweeping light touched him.
"Shit…" Plague blurted out making the others look at him.
Not even full second later red lights started to flash as an automated voice started talking.
"Error."
"EDI, statues report. What's wrong?"
"Commoner Sh…sh…epard, I am experie…eee…n…cing some malfu…uuuuuu...nction with the ship's sc…sca…aaa…anners." the voice said as Plague rubbed the back of his helmet.
"Um…Commander…that's my bad."
Everyone in the small room looked right at him.
"What did you do?" Shepard asked in frustration.
"Your ship…and every other synthetic or machine…can't see me."
"What does that mean?" Garrus asked as he was pressing buttons on the doors red display.
"If I am scanned or recorded and that data or footage needs to be saved in a file…Let's just say I corrupt data." everyone's eyes widened.
(Somewhere The Illusive Man is yelling at his technicians when a corrupted file started to mess with Cerberus's main frame, putting many projects on hold.)
"EDI," Shepard started. "Turn off the scanners and let us in. turn off all scanners and security cameras for a few seconds and delete the last few seconds recorded if you encounter this problem."
The voice didn't respond until a few seconds later when the red lights turned off and the door opened.
"Very well Commander."
Taylor Shepard POV
Shepard let out a sigh as she looked at Plague with some clearly visible to everyone in the room irritation.
"First things first I guess." she said as Plague followed her into the ship. "I want a debriefing. What the hell was that?"
For the first time since she met him, the magnetic locks on Plague's helmet let out a hiss as he reached for it.
This made her and the rest of her ground team's eyes widen a little as the helmet was lifted.
This would be the first time anyone on the ship ever saw the Wildcard's face. Sure she saw him on the video feed, but it wasn't clear enough for a full view of his face.
The first thing she saw was those eyes. Light blue. Almost silver in the right light. They unnerved her how they seemed to look through her. She also notices how hollow they looked. This man had most likely seen many things in his life that he shouldn't have.
His almost white blond hair was kept in a shirt military fashion that showed he was disciplined.
He was extremely pale as well.
Garrus Vakarian POV
Those icy hollow eyes didn't go unnoticed by the former C-Sec. They reminded him too much of the killers he had both put away, and taken out on Omega.
But the only difference he saw was that those eyes showed great guilt in the things he had done.
As he looked into those eyes, his reflexes almost didn't catch the small flicker of eye movement to him and then back to his Commander.
Kasumi Goto POV
Kasumi felt like she was standing before a man who had far more experience than she did. He had caught her as if she was too slow in that alley. When she saw those eyes she could tell that the man would clearly be able to quickly react to almost any situation.
'Guess I was lucky he didn't see me as a threat.' she thought to herself.
After that thought she looked at the collection of scars on his forehead. It was as if she was looked at a cracked glass spider web pattern with a small circle in the center that was all a tone lighter than the rest of his skin. The scars didn't show completely so they didn't affect his appearance that much.
"Well like I said before." Plague started as they walked to the conference room. "You can call me Plague. Or 101, if that is better."
They then entered the conference room where Miranda was waiting for them.
Plague POV
Plague quickly examined the woman with a quick glance and saw almost every detail of her.
The right curves, the right proportions, slightly seductive movement as if broadcasting her appearance to every male in sight. Clearly a nice advantage if she wanted to get someone to cooperate with her or help her get information.
Sadly an appearance like that would surely attract the wrong attention if she was in the wasteland. She would be attacked the first chance they got, used, and then eventually sold as a slave for a high price if she survived that long. Killing her at that point would have actually been an act of mercy compared to the stuff they would put her through.
On second thought the same could be said for Mrs. Goto and Shepard.
That thought quickly sent a jolt of anger through him. The things he had seen.
To keep his anger in check Plague tightened his grip on the helmet in his left hand while his face never changed.
"I'm guessing this is our newest member?" the woman asked while looking Plague over.
"Plague, this is Miranda Lawson. The second in command I told you about." Shepard informed him.
"And the deal gets better." Plague said as he shook her hand. "Plague."
"Well, I see we have Gentlemen among us." Miranda observed as she shook his hand and then went to a business like look.
Plague mentally let out a groan.
'She's THAT kind of second in command.'
"On this ship we have rules. You have to be able to fully obey any and all orders given to you." she drilled as she walked to the other side of the table. "I will not tolerate any insubordination on this ship."
That made Plague's eyebrow rise as he looked at Shepard.
"Thought you said she was the second in command?" Plague stated interrupting the woman's speech. "It's out of character for me to say this… well about a beautiful lady, but she sounds like a control freak already. And I just stepped on the ship."
Miranda's face went from business to a combination of confusion and slight anger at the comment.
"You are insulting your superior Plague. I advise you to think about what you say next." Miranda announced while pointing at him.
"I fully respect who you are." Plague said while holding a chuckle. "It's just the way YOU are implying that since I will be on this ship that I will follow any orders directed at me with that attitude." Plague then focused on her completely making the woman give a slight emotion of fear that was unnoticed to everyone ells but him. "You're attractive. Yes I see that. You're intelligent. I see that as well along with that shell you have formed around yourself." Miranda's eyes widened along with the others in the room. "You have been living in someone's shadow for as long as you can remember. No will to make your own choices. A lifestyle was put before you. Someone wanted you to bend to their will, carry on a legacy you wanted no part in, you carry yourself the way you do now to make up for all the time you spent crammed into that way of living." Mrs. Lawson looked in utter shock. "And then you got away somehow. But I guess there is no difference since now you are wrapped around someone else's finger so tightly that you would follow any order blindly."
The room was silent. If it wasn't for Plague's good hearing he would have thought they all stopped breathing.
"I will show respect when I see it in return. An equal and fair exchange in my opinion."
Miranda Lawson POV
For the first time in a while Miranda was speechless. This man before her had seen right through her as if she had somehow opened a door to her mind and let him frolic through her life and call her out on everything.
She had no control over the conversation. Even when he looked at her when he entered the room she felt as if this Plague could see every part of her in those hollow eyes that borrowed into hers.
She had used her looks to get the upper hand, but now all she wanted to do was cover her with anything she could find to get out of his view. Those eyes looked bottomless. As if she was looking directly into an empty void.
"Y-ou will stop this act of insubordination now!" she almost shouted to the man in a frantic attempt to turn the tables on the one sided conversation. She needed to put him in control. "Hand over that device on your arm and any other weapons you are carrying. I will not have someone walk around this ship armed that has no respect for authority." with that she felt a slight tug on the corners of her mouth and made a small smile.
Whatever small sense of security and control Miranda thought she had gained on the man vanished when those eyes seemed to narrow.
"No." he said flatly. "That is something I will not do. Even if I wanted to I still wouldn't."
"You are disobeying a direct order." she shouted. "You will hand it over now!"
"Not going to happen."
"101, Miranda Lawson!" Shepard shouted making both glances look at her. "That is enough! Miranda, you are the SECOND in command on my ship. You will control yourself." she then looked at Plague. "And you, I don't need fights popping up around my ship. Is that understood?"
"Understood." Miranda said as she franticly tried to pull herself together.
"Crystal Ma,am." Plague said in a calm voice as he shrugged his shoulders. "One more thing though. I do have a sense and respect for authority." he started as he looked back at Miranda who almost took a step back when those eyes borrowed into her again. "I will obey the Commander here. I don't know everything about her but I will follow her. She has at least showed a small fraction of respect towards me by saying I had a choice to not get involved with this mission. Once I see you do the same I will play nicely." he then looked back to his new Commander who seemed a little surprised at the instant loyalty being shown to her. "Where do you want me to set up boss? I'm a little tired of daddy's…" that word hit her instantly. "…little…" her eyes were widening as pure rage started to take control."…girl."
With that last word Miranda's boitics flared as she snapped. She no longer could control her actions. She wanted to no longer have to look at this man who forced his way into her head.
Before she could register what she was doing, she put almost all of her energy into a biotic push that targeted the man on the other side of the table.
The force took him by surprise as he was flung through the still open door. His grip on his helmet let go as he flew. There was a sickening loud crack when Plague's head hit the wall just outside the room as blood sprayed out of his mouth. His body was in a heap on the floor as his neck was at the wrong angle. His eyes looked as if they had glazed over as his face was stuck and showed a look of pain.
The satisfying feeling she got from getting the man out of the room disappeared when she heard that crack. What took its place was instant shock and fear at the action she had just done.
She had just jeopardized the mission. She killed one of Shepard's ground team members. The Illusive Man would be furies with her. Just the thought of what he could do made her eyes feel like they could water. Her sister was under his protection. Would he leave them? Would he stop protecting her?
"I…my God." she barely managed to get out before she was grabbed in a strong biotic field. "Co…Commander!" she almost shouted in distress at her instant immobility as she was lifted off the ground.
Her frantic eyes looked at the woman she had spent two years to put back together.
"Miranda Lawson!" she shouted at her immobilized second in command.
"No…major damage boss." said a voice outside of the room that made the Commander drop Miranda in surprise.
Plague POV
"Fucking bloody hell!" Plague shouted as he pulled himself to his feet and was welcomed by a bunch of cracking sounds.
He had run into biotics in his small career with Aria, but that was the first time he had been sent into a wall like that. Thankfully his bones received the proper attention by a beautiful doctor he met in the clinic outside of the Loss Vages strip.
He was drawn to them by the rumors that said they found ways to give people such as himself some positive augmentations. Two of which was stronger bones and tougher skin. His skeleton's bones however weren't the only bones the beautiful doctor examined. (All Clinic Implants. Payment method not implied.)
He had lost count of how many times he had pulverized a man's face in or managed to break a supper mutants arm when he happened to run out of ammo.
He finally straightened himself a little more when he cracked his neck while letting out the next profanity on his mind.
He then stumbled into the room as he spat a good amount of blood on the floor.
"Now that…" he said as he pointed at the shocked out of her mind woman across the table with a Brocken index finger that was the result of him trying to cushion his impact with his left hand. "…was dirty."
When he noticed his out of place finger he grabbed it with his right hand and forced it back with a small grunt of pain and another crack.
"Now…Commander." he looked back at Shepard. "Miranda." he then looked back at the ships second in command. "Let me make this as perfectly clear as possible." they all took a step back while Miranda actually backed into the wall at the bright light consuming Plague's right hand that was now raised towards her with a closed fist. "My "device" is called a pipboy. And it is a part of me. It is connected to me down to the atoms that make my wrist. If I see ANY attempts to remove it, or if your crew try to take it by force…I will defend myself." to make the point, the light died down to reveal the contraception that had atomized on his fist that then lashed out and chomped at the air before his fist with sharp jagged metal teeth.
The sound of metal hitting metal made Miranda jump at the sight of him demonstrating the weapons power.
"Plague, stand down." Shepard ordered when she finally pulled herself together.
With a sigh the weapon re atomized as he gave her a salute.
"Yes Ma,am." he snapped. "Now, about where I will be staying."
Five minutes later.
"I'm telling you. I'm fine." Plague said for what had to have been the sixth time since Shepard and the rest of the ground team forced him down to the sickbay.
"We all saw you cough up blood." Garrus stated as he held onto Plague's shoulder when he tried to get off the bed. "You have broken bones."
Throughout the argument Kasumi was explaining the situation to the female doctor. Shepard was sitting on the next bed while rubbing her temples maybe waiting for a chance to get some kind of painkiller.
Kasumi must have finished explaining since the doctor walked up to the bed Plague was sitting on. "I am Dr. Chakwas. Now I must ask that you remove your armor and let me see the damage. From what I hear, you shouldn't be breathing."
"You would have gotten a checkup anyway." Shepard threw in not looking at them before Plague could object. "It's standard procedure."
Plague wanted to say something but paused at the statement. If he was going to be on the ship then of course they would want to give him a checkup. Might as well get it over with or they would keep yapping.
"Fine." Plague said as his whole outfit glowed and temporarily blinded everyone in the room.
Once the light died Plague was wearing a tight blue shirt and blue form fitting shorts along with his name tags.
Kasumi Goto POV
What everyone in the sickbay saw shocked them. Sure there was bruising from the biotic throw, but that was only the tip of the iceberg.
Aside from the bruising there was no major damage. What everyone was focused on was the scars that they could see. What looked like bite marks covered his left arm. One of his legs had scars from what had to have been burns going from his ankle to his knee.
The next thing was the fact that he was dangerously thin. He had a good muscular build and looked athletic, but he was skinny enough that they could make out some ribs under his shirt. There was zero extra body fat shown.
How he didn't kill over was a mystery to Kasumi and the others.
The person who was the most shocked was Dr. Chakwas who the thief assumed was more aware and could see more of the damages then the others.
"Oh my god." Kasumi blurted out.
"By the spirits." Garrus said being the closest to Plague.
"What the hell?" Shepard added.
Then they all saw the missing fingers on his right hand that had some robotic digits that took the two fingers place.
"Everyone out." started the doctor as she walked over to some of her equipment. "I'm going to do a full examination. If you don't need medical treatment, then leave."
Plague POV
The three filed out of the room as Plague let out a sigh.
When they left the door panel went red as the windows went black to stop people in the mess hall from looking in.
"Lay down on the bed over here please." the doctor said as she stood next to the bed with a device hanging over it.
With a shrug Plague got up and walked over to the bed and stopped when he realized what it was.
"Sorry doc." he started to explain as he scratched his head. "You can't scan me."
"Nonsense. Get on the bed." Chakwas ordered.
Before the conversation went any further the computerized voice spoke into the sickbay.
"That would not be a good idea Dr. Chakwas." it started.
'Clever machine must be listening instead of watching.' Plague thought to himself.
"The human classified as the Wildcard is viewed as a danger to the mission if his image is saved into my memory core. Using your own equipment to scan him would be ill advised since I believe doing so would damage your equipment."
After a few seconds of thinking, the doctor shrugged as she let out a sigh.
"Fine. Looks like we will have to do this the old way. Remove your clothing please."
Plague did as the doctor said and removed his shirt and shorts. He was never that much of a shy person. The fact that he knew he was in the room with a medical expert didn't really change that.
"What in the world happened to you?" Dr. Chakwas asked as she started to examine his back and traced a scar.
"More specific please." Plague said over his shoulder.
"Fine." she then touched the circular scar on his right shoulder. "What did this?"
With that contact his mind pieced together the events that transpired.
(It was quit in the DC ruins. The sun was about to set as the sound of an old rotted wooden door was pulled out of the way.
Plague had been trying to salvage some antibiotics from a boarded up pharmacy that he could possibly sell once he returned to Megaton.
"Finally!" Plague shouted as he finally got the door out of the way and walked in.
With his double barrel shotgun in hand he walked into the old dusty pharmacy. Shelves were pushed over, what must have been on the shelves had been taken long ago.
That didn't worry Plague much. Of course the shelved goods would be gone. What he was looking for was the sealed off part of the store where they would stockpile the medication in the back to restock the shelves.
Once he found the door he was looking for he started picking the lock.
Biting his lower lip he slowly pushed the door open. He could barely make out any shapes in the darkness. He activated the light on his pipboy and then let it wash over the room and push the shadows away.
What he saw confused him. He felt a breeze from deeper in the back which meant there was another entrance into the store. The next was the fact that three mats were sat on the floor in a circle. Too organized for super mutants. Next was the small movement in the corner.
He looked and the sight made him tighten the grip on his shotgun.
Three children sat huddled together, all girls. All wearing explosive collars that all were connected to the wall by a chain.
The girls had to have almost been in their teens, maybe twelve years or so. All three of them looked around the same age.
The girl that was farthest into the corner was holding onto the shredded remains of her clothing that had been cut off of her with, what Plague guessed was a knife.
The other girls hugged the third close as if to shield her from the man that stumbled upon them.
He was about to say something to them as he raised his fully fingered right hand to calm them down until he realized something. Three mats to sleep on. Whoever put them here wouldn't give their slaves a conferrable place to feel safe. They needed them scared so that they would follow orders.
Those are the slavers beds.
With that last thought Plague fell forward as something stabbed into his back. He hit the floor as the weapon was pulled out and then stabbed again into his back at the same spot.
If it wasn't for the vest Plague had on he would have been impaled.
When the slaver pulled the weapon out to stab again Plague rolled to the side making his attacker hit the tiled floor. The weapon was a metal pole that's end had been carved and sharpened.
Before the man could pull out again Plague kicked in one of his knee caps making the slaver fall down to his level. He rolled on top of him and wrapped his hands around the man's neck.
Adrenalin was pumping into his veins when he noticed another figure in the darkness. A slaver was running at him and kicked Plague in the face sending him off of his partner.
Plague fell back on the floor wishing he hadn't dropped his shotgun on the floor before. He hadn't re atomized it yet so there was still a chance that it was on the floor with him.
Putting the plan to the side he atomized a 10mm pistol and fired into the second slaver before he could stomp on top of his head.
After five shots he went down and fell next to him. Plague rolled over with a pained groan as he spat out the blood that got to his mouth from his bleeding nose.
Waves of pain went through him as he finally lifted himself to his feet. He walked to the girls in the corner where his shotgun had managed to slide over. He was about to pick the gun up when a heard a moan behind him. Plague left his gun where it fell and walked over to the first slaver with the busted knee cap.
Once the man saw Plague he started shouting for help. 101 heard more movement behind him and just rolled it out to just the girls in the corner and reached down for the pole the man had tried to kill him with not even a minute ago.
"I hear there is this game people used to play before the bombs fell." he said over the man's shouts. "You see…" Plague placed his foot on the man's chest as he stood next to him. "…the point of it was to get this club looking thing…" he looked at the pole in his hands."…and you had to use this club to hit this little ball on the ground as hard as you can." he then lowered the pole so that it was between the man's legs.
Before he could continue he heard his shotgun go off behind him. Looking over his shoulder he saw the shotgun in the hands of one of the girls. Its smoking barrel was aimed at a dead slaver who was sneaking up on Plague with a knife who fell to the floor.
Giving the girl with the shotgun that was too big for her a nod he looked back at the slaver under his foot and put the pole back where it was.
"As I was going to say. I think we can make up for not having the right equipment, don't you think?" he then reeled back. "Now watch my drive!")
"Some asshole tried to impale me with a sharpened flag pole while I was wearing a bulletproof vest." Plague answered with little emotion.
"A bulletproof vest?" Dr. Chakwas blurted out in disbelief. "Why were you wearing such a thing?"
"Let's just say my home isn't as homey as I would like it to be." Plague said over his shoulder to the doctor.
The doctor let out a breath she must have not known she was holding and had Plague sit on a bed so she could examine some of the bullet wounds.
"What did this damage?" she asked while looking at a collection of wounds on Plagues ribs.
Plague pointed to some of them as he spoke starting with the group of small wounds. "9mm machinegun spray." he then pointed to a slightly bigger bullet hole on the right side of his chest. "AK-47. Bastard got me while I was running for cover." he then pointed out a few scrapes and cuts along the rest of his body. "Fragmentation grenade. Was salvaging parts from an old car I found when one was chucked at me. I got out of the blast, but the shrapnel got me. "
With a look of disbelief the doctor signaled Plague to put his shirt and shorts back on.
"What about your arm? Those look like bite marks."
Plague's face saddened as he looked at his left arm.
"Let me just say hunger has a way of twisting people."
"Someone tried to eat you?" Dr. Chakwas asked in shock.
101 let out a small chuckle at that and looked at the Doctor.
"I'm talking about me."
Dr. Chakwas's reaction was reasonable to Plague. Her eyes went wide with alarm while she backed into her own desk making a few things knock over.
"Your…" she started.
"…A recovering cannibal?" Plague finished. "I don't go hunting around for human flesh if that's what you are thinking. Although: I do get ergs sometimes."
Dr. Chakwas seemed to relax a little, but Plague could still see that sense of fear in her eyes.
"Why would you…do something like that in the first place?" she forced out the question.
"Like a said. Hunger has a way of twisting people. No one on the ship will be harmed. I won't go stalking around people while they are asleep. I will only defend myself." Plague reassured.
A silence drifted over the conversation for almost a minute until the doctor finally took a step forward to continue the examination.
"I guess if Shepard trusts you, then I have no choice in the matter." she said as she was looking at his burnt leg. "What did that to your leg?"
At the question Plague's thoughts swirled.
(What he saw was his first time in the DC ruins on his way to the Galaxy News Radio station where he heard his father had traveled. He had run into his first super mutants. He was nailed down while bullets hit his cover.
He was scared out of his mind. He hadn't gotten in many gunfights yet. His hands tightened on the hunting rifle he had taken from a dead raider he passed earlier that day.
Whenever there was a pause in gun fire for the mutants to reload, he did nothing. He was frozen, scared, and hungry. He didn't know what to do. In his mind he wanted to return fire. But his body was working against him. He stayed on the ground behind the car he was using for cover.
He thought he was a goner.
He almost couldn't hear the sound of a rocket on the other side of his cover over the gunfire. The explosion silenced the super mutants gunfire almost instantly hitting what he assumed was most of their numbers.
Slowly he looked over his cover and saw what had saved him. People dressed in power armor he had read about in history from when he grew up in the vault.
They fired into the mutants numbers from across the street.
What fully got his attention was the one not wearing a helmet. A woman with blond hair tied back to stop it from blocking her view. She rained energy weapon fire upon the mutants and to 101 he was called at the time's shock didn't notice the super mutant sneaking up behind her group with a flamer.
For the first time since the firefight started, 101 moved. He made a dash to the power armored groups cover. Bullets sailed past him. Some actually managed to graze him.
Using whatever energy he had he pushed some of the men out of the way to reach the mutant's target.
She saw him coming and started to aim at him while ordering him to stop. He ignored the words and tackled her as a laser shot grazed his arm.
For those few seconds she was light to him even in her power armor. He managed to knock her off the ground and move her as the mutant fired his flamer.
101's left leg was still in the way of the jet of flames.
He screamed out in pain as he and the woman hit the ground next to each other.
The others noticed the mutant instantly when they heard 101 and mowed it down.
101 must have blacked out a few times. First he saw the shocked look on the woman's face as those eyes tried to register what had just happened. Next thing he saw was the group's medic looking at his left leg and pulled out a stimpack and injected it into the center of the burns after he ripped off what remained of his pant leg and removed his boot.
The last thing he saw before he blacked out again was that woman he had saved on instinct looking over him with a look of disbelief towards the stranger who had risked his life to save hers as she shouted orders to her squad.)
"Flame thrower." he said hollowly as he reached for the name tags around his neck.
Dr. Chakwas must have saw sadness in his eyes since she didn't ask any more questions. They didn't talk through the rest of the tests.
Nothing was said until the doctor took a blood sample and looked at it through a microscope.
"You…have never been given the proper injections when you were a child to improve your immunity to foreign bacteria, but you still have a high immunity to diseases." she announced as if she had made a medical breakthrough. "You have a high amount of white blood cells as well. How is this possible?"
"How's what possible?" said Commander Shepard as she walked into the room that was now accessible.
"Commander…his immune system is higher than any human I have on record. If I hadn't seen him for myself I would have thought I was looking at a red krogan blood sample."
"What do you mean?" the Commander asked with not nearly as much shock as the doctor. "Is he healthy enough to be on the ground team?"
"Commander…an immune system like this shouldn't even be possible in a human."
"Is he healthy enough?" Shepard asked again as she crossed her arms.
"Well…yes, Commander. He could easily out run anyone on this ship. Garrus included. I checked his eyes and they react faster than I have even seen a salarian react. But I have some worries."
"Such as?" Shepard asked as she looked at the bored frame that was Plague watching them.
"Starvation." she said making Shepard's eyes widen. "If what he tells me is true, he is…cannibalistic."
"What?" the Commander almost shouted as her looks of worry was replaced by shock.
"Your crew is safe Ma,am." Plague reassured.
"I believe his condition is…somewhat manageable. We just need to make sure he eats more. He should kill over, but he can survive with low amounts of food." Dr. Chakwas informed before anymore words could be said. "He is…if anything a survivor."
"I promise to not eat any snacks that are under you command or otherwise." Plague said. "Unless said snacks are deemed hostile…in that case let's see what happens."
"Right…" the doctor said as she cleaned up her desk area."…You are to eat three meals a day while you are part of this crew. If I hear you have not been doing so then I will have no choice but to ground you from being part of the ground team. Doctors' orders."
Taking this as the end of the checkup, Plague atomized his 101 jumpsuit in front of them and gave a salute.
"Will do Ma'am. After all food was one of the things I wanted as payment to begin with. Now about where I will set up?"
Quite a lot of words. This chapter is the biggest so far. I will try to make all chapters as long as possible.
I thought this chapter could show how Plague's interaction with each crew member could vary depending on how they talk to him. Fun times are ahead.
Anyway. The first weapon Plague atomized in the meeting. Internet cake to first reviewer to tell me what it's called.
See you all next time.
