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The three of them moved through the temple. Shepard wanted to hurry, but something in the quiet made her walk slowly, carefully. And it was a good thing she did, or she might have tripped over the bodies of the scientists, lying in a heap near the center statue.
Liara gasped in dismay. Kaidan knelt next to the bodies, studying them. "This wasn't the Reapers, Shepard. Their throats have been cut."
Shepard cursed softly. "Indoctrination?"
"Probably." Liara shook her head. "We're going to have to figure out on our own whatever they were going to tell us."
"Great." Shepard surveyed the temple. "Any thoughts on how?" In front of her was the giant statue that dominated the temple. "Maybe you can start by telling us who that's supposed to be."
"It's the goddesss Athame."
Kaidan frowned up at the statue. "She look like anyone you know to you?"
"Early images of Athame have her looking less asari than this statue. She grew to look more like us over time."
"If you ask me, she looks pretty Prothean."
Liara cast Kaidan a sharp glance and then returned her gaze to the statue. "That would raise serious questions about asari history. To consider that the Protheans may have been involved in our past—it would change everything we know about ourselves. Or think we know." She frowned thoughtfully at the stone figure. "Still … you're not wrong. She does have that look."
Shepard wasn't all that interested in asari history, or Protheans, for that matter. She had come for the Catalyst and that was what she needed to take with her. "Let's take a look around. There are a lot of artifacts in here—one of them must be the Catalyst."
Liara tore herself away from the statue, walking over to an illuminated page from an ancient book. "This is from the Athame Codex, one of our earliest religious texts. It talks about Athame giving us the gift of biotics as a reward for worshipping her."
"So if Athame was a Prothean, then …" Kaidan let the words trail off.
Ignoring him, Liara moved to a stone bust that stood nearby.
"Is this it?" Shepard asked eagerly. She wanted to get the artifact and get out of here. The silence in the temple was disturbing—she wanted to be out tracking the battle, taking her place on the front lines, not in here studying dusty old relics.
"I don't think so," Liara said with some regret. "This is Lucen, one of Athame's servants, who walked among my ancestors sowing knowledge. He taught us about the stars." She looked at Kaidan. "And yes, he resembles a Prothean. I don't like where this is all going," she muttered to herself. "It's … too incredible to believe."
"If the asari government knew all this, and they didn't tell us …" Shepard felt sick to her stomach. All this knowledge months, even years ago, could have helped so much.
"Typical government secrecy," Kaidan said. "They've got the key to victory—and they hide it."
"What about this?" Shepard asked eagerly. It was a shining sword, wickedly curved. It could be the artifact. It could even be the Catalyst.
"That's the goddess Athame's sword. The myths say she wielded it against jealous gods who threatened our ancestors."
"Jealous gods? Reapers! This must be it." Shepard reached for the sword, but Liara caught her arm.
"I wish I could believe this was it, but … I don't see how this could be the Catalyst, Shepard. The Crucible is enormous. Could something this small really be the key to unlocking it?"
"Everything about this feels wrong." Kaidan looked around at the silent temple. "This whole place gives me the shivers. Are we sure there's something here to find?"
"Someone killed those scientists just before we got here. It had to be in order to keep them from telling us what they knew. And they wouldn't have bothered—not with the Reapers invading—if what they knew wasn't important. No. There's something here. We just have to find it." Shepard walked back toward the central statue. Something about it felt … familiar.
A stabbing pain lanced through her head, her stomach churning. The pain felt familiar, too. She closed her eyes, feeling something connecting her to the statue, something within it speaking to her.
Behind her, Liara and Kaidan were still discussing the Protheanity of the statues and artifacts. "You know, if the Reapers hadn't attacked, this revelation would be the biggest event our civilization has ever witnessed."
"You think it's maybe not a coincidence that the Reapers attacked right when we were coming?"
"That—would imply indoctrination at very high levels of the asari government."
"Wouldn't be the first time," Kaidan pointed out.
Shepard's hand reached out toward the statue of its own volition. Opening her eyes, she said, "There's a Prothean beacon here."
"What? You're sure?" Liara asked.
"Completely. That feeling isn't something you forget."
"But why hide it?"
Kaidan frowned. "I wish we'd hidden the beacon back on Mars better. No telling what's in this one."
"A beacon like this could explain a great deal about the advances in asari civilization." Shepard shook her head, sickened. "If they'd only told us about this before, we might not all be in this mess."
"You're assuming anyone knew the beacon was here," Liara protested. When both of the others turned to look at her, she sighed. "Yes, they must have. You're right. Still—I hate to think it of my own people, that they'd let this happen to the galaxy just to protect an ancient secret."
"There's no time to speculate about it. Not if we're going to get out of here with the Catalyst." Shepard turned back toward the beacon, reaching out to it, letting it speak to her. As she did, the statue of Athame lit up as if from within.
"By the goddess," Liara breathed. "Literally."