Shepard's guts twisted and coiled with cold fear at the Illusive Man's smug question: where is he? It was a question she'd asked herself since EDI confirmed that the Illusive Man wasn't on board the station. Now, she felt cold fingers creeping up her backbone, chilling her skin into gooseflesh, as the question pounded in her brain: where is he?
"EDI, how's it coming?" Shepard asked, forcing her tone to stay level, not to show how shaken she felt.
"It is…there. I have located the VI. Hold on a moment…I believe its security protocols have been damaged. It is unable to refuse to answer direct inquiries," she announced, as the VI suddenly blinked into being as part of the Illusive Man's haptic display.
Shepard crossed the room, leaning on the back of the chair.
"Shepard," Javik broke in, now regarding the green display amidst all the orange as if this was the object of his interest. "There's something worth watching here."
Shepard forced herself not to tense up. That was the phrase they'd settled on to alert her to the presence of someone 'pretending to be invisible.' Something that would alert her, but wouldn't necessarily alert the unseen threat that it wasn't as unseen as it might wish to be. "Let's see it, then."
Javik nodded, then slithered away from the display, looking around the room as if expecting trouble, and probably keeping one eye on said trouble.
No one else registered the interaction as anything more than a comment on the Prothean VI. "Online," the VI reported, "Security breach detected. Security protocols…nonfunctional." The vaguely Prothean outline addressed Shepard, as the nearest organic. "You are attempting to recover me from Indoctrinated forces?" it asked.
"Yes. EDI, you remember that IFF?" Shepard asked slowly.
"I do remember. I am ensuring we do not have a repeat occurrence," EDI answered.
Shepard nodded affirmation. "I need to know what the Catalyst is.
"I will comply. The Catalyst enhances dark energy transmission and coordinates the entire mass relay network."
"Holy shit," Shepard breathed. "That-that's the Citadel. The alpha relay." She didn't know whether she wanted to scream or to laugh. If The Illusive Man was on the Citadel, it meant he was about to try some solo-operative bullshit plan. But she happened to know, as a Spectre, that three of the four Councilors weren't even on the Citadel right now. He might be able to rack up the collateral damage, but if he was hoping to enact a decapitation strike, he'd just lost his throw.
"So the Citadel is…a booster for the Crucible?" Alenko asked, looking puzzled, then impressed. "That actually makes a lot of sense. If it uses the mass relay network to do whatever it's going to do, that'll ensure maximum transmission range."
"It will," EDI agreed.
"Can the Illusive Man take the Citadel?" Javik asked.
Shepard closed her eyes. "…he thinks he can, so he probably can, because while his underlings screw up all the time he doesn't usually screw up himself. Reaper implants aside. EDI, send an emergency message: the Catalyst is the Citadel, the Reapers are going to take it and move it…to Earth." She knew, in the very fiber of her being that this was why the Illusive Man was still in play, why the Reapers destroyed Sanctuary but hadn't tried to destroy him. He was an agent who could operate on their behalf, could snatch the Catalyst out of the allied galaxy's hands and move it to a place of strength.
"They're springing our little trap early," Shepard said blankly.
"How much of him do you think will be left by the time he gets it to Earth?" Alenko asked.
"Little to nothing. They won't need him anymore," Shepard answered. She shook herself, pricked her ears for any signs of Kai Leng sneaking around. "It's okay. We prepared for this."
"Shepard, I have the data, and have sent the emergency transmission," EDI reported. "I have not been able to contact Councilor Esheel. C-Sec is attempting a response. They are blockading the Citadel Tower. It is the only place from which the Illusive Man could gain control of the station."
Shepard didn't think C-Sec would be able to do much. "No, it's not," She answered, combing her mental files about the Citadel. "If it was, he wouldn't have let things slip like he did. He doesn't care that I can push the panic button with C-Sec, tell them to watch the Keeper tunnels out of the Tower. There's got to be a secondary set of controls somewhere—even if only the Reapers know where."
"I have conveyed all of this. Bailey would like me to convey to you 'shit-dammit Shepard!'"
Shepard gave a shaky laugh. "Shit-dammit just about sums it up." She turned her attention back to the VI. The Reapers built the Citadel. The Protheans had tinkered with it. Then added it to the Crucible design. And now the Reapers had it—or would have it, by the time anyone could do anything about it.
"Shepard, are we heading back to the Citadel to try to stop him, or are we getting in front of him?" Javik demanded.
"In front," Shepard answered without hesitation. "Definitely in front. Forget Dr. Withers. It doesn't matter anymore." She had the horrible feeling she had just written off thousands of lives. "Make sure Hackett knows, we can't stop the Illusive Man, we can only proceed with Thunderbolt's original timetable. If we leave shortly, we might get to Earth before the Citadel does."
"Shepard, I have fully recovered the VI. I can transport it now," EDI announced.
Shepard felt something in her senses shift, some awareness reporting in on a change in the room. "Good. Then we're just about done here." She was so ready to be done here. She looked up and found Javik watching her, but with his attention on something behind her. It was seeing Javik that prompted her next words, "Tell C-Sec the put their breathers on. Now."