Note: Thank you very much for all the favorites and follows. Thank you for the reviews as well. Feedback is always appreciated.

I had to work this DLC into my story, Overlord was definitely one of my favorites and I took it and made it my own. Please enjoy and thank you for reading.

Mass Effect
"Foreign Relations"

Chapter Eight: Project Overlord

The only person on the Normandy that Sidda could say she was afraid of – or at lease leery of – was Zaeed. He was a mercenary, a ruthless one at that, and she had his undivided fury at the moment. Zorya was an enlightening experience. Zaeed's history was interesting and he'd survived a bullet point blank to the head. She'd forced Zaeed to give up on his need for revenge and let Vido escape. Had Samara not been there Sidda was certain she would have had to fight both Zaeed and Isla on that platform but she didn't. They both wanted Vido dead for different reasons.

"That's enough, Zaeed!" she barked to silence him. "You want revenge, I get it. I really do."

"You don't get a fucking thing! That man is a murderer, a rapist, and he tried to kill me," Zaeed snarled back.

"I know that, Zaeed, but I was not about to let all those people die just to satisfy your grudge."

Zaeed took a threatening step closer. No one else on the ship could make her flinch but Zaeed was damn close. She didn't want to fight him but if she did she wouldn't shoot to wound. Vido shot him in the head and he survived. "I was wrong about you," he growled. "Your reputation is fake. Just a pretty cunt who got lucky."

Sidda's teeth clenched. "One more word, Massani, and we can throw down right here," she replied in kind and he saw the faint blue glow and felt the negative pull of dark energy. "I know what I cost you and I will make it right. We found him once and I will find him again, on that I promise." She remained calm despite the danger she felt she was in. Zaeed was a very dangerous man. "Those are my term, if you don't like that I can take you back and drop you off on the rock I found you on."

Zaeed weighed his options. He'd end up having to fight the whole damn ship if he challenged her. She was his best option to find Vido again. He didn't say anything, didn't heel, didn't give in, he just growled and stormed out.

Once he'd left Sidda let out a breath and practically deflated. "Are you alright, Shepard?" EDI asked and this was the one time Sidda didn't care that she had a voyeur.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied letting out another deep breath. "I am really glad I didn't have to fight him."

"That would not have happened, Commander, I would have implemented countermeasures to subdue Mr. Massani." The AI told her.

"Thank you, EDI."

"You are welcome. There is a message from the Illusive Man marked as urgent, Commander."

Sidda avoided the powder keg that was forming within the crew. Isla thus far didn't seem to blame her for letting Vido escape but Zaeed remained as pissy as ever. She ignored his attitude. Let him fumed quietly. Along with her mission to save the galaxy from galactic extinction she was once again relegated to the role of galactic cleaning crew just like she had been for Hackett. She spent most of her time destroying Cerberus cells.

Sidda met Nov at Dark Star as he had asked. She wasn't much into the club scene anymore but didn't mind it with Nov. "Hey," he greeted with a smile. She still had visible, albeit fading, marks from their first night together and he loved seeing that. "There's my girl."

"Hi, Cal."

"You want a drink?" he asked and she shook him off. She was pressed for time and when she was with him she tended to let time run away from her.

She had a practical reason. Yes, she didn't have much time, but also there was a track record. "Every time I go into a bar with you I get into a fight," she told him and he chuckled.

Nov could care less. Bar fights were fun…mostly. "You know that's when I fell in love with you."

She narrowed her eyes. "What?"

He remembered a good deal of what happened in Oblivion despite the epic hangover. "You took on bar full of Turians to save my drunk ass."

She scoffed. Her head hurt just thinking about that. "It was stupid, Cal, alcohol or military bravado, I don't know which was worse. And I didn't do it alone, I had Damar as backup."

He chuckled. "Stop trying to talk me out of it," he smiled. "You sure you don't want a drink?"

She shook her head again. "Nah, I actually don't have a lot of time. You think the Spectres can spare you for a bit? I'd like your help on something."

Nov nodded as he downed a shot. "Whether or not the Spectres can spare me, all you have to do is ask."

"Aww, you're sweet, Cal," she giggled.

"You need to get out more. Straight to business…not even a 'hi there, how are you'."

"Hi, Cal, how are you?"

"Wishing I could have you in my bed every night," he replied seeing her blush a deep shade of red. "Will you hurry up and destroy the collectors so I can have you every night?"

"Do you use that line on everyone?" she asked and he chuckled.

"Is it working?"

"Come with me and find out," she flirted. "On second thought, I think I will have a drink." She decided and stepped away from the table they were standing by. She bumped into a few Batarian by accident and apologized. "I'm sorry."

The two Batarians scoffed at her. "Humans are the scum of the galaxy," one grumped to his companion. "Everywhere you turn they skitter around like rats."

Sidda sighed letting the Batarian run through the typical insult. She wasn't looking for a fight but knew that Nov saw and heard the exchange. "Look, I said I'm sorry. I don't want to fight."

"You're the so called 'Hero of Elysium'…you killed a lot of my people that day…," the other one growled, his hostility clear and got closer to Sidda. Too close for Nov's comfort.

"Back off," Nov warned and the Batarian shot him an undeterred look.

Sidda sighed. "Is that the best you got? I've been trash talked by things way bigger than you," she snipped and the Batarian grabbed the front of her shirt yanking her towards him.

Nov was in action before anyone knew it and yanked the Batarian away from her with an angry, threatening growl. "Touch her again and I'll pull your eyes out through your asshole, got it?" he threatened and Sidda snorted at his colorful choice of phrases. "Now, back the hell off."

The Batarians were drunk but were not looking to tangle with him and Nov shoved him backward. He turned back to Sidda who was smiling with her head cocked to the right. "Wow, I got a knight in black armor…," she said wistfully. "I didn't really need the help but I do like watching you flex some of that muscle to defend me."

Nov smirked and moved toward her looking her up and down. "Glad you like it. Let's go before they come back."

Nov was flat out amazed by the Normandy SR2, the first Normandy was impressive but this one blew it away. "Wow, talk about an upgrade," he praised. "This is one beautiful ship."

Sidda smiled but felt the need to warn him. "Cal, just promise me you'll keep a lid on whatever you see."

Nov accepted the human phrase. "I've been special forces my entire adult life, Sid, I know the meaning of classified."

She nearly laughed. "I'm serious, Cal."

He cocked his head, curious now, as they stepped off the elevator to her quarters. "What the hell do you have on this ship?" he asked as she moved in and opened the door to her spacious quarters.

"Welcome aboard, Spectre Nov," EDI said over the comm and the Turian froze, confused by what was addressing him. "it is good to finally meet you in person."

"And who would you be?" he asked and the icon for EDI appeared to his left.

"Cal, that's EDI, the Normandy's artificial intelligence."

Nov didn't hide his shock. He really couldn't "What?"

"EDI's an AI, fully self-aware, installed on this ship for this mission by Cerberus," she explained and Nov stood speechless. A thousand questions hit him but he couldn't think of a single one to ask.

"A Cerberus ship with aliens on it and an AI installed onboard…I must be dreaming."

"You are not, Spectre Nov, I was very impressed with your skilsl and service record. I look forward to working with you."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, my service record? What the hell is Cerberus doing with my service record?"

"When compiling dossiers for this mission you and Maj. Cerrus were considered as potential recruits." The AI explained and Sidda blinked. She had no idea Nov and Cerrus has been considered but wasn't exactly shocked that they were not included in the end.

"And I suppose I didn't make the cut?"

"Your status in the military at the time made you unavailable and given Maj. Cerrus' feelings towards Humans he was deemed to be unsympathetic and dismissed as a potential recruit."

"Oh, he'll love hearing that," Nov snorted. He wasn't happy with Cerberus having his classified records and would bring that up with Sidda later.

"EDI, can you give us some privacy?" she asked.

"Of course, Commander."

Nov looked around her quarters, for a frigate, these quarters were huge. The SR2 was bigger than the first one but still far smaller than the Lante. "Living the life of luxury, huh, Sid?"

"This is what I wanted you to look at," she said and handed him the pad. "I know it's not much to go on but I saw the words experimental technology and, no offense to Tali, thought of you. You're the best engineer I've ever see in my life."

Nov smiled as he scanned over the pad. "You don't have to flatter me, you've already got me."

Sidda rolled her eyes. "If you're up for it…feel like playing around in a highly experimental super-secret Cerberus cell?"

"Wouldn't miss it."

Sidda gave Nov the grand tour and introduced him to those he didn't know. He found Isla again, seemingly in a little bit of better mood. He noticed a hickey peeking above the high collar of the tunic she was wearing. He smiled to himself and decided not to poke the bear with her. Garrus, yes, but she reminded him of Cerrus in several ways. He had to give it to Garrus, Isla was very pretty. She did show him the rifle they all used during the assault on the abandon foundry. The Mattock was, in a word, magnificent.

He sighted down a Mattock pulled tight to his shoulder and dry fired it. "Honey, can I have one?" he asked Sidda with a chuckle.

"Can we spare one, Isla?" Isla didn't mind Nov, he talked a lot but he was nice enough and he knew his weapons. She smiled at his enthusiasm and nodded.

"Yes, you can have one," Sidda grinned and he set the rifle back down on the table.

"I'll be back to mod that," he said to Isla who just snorted.

"You don't need to mod it," she said and he looked at her.

Sidda giggled. "Cal, you can stay and play if you want."

He shook his head. "No, I'll come with you."

"This is the Tech Lab…figured you'd want to play in here too," she waved a hand with a chuckle and Nov tapped a few things on the consoles. A few griped at him due to lack of clearance or access but he left them alone.

The Salarian ticked away at his console but gave them his attention when they approached him. "Ahh, Commander," Mordin began and he looked from her to Nov.

"Mordin, this is Callus Nov," she introduced. "Cal, Dr. Mordin Solus."

"Glad to meet you," Mordin replied. "Have heard of exploits, Capt. Nov. Understand you have significant technical skills."

Nov shrugged and Sidda seemed to beam with pride. "Cal here hacked his way through a secret Batarian base once."

"Yes, of course. The extraction of Spectre Kryik," Mordin nodded and Nov narrowed his eyes.

"STG," Sidda clarified. Nov could have guessed that. Mordin didn't seem like the cowardly, hyper active Salarians that were crawling on the Citadel. He had scars, and from what he judged, carried himself with confidence. "Well, we won't keep you, Mordin, just wanted Cal to meet everyone."

"Actually, Commander, wanted to talk…medical matter, pertinent for Capt. Nov to remain, aware that you have physical and sexual relationship. Recommend caution with Turian. Ingestion of dextro or amino material may cause anaphylaxis. Turian males also larger than Human in many respects, suggest you be gentle."

Nov blinked. The topic of conversation that taking them both by surprise. Sidda couldn't believe what she was hearing. Honestly, she thought he was joking but then she quickly realized he wasn't. "Uhh, Mordin, it's okay. He's not the first Turian I've had. I can handle it." As soon as the words left her mouth she couldn't believe she'd actually said that. How embarrassing.

Nov was having a very difficult time stifling a laugh.

"Oh," Mordin stammered, "impressive, Commander." Sidda wanted to punch him and Nov then go hide and never come out again.

Nov failed to stifle that one and a laugh escaped. Sidda was extremely uncomfortable but he was trying not to drop and roll on the floor laughing.

"Stop laughing," she ordered and he only laughed harder. "Are you kidding me, Mordin?"

"I would never, Commander." The Salarian sounded almost offended by the insinuation that he would use this as a joke. Sidda's face burned. "Chafing also common. Turian have tougher skin plates, against sensitive human flesh prolonged rubbing may cause discomfort. Suggest the shower, warm water will soften Turian plates and provide lubrication."

By this time Nov stopped trying to hide it. He doubled over laughing as Sidda's embarrassment deepened the color of her face. Sidda was beyond embarrassed and flustered. "You, stop laughing," she ordered again pointing at her Turian laughing Hyena. "Mordin, really, I appreciate the concern but I do know how to…have sex with a Turian." That sounded worse out in the open.

Mordin ignored Nov. To him this was all practical, as a physician and a scientist it was his duty. "Understood, still recommend keeping epinephrine on hand for accidental exposure. Will also have ointments and creams available for skin irritation or inevitable abrasions, Turians bite when they mate." This whole conversation was getting worse as it went along. "Advise you to be careful when biting, aware Turians like to bite the neck, erogenous zone on Human as well as Turian, Humans however have more vital components in the neck."

"Mordin, I am begging you, on my hands and knees, please…stop." She was mortified but Mordin was just being a scientist and a doctor. Nov was still laughing.

"Apologies if I made you uncomfortable, Commander. Please see me if you need anything more."

On the way out Sidda was certain she would never be able to look Mordin in the eye again. "Can we try the shower thing now?"

Aite was the picturesque garden world, a planet that was ripe for colonization. It was as close to Earth as you could get but with the added attraction of faint rings. The rub was that the planet was going to be destroyed in 200 years or so by its destabilizing moon. Other than that, Aite was beautiful.

Sidda picked Garrus and Tali to come along. When it came to Tech it never hurt to being others along. Garrus and Tali made an excellent team anyway.

"What is that?" Nov asked indicating a ground ship he had never seen before.

Sidda smiled, for all its shortcomings, she loved the Hammerhead. It was fast, maneuverable, powerful…but yes, it was made of glass. "M-44 Hammerhead. Not as tough as the Mako but it is definitely more my speed."

Dropping from the Normandy in the Hammerhead was a lot like a Mako drop. The Hammerhead was a smoother ride and its thruster fire wasn't nearly as violent as the Mako's. The force was still felt but Nov loved the feel of a drop. Sidda put the Hammerhead squarely in the middle of the landing pad at the designated coordinates. It was a base that turned out of be one of many for what was called Project Overlord. The name was ominous enough to make Sidda unhappy and it got worse with the explanation of what was going on. Leave it to Cerberus to try to create a VI/Human Hybrid…and then let it get away from them.

The VI overwhelmed the human volunteer and took over any VI in the area including the mechs designed to protect the scientists. Instead they became the executioner…and there were Geth. Yes, Project Overlord was another Cerberus experiment that went ass up.

Sidda and her team cleared up Hermes Station, the communications center apparently, before the runaway VI used it to broadcast to the whole system. It was collectively agreed that that would be a horrible thing. From Hermes station Sidda piloted the Hammerhead to Vulcan Station, Overlord's geothermal plant. A little bit of lava hopping and a disheveled facility later Nov talked Sidda into letting him take a spin with the Hammerhead and declared Sidda the best girlfriend ever.

"Next target is Prometheus Station." Archer's information on this was vague. They knew it housed the Geth they were experimenting on.

"What's with these names?" Nov asked punching a few keys on the console. The Hammerhead was simple enough to figure out how to control.

Sidda situated herself in the gunner seat as the Hammerhead hummed smoothly through the valley. "In Greek mythology Hermes was the messenger of the gods. In Roman mythology, Vulcan was the god of fire and smithing."

"Well that fits," Tali commented, Vulcan station was definitely hot.

Nov spared his girlfriend a glance. "Dare I ask what Prometheus is?"

Ancient Earth history was something Sidda liked, she'd read books as a hobby when she was growing up and took electives while at the academy. "Prometheus was a Titan, stole fire from the gods and gave it to humanity, for which he was severely punished."

Nov, as with everyone else, could see the parallels. "Can't say I like the sound of that."

"Just do what I do, Nov, expect the absolute worst on a mission with Sidda…that way you can only be surprised," Garrus put in and Sidda glared at him. He wasn't wrong but she still glared at him.

Much like the Mako, the Hammerhead a gunner seat and a mechanic seat. With Nov piloting, Sidda took the gunner seat and Tali the engineer station, while Garrus relaxed in the back. The Hammerhead was a smooth ride until it jolted forward like Nov hit the jets. The Hammerhead was easy to fly but something wasn't right. "Umm…uh oh," Nov muttered catching Sidda's attention.

"What?"

"I don't have control," he answered and tapped several keys to try and get a response from the flight controls.

Sidda gave him her full attention but was just as confused as he was. "What do you mean you don't have control?"

"What part of that do you not get, Sid?" he responded while still trying to illicit some kind of response from the controls. "I don't have control, it's not responding."

"Why?" it was a stupid question really but she couldn't stop the question. Nov was annoyed, that was the only time he really snapped at her but she could also tell he was worried when he stopped talking all together.

The Hammerhead's VI screeched to life revealing the rogue VI that had taken over Project Overlord. "Might have something to do with that," he said.

The Hammerhead launched upward with far more trust that it was normally capable of, jostling them all. "Override the VI," Garrus suggested, "purge it."

Nov was trying but the VI screeched at him again. "I can't. I'm locked out."

"Pull it," Tali said and was in action before anyone really knew it. She moved from her seat to the small space to the right of the pilot's seat.

"Altitude's increasing…I thought this thing had max thrust." Sidda said and Nov ignored it.

"Come on, Tali," Nov encouraged. He wasn't clear on what she was doing, but of everyone in the Hammerhead besides himself, he bet she would fix this…or at least get him some sort of control back.

Tali opened the panel under the main console, scanned it quickly making the VI screech again, pulled the entire relay. Half the systems went dark and the engines went silent.

"Well, I think that solved the VI problem," Nov muttered as they felt the weightlessness of the Hammerhead ceasing its ascension and falling back to Aite.

"Altitude?" Garrus inquired feeling a bit superfluous in the situation.

"225 meters," Sidda replied as Tali kept working from where she pulled the relay.

"Oh, boy," Nov muttered. "Tali, I need control back now."

"Working on it," she said sharply. Nov kept trying to fire the engines but whatever Tali was doing wasn't done yet.

Nov watched the altimeter dropping like a rock. "Tali…," he pressed again but the Quarian didn't respond right away. "Tali."

"Got it," she announced and scooted back as quickly as possible. There was only one way out of this and she really wanted the Hammerhead's seat restraints for it.

The Hammerhead whirred back to life. "Alright, hang on." The Hammerhead was going far too fast and Nov hit the thrusters to slow down before they splattered to the ground. They all felt the Gs and Nov felt like someone was sitting on his chest. The Hammerhead shook as Nov taxed the thrusters more and more, they were going to overheat. His quick calculation deduced that they wouldn't be slow enough before they hit the surface. The impact would kill them. "Come on, come on. This is gonna be close."

Without the VI he had to calculate this in his head and hit the boost at the perfect time before hitting the surface then control the speeding Hammerhead until it slowed enough they could stop. The Hammerhead approached the surface and Nov fired the boost. The force of it hit and they felt more Gs as the Hammerhead rocketed forward. The impact was felt as the ship bounced hard on the surface sounding like it bottomed out and fish-tailed, threatening to spin out of control across the landscape. Now it was all piloting, Nov focused on the terrain speeding past him.

To the outside observer it probably looked like the Hammerhead was in a road race, weaving through canyons and down creek beds, but in reality, Nov was just trying to make sure they didn't hit anything. If they did they were dead. They came out of the canyons and reached green rolling fields and the Hammerhead had bled off enough momentum they could come to a stop.

The occupants let out a collective sigh and Nov collapsed back into the seat clearly relieved. "Fuck me," he swore. "Everyone okay?"

Garrus grunted righting himself in the back

"Keelah," Tali responded also relieved but she was the real hero here.

Sidda leaned over and kissed Nov. "Nice flying, Cal."

Nov wished he could take the credit…he couldn't it was gravity that ran that show. "More like falling."

"Nov, I'm gonna buy you a bottle of whatever you want," Garrus told him from the back of the Hammerhead.

The other Turian scoffed. "Not me. Tali's the hero here…pulling the VI control…nice thinking."

"Are we good to go?" Sidda asked and Nov tapped a few things on the console.

Nov and Tali weren't sure. "Give us a minute." Nov replied as Garrus exited the ship to look at the exterior. The Hammerhead wasn't as tough as the Mako and it had landed hard, the thrusters smelled like they were burning but seemed to be intact.

After a few minutes he returned and reported as Tali and Nov finished their quick check. "No automap, VI targeting assist is down," Nov told her and tapped one more thing, "most everything works so long as it didn't need a VI to run it."

"Manual control?" she asked and he nodded.

"I can fly it manually, Garrus on the guns, Tali on maintenance…we can do it."

Sidda nodded. "Just like the Mako."

Garrus snorted. "Made of glass." He switched places with Sidda in the gunner seat.

Nov went a bit slower with the Hammerhead under manual control. Even with the VI offline the ship handled beautifully. Too bad it wasn't as tough as it should be.

"Approaching the coordinates for Prometheus Station," Tali announced.

Nov brought the Hammerhead to a stop at the edge of a drop off and let Tali scan it. "Son of a bitch," Garrus said as he saw what they all saw.

A derelict Geth ship. "Prometheus stole fire from the gods and gave it to humanity," he repeated. "Well that fits."

"Are you calling the Geth gods?" Tali inquired and Nov stammered.

"No…I just think we're gonna get our asses kicked."

"Rogue VI presences confirmed. It has control of the cannon." Tali informed as her console squawked at her.

The Hammerhead was fast but could not take a hit. "We are definitely gonna get our asses kicked."

"Maybe not," Garrus thought out loud. "Those shield pylons…take them out and we can get in under the gun and take it out."

The two Turians looked at each other and Sidda certainly saw them smile. "I run you gun?" said Nov. They were grinning…she was sure of it.

All Sidda could do was hang on and observe. Nov dropped the Hammerhead at a 90-degree angle to the cannon that was 'infected' by the rogue VI and begun his game. The goal was to let it target, lock, and then gun it out of the way.

"What's this remind you of?" Garrus asked conversationally like he was actually enjoying himself.

The Hammerhead had a gun that rivaled the Mako's and it made short work of the shield pylons once Nov used the Geth cannon to blow away the individual shield protecting them. "APC training," Nov chuckled.

APC training was just what it sounded like, it wasn't dull and war games were used. "Gotta be the best week of boot," Garrus replied.

"I'll go with squad tactics."

Garrus couldn't argue. Squad tactics was late in the training, the recruits against the instructors. "Which did you have?"

"Warehouse. You?"

"Spaceport."

"Ouch."

Sidda cleared her throat pointedly. "Gentlemen, I know you're having fun an all but…could we?"

"You just sit in the back and take a nap, Sid, let the Turians handle it," Nov chuckled as he continued the simple pattern of allowing the Cannon to lock and then scoot out of the way.

Tali chuckled and Sidda sat back. "And that's when I shot him, Your Honor," Sidda muttered.

The crashed Geth ship was in a word, creepy. It was far too quiet and had disabled Geth everywhere. The big Prime in the foyer was a troubling item. It appeared to be in stasis but given Sidda's luck it wouldn't be in stasis for very long. They pressed on to override Prometheus' lockdown.

Nov was examining a console when the VI appeared and screamed an indecipherable message again. He lingered a moment as the image lingered longer than it normally did. Something nagged at him. It had been nagging since Hermes Station, the explanation from Dr. Archer was plausible but something didn't add up he just simply couldn't figure it out.

"What's up?" Sidda asked as the green flickered and vanished.

"I don't think this thing wants to hurt us."

Sidda's brow furrowed. "Uhh, have you been here this whole time?"

"Yeah, I know, Hermes, Vulcan, drop us from a great height…I just…I don't know," Nov acknowledged knowing how crazy it sounded but it was a nagging feeling that was driving him crazy. "Nevermind."

Sidda wasn't sure what to say. "Come on, I think Tali's done with tetrus."

Getting out of the crashed Geth ship was hairy to say the least, even though they had all anticipated having to fight Geth on the way out, they were nearly overwhelmed by the sheer force. As of right now Sidda was extremely glad she'd brought this team with her. Nov and Tali alone were a devastating duo. The Prime that they had been leery of on the way in didn't disappoint on the way out. They had all fought Primes before but this one took it to a whole other level…even with it being at the disadvantage of elevation.

"I guess that one gets the gold medal for toughness. Damn," Sidda commented as the behemoth fell. "Cal, you okay?"

Nov took a hit right to the chest from the plasma rifle. His shields and top of the line armor kept him alive but it still felt like he'd been run over by a Krogan. "Yeah, I'm okay," he managed out and looked down at his chest.

Garrus piloted the Hammerhead to Atlas Station so Nov could take a little break. Mostly he needed to evaluate his armor, there was damage but his omni-tool read that it was superficial.

"What's on your mind, Cal?" she asked, he was uncharacteristically quiet.

He was still thinking about the entire situation. The more stations they tore through the more he felt that there was more to this. "Archer's not telling us everything."

"Yeah…I'm sensing that too," she agreed. "Still think the VI doesn't want to hurt us?"

"It's doing everything it can to achieve its goal but…I don't know…something doesn't feel right," he told her and was aggravated that he couldn't pinpoint his intuition.

"Alright, kids," Garrus announced from the front. "Atlas Station."

"Looks like we'll figure it out soon enough," Sidda muttered and he snorted.

Atlas Station was worse than all of them combine, although it didn't have the creep factor of Prometheus. Once again it was shockingly easy to get in but they knew that the problems would surface when they wanted to get out. They reached the lockdown and carefully entered the room. So far it was all too easy, this was the main lab, it was far too easy and they all knew it.

"Don't be surprised that if by hitting this I summon the end of the universe," Nov joked carefully examining the area.

"Or a Reaper," Sidda muttered. The other shoe had to drop at some point.

"I think those are the same thing," Garrus added.

Nov touched the console and felt the virus invaded his Omni-tool and crawled up into every cybernetic implant he had. He let out a strangled scream as a sharp pain arrived in his temple then dissipated. To Sidda the scream sounded like the distorted noise on the monitors. His vision changed and seemed like that of a virtual reality.

"Cal?" he heard ringing in his ears and Sidda was starting to panic. "Cal, are you okay?"

He couldn't respond even if he was coherent enough to do so. Sidda was worried. It seemed that the virus took over Nov's body. His eyes were the green color of the monitors and he seemed dazed.

Nov staggered a bit as he walked and collapsed to his hands and knees in the corridor they came in. He heard the door close behind. He was so disoriented he felt nauseated but when it cleared up his realities had merged. He was in the same facility but the environment was virtual. Gold grid patterns were hard to look at because the depth perception was off. He turned back to the door that had closed behind him. "Sid!" he shouted but there was no response.

He stumbled as he moved back down the hall they'd came from. He saw a green orb in one of the labs and headed towards it. His head was starting to throb. The virtual reality was very disorienting. As soon as he got close to the orb it was revealed to be a data node, for lack of a better term. He watched Gavin Archer talking with someone, presumably his brother. His brother seemed a bit strange, almost like a Salarian. He attributed that to the mental disorder he suffered. Once that construct was finished he moved to another one. This one showed David conversing with the Geth. It was amazing really. No one had figured out to actually communicate with the Geth in their own 'language' but this young man had. It was incredible.

Nov was beginning to understand. The more 'nodes' he watched the more this made sense. The virus was David. The poor kid was trapped and terrified. By the time he watched the last node in the labs he understood fully and he was going to kill Gavin Archer. They had been told David volunteered but that wasn't the case. At first it seemed he had but when David asked him to stop his brother ignored it and forced him into the merging, the VI then proved to be too much for him and overwhelmed him. "Hang in there, Kid, I'm going to help you," he said aloud after the familiar plea from David was heard. Begging for someone to help him.

His head still hurt but he pressed on. Blended realities or not, he found Geth, firing his rifle made his head throb even more but he had to disconnect the VI/Human Hybrid before it uploaded into the Normandy. As he was fighting everything began to make sense, Prometheus, Hermes, and Vulcan Stations all had the same thing in common Mechs and Geth doing all they could to carry out the VI – or David's – wishes. It wasn't until now Nov understood they were trying to help him.

"Please! Make it stop!" David cried again.

"Kid, stop throwing the Geth at me, I'm trying to help!" he shouted ducking behind a pillar. The AI Core had cables leading to it and he had to decide quickly how to stop the upload. The Core was shielded but a big enough explosion would take care of that once the shield was down. The small green orbs of the virus travelled down the cables to the core. He shot them before the made it, then shot the Geth that materialized to stop him. The Mattock was a gift from the spirits. They were protecting the Hybrid but the person screaming for help was the Human. When the Core shield dropped he let his Disruptor grenades fly. The grenades arched and hit the remaining Geth too. He shot again this time at the core, he deduced that bringing down the AI Core was the way to make this all stop.

His shields were brought down and he felt the impact of the Geth plasma rifle. "Come on, Kid, work with me," he grumbled while reloading his rifle. One more hit from the Disruptor grenades and the Core was down. Once the Core was down there was a pulse explosion and Nov was hit with the same disoriented feeling that he had before. The construct reality vanished showing the one he belonged in but his headache remained. Once he was able to focus he wished he hadn't seen what he saw.

"Quiet! Please, make it stop!" he heard David yell again.

He got his first look at David Archer, the VI/Human Hybrid. Nov was horrified and disgusted by what he saw. "Spirits," he breathed shocked by the Human hanging in the middle of the core with wires, tubes, and ports throughout him connecting him to the core. "David?"

"Please. Make it stop," he repeated in a quieter plea.

Nov didn't even know where to begin. All the technical knowledge he possessed and he had no idea what to do now. "Wait! Wait!" he heard from behind him. Gavin Archer, the one who presided over this particular corner of hell.

"What have you done to him?" he demanded. "You told us he volunteered!"

"It…it started that way but after a while…," he trailed off clearly understanding that this was wrong on every level. "Watching David communicate with the Geth…it was incredible. It all seemed harmless."

Nov wheeled on him and pointed to David. "Does THIS look harmless!?" he roared angrily.

Gavin didn't like being shouted at and glared at the Turian Spectre. "The Illusive Man demanded results, you don't understand-…"

"I don't give a fuck!" he roared. "He's your brother! He trusted you to protect him and you turned him into THAT!"

"You'll never understand. We needed a way to defend ourselves against the Geth-…"

Nov wanted to beat the daylights out of him but so far, he'd held his composure…barely. "The only reason the Geth attacked was because they were trying to help him!"

"You don't know that."

David infested his cybernetics to show him the truth so he absolutely did know what happened. "I do know that, I saw it, you son of a bitch," he snarled.

Gavin paused and considered what he had done. Something he should have considered long ago. "What I've done to David is unethical. Please, let me take him. Take care of him."

Nov laugh, he wasn't amused he was flabbergasted by the nerve of this man. "Are you kidding me? You're never going to see him again. Cerberus will never touch him again."

"You can't do that."

The best thing in the galaxy right now was that Nov actually could do what he threatened. "I am invoking Spectre authority under Council directive 2135-B and remanding David Archer into my care." He wanted to make sure he sounded official. If he had to he'd take this all the way to Council, the Asari, the Alliance, and the Turians. This was reprehensible no matter who you asked.

"You can't take him aw-…," Archer didn't get a chance to finish as Nov punched him across the jaw and once he was down he continued until the vile individual was subdued.

Nov didn't have siblings but he didn't need to have them to know that this was wrong. It enraged him beyond his senses. "You hear this because I'm going to say this once and never again: if you ever come near him, write him a letter, even think about him, I will kill you. I swear this on the two I hold dear and my own blood. I will kill you," he punched him again to make sure he remembered it.

"Cal!" he heard Sidda call. "Ca-…oh my god."

Nov moved away from the bloodied Doctor. "Sid, call the Alliance and you may want to get Dr. Chakwas down here too," he called back. "Garrus, lock this piece of shit in a hole somewhere."

Sidda wore the same horrified expression as Nov. She wanted to know what happened to David but was also concerned about what had happened to Nov. "What happened? Are you okay?"

His head still hurt but it was trumped by his anger. "You are not going to believe this shit."

Nov turned back to David chanting the same thing over and over again. "It all seemed harmless." How anyone could do this to another person let alone family was deplorable. David was also handicapped, a mental disorder and that enraged him further. "It all seemed harmless."