Twelve :::

Omnipresent

A/N: Whew! Alright, finally back! This chapter will be the closing arch for Isaac. Enjoy the read!

"I don't like this plan," Strummer gravels out in the groups silence. "It's too much blind luck, anything can go wrong."

"What's a mistake is staying here," Shaila says. "Holding out isn't an option, no one is coming for us."

A murmur of voices sounded out at once in response to Shaila's words. She folds her arms and watches the dozens of human faces, plagued with fear and uncertainty. The same looks she remembered seeing on Zhu's Hope. They have no idea what kind of predicament they are in, or maybe the residual shell shock continues to prohibit any chance of coherent thoughts within their minds. Whatever reason it may be, Shaila needs all the humans at her disposal to at least semi-agree to her plan to escape the CEC facility and make their way to safety.

After the prolonged weeks she's spent onboard Titan Station and being a part of the Concordance's behind-closed-doors project, Shaila had took the liberty in studying the unlocked files on Director Tiedemann's personal terminal. The leading, head-hairless human had no idea that she used to sneak into his office when he wasn't around… and even at times when he was asleep in his bed, just mere feet from his desk at night. Shaila wasn't able to gain entry into some of files—password and even biometrically locked, not even a slicer app on an omni-tool could crack that. Nevertheless, Shaila didn't need those files anyway, all she needed and what she got was a detailed map of Titan Station.

From her time studying the map of this orbital space city, she was able to determine that it was host of about a dozen private hanger bays. These hangers weren't on any of the station's public maps, which meant only a handful of CEC execs—like the Director and other high ranking human officials knew about them. And since the station had went to hell in mere hours and the Director ending up dead, that cuts enough room for Shaila and the others under her charge in having a chance in making it off this rock with all their limbs. However, there is still one major issue standing in their way in doing any of the after mentioned thoughts, and Shaila braced herself for the upcoming rebuttals from her human counterparts.

"Okay…OKAY!" Strummer exclaims, silencing the bickering murmurs of the clumps of humans. Once his voice dissipates to the far out corners of the atrium, he speaks at a more tolerable volume. "So we wing it to the Public Sectors and flag down this executive hanger… how do we even know a ship'll still be there?"

"There isn't a ship here, either," Shaila replies, choosing not to answer bluntly to an obvious rhetorical response. "It's a gamble—yes, but what do we have to lose if we remain within this section of the station? It's under a quarantine lockdown—for how long is anyone's guess."

"What if we disabled the quarantine?" Someone in the crowd suggests with uncertainty in their voice. "If it's possible…that is."

Actually, inactivating the quarantine measure was a plan Shaila had initially pondered on. She knew it was possible, and it's also was risky beyond any sane mind's capability. It wasn't as simple as flipping a switch—no. It required the total elimination of any of the lurking monsters within the CEC wing. Now declaring that out loud would surly draw confusion and instill instant fear within the people's hearts. It was a plan of last resort; one they may have no choice but to rely on.

"It is possible," Shaila says in the groups collective silence. "But none of you are going to like it…"

Isaac Clarke lost track of time. It felt like he's been locked in this makeshift med-bay for days, when in reality, only a handful of hours passed by. He's gotten used to the sensation of mere existence, of just breathing air that smelt of piss and boredom. It's a strange thing really, time. They always said that it was relative, through time and space, but mostly in the mind.

The good news out of this entire thing was that the medi-gel was doing what it was designed to do. Isaac's arm still moved as if it were stuck in slow-motion from the rest of his body. Though he guessed the damaged that left his nerves mangled would have to be surgically improved than just a mere healing paste that was meant to clot lethal hemorrhage. That's the last thing on his mind, as he paces the narrow space width of his holding area, from wall to wall. His mind continued to float back to the others… people he wouldn't call his friends, but they were close enough and more relatable than anyone thus far. The asari he spoke with hadn't mentioned anything of them, were they dead or held in separate holding areas, Isaac cloud only guess.

Since his stay in here, Isaac hasn't made any attempt to escape. He figured that if these people wanted him dead, they wouldn't have even wasted their time patching him up. And these people are the same ones who tortured him. Things certainly have changed, ever since all the guards vanished and this place went to hell. There was a reason these people wanted Isaac alive. And it was obvious to him of what they were keeping him around for…

…The glass sliding door divide open with a dragging hiss. Isaac turns his attention to the open doorway seeing a pair of men who seem vaguely familiar to him. Their uniforms he clearly remembers, from the time in the cell, and when he was laying down on that gurney at the mercy of the asari.

"Holy shit," one of the guards snickers, stepping through the doorway and into Isaac's domain. He cradles an Alliance style assault rifle in his hands as he approaches. The other guard lingers by the doorway.

"Green lady really is this desperate, huh?" The same guard said. His voice rough and stony like he smoked an entire pack of cigarettes all at once a moment ago. And then, Isaac recalls the guard's name.

"You," Isaac says, focusing his full attention on the guard. "You were there, in the cells."

"I was," the guard admitted nonchalantly. "No hard feelings, just doin' what I was told."

That's what they all fucking say, Isaac ponders, gritting his teeth behind an otherwise undisturbed expression.

The guard exchanged hands with his rifle and extended an open palm towards Isaac. "Name's Verick Strummer."

Isaac doesn't extend a hand, he doesn't even break his gaze off the taller, burlier man.

Verick shrugs and withdraws his hand, "Kay then."

"Where are the others who were with me?" Isaac questions. "Where are you keeping them?"

"They're sittin' pretty, okay? Just like you," Verick says. "Just the other was a bit loony, had to separate him from the rest."

"Stross…" Isaac murmurs.

"Stross, he's the one with blood on him right?" Verick asks.

Isaac simply nodded his head, backtracking into the room. "What do you want with us?"

"It's not what I want, more like what the asari needs from you," Verick says, shouldering his weapon and reaching a hand to his back pocket. Isaac eyeballed the man's hidden hand until he withdraws it, holding a box of cigarettes. "Now… and I'm speaking from the heart here," he slipped a single cig between his lips, igniting it with a draw of breath till the tip burns red hot. "I don't fuckin' trust you. Either of you. The second you do anything I don't like… you're gonna wish we were back at those cells."

A fury of anger and apprehension built inside Isaac's gut. He did his best to contain himself, even with the distant voices echoing in his mind trying to entice him with murderous thoughts and images. He envisioned himself, grabbing Verick by the throat and ripping out his Adam's apple. Another grisly sight, Isaac witnessed his hands ravaging the guard's face, gauging out his eyeballs with his thumbs. Of course, all those scenarios ended with Isaac being shot immediately by Verick's wordless counterpart, who remains by the door, glaring hard at Isaac.

Purging the heated annoyance out of his systems with a sigh, Isaac centers his thoughts and says, "you can threaten me all you want, but from what I see, I don't think you have any other choice but to trust me. You know what's out there," Isaac steps up to the man, having to bend his neck back to meet the guard's gaze. "I faced them before, you haven't. You wouldn't last a second out there."

Verick furrows his brow, puffing a plume of smoke into Isaac's face. "Don't push your luck too far. The second you're out there and make a slip up—guess what?" He leans forward, putting his face just inches away from Isaac's. "I'll be the one who'll slam your skinny ass on the ground. For ol' time's sake, aye?"

This time, Isaac wanted to smash his fist into Verick's face, make this asshole bleed and choke on that burning cigarette…

'Do it—make him suffer like you've suffered'

The voices, in the back of his head…

'Show him the path—show him the path—SHOW HIM THE PATH—'

"No!" Isaac shouts out, silencing the voices and granting him momentary peace.

Unaware of what just occurred, a blank, curious stare tames Verick's expression as he switches his cig from one corner of his mouth to the other.

"Anyway, green lady wants to speak with you," Verick says, the tone in his voice changed so quickly that it takes Isaac a second to realize the man isn't screwing around and is being serious.

"Not till I see my friends," Isaac says, turning his back to Verick and going back to his chair.

A hard hand slaps down on his good shoulder, freezing him in step. "Don't push me," Verick's usual steely tone warned. "She wants to see you. Now."

Rolling his shoulder, and freeing himself of Verick's hold, Isaac sighs, then turns to meet the guard's face. "Can I at least get a change of clothes?"

For a second, Isaac thought Verick was going to decline his request, instead, the guard turns his head not taking his eyes off Isaac. "Aye Fabien, go find something for this guy."

The other guard behind Verick retreats through the sliding doors without a word, leaving the two of them in a chocked silence.

Isaac steps back and falls into his chair, careful to keep the improvised sling holding his bad arm in place from hitting against the armrest. "I can sit, right? Or are you gonna bitch about that too?" Isaac says challengingly to Verick. The other man says nothing in return, besides throwing a furrowing glare his way.

Finally shedding that itchy smock that had been eating away at his flesh, Isaac exits his little holding area, following behind verick and the other guard into an enormous atrium. This atrium is much more luxurious in design than the callousness of the hospital Isaac and his companions left behind. Red velvet carpet adored the floor along with massive overhanding chandeliers which cascaded an iridescent hue throughout the otherwise void floor space.

The people staggering in place or huddled together in small groups are mostly human, possibly employees or unlucky civilians. Some of which look in Isaac's direction as he passes them by. He's never seen any of their faces, and he's equally positive that they'd never seen him. He was a lab rat after all, kept against his will by these people. And though it may have been unintentional in their eyes, Isaac's mind still draws the conclusion that they're just as guilty as Verick and the guards and the asari that tormented him. But none of that matters now. In just the short seconds of leaving his confined holding area, the scenario becomes increasingly clear to Isaac that these people are trapped. If they had their way, they would've long since left this atrium for the Public Sectors.

They're all just waiting to die, Isaac thought randomly, adverting his attention off an older woman occupying a lone seat along a row of chairs who hasn't blinked or moved a muscle since he laid eyes on her. Another man, dressed in a casual business suit paced madly across the floor, literally eating away at his fingernails. The others are just mingling about, nervously eyeing Isaac as he and his escorts cut a path straight through them.

Reaching the other end of the atrium Verick comes to a stops at the mouth of a corridor, leading down a set of steps that lead into another area. Inclining his head, Isaac read the overhanging sign, indicating the tramway system was down the way. Below the headline, a series of sprawling words ran across the digital screen: QUARANTINE FACTOR IN EFFECT.

"Go down here and keep straight," Verick mutters, gathering Isaac's attention off the board.

"You aren't coming?" Isaac asks.

"She wants you," Verick says, adjusting the shoulder strap of his rifle. "But I'll be watching."

"Yeah, what else is new?" Isaac says, passing the man by and continuing his way, alone. The carpeted floor transitions to metal under his feet, now thankfully encased in mismatched shoes he can actually fit. Deeper down the corridor he goes, and the darker it gets. The lighting of the atrium doesn't exist down here, besides the ominous glow of warning lights, sweeping the darkness in an amber glow like a lone lighthouse.

Following the short corridor all the way down, and Isaac finds himself in the dark tramway tunnel platform. An eerie, exposed feeling crawls over his skin, along with the coarse wind smelling of rustic steel and possibly blood filled his nostrils. He does his best, suppressing a shudder building into a tight knot in his got. He felt eyes on him, observing from the shadows… and he knows they aren't imaginary.

For a long moment, Isaac canvases the empty stretch of platform with his eyes for any signs of the asari. Nothing but the ambient movement of trash blowing in the quiet, artificial breeze.

"Hello?" He calls out, hearing his own echo reverberate back to his ears. No reply, no indication that anyone is there… nothing but perpetual silence.

"They said you wanted to talk to me," Isaac speaks out. "They told me you're down here." He waits a beat for a reply. None comes.

An exasperated sigh passes Isaac's lips, and he shakes his head. "But, if you keep playing this game of hide-and-seek… think I'll come back later."

Turning on his heel, prepared to walk back the way he came, Isaac's heart explodes with surprise and the blood in his veins flushes cold. Blocking his way is no one other than the asari, somehow appearing directly behind him without even making a sound.

"Now, is no better time," the asari says, her voice so low it hardly makes an echo in the acoustical air. "How's your damaged arm coming along?" The asari asks, approaching Isaac.

He shakes his head, "don't worry 'bout it," he says. "Just tell me what the hell's going on."

"Don't you remember?" The asari says, almost mockingly.

"I mean what's going on here, in this tunnel," Isaac rephrases.

The asari brings herself to a stop, a few feet from Isaac. She doesn't say anything for a while, studying Isaac's face with a glare that made Isaac more than uncomfortable.

"It's time you remembered who you were," she finally says. She gestures with her arm, pointing down the platform where the darken tunnel leads to a circular wall of black. "This way."

Isaac watches the asari casually step away, heading towards the tunnel. When she realizes he isn't following behind, the asari stops. "You want to get back to your friend, figure out why you're here, then you'll follow me." She steps off again, making her statement final.

Again, Isaac holds on to his suspicions. This asari—this alien did just broke into his mind and sent him on the biggest acid trip that'll be every crackhead's wet-dream. So why the hell would he trust her, with anything?

What do I have to lose? He contemplates, remembering the reason he kept Stross around. He needed answers, and Isaac knew those answers wouldn't just come pouring out the asari's mouth or any of the guard's willingly. He has to take that risk, that one step past the threshold. If he doesn't, then he's a dead man anyway once those creatures—whatever the hell they are—come back and finished the job on him this time. For now, the asari and her guard lackeys are tools at his disposal, and Isaac's determined to use them to his advantage.

Settling his mind, Isaac walks after the asari, who has already made it down the length of the platform, standing at the mouth of the tram's tunnelway.

Reaching the asari, Isaac notices a metallic object on the floor, just at the teal skinned humanoid's feet. It's an axe, the same type Nick used to fend off those creatures. Now that Isaac looks at it, the axe is the same one Nick had.

Before he could question the asari of how she got the thing, she cuts him off. "Pick it up," she says, staring sternly into Isaac's face with those same, dark eyes he's come to hate.

Scrunching his face into a frown, Isaac shakes his head. "What?"

"Pick it up," the asari repeats.

Isaac holds his eyes on the asari, indecision surging through him. "Why?"

"Why not?" The asari shoots back. "What's stopping you?"

What is stopping me? Isaac ponders, eyes searching for input within his own being.

"This is another one of your tests," he says. "You said this was our final one."

"We haven't even started yet," the asari says. "This isn't procedure one—you're still on zero." Folding her arms behind her back, the asari says with more urgency, "pick it up."

"And do what?" Isaac questions, getting irritated. "How do I know this isn't another trick or if I'm in another one of those fucked up dream seque—"

—An invisible force slams into Isaac's chest, sending him off his feet and rushing the air right out his lungs. He sides across the trash littered floor until feeling his back hitting against one of the tunnel's support pillars.

"Still think this is a dream?"

The asari's voice came suppressed to Isaac's ears, hidden behind the intense beat of his heart resonating in his ears.

A hollow, metallic hiss scratched the floor; Isaac's spots the axe coming to a sliding rest at his feet. "Now pick up the damn axe, human."

Renewed anger invades Isaac's body, eliminating the surrealism just a half second ago. Grabbing the axe handle up off the floor, Isaac gets back on his feet. "Okay—I got the fuckin' axe, now what the hell else you want to tell me, huh?!"

His echo fades, until the silence of the tunnel returns.

The asari fixes her posture into a more relaxed stance. "Come with me, in the tunnel." Without another word, the asari steps to the platform's edge and leaps down the ledge onto the track.

Blinking perplexingly, Isaac follows after. The near whispery voices in the back of his head seem to agree.

"Carful, the outside rail on the left is still active," the asari says to him, once he made it onto the darken tracks. "You step on that, and you will die… and last I checked, that's the least of our problems."

Isaac nods his agreements, knowing good and well on what she means first hand. "So what now?" He asks, adjusting his grip on the axe handle.

"Now, our test truly begins," the asari says, with a hint of a nervous smile playing across her lips. "But before we can continue, I'll need your trust."

An unexpected laugh tickles Isaac's insides. "You're joking, right? I wouldn't trust enough to loan a penny."

"I know how things were between us before," the asari says. "But what choice do you really have?"

"I've been asking myself that question ever since I walked out of that cell on my own terms," Isaac says.

"Very fortunate that you did," the asari says. "No one should be caged like that—let alone a sentient."

"Save your pity," Isaac says, rougher than he intended. "Just get on with whatever this is so I can get back to my people."

This draws a look of confusion on the asari's face. "Your people. You mean the other test sub—I mean, the others you escaped with?"

"Uh… yeah, who the hell else," Isaac replies.

The asari shakes her head distractingly, a contemplative look on her face. It only lasts a second, before returning to that usual, stoic, unreadable mask. "Of course," she says. "We should start walking." Turning around, the asari begins walking down the darken tunnel, humming a hollow ambience that sends a knot forming in Isaac's gut. Tightening his grip on the handle, Isaac purges the fear with anger, and steps into the tunnel.

Earlier

"Oh—you gotta be fuckin' serious woman!" Strummer exclaimed in Shaila's face. "What—what did the Director inject you with 'let me make bad decisions' serum or somethin'!? You gotta be fuckin stupid, man."

Shaila bit hard on her tongue, arms crossed so hard across her chest the breath in her lungs felt constricted. It wasn't her own doing, but of this human meat bag spitting vile in her face. Fortunate for him, the two of them were in what little privacy they could find in the corner of the atrium. But the humans constant shouting—constant insults echoed loudly through the chamber, gathering nervous glares from the other humans in the vicinity.

"Keep your voice down!" Shaila whispered sharply. "You're scaring the others."

Strummer stuck a finger in her face, it took everything in Shaila from trusting it away. Not with her hands, but with her mind, which'll surely pulverize the pathetic human's entire arm bone to dust fragments.

"They should be scared," Strummer said through grit teeth, finger still hovering between Shaila's eyes. "They are afraid, not just of those fuckin things upstairs… but of them." He finally dropped that finger, taking a step back, agitated hands on his hips. "And you want to let them out—patched one of them up with our medi-gel."

"Last I checked, he's the only one seriously injured," Shaila said, pushing her back off the pillar she was leaning against. "He dies… and you know what'll happen. The same incident that spawned your Director Tiedemann will occur with him."

"We don't know what the hell that thing was!" Strummer said, exaggeratingly pointing behind him at some imaginary, invisible thing. "It may had looked like the Director, but that could've been anything—an alien we've never seen before."

Shaila scoffed a laugh, "you can suspend your denial all you want. I know what those thing were. They were the Director, his indenture servant and personal guard."

Strummer narrowed his eyes with bewilderment, "humans don't have indenture servants, and another thing…" he stepped close to Shaila, in a threatening matter she's observed humans do as a way of showing intimidation over someone else. "You ain't letting them two psycho's outta that closet. I don't give a fuck if the Goddesses themselves come down in this bitch in a ball of light and tell you otherwise. We'll never get that desperate."

Shaila contained her anger best she could. How dare this human insult her this way… purposely injecting some sick and twisted witticism in vane against the Goddesses. If they weren't trapped on this damn space station with lurking beast trying to kill them… she would've took her time dissecting the human with her biotic powers, savoring his screams… enjoying the sight his organs oozing out one-by-one…

Catching herself, and realizing her gruesome thoughts, the ravaging heat of anger that coiled around Shaila loosened its grip. A numb understanding flooded her mind, and she knew what was happening to her.

"I'm losing control," she muttered.

"What?" Strummer said, backing up two steps.

Shaila held a hand to her forehead, as if trying to keep a part of her conscious from falling out. "The infection… it's trying to spread," she said mostly to herself. "I have to get off this station—before I end up like them."

"Look, maybe you should just take a seat, aye?" Shaila felt the human male's hand touching her shoulder, of which she instinctively flinched off. "Don't touch me," she found herself sneering.

"Kay then," Strummer said, raising his arms and backtracking.

Finding a seat, Shaila buried her face into her hands, trying to streamline her mind to think of nothing for a moment—to fall back to her meditative state that took her away from this reality. But she didn't have the time to sit and meditate. She had to set pieces in place—to ensure her own survival and the other innocent humans with her. She knew the tests subjects were her key to further extending her life beyond this point, and she'd be a fool if she let someone like Strummer stand in her way. Honestly, Shailia was surprised in her own patients with these humans, but she also needed them as well. Painful as the thought was, she also needed Strummer, since he had the code in toggling the active security systems around here.

"Strummer…" a young male voice grabbed Shaila out of thought. Lifting her face up, she turned and saw the young human—Aiden his name was—jogging across the floor space before coming to a halt when he was near. "He's stable, sir—the subject."

"His name's Isaac Clarke," Shaila corrected, rubbing at her temples.

The two humans stared at her, Aiden wearing a look of nervousness and Strummer holding that usual deadpan look.

"What—we're gonna start naming them now? Like pets or something?" Strummer said with an irritated laugh. Shaila didn't care how the human felt about her comment—or anything really. He's a means to end to her eyes, and honestly, she wouldn't care if he suddenly dropped dead right now…

Again, the thoughts, she reflected, feeling her heart spike with anxiety. Now that she pondered on it, Strummer could be facing similar thoughts—or everyone else in this atrium. This station was infected by something that invaded the mind… Shaila knows this first hand, on multiple occasions.

Zhu's Hope was just the beginning, as hectic and crazy that ordeal was. Her powers nearly killed the First Human Specter…

"Is Isaac awake?" Shaila asked Aiden.

The glittery human shook his head, "n-no, but he will, eventually."

"What 'bout leg biter?" Strummer asked, referring to the Isaac's counterpart, Nolan Stross. "He locked up good?"

"We got Fabien on watch," Aiden said.

"Tell Fabien, that if that fucker tries anything to put a bullet in his skull," Strummer said.

Aiden went rigid then bobbed his head, "y-yes sir." The younger human then walked off at a quick pace to relay the order.

Shaila muttered a slight laugh, "and here I thought you humans didn't have indentured servants."

Strummer said nothing in return, rubbing a hand at the rough patch of hair at his chin. "We still gotta tell them something," he said, inclining his head in the direction of the mingling humans at the center of the atrium. "Like it or now, they're our responsibility. Can't just leave them to die because of two freaks."

"Those freaks may be our best bet," Shaila said. "You didn't see what they went through—I did. They've been through this before, they survived. It'll be illogical for you not to at least give them a chance."

"I don't trust them," Strummer said.

"I never said you have to trust them," Shaila said, leaning back in her chair. "Just…use their talents to help us survive. Just give me time with them, alone. I think I can reach one of them."

Strummer shook his head, biting at his lower lip. "I can't take that risk."

"Then it's a good thing you won't have to," Shaila said, earning a sideways glance from the gruff human's face.

"How far this thing goes?" Isaac asks, his voice bending and warping in the darken tram tunnel. Ahead of him by several feet, the asari leads the way, lighting a path ahead of them with a familiar flashlight Isaac swears belonged to Nick when he initially crossed paths with the other man.

The axe the flashlight…

"It's not far, Isaac," Shaila replies over her shoulder. "And keep your voice low, minimize the echo."

Nodding absently to the asari's statement, Isaac nervously eyes the darken sloped walls flanking him on all sides. There's little to no light in this tunnel, besides some occasional track lights on the walls and ceiling. He takes his eyes off his surroundings, focusing on the asari's back.

"So what's your name?" Isaac asks.

It takes a moment for the asari to come back with, "Shaila. I am called Shaila."

"Isaac—but you already knew that…" He pauses for a beat, coming back with, "I bet you know Nicole, and Hammond and Daniels. I bet you saw how my girlfriend killed herself…?"

The asari doesn't reply this time.

"Yeah, bet you know a lot of things about me," Isaac says. "Probably things I totally forgot about."

Again, nothing from the asari. It becomes obvious that Shaila doesn't feel like talking, which is fine with Isaac. He just wants to meet the end of this mysterious last test the asari's leading him into.

After walking for what felt like close to fifteen minutes, the claustrophobic walls of the tunnel start to retreat, leading to a larger open area beyond. A maintenance yard for the trams, Isaac proposes. At the end of the tunnel, Isaac makes out two bulky shaped machines on either side of the track.

"Strummer, deactivate the defenses," Shaila said, as if speaking to herself. It takes Isaac's mind a split second to realize that Shaila has an earpiece com device.

No wonder she's been so calm, he contemplates, looking over his shoulder back the way they came.

"Isaac, come," Shaila says, stepping into the open area.

Passing the machines, Isaac sees that they are sentry defense turrents. Taking his first steps into the tram yard, Isaac's feet crunch down on a familiar sickly object. He can't see it, but the sickening stench of flesh and blood is enough to paint the picture in spades.

"More of those things are down here," Isaac muses aloud. "She's leading me towards…"

STAY ON THE PATH, DON'T BE AFRAID, ISAAC…

"Isaac!"

Turning sharply on his heels, Isaac stares back down the tunnel, where a familiar, deep voice shouted his name. Emerging from the shrouding darkness, a lone humanoid figure comes running towards Isaac's direction. Squinting, Isaac makes out…. Nick?

Drawing his eyebrows into a tight confused expression, Isaac just stares at Nick as the taller man jogs up to him.

"Man, where the fuck you think you goin'?" Nick asks, shrugging his arms. "You just gonna leave me behind…? What 'bout my daughter—you was gonna leave her to?!" Nick shoved Isaac roughly, sending the latter staggering back a few feet, nearly tripping over one on of the rails. "Though we had a deal motherfucka! You was gonna show me where my daughter went, 'member that?!"

DON'T BE AFRAID, ALL IS WELL…

Stunned Isaac can only shrug, "I… I don't know. Wh-What are you doing here, Nick? How'd you get pass the guards—how you know I was down here?"

"You cain't hide from me, Isaac…"

HE HAS A KNIFE—HE HAS A KNIFE—HE HAS A KNIFE—

"Cain't run either, bitch!"

Slashing an arm out he held behind him, Nick slashes a horizontal gash across the front of Isaac's shirt. "Whoa! Nick—what the fuck man!"

"You had this coming Isaac," Nick says, holding the short metallic blade of his knife at the ready for another jab. "Think you can leave me behind… leave my daughter behind…"

"I didn't leave you, Nick," Isaac says, gradually backing away from the enraged man who finally went over the edge. "I don't want to fight you," he says, dropping the axe on the ground. "We have bigger problems than this."

"Bigger than my baby girl!" Nick shouts, on the verge of tears. "Ain't nothing bigger than her Isaac NOTHIN'!"

"Okay—okay alright, you're right Nick, there isn't," Isaac says. "But right now, she's depended on us to make the right call, right now. We're getting nowhere fighting like this."

THE MARKER IS THE ONLY RIGHT CALL…

"Why you following that asari then?" Nick asks. "That bitch was in our heads—made us relive that nightmare over and fuckin' over again!"

"Nick, just listen to me…"

"No! I'm through with you, Isaac!"

Nick takes off, rushing at Isaac, knife at the ready. Bodies collide, Isaac trips, falling hard on his back with Nick on top of him. With only one good arm, Isaac struggles against Nick's enraged efforts to plunge the blade into his chest.

"You had this coming Isaac," Nick said through hard grit teeth. "Tell Nicole I said hi."

A rekindled jet of anger overtakes Isaac's mind. Fueling his hate, Isaac's strength increases tenfold. He manages to pull Nick's hand back wielding the knife and turns the man over until he's the one on top now. A battle for possession over the knife induces, whereas Isaac and Nick roll and tumble across the rail tracks.

Isaac manages to slap the knife out of Nick's hand, by bashing the other man's hand repeatedly against a rail.

"It's over!" Isaac shouts into Nick's face, holding the man down by the neck. "Now you need to calm down."

Struggling in his grip, Nick was trying to say something.

"What?" Isaac says, loosening his grip just enough to allow Nick a word.

"Behind…ch'yew!"

A sudden, hot stinging pain exploded in Isaac's upper back. The air in his lungs rushed out as he fell forward, onto the cold hard ground. wheezing for air.

Dragging herself up off the ground, Shaila held a hand to her neck, where just seconds ago Isaac was close to chocking her to death.

"Told you this was a stupid ass plan!" Strummer says, pointing the barrel of his weapon on Isaac, staggering on the ground.

"Don't shoot him," Shaila pleas, struggling to speak through the soreness of her throat. "I can still reach him!"

"You had your chance," Strummer says, pointing the end of the barrel at the back of Isaac's head. "I'm putting this freak down for good!"

"I said DON'T!" Throwing a savage fist out, an electric shimmer ripples across the air until slamming into Strummer. The human goes flying, well off his feet and into the air. Arms and legs flaring, Strummer crashes back to the ground, sliding across the ground until his entire body explodes in a blinding flash of light. Screams of agony and red hot sparks ignited the maintenance bay until folding back into an eerie silence.

A heartbeat later, as the anger and fear wash off of her and the stench of burnt flesh reaches her nostrils does Shaila realized what she'd done.

"No… I—I didn't mean to…" she cuts her own sentence short, hearing the approaching roars of the monsters—those Necromorphers emerging from the shadows around them. With Strummer burnt to a crisp on the rail, there was no way Shaila could turn the defenses back online.

Goddess, it planned this all along, Shaila dreads. "It used us."

The roars grow louder, sending incoherent echoes through the maintenance bay. In the distance, Shaila makes out a few forms of the alien creatures.

"They're coming," Isaac stampers out, grabbing the axe and staggering to his feet. "We need to go."

Shaila shakes her head, "we can't. We won't outrun them."

The human grabs at her arm, attempting to pull her away, "you can't stop them, they'll kill you."

"We can stop them, we have no choice," Shaila says. "This is our final test, Isaac. This is where the Marker wanted us all along."

The words didn't come out as her own, Shaila knows this. She felt her mind floating as if weightless… taken under the control by a power greater than herself. The Marker, finally breaking her resilience and using her as a vessel.

"We can defeat them Isaac, we have no choice but to try." Fear reshapes the human's face, and Shalia knew she's asking too much for him too soon. But the Marker has other plans for them, since the start of this nightmare.

Barring on them, the creatures were on them now. Shaila's primal instincts screamed for her to run… to fleet and forget this plight. She half expected Isaac to run, but the human remains at her side, holding his axe at the ready. Shaila actually cracks a thin smile of admiration. Despite it all, Shaila's confident that Isaac Clarke, had rediscovered himself.

A/N: I know, trippy chapter. Isaac losing his shit… Nick appearing /vanishing…was there ever a Nick? Anyway, get ready for change of scenery for I'm bringing the Commander back next chapter. Still split between bringing either Ashley or Kaiden in later, might just roll a dice to figure it out.