The ground shook beneath her feet as another explosion rocked the earth and still Ruby continued to run. Around her fire and smoke clogged the air, making her cough and her eyes water. But despite all the chaos around her, a great feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment filled her to the brim.
So this wasn't Mirdoir then. They were always filled with panic and fear as she tried to escape the flames.
No, this dream was a new one.
Suddenly she broke through the screen of smoke and emerged into the wide open expanse of a large warehouse. Around her towers of large square crates reached high up to the ceiling. Fire was everywhere, filling the building with a hellish heat and the groan of rending metal as the ceiling slowly caved in under the stress.
But she wasn't afraid. As her feet pounded across the smooth concrete, Ruby could see the hanger door on the far side and through it the pitch black of night.
Escape.
And there, far ahead and outlined by the blankness and lit from behind were three figures running to safety. Their details were clouded, but Ruby could tell that they were all female, possibly in their mid teens. One had hair and clothes as white as snow, perfectly outlined by the darkness outside. In stark contrast, the next girl had hair as black as the night surrounding it. The last girl had a brilliant cascade of golden locks that tumbled across her back, reaching all the way down to her waist, hiding most of the clothes she wore.
A smile slowly spread across Ruby's face as she watched them.
They were her team... her friends.
They had done it...though she had no idea what it was they had done or who those girls were. What she did know was that she needed to get the hell out before she burned to death.
As she watched, the three girls crossed the threshold into the darkness. Good, they were safe.
Suddenly her vision flashed in a red haze of pain as something yanked her back, pulling her legs out from under her, causing her to fall and bash her head against the ground. She lay there, stunned for a moment before pulling herself up and looked back.
A long red cloak trailed from her shoulders, and it was pinned to the ground by a piece of rubble that had fallen from the ceiling.
The cold chill of fear gripped her as she lept to her feet, desperately trying to pull herself free.
No, she thought, watching herself struggle. Don't pull! Take it off!
But she didn't, and Ruby was forced to watch as she ignored common sense, pulling at a helpless cause that would be the death of her. As expected, the cloak didn't budge. It didn't even tear.
As the flames climbed higher around her, she desperately looked out into the night. The three others were out, putting as much distance between them and the building as possible.
As Ruby watched, the one with the yellow hair looked back, golden locks flying. Deep, lavender colored eyes met hers, bright with laughter and eagerness. Then she saw the situation Ruby was in and all that drained away, replaced with pure, unadulterated terror.
"RUBY!" a scream tore from her lips as the girl wheeled around, running back towards her as fast as she could.
For a moment, a spark of hope ignited in Ruby's chest. Then another explosion shook the ground, followed by a long moaning creak.
One of the towers of crates was listing towards her. Ruby felt her whole body go cold as she watched the tower fall on top of her, the lids of the crates falling open, disgorging a tidal wave of strange red colored crystalline powder... all falling towards her.
"YANG!" she cried back, reaching out desperately, hoping for a miracle.
It never came.
Then the crates hit, the crystalline powder piercing her skin, crushing her be...
-Linebreak-
Ruby woke up with a gasp, fighting the sheets that bound her as she jolted upright in a panic.
There was no fire and no warehouse. The deep blue walls of the XO quarters on the Normandy stared back as she fanatically looked about. She was here, safe in bed.
Nothing.
"A dream," she whispered to herself, falling back on the bed and shutting her eyes. "Just a dream."
But what a dream it was. It wasn't like the other guilt induced nightmares she'd suffered. This one had felt so real, like she was really there running for her life. But where would... where...?
A burst of anger shot through her as the dream started to fade from her mind, faster then ever. She fought it, hanging on to everything she could remember. Though she tried her hardest, she couldn't stop it from fading into a hazy blur, unrecognizable of her nightmares of Mirdoir. But there was one thing she managed to hold onto.
"Yang."
The name felt so familiar on her lips. With it came such a feeling of love that tears came to her eyes. An unexpected feeling of homesickness settled in and the walls of her room seemed even colder then before. She missed this... Yang, whoever she was.
Wiping her eyes, she rolled over and pulled the blankets back over her and tried to fall back asleep. But she couldn't. She just couldn't get her mind off of this. She found herself whispering the name over and over again, as if afraid that it would slip back into the dark reassesses of her mind if she stopped for a single moment.
After ten minutes of tossing and turning she gave up. Throwing the blankets off she sat on the side of the bed, massaging her face. She didn't care that it was still late at night, or early morning depending on how you looked at it, she just couldn't sleep after something like that.
But who was that girl, and why did she feeling like this? Homesick of all things? She didn't have a home. Not a true one, anyway. She lived where she was stationed and stayed with Chakwas from time to time when on leave, but she never had a place to truly call home.
Unbidden memories from when she interfaced with the beacon came to mind. A planet hanging in the darkness of space. Unknown... yet familiar. Then she remembered what that thing, Virgil, the voice in the beacon had said:
"You were pulled from your place. Put in this cycle, but you are not part of it. You remain separate from your species... a remnant pulled from a forgotten world."
"Remnant," she whispered, lost in her thoughts.
-Linebreak-
Now this was something Doctor Karin Chakwas hadn't seen in a long time.
Despite being a joint Human-Turian project, the Normandy was still maned by a full human crew. That entailed most things being geared towards humans, including the standard twenty-four hour day like back on earth. That being said, it was around 0200 hours when Chakwas finally finished her duties in the med-bay. With the new non-human ground team, she had taken dozens of medical scans as base references for later treatment if things went wrong. Now, finally finished, she was looking forward to a few good hours sleep before her next shift started tomorrow. But all thoughts of sleep were driven from her mind as she exited the med-bay and walked in on a sight that, while surprising, was all to familiar to her.
Ruby sat at the table in the mess hall, dressed a tank top and shorts, pouring over data pads that were scattered all over its surface. Her face betrayed the fatigue she felt as she scrolled through another pad before tossing it aside with a tired moan before letting her head fall to the table.
Karin smiled sadly. She remembered all those times years ago when she walked in on Ruby pouring over last minute homework for school. Though those events weren't nearly as numerous as when she caught the young girl in her own personal pursuits.
Dreams of her past life had plagued her back then, each one revealing some clue that always faded by morning. So Ruby would always search while the dream was still fresh. She would pour over her omni-tool for hours, searching for a name, a place, something.
Even now Chakwas could feel the same twangs of pity she'd felt coming back in full.
Ruby had worked so hard, searched every nook and cranny she could and still she couldn't find anything.
Chakwas quietly walked over and gently rested a hand on Ruby's shoulder. She felt the Commander stiffen briefly at the contact before she realized who it was.
"Karin," she murmured.
"You should be in bed," Chakwas said softly.
"Couldn't sleep."
"Dreams?"
Ruby moaned an affirmative.
Without a second thought to her own rest, Karin pulled out the chair beside her and sat down. "Tell me what you remember."
For the longest time Ruby said nothing, head buried in her arms. Then she sighed. "Does the name 'Remnant' mean anything to you?"
"Remnant," Karin repeated, deep in thought. "No, I can't say it does. Why?"
"Because... I think that's my home world. I saw it when the beacon was messing with my head." She looked up at Karin, eyes filled with a mixture of hope and despair as she gestured at the pads laid out before her. "I saw it. I actually remembered it's name and I can't find any damn trace of it."
She buried her head in her arms again, breathing heavily.
"At least you remember it," Chakwas smiled sadly, reaching over and hugging her. "That's hope at least. I know you'll keep searching and one day you will find it."
"And what if I do find it?" Ruby looked up again with watering eyes. "What if I get there and my family is all dead? What if they don't recognize me? What if they don't want me? I've..."
"Ruby stop," Karin said firmly. "They're your family and they would never turn you away."
"But..."
"But nothing," she cut her off in a comforting tone. "I've known you since we first found you. Anyone who can raise a girl as kind and considerate as you would love them until the end of time. The things you've done wouldn't matter to them. You hear me?"
Her lower lip trembling, Ruby hugged her back, relishing in her comfort. For a full minute they stayed like that, then Ruby pulled away.
"Thanks Karin," she murmured, eyes downcast. "Its just... I'm scared. This is the closest I've been in... I don't know how long. And what if I don't like what I find?"
"Then we'll get through it, just like we've always done."
Ruby looked up in surprise at her answer and met Karin's comforting face. "We?"
"I haven't left you, Ruby, and I never will. You're the daughter I never had and I would never abandon you to face something like this alone."
Ruby bowed her head, trying to hid the fact that her admission brought tears to her eyes. But Karin saw them all the same.
It never ceased to amaze Karin both how much and how little Ruby had changed. She was a grown woman, a hardened N7 veteran and one of the deadliest people in the galaxy. And yet here she was, brought to her knees by the simple fact that she would never be abandoned by those that loved her and that she could trust them until the end.
And Karin meant every word she said. Not even the riskiest of suicide missions would drive her from her adoptive daughter's side.
Suddenly she remembered something she got on the Citadel. That would defiantly cheer her up.
Rising from her chair she walked over to the little cupboard that housed Ruby's supplements. She could feel two silver eyes watching her every move as she reached in and pulled out a large brown and white striped box with the name 'Shavela Chafe' stamped on the front.
The instant she saw it, Ruby's eyes went wide. Then came the one thing she had somehow manged to retain while growing up. Her eyes widened to a near impossible size and her lower lip started to tremble. Karin couldn't help but laugh as she was once again beset by Ruby's almost irresistible kicked puppy expression. How a grown woman could pull it off just as well as a young teen Karin would never know. All she knew was that Ruby always pulled out the big guns when in the presence of her favourite sweet.
"One," she chuckled, opening the box and pulling out a single large chocolate chip cookie.
If it was possible Ruby's expression got even more pitiful.
"One," she repeated, though it was more to steel herself against the onslaught of guilt from denying such a face. She closed the box and put it away before she changed her mind. Then she tossed the cookie.
Ruby caught it one handed and took a small bite, shivered with delight at the taste.
"It's still warm," she sighed dreamily, then took another bite.
"When I heard what was going on with the evidence I decided to make a quick stop," Chakwas explained. "I knew you wouldn't have time to stop by the cafe, and I know how much you love the place. So I placed an order for you. Now I could only get the fifty pack, so please go easy on them."
"Don't worry I will," Ruby said, finishing off the last bite before licking the crumbs off her fingers wistfully. "I remember that last disaster of a deployment."
"The mess hall running out of cookies is not considered a disaster."
"For you maybe. But on that day my moral plummeted below the darkest depths of the earths... or whatever planet that was."
Chakwas chuckled, shaking her head. She may have grown up, but Ruby was still as much a child as she was when she was younger.
"And now, bed," she said, going over and starting to gather the pads on the table. "You have a big day tomorrow. I doubt Saren will ignore a target like Doctor T'soni, especially since she's Benezia's daughter."
"Uh! Its the first day of school all over again," Ruby moaned, but getting up all the same. She knew the importance of this mission just as much as the rest of them. The Asari may have intel on Saren. More importantly, she was a Prothean expert and may just have an idea on what the conduit was.
Together they gathered up the pads before Ruby took them back with her to the XO quarters to try and grab another few hours of sleep before they arrived.
Karin watched her go with a smile on her face. Somehow that girl never seemed to grow up. She was one of the most well known commanders in the Alliance and she still had a notorious sweet tooth.
And she wouldn't have any other way.
Smiling, she walked towards one of the empty sleeper pods and climbed in before drifting off into a dreamless sleep.
-Linebreak-
Sovereign despised organics. Hated them in every scene of the word.
He was a Reaper, made to destroy all organic life in the galaxy. So to have the swishy beings practically crawling all over inside him was disgusting.
Currently he was floating in space, the tiny pathetic ships of the Geth fleet surrounding his two kilometer hull like flies to fresh meat.
The tiny machines actually worshipped him, as well they should. It had been entertaining at first but then had started to bore him, then to anger him. But he couldn't lash out otherwise he could loose them as pawns. Because that was all they were: Pawns, puppets... his slaves. And he despised every last one of them, organic and synthetic alike.
Though... they were necessary.
He was one Reaper, the only Reaper left in the galaxy actually. All the others were off waiting in dark space outside the galaxy for the Citadel to activate it's Relay function, allowing them to come pouring into the heart of galactic civilization.
But they couldn't because the Protheans had sabotaged it somehow. The Citadel Relay was shut down, and it was his mission to get it back up again so the cycle could continue.
If only it was that simple.
Again, he was only one Reaper. If he just flew in all the races of the galaxy would destroy him, and that wouldn't do at all.
So he was left to a more subtle approach. Using... organics.
Over the years he had slowly built up an intelligence network using indoctrinated individuals that spanned a small part of the galaxy. But that hadn't gotten him very far, until Saren had wandered into his grasp.
He could have laughed at the Turian's idiocy. The fool actually believed that he, a mortal, could harness a Reaper to do his bidding. And in a way... he was. That was the true art of indoctrination. Saren had been with Sovereign for years, time that had not gone to waste. Every day Sovereign had slowly pushed at the Turian's mind, shaping him, molding him into the perfect servant. Now the Turian was utterly bent to his will, in an indoctrination cast so perfectly no one had noticed.
It was one thing to keep the subject from realizing he was being indoctrinated, but to hide that from everyone in the galaxy was a true work of art. Saren was a major figure in the Council, so to slowly shift his behaviour in front of them over the years so then they accepted it as the new normal was something Sovereign took pride in.
Most indoctrinations happened while the cycle was in full swing, when the Reapers were hunting down those last few places of resistance. Those indoctrinations were quick, meant to get an agent in and give away their position or gathering for the harvest. Often time they were discovered and eliminated because the quick indoctrination had left the person to much unlike themselves to pass as normal.
But with Saren, the Turian was so completely under his control and yet so... himself that you would never realize it. A true masterpiece in indoctrination.
Maybe he would keep the Turian, if only to brag to the other Reapers about what he'd accomplished. They all appreciated and respected the art of indoctrination. All could do it, but few could do it well.
Once he had Saren under his control he convinced the Geth to follow him as a fighting force.
It was embarrassing easy. The moment they laid optics on him and what he was they started worshipping him as the pinnacle of non-organic life. Of course he was the pinnacle of non-organic life, but what annoyed him most was that they wanted to become like him: True AI, as they said.
If he had been an organic, hypothetically speaking, the idea would have made him sick.
He was not an AI; he was a Reaper. They had no beginning and would have no end. The cycle was eternal. And the Geth would have no part in it. When they other Reapers came they would be wiped out just like the rest of the galaxy.
So yes, Sovereign hated organics. But they did have their uses.
They also had their draw backs. Such as the capacity for failure.
He had wanted to keep Saren a Spectre in their pathetic Citadel government for as long as possible. They had valuable Intel, not to mention direct access to the Citadel that he desperately needed.
It angered him that a single lowly human had managed to take that all away. It wouldn't have been so bad if that was all, but that same human had also accessed the Prothean beacon and now was hunting down Saren, and by extension him, before they could find the conduit.
Oh how he hated organics.
But still, this was only one human they were talking about. What could one human do to stop his master plan?
But that wasn't what Saren was thinking. The Turian was actually worried about this human, as if she had a hope of stopping them. It was at times like this that Sovereign regretted not reducing the Turian to an empty shell, open for his direct control.
So Sovereign was forced to watch as the Turian plotted in his throne, deep within his hull, trying to figure out a way to stop this human. This... Commander Rose.
A sudden curiosity at what could cause one of his best disciples to worry struck him. Saren might have been a fool, but he was not a foolish fool. So something that caused his confidence to shake just might be something to look into.
Just in case.
So the Reaper accessed Saren's files and found the Commander's file right on top. In fact the Turian was looking at it himself.
He found the usual information.
Name: Ruby Rose
Gender: Female
Rank: Commander
Date of Birth: Unknown.
That caused Sovereign a burst of amusement. Did the human actually forget when it was born? Typical.
Height: 5'11
Weight: 120 pounds
Hair: Black/Red
Eyes:... Silver
Sovereign felt a cold chill go down his length as he reread that single word.
No. That was impossible. She couldn't be one of them. They had wiped that breed from existence a long time ago.
Throwing caution to the wind he accessed that galaxy spanning network known as the extranet and searched for any references to Commander Rose. What he found did nothing to ease his worries. Thousands of articles and scientific reports on her mysterious ability; running faster then humanly possible.
So... she was one of them. Well, at least her variable power wasn't as bad as other... individuals the Reapers had encountered in the past.
Throughout the cycles they bore many names, but there was one that transcended through the ages:
The Silver Eyed Warriors.
Put together they calmed the lives of more Reapers then all the cycles put together. Powerful, incorruptible, wielding strange powers that defied the laws of the universe. They had been the biggest thorn in the Reaper's side for a long time. They always resisted, always fought until the bitter end.
He had been there, burning the last Prothean stronghold to the ground and saw one of the last Silver Eyed Warriors of that age. His name was long forgotten, but his legacy was not. Twelve Reaper Destroyers burned to ashes by his gaze alone and countless thousands of thralls killed by his weapon before he was finally brought down by orbital strikes.
And Sovereign was one Reaper, standing alone against a Silver Eyed Warrior. The odds were not in his favor.
Though, as Sovereign looked deeper, there was some comfort to this situation. Aside from her speed, she boasted none of the other abilities and protection that they were known to have.
She was weak. A prefect opportunity to end her.
And he had just the way to do it.
Through Saren he gave out a command to the Geth, ordering a for a single husk they'd taken from the human planet of Eden Prime to be brought to a chamber deep within his frame. Once the husk was delivered and the Geth departed he commanded the husk and once again impaled it on a specialized implantation spike, much like the one that had made the human a husk in the first place, and got to work.
Slowly he shaped it, guiding the specialized nano-machines within the spike to form a myriad of implants inside and out of the cold corpse. It took hours, but soon the modifications were finished. Now came the final part.
Now there were a few misconceptions among organics in earlier cycles about Reaper indoctrination. Most of their facts were spot on. Continuous exposure to a Reaper would eventual indoctrinate organics, yes. But the main misconception was how the indoctrination field was made. No mere machine could hope to create a frequency capable of bending someone to it's will. That was what made the Reapers different, more then mere machines.
It all started at the end of every cycle when a new Reaper was made out of the ashes. Out of all the species of that cycle a few would be chosen to become ascended... to become a Reaper.
These species, along with the rest, would be hunted down to extinction. However, with the chosen species special care would be taken to indoctrinate as many of them as possible and save them for later proposes. The billions of corpses left in the wake however were harvested, the bodies broken down to their base materials. These would be refined and used to create one of the strongest alloys in the galaxy, which would be used to form the hull of the new Reaper.
Next came the complicated part: Giving life to the shell. True life.
A Soul.
If only the Silver Eyed Warriors knew the true scope of what they'd given the Reapers by revealing their powers. For though they were extremely hard to kill, they never hesitated to flaunt their powers to destroy the Reapers. Through careful observation and study they had managed to find the source of their powers: Their very souls. Or, as many species had called it; Aura.
It had taken the Reapers many cycles of study to realize this, but once they did they immediately capitalized on it. A power source like that was not to be put to waste. It had taken centuries more, but eventually they had found a way to harvest the Aura from the living bodies.
Once the extermination was complete, ones that had been saved would then be refined. Their Auras ripped from their bodies and merged and formed into one giant entity which was then implanted in the Reaper hull, breathing life into the empty shell.
Thus, a new Reaper was created, born from the ashes of the fallen.
The only downside was that the process stripped the combined Aura of any special abilities the singular souls might have possessed. But that was over shadowed by the mind altering capabilities the Reapers possessed. Grating their very souls against the minds of organics, corrupting them from the inside out. That was the big misconception about indoctrination. It was no feat of mere technology, but something that the mortal organic couldn't comprehend.
So no, he was not an AI as the Geth thought. He was a Reaper. A being that transcended the limitations of mere flesh and circuits. A true god in their eyes.
A contented rumble passed through his frame as he examined the finished husk with a critical eye before deciding that it met his expectations.
Then he drew himself together, entering a meditative state as he felt inward, past the cold metal of his insides until he felt the burning touch of energy that was his very being. With careful precision he calculated how much was necessary, then cut off a piece of his soul. It wasn't painful, though he could feel the dip in his life force as the piece departed. Then he sent it racing through his hull, up the spike and into the husk.
For a moment nothing happened. Then the husk started to stir.
Satisfied, Sovereign retracted the spike, allowing the husk to fall to the cold floor. It twitched for a moment before staggering to it's feet. Then it opened up it's mouth and screamed.
All throughout Sovereign's hull Geth froze in their tracks, listening as the terrible sound echoed through the massive vessel.
For a synthetic species incapable of emotions it should have been a momentous day. For the first time since their creation they had truly felt their first real emotion:
Fear.
Updated: March 7, 2017