A/N: Well hey thar, guys and gals! I managed to tank out this chapter; a fact which I'm very proud of. Originally, I was hoping to update by the weekend. But hey, I'm not complaining, and I'm guessing you folks aren't, either.
Anywho, this chapter finishes up Ilos, so in-game dialogue shall abound. Even with that, I think you'll like it. Enjoy!
The Chase is On
"Dylan? Dylan! Come on, Dylan, talk to me!"
I just groan. I don't really think I can do more than that right now. The back of my head hurts from where it hit the ground, and I have a sharp pain in my chest. God, I really hope I didn't break a rib. That would suck. It would also put me out of commission for the rest of the mission.
…
Totally just rhymed my internal monologue.
Anywho, Jenny hears my groan and seems to recognize that that's the best answer she's gonna get right now.
"I know you just took a nasty hit," she says, "but we're still on the clock. You've got a minute before we need to get moving."
Ugh. Great. Well, I can tell the rest of this mission is gonna be fun. It's not even like medi-gel can do anything for me. It can't cure headaches or potentially broken bones. Though the fact that I can breathe fairly easily probably means I don't have a broken rib. Probably just bruised to hell. It's still gonna suck.
I spend the next full minute lying motionless on the ground, trying to will the pain away. It doesn't really work. All too quickly, my minute is up, and Jenny comes to stand over me. She doesn't say anything; she just offers me her hand. I take it, and she hauls me to my feet. I have to fight a wave of dizziness once I'm on my feet. Geez, now I hope I don't have a freaking concussion. No, can't think like that. Just have to keep going.
Once I can think straight, I look at Jenny. "Thanks."
"No, thank you," she says. "You saved my life at the risk of your own." She pauses, and I'll swear that she's smiling inside her helmet. "Don't know whether that's brave or stupid."
"Knowing me, it's probably both," I say with a grin of my own. She chuckles. "Is everyone else ok?"
"We're fine, kid," Kaidan says, walking up to where Jenny and I are. Ian and Garrus are right behind him.
"Yeah, we're not the ones trying to cap a prime," Ian says, amusement clearly evident in his voice.
"Hey, it worked, right?" I look over at Jenny. "Since you're still alive, I'm assuming it worked?"
"Yes, it worked," she says. "When it went down on its knee and turned to hit you, I was able to get up and put my pistol against its head."
"Awesome. So where's this override thing we're looking for?"
"While you were having nap time on the floor, Garrus and I started looking around," Ian says.
"We didn't look very hard, but we noticed a sort of balcony at the end of this room," Garrus adds. "We think if there is an override switch in here, it's most likely up there."
"Then that's where we're headed," Jenny says. Not waiting for any more talk, she starts walking towards the end of the room. Now that I'm looking in the right direction, I can see the balcony they were talking about: a standard stone kind of thing with areas to look down across the room it overlooks. There's a path that runs below it, but from what I can see, it doesn't lead up at all. If I remember correctly, there's a ramp on one side.
Luckily, Jenny also notices that the center path doesn't seem to lead where we want to go, so she leads us to the left side. Running parallel to the far wall and hidden from the front of the room is a ramp leading up to the balcony. Hooray for Jenny having a good sense of direction!
The balcony is rather Spartan: only a few consoles that line the walls. That's it. And only one console seems active. Jenny walks up to it and stands there for a few moments, not doing anything. I wonder what she's waiting for.
"Dylan, come over here," she says. Huh? Why would she need me? Whatever, though. I walk up next to her and take a look at the console. Seems pretty simple. It has four buttons: lock gate, unlock gate, raise gate, and lower gate. Right now the "lock gate" and "lower gate" buttons are lit up. Probably saying that the gate is lowered and locked. This seems like a really easy fix…I don't know why Jenny would need me.
"What do you need, Jenny?" I ask.
"Can you make sense of this console?" she asks. I look at her, cocking my head to the side. Huh?
"Yeah…" I say, slowly. "You mean you can't?"
"I can't even read the thing," she says. "Let alone make sense of it."
"You can't read it?"
"Well, it's certainly not English or Chinese," Jenny says. Wait, she can read Chinese? That's cool, but I don't think now's the time to ask her about it. "Hell, it doesn't look like any writing I've ever seen."
"Hold on," Kaidan says. "Dylan, do you remember Feros? More specifically, what you got on Feros?" What did I get on Feros? Other than a heart attack from Ash getting hurt.
…
Oh.
"The Cipher," I say.
"That's what I'm thinking," he replies.
"So you think this is actually Prothean writing, and I can read it because of the Cipher."
"Pretty much."
"It makes sense," Ian says. "I mean, that thing was supposed to let you think like a Prothean. It makes sense that it would let you read like one, too. And we are kind of in a Prothean city."
"So then why don't you go ahead and override the security," Jenny says. I nod and step up to the console. I tap the unlock button then the raise gate button and voila!
"There we go," I say, stepping back. "Now let's go get Saren."
"Hold on," Garrus says. "Something's happening." And he's right. Next to the console, an orange…blob…has formed. The thing starts fluctuating wildly, and it starts to make noise. It's just static at first, but soon, I'm able to pick out a few words here and there.
"Too late…can't…fleets…no escape…" Then it goes back to static for a while. Everyone looks at me.
"What? I only caught a few words. The rest of it was static. But what I did hear didn't sound too good."
"Can't…refuge…side archives…Reapers…Citadel…overwhelmed…is lost…Conduit…ly hope."
"Anything more that time?" Jenny asks.
"It mentioned the Conduit, but that was about it," I say, not wanting to worry the others. "Come on, we should get going." She nods, and we walk out of the room. Behind us, the echoes of the VI's warning ring out.
"Cannot be stopped…cannot be stopped…cannot be stopped…"
Well we're gonna stop them.
Back in the main room, Jenny stops to look around. I can almost see her hoping there's an easy way out. Luckily (if I remember correctly) there is. And it looks like Jenny found it: She's heading towards the path under the balcony. And what do you know, there's an elevator. We pile in and start going back up to the surface.
The ride is silent, but it's fairly quick. The door opens, and we find ourselves right near where we fought the armatures. Hell, there are the remains right over there. At least we're pretty close to the Mako. All we have to do now is navigate through that freaking block maze.
Five minutes later, we reach the Mako. The blast door is open, revealing the bunker that lies beyond.
"Alright, everybody: Pile in," Jenny says. "Garrus, take the turret. Kaidan, you're up front in the tech seat. Dylan and Ian, you two get to relax. Enjoy it while it lasts." You don't have to tell me twice, Jenny. After that damn prime, I'm more than happy to relax. I enter last, taking a seat in the back across from Ian. A few seconds later, Jenny stomps the accelerator, and we're off on the chase.
Seeing as I have nothing to do, I just lay my head back and close my eyes, hoping to maybe get some shut-eye. Considering that Jenny's driving seems to be suffering from our self-imposed time limit, I might not get that luxury. And even if I could sleep through Jenny's driving, my omni-tool suddenly beeps. I open my eyes and look down at my wrist. Huh, looks like Ian wants to talk. Looking up at him, I switch over to 512 Delta.
"What do you need, big guy?" I ask. "Notice any canon changes?"
"Not yet," he says. "That's kind of why I'm calling."
"Ok. So you wanna talk about what might happen?"
"Pretty much. I mean, there are two people who aren't supposed to be here. That's kind of a recipe for disaster."
"Yeah, good point," I say, thinking about everything that's been different so far. "So what are you thinking? Vigil? The battle on the Citadel?"
"Citadel. Definitely the Citadel," he says. "I mean, Vigil's pre-programmed, but Saren, Sovereign...that's all variable." Right as he says this, the Mako makes a hard swerve to the right, and Garrus opens up with the main gun. Guess we ran into some geth.
"Huh, I hadn't thought about that." For some reason, his mention of Sovereign tickles my memory…right. Virmire. I should probably ask him about that. Maybe he had a similar experience. "Though now that you mention it, when we were on Virmire, did Sovereign talk to you?"
"Yeah. Some stuff about my own secret being my destruction, though since you ask, I assume you got the same spiel from him?"
"Guessed it in one. I think that whole thing is why I was so quick to admit my secret to you instead of trying to lie my way out of it." I pause, thinking of something. "Think he'll try something again?"
"It's Sovereign," he says after another hard swerve. "I doubt he's just gonna kick back and go, 'Ah, fair play to them for ignoring me.' Not really his style." I chuckle. Even on a mission of galactic importance, he's sarcastic as ever.
"Again, good point," I say over the sound of the Mako's machine gun It sounds like Garrus is having fun up there. "So we should probably watch out for him trying that again."
"Agreed. Anything else you're worried about?" I think about that for a second.
"Nah, I think you're right: The Citadel is gonna be our biggest problem area. And besides, I think we're getting close to Vigil. The gunfire has stopped." And it has. It was very sudden, but Jenny's finally stopped her maneuvers, and Garrus seems to be just sitting pretty up in the turret.
"Well, time for massive revelations." He pauses, and I can just tell he's waiting to say something else. "Oh wait. Not for us." Again, I chuckle.
"Time for massive boredom," I say with a smile behind my mask. "We should probably switch back to the squad channel."
"Yeah, probably. Back to work." I nod, fiddling with my omni-tool to switch it back to the squad channel. As soon as I do, Kaidan's voice comes through my mask's audio.
"What the hell is that thing?" he asks.
"It's a trap!" Garrus yells. Oh god…he probably doesn't even realize what he just yelled. Even so, I barely hold back my laughter. I don't think now's the time to explain Star Wars to an alien…assuming Star Wars even exists in this universe. Still, now's not the time for that.
"I get the feeling this isn't what it looks like," Jenny says. She pauses, probably thinking about what to do. "Everyone out of the Mako. Hopefully there's an off-switch for this thing around here." We comply, and the five of us are out of the Mako in a matter of moments.
Looking around, I see the side passage that will lead us to Vigil. Jenny notices it, too, because she starts walking towards it. Seeing as she's our leader, we follow her. It looks pretty much the same as the other two elevators, and once we're all inside, she presses the button.
The elevator begins its descent, and it's just now that I notice that it doesn't go straight down. It goes down at an angle. That seems…inefficient, wasteful. Maybe my own experience with elevators is prejudicing me, but I still prefer straight vertical elevators.
Anywho, the trip down is silent. Just like when we were searching for the override, there's a sense of reverence about this place. There's still that feeling that we're intruding on something that should just be left alone. It's a little disquieting, but all of us know that we're here to stop Saren. We're here to avenge the Protheans.
Finally, the elevator stops and opens up, revealing a long, straight walkway. At the end of the path is a single terminal: Vigil. Hesitantly, Jenny leads us towards the Prothean VI. Just like the one at the override, Vigil is fluctuating wildly. When Jenny comes to stand in front of it, Vigil speaks up.
"You are not Prothean," it says, softly. Wait a second…it sounds different. It sounds…Jamaican? African? Some sort of accent like that. Huh, that's weird. Since it's still talking, I should probably listen. "But you are not machine, either. This eventuality was one of many that was anticipated. That is why we sent our warning though the beacons."
"It looks like some kind of Prothean VI," Kaidan says. "But it's pretty badly damaged."
"I do not sense the taint of indoctrination upon any of you. Unlike the other that passed by recently. Perhaps there is still hope."
"Hold on, how come I can understand you?" Jenny asks. "Why are you speaking English?"
"I have been monitoring your communications since your arrival at this facility," Vigil explains. "I have translated my output into a format you will comprehend." The VI pauses for a bit before continuing. "My name is Vigil. You are safe here, for the moment. But that is likely to change. Soon, nowhere will be safe."
"So what do you want with us?" Jenny asks. "Why did you bring us here?"
"You must break a cycle that has continued for millions of years. But to stop it, you must understand or you will make the same mistakes we did. The Citadel is the heart of your civilization and the seat of government. As it was with us, and as it has been with every civilization that came before us. But the Citadel is a trap. The station is actually an enormous mass relay: one that links to dark space. The Reapers dwell in the empty void beyond the edge of the galaxy until the cycle starts again. When the Citadel Relay is activated, the Reapers will pour through, and all you know will be destroyed."
Wow…if I hadn't known all that already, I would probably be in serious shock right now. As it is, I'm glad my face is hidden; I probably couldn't fake surprised right now. But still, in the wake of such an enormous revelation, a palpable silence fills the air. I almost have to respect the Reapers for coming up with such an ingenious plan. They ensure that resistance is broken almost instantly.
"My god," Jenny says quietly. "The Citadel fleet wouldn't stand a chance. The Council would be dead before the end of the first day."
"That was our fate," Vigil says, somehow managing to sound sad. "Our leaders were dead before we even realized we were under attack. The Reapers seized control of the Citadel and though it, the mass relays. Communication and transportation across our empire were crippled. Each star system was isolated, cut off from the others. Easy prey for the Reapers fleets. Over the next decades, the Reapers systematically obliterated our people. World by world, system by system, they methodically wiped us out."
"And you never tried to surrender?" Jenny asks. "I would think anything would be preferable to extinction."
"No chance for surrender was given. The Reapers simply swept across all colonized systems, choosing either to eliminate them, or enslave them. Within a few centuries, the Reapers killed or enslaved every Prothean in the galaxy. They were relentless, brutal, and absolutely thorough."
"You told me you brought us here to stop them," Jenny says. "What do we need to do?"
"The Conduit is the key. Before the Reapers attacked, we Protheans were on the cusp of unlocking the mysteries of mass relay technology. Ilos was a top-secret research facility. Here, researchers worked to create a small-scale version of a mass relay. One that linked directly to the Citadel: the hub of the relay network."
Again, a sort of stunned silence follows that revelation. Now that the other shoe has dropped, the pieces of the puzzle are starting to fall into place. If I'm not mistaken, though, we're still missing the last piece: the Keepers.
"The Conduit isn't a weapon…it's a back door onto the Citadel," Kaidan says, sounding awed at the technological wonder of it.
"So what happened?" Jenny asks. "I'm guessing you managed to finish the Conduit?"
"You are correct," Vigil says. "We severed all communications with the outside, and our facility went dark. The personnel retreated underground into these archives. To conserve resources, everyone was put into cryogenic stasis. I was programmed to monitor the facility and wake the staff when the danger had passed. But the genocide of an entire species is a long, slow process. Centuries passed, and still the Reapers persisted. My energy reserves were dwindling." Vigil pauses for a moment, and almost—almost—sounds uncomfortable with what it says next. "I began to disable the life support of non-essential personnel. First support staff, then security. One by one, their pods were shut off to conserve energy. Eventually, only the stasis pods of the top scientists remained active. Even these were in danger of failing when the Reapers finally retreated back through the Citadel Relay."
For the third time this conversation, everyone falls silent. Man, Vigil really loves these earth-shaking revelations, doesn't it? Garrus is the first to recover.
"There were hundreds of pods out there!" he yells. "You just shut them down? You were programmed to protect them, not kill them."
"This outcome was not completely unseen," Vigil says in its defense. As cruel as it is, I agree with it. It had to be done. Otherwise, the Reapers would be here already. "My actions were a result of contingency programs entered on my creation."
"I bet no one told the 'non-essential' staff about this contingency," Ian says in all his sarcastic glory.
"I saved key personnel. When the Reapers retreated, the top researchers were still alive. My actions are the only reason any hope remains. When they awoke, they realized the Prothean species was doomed. Only a handful of individuals remained: far too few to sustain a viable population. Yet they vowed to find a way to stop the Reapers from returning. They discovered the key to the cycle: the keepers."
"The keepers?" Jenny asks. "How are they the key?"
"The keepers are controlled by the Citadel. Before each invasion, a signal is sent through the station, compelling the keepers to activate the Citadel Relay. After decades of intense study, the scientists discovered a way to alter this signal. Using the Conduit, they gained access to the Citadel and made their modifications. This time, when Sovereign sent the signal to the Citadel, the keepers ignored it. The Reapers are trapped in dark space."
"But now Saren can use the Conduit to bypass the Citadel fleet!" Jenny says now that the final piece of the puzzle has been revealed.
"Correct. And once inside, he can transfer control of the station to Sovereign. Sovereign will override the Citadel's systems and manually open the relay. And the cycle of extinction will begin again."
"How can we stop him?"
"There is a data file in my console," Vigil says. "Take a copy when you go. When you reach the Citadel's master control unit, upload it to the station. It will corrupt the Citadel's security protocols and give you temporary control over the station. It might give you a chance against Sovereign."
"Where's this master control unit?" Garrus asks. "I've worked there for years and never even heard of anything like that."
"Follow Saren. He will lead you to your destination."
"And Saren's got a huge head start," Jenny says. "Kaidan, grab that data file, and let's go!"
"The one you call Saren has not reached the Conduit. Not yet. There is still hope if you hurry." And with that, Vigil disappears.
"You heard Vigil, let's move!" Jenny orders. None of us bother to respond; we just run back towards the elevator. Inside, Jenny slams on the button, and I can feel the impatience as the lift slowly rises.
After what seems like an eternity, the door opens, and we rush back into the Mako.
"You think we'll make it?" Ian asks. Before anyone can answer, something weird happens. Everything other than Ian goes all greyscale, and I feel a sudden chill.
I'M SORRY TO SAY THAT YOU WON'T. I quickly turn my head and see Death sitting next to me in the back of the Mako.
"Death? What the hell are you doing here?" I ask. "And what do you mean we won't make it?"
I THOUGHT I WAS BEING QUITE CLEAR. THE CONDUIT WILL CLOSE BEFORE YOU ARE EVEN HALF WAY THERE.
"How do you even know that?" Ian asks "And you still haven't said why you're here!"
"And what the hell is going on?" I add. Then my brain seems to register something that my eyes noticed a while ago. Everything is frozen. Well, besides Ian, Death, and I. "And why is everything frozen?"
I HAVE MOMENTARILY SUSPENDED TIME, ALLOWING US TIME TO TALK. IT IS ABSOLUTELY IMPERITAVE THAT YOU REACH THE CONDUIT AND FOIL SOVEREIGN'S PLOT.
"Really?" Ian asks, sarcasm simply dripping from that one word. "Fuck, and I thought we were just gonna let him get away with it."
AH, I SEE YOU HAVE USED SARCASM. HUMEROUS. BUT YOU FAIL TO COMPREHEND WHAT IS AT STAKE HERE.
"Then why don't you tell us?" I ask.
BECAUSE YOUR TIME IS RUNNING OUT. AND I AM HERE TO HELP WITH THAT.
Ian shakes his head. "Man, having Death on our side is great..." he mutters. The he speaks up. "Alright, what's your cunning plan?"
AS DYLAN HAS ALREADY NOTICED, I HAVE BROUGHT YOU INTO THE REALM WHERE I CONDUCT MY...BUSINESS. IT IS ESSENTIALLY A FROZEN MOMENT, OUTSIDE OF TIME. I SHALL ALLOW YOU TO UTILIZE IT TO REACH THE CONDUIT.
Hold on…something about that seems…off. If time is frozen, how will we be able to move? Movement requires time, that's physics. "But...how would that work?"
"Yeah. This sounds awfully sciency," Ian says. I look over at him, cocking my head at his…interesting choice of words. He just shrugs.
UNLESS YOU ARE CAPIBLE OF VISUALIZING AN ELEVEN DIMENSIONAL SPACE WITH FIVE OF THOSE DIMENSIONS BEING TIME, YOU NEED NOT CONCERN YOURSELVES WITH IT.
I look back at Ian. "Ok...so we just take your word that this'll work?" I ask Death.
"I think that's a good idea," Ian says.
SIMPLY DRIVE TO THE CONDUIT IN THIS FROZEN MOMENT. I WILL TAKE CARE OF THE DETAILS. And as quickly as he arrived, Death is gone. But the greyscale remains, apparently signifying that we're still in this frozen moment.
"That was weird..." I say after a few moments. Ian nods.
"Uh…yeah. Yeah, just a little."
"So...who should drive?"
"Well, I literally can't. So, process of elimination leaves..." He makes a pretense of looking around before settling on me. "You."
I suppress a chuckle and shake my head. "Geez, what were they teaching the kids in England?" I ask, not wasting an opportunity to make a joke. "But whatever, this should be just like driving my Mustang back home. Only...you know...totally different. I can't say I've ever driven in Death Time before."
"That beats never driving at all," he says.
"Good point," I say, getting up and heading towards the front. Jenny is frozen as she's about to sit down, which means I have to somehow move her out of the way. It's actually pretty easy. All I have to do is lead her to the back of the Mako, and she somehow starts walking on her own. Like Death said, I'm just not gonna worry about it.
Apparently Ian has decided that he wants to sit in Kaidan's seat, so he moves him in the same way I moved Jenny. When we're both seated, I look over at him.
"Ready for some fun?"
"You know it," he says.
I smile and look back at the Mako's controls. It has pretty much a basic steering wheel, but there are three pedals. Why are there three pedals if there isn't a gear shifter? Hesitantly, I press the third pedal.
The Mako suddenly jumps up into the air, throwing me into the bottom of my seat. I quickly release the pedal, and the Mako comes back down with a thud. I slowly look over at Ian.
"That was pretty cool…"
"Just don't do whatever you just did again," he says. I laugh.
"Can do, big guy. Now here we go."
I stomp on the accelerator, sending us shooting through the underground archives. I still have no idea how we're moving if there isn't any time passing, but hey, whatever. If this helps us stop Saren, who am I to complain?
To be honest, this is actually a really tame ride. Because of the Mako's size, it seems to max out at around 75 mph. Doesn't really compare to my Mustang, but then again, this thing has a freaking cannon. It doesn't need to move fast. In addition to the relatively slow speed, we're not even being shot at. All the geth are frozen along with everything else. So I'm literally just following the path. Not very exciting.
Finally, we reach the final straightaway. From the top of this hill, I can see the Conduit in the distance…and it's somehow still spinning, even in Death Time. I'm just gonna take this as another thing I shouldn't worry about.
Anywho, we start flying down the hill, and gravity is helping us gain even more speed. I look down at the speedometer and see that we're going around 85 mph. I look over at Ian and see him eyeing the speedometer as well.
"You wanna make the 88 mph reference?" I ask. He shakes his head a bit.
"Nah, not really."
"Good, because I don't think we'd hit it anyway."
The next thing I know, the grey world around me suddenly shifts blue as we enter the Conduit.
Watch out, Saren. Here we come.
A/N: Well, there's Ilos done. Along with some...extra surprises. Bet you guys and gals weren't expecting that now, were ya? So yeah, up next is the first part of the Battle of the Citadel. In addition to an...extra surprise *Evil laugh* But seriously, I think you'll love what I have in store.
Anywho, I suppose that's it for this chapter. Till next time, folks, ta ta!