While en route back to the Normandy, Arius had quickly furnished the port cargo hold with whatever materials he could scrape together. With assistance from some of the Alliance personnel and recommendations from Liara, they installed two shallow water basins and some aesthetic furnishings that had once been common during that era.

He had been standing next to the door when the procession of armed Alliance personnel led the Prothean, to him a living ghost, to the port cargo hold. The Prothean had passed him without acknowledgement and devoid of expression, but Arius had plainly felt the intense disappointment and loss the Prothean radiated. After all - it had been just hours ago in perception that the Prothean world of Eden Prime had fallen to the Reapers. In a stasis-induced blink, the galaxy had changed from under him like the pull of a rug.

Liara, wasting no time, had followed the Prothean into the hold shortly after. Shepard came down a few minutes later, wearing her dress blues.

"You coming in?" she asked him. "I would imagine this is a pretty big deal for you."

He shook his head. "Go ahead without me. I'll catch up later. No need to inundate him all at once - this is a massive enough shock."

Shepard shrugged and followed Liara into the hold. The door closed behind her.

Arius remained standing outside the door and couldn't shake the reality. The Prothean was safe in their care, which put part of his mind at ease, but the anticipation made him jittery.

"Arius," EDI's voice stated from somewhere around him, "Traynor was checking the bandage on her hand and expressed verbal puzzlement about the location of the earlier sustained laceration. I confirmed that she had not imagined the earlier injury, but now she has spent the last half hour reviewing ship logs and has developed a fixation on the disinfectant you used to sanitize the injury. I suggest conversing with Traynor sooner rather than later about your unique restorative effects on organic physiology."

He covered his head with his hands and sighed, then walked across the hall to his room. "Thank you, EDI. Please call Traynor and Vega to my quarters when they are free."

.

Shepard entered the port cargo hold.

Inside was Liara, a squad of armed Alliance personnel, and the Prothean, who sat meditating in the middle of the space. The dim lighting was reminiscent of the low conditions Shepard had seen in the recall. Liara was being kept away from approaching the Prothean by the Alliance personnel.

"What's the problem?"

"I've tried to make the room more accommodating, but they're not letting me talk to him." the asari told her.

"Apologies, Doctor," stated a guard. "Contact protocol with a new species: 'Assume hostility.' We had to dust off the regulations."

"But he's not new. I've spent my life studying Protheans," the doctor said.

Liara was correct - she had spent more time studying them than Shepard had been alive, but she had only read their works and stories at face value, whereas Shepard had peered into the mind of one. Javik was not the sage counsellor or brilliant scientist Liara had hoped for. He was a soldier like her, marred by the profound bitterness his war had inflicted on him.

"Shepard," Liara whispered to her, "This may also be our one chance to validate everything Arius has told us about the Protheans."

Shepard felt a subtle flash of indignation at the implication that Arius would have ever lied to her, which struck her as an unexpectedly emotional reaction to a completely logical point. And just like that, she realized she was getting ahead of herself. She firmly pushed that thought to the back of her mind.

"At ease," she ordered the guards. "I don't think our guest will be a problem. Will he?" she posed to the Prothean.

At the mention, Javik slowly rose from kneeling on the floor until he stood straight. The dim overhead lighting cast a wide shadow over his alien features, only amplifying the mystery and silent domination he gave off. "That depends on you." The voice was monotonous, but the threat was real.

Without warning, the Prothean darted forward, grabbing her arms with its hands. She was startled by the sudden movement, and the guards behind her immediately raised their weapons to defend them if necessary. But the Prothean didn't harm her. Instead, it half-closed its eyes. "I can sense fear in you," he stated, reading her. "Anxiety and distress. The Reapers are winning." Then he let go of her, and she pulled away, her human sensibilities not appreciating the unwarranted contact.

"What do you mean, 'you sense'?"

"All life provides clues for those who can read them. It is in your cells, your DNA. Experience is a biological marker." Javik turned toward one of the shallow basins of water behind him and washed his hands to clear away the traces he had picked up from her.

She motioned to the guards to stand down.

"Then what exactly did I experience back on Eden Prime? That was a hell of a flashback."

"The battle left its own mark on me. I communicated this to you. It can work both ways."

"Like your beacons?" Liara asked, joining the two.

"Yes. Which…" and he turned and touched her unprompted again, but this time he searched her for something specific. The images of the beacon were pulled into the forefront of her consciousness, and she was assailed with the galactic-wide Prothean warning of their annihilation.

Javik saw it too, and he backed away once more. "...you found one. You saw it all-our destruction, our warnings…" He grew angry. "Why weren't they heeded? Why didn't you prepare for the Reapers, human?"

"I prefer "Commander." And we did our best with what we knew. Your message wasn't exactly specific."

Somehow her explanation disheartened him further, and he turned from then. "Then communication is still primitive in this cycle."

"We pieced together what we could and used it to stop a Reaper invasion three years ago."

He turned his head, interest piqued. "Then the extinction was delayed?"

"Now we have your plans for the Crucible. We've started building it," Liara added, approaching the large console in the room.

"Crucible?" Javik repeated, not understanding.

The asari pulled part of the schematics they had. "The weapon your people were working on-I'd hoped you could tell us how to finish it."

Javik shook his head. "We never finished it. It was too late."

"Then I take it you don't know anything about the Catalyst?" Shepard asked.

"No. I was a soldier, not a scientist. Skilled in one art: killing."

"What was your mission?"

"Among my people, there were... avatars of many traits: bravery, strength, cunning. A single exemplar for each."

"Which are you?"

"The embodiment of vengeance." Javik's voice took on a grave tone. "I am the anger of a dead people, demanding blood be spilled for the blood we lost. Only when the last Reaper has been destroyed will my purpose be fulfilled. I have no other reason to exist. Those who share my purpose become allies. Those who do not become casualties."

She motioned to the guards to leave.

"Nothing in our fight against the Reapers has been that cut-and-dried." Shepard insisted.

"Because you still have hope that this war will end with your honour intact."

"I do."

He stormed up to her as if her exact answer had offended him. "Stand in the ashes of a trillion dead souls, and ask the ghosts if honour matters," the Prothean pointed outwards. "The silence is your answer."

Shepard couldn't refute that. She hadn't yet experienced total despair like he had.

Liara stepped forward, almost timid in her request, and suddenly in Shepard's mind, she was the Prothean researcher she had found trapped in ruins again. "If you don't mind, I have a few more questions I'd like to ask."

Here it comes...

"I've written over a dozen studies on your species. I've published in several journals–"

"Amusing," Javik stated with dry mirth. "Asari have finally mastered writing."

Shepard couldn't tell if Javik was intentionally being sarcastic, but she sensed he was being completely serious.

"I'm sorry?" Liara repeated.

"Never mind. What do you wish to know?"

"We've never seen a species with this sensory ability you have," Shepard relayed.

"It was common among my people, imparting experience through touch. The chemistry of life. Complicated ideas could be absorbed in seconds."

"That sounds very useful."

"We evolved as hunters. Reading a thousand details in our environment ensured our survival."

"I'm beginning to understand the beacons a bit more."

He nodded. "Later, we developed technology to harness our ability. Information could be stored in certain objects through touch. Memory has its own biomarker, its own chemistry. As do knowledge and skills... the beacons could "remember" these things."

"Things like Reaper invasions."

"Yes, I can still sense the turmoil in you. Witnessing the extinction of our empire. The fabric of your being was forever marked that day."

That was one way of putting it. "So, could you read something about this room?" she asked, curious about how far his ability could stretch.

The Prothean bent down to lightly touch the floor at his feet for a moment and straightened. "There was... liquid. A form of incubation. The DNA of a... krogan who lived here. He was powerful, prone to violence."

"I'm impressed. His name was Grunt."

"And if he were my enemy, I would have given him a wide berth. There is great strength in his genes."

"Liara, here, would never forgive me if I didn't ask you... What was your civilization like?"

The excited researcher chirped up. "Yes, I've always wondered. What sort of government did you have? And can you tell me about your religious beliefs? Or perhaps-

Javik didn't see the utility of the question. "We are dead now. What does it matter?"

"I'm... sorry. Studying your history has been a lifelong passion of mine."

"Where you come from tells me something about you," Shepard interjected.

Javik shrugged. "When I was born, our empire was already at war with the Reapers. The first thing I remember was seeing my planet on fire."

"What was your civilization like before the Reaper attack?"

"We were the dominant race of our cycle. We ruled the galaxy."

It was as dry as an explanation as he could have given, and Shepard could see that it wasn't nearly enough to satisfy Liara's interest.

"My studies indicated you were the only race engaged in space travel at the time," the asari asked. "I always found that curious."

"We were one empire composed of many subjects. All eventually called themselves 'Prothean.'"

"What if they didn't want to?"

"They weren't given a choice."

"Are you saying you enslaved the other species?"

"Any could oppose us if they wished. And if they had won, they would have ruled. Many tried. None succeeded."

Liara's ideals around the species were crumbling in real-time. "I had no idea Protheans were so... severe."

"It was by necessity. Very early we encountered the dangers posed by machine intelligence. They rebelled against us."

"We've had the same problem," Shepard remarked, "They're called 'geth.'"

"We could not allow the machines to surpass us. It was decided the only way to win was to unite all organic life within our empire."

"Did it work?'

"For a time. The 'Metacon War.' We were turning the tide. Until the Reapers arrived. Then we understood machines had surpassed us long ago in ways we could never imagine."

Wasn't that the truth.

"Back on Eden Prime it looked like there were other stasis pods. What happened?"

"The empire had fallen, and we knew our cycle was lost. We were the final vanguard, the best soldiers left alive."

"So more of you were supposed to survive into this cycle?"

"Yes. Under my leadership, a new Prothean empire would have arisen. We would have commanded the races of your time to prepare for the next Reaper invasion. But traitors within our ranks-indoctrinated agents-betrayed us, and the Reapers discovered our plan."

"Just out of curiosity, how would you have 'commanded' us?"

"By leaving you no other option. You would have joined our army-or faced the Reapers alone."

"We've uncovered quite a few Prothean ruins. Were you observing our ancestors?"

"Before the war, we cultivated species who showed potential. Eventually, you would have been offered a... choice to join the empire. But when the Reapers attacked, we ceased all study. We hoped they would see you as too primitive to harvest."

"Well, thank you. I think. Is there anything more you can tell us about the Crucible?"

"Only the stories we heard. They said our scientists were constructing a great machine that had the power to defeat the Reapers."

"You never saw it?"

"By that point, the empire was smashed into pieces. None of us knew what the others were doing."

"Well if we don't finish it soon, the same will be true of us," Liara said dryly.

"What can you tell us about your own war with the Reapers?" Shepard asked.

"Many of the details were lost. The conflict lasted for centuries. Those that faced the Reapers in the beginning were long dead when I was born. There were memory shards, however, passed down from soldier to soldier. They gave us fragments of what happened."

"Several years ago, we found a Prothean VI that called itself "Vigil" on the planet Ilos. He was the caretaker of a research project."

Javik turned his head, interested. "During my life, Ilos was only a rumour. It was said we had cities there, built on the ruins of a civilization before us-the Inusannon. If our scientists did have a research facility, whatever they were doing was secret."

"Yes, Vigil said they wiped all traces of themselves from the records so the Reapers couldn't find them."

Liara nodded. "The scientists eventually went into cryogenic stasis."

"More of my people survived?" the Prothean asked, hopeful.

"No. But they did stop the Reapers from taking control of the Citadel in this cycle. It delayed their invasion."

Javik shook his head sadly. "I never saw the Citadel. It was captured long before I was born."

"How did your people wage war against the Reapers?"

"Attrition. We fought them system by system, planet by planet, city by city. Entire worlds were sacrificed just to slow the Reapers down. Time they spent harvesting a population was time we could regroup."

Shepard knew that was a strategy they had seriously begun to contemplate. "That must have cost you in the long run."

"Yes. Our own people would be indoctrinated... converted... ...then turned against us. But there was no choice. Mercy is not a weapon-it is a weakness."

"Why do you think your own cycle lost the war?"

"What had been our strength-our empire-became a liability. All races conformed to one doctrine, one strategy. The Reapers exploited this. Once they found our weaknesses, we could not adapt. The subservient races became divided and confused. Then, it was only a matter of time."

"I'm happy to say our cycle is different," Liara status, ever the optimist. "Most races cooperate, but they still remain unique."

"Then it may be your only hope."

That was all she wanted to ask. Shepard nodded. "Thank you for talking with me. I never imagined actually meeting a Prothean."

He nodded back to her. "This has been... amusing."

"Oh?"

"To discover the most primitive races of my time now rule the galaxy. The asari, the humans, the turians…"

"There's also the salarians," Liara added.

"The lizard people evolved?"

Liara crossed her arms. "I believe they're amphibian."

"They used to eat flies."

Liara, done with the exchange, turned away and walked back to the door.

Undisturbed, the Prothean turned back to Shepard. "Commander, you may count on me. I am known as Javik."

"Then welcome aboard the Normandy, Javik."

.

"He's… not what I expected," a flustered Liara told her after they had both stepped out of the hold.

"They never are, aren't they," she responded. "But this wasn't wasted. So far, everything Javik told us matches what Arius had. And at the very least, we have one more motivated soldier."

But a frown had settled on Shepard's face, and it grew to a scowl as they walked further from the room and down the halls.

"Shepard, what is it?"

"I'm kinda pissed," she answered, gritting her teeth in frustration. "To think, Javik was in stasis on Eden Prime from the first mission that started us falling down this rabbit hole. If they'd expanded their search for other Prothean ruins and woken up a living Prothean who could provide irrefutable testimony that the Reapers were real and coming for them, just how different would things have played out."

"So much down to chance."

"I know. I hate it. Shows just how much of this is out of our control."