Chapter 9: Sixty Watt Shaman.
"Was he this suspicious of you when you met?" Tela asked Shiala, as Garrus watched her intently.
"He was quiet, but seemed nice back on Feros," Shiala smiled. "He wasn't with Shepard when we met on Illium."
"Ok. You can stop staring at me anytime Vakarian" Tela sighed; Garrus had been watching her with suspicion for the entirety of their journey to the Minos Wasteland, whilst Shiala sat uncomfortably between the two.
"Sorry, it's just the last time it was you, me and few others, you were trying to kill a very dear friend of mine" Garrus chuckled. "You should expect some latent hostility."
"Of course," Tela smiled curtly. "But I don't need to be watched like a prisoner, your general trusts me because I owe my life to Diana, though she probably didn't know that when she signed us up."
"You owe Allers your life? How?" Garrus asked, leaning forward.
"Let's just say that your general wasn't the only one to leave a near fatal wound" Tela sighed.
"Some Eclipse mercenaries figured out who you really were, and decided to turn you in" EDI stated, Tela growled, this information made Garrus and Shiala raise an eyebrow.
"Yes, were it not for Di, I'd be strung up on a wall somewhere as a trophy" Tela sighed.
"Diana Allers saved you from Eclipse mercs?" Garrus chuckled.
"She's tougher than she looks" Tela growled.
"I'll believe it when I see it" Garrus laughed.
"You shouldn't doubt Di's capabilities, or her emotions" Tela said as she stood up, continuing their conversation. "Her old boss did, and he lived to regret it."
"She just punched him in the genitals, which for a Krogan is twice as painful, but still…" Garrus stated, but Tela interrupted.
"She was being polite; she didn't punch him in the quad." Tela paused for dramatic effect. "She feminised him with her bare hands when he tried to sexually assault her."
"Remind me never to get on her bad side" Garrus commented, his hands covering his own privates. Garrus stood up to address an ensign that had nervously approached him.
"Sir, we're approaching the Halo, according to Commander Shepard, it's the furthest from any civilisation, and our scans indicate it's unguarded." The ensign said quickly, Garrus sighed and dismissed the subordinate.
"She's a lot tougher than people think, hell, if she and Aria were in a bareknuckle fist fight, my odds would be on Diana." Tela smiled as Garrus returned. "What did your peon say?"
"That it looks like this should be straight forward, no opposition, no nearby civilisations to worry about when it blows," Garrus smiled. "But let's check what Cortana's information says, EDI?"
"Installation 06 is a complete unknown, there is no information on it from what Cortana sent me," EDI stated, her glasses glowing green as she scanned the information.
"Well that's just perfect" Shiala sighed. "What do we know?"
"That the monitor in charge is still active, and may have gone insane from the isolation" EDI said quickly. "This may mean that the system will be set against us."
"Well thank the goddess we've got two of the strongest fleets on our team" Tela sighed, looking out the window at the Turian ships drawing level with them, with several Reapers close behind.
"Yeah, and the third group we've got with us is good for cannon fodder" Garrus laughed.
"I wouldn't call the Vorcha, cannon fodder" EDI stated flatly. "They're quite formidable foot soldiers; even Georgia admired their strengths in battle."
"What's the plan once we land?" Tela asked, checking her weapons quickly. "How do we combat a mad monitor who controls that?" She pointed angrily at the Halo, as the ship entered the installation's orbit.
"You'll play to the monitor's intelligence, encourage it to focus on us" EDI smiled. "Whilst the fleets find and I, activate the self-destruct, and take out the defence systems."
"So we're the cannon fodder?" Shiala said flatly, not believing the AI's plan was actually being suggested.
"Essentially, yes" EDI smiled, she then walked away before Tela or Garrus could retort.
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"Okay, we'll drop you off here, the target area is due north of here, and you'll need to use your natural skills to overcome the monitor's games" EDI stated as Garrus leapt off the shuttle. "Keep in radio contact if possible."
"Gotcha, I'll be fine" Garrus yelled, before jumping out of the way as they dropped a small motorbike-like vehicle. "Thanks!" he mounted up and drove north.
"What's this? A new plaything, for me?" A squeaky artificial voice boomed, echoing in the vast, empty and arid wasteland, that Garrus felt was similar to Earth's moon. Garrus skidded to a halt as a small, circular metal eye popped up out of the ground and hovered in front of him. "I ran out of things to do centuries ago, and I have never had visitors to my installation."
'This must be the monitor in charge, as it's clearly mad' Garrus thought, inspecting the silvery-blue eyed monitor, which circled around his head.
"But I simply can't greet you properly until I know who you are, and more importantly, as I don't recognise your species, what are you?" the monitor said excitedly, Garrus was reminded of a hyper child, that had had too much sugar.
"I'm Primarch Vakarian, that's all I'm giving you" Garrus stated proudly, thankful his face was hidden by his helmet.
"Aww, you're no fun" the monitor whined, its mood instantly switched, catching Garrus off guard. "I'm Monitor 16807 Astute Prodigy; do you like to play games?"
"If I win, I want you to allow a friend of mine access to the control room" Garrus said, an edge of playful joy in his voice.
"Friends? You've brought friends, where are they?" Prodigy looked around, before its eye flashed red. "They're attacking my pets, why?" Garrus knew he had to improvise, or risk a painful death at the hands of a mad AI.
"We've been sent by the Reclaimer," Garrus remembered a brief mention of John III being known as the Reclaimer by another Monitor.
"The Reclaimer?" Prodigy asked, floating closer to him. "What's his orders?"
"The station needs to be tested, specifically its internal defences." Garrus stated, knowing it was complete crap. "My 'friends' are here to test the Sentinels, with myself and three others are here to test you."
"Tests! I love being tested!" Prodigy squeaked, before Garrus could speak, the ground beneath him shook, and a spire rose up in front of him. "Please make your way to that spire, your test will begin shortly."
"Thanks, go find my friends Vasir and T'Yeo, they're the other invigilators, and may need your guidance" Garrus said quickly, before revving his bike, and driving north. "This will be interesting."
"How'd it go?" EDI's voice came in crystal clear over his head set.
"Monitor 16807, Astute Prodigy, is completely mad." Garrus breathed, he heard Tela chuckle and he needed to shut her up. "It's now looking for you, I told it we were here to test it, if we beat it, EDI will be given access to the control room."
"Gee, thanks Vakarian" Tela sighed.
"Don't use your first name, it knows me as Vakarian, you're Vasir and T'Yeo." Garrus added quickly.
"Oh crap it's here, T'Yeo out" Shiala said quickly before cutting off her comm link.
"I'll direct our forces to keep the system busy, hopefully it'll make it harder for this 'Prodigy' to focus on you" EDI stated.
"Throw everything we've got at it, because Prodigy is clearly intelligent, but completely mad" Garrus stated. "I suspect its tests will be lethal unless we keep its servers occupied."
