Interloper: Chapter 12
"He's coming around."
"Give him some room."
"Liddle, can you hear me?"
My eyes fluttered open to find Chakwas and Shepard looking down at me. Behind them, the familiar ceiling of the Normandy medbay glinted dully. My head was pounding worse than ever. The visions floated just behind my eyes, buzzing and clicking like insects.
"Liddle, I'm afraid you've lost another week. We had to put you in a medically induced coma to prevent further neural damage." Chakwas spoke cautiously, as if to avoid panicking me. Another week, and further brain damage?
"What's going on?" I managed.
"We're en-route to the Citadel. We've been keeping you under since Feros, but we think we've found a way to prevent the Cipher from permanently damaging your mind. There's a procedure, we normally reserve it for patients with extreme dissociative disorders, which blocks disruptive signals within the brain. It involves an implant based of greybox technology called a Neural Shroud. We've made contact with a doctor on the Citadel willing to help us with the procedure who we've worked with before. However, it is my duty as a medical professional to warn you that the procedure is dangerous, sometimes fatal."
"I think I'd rather chance it than go slowly insane." I croaked
"We thought as much." Shepard gave a guarded smile. "We woke you up because Liara thinks she can use her biotics to improve your chances of survival, something about aligning thought patterns. I'm not going to confine you to the medbay during our trip, but you're in bad shape, I wouldn't recommend moving about too much."
"Thanks, Commander, seems like I've spent more time here than anywhere else on the ship." I tried to smile back, but it only made the headache worse.
"I'm going to give you something for the pain." Chakwas said. "I suggest you rest up, Dr. T'Soni will be around once I'm done here." The doctor administered the drugs and dimmed the lights, which seemed to help a little. Then she left me alone to see to other patients. From what I overheard, Ashley was still in the infirmary, as were a few of the unluckier marines. I was surprised to hear Jenkins' voice somewhere off to the side. He was reading poetry out loud in a hushed voice.
"Michael." I moved my head enough to bring Liara's face into view. The usual placid features were etched with worry and agitation.
"Hey, Liara. How's it going?"
"I should be asking you that. I can only imagine what you're going through."
"It's not that bad, I got to take a week long nap and I'm on so any drugs right now I can hear my hair grow." I gave my best attempt at a laugh but it came out strained.
"How can you make light of this situation?" Liara sat down in an available seat. Somehow I don't think, 'Because I'm basically living out a video game' would hold water.
"Because surviving this kind of trauma is supposedly impossible, and with Shepard on the case, that makes the odds of me pulling through this almost certain."
"You have a lot of faith in the Commander." Liara said.
"I do, and besides, she said something about you giving me a better chance." Liara looked guilty.
"I… I'm afraid I wasn't exactly honest with the Commander when I said that. I'm no expert on human physiology, but there's no way I…. I'm sorry, It's just about the Cipher. The asari on Feros told us about the information she gave you and, well, it's our best chance to truly understand the Protheans." Liara said quietly.
"So you what, want to pull it from my head in case the procedure fails?" I was a little shocked. This wasn't the shy friend I had spoken at length about ruins and caves with. This was the calculating logic of the future Shadow Broker. So it had been there all along, masked only by youth and inexperience.
"No, I could never force you…" Liara looked even guiltier. "I'll admit it must sound selfish, but this is my life's work, and the fate of the galaxy may well rest on the information in your head."
"Damn right it sounds selfish." My anger flared briefly, but the look on her face stopped me. The calculation had gone, leaving only a deep sadness. Liara was obviously distraught at having to ask a dying man to surrender his memories. I gathered all of my concentration and tried to push the cipher and only the cipher to the forefront of my mind. "Okay, I'll give you what I can, it's not like you can mess it up further."
Liara looked relieved. "Thank you, Liddle, I will try to be as gentle as I can." The asari repositioned herself to look me in the face. The tingle of biotics ran through me and I felt my mind start to trickle together with hers. The visions, like oil on the surface of a stream, flowed out of me into the shared pool of consciousness. While Liara experienced the visions alongside me, I felt the underlying currents of emotions that weren't my own. Most were unfamiliar, alien, but a few seemed to stick out. Caring? Affection? And just as it had started, the link broke. I was staring the blue alien in the face again.
"This feeling, a whole culture…" Liara sat back in her chair heavily. "I had never imagined."
"You're welcome." I lay back. The entire process had been followed by a wave of fatigue. I must have fallen asleep, because the next time I opened my eyes I was alone. I took the meds Dr. Chakwas had left by my bedside and got up to dress. A found a pair of darkened glasses on the table with a note from Kaidan saying that when the migraines struck him, shading his eyes really helped him move about the ship. I'd have to thank him later. I slipped on the shades and made for the door.
"Nice glasses, militiaman." Ashley was lying in the bed nearest the door.
"Thanks, how are you? That hit looked pretty bad."
"Yeah, it was. I was lucky to get back to the Normandy. Now I'm stuck here until they can grow me a new kidney." She stated it matter of factly, as if the regrowing of an entire organ was a mere inconvenience.
"Well I hope you get better soon, Chief."
"Hey, you too."
I made my way slowly over to where several marines were eating. Jenkins hushed them as I approached, which I was incredibly grateful for. He even found a bowl of soup somewhere for me. We chatted in low voices. He relayed the firefight down in the tunnels, while I told him about the battle with the Thorian.
"Where's Steiner? I didn't see her in the medbay." I asked after wrapping up the drive to Exo-Geni. Jenkins grew sad.
"She won't talk to anyone. She says she's fine, but her and Kowalski were close, you know." He puffed out his cheeks and shook his head. I spooned down the rest of my soup and found somewhere to curl up for the rest of the trip, which was mercifully short.
The Commander insisted I be brought down to the clinic in the wards in a wheelchair, which I accepted only because a stiff breeze was liable to knock me over, and Shepard was known to be slightly more forceful than a hurricane when she needed to be. The noise and light of the Citadel was unpleasant but short lived as we made good time to the clinic. Inside stood a red haired woman prepped for surgery.
"This is the patient?" the woman spoke in a strong French accent.
"Yes. Liddle, this is Dr. Chloe Michel, she'll be assisting me in the procedure." Dr. Chakwas greeted her fellow doctor and they both began preparing the clinic for surgery. The scene was somewhat familiar to me; this wasn't the first time I'd been in a hospital. Eventually the others were ushered out and I was given a local anesthetic. The surgery seemed to last for hours. Being restrained to the table and only able to stare straight up, I tried to think about anything other than my current situation. After what seemed like an eternity, there was a sudden feeling of pressure in my head and the buzzing visions stopped abruptly. It began to feel very cold. The faces of the two doctors grew first concerned, then worried. They began to talk rapidly back and forth. I couldn't understand what they were saying, but the sense of urgency was clearly apparent. My mind felt like it was slowly draining away. The world grew grey. Then it snapped back into focus. I had been moved, that much was clear. And I could hear.
"That was too close."
"If you hadn't…"
"I know. Wait, it looks like he's come round." The doctors returned. Chakwas took out a small probe. "Listen very closely, Deputy, don't try to move. If you can understand me, blink twice." I complied. The feeling of clear-headedness was wonderfully refreshing. "Good. Now, it was touch and go, but you're making a remarkable recovery. At this rate you'll be ready for service by the time the Normandy returns. Rest now; it'll be a while before you can move again."
"Deputy Liddle, It's good to finally meet you." I sat up in bed to see a tall man in an Alliance uniform.
"Captain Anderson, what brings you down here?" I set aside the newspad I had been given to read. Either didn't know, or left out the fact that it was Commander Shepard. There was a story on Nassana Dantius, who had fled to Illium after her connections to slavers had come to light. Emma Wong had apparently figured out the asari had hired someone to kill her own sister, though she
"I thought I'd like to meet the man Shepard speaks so highly of. She's being debriefed by Alliance brass right now and wanted me to check up on you."
"She's on the Citadel?"
"Yes, just got back from a mission, classified of course. She'll most likely come to pick you up after her debrief." The Alliance captain took a seat and looked out a window. After I time he looked back to face me. His face was stern and forbidding. "I thought you should know, the Alliance has finished reconstructing the records from Eden Prime." The short sentence dropped through my peace of mind like a lead anchor.
"Sir?"
"It's interesting how they found no reference to a Michael Liddle, in the militia or not. It's also interesting how old Herzer Herrick didn't recognize your holo." The captain leaned in closer. "Now Shepard says you're an asset to her mission, and I'm going to take her at her word, but you make one move that puts the Commander or her crew at risk, and I assure you, I will find you."
"Captain Anderson? What are you doing down here?" Shepard walked wearily into the medbay. The captain's face brightened and he smiled warmly.
"Ah, commander. I was just commending this young man for his actions of Feros."
"How's it going, Liddle?" Shepard walked over to stand next to Anderson.
"Much better, thanks." I said shakily. The look on Anderson's face had been terrifying.
"Are you good to walk?" Shepard asked. I looked over to Dr. Michel, who nodded a yes. I relayed the nod to Shepard. "Good, pack your things then, we depart in 30."
"Commander, I do not think it would be good…" Michel began. Shepard waved her off.
"I appreciate your concerns, and my crew is in your debt for looking after him for so long, but the Normandy is more than capable of caring for him. And as much as I hate to admit, we could need him in action sooner rather than later."
"Alright," Michel admitted defeat, "the implants are stable and the physical weakness is almost gone. I will release him to you on the condition that he continues to take the medication I have prescribed." She fixed me with a harrowing stare. The prescribed medication was ghastly, but I wouldn't be walking and talking without it.
"He promises." Shepard agreed for me. After I had packed, I walked out with her and Anderson. The captain quickly excused himself.
"So what's our next move, Commander?" I asked.
"The Alliance wants us to Investigate a Geth incursion in the Armstrong Nebula, and we still have to look into claims that Benezia has been seen on Noveria, and we've received word that an STG team is missing on Virmire. They may have been looking into a possible Geth base."
Virmire. So taking the Cipher hadn't accomplished anything. We were still going.
"Commander, I know I've undergone some pretty major surgery, but how long before I can go back to active duty."
"You're going to be surprised, but you already are back on active duty. Now that the shroud is working properly, your brain is showing a markedly better ability to heal itself. I also had the doctors put in some of the Alliance's lower impact soldier augments while you were on the table. With some work you can be back in fighting trim before we hit the Armstrong Relay."
Commander, this is, wow."
"It's not all good news I'm afraid. The neural shroud is, well, it's not completely legal in Alliance space, as a Spectre's deputy you shouldn't run into too much trouble, but after… Just keep the fact that you have it to yourself."
"Aren't you at least partially liable for this? Why didn't you tell me you were basically sanctioning a crime before you let me agree?"
"You're on my crew now, if breaking a few laws was what it took, then so be it."
"Thanks, Commander."
"You're welcome, Liddle."