CE 2183…1616 hours…July 3…Lair of the Thorian, Feros
Garrus finds he is wary of their current situation, regardless of whether or not this Thorian was a plant the smell wafting from the chasm below was not inviting. After walking down the last set of stairs in front of them they begin to walk out into a new chamber.
"All right," he says, "we just need to find this creature and determine what it…what it…" he stops as they see what he assumes is the Thorian. It is huge, and has no apparent anything that is even remotely comparable to any known species. Its body is just one large, pinkish brown mass held aloft over a chasm by large tendrils connected to walls around the room. It has no limbs beyond those to speak of, and its face was just a collection of ornate divots that were where eyes would be, hanging from what would be the mouth of any other species was a collection of tentacles. "This was not covered by my training manuals."
"That does NOT look like any plant I've ever seen. This may be…problematic." Samantha says.
Samantha begins to approach the creature as clear slime begins to leak profusely from its "mouth" behind the tentacles. It begins to make hacking noises until suddenly a figure slides from the opening and onto the ledge. It is revealed as it stands to be a GREEN asari.
"Invaders!" the asari yells, "Your every step is a transgression. A thousand feelers appraise you as meat, good only to dig or decompose. I speak for the Old Growth, as I did for Saren. You are within and before the Thorian. It commands that you be in awe!"
"You gave something to Saren. Something I need." Samantha says.
"Saren sought knowledge of those who are gone. The Old Growth listened to flesh for the first time in the Long Cycle. Trades were made. Then cold ones began killing the flesh that would tend the next cycle. Flesh fairly given! The Old Growth sees the air you push as lies! It will listen no more!" she replies
"I won't let you keep your thralls. Release them. Now!" Samantha demands.
"No more will the Thorian listen to those that scurry. Your lives are short, but have gone on too long." The asari draws a shotgun from her back, "Your blood will feed the…" She is interrupted as Garrus plants a shot directly between her eyes. Suddenly there is a growl and he turns to find a group of Creepers rising behind him.
CE 2183…1635 hours…July 3…Zhu's Hope, Feros
Jason lightly places Fai Dan, the last unconscious colonist, onto the cot in the frigate-shelter with the others. He then heads to the door, using his Omni-tool to lock it once in the hall. He heads outside and towards the opening that lead down further into the ruined Prothean skyscraper and to this Thorian creature. As he turns the corner he finds Tali there, sitting on a crate by the entrance of the stairwell down.
"Well, that was the last colonist…so…you wanna go down after them?" he asks casually.
"No." Tali flatly replies.
"Kay."
"I'm not letting you go anyway."
"Wasn't planning on it, it'd be no fun without you tagging along." He smirks
He can't see her face, but he can tell that she was probably blushing under her helmet, though she still seemed sort of distanced.
"I'm pretty sure Sam asked you to do this though. Did she say why not?"
"She said it was one thing to head to the colony without supervision, but with this she didn't want you "throwing her off her flow" whatever that meant."
"I bet I can guess…"he moves to sit next to her, easing himself onto the heavy duty metal crate, "So…You wanna talk about us?"
She seems kind of thrown off by his bluntness, "Us?"
"Oh, you're not interested…" he begins to say feeling awkward.
"No it's not that. I am definitely interested…It's just that…You deserve someone better than me…"
"I'll find that where?" he chuckles.
"This isn't a joke…I'm a quarian, anything we have will always be constrained by my immune system."
"And I'm me...Anything anyone, regardless of species, wants to have with me is constrained by this." He points to the eezo pack with his thumb.
"Yes, but you can at least remove your helmet anywhere you want. I can't even do that, you may never see my face as long as we are together…I could get sick…"
"I wouldn't say never, I mean won't I see it once we head to the Migrant Fleet once this business with Saren is dealt with?"
She lets out a small laugh, though she still sounds frustrated, "That's very forthright, making plans like that."
"So you wouldn't let me go?"
"Of course I'd let you, but what about Shepard…Not to mention ALI and…"
"What about Sam? I'm a grown man, and the Council will likely never accept ALI unless this situation turns into something drastic. No, I love her to death but I'd rather take my chances in the Terminus Systems with you than remain and risk getting locked up again. It's not like she couldn't visit right?"
"I don't know…the Fleet can be really hard to find for anyone who doesn't know where to look."
He grabs the chin of his helmet, "I guess we'll have to cross that bridge when we come to it. And with ALI, I'm sure your people would be wary of an AI but convincing them of our usefulness to the cause of reclaiming your homeworld shouldn't be too difficult, I mean you get along with her well enough now."
"That's different, at first I suffered her for you and Shepard, but the fleet…especially my father, who may not even approve of…Regardless we never leave our suits, even among family, the only way we can ever do that is…" she trails off.
"What?" he asks.
"We could link our suit environments…but to quarians it is one of the upmost signs of trust and acceptance…I've never trusted someone that much until now."
"I don't see the problem, I feel the same way." He says as she pauses, seeming to stumble for the right words as she wrings her hands.
"It's not just that, it also signifies willingness for…umm…intimacy." She says shyly as she looks at him. He puzzles over what she meant, and as it quickly dawns on him he can almost feel his blood rushing to his head as he stiffens.
Now it is his turn to stumble, "Wha…Well I…and you're…uhh…" he feels like a complete perv as he sits there, the images of the possibilities running through his head. He turns away from her as he twiddles his thumbs and continues to ramble incoherently.
"I'm sorry, it was a stupid idea." She says, and he looks back to her finding her head hung.
"N…No, it's a great idea, even if we can never…you know…I just…I've never…" he stops; he knows she probably won't believe him anyway, knowing where he grew up, and he is honestly embarrassed a little by it.
She looks at him now, giggling after a moment, "Me neither."
"Really?" he says, shaking off his bewilderment before smacking his forehead, striking the helmet, "Of course, you haven't…you said you've never trusted another like me." He nods, "It doesn't matter," determination filling his voice, "I am willing to do whatever it takes, if you'll have me."
She waits for a moment, likely puzzling over if she would "burden" him with her affections, then nods in silence as she reaches up to the side of his helmet. She slowly trails her three fingered hand down his left shoulder to his hand, "Are you sure you want this?"
He grabs her hand with his own, "Definitely."
CE 2183…1645 hours…July 3…Lair of the Thorian, Feros
Garrus wipes the last of Creeper slime as the three of them approach the mysterious asari that just fell from the Thorian sack on the wall. She was obviously the basis for the clones they had to fight along with the hordes of Creepers as they destroyed the tendrils that held the Thorian aloft. After the last was blasted by a shot from his rifle the hideous creature fell to the unknown depths of the ruin they were in.
"I'm free. I'm free." The asari says, her voice colored slightly by shock, "I…I suppose I should thank you for releasing me."
"Is everything all right? Are you hurt?" Samantha asks calmly readying her medi-gel.
"I am fine. Or I will be, in time." The asari answers, "My name is Shiala. I serve…I served Matriarch Benezia." At this Garrus grips his rifle tighter and he sees Wrex aim at the asari with his shotgun out of the corner of his eye. "When she allied herself with Saren, so did I. Benezia foresaw the influence Saren would have. She joined him to guide him down a gentler path. But Saren is compelling. Benezia lost her way."
"Are you saying Saren can control minds?" Samantha asks with a deathly serious tone.
"Benezia underestimated Saren. As I did. We came to believe in his cause and his goals. The strength of his influence is troubling" Shiala responds.
Garrus loosens his grip, "She tried to manipulate Saren. But in the end, her plan backfired."
"Asari Matriarchs are among the most intelligent and powerful beings in the galaxy. How could one fall under Saren's control?" Samantha inquires with a worried and stunned tone.
"Saren has a vessel. An enormous warship unlike anything I've ever seen. He calls it Sovereign. I can dominate the minds of his followers." Shiala answers, "They become indoctrinated to Saren's will. The process is subtle. It can take days, weeks. But in the end, it is absolute." She hangs her head, almost shamefaced as she continues, "I was a willing slave when Saren brought me to this world. He needed my asari neural link to communicate with the Thorian, to learn its secrets. Saren offered me in trade. I was sacrificed to secure an alliance between Saren and the Thorian."
"Saren's pretty quick to betray his own people." Samantha says bluntly.
"He was quick to betray the Thorian, too." Shiala responds in kind, "After he had what he wanted, he ordered the geth to destroy all evidence of its existence. Saren knows you are searching for the Conduit. He knows you are following his steps. He attacked the Thorian so you could not gain the Cipher."
"What's the Cipher?" Garrus asks, "And why did Saren need it?"
"The beacon on Eden Prime gave you visions. But the visions are unclear, confusing. They were meant for a Prothean mind. To truly comprehend them, you must think like a Prothean. You must understand their culture, their history, their very existence. The Thorian was here long before the Protheans built this city. It watched and studied them. When they died, it consumed them. They became part of it."
"So the Thorian taught Saren to think like a Prothean? How?" Wrex questions
"The Cipher is the very essence of being a Prothean. It cannot be described or explained. It would be like describing color to a creature without eyes. To understand, you must have access to endemic ancestral memory. A viewpoint spanning thousands of Prothean generations. I sensed this ancestral memory…the Cipher…when I melded with the Thorian. Our identities merged, our minds intertwined. Such knowledge cannot be taught; it simply exists."
"I need that knowledge to stop Saren…" Samantha begins.
"There is a way." Shiala interrupts, "I can transfer the knowledge from my mind to yours, as I did with Saren."
Shiala slowly approaches Samantha, "Try to relax, Commander. Slow, deep breaths. Let go of your physical shell. Reach out to grasp the threads that bind us, one to another. Every action sends ripples across the galaxy. Every idea must touch another mind to live. Each emotion must mark another's spirit." By now Shiala is directly in Samantha's face, "We are all connected. Every living being united in a simple, glorious existence. Open yourself to the universe," Shiala's eyes close "Commander. Embrace eternity!"
Her eyes shoot open but rather than the bright green eyes from before they are just pitch black spheres within her skull. Samantha's body tenses up as she seems locked in a stare with the woman. Her fists are clenched tight and he finds himself moving to her, only to be stopped by Wrex. After a moment Shiala closes her eyes, opening them to reveal they are normal again, and Samantha's stature relaxes, though still seems tense in comparison to before the link.
"I have given you the Cipher, just as it was given to Saren. The ancestral memories of the Protheans are a part of you now." Shiala says.
"Are you all right?" he finds himself asking worriedly, "What just happened?"
"I saw…something." Samantha says turning to him, her face covered in sweat that she begins to wipe away, "It still didn't make any sense."
"You have been given a great gift, the experience of an entire people. It will take time for your mind to process this information." Shiala states.
"We should get you back to the ship, Commander." He insists, "Medical needs to know about this."
"I am sorry if you have suffered, but there was no other way. You needed the Cipher. In time, it will help you understand the vision from the beacon."
"Now that you're free of the Thorian, what are you planning to do next?" Samantha asks.
"If you allow it," Shiala begins, "I would like to stay here with the colonists. They have suffered greatly, and I played a role in their suffering. I would like to make amends."
Garrus moves next to Samantha to see a soft smile on her face, "The colonists will need all the help they can get. They'll be happy to have you on their side."
"Thank you Commander." Shiala says graciously, "May fortune smile upon you."
With that Samantha turns and leads the three of them back through the structure to Zhu's Hope.