Miranda felt...on edge.
The Geth, or Heretic if you believed Legion, ship was utterly silent. Everywhere there were Geth bodies thrown into corners, great heaps of limp machines, ready to be used by the Cerberus personnel. Only...there was no personnel, here and there they had found the odd stain of blood...but there were no bodies.
So far, not a single Geth had attacked them though, nor had any doors closed...there was nothing but silence greeting their every step.
In comparison, the power plant they had visited a couple of hours ago had seen nothing but hardships. Every door had slammed shut in front of them, forcing them to weld it open, every console had been so full of security measures that even when working together Tali and Legion had been pressed to push past the safeguards. And then there had been the security mechs, security drones, heavy mechs...David had thrown every bit of scrap at the team to stop them.
Yet...now I feel nervous.
Ahead, Legion was pressing against an alcove, risking a glance around the corner, clearly unperturbed by the silence and lack of resistance as it called out. "Clear." Then it added. "We are near our target."
Miranda, still pressing up against her own alcove in the rear of the team, gazed at the machine, puzzled.
Legion hadn't shown a hint of treachery so far, if it had Miranda was sure Tali would have blown it apart. Considering what they were experimenting on Miranda had at least expected some sort of continuation of its initial protest against the experiments, save the fact it didn't believe success possible...but there had been none.
It had been quite useful too, hacking consoles and shooting down mechs with a calm only a machine was capable of. Well...and Michael. The man didn't look the least nervous, though he looked a little...annoyed
The man had stopped next to Legion, frowning as he too glanced around the corner. "Hang on...I sense a trap, probably an ambush."
"Great." Tali muttered, drawing Miranda's gaze. The Quarian had been on edge ever since Legion had been given a weapon, and now, deep within the crashed Geth ship...she was looking decidedly nervous, her head turning left and right, silver eyes staring at every corner and shadow, trying to discern a threat.
Miranda couldn't blame her, she was a Quarian after all, being on a Geth ship ought to be...disturbing. Despite their earlier clash, Miranda actually felt like comforting her...but she knew it would just come out wrong and therefore held her tongue. In fact, she was half expecting Michael to reach out and do just that...but the man was focused on the task at hand, only sparing the occasional moment to throw Tali a glance.
Now he did just that...and the Quarian seemed to relax a little more, making Miranda frown in thought.
It, whatever it is, doesn't seem to hamper them, almost...the opposite? Was I wrong...?
Legion's voice interrupted her treacherous thoughts. "Shepard-Commander expects an ambush? There was an ideal ambush-site two corridors and three chambers ago, yet no ambush, the room ahead is less ideal, why would there be an ambush?"
"It's perfect." Michael grunted, leaning back against the wall of the dark corridor. "You let them get to the very end, dangle the prize just in front of them...then close the vice and let them despair."
Silence, Legion bobbing its head.
Finally it looked up at him. "We believe we understand, should we file this information under psychological warfare?"
Still looking around the corner towards whatever chamber lay ahead, Michael shrugged. "Or 'organics are assholes', take your pick." He shrugged...then stopped, looking back at Legion. "By the way...how do you feel about all this? I sort of expected a bigger reaction."
Tali tensed, looking over at the Geth...as did Miranda, curious at the sight of the machine cocking its head to the side. "Specify."
"I mean...they're using this ship and the inhabitants for experiments...that's basically torture." Michael grimaced. "I sort of expected...I don't know...you to be outraged?"
"We cannot become outraged." Legion noted, making Tali sigh. "And these are Heretics, not Geth, we do not defend them."
"But if it hadn't been Heretics?" He pressed.
"Geth in a crashing ship are automatically uploaded to the central network, the material is considered lost with the crash, someone else making use of it is only logical, the Geth lose nothing when others use the material." Legion remained characteristically detached.
"But what about the people?" Tali said, sounding annoyed. "Don't you care about them? The programs might be copied, but they're still there, being used."
"Hacked Geth do not suffer, their perspective is changed." Legion looked back to her, perfectly calm.
"They're trying to figure out a way to hack your entire race...and you don't react?" Michael stared at the machine, stunned, then raised his hand. "And don't give me that crap about it not working, just...I don't get it."
"Before we answer, may we ask a question, Shepard-Commander?"
"Go ahead."
"Do humans consider a war with the Geth inevitable?"
Michael frowned, then nodded. "Most do, I suppose, we're still in war with those 'Heretics', you claim exist...and we can't tell the difference between them and Geth...so technically we view ourselves already at war with you."
"Then we understand." Legion nodded, almost sounding...pleased? "Human perspective is that a war with the Geth is inevitable. However wrong that impression is, it means the logical move is to prepare for such a war, we cannot disapprove."
"They're trying to brainwash your entire race...and you won't even resist!" Michael stared at the machine. "Are you shitting me?"
"We did not say we would not resist." Legion retorted, the machine shrugging, the gesture looking frighteningly human. "We understand their decision, we understand them, but we will resist. While we do not desire battle..." It turned its head, glowing eye focusing on Tali. "...we will defend our existence."
Something akin to a growl escaped Tali even as she squirmed, looking uncomfortable. "So you don't disapprove of doing these experiments on sentient beings? It's torture, plain and simple."
"It is hacking." Legion corrected, not looking away from Tali. "Torture would imply pain. And even if it was painful, we would not disapprove. Doctor Gavin Archer's goal, however impossible, is commendable. If he could end a possible war without casualties for either side, even if one is changed to something else, it would be a commendable deed."
"I agree." Miranda nodded, well aware of Cerberus protocols about the sacrifice of the few over the need of the many. "If torturing one person would save ten, wouldn't you do it?"
Legion turned its head to her...and nodded. "Miss Lawson is correct, it is the solution saving the most."
"It's also a black and white problem." Michael snorted, shaking his head. "The world isn't that simple, there's always other options, other ways to confront an issue and find a solution. In the long run, if you take the quick way you end up with...well...this." He gestured as the broken corridor and Geth around them. A look of sadness crossed his face, for but a moment. "Ruthlessness punishes, in the end, the ruthless."
Further off, Tali was reaching out towards the man, almost in a daze...before, with a shake of her head, remembered herself and turned towards Legion. "Exactly, torture isn't okay, no matter what reason you have for it...it will only allow for more crimes later."
Crossing her arms, Miranda shook her head, disagreeing...and not a little surprised that she and Legion were in agreement.
Legion was cocking its head to the side, however. "We are confused. Creator Tali'Zorah would not approve of torture of Geth in efforts to further Creator war-efforts?"
"No." The Quarian shook her head, crossing her arms over her chest...then she looked away. "I might...not like your kind..." She shot Michael a shy glance...and the man actually blushed a little, smiling slightly, gaze distant in memory. "...but you are sentient...and there are limits to what I'd let someone do to a sentient being." Michael's smile grew a little more present, his back straightening as he looked over at the Quarian, looking...proud. And this time Tali looked away, head tilting down, embarrassed. I believe I've missed something between them...
Legion said nothing, the plates around its eye moving up and down as it pondered her words. If it was surprised or not, Miranda couldn't tell.
Turning back to Legion, Tali shook her head. "I...could we agree to disagree about this? It's not getting us any further."
"Agreed." The machine's head bobbed, eye moving back to the chamber ahead. "If Shepard-Commander is correct we should proceed with caution."
"He's always correct about these things." Tali murmured, her shotgun humming as she checked the charge.
"Yeah...sucks, doesn't it?" Michael chuckled, rifle tracking left and right as he turned the corner and advanced...only to come to a halt as he cocked his head to the side and glanced back. "Wait...what do you mean, 'these things'?"
A little giggle escaped Tali. "You want me to explain to the others about your beliefs in how hacking works...?"
Michael chuckled right back as he moved forth, making the others follow. "What? You mean the prickly fairies? I still say they're real..."
Miranda arched a brow...and found herself clamping down on the smile nearly appearing on her lips. She shook it off, surprised with herself...though the feeling dulled as the group, now silent, moved into the new room.
It was a vast chamber with a ceiling of curved arches, threads of a dulled silvery colour snaking through them like tiny rivers before reaching a floor of bulbous...growths, almost looking like the roots to a tree. There the rivers turned into larger, straight, lines. Fortunately, Cerberus personnel had installed a grilled floor over the growths, making the footing as the group quietly approached a large computer screen off in the centre of the room, the large lever on it painted a dull red. Besides that, one couldn't see much, the lighting low and keeping the chamber in a semi-dark state.
"What...is this?" Miranda asked, voice hushed, feeling small and insignificant in the large, and confusing, room.
"A commune." Legion replied, the machine not having the emotional understanding to lower its tone, making it sound harsh and disrespectful in the dark chamber. "Here, Geth, or in this instance, Heretic programs convene for direct communication to achieve consensus, on a ship like this it is rarely used, only when faced with a significant problem will programs be drawn to the commune to...in human terms, debate."
"Keelah..." Tali muttered, shaking her head in wonder. "I've never seen..."
"Focus." Michael's voice cut in, making the others draw their attention back to the man as he approached the computer. "My guess is that the moment I pull that lever we'll be in for a fight."
"And then we'll fight our way out." Miranda guessed, turning around to track her pistol over the shadows around them. "I don't think it's wise to linger to fight an entire ship packed of hacked Geth..."
"Exactly; now, get ready..." Michael muttered, hand gripping the lever...and snapping it down with a loud clack that echoed through the chamber.
Silence.
"Huh." Michael said. "Surprising, I was really sure there'd be-"
Then the computer screen flashed, the green face appearing on it, mouth open...screaming at them.
A second later there was the scraping of metal against metal...and Miranda stared with a lump in her throat as all around them, Geth, their eyes glowing a dark green, clawed their way up atop the bulbous growths of the floor as they crawled out of their hiding places, almost looking like undead coming right out of their graves.
A low screech emanated from them...and their hands reached out as they hobbled forward, several already crawling up on the grilled floor.
Legion's voice was, as always, devoid of emotion. "These units lack weapons, and recently reactivated Geth will be slow until sufficient tensile strength has been built up within artificial muscles of their limbs, we suggest haste."
"Mechanised zombies..." Michael growled as he stepped forth, mouth a thin line. "I hate Cerberus."
Miranda glared at him, though her voice lacked the conviction she wanted to convey. "Hey! We are not to blame for-"
Then Michael's Revenant spoke, cutting her words short as it poured a line of shots along the edge of the grilled floor, smashing four machines crawling up on it back off with one volley. "Sorry!" Michael moved forth, though shot her a grin as he advanced, firing another volley into the first Geth to straighten atop the floor. "Can't hear you over the Cerberus-possessed Geth I'm killing!"
Oh for... Running right after him Miranda let her own pistol flare, sending two Geth on her right off the grilled floor before they had time to do anything more then straighten.
"There's a lot of them..." Tali muttered right next to Miranda as she, also running, let her shotgun bark, cleaving the chest of a Geth reaching out for her in two.
"Then speed is of the essence." Legion concluded, the machine bringing up the rear as with a kick it sent one climbing foe off the grilled floor before it moved to follow the other three.
"Less talky, more runny!" Michael, already at the distant doorway, called out, the man looking grim as with a braced stance he poured shots past the running three, felling pursuers to the sound of their screeches. "Hurry!"
And they hurried.
8
8
8
They had finally reached the main lab.
Again, they found corpses, burnt, shot, torn apart...fires raged in corners; mechs and Geths from doctor Archer's experiments haunting them at every turn, doors slamming shut, consoles beeping uncontrollably, elevators turning into death traps...
Miranda felt not only paranoid about what every twist and turn would bring...but also found herself...muted. The sheer horror of what had occurred was slowly sinking in...everywhere she turned there was death, most faces still fixed in grimaces of utter terror...when the dead had faces, that is.
She hadn't mentioned it, she hadn't thought it important...but if she hadn't been on the Lazarus project, remaking Shepard, she would probably had ended up on this one. I could have been among the dead... She was trained and prepared for dying...but to die like that...torn apart by your own creation, nothing but terror running through your mind...
What if Shepard had turned into this? She swallowed, eyeing the man moving ahead, so calm and prepared, in control. He hadn't been like that when he'd woken up though... She remembered the fire in his eyes, the uncontrolled rage, the way he had torn his foes apart with nothing but his fists. Did...did we take too much of a risk? She knew the answer, she really did...yet the horrors before her...muddled the picture, turning statistics and numbers into something meaningless.
And she knew it wasn't the first time. She had top clearance, she had seen the failed experiments, read the 'losses' versus the 'gains'...but 'gains' meant the death of some opponent to human expansion or some new technology or agent getting planted. 'Losses' usually meant things like this, entire bases destroyed, agents tortured by enemy organisations, men and women...slaughtered.
To see it in reality was...new to her.
It's for a greater cause...the individual is expendable if it strengthens the whole.
She knew she was right, yet the words rang hollow in the face of such destruction...
Ahead, the door clicked shut, the console to it overheating with a sizzle. Not again... Only for another door, this one to the left of the leading Michael, sliding open.
The man quickly dropped onto one knee as he slid round to aim down the door, as he did every time 'David' tried to flank them with another assault. Yet this time, he didn't fire, slowly lowering his Revenant as he frowned. "Huh...is that...the console to the capacitors?"
Moving over to him, Miranda, Tali and Legion all looked into the room...and Tali stated, sounding bemused. "It...sure looks like it."
The part of the room one could stand in was small, nothing but a platform for a large computer and its console. The rest was a long chamber, half-submerged in green liquid, several round cylinders lining it, cables running from them and up into the ceiling.
And even as they watched, the console flickered into life, panels sliding forth on it, almost...tantalising.
"We conclude a high probability of this being a trap." Legion stated, saying what they were all no doubt thinking.
"Yes, but it is what we want." Michael said, straightening...and so did the others in turn. "And I really want this to be over...before this virus thing spreads past the planet."
"True..." Tali moved forth. "...here goes nothing, let's hope-hey!"
Michael had grabbed her arm...and licked his lips as the Quarian glared back at him. "Let me...take this one."
"Oh sure, let you take the risk, as you always do...bosh'tet." Tali snarled, wrenching her arm free...only for the man to grab it again. "Stop it, this is my thing! Or would you prefer Legion to do it?"
"Legion is a machine, it can be hacked." Michael replied, shaking his head. "And if something goes wrong...well, you're the one with the skills to handle stuff like this, I just shoot things."
"And I'm also the one best able to handle that thing if it's booby-trapped." Tali retorted, standing there stiffly, her arm still in Michael's grip. "And if something goes wrong, Legion can do what I do to back you up..."
Are they arguing...who to risk a possible trap! Miranda stared, incredulous.
"Ah, so you trust Legion...to do what you do...?" Michael muttered, moving closer. "Leaving me in a place requiring tech skills to get out...with Legion?"
"I..." Tali muttered a curse, looking away...only for her head to snap back to glare at Michael. "Dammit, don't try that! I won't-"
"I'm in charge, I make the call." Michael interrupted, looking down at the Quarian, his grip on her arm now loose.
Silence.
Then Tali wrenched her arm free, shaking her head as she turned away from him, arms crossed over her chest. "Fine."
Chuckling, Michael put a hand on her shoulder as he brushed past her. "Sorry, princess."
A near growl escaped the Quarian. "Oh you will be, ass..."
"Great, now I'm scared..." Michael muttered as he moved forth, the others carefully following as they eyed the console ahead as if it were a live viper, a viper the man now reached for... "...but come on, it's a console, worst thing that can happen is that it shorts out and gives me a burn..."
Then a spark shot out from it...and Michael's hand moved to pull back, only to stop as the spark turned into a green bolt that almost seemed to shape into a green hand...that gripped his wrist.
"Oh for crying out-" His voice was cut short, mouth gaping open as the visor of his helmet came alight with green light, his armour whirring and clicking, the exoskeleton of it forcing his body to move. "Wh-what is that...?" His voice was but a whisper, shocked, but not in pain...as his forced movement brought him out of the room.
Miranda leapt after him...only for the door to slam shut before her, sending her tumbling to the floor as she bounced off it.
Looking up, dazed, she found Legion calmly moving its hands over the door, checking its integrity. Meanwhile, Tali was also at it, repeatedly slamming her fists into it, shrieking.
Blinking, Miranda found her hearing returning...and with it Tali's words. "You stupid bosh'tet! I swear, if you die I'm going to...to...I'll go crazy! I'll beat the living snot out of you! Why did you have to do it, you moronic...idiot! I...if you actually...I...I hate you!" The blows started to peter out, the Quarian's visored head coming to rest against the door. "I hate you..."
Rising to her feet, Miranda dusted herself off, momentarily horrified with the thought of what might happen...and then raised her chin, calming. "We'll get him back."
Tali was instantly in her face, the Quarian's eyes narrow slits, her voice a hiss. "You're damn right, we will..."
8
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8
They had burnt through the first door...and then the second...yet after that they had simply been standing open before them, almost inviting them to hurry after their Commander.
And now Miranda was panting, struggling to keep up with Tali, the Quarian moving with a speed Miranda had never seen in her, pushing the pace to the point that even Legion's tireless legs were having trouble keeping up.
Tali, not a Commander...was now somehow leading them through virtue of a combination of anger and desperation.
I was wrong about those two...
Miranda's observation was but an exhausted thought, a thought cut short as they slid round a corner...and came to a sudden halt at the sight before them.
It was a large, round chamber before them, the walls and ceiling curved, green lights flickering in panels within them. Four large columns held the ceiling up, each covered with thick cables reinforced by steel rings that led up to a large metallic halo in the centre of the room, it, in turn, held up by thinner steel beams along with a dizzying array of cables reaching up to the ceiling.
Metal arms reached down from the halo, reaching down at something...something blocked by Michael and doctor Archer as the former held the later high in the air by his collar.
What in the...
Miranda's mouth opened to protest...but no words came as she watched the Commander. There was no longer a green glow over his visor, no signs of his suit being hacked...only teeth bared in anger, eyes flashing with fire. "Sacrifice your own flesh...you meant that you did that! You sacrificed him!"
"I wasn't...lying." The doctor tried, gasping for air, sweat running down his forehead.
"And what about him volunteering! He couldn't have volunteered, could he! He's autistic!" A snarl...and the man shook the doctor. "Was that it? He's not completely there, so it's easier? He's more expendable!"
"Don't you call him that!" Gavin snarled back, eyes flashing with anger. "I love him! His gift for mathematics was the perfect gateway to the Geth! I wasn't being completely selfish! I wanted him to have a new life! For the world to finally make sense for him!"
"Love...him?" Michael repeated, spitting the words. "I saw what you did, he showed me what you did! You pushed for this! He begged you to stop...he begged you!" Again, he shook the doctor. "This was never for him, don't you dare say that!"
Silence...hesitation...then Gavin raised his chin, defiant. "I did what I thought best for him..."
"This...is what you thought best?" Michael dropped Gavin back onto the floor...and forced him onto his knees and to face the centre of the halo, to see...what Miranda now could see. "Look at him!"
Oh dear God...
Miranda felt all colour drain from her face, her hand coming up to clamp over her open mouth.
The man was naked...and nothing but skin and bone remained, every thin muscle and vein showed under paper thin skin.
His arms were stretched wide, black spikes the size of bayonets jabbed through them in regular intervals, the edges of the wounds tinged crimson by crusted blood, equally black tubes lead up from the spikes and into the halo above, like tentacles of some monster.
His legs hung limply down...but only because more spikes had been thrust through his midsection, a wide steel ring attached to the halo by metal arms holding him a few inches above the floor.
And his face...the bald skull was adorned with a black crown...so firmly attached to the skull that blood had seeped from it. From the crown, two wicked hooks reached down, gripping into his eyelids and forcing them to stay open as green light from a screen held in front of him poured into his pale eyes.
His mouth was moving, trying to speak...but two thick cables reached down from the halo filled it, keeping his dried up lips widely open as the tubes now and again jerked as they pumped something into him, something Miranda didn't want to know what it was.
God...I...
Miranda's mouth moved, but no words came...instead she heard Tali, the Quarian's voice distant. "I wish I was surprised...I really do..."
It...can't...how...who could have...
Gavin's voice was a low whisper. "It was for the greater good..."
I...can't...fathom it...
But she could...and that horrified her.
Dear God...no...
"Nothing like this can be called good..." Michael growled low.
"My broth-"
"Don't. Call him that." Michael moved...and Miranda found her gaze, blurry with tears, watch him as he gripped Gavin and hoisted him away from David. "Legion, guard him, he moves, he dies." He let Gavin go...who simply fell to the floor, too drained to move, head held low, defeated.
"You're...okay." Tali murmured, the Quarian stepping closer to Michael...who in turn moved closer, bowing his head in a yes. "I...should yell at you." He nodded again. "I...another time..." She reached out...and fleetingly touched his arm.
Silence, Michael looking down at the Quarian...who stared at his chest, drawing shuddering breaths.
Then Michael spoke, a low mutter. "Help me get him down..."
"No." Miranda whispered, stopping Tali mid-stride...yet unable to look at the Quarian's questioning look as she stared over at David. "Let me..."
She wasn't really aware of Michael nodding, only that she and he were moving forward, slowly, almost solemnly.
A few taps of a controller nearby...and the metal ring holding David fast gently moved down, letting his feet finally touch the floor before letting go.
He fell...but Miranda and Michael caught him, carefully lowering him onto his knees as they moved with him.
He's so light...
Michael gripped the cords moving into David's mouth...and Miranda shuddered as they slowly came out, making the man in her arms shake. He was trying to get away, to trash in pain...yet the struggle was so weak Miranda barely felt it.
Then they came out...and black bile followed, staining the man's chin and heaving chest . His lips cracked, blood flowing...but they moved, speaking. "Square...root..."
"Hush...hush..." Miranda croaked, blinking furiously as she reached for his right arm, holding it fast as she slowly eased spike after spike out of his limb, barely aware of Michael doing the same to his left. "Y-you're safe..."
New blood flowed from the wounds...yet despite the massive holes it was but a trickle, the man so dehydrated nothing remained.
I...we knew of this...yet...God...
Michael reached out, hands grasping the sides of David's head, holding it fast as Miranda's hands moved for his crown. A tug...and she freed the hooks from his eyelids while pulling the crown off him.
It left a crown of blood around his skull, old and crusted, new and trickling down. Yet the man's eyes closed...and there was relief in his tiny smile.
Then he opened his eyes, meeting Miranda's, and despite her blurry vision, and the trickle of blood running into his left eye...she saw it.
Gratitude.
And it shamed her.
8
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8
Thanks to Abydos Jackson for her perseverance.
