MASS EFFECT
MASSIVE SHOCK 2
INFINITE MASS
~Disclaimer~
I do not own any rights or entitlements to the characters of the Mass Effect or Bioshock franchises or characters or property that the BioWare and Irrational Games companies have claimed. I do however own copies of the Mass Effect games and the Bioshock games. Any original characters that I come up with are mine to use freely and to distribute. Please respectfully ask me for the use of my characters to include main and supporting characters and original plot events in my story. Thank you.
CHAPTER 20
OTHERSIDE
/ / . . . 1044 05 JAN 2183 . . . / /
"Jada." Zero says, walking into Splicer's apartment. "Splicer left?"
Jada nods from the workstation in the corner of the room. "Yup. Left early in the morning. I didn't even know he left."
"He's got a flare for the dramatic, huh?" Zero asks with a small laugh, walking into Splicer's open kitchen to get a drink for himself.
"Such a girl." Jada mumbles, loudly enough for Zero to hear. She pauses in her work and smirks to herself before she looks over at him from the main terminal. "So, Hot Stuff. What's up?"
"Well, I know we've got this big fancy database for all the work we're doing and shit." He starts, throwing his coat down on an armchair. "But I got a call the other day… well first I have to tell you that I got a call yesterday from three magazines that each want me for their cover shoot for the next few months."
"Zero, biotic, mercenary, model extraordinaire." Jada laughs a bit, not taking her eyes from the database screen. "Anyways, what's the point of the story?"
"Well, I got the one for Fornax." Zero says shrugging.
Jada nods. "As did I. Your point?"
"The other two are the interesting ones. One is a big military magazine in the Traverse, Atticans at Arms. The other one is for that fancy Bekenstein based money magazine." Zero says sounding excited.
"Forbes Galactic?" Jada asks looking at him.
He nods. "Yeah! That's the one!"
Jada stops working and turns around to look at him. "Forbes? You're lying."
He shakes his head. "Nope! Totally serious! The military mag is doing a special edition on Private Military Contractors, PSOs, Merc teams and individual Mercenaries for hire in Citadel, Alliance, and Colonial space as well as doing full profiles on them. They've got a list of their picks to be featured but some don't want the publicity, and they didn't like the look of some of them, like CAT6."
"CAT6?" Jada looks at him bewildered. "They're putting them in the magazine? They're all convicts with too much roid rage!"
Zero shrugs. "Sure but they're effective and popular in Citadel Space. They do a lot of heavy lifting."
Jada shakes her head at his stupid joke. "Alright, well who else is in the magazine?"
"Uh…" Zero pauses to think, running through a list in his head. "They've got the Rojo, CAT6, A Sombra Verde, Gordon Hurts is getting a page, Aleena Darrus too, Gina Tex… Oh, the fucking Legion gets a page and a half too."
"Fuck the Legion!" Jada exclaims flipping off the air for good measure.
"Right? And us if we agree. We get the cover and centerfold. I saw we do it. Good publicity and whatnot." Zero shrugs.
"What about Splicer?"
He nods. "Yeah they know Splicer's doing shit right now, but they want him on the cover, so they asked if we could have a stand in wearing his armor."
Jada shrugs. "I don't see a problem with that. We'll get Tyrannax to make a show model or something."
Zero nods. "Works for me."
"And the Forbes cover?" Jada asks, still baffled at the bullshit that is that proposition.
"Well, they're doing an article on up and coming entrepreneurship in the new galactic economy and one of them is on trade and vocational occupations." Zero says, sounding rather sophisticated.
"Trade? A mercenary is a trade occupation?" Jada asks skeptically.
"Evidently!" Zero exclaims.
"Enough with the big words, jackass." Jada says shaking her head.
"Sorry, but it's a wonderful opportunity for us." Zero pauses. "But that's not what I came here to tell you!"
"What'd you come to tell me?" Jada asks turning back to the computer.
Zero pauses to think, choosing his words carefully. "Well… you remember that whole thing with Splicer out doing his thing and whatever? Well how much did he say he was doing that for?"
Jada thinks. "Something in the range of three quarters of a billion bucks." She pauses and smashes her face in her hands. "HOLY FUCK THAT'S A LOT OF FUCKING MONEY!"
"Right?" Zero asks rhetorically. He then pauses and taps his fingers together. "Well… I just a call about something just as lucrative."
Jada gives him a look. "Bull-fucking-shit."
"I'm serious!" Zero exclaims. "I got a call from a guy named LaGrange. He's a human businessman who runs a chemical, electrical, mechanical and biotechnologies company on Earth. He's the guy who invented mother fucking omni-gel. You know? That super-goo that brought 3D printing to the space age like Mass Technology took everything else into the space age? Their scientists also contributed to genetic research for the Sirta Foundation as well as assist in the improvement of micro fabricators in omni-tools and machinery. Yeah. I know right? Well this guy told me he's had his eye on us for a while now and he want to hire us to track down a potential biotech asset. According to him this stuff, 'could bring the human race, every species of the galaxy, to the brink of evolution.' Now he didn't want to specify what it was exactly, so I told him I'd call him from out secure server.
Zero points at the holographic communicator. "Want to give him a call?"
Jada nods. "Uh. Yeah! Let's do it!"
They stand next to each other inside the curtained-off section of the room in front of the holo-comm and Zero puts in a call to LaGrange from the secure server in the room.
In just a few seconds thanks to FTL communications, the call is answered on the other line, several hundred thousand light-years away from Earth.
"L & D Galactic Technologies, bonjeur, this is the office Monsieur LaGrange, founder and CEO of L & D Galactic Technologies. My name is Dior, how may I help you today sir?" The holographic display brings up an image of a fair slender ebony haired beauty with a heavy accent that Jada recognizes as French.
"My name is Zurin Sageaus, and this is Jada." Zero says gesturing to Jada. "We have business with Mr. LaGrange, he should be expecting my call."
"Ah! Monsieur Zero and Mademoiselle Jada! It's very nice to hear from you!" The young woman, evidently named Dior says quite happily. "I'll put you through to Monsieur LaGrange right away. Merci!"
The woman disappears for a second and she's replaced by a tall silver haired fox of a man. He's long, thin but also athletic. He's got a strong bone structure, defined by his age, giving him stand out jowls and a finely lined face. There's a streak of black hair shooting back from his forehead, slicked back from his face. His old eyes give him a wise look, and more so considering they're very stormy grey. He smiles. "Good Evening, mes amies. My name is Christophe LaGrange. I own the LaGrange & Dumont Galactic Technologies industries based here in beautiful Marseilles. I assume you're calling to talk about the… well, to put it in your terms, I would say the 'job' oui? Down to business then. I want you to track down and locate a particular biotechnological formula that I've got my eyes on.
"This formula has been developed in secret by several corporations, all trying to search for the secret to its spectacular properties. Its base ingredient stems from a naturally occurring biological compound that is highly, highly volatile, sort of like the poison of the Palavan's Horsk plants. But with the addition of a special formula, utilizing chemical and biological components, one which the corporations still have not figured out quite yet, the compound can be exploited, and harnessed, even altered with amazing results! The problem is that they only each have a small bit of the compound itself, because they don't know where it comes from… but I do. And I refuse to work from scratch. This formula is God's gift to the galaxy! It's the mystery! Like how the Higgs-Boson Particle holds the widely desired secrets of the Universe, the Formula holds the secrets of Flora, Fauna, and man himself!
"In the past, a few of the corporations have attempted to commercialize the Formula, due to the fact that it has some narcotic properties; but those can be bypassed, erased, or enhanced with variations of the Formula. It's true gift is its ability to empower the body like steroids, empower the mind like focus drugs, to bring the user beyond what it means to be human, turian, asari, salarian, anything! This drug could bring us into a new age of glory! Not a step, but a leap towards evolution! As the discovery of Mass Effect Technology threw us into the stars, the Formula will throw humanity along the evolutionary spectrum!
"I dream of a world, where a young college student can walk down to the L & D convenience store, go to the section next to the milk, and purchase the latest 'Neuron Blast,' a modification of the Formula that will boost his brain power, giving him just what he needs to get an 'A' on his upcoming final exam! I dream of a world where a glutton, a man who does not, cannot achieve physical health can order a subscription to the newest 'Weight Drop' pack, to include metabolic boosters, fat burners, intestinal clearing agents, muscle massagers, and more that will have him slim, trim and fit in less than a month of no exercise where he can eat whatever he wants!
"I dream of a world where anyone can be an athlete, where an athlete can be an Olympian, and where an Olympian can become a God! A world where any old average adult can go purchase a themed body modifier, 'The Wrestler: Strong grip, strong back, quick reflexes,' 'The Swimmer: Strong shoulders, lean muscles, natural tan,' 'The Boxer: Strong facial features, muscles like tempered steel, quick on his feet with powerful punches. The Runner: Powerful legs, a long stride and a lean body.' I dream of a world where the definition of human perfection is questioned, and pushed further every day! A world where you can literally be anything or anybody that you want! A world free of pain, sickness, hunger, adversity!
LaGrange pauses, smiles. "I dream of a perfect world. Filled with the perfect people. I dream of a galaxy of peace, prosperity and perfection. You see my friends? Where other corporations would use the formula to create super soldiers, I will use it to make people live longer, free from sickness. I will use it to eradicate concerns of health from the equation: Malaria, HIV, AIDs, Diabetes, obesity, infections, genetic diseases, everything! Gone! Think about that! I can use it to create biotechnologies that use humans, plants and animals as living and moving filters. The pollution can be processed through you, reduced down to waste. Will that make you sick? Not with the Formula. I will use it to cultivate lands, improve agricultural growing techniques, end hunger for everyone!"
"Sounds too good to be true." Jada says frowning.
LaGrange shakes his head. "Maybe it was, but not anymore. I know what it is, I know where to find it, I know how to use it… and most importantly, I need your help."
"What's in it for us?" Zero asks, not actually entirely sure. He just knows it's a lot of money.
"Well, as for an immediate payment for completing the job, I have 6.4 billion credits ready to be transferred to your accounts." LaGrange smiles at their reactions. "And in addition, as a 'discoverer's compensation.' You're entitled to a large number of shares in L & D, a 0.2% royalty for every credit made from the Formula for the rest of your lives, as well as galactic recognition for assisting in the betterment of the whole galaxy… and for the record, 0.2% may not sound like much at all, but if those eggheads in financial are right, that's 2.2 billion credits a year. Yes… We expect the Formula to be quite a hit. What do you say, mes amis? Will you help me change the galaxy?"
Jada and Zero sit there just kind of stunned for a second.
They look at each other then back to LaGrange.
"What do you need done?" Zero asks.
LaGrange smiles brightly. "C'est excellent! Bon, so what I need from you first is for you to get the research data from one of the corporations' research centers, right on the Citadel! Convenient, non? It's no coincidence that I chose to hire you two. They have made some admirable progress with the Formula but they're research may pose a threat to colonial assets in the Attican Traverse and Alliance Space. The address of the research facility is being forwarded to your omni-tools. Also, I'll give some friends a call, and keep C-Sec off of your back for a while. Just in case you get into a little conflict in the facility."
"What kind of resistance will there be?" Jada asks.
LaGrange shrugs. "The heavy kind. They've got some pretty impressive equipment and a sizable security force. But, nothing you can't handle. Once you get to the research facility, one of my liaisons will meet with you. Good luck, I will be in contact."
The holo-comm hangs up and Jada looks at Zero.
"Go now?" She asks.
Zero nods.
They rush to the back room together to get ready.
/ / . . . LATER . . . / /
The cab touches down outside of a very tall dark building with some construction work on the Zakera Ward. There's no sign, but it looks one's being put up. The only letters in place are "Ako."
Zero and Jada get out of the vehicle and approach the building. They look up at it.
"That's tall." Zero mumbles.
Jada just nods.
"Excusé moi?" Someone with an accent says from behind.
Zero looks over his shoulder at the tall lanky man with oily black hair. "You LaGrange's contact?"
"Oui." The man says smiling and presenting a long metal case. "This is a gift from my employer. He says it will help. Also, I'm supposed to talk to you about the finer details."
Zero nods and takes the case, not opening it yet. "Go."
The man nods. "This is the primary research facility for Akomi Maraka Industries, an energy corporation. They specialize in cheap alternative energy sources for colonies. They're using the formula to create 'bio-batteries.' The human body, for instance, can produce many kilojoules of energy. What they're trying to do is create a sort of non-sentient biological based battery to be exploited for energy as well as develop a generator that can convert that biological energy into electricity. Cruel in some respects. Very environmentally friendly as well. At any rate. Their new form of energy production would most definitely be very controversial if it got out, hence the large security force. What we're looking for is on the top floor, in the primary server database. You simply need to fight your way to the database and download all information regarding the formula and then delete the information from the mainframe. And I'll give you a bonus for every sample of the Formula you find. Also, we want you to destroy their Formula Labs. That's on the 44th floor. We need to conduct this operation in the shortest amount of time possible. So it would behoove of you to plant the bomb on your way up on a timer and finish the job and get out in time."
Zero nods. "Sounds straight forward. What's in the case?"
The man nods. "Open it and I will also brief you on that."
Zero opens the case and finds several items.
"First, this chip." The man points at the pair of chips. "It will upgrade your armor and omni-tool firmware and will allow you to find Formula easier by means of a sort of 'hot-cold' metal detector like beeping. It also serves as an overall upgrade, simply as a little bonus. Next, the bomb." The man points out a dinner plate sized discus shape device with a timer on it. "That is a thermobaric mini-bomb. It is powerful enough to destroy several floors of the building and it is preset to 15 minutes. Finally the weapon." LaGrange indicates the short square rifles in the case. "The AGU. They're are prototype weapons from Argus weaponry. They're bullpup style, meaning their firing mechanisms and heatsink are in the buttstock. The weapons are very high fire rate, very high power for their size and are short and maneuverable for tight spaces. They aren't so accurate at a range but they make for excellent close quarters weapons. Their heatsink yield is significantly greater than your average weapon as well. In addition, the AGU comes equipped with built in laser sight designators that can be switched from visual to IR mode. They also have sights that can be switched from iron to red-dot and 10x zoom."
Jada picks up the AGU. It opens up and reveals itself as a rather compact assault rifle with an ice blue laser sight shooting out the front. "Hm. Sort of heavy, but I like that."
Zero takes his and puts it on his back. He upgrades his omni-tool with the chip as does Jada. Jada takes the bomb next without argument and attaches it to her upper back.
The man nods. "Thank you for assisting Mr. LaGrange in this affair. I will be waiting out here for you when you're done."
Zero nods at him and walks towards the building with Jada.
Zero tests the door and unsurprisingly, it's locked. Zero looks around for onlookers and activates his biotics. He creates a biotic bubble on the inside of the building and draws it back, smashing the glass of the door from the inside out. This will at least help deter the suspicion of a break in. Zero ducks into the building followed by Jada.
The building is dark, no lights on anywhere. Zero puts his helmet on and activates his night vision. Jada does the same.
They advance slowly, Zero drawing his shotgun and Jada choosing to try out the AGU.
The pass through the lobby and find the elevator. They enter and Zero presses the button for floor 44.
The elevator starts riding up but at floor 30, it stops.
"Access to lab floors denied." A VI says. "Please contact the security administrator for assistance."
"Where is he?" Zero asks the VI.
"Current security admin: Gavin Hopkins; is on this floor, in the security offices." The VI states helpfully, its artificial mind oblivious to the fact that it may have just signed the death warrant for Mr. Gavin Hopkins.
Zero leads Jada out of the elevator onto a floor full of cubicles with the outer wall lined with windows, illuminating the floor with dull light.
"So far, so good." Jada mumbles. "Though I was hoping for some-"
"Halt!" A guard shouts, rounding the corner with three more guards. "You are trespassing!"
"Did you really think I didn't see you thieves breaking in?" A voice, presumably Gavin Hopkins's, says over the intercom. "Arrest them!"
Zero looks over his shoulder at the other four guards approaching from behind them as well.
"I'll just point out…" LaGrange's voice says into Jada and Zero's ear. "Any casualties accrued will not damper the paycheck. Nor will C-Sec be around for the next few hours, no matter how hard they try. Oh, and these guards are mostly ex-cons and military rejects for various reasons, including drugs and murder and what-not. Have fun."
Zero and Jada look at each other and dive in different directions over cubicle walls.
Zero lands on his feet but immediately rolls to his stomach, just in time as gunfire rips through the cubicle. He crawls, keeping his head low out of the cubicle weaving between makeshift halls. Once clear of the gunfire ripping through the cubicle he pops up to a knee and activates his sonar locator visor.
The visor shows him the room with sound, allowing him to see the man-shaped targets through the cubicle walls. Zero turns off the sonar and activates his biotics. He blasts a cone shaped shockwave at the guards. The biotic shockwave blasts desks and cubicles at the guards. The shockwave not only launches the guards into the wall behind them but also barrages them will desks, computers, makeshift walls and novelty pens.
Jada, meanwhile, crouches low, her rifle in her hands. She rounds the corner of a cubicle and peeks around the other corner at the guards near the elevator, their weapons trained in the direction of Zero's shockwave.
Jada pivots around the corner and rises, her weapon shouldered. She turns the safety off and opens fire. The AGU offers a very impressive flurry of fire, punching through their armor and even their weapons, perforating them with high power bullets. The AGU fires a lead river, and sparks and blood fly. Soon, the group of four guards are dead, pumped full of an unnecessary number of bullets, and Jada's weapon hasn't even overheated yet.
Jada looks at her weapon, smiling. "I think I like you."
Zero laughs slightly and leads Jada towards the security admin room. "Let's take this fellow out, shall we?"
They reach the Admin room. Not surprisingly it's locked. Zero sighs and nods at it.
"After you."
Jada smiles and kicks the door. The door buckles and dents inwards, and swings open so hard it bangs against the wall inside and swings back out. It does that several more times before it slowly creaks to a halt then falls, almost comically. off the wall.
"Shit, shit, shit." The security admin, Gavin Hopkins pants, panicking. He backs up against the terminal. He draws his pistol, causing Jada and Zero to snap their weapons up but he immediately brings it from his holster to the floor. "Please don't kill me! I've got kids!"
Jada looks at Zero.
"There can be no witnesses now. You've killed several of his guards already." LaGrange's voice says.
Jada sighs angrily and looks at Zero again.
"I'll take care of it." Zero says nodding at Jada.
Jada sighs once more and leaves the room, looking at Gavin Hopkins one last time.
Mr. Hopkins looks at Zero with utter terror.
"You won't feel a thing." Zero says activating his biotics.
The sobbing Mr. Hopkins looks Zero in the eyes as Zero lays his hand on his forehead. Zero sends a biotic surge through Mr. Hopkins's skull, scrambling his brain molecules into little more than milk. Bright red blood starts running from his nose and he falls dead.
Zero stares at him for a second before walking up to the security console. He unlocks the upper labs but notices that the elevators above the floor 40 are under maintenance as are the opposing stairwells, meaning they'll have to snake their way upwards.
The databases are on the top floor: floor 46. Zero figures they should get floor 46 first before planting the bomb so that they can have enough time to make their way back.
Zero exits the security room and leads Jada back to the elevators. They enter silently and Zero presses the floor for 40.
"The elevators are busted after floor 40… We'll have to crisscross our way up stairwell by stairwell to floor 44…" Zero explains quietly to Jada who leans against the wall staring at the ground.
"Z… Can I ask you something?" She asks, removing her helmet.
He nods, removing his, waiting for her question.
"This… This doesn't feel right. This job doesn't feel right. Are we doing the right thing?" Jada asks, looking at him.
Zero shrugs. "I'm not sure… It doesn't feel right but… If what LaGrange says is true then it's for the greater good I guess."
Jada grunts in response, looking at the floor.
Zero sighs. "Listen… This… It's… It's just any other job, okay?"
Jada shrugs and sighs. "Let's just move on."
The elevator doors open and they disembark onto the 40th floor.
This floor is filled with glass rooms containing different lab setups. It's very quiet. And the only light comes from the labs.
"VI, where are the security guards for this floor?" Zero asks, turning his head back towards the open elevator.
"The security elements for this facility are focused on the lower floors, primarily the administrative floors 12 to 22. Above floor 40, there are no security elements." The VI responds.
"Why?" Jada asks. "Why isn't there security above 40?"
"Information classified. Please contact your supervisor to request proper clearance."
Zero looks at Jada. "That's foreboding."
They start walking slowly forward coming up to the first of the labs on their left. It's labeled simply as Lab 4-1.
Zero activates his omni-tool and turns on the Formula Scanner. It beeps quietly fairly quickly. Zero walks into the brightly lit lab and follows the beeping to a large centrifuge machine. Beneath it is a sample cold storage sample unit. Zero yanks it open with a whoosh and a thick mist wafts out and an uncomfortable chill causes Zero to shiver. Inside is a single metal canister, about the size of a tennis ball case with heavy plugs on the ends and an electronic reader detailing temperature, internal pressure and what-not. There's also a little oblong window and whatever's inside is black.
Zero takes the canister and examines it. His omni-tool says this is the stuff.
Zero decides it's probably in his best interest not to mess with it. He finds a boxy transportation unit with several slots for the Formula canisters. Zero slips his in and slings the unit over his shoulder, pushing it behind his back so it won't get in his way.
Zero exits the lab and he and Jada go about collecting canisters of the Formula from the floor and adding them to the unit. Then they move on. They get to the stairwell at the other end of the floor and go up one floor to the next floor. According to their scanners, there's no Formula on this floor… Well, not in the form of canisters.
They walk through the doors and are bathed in cold green light covering this windowless floor, there are rows upon rows of lit tanks filled with pale green fluid.
Floating in each of the tanks are blobs of flesh vaguely shaped like people. They're covered in tubes and pipes and don't have eyes mouths or ears, just dark holes for each. They're all long and very thin and they almost resemble fetuses, just fully grown. The skin on their hands encompasses all of their fingers like mittens or webbed fingers. Same thing with their feet. The things twitch and shiver in their tanks in the fetal position.
Zero and Jada are frozen by the door. A sign immediately in front of them just visible above the mist covering the floor up to the waist.
The sign reads:
No noise of any sort is permitted in lab 5-15! Do not disturb the subjects! Remain on lit path to avoid stepping on umbilical wiring!
Zero looks at Jada who looks back at him. Jada puts a finger against the faux lips forged onto her helmet, signaling silence.
Zero nods.
A line of lights appears through the fog on the ground. Easily visible.
Zero starts walking first his steps slow and deliberate. Jada follows closely behind, glancing behind her rather frequently.
Some of the things aren't fully developed yet. Grotesquely shaped almost humans.
They're about halfway along when Zero pauses at a sharp corner, examining a tank in front of him. He signals Jada to stop. Meanwhile Jada backs up towards him oblivious to the corner or to his signal to stop. She bumps into him ever so slightly and Zero is pushed enough to need to brace himself on the tank, throwing up his hand and catching himself against it.
Zero looks back at Jada who looks at him then up at the tank. Zero looks up at the tank, very slowly. Directly in front of his face, is one of the things its face inches from his with only glass between them.
Zero lets out a shaky breath.
Some bubbles pass out of the hole where the thing's mouth should be.
Jada nudges Zero. Zero looks around at her slowly. She nods in a direction.
Zero looks in that direction then around baffled. All of the things have removed themselves from fetal position and are pressed up against the glass their eyeless faces trained towards them.
"Let's get the fuck out of here." Jada whispers quietly.
The things start howling with earsplitting sheer screaming. It rings in the room unbearably.
Zero and Jada start sprinting straight for the other side of the room, forgoing the lit path for a more direct route. Along the way they run across tubing and wires. The things scream louder as some of their tubes and pipes erupt from their bodies. The things writhe in their tanks, slamming their thin arms and shoulders against the glass. They're too weak to do anything about the glass however. Zero and Jada make it to the other side of the room and hurl themselves through the door into the stairwell.
Jada slams the doors shut behind her and the screaming of the things in the tanks is silenced.
The stairwell is eerily silent. The sound of slightly labored breathing is all that is heard.
"What were those things?" Jada whispers. Only after she whispers does she realize that it's silly to do so. If she can't hear the things scream anymore, they can't hear her either. Yet she does it anyways.
"The bio-batteries?" Zero suggests, also whispering irrationally.
Jada just shakes her head in response, slowly. "Let's… Let's just go."
They go up the stairs to the next floor.
They open the doors and come onto a floor that is actually two stories floor to ceiling. The room is occupied mostly by a huge generator that's probably powering most of the building. It's not quite like any generator either of them have seen before.
The pair start moving through the room, circumnavigating the generator and climbing a metal walkway to reach the stairwell on the other side. The head up to the next floor.
They're at the 44th floor. They enter and come on a lab covering the whole floor.
The floor is dark. No lights. The only light is coming from outside, from the windows.
"Jada, start setting up the bomb." Zero says putting his Formula container on a counter. "I'm going to fill this up."
She nods and runs over to the center of the lab. She kneels and places the bomb on the floor and waits to start the timer. She sighs and looks up at Zero who works diligently.
She looks over at the window but at her angle spots something out of the ordinary. She sees a pair of feet poking out from behind one of the counters. Jada moves over to them and looks down at the scientist, dead from a cut throat.
"Fuck." She mumbles getting low. She opens a private comm with Zero. "Z, I found a dead scientist. His throat was slit. I think there's someone else here…"
There's silence on the line for a bit.
"Z?"
"I read you." He whispers. "And I know…"
Jada blinks. "Z? Are you good?"
"Five seconds." He responds.
Jada draws her weapon and waits.
…
…
…
…
…
There's a sound like an explosion without the flames. She sees a flash of blue light and a cry of pain.
Jada rises to her feet fast and points her AGU in the direction of the biotic attack.
Jada sees Zero fighting someone in black armor. All she can see is their silhouettes against the Citadel's skyline. Zero dodges strikes from the other, a human man. He has a blade, thick, maybe the size of a machete. The machete hisses through the air and its edge glows slightly. Zero ducks under a horizontal strike and throws his fists into the attacker's gut his biotics sending the man flying out the window like a cannon ball.
Just as he straightens, another silhouette appears behind him out of thin air, a pistol leveled.
"ZERO!" Jada shouts, firing her AGU. The rounds strike the attacker throwing him off.
Zero spins around grabbing the attacker's arm. He draws his own pistol and shoves it into the attacker's chin and fires.
The room is silent again. Jada runs over to him. "Z? You good?"
Zero nods despite his bleeding arm where a strike from the machete stuck into his arm between his armor plates. Thankfully, his suit protected him from most of the strike. "I got the drop on one of them. Killed him with my biotics, but another one, the one with the machete came from behind me. I didn't even hear that last one."
"He was cloaked I think." Jada responds looking at the dead attacker. "… Hang on."
She kneels next to him and examines him. His armor is light, and formfitting. He's built for sneaking. He's thin, all lithe muscle. Jada removes his helmet. He's drell.
Jada frowns at the corpse. "No… Can't be…"
"What?" Zero asks confused.
"These guys…" Jada rolls the guy and looks at his left arm. "I knew it. They're Third Arm. These guys are the best Drell assassins in the galaxy."
"Third Arm?" Zero shakes his head. "That's nasty man."
She looks at him. "It was founded by a Hanar you idiot."
"Oh."
Jada shakes her head. "They're mercenaries… Like us… Who do you think they're working for?"
Zero shrugs. "Could be anybody."
"Let's just arm the bomb and go blow this place up." Jada says standing and moving to the bomb. She arms it and they make their way to the stairwell. The run their way up directly to the top floor where the database is stored.
The move to the primary mainframe. Zero hacks into the command console.
The screen lights up with a VI.
"Good evening." The VI says pleasantly. "How can I help you today?"
"I need you to back up the mainframe's files onto an outside database." Zero commands, typing in the IP address for their database. "How long will it take?"
"Only a few moments." The VI responds, starting the data transfer.
"How long?!" Jada shouts at it.
"Approximately 8 minutes." The VI responds.
Zero looks at Jada. "Are we good on time?"
Jada nods. "We won't have much. 3 minutes will be generous. But if worse comes to worse we can just jump out the window or fast rope down the elevator shaft."
Zero nods. "Cool."
"Warning. Unauthorized user detected." The VI exclaims. "Activating automated security detachment."
"Did you cover your tracks? Is it you that it's detecting?" Jada asks him.
Zero shakes his head in confusion and draws his AGU. "No! I'm using proxy data ID. It shouldn't be able to recognize me. Fucking VI, I'm the only one accessing you right now!"
"Negative. There is another user attempting to hack the data transfer." The VI states.
Jada looks at Zero then at the computer. "Where is he?"
"The unauthorized user is on this floor." The VI responds.
"I'll go look for this 'unauthorized user.'" Jada says running off.
"I'll stay here and watch the…" Zero trails off as he sees the half dozen mechs armed with machine guns making their way towards him. "Fuck."
Jada moves fast, weaving between the rows of servers, looking for her target. She spots something as she runs but over shoots it. She stops and looks back and sees him, kneeled by a server. Hacking away.
Jada raises her pistol and fires at him. He takes a hit in the shoulder, falls back and rolls behind a server. Jada runs after him. She stops where he was, a bit of blood on the floor. She looks to her right where he went and sees a trail of blood drops. She grins.
She follows the blood, moving fast. She makes many turns as she follows the blood. Suddenly it stops. She skids to a halt and back tracks to the end of the trail. The last drop is a little bigger than the others. She feels something hit the top of her helmet. She looks up and a drop of blood lands on her visor. She points her pistol up but it is kicked out of her hand. The person she's fighting is long, and thin and moves like a fucking snake around her. She moves behind Jada and Jada feels the person's hands on her shotgun. Jada growls and drives her elbow back but misses and spins around to try and recover but only sees her shotgun clattering off across the floor. She feels her assault rifle get removed as well.
"Fucking asshole!" Jada shouts spinning around again.
The attacker ducks under Jada's left hook and narrowly avoids her knee strike. The person grabs the bottom of her foot and leg and attempts to launch Jada up and onto her back.
Jada however uses her strength and stomps her foot down, breaking the attacker's grip and throwing the attacker off balance. Jada drives her fist into the top of the attacker's head, shattering her helmet and making her fall forward slightly. Jada grabs the attacker's neck and lifts her up off of the ground. Jada tears off her helmet and frowns at the female attacker. She's human, or at least Jada thinks she's human.
The mysterious attacker as sharp features that are almost catlike. Her skin is tanned and slightly orange in tone but not like a spray-on tan so much as a shiny orange glow. Her eyes are ocean blue and her irises are oddly large for her eyes. She has rusty red hair that reaches down to mid back and a widow's peak. She struggles against Jada's steel grip.
"Who the fuck are you?" Jada shouts at her.
"F-Fuck… Y-You!" The woman manages to hiss out of her compressed throat.
/ / . . . MEANWHILE . . . / /
Zero roars as he tackles the last mech to the ground and tears its arm off. He gets to his feet, stomps it and laughs.
"YEAH! FUCK YOU!" He laughs spitting on it.
He grunts in pain and holds his stomach where a mech bullet pierced his armor. "Ah… Fuck."
Something hits him over the back of his head and he falls forward. He instinctively rolls to the side and onto his back. Nothing there.
Zero gets back to his feet and looks around cautiously. Something hits him in his abdomen, right on his gunshot wound and then sweeps his legs. Zero creates a biotic nova as he hits the ground, sending a blast wave out from him. He hears a cry and something hit the mainframe. He sees a distortion on the ground. Something that's camouflaged.
More assassins?
Zero gets to his feet and creates a biotic bubble around the attacker.
The camouflaged person gets to their feet and strikes the barrier. Zero compresses it and the person is put under pressure, nearly crushing the attacker. They shout in alarm. Zero lifts the barrier up off of the ground and launches it towards the ceiling. He removes it just at the last second and the person slams into the ceiling with incredible force. Zero catches the attack on their way back down with another bubble barrier and slams them into the floor.
The person's camouflage fades away and the person is left unconscious on the ground. This one isn't another Drell assassin…
Zero moves to his female attack, and turns her over. She's wearing… not much. Her 'armor' is little more than an impossibly snug reinforced suit that's little more than a second skin. There are even parts of the suit that are cut away revealing skin. In particular, there is a lot of skin showing on her arms, legs and back. She's petite, but quite tone with wide hips. Zero removes her helmet which might be the most armor she's wearing. She's human, or at least Zero thinks she is. She's got short blond hair, shaved on the sides and hanging at nose level on top. She's a nice light tan with quite picturesque features, for a human. What throws Zero off are small patches of what Zero believes are scales near her ears and jaw. They're not very pronounced but they're there. Zero lifts up her long lashed eyelid to find that her eyes are green and her pupil is like an elongated diamond, like a krogan's.
Zero frowns at the strange human. Her suit has no distinguishing markings either.
"Data transfer complete." The VI says loudly.
"JADA!" Zero shouts as loudly as possible "LET'S GO! VI! Purge the data from the mainframe, now!"
"Are you s-"
"YES!" Zero shouts already running. He skids to a halt as he sees numerous mechs making their way towards him. "Fuck…"
/ / . . . MEANWHILE . . . / /
The mysterious woman struggles against Jada's grip. "F-Fuck… Y-You!"
"JADA! LET'S GO!" Jada hears Zero shouts from somewhere else on the floor. Jada looks over her shoulder at the sound.
The woman takes advantage of this and wraps her leg around Jada's arm, attempting to wrench it into breaking. Jada slams the woman into a server in response, dropping her.
She falls limply to the ground.
Jada looks at her for a second, considering killing her.
"JADA!" Zero shouts. "WHERE ARE YOU?!"
Jada sprints towards the sound of his voice as quickly as she can. She rounds a corner and spots Zero behind a server wall as mechs fire at him. Jada checks the time for the bomb. One and a half minutes left.
Jada curses and charges at the mechs. "Zero! Let's go!"
He charges out from behind the servers and sprints at the mechs, biotic barrier forming cone in front of him.
Jada slams into the mechs, ripping off their heads, tearing them to bits, just trying to get through them.
Zero slams through as well, biotics tearing a hole in their ranks. Jada follows behind closely. They reach the elevator shaft.
"Jada!" Zero shouts. She moves to the doors and pries them open quickly. The look down the shaft. The elevator for this shaft is stuck a few floors down. The adjacent one is at this floor. They'll have to switch shafts.
Jada and Zero jump into this shaft and land on top of the elevator, making it shake uncomfortably. Then, the explosion makes the whole building shake uncomfortably.
"GO!" Zero shouts throwing Jada towards the edge of the elevator. "JUMP!"
They leap off of the elevator and plummet towards the bottom. As they fall fire leaps at them from the 42nd, 43rd, 44th, 45th and 46th floors. They pass through the flames and the thermobaric flames would've normally fried them to a crisp even with their armor. But Zero pulled up a biotic barrier that held until they got past the 43rd floor. The pass through the flames and plummet the last 40 floors to the bottom. They both land kneeling, their kinetic distribution taking the brunt. They look up at the exploding floors when they see a fireball shoot out from the flames. The fireball dies but reveals itself as the elevator.
"FUCK! JADA!" Zero shouts while Jada is already prying the doors open. Jada leaps through the open doors and Zero leaps through just as the elevator smashes into the ground floor, sending shrapnel and dust flying over them. Jada and Zero stumble away from the debris.
"Holy fuck!" Jada gasps in exasperation. "That was too fucking close!"
Zero just shakes his head. "God dammit…"
Jada takes a deep breath and takes a step towards the exit. "Let's go turn in…"
"Jada?" Zero says putting his hand on her shoulder. "Stop for a minute."
"What?" She asks pausing.
Zero sighs, removes his helmet and thinks for a second. "Look this… You were right, there's something weird about this place. What kind of chemical formula could possibly do… stuff like that?"
Jada is silent for a second. She shakes her head in disbelief and removes her helmet. "Can't be… Can it?"
Zero puts the Formula container down and takes one of the tubes out. "It doesn't look like it, not even close… But I don't doubt it… I'm going to take a sample. Just enough to analyze later."
Zero examines the tube, looking for a way to open it. "Come on…"
He twists the top and it sprays out over both his and Jada's faces. The gasp and cough and the Formula feels like it's lighting their faces on fire.
Zero drops the tube and tries desperately to breathe but the Formula chokes him and blinds him. He feels himself passing out, but before he does he sees a figure approaching them quickly.
He sees Jada trying to fight somebody off but failing. Then everything goes black.
/ / . . . AUTHOR'S NOTE . . . / /
I don't know how I feel about this chapter. I feel like I rushed it. Or like I tried to do too much in one chapter and it's cluttered or something… I don't feel wonderful about this chapter but it drives the plotline on I suppose. Sorry for how long this took to get to you. I've been busy.
And aside from being busy, I'm having… difficulty reacclimatizing to my life. I have a fairly stressful life overall and I'm sort of out of sorts with myself to be honest. Not to mention that writing creatively has been difficult for me.
I guess my mind is just elsewhere.
I'm working on chapter 21, which will be another step along Zero and Jada's journey which will be written parallel to Splicer's journey following the events of ME1. As you know, Splicer is currently on Feros, doing that BS. What he doesn't know is that his actions from Massive Shock 1 are going to come full circle on him. Even the ones he didn't know about.
Zero and Jada are taking their first blind steps into a corporate conspiracy that could potentially change the galaxy forever. For better or for worse. After receiving THE job offer of job offers from the mysterious mega-philanthropist Christophe LaGrange, Zero and Jada are thrown into the center of a scientific arms race between dozens of corporations, all seeking to use the mysterious Formula for their own gain. They'll encounter new characters, new enemies, and make new friends. They'll call in help from old friends, fight old enemies and their story will round out the events of Massive Shock 1. Eventually their journey will collide with Splicer's and the fate of the entire galaxy will be in their hands.
Many thanks for reading. Please favorite, follow and review.
I'll see you... eventually... Yeah I'm not sure when you'll see chapter 21. I'm still working on it and it doesn't feel quite right just yet.
/ / . . . LOGGING OUT . . . / /
Mockingbird79