Chapter 42: False Gods

Continuing to the Temple of Athame was easier said than done. The terrain that the Reapers had previously held was quite steep, with no stairs to help us out. So that slowed us down somewhat. So did all the cracks that almost swallowed up more than one poorly placed foot. The occasional smouldering flame didn't help. Neither did all the spore pods, with their annoying habit of exploding whenever one of us got too close. Naturally, we couldn't avoid any of them. But we quickly reached more level terrain and picked up the pace.

A gunship swooped overhead. Talon Five was the lone survivor of the air support that had gotten us past a well-entrenched position of Ravagers and Marauders. It was nice to have some backup for a change. "Watch out—more hostiles ahead!" she warned.

Thanks to the heads-up, the squad had already scattered and found cover by the time the husks arrived. Yes, another wave of husks. This time, though, there were too many of them for the gunship to handle. So we had to get our hands dirty.

Liara and Tali stalled the husks with a singularity and a combat drone, respectively. Any husks that evaded those obstacles and survived Talon Five's relentless gunfire ran straight into a volley of biotics, plasma and concussive rounds. Things seemed to be going well.

Which meant it was a prime time for the universe to make my life miserable. "Bogey incoming! Hang tight while I shake him!"

It was a Harvester. Apparently it had gotten bored of flapping its wings and decided to pick on our one and only air support. There was nothing I could do but concentrate on the battle before me. EDI and Liara hit a lone husk with a one-two punch of plasma and biotics. Miranda and James settled for biotics and concussive rounds, while Garrus and Javik went the other way around. Kaidan continued his trend of making husk-sicles. Tali entertained herself by shattering those husk-sicles, one bullet at a time. And I settled for popping the heads of random husks like balloons. Slowly but surely, we whittled our way through the husks. Before we knew it, there were only a couple husks left.

Of course, that's when the pair of Ravagers waddled into view. And when another Harvester got bored of wing-flapping and decided to pay us a visit. And naturally Talon Five hadn't returned yet. Oh, did I mention that we still had a couple husks left?

Sometimes, I really hate my life.

I highlighted the closest Ravager with my HUD. "Focus on that Ravager," I ordered. "Let's take it out before any more of its buddies arrive. Open fire!"

The shot from my sniper rifle landed just before EDI's fireball. Liara's biotics triggered a fiery explosion, one that was repeated mere seconds later from Miranda's fireball and James's concussive round. Kaidan launched an EMP, which seemed a waste before I realized a Marauder had joined the party. Tali drained the last of its shields while Garrus and Javik finished off the Ravager. I took out the Marauder with a headshot.

By that point, the Harvester I spotted earlier had landed and another pair of Marauders had arrived. So far, though, they hadn't opened fire on us. That could change at any second, though. "Teams One and Two; target the other Ravager. Team Three and I will deal with the Marauders. Fire at will!"

Garrus and Tali immediately deployed EMPs—one on each Marauder—while Liara hit the Ravager with a biotic blast. Javik, EDI and I immediately fired off biotics and plasma. While I drilled a neat hole through one of the Marauder's heads—a split second before Garrus did, I might add—Miranda and James ganged up on the Ravager with a timing borne of hard-earned experience.

Unfortunately, that's when the Harvester decided to open fire. Team Three took several high-velocity impacts before they realized what happened. Javik howled in rage and hurled a burst of biotics before following Garrus and Tali as they scrambled for cover. For his defiance, the Harvester sent another barrage of gunfire at him, chewing through his barriers like soft butter. I saw his body jerk violently before he collapsed, feebly twitching in front of me.

Now it was my turn to howl. After I fired off some plasma and snapped off a quick shot with my sniper rifle. Teams One and Two began cycling through waves of biotics, plasma and concussive rounds while Garrus crawled forward, got a hold of Javik and began dragging him away. I activated my cloak, intending to safely rush over to them and administer first aid, but then I saw another Marauder. With a heavy sigh, I blew a hole in the Marauder's shields instead. Tali kept that beastie at bay with her combat drone as I decloaked. But that still left the Harves—no, now there were two Harvesters. Great.

"Talon Five back in position. Let's punch a hole!"

"Perfect timing," I declared.

We began firing in earnest, using every trick we had at our disposal. Slowly but surely, with the gunship's help, we broke through the first Harvester's armour and killed that horror. But we still had one more Harvester. And, unless my sensors were malfunctioning, a wave of hostiles flowing our way.

The glowing eyes and mouths of a dozen husks rounding the corner told me that my systems were still working. Could this get any worse?

"I'm in trouble," Talon Five suddenly warned. "Taking heavy fire!"

Yep, the Harvester had decided that the gunship was more of a threat than we were. "Take evasive manoeuvres," I yelled.

"No good! Shields have failed! I'm hit!"

We all looked up as the husks charged towards us as the gunship began to plummet through the air.

"Talon Five going down!"

I don't know what the pilot did, but somehow she got control of the engines again. Enough to set the gunship on a collision course with the Harvester.

"Repeat, Talon Five is going—"

As we watched, she crashed into the flying monstrosity and exploded, taking it and half of the husks with her. "All right, people," I said. "Talon Five gave everything she had to give us a chance. Let's make it count."

Liara caught three of the husks in a singularity. Miranda and I fired twin streams of plasma while Kaidan resorted to his biotics. EDI, Garrus and Tali deployed their EMPs while James loaded and fired another concussive round. Several more explosions rang through the air, tearing through the husks mercilessly. A few more shots were all it took to finish the job.

And then there was a moment of silence.

"There were five billion asari when this war began," Liara said quietly. "I wonder how many we've lost today. So much sacrifice. We have to make it worth something."

"Yeah," I said, crouching down to revive Javik. Thankfully his hardsuit had taken the worst of the damage. Medi-gel was more than enough to patch him up and get him back into the fight. "Yeah, we do."

The last hundred metres or so to the temple were uneventful, for once. We had enough time to regenerate our shields, restore our barriers, reload our weapons and stock up on fresh thermal clips. Heck, I even managed to scan a submachine gun heat sink mod.

And then we arrived at the Temple of Athame. From the outside, it had the same graceful curves, swooping upwards towards the sky, that seemed characteristic of asari architecture. The only hint that it was something more than any other asari building was the fact that it stood alone, reflecting the surrounding sunset and fires raging in the distance.

"Looks like we're in the clear," I decided. "Let's get inside."

"That may be difficult," EDI observed. "The temple appears to be in lockdown."

Scratch that, there was something else that set it apart: the entrance was blocked by a barrier field. A strong barrier field. There was a nearby computer console. I moved to hack it.

"Wait. Let me take a look."

I stepped aside and motioned for her to give it a shot. She was the Shadow Broker, after all. "It's military-grade encryption," she said after a few seconds. "I think I can override it."

Javik frowned. "Do religion and military always mix among asari?"

"No," Liara admitted. "This is unusual. Especially since few still follow the Athame doctrine."

"So what are they hiding in here?" James wanted to know.

"Good question," I said as Liara finally shut down the barriers. "Let's find out." Without any further delays, we walked in and took our first look at the interior of the Temple of Athame.

In other circumstances, I think I would've enjoyed my time here. It had been built with some kind of glossy grey stone, still smooth and unbroken after all this time. There were tons of statues, monuments and carvings carefully arranged along a path that ran around the outer edge of the main hall—including one giant statue that stood front and centre, presumably Athame in all her glory. I gotta say: it looked a hell of a lot better than my ugly-ass statue ever did.

If it was brighter outside, I have no doubt that the light would have lit up the temple and all the artwork it contained. Instead, carefully placed lights illuminated everything in a soft, gentle glow. I could easily see myself, in another situation, visiting the temple as a tourist. I might have even sat down on one of the rows of benches facing the giant statue. Taking my time, soaking up the culture, taking way too many pictures, that sort of thing.

Instead, I was running in armed to the teeth, ignoring the sights and desperately trying to find a specific artifact before the Reapers caught up to us.

"Hello?" Liara called out. "Is anyone there?"

There was nothing.

"One would expect the scientists to be here," EDI said.

"Unless they are in hiding," Miranda offered. She exchanged an uneasy look with me. We both knew what the other option was. Judging by the way Garrus was clenching his mandibles, he was thinking the same thing.

Well, if the scientists weren't here to help us, then we'd have to do things the hard way—just like we always had. "Take a look around," I said. "Maybe one of these artifacts is what we're looking for."

My attempt to search the temple got derailed almost immediately, after I got distracted by the closest artifact. Only a few steps away from where I began, it looked like some kind of shield. "What's this?" I wondered aloud.

"The goddess Athame's shield," Liara identified immediately. "Legends say she used to protect Thessia when the heavens grew angry." She smiled for the first time and gave an indulgent shrug. "Our ancestors were probably misinterpreting a meteor shower."

"An asteroid strike."

We all whipped our heads around and stared at Javik. "What?" Liara asked.

"It was an asteroid strike, not a meteor shower," Javik said. "We deflected it."

Liara's jaw dropped. "You mean… the Protheans? But… that would imply Athame…"

"Is not what you believe her to be," Javik finished.

"Just keep looking," I ordered.

We moved to the outer edge of the hall and began moving clockwise until we found a glass display case. It held the remnants of a manuscript, torn and spotted with holes. The paper was covered in what was presumably asari text, the ink faded with the passage of time. "What about this one?" I asked.

"A page from one of our earliest religious texts, the Athame Codex," Liara replied. "I doubt this is it. It describes Lucen, Athame's guide who taught our ancestors about the stars."

"Your species was deemed to have potential," Javik broke in. "A pity you didn't live up to it."

"Are you actually suggesting that the Protheans intervened in our past?" Liara scoffed.

"It is more than a suggestion," Javik said.

Okay. Maybe Javik was just trolling for the hell of it. Or being ornery or contrary because he'd been out of practice. Then again, maybe not. A few years ago, I'd taken a trip to Eletania and visited some Prothean ruins. It was there that I found out the Protheans had been studying primitive humans, up to and including implanting devices and abducting 'specimens' for study. It was entirely possible that they did the same, if not more, with the asari.

James shook his head. "So we're just supposed to look around and hope we trip over this artifact. Where are the scientists? They just chickened and ran? That doesn't make sense."

"If this was Rannoch, there's no way our scientists would have run," Tali agreed.

"Neither would our scientists," Liara agreed. "Something isn't right here."

I'd taken the opportunity to explore a little further. What I'd found raised a couple questions. "Could this be the artifact?"

Liara shook her head. "I don't think so. That's a sculpture of Lucen, one of Athame's servants who walked amongst my ancestors bestowing knowledge."

Javik looked at her intently. "And you don't see the resemblance?"

"I do not understand."

He rolled his eyes. "He was no servant of an imaginary goddess. He was Prothean."

"That was what I was going to say," I shrugged.

I could tell Liara didn't know what to make of that. Maybe she honestly hadn't picked up on the similarities—she probably hadn't been here in a while and she hadn't been with us when we fought the Collectors. Maybe, on some level, she didn't want to see it. (1) But to me, the angular shape of the head looked more like a Prothean than any asari I'd ever met.

There was another manuscript a few steps away. "Another page from the Codex," Liara explained. "Not very useful. It talks about Athame's guide granting us the gift of biotics as a reward for worshipping her."

"That 'gift' involved years of genetic research," Javik interrupted, "and centuries for the changes to manifest in the next generations."

"I…" Liara shook her head. "This is almost too much to take."

Kaidan whistled. "Wow. So if Athame was really a Prothean, then, well…" He glanced at Liara, clearly in shock at the revelations Javik kept hurling at her, and clammed up.

EDI blithely plunged ahead and finished what he had started. "If Athame was in fact Prothean, this puts an entirely new light on the evolution of asari biology."

Okay. Uncovering all these hidden secrets was great. Finding out new truths and the reinterpretations of asari and galactic history were fascinating. The fact that it was causing Liara so much distress—not so much. Not to mention that we had more important things to do. "Maybe we should focus on finding that artifact."

"Sure," Garrus said sarcastically. "We'll just search blindly and hope we trip over it. "No offense, Liara. I know your government wanted to keep this artifact secret, but next time, leave instructions."

"I'm more peeved by the fact the asari government failed to disclose the existence of this artefact earlier," Miranda grumbled. "when they knew we were building a Prothean superweapon to defeat the Reapers."

I wholeheartedly agreed with what Miranda had said. Hell, I might've even used stronger language. But this wasn't the time nor the place to indulge such sentiments. "I'm with Miranda," I said, "but, right now, we've got more important things to worry about. Let's keep looking."

Following the circular path of the hall, we soon found ourselves by the foot of the giant statue we'd first seen when we entered the temple. There was a large stone mural nearby. At the bottom lay a row of rectangles, possibly symbolizing grass or crops. That would agree with the asari holding a scythe at the left and the asari holding a—stick?—in the middle. At the right, a giant figure stood looming over everyone else, its hand outstretched, its head looking like a Prothean silhouetted against the sun. I turned my head to Liara. "What are we looking at here?"

"A primitive rendition of the goddess Athame. She's speaking to her ancient asari followers. I don't think this is the artifact."

"Funny," James said. "I see the asari, sure. But your goddess… she kinda looks like Buggy over here. Not to mention some of the art in this temple."

"Another one of your myths that somehow looks Prothean," Javik confirmed.

"What you're implying…" she shook her head again. Harder this time, as if that would help dispel the increasingly uncomfortable revelations—and all their ramifications—that Javik was presenting. "…it's… staggering."

"We were here in the beginning," Javik continued, "watching you grow. 'Athame' was us."

Liara fell silent. My heart went out to her, seeing how her preconceptions and history—along with those of her history—were being ripped apart. This on top of her homeworld being invaded. Could this day get any worse?

"Um… Shepard?"

I looked at Garrus, then followed the talon he was pointing towards…

…

…aw, crap. It just got worse.

Garrus had found a pair of asari. Both wearing matching uniforms made of some kind of cloth, rather than armour plating. Both holding devices that looked more like scientific equipment than any weapon I'd seen. Both of them lying a little too still on the floor. "I'm guessing they are the scientists," I sighed.

A gasp escaped Liara's lips. She took a step forward, then stopped and looked away. "Garrus, why don't you…" I stopped myself before I said something like 'examine.' "…take a look at them," I finished. "The rest of us will keep searching. Starting with that mural over there."

The mural—or rather, the second mural—was on the other side of the giant statue. As I moved past it, I thought I felt a slight… tension in the air. Must've been nerves, I decided. I continued to the mural and took it in. To be honest, I would've been more impressed if it didn't look like a mirror image of the one we'd just seen. "It's the goddess Athame again," Liara confirmed.

"You can still believe that," Javik interjected, "but it won't change the truth."

Kaidan try to soften the blow of Javik's blunt, but increasingly believable, statements. "You don't want to hear it, Liara, but it seems clear—this goddess was a Prothean."

"But… I see what you mean," Liara managed. "That is… troubling."

Seeing that she could use a distraction, I gently nudged Liara towards another manuscript. It was sitting in a display case to the right of the murals. "What do you know about this?"

"It's not what we need. It describes how another of Athame's guides, Janiri, gave my people seeds. He taught them the seasons so they could grow crops."

"But if these guides looked like Protheans… if they were…" Tali ventured.

Naturally, Javik had an answer. "We didn't want you to starve."

We started to circle back to the entrance to the temple. The path took us to another bust. "That's Janiri," Liara identified. "He brought enlightenment to Thessia long ago."

"He was no servant of an imaginary goddess," Javik broke in, the exasperation in his voice coming through. "He was Prothean."

I guess I could understand his frustration. He'd grown up knowing how his people had monitored and uplifted the asari. And yet here Liara was, secure in the 'history' of her people and the 'knowledge' gained as an archaeologist specializing in Prothean culture. Reciting the same tales that, as far as he was concerned, were myths and fairy tales. He wasn't trying to be cruel—well, no more so than usual. He was simply trying to reveal the truth, rather than indulge Liara's increasingly fragile fantasies. And judging by what I'd seen, I was inclined to agree. That didn't make Liara's growing disillusionment any easier to see, though.

"What about this?" I asked when we came to another manuscript. "More fragments from the Codex?"

"Correct," Liara nodded. "Doesn't look promising. It describes how Athame taught our ancestors mathematics."

She paused and glared at Javik, as if challenging him to disagree. He didn't disappoint: "Before that, you could only count as high as your toes. We took pity."

At last, we returned to the entrance. I stopped at a sculpture to the right of the shield we first looked at. "Could this be the artifact?"

"I don't think so," Liara admitted. "It's the goddess Athame's sword."

"That sounds a little more promising," I offered.

Liara shook her head. "Doubtful. Myths say she wielded it against the jealous gods who threatened our ancestors."

"They were a race called the Oravores," Javik revealed. "Their homeworld had little to offer by the time they discovered your ancestors. Thessia had vast resources. We protected you from them."

"But nothing in my studies has ever suggested Prothean involvement in our past," Liara protested, finally giving voice to her turmoil.

"Then you didn't study hard enough."

There was nothing else to see. Nothing that gave a hint as to the artifact Councillor Tevos had hinted at. So I walked up the central path between the rows of benches to find out what Garrus had discovered. "All of this to celebrate Athame," I heard Tali say to Liara. "I find it quite impressive. Especially considering few people practice her religion anymore."

"It is a beautiful place," Liara agreed. "Looking back, I wish I had visited more often."

Garrus got up when he saw us approach. "What did you find?" I asked.

"Their body temperatures are about thirty-four degrees Celsius, to use your system of measurement," he began. "Rigor mortis has started to set in, but only in areas like the face and neck where the muscles are smaller. I'm not a forensic examiner or coroner but, based on what I learned in C-Sec, I'd say these scientists died very recently. Say, two or three hours."

"Damn it!" I cursed. "We just missed them."

"There's more," Garrus said. Something in his voice made me look at him. "Take a look at their throats."

"What happened to them?" I asked.

"They've been slit. Cleanly."

"Which means the Reapers didn't do this," Liara realized.

"More than that—the cut went right through their carotid arteries, which means there should have been a huge amount of blood released. But the blood splatter doesn't suggest that at all. I'd say the scientists were killed somewhere else… and were moved here after they died."

Great. Bad enough that the Reapers were running amok on Thessia, causing all sorts of pain and suffering and death. Now we had a third party to deal with.

"Regardless of who killed them, the fact remains that we were depending on the scientists to help us out," Kaidan sighed. "That's clearly not going to happen. Which means we're going to have to figure this out on our own."

"Looks like," I agreed. I took a step towards the giant statue. "Is that who I think it's supposed to be?"

"Athame," Liara nodded. "It's a relic of the old faith. Her image became more like ours over time."

"You mean your ancestors tried to hide the truth," Javik said.

"I'm still not willing to believe any of that's real."

"Then why does Athame speak Prothean?"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"There is something here… I can sense it."

What Javik said reminded me of that feeling I experienced when I walked past the statue of Athame earlier. At the time, I just chalked it up to nerves. But what if it was more than that? I took a step forward, then another.

Behind me, Liara sounded skeptical. "In this temple?" she said. "I admit it is strange this place has been so well-preserved."

It was more than that. I could feel that strange buzzing sensation again. I closed my eyes and took another step forward. Liara's voice seemed to die down to a quiet echo as I focused. "Though Athame does have great historical significance. We once believed our gods were separate from the world, looking down on us."

Miranda later told me that my head began tilting back, in an unconscious imitation of the statue before me. My hand began to drift upwards as that buzzing became deeper, louder. Almost like a cymbal or gong that had just been struck.

"But now asari see everything as a cosmic whole. There is a universal energy from which all living things are formed. Every—"

My eyes snapped open. I whirled around to face the squad. "There's a Prothean beacon here," I blurted out.

"What?" Liara shook her head in disbelief. "You're sure?"

"It felt just like the beacon I encountered on Eden Prime, and the one from Virmire," I confirmed grimly. "It's not something you forget."

"But why hide it?" Liara asked.

"The answer is obvious," Javik said. "Power and influence. Your people are hoarding the knowledge of my race for their own gain."

"That… can't be," Liara protested. "I can't believe my people would keep this a secret."

"Think back to the Prothean site on Mars," Miranda said. "It was only a small data cache, but it gave us the foundation to explore the science of mass effect fields, develop faster-than-light travel and begin exploring the Sol system in detail. The information it contained led to the discovery that Charon was actually a mass relay. And, more recently, it gave us the blueprints for the Crucible.

"If there is a Prothean beacon here, it could contain just as much information, if not more. The asari did discover this temple thousands of years ago, after all. Imagine what someone could learn if they kept the beacon's existence quiet for all this time."

"That could explain why asari are so advanced," I agreed.

"You did say this temple is thousands of years old, Liara," Tali said. "If your people discovered the beacon, they would've had a lot of time to study it."

"Time enough to make serious progress," Javik chimed in.

"That doesn't make it true."

"It kinda makes sense if you think about it, Liara," Kaidan said. "A couple breakthroughs every other century from this beacon, and the asari stay on top. Maybe this is why."

"You can't keep denying reality, asari," Javik sighed. "The humans, the turians, even this synthetic see the truth. You must do the same. (2) Or are you insulted that your government didn't involve you?"

Okay, that last part was going a bit too far. "Javik," I chided.

He nodded—to me, I noted, not Liara. "This one," he said, pointing to Miranda, "spoke of the ruins of our colony on the world you call 'Mars.' She said that was where humans learned mass effect technology. We learned of it from the ruins of the Inusannon, the race that came before us. It was our secret for centuries."

"The asari government should have shared this knowledge," I frowned, "but I can see why they'd want to maintain a technological advantage. I just wish they'd overcome their secrecy earlier; say when they were increasing their support for the Crucible project after the Cerberus coup attempt. I'm not blaming you, Liara, but we might not have been in this mess if your leaders had been more open."

"You don't know that, Shepard," Liara insisted. "We don't know what's going on here."

"Fair enough," I conceded. "Maybe there's another explanation. All I know is that some depictions of Athame and her guides look an awful lot like Protheans, the asari have gone to a lot of trouble to safeguard this temple and its secrets and there's a Prothean beacon in this temple. Even worse, we don't have much time to find out—and no one's left to tell us how this beacon works."

Liara began sifting through files on her omni-tool. "The few records I can access talk about tapping into Prothean data streams, reconstructing matrices… none of which I see here."

"I do."

Javik was just full of surprises today, I marvelled. I joined him at the mural stationed to the left of the statue of Athame—well, the statue's left; our right. As we watched, a beam of ethereal green energy burst from the mural to strike the base of the statue. A second later, miniscule cracks began appearing across the statue's previously pristine surface. Thin shafts of green light began to shine through, as if something had been woken up and was trying to emerge.

"The activation process has begun," Javik said.

"By the goddess… literally," Liara breathed.

"Look around," I ordered. "There must be more of these connections!"

Liara shook her head in amazement. "This is incredible. The beacon seems to think you're Prothean, Shepard. It must be the Cipher you got back on Feros years ago."

"Or it could be the Prothean standing next to you," Javik suggested.

"Let's find out," I said, stopping by the bust of Janiri. Another beam of green light lanced out from the back of Janiri's head to the statue of Athame.

"It's gaining power," Javik called out. "I can feel it." He broke into a run, paused by one of the Codex manuscripts, shook his head, then ran to the sword of Athame, muttered something under his breath, then ran to the shield of Athame.

"There! Another one!" Liara shouted.

She was right. There were now three beams pouring energy into the statue of Athame. The cracks in the statue were growing, judging by the sheer amount of light now spilling out. But somehow, I had the feeling we hadn't finished yet.

Javik felt the same way. "It's still not complete."

"But it's close, Buggy," James said. "All we have to do is figure this out and the war's over, right? Finish the Crucible and send the Reapers back to hell."

We ran to each display, hoping one of them would hold another connection to activate the beacon. Each time, we were disappointed.

"I can't believe this whole temple is a front," Liara whispered as we ran past the artwork.

"Best place to hide a secret is out in the open," I replied.

"But to think, my people have been extracting data from it for centuries. I never knew."

"Most of your people were in the dark for all this time, Liara," I said. "Let's hope it doesn't take us as long."

In the end, it didn't take us centuries to activate the beacon, though it sure felt that way. I stopped by one of the Codex manuscripts, the one Liara said told the tale of how the asari got biotics. Nothing happened at first. Then, for some reason, I felt the need to reach over and rap on the glass with my knuckles.

A fourth beam poured out and hit the statue. Everyone froze as the temple began to rumble. Then the statue cracked open into pieces, crumbling and falling apart before our eyes. Particles of green energy began rising from the base of the statue, slowly stretching upwards like a water fountain. In the middle of that… particle fountain, I could see a thin beam of white light lance up towards the ceiling of the temple.

"The beacon appears ready, Commander," EDI told me.

I raced towards the base of the statue, stopping in front of the stone dais situated between the murals. We were so close… but I had no idea what to do next. I slowly reached out towards the statue. "Um… abracadabra?" (3)

"We need to hurry," Liara urged. "This place isn't going to…"

A green sphere of holographic light emerged from the beacon and floated down towards us. It looked like countless energy particles orbiting in various directions around a transparent sphere that was spinning like a wheel.

"…last very long," Liara finished.

"Obtaining chronological marker," the sphere said. "Hold… timescale established. Post-Prothean cycle confirmed."

"One of our computers," Javik whispered.

With a start, I realized he was correct. It was reminiscent of the VI that I had run across on Ilos. Only this one wasn't flickering like crazy and didn't seem like it would shut down at any moment.

The VI suddenly rose high into the air, as if expanding its sensor scan. "Reaper presence detected. This galactic cycle has already reached its extinction terminus."

Well at least it could detect that the Reapers had invaded.

"Systems shutting down."

Wait, what?

"Hold on!" Liara begged.

"We need answers!" I added.

The VI flew towards me, coming to a hovering stop only centimetres from my face. "To what question?"

"The Catalyst," I replied. "We need to know what it is to finish the Crucible. It's a superweapon that the Protheans tried to build in order to defeat the Reapers."

The sphere slowly floated away. The particles around it suddenly began to spin faster and faster, expanding their radii and multiplying in number. Then they collapsed, coalescing into a holographic Prothean.

"A memory," Javik confirmed, "of one of my people."

"I am called Vendetta, an advanced virtual construct of Pashek Vran, overseer of the project you refer to as 'Crucible'. He died fighting the Reapers in the battle of Tranbir Nine. Your remaining time is also at an end."

'Vigil.' 'Victory.' 'Vendetta.' The Protheans sure liked naming their VIs with words starting with 'V,' didn't they?

"Were all Protheans so grim?" Liara asked.

If Javik and Vendetta were any indication, sure. Mind you, fighting for your survival over the course of several centuries would probably drive the happiness out of anyone. While I'd love to indulge my insatiable curiosity, I had to prioritize. "What happened to the Crucible in your time? Why didn't the Protheans deploy it?"

"We were sabotaged from within. A splinter group argued we should dominate the Reapers rather than destroy them."

Really? Well, that sounded familiar.

"It fractured our order of battle. Later, we discovered the separatists were indoctrinated."

A growl rumbled from Javik's throat. "I always suspected as much."

"And now we're facing the same problem," I said ruefully, exchanging a look with Miranda.

"Our studies of past ages led us to believe that time is cyclical," Vendetta told us, dissolving its form and reappearing as a diagram of the galaxy. "Many patterns repeat."

"Like the Reaper attacks," I said.

"And beyond. The same peaks of evolution, the same valleys of dissolution." Red hexagons appeared—first on the outer rim of the galaxy, then multiplying inwards until the entire galaxy was covered.

The red hexagons then vanished, only to reappear again in a slightly different pattern. "The same conflicts are expressed in every cycle, but in a different manner," Vendetta explained, confirming my earlier observation. "The repetition is too prevalent to be merely chance."

And after hunting for Leviathan, we now had an inkling as to why the galaxy kept bearing witness to those conflicts.

"There's still hope for this cycle," I argued. "We need to know what the Catalyst is. Trillions of lives are at risk."

"Trillions of lives are always at risk."

Well, okay, when you put it that way.

The VI displayed an image of Reapers moving towards Thessia. "But if the Reapers have arrived to end your cycle, this discussion is too late."

"We can break the cycle!" I tried again. "We found your plans for the Crucible—we're building it right now!"

"The Crucible is not of Prothean design."

"What?" I asked blankly. "But… we found it in one of your archives."

The holographic display changed to a scale model of what, presumably, was the Crucible. "It is the work of countless galactic cycles stretching back millions of years. Each cycle adds to it. Each improves upon it. Thus far, none have successfully defeated the Reapers with it."

This was news to all of us—even Javik. Chalk it up to yet another thing that the Protheans didn't actually build. But that didn't change anything. We were still close to finishing the Crucible. We were so close to winning this war. We just needed one last piece to finish the puzzle. "Then we'll be the first," I said. "Tell us what the Catalyst is."

"Listen to the human," Javik urged. "He can be trusted."

Vendetta assumed its holographic Prothean form and took a step towards him. "I detect you are one of us. You are Prothean."

"The last," Javik confirmed. "I am the final hope to avenge our people."

"Your mission was known to me, Avatar. Do you believe this present cycle can deliver retribution?"

"They have earned the right to try," he declared.

Wow. This was big. Ladies and gentlemen: Javik, the last Prothean, the guy who had been sneering and thumbing his nose at us lowly primitives from the moment we woke his frozen ass up, had told the VI that we deserved a chance to save this cycle. I almost wished someone was recording this. But I'd settle for my original objective: "Tell us what we need to know."

"Very well. If you have followed the plans for the Crucible, I will interface with your systems and assist with the Catalyst to…"

"Yes?" I prompted.

The back of my neck began to tingle as Vendetta looked over its ersatz shoulder.

"Indoctrinated presence detected. Activating security protocol."

What! No! We were so close!

Before I could say anything, Vendetta turned back into a sphere surrounded by orbiting particles and moved back to the statue, where it came to a hovering halt. Stifling a curse, I turned back to the entrance of the temple, where a gunship was just taking off.

As I blinked away the glare of the gunship's searchlight, I realized it had dropped off a single passenger. Slowly, I got a better look at the lone figure. To my surprise—and growing anger—I recognized him. "You…" I growled.

"Kai Leng," Miranda recognized, almost in unison.

The squad immediately drew their weapons. Not that he seemed to notice. It was hard to tell with the polarized visor he wore over his eyes, but he seemed to be focusing on me. All right, I decided. Since I clearly had his attention… "You killed the scientists," I said. "What do you want?"

"Your attention," Kai Leng replied. "Someone would like to talk with you."

He reached into a back pocket, completely unfazed by how everyone tensed up. I didn't squeeze the trigger, though. He did say someone wanted to have a chat—and I had an inkling who that fellow was. Besides, nothing in his body posture suggested he was about to toss a grenade.

Sure enough, while the object he pulled out was spherical in shape, it didn't look like a grenade. In my experience, most grenades don't have a holographic grid rotating over its surface. As we watched, the sphere rose from the palm of his hand and began to float our way. Kai Leng tapped a few keys on his omni-tool before walking away.

I kept a wary eye on the sphere as it approached. Sure, it didn't look like any grenade I'd ever seen, but if it got too close, I decided to take the shot anyway. But after a few seconds, the holographic image of the man I'd expected to see appeared. "Shepard," TIMmy said.

"How did you find this place?" I returned.

"The Archives." TIMmy paused and gave Liara a mocking smile. "Or did your Shadow Broker miss that one?"

"Show yourself," she challenged him. "I promise I won't miss."

"Stick to your talents, Dr. T'Soni," TIMmy replied as he—and the holographic projection generated by the drone—walked right through me. "You've helped uncover the key to subjugating the Reapers." He stopped in front of Vendetta and reached out, as if to touch the VI's sphere… or caress it. Which was almost as creepy as the way he ghosted through my corporeal frame.

No, scratch that. It was creepier and way more disturbing. "Or destroying them," I rebutted, trying to get things back on track.

"Damn it, Shepard!" TIMmy cursed, whirling towards me. "Destroying the Reapers gains us nothing."

"How about our lives?" Miranda asked. "How about peace?"

"Really, Miranda," Timmy tsked. "I expected more from you. The Reapers are just trying to control us. Think about it: if they wanted all organic life destroyed, they could do it. There would be nothing left."

Okay, I knew why the Reapers refrained from destroying all organic life. Or the half-baked reason Leviathan gave. Did TIMmy know the same thing? "Yeah?" I challenged. "What're you basing that on? Some research study rigged to give the answers you want?"

"I know them, Shepard. I know how they think."

"I think you've gotten a little too close to the enemy."

"No," TIMmy disagreed with a shake of his head. "I'm saying they've got it right. Why kill when you can control?"

"If you were someone else—anyone else—I might think you believe that. But you've been spending too much time with the enemy. Studying them, chasing after them, salvaging their tech and putting it to use. You're not the first one to do that. Does the name Saren Arterius ring a bell? He tried that too. And the Reapers did to him what they're doing to you: dragging you over to their side. Their way of thinking."

"No, I just… see things differently."

For a moment, I thought he sounded… hesitant. Doubting himself. The way Saren did, once or twice. If so, maybe there was a chance I could reach him. (4) "If you care about humanity—really, truly care—you'll stop fighting me. You'll join me. Working together, we can realize that brighter future for our people that we've worked and bled and sacrificed so much for."

"Don't ever question my intentions. I've sacrificed more for humanity than you'll ever know. And don't assume you know me. My methods for dealing with the Reapers are simply more refined than yours."

"I might not know what you've sacrificed, but I do know you. Enough to know you've forgotten everything you stood for. Cerberus was supposed to be humanity's sword and shield, not a dagger in our back."

"Poetic but, as usual, you miss the point. The world is more grey than you care to admit."

"How would you describe Cerberus's actions this year?" Miranda added. "Ambushing and attacking your fellow humans? Frustrating the efforts of our allies, who've fought so hard to save human lives? Sabotaging our efforts to mount a unified and coordinated response? Don't you see? The more we fight each other, the weaker we'll get, and the less chance we have against the Reapers. There's nothing 'grey' about that."

"There's nothing 'grey' about this, either: with the Prothean data in this beacon, I can end this conflict, once and for all," I continued. "I can save humanity. Help me, and you can save humanity too."

TIMmy shook his head. "No. There's a better way forward. Humanity can be so much more… Your idea of 'saving' humanity is too small, Shepard. As always, you lack the vision and courage to dream for something better. It's a pity you don't see that."

Turning his back on me, he 'walked' away from the statue. "Leng, the Commander has something I need. Please relieve him of it."

His holographic image shimmered away, leaving only his disembodied voice echoing from the drone as he issued his final order: "And then bring me the data."

"Understood," Leng said, catching the drone with one hand and tucking it back into his pocket. His other hand was already holding his sword in a reverse grip. Then, with a predatory smile on his face, he crouched down and assumed a battle position.

Given the stakes involved, none of us were inclined to wait for Leng to make the first move. And considering the strength of his shields, the plan was pretty clear: deploy an EMP to damage the shields, then take advantage of the momentary disruption to wreak further havoc with another bombardment. Rinse and repeat, with occasional bullets for good measure, until the shields were gone. Standard tactic, one we'd used time and time again to devastating effect.

Unfortunately, Leng was anything but a standard opponent. He threw himself into the air, flipping over every pulse, fireball and biotic blast we threw at him. Annoyed, I tried to see if a nice solid bullet would do the trick. But he somehow dodged that as well. "You're slower than I imagined, Shepard," he laughed.

I replied with another fireball. He flipped over that as well, his mocking laughter echoing throughout the temple…

…until Miranda's EMP hit his shields. Finally.

James waited until he landed—neatly, despite the recent hit, before firing a concussive round. The detonation hadn't even subsided when Garrus deployed his own EMP. Belatedly, I realized from the angle that Garrus had moved Team Three forward in an attempt to flank TIMmy's hit man.

I wasn't the only one who noticed that. "I'm being flanked," Leng said aloud. "Cover me while I recharge!"

Anything else he said was drowned out by the sudden howl of vectored-thrust engines as the gunship dropped from the sky, smoothly coming to a hovering stop only metres from the ground. They were certainly drowned out by the harsh drone of rapid gunfire as its autocannons went to work. Cerberus air support, ladies and gentlemen, for all your xenophobic needs. "Get to cover!" I yelled.

Rather than take my advice, though, I chose to activate my cloak. Not because I wanted to sneak up on him and stab him with a sword or omni-blade, though that wasn't a bad idea, come to think of it. No, I cloaked because Leng was crouched down in a stationary position, bathed in a flare of intense light. Now was the perfect opportunity to land a clean shot. I lifted my sniper rifle, aimed and fired.

To my dismay, the shot did absolutely nothing. As I watched, his shields began to regenerate. Several other members of my squad fired at him with similar effect. Whatever recharging process he was using seemed to make him virtually untouchable.

Leng laughed again. "Is that the best that the 'Hero of Elysium' can offer?"

"I could say the same," I shouted back. "What does it say about the Illusive Man's personal assassin if he has to duck for cover and scream for help every time he takes a hit?"

Maybe it was just me, but I could swear his jaw clenched. "I've got this."

The gunship peeled off as Leng rose to his feet. According to my scans, his shields hadn't recharged yet. They were only at eighty percent, max. Guess I got under his skin. Heh.

Before he could make his move, I quickly issued orders with my HUD. I raised my omni-tool, along with EDI, Miranda, Kaidan and Garrus. (5) Leng faked a charge forward before hurling himself into a backwards flip.

This time, though, he got tagged by one of the EMPs—from Garrus, I think. I'd ordered my squadmates to deploy them in unison to target different areas of the battlefield. No matter where Leng went, one of the EMPs would inevitably hit him. After that, we just needed someone to hit him again—thank you, Javik—to create a secondary disruption. While he was distracted, I used my HUD to send Team Two forward. Garrus had the right idea, earlier. If Miranda could get the jump on him, who knows what could happen?

The answer, as it turned out, was quite a bit. Between Miranda and James, we managed to get Leng's shields down to about thirty percent or so before he called for backup. Once again, we ducked for cover as the gunship came back and spewed a torrent of bullets everywhere. I didn't really want to think about all the damage it was doing to the temple. Yeah, it was doing tons of damage to a key piece of asari history and culture, but I kinda had a few more pressing concerns at the moment.

Carefully, I leaned out from cover. Just enough to keep an eye on his shields and the brilliant glow being emitted as they recharged. "All teams, concentrate on the gunship. "EDI, Miranda, Kaidan, Garrus: get ready to deploy your EMPs," I ordered, highlighting Leng's position with my HUD.

While the squadmates I called out fired short, controlled bursts at the gunship; the others went to work. Liara struck the gunship with a biotic blast, which James promptly detonated with another concussive round. Javik and Tali did the same. Using my sniper rifle, I landed shot after shot until my thermal clip was spent. Launching a fireball, I ducked down to reload and let the squad cycle through their bag of nasty tricks again.

The gunship continued to spray fire randomly throughout the temple. We ignored it as best we could and responded whenever the opportunity presented itself. I alternated my attention between the gunship and the other hostile threat. "Wait for it," I said over the comm. Any second now…

… the gunship had had enough. It peeled away, thick, greasy smoke trailing behind it. At the same time, the intense light surrounding Leng's shields faded. "Now!"

Thanks to my efforts to mark his position, my squad didn't have to waste time finding him before launching their assault. EDI whipped her arm around the statue she was hiding behind and launched her EMP. I sent a burst of plasma arcing up and over to land squarely on Leng's greasy head. Miranda and James were next, followed by Garrus and Javik. Liara, Kaidan and Tali used their biotics and combat drone, respectively, to cut him off before he could get too far.

Before I knew it, his shields were flickering, barely maintaining cohesion. Not that you'd know it from Leng's mocking laughter. "You've had your fun, now, Shepard. It's a pity the good ones never last…"

In response, I raised my sniper rifle and fired. It wasn't a good shot by any stretch of the imagination, ricocheting away a scant few centimetres from his shoulder. But it was enough to collapse his shields. "You were saying?" I asked.

Leng spun his sword around before jamming it blade first into the floor. "There's only one way this ends."

Then, much to my surprise, he broke into a run. Straight for me.

With a strangled cry, Liara tackled him. Or tried to. She latched on him with grim intensity as if she was trying to get a piggyback ride. Leng slowed for a brief second.

Then his elbow whipped around, striking her squarely in the jaw, followed by his other elbow. Liara reeled back, stunned, her grip slackening. Reaching back, Leng grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder with contemptuous ease. She flew like a blue cannonball, hitting Garrus and Javik and bowling them over to the ground. Leng sneered at them before resuming his advance.

That was when I raised my sniper rifle and fired. Leng's hand shot up, as if he could stop the bullet by sheer force of will.

And he did, or so it seemed. A kinetic barrier generator implanted within the palm of your hand kinda has the same effect. I fired again and again, exhausting the rifle's thermal clip, to no avail. Leng stared at me, his lips curling with amusement at my antics. Then he lifted his other hand to his ear, activating a comm, and uttered a single word:

"Now."

The gunship dropped from the sky again. Miranda, James, Kaidan and Tali hit it with a barrage of biotics, concussive rounds and energy attacks. It blew apart in midair… but not before opening fire. Not with bullets, this time, but with rockets. Rockets flying straight and true—to the columns of the temple. The columns that were sporting an awful lot of bullet holes…

My stomach plummeted as I suddenly realized what had happened. As arrogant as he might have been, Leng had a reason for going solo against my squad. He had used his shields, his speed and his agility to keep himself out of harm's way. He'd drawn us into an intense struggle to pin him down and wear him out, narrowing our focus so we didn't pay attention to the gunship. Or rather, where the gunship had been firing. Leng hadn't just asked for backup to cover him while he regenerated his shields. He'd been instructing the gunship to surreptitiously target the supports, weakening them while we were scrambling for shelter. Setting the stage for one decisive stroke. Leng had been toying with us from the start! And we—and I—had fallen for it!

I tried to reach Leng. Or find some stable ground to gather my thoughts and plan my next move—any move. But an errant explosion from one of the gunship's rockets sent me flying through the air to land awkwardly on the ground. Leng calmly walked through the temple as the gunship continued its relentless barrage against the temple's support columns, the explosions keeping each and every member of my squad off-balance.

Somehow, I managed to rise to my feet. Just as I was about to raise my sniper rifle, the back of my neck began to tingle. A shadow seemed to fall over me…

…

…the shadow was definitely falling over me.

Aw, crap.

I dove out of the way before a section of buttress fell from the ceiling and crushed me into pulp. My sniper rifle slipped from my grasp, sliding to a stop a few feet away. I reached out…

…

…I heard a crackling noise…

…

…and hastily scrambled back as my sniper rifle—and the floor beneath it—crumbled before my eyes. It fell out of sight, tumbling into the abyss below. Cracks ran out from the hole, running in jagged lines towards me. The hole grew larger and larger…

Stifling a curse, I launched myself from the floor and ran for my life. A crackling noise rose up from the din, growing louder and louder as the temple collapsed behind me. Dust flew up, clouding my vision. Then the floor dropped from beneath my feet. I reached out desperately and grabbed something.

When the dust cleared, I found myself dangling in mid-air, clinging for dear life to what I now realized was a segment of the temple floor. Part of it was still attached to a set of tiles that had somehow escaped the gunship's onslaught unscathed. I looked up and saw Leng. For a moment, I thought he would pull out a gun and shoot. But he didn't. He just stared at me.

Stared with derision and contempt. "Cerberus thanks you for all your hard work," he said.

Then the floor gave way. I fell into darkness, the roar of the temple collapsing and the mocking laughter of Kai Leng ringing in my ears.

The fall seemed to last forever.

I plummeted through the dark, going deeper and deeper into the abyss. Nothing but the crumbling sounds of the temple falling apart and the cruel laughter of TIMmy's hitman. Was this it? Was this how the story would end? If so, shouldn't my life be flashing before my eyes or something?

Then someone caught my hand. "I gotcha!"

That voice…

Things seemed brighter somehow. Maybe enough of the floor had given way to allow the light above to reach all the way down. Or maybe things weren't as dark as they seemed. Whatever the reason, I could see a man on a narrow ledge. It was he who had arrested my fall, though the way he desperately gripped the wall showed how close I'd come to dragging him down with me. Somehow, he pulled me up and I took a good look at the man who saved my life.

"Hi, Dad. So this is where you saved me."

My dad gawked at me. Clearly this wasn't anywhere close to the response that he might have anticipated. "You… you knew I was going to be here?"

"I didn't know which planet we'd cross paths again, but yeah. I knew. You told me." (6)

"'Again'," Dad repeated. "So we've met before. But… I don't remember."

"That's because it hasn't happened for you," I said, smiling for the first time since I'd set foot on Thessia. "Not yet. Not for you. But for me… it's like it happened yesterday."

"Outstanding!" he beamed. "What more can you tell me? Did I—"

"Look, I'd love to stay and chat," I interrupted, "but we'll do that later. For you, I guess. Earlier for me, later for you. I gotta get back up there and…"

I trailed off. He was staring at his hand, wincing in pain. "Dad?"

"I can feel it," he gasped. "I can feel it. It's happening."

"What's happe—wait. Now?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "Now. I… listen to me, Charles. In case I don't get a chance to say this, in case I forget to say it when we meet again, I just want you to know: I… am so proud of you. I always have been."

The air around him began to shimmer. No, not shimmer. Vibrate. The light above began to flicker, as if disrupted by what was happening around my father.

"Remember that, Charles: I am proud of you."

Dad closed his eyes and groaned as the vibrating and flickering intensified.

And then he was gone.

I could have stood there staring at the place where my dad disappeared, but I already knew where he had gone. When he had gone. Meanwhile, I had to get back to work. Up above me, a long section of floor dangled before me like a ramp. Or a ladder, given the angle. The tiling itself was too smooth and slick for me to grip, but I could use the uneven edges to find the necessary holds to pull myself up.

It was a slow climb. A painful, agonizing, slow climb. I must've lost my grip once or twice, but each time I stopped myself from falling and resumed my journey. I had to get back up to the top. After all our efforts, all the lives that had been sacrificed, victory was within our grasp. To come this close, only to have Cerberus swoop in at the last moment and take both the Prothean beacon and the knowledge of the Catalyst? It couldn't end like this. Not after all the blood that had been spilled. Not after Dad's last-minute rescue.

Finally, I emerged back to the ground floor of the temple. I immediately looked to the left, where the statue of Athame once stood before the activation of the Prothean beacon shattered its pristine surface. I looked for the beams of light stretching up to the sky, for the flickering sphere of the Prothean beacon.

But there was nothing. Nothing but broken marble and dreams.

My head jerked to the right. Kai Leng was walking back towards the entrance. Slowly. Calmly. Confidently. And a single thought ran through my head: he had what I—what the galaxy—needed.

As I watched, another gunship came to a hover just outside the temple. Maybe it was its thrusters or maybe my body weight had finally been too much, but the section of floor I'd just climbed up gave way and fell. Only a single hand kept me from falling back down.

A hand that was inexorably losing its grip.

I struggled to gain a firmer grasp. To swing my other hand out and get back up. But I couldn't. I wasn't strong enough. All I could do was watch in vain as my fingers slowly slipped towards the edge, knowing that only a few centimetres kept me from following the floor down into the abyss. And this time, Dad wouldn't be around to save me.

"Shepard! Hang on!"

Thankfully, Miranda was. She grabbed my wrist, the one attached to the hand desperately clinging to the floor. Liara hurried over and grabbed my other hand. Together, they pulled me up.

We were the only ones in a position to do something. Everyone else was still regaining consciousness or digging themselves out from all the debris that the gunship had caused. The gunship that Kai Leng was climbing into. He stopped and looked back. Waved at me.

Then the doors closed and the gunship began to rise.

NO!

I broke into a run, scooping up a pistol—I don't know whose—along the way. My finger squeezed the trigger, emptying the clip in a vain and futile gesture. Because as I watched in despair, the gunship flew away unscathed, carrying away with it our last chance to finish the Crucible, defeat the Reapers and bring this nightmare to an end.

"…anyone on this frequency? This is Lieutenant Kurin. My squad is trapped!"

It was Kurin! The asari I'd met when we first touched down on Thessia. She'd been tasked with the thankless task of securing the bridge to the Temple of Athame, despite horrific casualties, so I could get there and find the Prothean beacon. Well, I'd failed at that, but maybe I could make some amends by getting Kurin and her people out of there. "This is Shepard! Give us your location."

"I repeat: is anyone on this frequency?"

She couldn't hear me. I didn't know what was going on, but she couldn't hear me. "We read you!" I shouted. "Give us your location!"

"The lieutenant's down!" another asari shouted. "Our whole zone is collapsing!

"What happened to Shepard?" a third one asked. "Did they make it to the temple?"

"I saw them—wait, I've got a Reaper inbound!"

The cries and screams echoed through the comm as the Reaper descended, its gargantuan bulk so large that we could see what they saw. The instrument of their destruction descending to consume them all. Then another came down. And another.

"Please! Is anybody there? I—oh, goddess. No!"

Mercifully, the comm went silent. There was nothing I could hear but harsh static and the deafening drone of the Reapers. Someone—Miranda, Liara, I don't know—touched my shoulder. In support. Sympathy. Maybe to silently ask what our next move would be.

I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry. I wanted to fall to my knees.

But I didn't.

Somehow, we got a hold of Cortez. I only know that because the shuttle touched down at some point, we silently filed in and found our seats, and we took off again. We flew back to the Normandy in defeat, pondering our failure. My failure.

I made it to the Comm Room. There was a light blinking. Someone was trying to get a hold of me. I just stood there, leaning against the entryway, watching that little bright light blink on and off. Listening to that insistent chime ring out. Because somewhere, on the other end of that light and chime, was someone waiting for good news. Only I had none to give.

With a heavy sigh, I pushed myself up and finally entered the room. I slowly walked over to the console and opened the comm channel. And then I waited.

After a few seconds, Councillor Tevos appeared before me. "C-Commander Shepard, is that you?" she asked. Her voice was deeper, broken up by static.

"Commander?"

Her voice was clearer now. "Councillor… the mission…"

The interference came back. I had to strain my ears to hear her next words. "We've lost all contact with Thessia… the planet has gone dark."

Then we got a clear signal again, which meant I heard her next question with crystal clarity: "How soon will the Crucible be ready to deploy?"

Well. There was only one answer I could give. "Councillor… I wish the news was better. We didn't get the information."

Her jaw dropped, if only for an instant. She leaned forward. "W-what happened?"

"Cerberus was there. We were…"

I trailed off. Tevos lowered her head heavily, propping up with one hand in a gesture of dismay. "We were defeated," I finally said. "Cerberus took the beacon from the temple. We don't know how to finish the Crucible."

…

"I… don't know what to say. What was the situation on Thessia?"

"Deteriorating fast," I admitted. "The Reapers are there in strength."

"Then you'll excuse me. There are…" She stopped as her voice cracked. With a visible effort to maintain some semblance of composure, she continued. "…preparations to make… continuity of civilization to consider… I never thought this day would come."

"None of us did. I'm…"

I looked up. Tevos had already closed the channel.

"…sorry."

(1): In hindsight, I believe it was a combination of both reasons. It had been several decades since I had last visited the Temple of Athame. Yet even if I had been there more recently, or had come face to face with the Collectors, I suspect I would not have made the connection. Shepard—and, undoubtedly, the rest of the squad, were able to see the resemblance as they had a more objective point of view.

(2): It was extremely difficult to come to terms with what I saw. While I was not a diligent follower of the Athame doctrine, I—along with every other asari—had accepted her as part of my mythology and culture. To find out that everything I had learned and believed was actually due to Prothean interference and intervention, and that the highest levels of my government had covered it up as part of a millennia-long conspiracy, was almost impossible to believe. But I could not refute the increasing amount of evidence that had been uncovered that day.

(3): An incantation used in human magic tricks.

(4): Once again, I find it incredible how Shepard could see a redeeming light, however wan or fickle, in even the most repugnant of characters.

(5): While Shepard had equipped his omni-tool with the quarian variant of an EMP emitter after reuniting with Tali, he rarely made use of this function. This mission proved to be one of the exceptions.

(6): The fantastic tale of how Shepard was reunited with his long-lost father, and learned what had happened to him, will be told elsewhere and need not concern readers at this time.