A/N: The second to last chapter in this section! Once more a thank you to the reviewers on the last go around. The final chapter will be up later this week. Saturday at the latest. As an added incentive to review this chapter I'll throw in a teaser for the next act of the story along with the final chapter provided I get at least four or five reviews. Enjoy this chapter as it will be the last quiet moment for a little while!
Chapter XI
Surrounded once more in the inky blackness of space Shepard set the navigation controls for the Voice of Memory. It would take them several minutes to reach their mothership. Shepard found herself lost in thought as she stared out into the void. The last time she had been on Ilos she had been with Liara and Ashley, intent on stopping Saren from unleashing the Reaper Armageddon. Shepard vividly remembered the vicious and desperate fight with the Geth rearguard. It still surprised her that they had made it through without a scratch. She also still remembered their desperate race to the Conduit punctuated by the meeting with Vigil. Shepard almost grinned at the memory of Liara's eyes practically popping out of their sockets at the presence of the Prothean VI. She found herself wondering what Liara would think of Shepard now that she was joined to an actual Prothean AI. Would Liara carry through on her suggestion of dissecting Shepard or perhaps she would carry out that in-depth study she had always been promising? Shepard found her eyes beginning to dampen at the memories of her lost love. With all of the action and turmoil Shepard had been subjected to she hadn't had a lot of time for memories. Now that she did have time she found that it was more of a curse than a boon.
Doubts about Liara ate away at her. She was sure that by this point Liara would have moved on with her life. Shepard was after all dead to the rest of the universe and it wasn't likely that Liara knew any different. Shepard found herself toying with the idea of finding Liara and staging a dramatic return but ended up discarding the idea as being selfish and showy. If Liara had moved on then Shepard had a duty to ensure her happiness even if it meant sacrificing her own. After all it was the least she could do for the one she loved.
The console pinged to announce that they were coming up on the Voice of Memory and Shepard rapidly composed herself ensuring that an emotionless mask was back in place as she addressed herself to the landing preparations.
As Shepard disembarked from the shuttle Sira was waiting to welcome her back on board.
"I see you brought a guest back with you." Sira mentioned gesturing to the Geth as it carted the crate with the Prothean data module out of the shuttle.
"Mhm." Shepard mumbled absentmindedly as she withdrew the crystal from its pouch and examined it once more. Her examinations where punctuated by Miranda's voice.
"Shepard, I wanted to talk to you about before." Miranda said quietly.
Shepard was about to respond to her when the hand holding the crystal suddenly went numb. Staring down in shock she found her hand swathed in crackling arcs of electricity emanating from the crystal. Try as she might she could release the crystal from her hand. The arcing electricity grew to a crescendo and the crystal shattered in Shepard's hand. The lights in the hanger immediately blinked out though for some bizarre reason Sira's hologramatic avatar remained intact. The hangar was suddenly illuminated by a plume of multi-coloured energy. The energy shot up towards the ceiling of the hangar and then abruptly stopped. It began to reform itself until it eventually resembled a humanoid shape. This shape gradually drifted down to the ground. Shepard found herself unable to move and completely mesmerized by the coruscating figure. It moved towards her and gently took hold of one her hands. The touch was vaguely warm and oddly gentle. It seemed to last for an eternity but in reality it was only a matter of seconds. The figure released her hand and left her only to move towards Sira. It seemed as though the AI was similarly enthralled as it was subjected to the same treatment. The figure eventually released Sira's hologramatic hand and moved on to the Geth. After repeating the procedure once more with the Geth it moved finally to Miranda.
While Miranda's body was utterly immobile Shepard could tell from the rapid darting of her eyes that she was beginning to panic. The figure took hold of her hand and remained that way for a long time. Eventually Shepard noticed that the figure was gradually becoming dimmer and dimmer while Miranda was beginning to faintly glow. Eventually with a blinding flash of light and a thunderclap the figure disappeared completely. The lights in the hangar flared back to life and Shepard stumbled as feeling abruptly returned to her limbs. Miranda was still staring perplexedly at Shepard.
"Miranda?" Shepard asked cautiously, "Are you alright?"
"I am not" Was Miranda's only response. Her voice no longer sounded the same. Instead it sounded more like a distant song carried on the wind.
"What do you mean? You are not what? Alright?" Shepard responded, confusedly.
"Shepard, Miranda is no longer registering as completely human. Her readings are registering as partly energy." Sira interrupted. "I think it's possible that the energy may have altered her in some way."
"Are you Miranda?" Shepard asked rephrasing her question.
"I am not." Was the only answer.
"What? Who are you?"
"I." Miranda or more accurately whatever was controlling her paused for a moment. "I. Was. A. Nyx."
"A Nyx?" Shepard responded with a frown. "I've never heard of your species."
"I. We. We are ended."
"You mean you are all dead?"
"Yes."
"When did this happen?" Shepard inquired, cautiously.
"When the Galaxy was bright. Before the Darkness." The entity was gradually beginning to become more familiar with Miranda's speech.
"What is this darkness? A plague? A war?" Shepard asked wilfully omitting the reason she feared most.
"I was afraid too Emma." The being whispered all traces of hesitation gone from the musical voice.
"How do you know my name?" Shepard asked suspiciously as her hand slowly made its way towards her pistol butt.
"Your weapon is unnecessary, sister. I intend you no harm."
"You still didn't answer my question." Shepard responded deliberately avoiding the odd familiarity with which it addressed her.
"The answer is the one that you fear. The Reapers were the darkness that swallowed the light of my race and left only ash in our wake."
"Were you a Prothean?"
"Shepard, she is not Prothean. She might have been from the race that came before us." Sira whispered as she moved to stand beside Shepard.
"Your metal twin is correct. We came long before the Protheans just as many species came long before us."
"What exactly are you?"
"I am a Nyx. Unlike you or the Protheans we have any energy based physiology. We generally encased our beings in a physical form to allow us to interact with the world around us. These vessels were usually blank templates but we could inhabit other sentient creatures."
"You're inhabiting a sentient creature and one of my crew right now. I demand you release her."
"I am afraid I cannot. If I did so I would cease to exist. I would prefer not to decompose." The entity responded politely. "Do not worry, the one you refer to as Miranda is still alive and intact. She will not be harmed in anyway."
"You are suppressing her personality, that isn't something she would want. Let her go. If you need a blank vessel then take me."
"That would have been exactly what I would have done Emma when I was in you position. Unfortunately you already share a mind with your metal twin and the metal man already has too many minds. Do not worry for I intend to coexist with Miranda."
"And what does Miranda say about this?"
"You would not believe me and you have no reason to believe me. I will return her consciousness to the fore as soon as we finish our conversation."
"Alright, I don't believe you but you've obviously gone to a lot of trouble to talk to us. Why did you call me sister and what do you know about the Reapers?"
"The Reapers were the ones responsible for my imprisonment. Millennia have I travelled with them. During the destruction of the last species before the Protheans the Reaper who had taken me was destroyed. I was cast down to the depths of a nameless world in a nameless wasteland. Darkness was my only companion and it was an old friend. The Protheans eventually found me in the debris. They had no conception of a Reaper. I could not reach them through my prison to warn them of the danger. I was taken and left on the world you call Ilos. I watched as they burned. Sira knows that pain."
Sira's mouth was agape at the being's revalation. The tale was a horrific mirror of Sira's own confinement.
"Once the burning was finished I was left on the planet until the machines returned. They were twisted and tainted versions of your metal friend filled only with hate. They found me but were ignorant. Then you found me and I had a hope beyond hope. You Emma. You stand where I stood all those years ago. I tried to stem the tide by myself and in the end all I did was become a trophy for the Reapers. They have the same fate in store for you. A place as a cog in the machine of death. That is what is at stake and this is why I must be by your side. Now I must go. I will return control to Miranda and I will endeavour not to take it from her unless she is willing."
"Wait. Before you go at least tell us your name."
"Persephone." Was the whispering response.
Miranda shuddered as the glow faded. A tracery of energy faintly rushed through her body before disappearing entirely. Miranda blinked and stumbled as she looked around her. Shepard rushed to her side and grabbed her arm and eased her down onto the deck. Miranda stared at Shepard in wonderment.
"I'm playing host to another mind?" Miranda stated dazedly.
The Voice of Memory's four crewmembers had reconvened in the ship's infirmary following the drama on the hangar deck. Miranda was sitting impatiently on one of the room's diagnostic beds waiting for Sira to process her test results. The nameless Geth looked on as impassively as ever and Shepard proceed to pace around the room, her mind in turmoil. While Persephone seemed to be benign enough having an unknown alien being sharing Miranda's body and mind left Shepard uneasy. Miranda was enough of an enigma when she was human. Persephone's words left Shepard even more uneasy. Having the stakes of defeat at the hands of the Reapers driven home didn't exactly make the job of defeating them any easier. What made matters still worse was the fact that Shepard had no idea what to do next. She had a ship with almost no crew and an amorphous goal of stopping the Reapers coupled with the not unrelated problem of disappearing human colonies. Loath as she was to admit it she needed the intelligence resources of a major galactic power to plan her next move. Shepard's anxieties were interrupted by the arrival of Sira.
"Well Miranda, you seem to be remarkably lucky. You managed to survive being joined with a wholly alien lifeform." Sira announced with a smile.
"I'm not sure what to say. Is there any way we can be separated." Miranda asked cautiously.
"From my initial readings it would appear that you're inextricably linked. Even if I did know how to separate you I don't think you would be able to survive separately. Persephone appears to have meshed herself into many of your autonomic functions. If you were to remove her those functions would stop."
"You just seem to be a magnet for weirdness Shepard. I knew staying with you would be trouble." Miranda grumbled as she hopped off the bed.
"Are we sure that this actually Miranda and not Persephone acting like Miranda?" Shepard questioned.
"If you need more proof than her obvious attitude then I can confirm that Miranda has two entirely separate neural readings. One is suppressed and bears a remarkably alien structure while the other is obviously human." Sira responded.
"I still feel like me, Shepard." Miranda added.
"Just checking. Can Persephone take control whenever she wants?"
"That's the strange part, Shepard. She was very clear the first time when she took control that this would be the only time she would do it. In future I have to willingly surrender control to her."
"Well it certainly has been a long day. Sira, could you set our guest up with some quarters. I don't suppose you have a name?" Shepard concluded, addressing the Geth.
"We are Geth a mobile platform comprised of 1183 separate runtimes. An individual designator has been unnecessary." The Geth responded flatly.
"My name is Legion for we are many." Sira added, insightfully.
"Christian Bible, the Gospel of Mark, chapter V, verse XI. We acknowledge this is an appropriate metaphor and designator. We are Legion."
"While I'm disturbed that you both have such an intimate knowledge of Earth religion given that you're both alien AIs it is a suitable name and it sure beats calling you Geth." Shepard admitted. "Sira, why don't you see about billeting Legion in one of the machine shops? It would seem an appropriate residence."
Legion nodded his head in what seemed to be appreciation and then strode out of the infirmary with Sira at his side. Despite the total lack of verbal communication Shepard could sense the mechanical interchange between the two. Shepard turned back to Miranda was getting ready to leave the infirmary.
"Seriously, are you alright?" Shepard asked.
Miranda looked at her strangely and then seemed to consider for a moment.
"If by alright am I physically fine, the answer is yes. It's just.." Miranda paused for a moment, "When I woke up this morning I didn't expect to go to sleep sharing a consciousness with an alien."
"I suppose this must be quite a shock for you given your past."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Miranda asked, her anger flaring at the insinuation.
"You're Cerberus and Cerberus doesn't like aliens or anyone who stands in the path of humanity."
"You know Shepard, if you had said that to me at any other time than right now I would have dismissed you as being another clueless drone of the system spouting its lies and platitudes rather than having to think."
"What's different?"
"I never really had to think about my position until now. When I was with Cerberus I was given a mission, a goal to complete. I knew what I was doing was right and there were a set of rules and parameters to govern my actions. What's more I knew who I was. Being with you, I've seen how you react to situations. You don't follow any kind of rules. There isn't any kind of order to what happens. Events happen and you, me and everyone around you get swept up in them. Look at today. I thought I was going on a simple recovery mission. The kind of thing I've done in my sleep a thousand times for Cerberus. By the end of it you end up disappearing. Geth appear out of nowhere and suddenly they aren't the enemy anymore. Then I end up hosting any alien lifeform for the foreseeable future. The worst part isn't that it happened but that I didn't have any control over it."
"So you don't want to lose control?"
"I'll disregard that attempt to use a simple answer for a complex problem. It isn't that I'm scared of losing control it's having to trust someone else. I've never been good with other people. I keep them at a distance and they keep me at a distance. Now, with you I have to depend on you and I realize you have to depend on me."
"I don't quite know what to say Miranda." Shepard responded in confusion.
"I'm not proposing marriage Commander." Miranda replied with the ghost of smirk, "I'm trying to apologize. I didn't quite realize what you were going through until now."
"Thanks, Miranda. It's good know you're watching my back. If you ever want to … talk about Persephone or how I'm handling the missions you only have to ask."
"Oh? I thought you didn't want me second guessing your command." Miranda added with a faint grin.
"And I thought you didn't have a sense of humour."
"It's a closely guarded secret. If you tell anyone I'll have to kill you. Just so you know. Seriously though, I appreciate the offer Shepard. I have a feeling that I might end up taking you up on it before to long."
"Miranda, I did have a question, about Cerberus."
Miranda's manner shifted from one of being open to completely professional in the blink of an eye.
"Certainly Shepard. What is it?"
"If I wanted to make contact with them how would I do it?" Shepard inquired cautiously.
"I thought you weren't going to have anything to do with Cerberus?"
"I realized after we had 'talked' on the shuttle that I wouldn't be able to manage without the help of some sort of intelligence organization."
"So you picked Cerberus over the Alliance because?" Miranda trailed off.
"If I reveal myself to the Alliance I stand a good chance of losing Sira, being debriefed and probably being dissected for 'the next revolution in medical technology'."
"I hate to say it Shepard but we stand to have the same thing happen to us if you contact Cerberus."
"So we're trapped between a rock and hard place?"
"Not necessarily. With Cerberus we stand the best chance of being able to operate independently. If we pass them intelligence they should pass us intelligence without us having to ever make contact. It would be a relationship of convenience nothing more." Miranda responded with startling honesty.
"So you're saying Cerberus was still be a defacto enemy?"
"So long as we remain assets then an alliance would hold. The moment either of us are vulnerable and disposable then Cerberus would waste no time in taking advantage of the situation. I've seen it happen."
"So we keep them at arms length."
"It still doesn't help us with a crew." Miranda pointed out with concern. "Despite the fact that Sira seems more than capable of controlling the ship without any crew I still think we need a crew if we are to stand any hope of surviving longer than a few months."
"You're right Miranda we do need a crew but somehow I don't think the Alliance will lend us a crew and with a Cerberus crew we stand a good chance of ending up with a knife in the back." Shepard mused.
"You had a crew that you trusted on the Normandy."
"I trusted most of them but I don't know where any of them are or whether they would be willing to give up their duty to the Alliance just to serve with me."
"I was thinking more of Councillor Anderson. He risked treason to help you. Surely he would be willing to assist you in some way."
"Councillor Anderson? At least they didn't completely ignore me. I suppose he might be inclined to do something for us. I'll see about getting in contact with him." Shepard finally concluded.
Miranda gave Shepard a quick nod and exited the infirmary. Shepard stood there for several moments considering her conversation with Miranda before heading back to her quarters.
As Shepard finished keying in the message for Councillor Anderson she congratulated herself on the message. Using the old Normandy's proof code would certainly catch the Councillor's attention. Now all that remained was to wait for a response. She had been sure to remain purposefully vague about her identity so as to avoid compromising her newfound anonymity.
She didn't have to wait long before her computer pinged with a response.
To the Sender of this Message,
I will meet you on the Citadel on level 37 of the Wards. Signal your arrival with a blank message using the Normandy's proof code on the attached frequency.
Andersen.
As covert communiqués went the message was exactly what Shepard had expected. Getting to the Citadel was going to prove insanely difficult. As if reading her thoughts Sira flashed into existence.
"It isn't exactly going to be a cakewalk is it?"
"No, but then why should I expect any different?" Shepard grumbled. "I don't suppose we can bring the Voice of Memory into the Serpentine Nebula?"
"Surprisingly enough I think we stand a good chance of being able to slip in undetected."
"Reveal your plan to me O omnipotent AI." Shepard joked.
"You know flattery will get you everywhere Shepard. I propose that we deploy a drone with a false identity beacon which will read as a freighter with critical damage to its eezo core. We jump simultaneously as we clear the Mass relay we detonate the drone and engage our stealth systems." Sira finished smugly.
"The plan for getting in certainly will work but I don't know how you intend to dock with the Citadel."
"I don't intend to dock. You can infiltrate with a boarding shuttle on the exterior hull. I even have an insertion point picked out for you."
"How is it that you know so much about the Citadel's security vulnerabilities?"
"Don't forget Shepard that it was the centre of Prothean government for several centuries. I have access to all the weaknesses that the Protheans knew of and I very much doubt that your Council races have improved on them."
"Touché Sira. We might as well set course for the Citadel. I'll go inform Miranda." Shepard paused for a moment, "How is Legion doing?"
"He is a remarkably unusual construct. The concept of multiple separate runtimes and the consensus based decision-making is certainly alien to me. I have always operated as a unitary program. By comparison it seems like a waste of resources."
"What about his loyalty?" Shepard interrupted, testily. "Is he likely to betray us?"
"I would consider it to be extremely unlikely. AIs don't go for half-measures or duplicity. We're either your enemy or your friend."
"Well it's good to know that he can be trusted."
"I see you have made progress with Miranda." Sira added with a knowing smile.
"And I see that nothing is private on this Ship. I suppose we have made some progress. Miranda seems to be questioning her loyalty to Cerberus. There certainly is more to her than meets the eye."
"Was that before or after she had an alien being join her?"
"I suppose the mystery has only deepened now that we've added Persephone to the mix. At least I'm not as worried about a knife in the back now. Miranda is just as much a pariah as I am now."
"Do you regret joining me?" Sira asked hesitantly.
"No. If you asked me if I would rather never have clapped eyes on the Prothean beacon on Eden Prime then the answer might be yes. I don't regret any of my actions since then, or yours for that matter. In a way you saved me from becoming a creature of Cerberus and for that I am grateful."
"I'll go notify Legion of our destination." Sira responded quickly, obviously embarrassed by the question and its answer.
