Chapter 25 - Warrens
Ba-dum-Ba-dum. Ba-dum-Ba-dum. Ba-dum-Ba-dum. Tali's heart pounded rhythmically in her chest, each strained thump filling her ears. Ice cold blood ran through her veins as her lungs swelled against her ribcage and the hairs on her forearms stood on end. They're going to find me. They're going to find me and kill me. Keelah please don't let them find me. She'd found the alcove by touch more than sight, the sudden shift from the brightness of the snowy landscape to the fissure's black interior rendering her eyes useless. Initial fears of geth lying in ambush passed as soon as it became apparent that nobody was shooting at her. Then, fear of discovery set in. Believing her eyes wouldn't adjust to the darkness in time, Tali ran her hand along the left side wall, hoping desperately that there might be a small cave dug into the ice. The alcove, half-occupied by a frozen stalagmite, wasn't quite what she was looking for but her kind had long since given up on being choosers. Now she stood at awkward angle, her back pressed against the ice, the edges of the stalagmite pressing in toward her left hip and leaving her precious little room to manoeuvre. There was just enough freedom to level her shotgun out towards the main passage without giving away her hiding place.
Her only hope was that if any geth did approach the entrance to the caves they would keep their attention focused straight ahead. Even the briefest of glances at the alcove would expose her and without the concealment of the shroud she'd be lucky to get a shot off. The seconds ticked slowly by as the battle continued to rage outside, the constant din of pulse rifle fire occasionally broken by the deafening -Thoom!- of a sniper round. At least she knew Ren was still alive; for now.
Seconds became minutes that slipped agonizingly by and still no sign of geth reinforcements. Tali's right leg, supporting the majority of her bodyweight, began to go numb. Where are they? The geth's usual swarm tactics of overwhelming numbers and firepower couldn't be carried out with just the few platforms outside. They're going to come from the ships! Cold realisation clutched her as images of the lingering geth dropships filled her mind. Tali had already begun to shift her weight to move back outside, knowing Ren couldn't survive against those odds, when a nagging sensation at the back of her mind made her hesitate. She bit her lip, unable to place it. Every instinct save one demanded she race outside and do what she could to thin the geth ranks for her friend. Frustrated at her own indecision, Tali shifted her right leg out into the passage, thrown off balance by the way the numbed limb refused to properly support her weight. Then it struck her.
The gunfire outside had lessened. It hadn't faded entirely, but what had before sounded like a constant, well coordinated stream of rifle fire now sounded more like isolated pockets of defiance. Another distinctive sniper shot sounded and suddenly she pieced it together. The geth numbers had thinned and Ren was still shooting, still picking them off. No new platforms had emerged from the ships to support the guards and if the ships themselves had fired or taken to the skies, she'd have heard it. No, if any reinforcements were to arrive, they would surely come from the same cave system in which she now cowered. So why haven't they passed me yet? They can't be that far in can they? She wondered, glancing down the stretch of ice that led deeper into the mountains. Confused and still fighting off a desire to return for Ren, Tali reluctantly slipped back into the alcove.
It went against everything she'd known and been taught about the geth and Tali racked her brain, trying to decipher the thought processes behind their actions. The AI were beings of logic, their cognitive functions governed by mathematics of the highest order. What they were doing now, abandoning others of their kind to be picked apart by a lone sniper, didn't match up with any form of logic or behavioural patterns Tali had encountered from the geth before. Have they somehow evolved? Upgraded? Or have we just been wrong all along? Maybe the dropships never had that many platforms inside to begin with?
The gunfire outside slowed and finally stopped altogether after a last definitive shot from the Avenger III. Tali waited patiently in the alcove, knowing Ren would chastise her for exposing herself now. She strained her ears, listening less for signs of any geth arriving and more for Ren's approach. Tense minutes passed and it wasn't until a dark shadow passed over her hiding place that Tali detected her friend. She eased her finger off the trigger, shivering as a lingering surge of fear shot through her.
"Ren." She whispered.
The shadow jumped and spun to face her, rifle barrel aimed directly at her chest. For a second she doubted her actions and then the gun slowly lowered. "Bloody hell Tali," he hissed, "you never been taught how to introduce yourself properly?"
"I had my shotgun out." She replied sarcastically as she struggled out of the alcove. Ren held out his arm and she took it gratefully, almost collapsing the instant she tried putting weight on her right leg.
"You alright?" Ren asked, stooping to help hold her weight.
"I'm ok, really." She replied as she straightened and leant back against the icy wall, slowly stretching and flexing her leg. "Just gone numb from standing still too long. Waiting for you." She added pointedly.
"Yeah," he chuckled, "sorry about that. Had a few geth to send back to the mainframe, you know how it is."
Tali nodded and hesitated before speaking again. "I-I almost thought you wouldn't make it through. The guards, the dropships..."
"The dropships never budged." Ren said, stepping back to get a good look down the rest of the corridor. The glance offered him little to go on. The passage was too dark to make out much but if he had to guess, there was a blind turn of some kind up ahead. "Seems weird though," he continued, "two functional dropships with no crew? Not even a backup squad to spare between them?"
"And no reinforcements from further in the caves either," Tali added.
Ren cocked his head in that quizzical manner that said he was trying to work something out. "I'm starting to wonder if these geth are really all that they seem."
"I've been thinking that too," replied Tali, testing her leg again and finding herself able to stand again, "and I get the feeling that we're being led into something."
Without warning the whole passage was suddenly bathed in light. The two quarians flinched and threw up a hand to shield their eyes, both retaining the sense to place their backs against the nearest wall. Blinking furiously as their eyes again tried to adjust to the sudden shift, the only sounds were the distinct fizz of poor quality LEDs activating and the subtle mechanical clacking of Tali's shotgun. Tali considered adjusting the brightness settings of her visor but quickly thought better of it. By the time she'd calibrated it her eyes would have attuned themselves and she'd be turning it right back up. Instead the two quarians waited with baited breath to see if anyone would appear to take advantage of their disorientation.
When nobody did and the stark light reflecting off the surface of the ice began to dim and little cracks in the frozen water became visible again, the pair prised open their squinting eyelids long enough to glance down either end of the chilly corridor. Nothing.
"Well if that little surprise doesn't confirm things..." Ren remarked, the butt of his rifle tucked firmly into his shoulder. Tali had a feeling it wouldn't be leaving that position for some time.
"Do you think the geth are on their way?"
"Maybe," he admitted, "thought they would've pounced when they hit us with the lights though." He glanced upwards, gaze following the string of LED lights that ran the length of the passage, linked by a thick black cable. "My gut tells me this," he indicated the lighting with his free hand, "is their way of inviting us in."
"Inviting us in to what?" Tali asked darkly.
Ren offered no answers. "I guess we're gonna find out. Stick close and watch your corners, don't want any more ambushers hiding in alcoves."
Stifling a grin despite the gravity of the situation Tali fell into step behind him, making a point of keeping slightly off to his right should she need to open fire. She was grateful at how the young lieutenant was casually allaying her fears and suspected he didn't even realise he was doing it. He'll make a good officer one day, maybe even a good admiral. She always had great respect for Han'Gerrel and whilst some of it was undoubtedly due to her father's strong bond with the man, Tali herself had always been impressed by the quiet intensity and sincerity of the admiral. It was a quality his son shared and privately she knew that when his father's term was up, Ren would be an ideal replacement.
As they made their way slowly through the narrow corridors of the caverns Tali watched Ren's movements carefully, trying to mimic the finely-tuned military precision of his actions. She thought about admitting she almost ran back for him, but decided better of it. He'd only tell me it was a stupid idea. Besides, the last thing we need now is my voice giving us away. Ren abruptly froze in front of her and Tali came to a stop beside him, eyes scanning the tight space ahead and to the sides for signs of hostiles. She saw nothing and was about to question Ren when he pointed at the base of the ice-blue wall ahead. "You see it?"
She didn't, not at first. The wall seemed featureless, deep blue ice tinged with fine particles of long settled snow. In the sheen of the ice she could see the reflection of the small snowdrift on the opposite side and- There! Barely detectable in the reflection was the grey form of something tucked away behind the snowdrift on the opposite wall. She couldn't make out exactly what it was but the hard edges bespoke something artificial. Something that had been left there deliberately. "How did you spot that?" She whispered, holding back the urge to step away.
"Luck," Ren replied, "seems to be on our side for a change. It's probably an anti-personnel mine; c'mon, let's see if we can't double back and find another way around."
Five minutes of backtracking later and they discovered another blind turnoff that they'd missed. Instead of another corridor the turn opened up into a decent sized but poorly lit cave. It was empty but as the two quarians made their way inside, Tali noticed something odd.
"You see that Ren? On the floor?"
He followed her finger but shook his head. "What am I looking at?"
"Those marks on the ice, they look like the same kind of scratches we used to make back on the Rayya whenever we were dragging heavy equipment around."
"Good eye. Someone's moved something out of here recently." Ren realised as he stooped to examine the thin white lines. "Which means either someone's been here for a while, or they've been storing things here for some time."
"Perhaps our smuggler theory wasn't far wrong after all."
"Maybe, still doesn't explain the geth though."
"I've almost given up believing we'll get an answer to that." Tali said as they moved cautiously across the cave.
"If they're part of the reason that we're being attacked then we'll find out Tali," replied Ren firmly, "that I promise you."
She looked at him curiously. "Glad to see one of us still has some faith."
"Worst thing you can do is let the enemy take your hope. Now c'mon, I want to see where this side passage leads."
"We'll need to be careful, they might have mined this route too."
"True. Pretty stupid to be using kit like that in a cave network though, could bring the whole mountain down on top of our heads." Ren observed scornfully.
Tali tried to shake off the sudden vision of being buried alive under tons of ice and snow. "Good thing we're not claustrophobic huh?"
"Indeed."
Conversation again deferred to action and the pair slowly made their way further into the ever expanding network of tunnels. Ren usually led the way, his familiar assault rifle poking into corridors and around tight turns long before either quarian exposed themselves. A cave here, a turn there and the occasional slippery slope all disappeared behind them before they spotted their first geth. It was as they moved through another poorly lit side passage that Tali spotted the platform. The AI stood with its back to them, just outside the western exit of the cave they were passing through. The two quarians had been making their way to the northern archway when Tali grabbed Ren's forearm. The Lieutenant looked up immediately at the sudden pressure. He followed her gaze and shook his head at Tali's querying glance, instead gesturing silently towards their original destination. The meaning was clear. Ignore it, slip by while we have the chance. Tali had other ideas though and shook her own head emphatically in response. Not this time Ren, not now I've got an opportunity. Herfriend's exasperation was evident when he thrust his arm towards the exit again, this time with more vigour and a subtle tensing of his shoulder muscles. Tali had been expecting his resistance and ignored it, instead keying open her Omni-Tool.
She'd been running an idea through her head for the last few twists and turns through the passages, the scheme set into motion by a memory of pre-Pilgrimage training and many years of detailed consideration. The odds of running into geth while on Pilgrimage for any quarian were astronomically small but the fleet had always maintained a small class on encountering the AI, more for the sake of their history than any practical applications. Most of the class had highlighted the best ways to either avoid or flee the artificial constructs but Tali had always harboured a strong interest in the geth since her talent in engineering became apparent so many years ago and these rudimentary discussions quickly bored her. It was as the instructor began detailing AI hacking techniques that her ears had perked up. The technique was complicated, required the user to precisely tune their Omni-Tool to their target's neural network node and was guaranteed to expose your position to the target the moment the short lived program succumbed to the geth's continual purges. Regardless it had been something new for the engineer to learn and she had stored the template of the program in her Omni-Tool ever since.
The program was lodged somewhere deep within the device but with her unerring memory it took Tali only seconds to locate it. As she pulled up the program and began making some swift alterations Ren dropped into a crouch beside her, jaw clenched in agitation. Unaware of her intentions the military man was having a hard time refusing the urge to discipline her like any other man under his command. If anyone in the navy had dared refuse his orders so blatantly he would have busted them back down to ensign in a heartbeat. It was only the close proximity of the AI that kept his tongue clamped firmly between his teeth as he quietly seethed. A hand on his shoulder brought his head around sharply, his steely glare firing back into the silver iris' that awaited him. Despite his misgivings he immediately recognized the quiet confidence there. The last time he'd seen it, she'd been back-engineering his shroud, crafting a working replica from little more than scrap metal. Tali's eyes narrowed, perhaps she'd not been encouraged by the angry defiance he harboured in his own. Pointedly, she bent her right arm at the elbow and, curling her hand into a fist, pressed it over her heart twice. The gesture was unmistakable. Trust me. Seeing no other ways of ending the silent argument well, Ren raised his free hand in begrudging surrender.
Wishing she could offer her friend something more, Tali quickly finished up her modifications and keeping her fingers over the activation key, began to work her way closer to the geth. Ren's eyes grew along with his incredulity. Raising his arms in an expression of utter disbelief the Lieutenant watched, astounded, as Tali shuffled her way across the cave, bringing herself ever closer to the geth, ever closer to detection. He almost ended the charade right there, raising his rifle to drop the platform in the back before the stupid woman got herself killed. Only Tali's proximity to the unit kept his finger off the trigger. Still he remained ready, hoping the young engineer would at least still have the sense to move aside when the geth inevitably discovered her. Right eye still watching alertly through his scope Ren saw a brief flash of light originate from Tali's Omni-Tool a split-second before a shimmering haze of orange current suddenly covered the geth's exterior.
The synthetic's rifle came up and Ren would have dropped it there and then if Tali hadn't bounded across the last few feet and driven a combat knife up into the base of its head. Somewhere between his confusion about the presence of the knife and shock at the sudden shift of tactics from Tali, Ren's many military briefings on the geth popped into the forefront of his mind. The processing core, located adjacent to the unit's memory banks, was at the nape of the neck, just below the platform's 'skull'. Exactly where Tali had just planted her blade. His frustration with his ally evaporated instantly and an awed grin split his previously grim features. His smile only widened as the geth sunk to the floor, headlamp already winking out. Tali ripped her knife free just as Ren stood to his feet but any congratulations he had to offer went unheeded. Re-adjusting her angle the machinist plunged the knife back in again, her wrist twisting violently as she worked frantically to pick away at some part of the interior workings.
"Tali wh-"
"Not now!" She hissed, attention focused solely on her bladework.
Ren watched her with a mixture of bemusement and helplessness. Evidently she was doing something vital but damned if he knew what it was, or how he could aid her. Instead he stepped back and watched in silence as Tali scrabbled desperately at the geth's insides, her fingers slick with creamy synthetic fluid. His eyes roamed the cavern cautiously, the Lieutenant ready to draw aim at a moment's notice should any more of the platforms arrive to investigate. If they were approaching they were doing it silently; the only sound he could make out was the insistent scratching of Tali's knife within the geth's metallic interior. Abruptly Ren noticed the orange sheen on the fallen geth beginning to fade, something that Tali had evidently noted as well, judging by the curse that spilled from her lips. A second later it disappeared entirely, but not before something popped loose of the geth's core workings.
Tali scooped up the fallen object instantly, fluid-coated knife falling forgotten from her hands. An open port on her Omni-Tool stood ready and she wasted no time in linking it to the recovered device. She waited with baited breath and when the data flashed up on screen, she sank back onto the icy floor with a sigh of relief.
"Gotcha!" She declared triumphantly, a forearm unconsciously reaching up to wipe the exterior of her tinted faceplate.
Satisfied that there were no immediate threats, Ren leant up against a nearby stalagmite and looked down at Tali with a questioning dip of his head.
Absorbed in the stream of data running across the screen, Tali didn't register his presence until he cleared his throat.
"That was pretty impressive Tali. Could have bloody well gotten us both killed, and for what I don't know, but knifing a damn geth? Wish I'd brought a holo-cam."
Her head shifted from side to side, her shoulders began to quake and the relieved giggling that followed made Ren question just how much wider his grin could get.
"I'm sorry," she managed finally as she fought to regain control of her breathing, "I just- I saw a chance to finally get some answers, maybe even get an idea of what we're facing down here and I couldn't just leave it."
"I take it that has something to do with that thing you yanked out of our friend there?" Ren asked, offering his friend a hand which she gratefully accepted.
"Yes." She replied as she got to her feet and eagerly thrust her Omni-Tool in front of him. "Look, this is all the information that was stored inside the geth just before shutdown."
It took Ren a moment to process the significance of her words. "Wait...that was the memory banks you pulled out of there?"
"Yes."
"But I thought the geth-"
"Wiped them when they died, yes, I know." Said Tali, not quite keeping the schoolteacher tone out of her voice. "That's why I hacked it first, I was hoping the AI would be too caught up in fighting the overwrite to properly purge itself."
"So it worked?"
"Not entirely. The memory core wipe is something that's almost instinctual for the geth and a small reserve of power is always put aside for it to work, even when the unit itself 'dies'. It's how they go on living, you know, when they transfer their programs to the nearest platform?"
Ren nodded.
"Well, the only reason it didn't activate instantly was because of the hacked code running through the system. Unfortunately the hack only lasts a few seconds before the code wears itself down anyway and part of the memory banks were erased before I could remove the unit."
"But we still have something right? That's a lot more than anyone's ever recovered from a geth before."
Tali nodded enthusiastically, her excitement barely contained. "Just let me see what we've got here. Hmm...not much to go on." She admitted, sounding disappointed. "Most of it's pretty basic, not a lot beyond the usual operational parameters and- wait a minute..."
Ren bent over for a better look at the fragment she highlighted. "What are we looking at?"
"There's nothing to see," Tali replied, "it's a voice recording. Looks a little fragmented but I should be able to isolate..."
Her Omni-Tool's speakers abruptly sprang to life and a deep, malevolent voice boomed throughout the cavern. "Eden Prime was a major victory!" It declared, heedless of the quarian's desire t remain hidden.
Tali scrabbled frantically for the sound control, hastily bringing the man's speech down to little more than a hushed whisper. "The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit."
Tali and Ren shared a glance as the sound dropped away and then a second, far more beguiling voice took over. "And one step closer to the return of the reapers."
The recording shut down almost immediately thereafter.
"Well..." said Ren eventually after they'd gotten over their initial surprise, "hellif I know what that was all about."
Tali's brow knotted in concentration. "I didn't recognize either of the voices," she replied, "or what they were talking about. Eden Prime? Beacons and reapers?"
Ren shrugged. "Eden Prime I think I've heard of somewhere, but I couldn't tell you what it is. The rest of it makes no more sense to me as it does you."
Tali shook her head and quickly sped through the remainder of the recovered data, testily closing the Omni-Tool down with a dismissive wave of her hand a moment later. "There's nothing else here," she declared angrily, "no answers, no explanations, nothing. Just more mysteries." Dispirited she considered levering a swift kick into the geth's torso. Only the knowledge that the metal ribcage would do more damage to her foot than she'd ever inflict kept Tali from following through with the notion.
"Hey c'mon," Ren encouraged with a gentle clap on the shoulder, "we're closer than ever now and I'm not having you give up on me this far in. There's only so many places they can hide from us and I promise you, we will find them."
Vexed at her own performance, Tali spotted the sincerity in his gesture and sighed. "You're right. I'm not letting the geth stand between us and retribution." She snatched up her fallen combat knife and thrust it into the sheath on her leg with renewed purpose. "Let's go remind them how a quarian fights."
Ren grinned behind his darkened visor. "Now you're writing my code."