Chapter 53 – Tests For An Old Friendship

Year 2203 CE
The Citadel, Serpent Nebula

"Shepard, I do not like this," a very agitated Dr. Liara T'Soni spoke, standing in the kitchen of the Tiberius Towers apartment and currently venting her anger by slicing some innocent cucumbers for the salad she was making. "My patience is slowly coming to an end. I wish to return to Thessia, and to our daughter, especially when not much is gained by asking us to remain here on the Citadel!"

Morgan winced at Liara's tone, the depth of her irritation clear by how her bondmate had unconsciously resorted to the use of her last name. "Just this one last evening with Tevos, love. I promise we'll be on a transport to Thessia tomorrow morning," she tried in her best conciliatory voice. "Honey, you know that Tevos would not delay us for something trivial."

"I'd like to think so," Liara nodded stiffly before sighing, her shoulders slumping a bit, the rapid movements of her hands coming to a halt. "Ah... I should not speak ill of her. She has been a good friend, and honest in her dealings with us... an admirable trait for someone who's best tools for their job would be secrecy, intrigue and subtle machinations."

"Yeah... I know that she often shares things with us that... well, I imagine that if some of the matriarchs on Thessia knew about it, they probably wouldn't be too pleased with her," Shepard smiled. "And don't get me wrong, I miss Lita terribly as well, but... Liara, sweetie, you realize that we've been gone only for a little more than a week, right? When this war kicks off in earnest... we might have to leave her for months..."

"Ugh... don't speak of it," Liara muttered, resuming her mutilation of the cucumber. "I'll deal with it when that time comes... besides, I think that it will be different, we will actually be doing something, unlike just... being almost like caged here."

"Hmm, yes, I do see your point," Morgan nodded. "That said, Tevos should be here any moment now. And I won't deny being a bit intrigued about what she has to share with us. They've been deliberating for almost forty-eight hours straight after Hock was removed from the Council Chambers. No doubt there have been some interesting developments."

"Such as the discovery that the Leviathan is not even a Reaper?" Liara asked. "I still can't wrap my head around that, Morgan. How... how is that possible? If it isn't a Reaper... what is it? An organic creature that looks like a Reaper... don't you think it's too much of a coincidence?"

"What do you mean?" Shepard looked curiously at her bondmate.

"Your people have that amusing causality dilemma about what came first, the chicken or the egg," Liara said. "I think... this is something similar. There is certainly a strong link between the two, judging how easily and readily the Leviathan accepts Reaper upgrades."

"Well, I don't think the Reapers created the Leviathan," Morgan shrugged. "The opposite, though..."

"The quarians created the geth into their own image... not a perfect replica, of course, that would have been too unsettling, but the shape of their bodies is very similar..." Liara mused, nodding thoughtfully at Shepard. "I don't suppose we will get an opportunity to interrogate this Leviathan about their origins, and the emergence of the Reapers. But... I don't find it impossible that they would have created the Reapers in their own image... they certainly seem formidable enough to accomplish such a feat."

"Yeah, I guess I can see that-" Morgan started, but any further words were interrupted by the chime of the doorbell, signaling the arrival of Councilor Tevos. "Anyway, their origins don't really matter... they're a menace, and all we have to do is to kick their asses. It's as simple as that," she said, heading for the doors.

"Shepard... good to see you," Councilor Tevos spoke, stepping inside the apartment and kissing Morgan on both cheeks as part of their greeting. Morgan could not help but to notice that the councilor looked a little paler than usual and almost gaunt in appearance, her light steps also appearing slightly swaying as she walked over to the kitchen to exchange her greetings with Liara. "You should not have bothered, Liara, truly," Tevos said softly, looking at the light meal that Liara had been busy preparing, Shepard pinching in here and there to help.

"With all those Council sessions, we thought that perhaps you haven't had the time to eat," Liara smiled, urging Tevos and Morgan to take seats on the living room sofas before carrying the trays of food after them.

"It is appreciated, really, it is, but I would rather first have us discussing the... less pleasant news, before we can hopefully relax a little in each other's comforting presence later," Tevos said, wincing slightly as she took her offered seat.

"You don't want me to call Aria so that she can join us?" Morgan asked. "She's been... growing increasingly pissed off about not being able to spend time with you."

"Please... that would be very strongly appreciated, my friend," Tevos smiled gratefully. "But only after we are done discussing the... boring details. I don't want to see her grow even more frustrated if she arrives and we are still talking about something work related."

"Fair enough," Morgan nodded. "So, what's been going on with the Council lately? I imagine that it's something borne of your raging debates, that you wish to discuss with me."

"Very well..." Tevos said, bowing her head and placing her folded hands into her lap, giving Shepard the distinct impression that the councilor was about to ask something unpleasant of her. "Have you been in contact with your friend on Palaven as of late, Morgan?"

"Garrus? Uh... no, not for a few days," Morgan said, wincing inwardly, realizing where this discussion was heading.

"I... realize that I am asking a lot, but... I also feel that I must strongly reinforce the sentiment I expressed during the Council session. Morgan, we need the turians to present a united front, and we need the strength of their fleets against the Leviathan," Tevos said, her voice almost pleading.

"Ugh..." Morgan grunted, feeling disgusted, partly because she knew that Tevos was right and had a good reason to ask this favor of her. "I'm not a stranger to hard choices, you both know that... but to do this to a friend... I'm just... I don't know if I can do this to Garrus..."

"Shepard... do you know how difficult it was for me to persuade Oluara and Raan to limit the repercussions against humanity to only temporary suspension from the Council?" Tevos asked, her voice low and soft. "Raan yielded easily enough, but the salarian councilor asked for... a great deal in return for her vote. Oluara is shrewd and ruthless, and she saw through my actions. She knew that she could force me into large concessions, and our talks were... difficult and very lengthy. If your people would have been thrown off the Council altogether, the way back might have taken decades. Now... the future might not look so grim for the humankind, despite the threat of the Leviathan."

"I didn't ask you to make any sacrifices on the behalf of humanity," Shepard snapped angrily, instantly regretting her reaction as she saw Tevos flinching as if slapped. "I... I'm sorry... I just don't like being leaned on like that."

"I would not do this if it was not important," Tevos managed, sounding tired, yet still maintaining her conviction. "Shepard, you once accused me of inaction, and rightly so. I almost doomed the galaxy with my hesitation. Well... I am trying to act decisively now. Will... will you help me?"

"Fuck..." Morgan swore, unable to look in Tevos' expectant face and deny the asari friend she had come to care about greatly. "Ah, damn it, yeah... all right," she muttered, feeling angry, but the anger was not aimed at Tevos, more like at the situation on the whole. She got up from the sofa and walked over to the other side of the living room, switching on her omni-tool, placing a vid chat request with Palaven, and then routing it to the large vid screen at the wall of the little entertainment corner. She did not have to wait long for the call to be accepted.

"Shepard," Garrus seemed a little surprised by her call, accepting the connection in what looked like a busy office full with turians in uniforms, likely some kind of law enforcement agency on Palaven. "I was actually going to message you later on."

"Well, I would have probably be sleeping by then, and you would have just woken me up, so I'm glad I got in first," Morgan grinned, Garrus letting out a chuckle as well. "So, any chance we can talk in private?" she asked a while later, watching more and more officers zip by, not really wanting to discuss this matter with her turian friend in front of a large crowd of spectators.

"Yeah... sure, the chief's out for dinner, so I'll use his office," Garrus walked a few steps over to a secluded office with matted glass windows, entering to finally give them the requested privacy.

"So, how goes the investigation?" Morgan asked.

"Good, surprisingly good, Shepard," Garrus' eyes lit up, making Morgan's heart sink even further down, feeling almost like it had reached the pit of her stomach. "I'm finally starting to get somewhere with untangling these threads. It has the marks of a Blackwatch op all over it, Shepard, I can feel it in my bones..."

"Yeah... I figured that you might have made some progress with it," Morgan sighed. "Which is going to make what I'm about to ask of you even harder. I'll understand if you become so pissed off with me that you'll never want to see my face ever again, but..."

"Hey, easy there, Shepard..." Garrus spoke up, raising his hands up in surprise. "Hold on for just a moment… I don't think I could ever be that pissed off with you, old friend. But you need to tell me what's going on here."

"The investigation," Morgan ground out. "I need you to drop it."

"Err… what?" Garrus blinked, as if he could not believe what he was hearing. In truth, Morgan also could hardly believe what she was saying. "You want me to... do what?"

"Garrus, you've heard about the Leviathan and the galaxy beginning to prepare for another war, right?" Morgan asked, the turian nodding reluctantly. "I understand that you need to find your father's murderers, but... your findings are used by people who want to keep the relationships between Palaven and Digeris tense. And because of that the Council is not getting the turian ships for the war with the Leviathan. And we need your fleets, Garrus."

"Damn it," Garrus swore. "I thought people were using that argument just to dissuade me from poking too deep. Are you telling me that it's a legitimate concern?"

"Yeah. It really is," Morgan sighed.

Garrus let out another curse, this one in turian that Morgan's translator did not even pick up. "Shepard, this is my father we're talking about!" he exclaimed, looking angry, Morgan fully sympathizing with his reaction. "It is very likely that he was murdered! And you're asking me to just... forget about it? Would you be able to simply forget about your parent's murder?"

"It would be hard, yeah. If anyone came to me and tried to lean on me to make me drop the issue, I'd want to punch them in the face," Morgan freely admitted. "Don't you think I hate asking this of you? I feel like a... horrible traitor to our friendship for even bringing it up. But, fuck it all, the galaxy is depending on this, so... I must insist."

"This... this isn't right, Shepard," Garrus muttered, his face stony.

"I'm not asking you to forget about it completely," Morgan said. "I'm telling you to put a pause on it. Until this crisis blows over. Once the Leviathan is no more, you can resume the investigation and hunt down the bastards responsible. I'll even come to Palaven to help you in any way I can."

"The trail might very well have gone cold by then," Garrus said, looking unhappy. "This is effectively asking me to forget all about it, Shepard." Morgan kept silent, knowing that her friend was right. "Very well... I owe you much, Shepard... I will do this. I'm not happy about it... not happy with you right now... but I'll do it."

"There's... more, though," Morgan cringed inwardly, uttering the words, unable to look Garrus in the eyes. "To smoothen the relations between your two homeworlds... I need you to issue a statement about your father's death, saying that it was an accident, and condemning those who would use it to create further division amongst your people."

"Understood," Garrus asked, his voice cold and stony. "Would that be all... Shepard?"

"Yes," Morgan sighed. "I'm... really sorry, Garrus-" The screen before her flashed and then went dark, her friend disconnecting the call, no doubt incredibly furious with her, and rightly so.

Almost as if in trance, Morgan rose from her seat and stumbled back to the sofa, falling down heavily between Liara and Tevos, for a while not saying anything... until she finally broke down, starting to sob uncontrollably, tears streaming down her cheeks, the disgusting feeling at the pit of her stomach untangling and releasing in a torrent of tears. Liara, along with a slightly tentative Tevos, both embraced her from each side, holding her to provide support and comfort, until Morgan finally recomposed herself, slowly getting her emotions back under control, Liara and Tevos releasing her when they felt that Morgan had calmed down sufficiently.

"I... I'm sorry," Tevos muttered quickly. "Please forgive me, Morgan, for asking you to do something so horrible. I hope that your friend will forgive you. If necessary, I will contact him myself and explain that his anger should be directed at me, not at you."

"No, it's okay…" Shepard said quietly, placing her palm over Tevos' hand and squeezing softly. "You did what you had to do. And Garrus might be mad at me now... but I think that eventually he will understand. He knows all about making the hard choices."

"I agree with you," Liara nodded fervently. "Garrus needs time right now, but he will come to terms with what happened." She paused for a moment, before adding. "Also, I contacted Aria while you spoke with Garrus and asked her to join us. She will be here in twenty minutes, so... Tevos, if there is any other information that you wish to share with us before the arrival of your bondmate..."

"The Council has spent the past several days to deliberate upon all the actions that we must take in preparation of the coming war," Tevos began to explain. "In short... to try and do what we should have done after you first warned us of the Reapers."

"Well, at least you're trying to disprove the old adage that the politicians never learn from their mistakes," Morgan smiled supportively.

"Even as we wait for the resolution of tensions between the turian factions, we have begun putting our fleets together. Matriarch Lidanya wants to have the attack force to be between three and four thousand ships strong. It might seem much, but this Leviathan and the modified human dreadnaughts appear truly formidable."

"Makes sense," Morgan nodded. "Oh, and when the fleets are ready to head out, we'll be there as well, onboard of the Normandy."

"My friend, you don't need to do this... you have already risked your life more times than should be asked of anyone," Tevos spoke up softly.

"We both feel that we have to be there when the Reapers are finally defeated," Liara nodded with determination. "Even if this Leviathan is not a true Reaper but something else."

"Well... if you insist," Tevos reluctantly sighed. "But I must warn you that all preparations might take months, perhaps even up to a year. Councilor Oluara has assigned several STG science teams to new assignments with confidence that they can quickly design effective upgrades to the armor of our ships, to give our fleets better protection from the enemy fire."

"That sounds encouraging," Liara said approvingly. "We must requisition these upgrades for the Normandy as well."

"Yeah, and we could combine those upgrades with getting a new paint job for the Normandy, get rid of that Omega symbol once and for all," Morgan chuckled, Tevos grinning as well.

"Of course, the Normandy will receive these upgrades as well," the councilor agreed quickly. "With the humanity suspended from the Council, I do not think that anyone will contest the claim that the Normandy belongs to the Galactic Council and is to be used by its Spectres. In short, you can consider the Normandy to be your ship again... even if I believe that Aria has grown quite attached to it…"

"She was quite annoying about it all, really," Morgan sighed, rolling her eyes in frustration at some of the Pirate Queen's antics. Not that I was much more mature in my conduct... but... it was all Aria's fault anyway!

"As we make our preparations, the geth have offered to carry out further recon missions," Tevos continued. "After all, we cannot be certain that the Leviathan will remain in the system, waiting to be attacked. In fact, I am quite certain that now that they know that we are aware of their existence and of some of their plans... they will move sooner rather than later. Which might present a serious problem, depending on where they decide to strike. We might be dragged into this war before we are truly ready."

"Yeah, it would be potentially disastrous if the Leviathan jumped to a heavily populated system and began to indoctrinate everyone," Morgan nodded.

"Precisely," Tevos agreed. "That is why we will begin a gradual information campaign of the civilian populations. It will be very difficult to stop this sensitive issue from getting sensationalized and exaggerated by the press... potentially leading to mass panic and riots... but we are hoping that the galaxy still remembers the Reaper War all too well and perhaps the populations will react in a rational, calm manner, already having dealt with something similar before."

"I agree that people deserve to know about another potential invasion," Liara said. "The galactic population is essentially made up of veterans of the Reaper War... they will not give in to panic, they will want to fight."

"Yes, the Council is counting on that," the asari councilor smiled before her expression darkened again. "We are facing another sensitive issue, Morgan... this one having to do with humanity. In the end, the Council has agreed to not make the human involvement a public knowledge... though, I have a reason to believe that Sparatus has already shared this information with the leaders of turian homeworlds, so the news are certain to leak sooner or later. This will be a... tricky situation to manage for us. Especially considering that we have suspended humanity from the Council... we cannot keep that fact, as well as the imprisonment of miss Hock, a secret for long. Two weeks at maximum."

"Humans could face a lot of repercussions because of this," Liara realized, looking saddened. "It might become as bad or worse than... what our people faced on the Citadel, following the leaked intel by the Shadow Broker. There might be mob justice directed at innocent humans... and worse..."

"Yeah, this could get ugly," Shepard nodded in agreement. "I imagine a lot of humans might end up trying to leave the Citadel in a hurry... we need to direct them anywhere but Earth, where the Leviathan have likely spread their tentacles. If they could be sent to the Terminus colonies, though... that would be much more preferable."

"We are working on several contingencies together with Commander Bailey and other C-Sec representatives," Tevos explained. "We will not allow innocent humans to come to harm."

"It would help if we had some means to tell whether someone is indoctrinated or not," Shepard sighed. "There would be no need to ostracize all humans out of fear if you could effectively scan people for signs of indoctrination."

"We touched upon this issue as well, Morgan, and Councilor Oluara is willing to assign more salarian science teams to investigate this possibility, but she was adamant that in order to discover a method of scanning, her scientists would require a preserved control orb of this Leviathan," Tevos said. "Unfortunately, the one in Councilor Hock's office was destroyed."

"Hmm, let me think…" Liara mused, thoughtfully chewing on her bottom lip. "Have you tried searching the old offices of Task Force Aurora here on the Citadel? They had a salvaged Leviathan orb there, safely shielded from causing harm to anyone on the Citadel."

"I... was not aware of this," Tevos blinked, surprised. "Thank you, Liara, for this valuable lead! I will have someone follow up on it as quickly as possible," she added, activating her omni-tool and quickly dispatching a brief message to one of her assistants.

Just as Tevos had sent the message, there was the familiar chime of the doorbell, this one sounding harsh and insistent, in all likelihood mirroring the mood of the impatient visitor on the other side of the doors. "Ah, and there is Aria, right on time," Morgan smiled, getting up to let the Pirate Queen in.

"Oh, how wonderful, I have missed her so-" Tevos spoke, rising as well, then suddenly staggering on her feet and falling over, Liara only barely managing to catch the collapsed councilor before she had painfully crashed onto the hard edge of the table.

"What the hell?" Shepard blinked, momentarily torn between hurrying back to check on Tevos, but the door chime was becoming even more frustrated and insistent, forcing her to proceed to the front door and let in a more than usually pissed off looking Aria.

"She just... fainted..." Liara said sounding rather stunned as she lowered Tevos down on the sofa, raising the other asari's legs slightly by stuffing some pillows underneath. "Well... she is breathing... hopefully it is nothing serious..."

"Who the fuck fainted?" were Aria's first words when she burst into the apartment, looking around with a wild, impatient expression on her face. "Damn it, Tevos... is she alright?"

"I think so..." Liara replied patiently, before returning her attention to the councilor. "Can you hear me, Tevos? Are you alright?"

"Also, good to see you, Aria," Morgan nodded at their friend, returning to join the others, hovering over the collapsed councilor.

"Eh, can your pleasantries, there are more important things than that right now," Aria snapped impatiently. "Call that doctor of yours, Shepard, the one you're raving about being the best on the Citadel. Karin something."

"That... that won't be necessary... I'm sure..." Tevos finally opened her eyes, speaking in a tired voice.

"Ah, good... she in conscious," Liara nodded, looking relieved. "Hmm, when was the last time you ate, Tevos?"

"At seven o'clock," the councilor replied weakly.

"Well, that's not too bad," Shepard shrugged, looking at the chrono that showed a few minutes past eleven in the evening.

"Three days ago..." Tevos elaborated. Everyone present in the room let out a collective groan of frustration.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Aria hissed. "Liara, get some food, salad or bread, something light. Shepard, something to drink, water or juice!" Liara and Morgan exchanged slightly amused looks at being ordered around in their own apartment, but decided against arguing with Aria right now, doing as they were told and fetching some rations for Tevos.

"Now..." Aria spoke, accepting the gathered provisions from Shepard and Liara. "We're going to get you something to eat… but not too much at once. And then you're going to have a good night's rest. Can we sleep over at your apartment, Shepard? Yes, I thought so, thanks," Aria nodded before Morgan had even opened her mouth, not that she would have expressed anything other than her assent. "And later, when you have sufficiently recovered," Aria continued, glowering at her bondmate. "I'm going to kick your damn ass for being so stupid, is that clear?"

"Yes, Aria," Tevos smiled softly. "Anything you say, Aria..."


C-Sec Detention Cells, Citadel

Ever since her arrest in the Council Chambers, Katherine Hock's days had slipped by as if she were in a daze. Having been thrown into a solitary cell, featuring a small, uncomfortable bed with a hard mattress, tiny bathroom, and an in-built wall vid screen with the selection of three news channels and one movie and entertainment show channel. Not that the former councilor was even able to pay much attention to her surroundings, spending most of her time curled in fetal position on the bed and shivering, trying to understand what was happening around her.

There was this lingering feeling as if something important was missing, from her mind, from her memories, from her very essence, something that had guided her every step of the way here... she could not comprehend what it was, she only felt the loss of this presence, and it terrified her. Something had been ripped from her very soul, leaving behind an empty, barely functional husk of a person, struggling to put even a few coherent thoughts together, acting purely on instinct.

The memories were like short flashes, brief and confusing. She remembered something of her ambitions, her desire to command a greater power... aspirations to become a councilor... to grasp this great opportunity to help the whole of humanity, but more than just that... to have all that power to herself. There were also thoughts and motivations guided by a need for vengeance, but she could no longer remember what this revenge would have been aimed at. The memories were for some reason linked with her brother, Katherine wondering, praying that he was alive and well... Maybe he will come to my aid. Maybe he will explain what has happened to me. I cannot remember a thing... and these grim faced guards would not speak to me!

More frightening than anything, however, was the foreboding sense that something horrible had been done to her, but she could not imagine what it was. She knew that she had not been molested physically, but mentally, she felt as if her very mind had been as if ravaged by a rake, leaving deep, painful scars, slicing apart her very memories and erasing them from her brain. Something had scarred her mind, but she was clueless as to what it was, only that it would have to be something or someone incredibly powerful to leave such an effect on her. Perhaps it was one of those tentacle headed asari, forcing their... creepy abilities on me? But... why, then, am I imprisoned? Did it... did they... make me do something horrid while my mind was no longer my own? Did they try to erase my memories along with my thoughts?

Any more attempts at putting her fractured mind back together were interrupted when the doors to her cell opened, a group of four C-Sec officers entering. "Certain of this you are?" one of them, a salarian, asked the others, the rest of the group being turians.

"Yes, I'm certain," replied one of the turians. "I just got word back from a contact on Palaven. This comes from the office of the councilor himself. What happened to our fleet was the work of the humans."

"And that makes this bitch responsible," another turian hissed, roughly yanking her out of the bed. What am I responsible for? What do they think I have done? Katherine Hock desperately wanted to ask, but a heavy punch to the mouth silenced her, loosening some of her teeth before she was gagged and pushed hard down on the cold floor.

"We're going to take her on a trip to Palaven," the impromptu leader of the turian trio spoke, his mandibles twisting with glee. "Show her a little bit of the famous turian justice. She needs to answer to the turian people for the thousands of deaths she has caused."

What... what thousands of deaths? What exactly have I done... what has happened to me? Katherine thought frantically. "Merits breaking C-Sec regulations? Don't think so," the salarian looked doubtful. "Sympathize, but must retain employment. Urge to reconsider. Truly comfortable with abandoning everything?"

"Yes, we are fully committed to going through with this," replied another one of the turians. "Back on Palaven, we'll be lauded as heroes for delivering this monstrous creature to be judged by the crowds of the families of those who died in the slaughter of our fleet."

"Can provide you with an adequate alibi, though," the turian leader smirked at the salarian officer. "Make it appear as if you tried to prevent this abduction."

"Preferable. Outcome might convince the superiors," the salarian nodded, moments later slumping on the floor next to Katherine Hock, unconscious, one of the turians having hit him in the back of the head with the heavy baton.

"Alright, let's grab her and get out of here. The transport to Palaven is already waiting for us," the head of the turian group ordered, the two others easily carrying Katherine's limp body out of the cell. From the way the turians were manhandling her, Katherine Hock suddenly realized that she would not be returning from Palaven alive. Strangely enough, it did not frighten her at all... in her fractured mind, she could not help but to feel as if she was dead already...