Twenty-Eighth Assignment

The Normandy docked beside the large research station and Garrus had a sinking feeling. It felt something like a hot prickling feeling at the base of his skull, a human would have called it a sixth sense. Garrus just knew whatever it was, it was trouble.

He entered the station's docking bay, noting how empty it was. There wasn't a ship in sight. Had Cerberus detected them already? Impossible, a station this big couldn't be evacuated so quickly. There was something seriously wrong.

Maybe I should go back to the ship, he thought.

He turned to leave and was grabbed by Wrex and Seraphina, grabbing either arm they hawled him back into the empty bay.

"Where are you going?" Wrex asked.

"I'd rather stay on the ship," he said.

"You can go with Samara and Liara if you'd rather explore another part of the station," she offered. "They're taking another entrance, further ahead."

"I'd rather not go," he answered.

They stopped and released him.

"What the hell is your problem?" Wrex growled. "We're on a Cerberus research station and you don't seem to care."

"There's something seriously wrong with this place," Garrus protested. "There are no ships and we didn't face any opposition as we tried to dock. There's something wrong, I think someone's playing us."

"You really think so?" Seraphina asked.

"Yes," he nodded. "I think this a set-up..."

Seraphina had a look around, trying to spot anything that looked like another living person or even a vessel. But it was empty and cold, there was nothing here. Was the station empty? The Councillors wouldn't have sent them to a station that was empty, there had to be a reason they sent them here.

Seraphina pressed the comm in her ear, calling up Samara and Liara.

"What have you found?" she asked.

"Nothing," Liara answered. "The place is empty. It's just filled with empty boxes."

"Then return to the ship," Seraphina ordered. "We'll meet you there in five."

She disconnected the line and had one last look at the station. Just on the other side of the room was a door, where it lead she didn't know, but she was determined to find out. There was something about the whole situation that said 'ambush'.

"EDI, when Samara and Liara dock disconnect the ship from the ship," she ordered.

"What?" Wrex gasped. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Garrus is right," she said. "Someone set this up, the message we recieved must have been fake. I want to find out who the hell is playing with us."

She pulled out her pistol and headed for the door. Garrus sighed.

"Couldn't she have given me the chance to get off the ship first?" he mumbled.

...

Giriko sat on his chair, swinging back and forth, watching the trio leave the docking bay and take the elevator up to the next floor. They were coming right for him, whether they realized it or not. Giriko heard a mettalic clicking, he turned to face the spider-like professor.

Krona had been human once, or something very much like one, before Giriko cut off his legs and had Krona fitted with two new robotic limbs that extended into spider legs. There were a few other changes too, minor in Giriko's opinion. Just some modifications to the face taken from some remaining Reaper designs, even his eyes had been changed.

The only thing that was still Krona's was his hair, black and spiky, unkept in appearance. It was a small victory, but that soon will change once Giriko had the time.

"Our guests have arrived, Krona," Giriko smiled. "Is everything prepared?"

"Labs 2, 5 and 9 are free for you to use," Krona answered.

"Lab 2?" Giriko repeated. "Isn't that where Subject 28 was kept?"

"Yes," Krona replied. "She died, her body rejected the foreign organs."

"What happened to the subjects kept in Labs 5 and 9?" Giriko asked.

"The subject in Lab 5 slit his throat," Krona made a cutting gesture with his metal talon. "The subject in Lab 9 died during an operation, I've moved them both to the morgue and recycled the organs."

"Excellent," Giriko smiled. "Then I'll move everything into Phase Two."

Krona turned to leave. Giriko raised a finger, like one would to punish a child.

"By the way," he said, "if I find that your lying - that Subject 28 is alive - I'll kill both you and her."

"I'd never lie to you, Giriko," Krona said. "You know I wouldn't."

Giriko smiled at him, "I know!" he teased. "I was just making sure."

Krona scuttled away and headed to Lab 2, preparing the blood soaked table for its new subject. He glanced at the vent in the corner of the room, then the small camera in the corner of the room. He had only five minutes before the loop was disconnected and normal feed would resume.

"Is it ready yet?" the small voice from the vent said.

"Yes," he replied. "Go down to the spot, I'll meet you there."

"Is this right?" the voice asked. "Using these people as a distraction... they'll suffer if we leave them."

"And if we stay then we're dead!" he cried. "What would you have me do, Ira?"

"... Do what you think is right," she said. "What you know is right. I wouldn't ask any more of you."

Krona sighed and pressed a hand to his face. Somewhere in the station, Giriko flooded a small elevator with a powerful gas and he had three new test subjects. What was he supposed to do? It was either them or him, and he made a promise to protect her, he couldn't go back on his word.

...

Garrus felt sick.

He couldn't remember what happened, not after the elevator, was there some kind of gas? He couldn't remember. He wished he could, because he knew he needed to do... something. He just wasn't sure what. He opened his eyes and was met by a bright light, shining down on his eyes.

He tried to cover his eyes, but his arms resisted. He strained against something and realized he was strapped down. Garrus felt panic rise up like a cold snake, he took a deep breath and reverted back to his early training. He remembered to stay calm and assess the situation.

He looked around quickly, he was in some kind of lab, a dozen nasty looking tools set up beside him. His arms and torso were bare, in the place of his armour was a series of pen lines, directions for where to cut and what to take.

"This can't be good..."

...

Seraphina woke up in the same situation as Garrus, strapped down and with horrible lines on her bare torso. She didn't have time to feel self-conscious, the man beside her with a hand-held buzz-saw and platis visor was a bigger concern at the moment.

"Senn Giriko, I presume?" she grimaced.

"You recognize me?" he smiled. "Good! I hate imformality between myself and my subjects!"

"Subjects?" she growled. "I'm not your subject! Release me now or-"

"Please, threats don't work on me," he said. "I'm not scared of you, Urdnot-Shepard."

She smirked, "You should be."

She created a biotic ball in her hand and it struck Giriko, throwing him across the room and he struck the wall. He hit the ground and gasped, spitting out blood that hit the visor. He forced himself to his feet and dropped the saw. He examined the blood on his visor and threw it aside.

"Impressive," he said. "Even under such pressure you manage to strike back. I'll leave you until I figure out a way to contain you safely."

"If you hurt my friends-!" she warned.

"Enough threats," he huffed. "Please, you're starting to annoy me."

He left the lab and Seraphina tried to escape, pulling at the restraints. She could try a biotic field, but it would need to be minnute, so small it would break just the cuffs. She concentrated, trying to form her escape, and hoping she wasn't too late.

...

Walking along the runaway, Krona made his escape. If only he had his real legs, they could carry him faster than these stupid spinly things. He tried to hurry along, tried to ignore the pods below him, but he couldn't. He kept thinking of Ira and what she said.

"... Do what you think is right. What you know is right. I wouldn't ask any more of you."

He stopped and sighed. What he thought was right and what he knew was right were two different things; he thought it was right to try and escape, to leave everyone else behind to their fate. But he knew it was only right to try and help everybody else.

But that would mean disobeying Giriko, disobeying the system. Disobeying the system was bad. It was-

Krona punched himself across the face, shutting down his inner voice. Giriko had reprogrammed Krona during one his experiments, whenever doubt or rebellion crept in Krona would automatically push those thoughts aside and continue obeying without question.

But Krona was getting better at disobeying, ever since Ira taught him how.

He sighed loudly and turned back around, rushing back to the labs and hoping he would make it in time.

...

Garrus heard a noise, something mettalic, crawling towards him. He twisted his head and saw a strange human in the doorway, the man looked around quickly, as if checking for danger, and walked over to Garrus. He undid the restraints. Garrus jumped away from the bizzare human and searched for his weapons.

"Your gun is in that box over there," the man pointed to a large container. "Giriko doesn't like to seperate subjects from their possessions."

"What if... subjects... got hold of their weapons?" Garrus asked.

"Most of them kill themselves," he answered. "Those who escape die from the pain of their new bodies."

Garrus approached the container, keeping his eye on the man as he opened the box and reached inside. He caught hold of a weapon and slowly pulled out his Mantis.

"Why are you helping me?" Garrus asked. "Won't you be punished?"

"I'm running away," he said. "I'm going to euthanize the patients and then leave."

"Euthanize?" Garrus said. "Is there no way to save them?"

He shook his head, "The stronger subjects are moved onto another facility," he answered. "Those who are left are either spare parts or playthings. This is better. They wouldn't be able to survive the outside world."

What he said was all true, none of the specimens would be able to survive the outside world without professional help. And that's why Specimen 28 - Ira - was different. She could survive because he had fixed her, she was still terribly imbalanced, but she would live with his help.

The others had no chance.

"I need to ask a favour," the man said, "if I release your friends will you help me put these creatures out of their misery?"

"What would I need to do?" Garrus asked.

"Take me up to the main lab," he answered. "From there I can shut down life support."

"What about escaping?" Garrus said.

"I'll get out," he replied. "Somehow. Don't worry about me."

"Okay then," Garrus collected his weapons and threw on his armour. "Take me to my friends."

...

Giriko should have felt dissapointed, but he knew it was inevitable before Krona rebelled against him. Krona wasn't like Giriko, he was rational and had 'morals'. He had hoped Krona's spirit would have broken after a few experiments and memory wipes, but he underestimated the human spirit.

Strange, that wasn't like him.

Now Giriko had two options:

- Escape and let Krona go free and destroy his subjects.

- Or put up some sort of fight.

He was rather keen on the last option.

...

They found Wrex and Seraphina easily and after they put on some armour and collected their things, they followed Professor C. Krona up to the next floor. The spider-like man was getting aggitated, Garrus could tell by the way he clenched his. He wanted to get out as soon as possible.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

"I just want out," Krona sighed. "I'm tired of all this."

"Then why did you agree to help Giriko in the first place?" Seraphina demanded.

"I... can't remember," Krona answered. "I've had my memory wiped so many times I don't even know what the C in my name stands for."

They left the elevator and came to a long corridor, they boxed Krona in and slowly took the long walk. They entered the lab, a large area filled with terminals and files. Krona went over to an orange terminal and logged in, bypassing the security locks.

"This feels too easy," Wrex said.

"Giriko has no security," Krona explained. "Nor additional staff. He feared the scientists would turn against him and the guards or robots would be turned against him."

"What is the point of this place?" Seraphina asked.

"The Lazarus Research Station was originally created to house cryo-patients," Krona answered. "Those who had been traumatically injured or faced life-threatening illness' in their time could be awakened in this glorious age of technology and be cured and fixed. Giriko needed new test subjects and so took over the station. The cryo-patients were subjects for his vision - the perfect human."

"The ultimate human?" Garrus frowned. "Sounds like something Cerberus would do."

"The Shadow Alliance is a seperate entity to Cerberus," Krona corrected. "Giriko broke away some time ago, but even when he was a part of Cerberus his work was... frowned up."

"I find it hard to believe Cerberus would look down on creating the 'perfect human'," Seraphina remarked.

"It wouldn't be so hard to believe if you saw his results," Krona argued. "Giriko used alien parts to create his soldiers, your friend 'Tungel' is just one of his experiments. The cryo-patients were the next stage, humans given alien organs in order to make them stronger."

"No wonder Cerberus didn't approve," she said. "Anything alien is a crime."

The terminal dinged.

"It's done," he announced. "I can show you another way to your ship. No doubt Giriko has sealed the docking bay."

They quickly left the lab and made their way down to the lowest levels. Krona tried not to think of all the lives he had just ended, he tried to think of it another way. It was like putting down a tired and sick dog, it was fair.

Somehow the thought didn't ease his conscious, not when he knew there was a chance he could have saved them. He had saved Ira, but that was out of love and dumb luck. Giriko paid no attention to Ira because of the severe condition she had been in, even when she was fixed she was still broken, if not for Krona she would be dead.

"You can't save everyone," Seraphina patted his shoulder reassuringly. "You did the right thing."

"Debatable," Krona said, "but perhaps in this situation you're right."

They came to the bottom floor and Krona led them through a door, they came to another long corridor overlooking a runway where a small shuttle was docked. Beneath the runway were hundreds of tube-like pods, icy cold, and containing humans beings.

"Giriko would experiment on them and then put them back in the pods," Krona said. "Now though, the life-support has been turned off. They'll die quickly and painlessly."

He shook his head, as if to rid himself of the bad thoughts.

"Follow this corridor and it will take you to the second docking bay," Krona ordered. "It should be safe."

"Will you be okay?" Garrus asked.

"I should be," Krona smiled weakly.

He turned and dissapeared, reapearing moments later on the runway. He made his way towards the shuttle, something like relief crossing his face. As he neared the shuttle, he paled and stopped. He turned and Giriko was suddenly behind him, brandishing a gun.

"I can't let you leave, Krona!" Giriko growled. "That girl is half my research! She's all that left! Give me Ira and I'll let you go."

"You really don't know how to bargain," Krona said.

A shot ran out and Giriko stumbled back, he clutched his arm and fell, landing on a pod below. There was a loud crack and he fell to the floor, going still. Krona gasped and looked up at his guardian angel, the turian with a sniper rifle.

Krona smiled his thanks and ran for the shuttle, a young human helped him inside. She was probably a few years younger than Seraph, with short and scruffy white hair and red eyes. She glanced up at Garrus and smiled. And then they were gone.

The shuttle took off and Professor Krona escaped Giriko's mad clutches.

...

Later, the Normandy

Garrus sat in the observation deck, staring at the infinite reality of space. He thought of the day and his failure to apprehend Giriko, who had dissapeared after Krona got away. He wondered if he could have done anything differently, could he have shot Giriko in the head instead?

No, if he had killed Giriko then there would be no trial and Giriko would have been spared a greater justice. He got away today only to be captured tommorow, that's how Garrus liked to think of it. He wondered if Krona and his companion were okay, if they had gotten away, if they were safe.

He had a lot of questions, he wanted to know more about Giriko and the Shadow Alliance and what exactly Giriko had planned for when he created his 'perfect human'. And Krona had the answers. He would meet Krona again, Garrus was sure of it, and then he would get his answers.

To Be Continued...


Expect Chapter 03 of The Tank Born Diaries to be submitted sometime tommorow. Please review :)