Chapter 37: EDI & the Virtual Aliens pt3

Hades Nexus System

A small ship flew in the Hades Nexus system, the ship hailed from the asari/human colony of Asteria. Asteria despite the elegant name was not an easy planet to live on as most of the planet was desert. The colonized areas are near poles to avoid the uncomfortable temperatures that can reach 65 degrees Celsius in more southern latitudes. While the seas contain primitive animal life, little of it can live on land, leaving the soil to hardy plants that can survive in the extreme heat. Because of this, the planet is a thriving agrarian colony but has little in the way of manufacturing or mining.

Thanks to the Reapers devastating a planet that gave so little to its inhabitants, the colonists were forced to find other ways to support the colony…lest they abandoned the colony entirely. The ship's crew was coming back to Asteria in high spirits as they found some rich investors from some the neighboring colonies willing to help out the colony. Help was so hard to come by thanks to the other colonies focusing on rebuilding what the Reapers had destroyed. Inside the ship, an asari was taking out the good wine.

"Whoo! Time to celebrate!" she said excitedly.

A human male beside her chuckle a little. "Anything to get a drink, right Alala?" Alala blew a raspberry at the man.

"Hey after three months of hearing no, we deserve a little celebration"

An older asari behind the human walked up and crossed her arms. "Don't get ahead of yourself…we still have to present this to the Council of Governors"

"I wouldn't worry, Jai when they realize what a good deal we got…they'll agree" Alala said. Jai shook her head and went to take a seat until comms opened.

"Jai?"

"What is it, Benny?" Jai asked.

"Come up to the cockpit, we need to talk to you" He said.

"Right, coming..." She said. The asari looked at the younger asari as she popped the cork with glee and rolled her eyes. "Alala, don't have too much fun with the wine, we still need you sober when we get back home to make our report"

Alala waved her hand nonchalantly as she took her first sip. "Yeah, Yeah" Jai shook her head and went up to the cockpit. In the pilot seat was blue-eyed blonde male, Jai came close and met with him.

"What is it Benny?"

"The scanners picked up a multiple ships in the system" he said. "Usually I would ignore the traffic, most of the time it's not a big deal but then this ID showed up" Jai took a look at the log, six ships with a couple of fighters. The five ships had an ID handle that she didn't recognize; it was the last ship and the fighters that got her attention…Cerberus. She frowned at this, Cerberus shouldn't exist anymore…they were destroyed by Citadel and Alliance forces a year ago. "What do you think they're doing here?"

"I don't know and don't care…all I know is they're too close to home for comfort" Jai said. "Contact the Corsairs, let them deal with this"

Neo Arcturus

Back at Neo Arcturus, Jacob introduced EDI and Joker to his team. According to Jacob, they were stationed here until they were called for a mission, until that time they helped the Alliance soldiers when they have the chance. Due to how new the organization was some of the Alliance soldiers were wary of them…especially because of the members of his team. Looking at his team, Joker could see why…they definitely had the intimidation factor. The first one introduced was a rather large Krogan in brown and grey, Urdnot Thrax. He was quite old by Krogan standards; in fact he said that he was there for the final battles of the Rachni Wars…which the team didn't quite believe. Still his face showed many scars, half his face was burned and he was also blind in one eye.

"What's your story?" Joker asked. A female Batarian in yellow armor was a work station putting together and taking apart her assault rifle. She looked at Joker and then scoffed as she went back to her gun. "Well, she's friendly…"

"Ortha isn't what you call a people person" Jacob said rubbing his head.

"I'm surprised the Corsairs would allow Batarians to join" Ortha wasn't a member of the Hegemony on Khar'shan, but rather the lower caste. On the Batarian home world, members of the lower castes had as much rights as slaves, meaning not much at all. Before the Reapers attacked, she was a member of an underground resistance that consisted of low-born Batarians and slaves. They were working to overthrow the Hegemony and abolish the caste system…she was one of the few to survive and escape the Reapers invasion on Khar'shan.

The next one up was no stranger to the Normandy crew. Kal'Reegar was a former member of the Migrant Fleet Marines that Shepherd and team rescued on Haestrom. During the war, he made a name for himself for his exploits. Reegar was seen as an obvious choice for the Corsairs as the Conclave wanted to show the galaxy the best the Quarian people have to offer.

"And this one here is…"

A dark-haired, ivory-skinned man stood up at attention and gave a salute. "I am Lieutenant Garret Johnson of the 49th regiment, honor to meet you sir!"

Jacob groaned and shook his head. "Garret, you do know we're not on a mission right…?" Garret was on Earth when the Reapers attacked and served under Admiral Anderson. He was also a stickler for military protocol even when they were not on a mission. He is also the husband of Sarah Williams, younger sister of the late Ashley Williams.

"Etiquette should always be standard, sir!"

Jacob rolled his eyes as the doors opened. "Ah Navi, feeling better?"

"Everything operational, Taylor-Leader" Last but not least was Navi, the Geth that Joker and EDI helped not too long ago. He was a member of Reegar's joint team between the Quarians and the Geth, despite looking like a standard Geth model it had great tactical prowess. It was thanks to Navi that the team and the civilians they were protecting were able to get off Palaven alive. Navi nodded at Joker and EDI. "Greetings" he said. "Taylor-Leader, before coming in I detected a transmission from Admiral Hackett"

"Hackett? Thanks I'll take a look" Jacob walked to the communication room; it was smaller than the one on the old station. He pressed the button on the console and an image of Hackett came through. "Sir"

"I have some news that might be some of interest to you" he said. "Civilians in the Hades Nexus system spotted a large fleet of ships, five of unknown origin and several ships of Cerberus origin"

"Cerberus, huh? And you just happened to think of me?" Jacob asked crossing his arms. "Probably leftovers from Operation Fallen Hades, without the Illusive Man guiding them they're not much of threat"

"Maybe so, but anything concerning Cerberus is still a problem" Hackett said. "And I don't like the sound of this fleet…find out what's going on and stop them"

"Sir!" The image disappeared and Jacob walked out of the room to alert his team.

The Barn

The Butcher's Den, Playground of the Depraved, Where humanity goes to die…these are the common nicknames of the K2 facility, but its most well-known name is simply The Barn. It is located in the Gehenna system the farthest system in the Hades Nexus; it is located near planet LV426 an uninhabited world with unstable magnetic poles that travel incredibly dangerous without state of the line equipment.

The last of CAT6 fighters left the Barn, and it couldn't happen soon enough, the facility creeped out the captain especially the Director. Deep within the lab, a bald old woman wasted no time in trying to analyze her new gift. Her name is Inali Renata, the Director of the K2 facility; she had been with Cerberus for a long time up until the organization's destruction. Before she joined, Renata was a top researcher for the Alliance military but left when she found their regulation too limiting for her. When Shade came to her, she was promised technology that she never seen before….something to give her a challenge and Renata was not disappointed.

"Yes, yes…this technology is amazing, it's like Project Overlord" she said. "No, no…nothing like Overlord, more advance…more elegant"

"The mind and the virtual program do not clash, no it melds…it's hard to see where the mind begins and the program ends" Renata said. "I've never seen such symbiosis with technology before" The Director shuddered in delight, this was what she lived for…every new thing she learned was like a puzzle to be solved. The rush of unlocking its mysteries and applying it to her work made her feel alive. This is what the fools at the Alliance couldn't comprehend; by hiding behind their damned rules and ethics…they were not only holding back themselves but also humanity.

"The potential if we can unlock it…cyber warfare would be revolutionized, we could explore uncharted regions of space" She then gasped. "This could even be the key to immortality"

"But its not just the technology is it…no that's only half of the equation, this wouldn't work if the mind wasn't strong enough to cope" A grin stretched across her withered face. "If I extract one of the Virtual Aliens, dissect it and analyze it…." A voice spoke up behind her.

"Your job is to create weapons for us…not indulge your scientific curiosity"

Renata scoffed and turned around to the voice, it was Gemini at the lab door with his arm crossed. Back under Cerberus, Gemini was just another experiment…no more expendable and replaceable as the experiments around the Barn. Now just because Shade decided to make him her right hand, the doll thinks he can tell true humans what to do, in her opinion experiments should be seen not heard. "Without scientific curiosity, the weapons you want so much would not exist" she said. "Hmph, but I wouldn't expect a jarhead to understand"

Gemini scowled. "Cut the lectures, I'm here for results"

"I was in the middle of gathering said results until you interrupted" She said. "Come with me" As they walked the facility, Gemini saw the experiments Renata and her people did and ice went up his spine. It reminded him too much of the facility that bore him, before Shade broke him free. They went into a room labeled R&D, and they saw rows upon rows of Cerberus Infiltration units with new ones being built on assembly line. "Beautiful aren't they? They are an improvement on the Eva Coré unit" Renata said. "They have a holographic array that can be used for disguise or cloaking…we based them of the Hunter Geth's cloaks"

"We have ten thousand ready"

"And have you made any measures to ensure the Virtual Aliens do not rebel?" Gemini asked.

Renata scoffed. "I always do" They came to the next room, with lots of computers. "A simple shackle program wouldn't do against the Virtual Aliens as they are organic minds digitized, not true AI so we're saving it for the Phantom Ships AI"

"So we had to become creative…I'd like to introduce you to the Tranquility Virus" she said. "This virus is designed to delete non-essential components of the Virtual Aliens such as memories, emotions…free will leaving only barest essence of the individual"

"In phase two, it turns into a control program making them loyal soldiers that will only listen to CAT6 personnel…in fact if I were to order them to destroy themselves, they would do so without question"

"What if they fight back against the Tranquility Virus?" Gemini asked.

"They won't but in the rare case that they do, the virus will switch to self-termination and take the Virtual Alien consciousness with it" she said. "Of course, you'll be left with an empty mobile platform but it's not a huge loss when we have a trillion more that can replace it"

"Impressive, I would like see one of them in action" Gemini said.

"Of course…I have just the place to test them…"

The Virtual Aliens, caught to be CAT6's weapons! Can the Corsairs liberate them? Next time! As always Review and Comment!