United We Stand, Apart We Fall
Authors Notes : Thanks to my beta readers you know who you are. Also I apologize about the delay but sometimes it is inevitable so with out further ado I preset Chapter 8.
Sickness – Chapter 8
Raan hoped she wasn't too late. As she had made arrangements to get to the Normandy as fast as she could. As she boarded the ship, she said, "EDI, I need a comm link to Captain Shepard. Also, I need a way to retrieve items from his room without causing an infection to him."
"Admiral, you can talk to the Captain in private inside the Conference room. Also, Legion can be sterilized to retrieve the items and return the items to him without additional harm. But doing so will require Shepards' authorization to unseal the A.I. Core to allow Legion out." EDI replied from her closest holo terminal.
Raan turned and headed towards the Conference room, As she entered, Shepard's holo appeared."Captain John`Shepard I have some bad news." Raan said with worry. "Your suit is not designed to keep you alive with a weakened immune system. It was designed to allow your immune system to stay strong while keeping others safe around you. In short your suit is designed backwards and will need to be rebuilt to Quarian spec to keep you alive outside of your quarters." as she finished the last few words she heard a thud in the background as Shepard quickly disappeared.
While she sat there she listened to the commotion in the background. "Tali!" Shepard screamed. As he moved her to the bed he noticed she fainted, after a few minutes, Shepard Reappeared. "Tali fainted" with worry in his voice, "So how long do you need my suit for?" he continued, his voice still filled with worry.
"About a day" She replied with a general concern in her voice.
"Alright. How do you plan on getting it? You can't come in here without me getting sick." Shepard said trying to rationalize how to get his suit to her.
"Legion can be sterilized to come in and get the suit with no additional harm to you. But doing that would mean unsealing the A.I. core." Raan replied, feeling slightly better knowing he was trying to figure it out as well.
"I would prefer not to unseal the A.I. core. I will leave my suit in the airlock. I may get sick but letting Legion out and unsealing the A.I. core is something I rather not do" Shepard replied in a worried tone thinking what may happen if the A.I. core is unsealed.
Several hours later Shala`Raan entered the airlock and took Shepards suit. After Shepard left his suit in the airlock Tali started coming around. "What happened?" Tali asked quietly trying not to think about earlier.
"My suit was designed in reverse. Raan took my suit so it would act like yours." Shepard said in a calm and sweet manner as he put his arms around her.
Laying her head against his shoulder she started crying, in between tears "John I am sorry. It is all my fault. I insisted to Raan that your suit be constructed in reverse and not be fully functional" before she could continue, Shepard picked her head up and with one hand gently wiped some of the tears away from her face.
"I know, Raan explained it to me" he finished talking as he leaned in and kissed her.
As he broke the kiss Tali had one question on her mind "How long until your suit is retuned?"
"A day or so. Hopefully it will be back before the time is up so we don't have to wait around longer, not that I mind but." Shepard replied starting to sound more playful towards the end.
She started sobbing again, "John, our suits are vastly different than the one you were given." Holding up one her arms she turned it over showing the underside of her wrist. "I am surprised you didn't ask about this earlier" pointing to an obvious injection tracks on her wrist "It is on both hands."
He looked at the injection tracks. Just before he could speak she interrupted him "A hypodermic needle resides in the wrist section on the gloves, once the gloves are in place it automatically inserts itself. During combat and strenuous movements they tend to fall out, when they do they automatically reinsert themselves. They provide antibiotics and other medicines to help deal with living in the suit." She finished
"There are more changes too, but some of them you need to find out for yourself." As she pulled him into an embrace as they laid back down on the bed.
The next day, Shala`Raan left Shepard's new suit in the airlock. Shepard looked over his new suit while Tali came out of the private restroom as both of them headed towards the bed. As both of them got dressed Tali looked at Shepard just before he had a chance to put the gloves on.
"John, it will hurt at first but you will get used to it," said Tali as she slid his gloves on in one fluid motion. A hiss was heard as the seal was made. A few seconds later, he felt a sharp pain on both of his wrists as the needles punctured his skin finding a vein on the first try. Before they snapped the visors into place they gave each other one last kiss, knowing it may be some time before they were out of their suits again. After both were fully dressed they headed down to the CIC, were Admiral Raan stood there looking over the map.
They exited the elevator and approached Admiral Shala`Raan, who turned around and greeted them "Captain it is good to see you're finally out of your quarters. I hope Tali went over the changes to your suit in more detail." Raan said.
"She went over the general portions of it, but not in detail. Anyways Admiral how are the Quarians handling the move to the home world?" Shepard asked
"Most have adapted well, all non-combatants are planet side and the Geth are keeping their distance." Raan said sensing his concern. "What is first on our plan of action?"
"Our plan?" Shepard asked confused.
"This past week has been a strain on me, I should have asked first but I would like to stay on your ship during some of your missions. I can provide useful insight with information from the admiralty board. I've already talked to Samara and she agreed to let me stay with her in her room. As long as you're okay with that Captain." Raan said sensing that was going to be his next question.
"I see it is fine by me. Just please remember that even though you are here, I still run things slightly differently than the Fleet has." Shepard returning with a slightly commanding tone,
"No problem with that Captain, I am here to provide support as much as I can" Raan said.
" The artifact collected on Rannoch left some broken visions. From what I have been able to piece together, Ilos contains a second device. And from what I have been able to piece together Illos should have another device similar to the one we picked up on Rannoch." Shepard stated blankly to Raan.
"Shepard, what if the device has the security measure activated? I don't think it would be wise to risk your life again, especially not after what just happened to you a week ago." Raan asked with a tone only a caring mother could have. Even though she wasn't his mother, the way she started acting recently made him think otherwise.
"I'll find away to get it to Mordin safely so he can look at the device and see if the security measure is active." Shepard replied blankly. "Joker set a course for Illos" Shepard ordered into the comm link.
"Aye Aye Captain, ETA 10 hours" Joker replied.
Shepard turned back towards Tali and Raan, "If you two would excuse me I need to go talk to a few people before we reach Illos." Shepard said as he walked off towards Mordins lab.
"Ah hello Shepard, Feeling better?" Mordin said in his fast pace as Shepard entered his lab.
"I'll be fine. It will take some time getting used to this suit though" Shepard replied as he gestured the suit he was wearing. "Is there any way to tell if the device has the security measure activated before I pick it up Mordin?""
"Yes. Dangerous to pick up by anyone else, though. May activate if not already." Mordin replied
"Good, I also have another question for you. A few weeks ago you made a breakthrough about using the Genophage to cure the Quarians. How is it coming?" Shepard asked, in his mind hoping that it could be used to cure him as well.
"Slight set back, all tissue samples developed irreversible cancer. That and with the new data from the artifact, I am compiling new test data. Maybe ready in a few days."
"Just keep me apprised of it Professor." Shepard said as he walked out the door towards the Elevator.
Heading down to the Crew deck, Shepard proceeded to the A.I. Core where Legion was. Even though the core was sealed he walked up to the door panel and punched in code which unlocked the door. Legion startled at the opening of the door immediately raised his weapon. Upon determining it was Shepard he immediately lowered it again.
"We have an inquiry Shepard-Captain." Legion asked with his head flaps trying to mimic general expressions.
"Okay Legion what is it?" Shepard said after he sighed as he wondered where this conversation could take him today.
"Why did you pick the location on Rannoch? It seems highly inefficient." Legion replied in his synthesized voice.
"I picked that location due to its beauty. After the war with the Reapers, I don't want to be doing this anymore. While you, the Geth may never sleep nor retire, most ever other species will at some time in their life. And in doing so we choose a place that we can relax at for the rest of our time alive. I love the current location, just as I know Tali will love it." Shepard replied
"We don't understand the term 'Love'" Legion said raising one of the flaps on his head trying to convey confusion.
"I cannot describe it, see if EDI has information in her database to help you" Shepard answered. "Also Legion, can any of your ships work covertly? As in scout out a single location without being detected?" Shepard asked.
"No."
"Alright then, there is one other thing. When we reach Illos, you will be retrieving the artifact. I cannot risk the security measure being activated and either doing more harm to me or killing me" "We would like to remind you, of the reason why you left us here Shepard-Captain. Is to protect the A.I. core"
"I know, I can't have the device activate when someone else touches it until Mordin has deemed it safe" – Shepard said, slightly concerned, his brows furrowing.
"Shepard-Captain, we have detected several deactivated mobile platforms on Illos. Reactivating them would realign them to the greater Geth faction. It would also provide the needed support to carry the device safely back to the Normandy."
"Can the platforms be reactivated remotely?"
"No. You would have to reactivate them manually. They will establish an FTL comm link to download the updated programming. By using the Normandy this transfer can be facilitated much faster."
"Would they attack during the transfer?"
"No"
"What is the chance of them attacking?"
"0.01 %"
"What would need to be done to the Normandy to facilitate the transfer?"
"Nothing, EDI and the Geth will converse while EDI transmits the updated run times to the platforms."
"Alright Legion, that will have to do."
"Understood Shepard-Captain."
