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When Shepard arrived at the Citadel, she went first to see Ann Bryson. There had been a little time for Ann to adjust to the loss of her father, and Shepard couldn't afford to give her much longer before they learned whatever the young scientist could tell her about Leviathan.

Ann was hard at work, studying video recordings of her father's experiments and jotting down notes, frowning over them as Shepard entered the lab. She looked up, startled, nearly falling off her stool. "Oh, Commander! I wasn't expecting you."

"I'm sorry to barge in like this, but I was hoping you had some intel for me. Anything that could lead me to Leviathan would help."

"You're just in time, actually. I had reached out to you on your ship, and they said they were sending EDI over as soon as they docked."

"Good." EDI's presence would be helpful. "Have you remembered anything about when Leviathan took over your body?"

"Cold, and dark." Ann sighed. "Not very helpful, I know."

"Maybe we can jog your memory." Shepard looked up at the fragment of Sovereign enshrined near Ann's desk. "You know, I'm still amazed your father got his hands on a piece of a Reaper."

"He was so excited." Smiling at the memory, Ann added, "Your claims validated years of his theories. He would have been so happy to have been able to work with you."

"I'm sorry that never happened." Shepard frowned at the Reaper shard. "I assume he took appropriate steps to prevent indoctrination?"

"Of course! It's completely shielded. And we all had regular psych evals. But now, thanks to the artifact," Ann added bitterly, "I'm indoctrinated anyway. Aren't I. Might as well be a rachni drone, waiting for orders from the queen."

"Do you know much about the rachni?"

"I wrote my dissertation on them. My father thought it was a waste of time, but now …"

Ann broke off as a skycar landed outside, and EDI got out, followed by James Vega. He and Ann both smiled foolishly when they saw each other, and both tried to hide it. Shepard smothered her own smile, greeting her companions before turning back to Ann.

"You were saying something about studying the rachni no longer being a waste of time?"

"What?" Ann tore her eyes away from Vega's muscles. "Right. The rachni … Yes. I think they might actually help us understand Leviathan. You see, we think of the rachni as telepathic, but there's really no such thing. At short range, the queen uses pheremones to give orders. At long range, she uses an organic kind of quantum entanglement communicator."

"How does that help us with Leviathan?"

"Because I think whatever Leviathan does must be similar, entangling particles to stimulate neural activity. It uses the artifact to establish a connection, and then it controls the mind of anyone near it."

"We didn't detect any energy emissions from the artifact," Shepard argued.

"But the Reapers were able to use the artifact to trace Leviathan."

"Exactly, EDI," Ann agreed. "My theory is that most of the time, the artifact simply acts as a receiver. Which means we would only be able to trace Leviathan through it if it actually took control of someone."

"As it did on the asteroid," Shepard said, beginning to see where Ann was heading with this.

"Right. But it only bothers to connect if it has something to communicate."

"Pardon me, Dr. Bryson," EDI said, "but a quantum entanglement communicator is untraceable."

"Normally, yes," Ann confirmed. "But this isn't a natural QEC. Leviathan has to send a pulse through the artifact to alter your mind and create the quasi-QEC effect. And that can be traced."

EDI nodded, understanding the distinction. She walked over to the star map and began calling up the search program. "Whenever you're ready, Dr. Bryson."

"Wait, what, now?" Vega asked. "You're not thinking what I think you're thinking. Are you?"

Ann nodded. "If the artifact only sends out a signal when Leviathan's controlling someone, let's give it someone to control."

"I don't like it," Shepard said, shaking her head, "but we're out of options."

"It's a long shot, but I … I have to do this." Tears welled up in Ann's eyes and she blinked them away. "You're looking for something to fight the Reapers, Commander, but I'm looking for the monster that murdered my father."

"Whoa. Wait up. This sounds dangerous as hell," Vega objected.

Ann smiled at him. "I'll be all right."

"You know this is loco, don't you?"

She nodded.

"Fine." As Ann took a seat next to the shielded artifact, James stood behind her. "Then I'm going to be right here." He put a gentle hand on her shoulder, and Ann reached up to press it with her own.

"I'm ready," she said.

Vega punched the button to drop the containment shield, and they all stood watching Ann. Waiting.

"Nothing," Ann reported. "Nothing yet. Wait. I feel a chill …"

"EDI?"

"No trace yet."

Ann suddenly started convulsing. James held her shoulders so she couldn't hurt herself. When her shaking stopped, she spoke in a voice that wasn't her own, the voice Shepard was coming to recognize as Leviathan's. "Turn back. The darkness cannot be breached."

"Signal is tracking. Maintain connection," EDI said.

"Listen to me," Shepard said urgently to Leviathan. "I found you. And the Reapers are right behind me."

"You have brought them. You are a threat."

"So are you! I've seen what you can do. The war needs you."

"There is no war. There is only the harvest." Ann 's body convulsed again, more strongly this time. Vega swore in Spanish as he tried to hold her without hurting her.

"EDI, do we have enough?" Shepard asked.

"Partial lock. Maintain connection to narrow the search."

"Commander!" Vega cried, his meaning clear. He wanted her to stop this. But she hadn't reached Leviathan yet, hadn't made her point.

Shepard leaned down. "We can fight them! We can win this. With your help, we can win this!"

"The cycle cannot be broken." Leviathan's words were coming more painfully through Ann's lips now.

"You're wrong!" Shepard said, wanting to jump up and down and scream and swear. Why did every single ally have to fight her?

"Focusing the point of origin," EDI said.

Blood was trickling from one of Ann's nostrils now, and Shepard was afraid of what might happen if they kept this up any longer. James was holding her against him, trying to slow the thrashing of her body. "I'm stopping this!"

"Do it. Raise the shield."

He punched the button, and Ann fell forward, James barely catching her before she landed on the floor.

Shepard knelt in front of her. "Ann, are you all right?"

Slowly awareness came back into Ann's eyes. "I … I'm not sure. It hurts."

"I'll get our doctor here to take a look at you."

Leaving James to hold Ann, Shepard stepped away to call Dr. Chakwas, who assured her she would be right there. She stopped next to EDI, asking quietly, "Did we get anything?"

"Yes, Shepard, but it will take time to search. Coordinates have been sent to the Normandy."

"Shepard." Ann's voice was weak. "Leviathan is angry. I don't know if that's what you wanted, but it's what you got."

"Angry is good," Shepard told her. "Angry means it knows we're getting close. I can work with angry." As she had so many times before, she thought. And no doubt would many times to come.