Normandy March 11, 2183

Shepard wasn't sure what she was expecting with Dr. T'Soni, but a young stubborn asari wasn't it. Liara was almost too eager to prove herself, anxious not just to distance herself from Saren's mision, but offer to lay her skills on the table for Shepard to use.

It left a strange taste in Shepard's mouth, the kind of bitterness she'd come to recognize as the other Shepard's. She didn't want it. She hated when anyone did the same, placing themselves in Shepard's lap like a pawn to be used. She knew, of course, a good chunk of Liara's strengths.

Like most asari, she was a skilled biotic and on top of that Liara was more versed than anyone on the protheans and their technology. She'd been more than eager to help interpret the beacon's message. But Shepard turned her down.

The beacon had more or less made sense and nothing about the asari mind melds was comfortable. She'd never liked the idea of someone digging around in her head. She liked it even less with the number of secrets she held. In addition to that, the process was always exhausting for both parties. Neither of them were up for it.

Not that Liara seemed to care. She seemed to need orders for Shepard's concern to sink in. It had been over two days that she'd been stuck in the prothean force field. Even if she felt fine, it was only the adrenaline. Once the energy burned off she'd realize that too.

Being able to rest was something Shepard envied. Her duties after missions rarely allowed for it. They pushed her into paperwork and briefings one after the other, saying the same things over and over again.

The tedium was a routine in itself. One she was uniquely adept at managing. Neither the Alliance nor the council had anything on her time with C-Sec and Castis Vakarian.

Shepard would have to thank him one day, after she shifted through the mountain of poorly disguised worry he sent her. It was all old by now. He'd learned to send his worries through Garrus years ago when he'd learned of their friendship. She'd never been any good at replying… Or staying out of trouble for that matter.

a░h J░░░ 2░, ░1░6

There were craters on the shore, the kind that came with chaos. Rock and debris strewn across the beach. The tide pouring into the places where Sovereign had been, the Earth-shattering movement of a two-kilometre-long death machine.

Lila could see it in the distance behind her, tearing into the flesh of the city. The screams and fire were muffled by the distance but not yet droned out by the storm.

It's coming.

It's come.

It's over.

The other Shepard lingered by the waterline, tossing more than skipping stones into the water.

"So, you found Liara," she spoke softly, looking over at Lila. "Now what, Lils? One woman won't stop them. Try catching a leviathan next time."

"Did you want her here or not?" Lila snapped.

"Of course I do."

"Then-"

"But it means nothing. Just small comforts amidst total helplessness. It's you in control, not me."

Normandy March 11, 2183

Nihlus's messages had a trend of being blunt. It was a stark contrast to how he'd spoken when he was on the Normandy. But perhaps that was just because he'd been fishing for information. There was no real need to talk around a topic until Shepard slipped up if she was already offering the information.

To call this message blunt was an understatement, though. It was a single word and a series of translated files.

"Shanix."

It was infuriating that she knew what he meant and the unspoken question in his words.

What am I looking at, Shepard?

The first contact war, the way it was taught, skipped over the main reason it began. Of course, schools on Earth taught that humanity settled illegally on turian land. But that could have been hand waved away by being new to the galactic frontier. Stubborn as turians were, they were far from unreasonable. No, the real reason was the By on Shanix, the spire supposedly left by the protheans, and the first of the dragon's teeth to be discovered.

The effects had been different than the ones on Eden Prime, slower to take, and not immediately deadly. Instead, they relied on touch, twisting the curious into powerful abominations that appeared enslaved to the artifact.

The report Earth had said about the same. Though with humans, the mind had eroded slower. Saren and the human team that had stumbled upon the artifact had been more passive in their involvement. Really, it had been Saren's brother taking the initiative.

Desolas Arturis had seen a force to be harnessed. Super soldiers to be deployed at will if he could control it. But the nature of Reaper artifacts was their innate uncontrollability.

They took control first and the indoctrination was always absolute.

After the end of the first contact war, both Arturis brothers had taken the surviving human team with them back to Pallevan. Testing the artifact not just on them but on turian civilians under the guise of worship. It hadn't ended well.

In truth, the reports Nihlus had sent were more of the same to Shepard.

Saren was one of two survivors of the Shanix artifact, and it seemed they'd both decided the artifact was better left buried. The turian temple, the civilians, General Desolas Arturis, and all but one human were all but erased from history.

And the human who did survive, Jack Harper. He'd done a decent job of erasing himself too.

"I don't have all the answers, Nihlus. But I can tell you that the artifacts are pre-prothean, and their effect is permanent. Sovereign is an artifact too. I'm sure you can figure out what it's done to Saren."