"That is close enough!"
"Relax Jong, they are obviously not Geth"
"Get back Julina! Who are you?! What do you want?!" Jong yelled.
"Commander Shepard. Here to remove your geth problem"
"See. You worry too much" Juliana said to Jong.
"And you trust to easily"
"I am just glad to see a friendly face. I thought we were the only humans left on this planet"
"Fai Dan and some of the members of Zeus hope are still alive" Shepard said.
"I thought you said they were all dead" Juliana angrily said to Jong.
"I said they were probably all dead" Jong said.
Garrus pulls myself, Wrex, and Tali to the side and whispers "I dealt with enough rookie drug dealers to know when someone is hiding something. He is paranoid about something."
"Could it be stress from the geth attack?" Tali asked.
"No, the kid is right. Something is off" Wrex concurred.
I need to keep silent about the thorian. It is getting more difficult to keep my knowledge of future events hidden. When I enter into new universes, my physical body becomes "stiffer." If I do not maintain my alignment to the frequency of this universe, I will spontaneously pop out and it is near impossible to return to the same universe if I have not lived there for a very long time. I also need to convert my physical body back into energy. It is like flexing a muscle. The less I do it, the worse my control will get. We need to hurry and get this mission over with.
Shepard has finished his investigation of the survivor camp. Afterwards we load up in the mako and continue our drive to the exogeni building. The ride is very bumpy, and the sudden turns made it even more uneasy. Wrex was leaning back, not really caring what would happen. I wonder if he survived a car wreck before with his healing factor. Garrus is leaning forward and holding his hands. I heard the word spirit leave his mandibles. I wonder if he is praying. Tali is starting to hyperventilate.
"Hey hey calm down. Things will be ok soon" I assured her.
Tali's hands jump from her lap and latch onto the safety bars when Shepard swerved to avoid a geth attack.
"We are almost done. I just have a couple of geth left to pick off" Kaiden said.
"Should I be worried about you?" Shepard asked as he ran over a geth.
"I am fine. I just never been in something that isn't a ship" Tali tried to ignore her feelings. Her shoulders rise as she breathes in. Not as high as I see other people do when they have a panic attack. I wonder if something about her alien muscles limits their movement.
"Relax, it is just a bumpy car ride. It is not uncommon where I am from. We will be back walking on the ground soon" I said. This seems to slow her breathing a bit.
"It is a mako. Not a car" Kaiden said.
"It has wheels and moves around the ground. It is a car" I retorted.
"Cars have been going out of fashion for a long time. Where are you from?" Shepard asked.
Crap, a slip up. What the heck am I going to say? What could I reveal that is not the entire truth but will get him to drop it? I could say… no, forget it, just speak from the heart.
"I do not want to remember it" I said.
With that we reach our destination. We get out and stretch our legs. When Wrex jumps onto the ground I notice the mako went up at least an inch. Tali has started to calm down. Her breathing is shallow but slower. She is coming out of it.
"You two good?" Wrex asked Garrus and Tali.
"I am fine. It has been a while since I was out in the field. Not nearly this much danger in the citadel. The rush feels fantastic" Garrus said.
"I'll be ok. We should hurry and remove the geth ship from the building. I think if we sever the power connection holding the ship up, they will be forced to land or leave" Tali explained.
BANG.
"Sorry sorry I thought you were geth or varren" the young women wearing a lab jacket said.
"Do not insult me" Wrex said.
"I am Commander Shepard with the alliance. I am here to deal with the geth. It is very important to me that I know why the geth are attacking."
"I do not know if I should be talking about this, but I think they are here for the thorian. It is an indigenous plant-like lifeform with special mind influencing properties" she said.
"The geth would have no interest in mind control of organics" Tali said.
"No, but Saren could. What else can you tell me? Where can I find the thorian?" Shepard said.
"I uhh, I might be able to but not with the geth crawling everywhere. You need to disable the field. The geth have been laying cables all over the place." she said.
"Tell me about yourself" Shepard said.
"I am a research assistant. I came here with my mother. I don't even know if she is still alive" she said.
"Your mother is Juliane. She is at a survivor camp. She is safe for now" Shepard said.
"Really?! She is alive? Thank goodness." she said ecstatically.
"The path is clear. Head back to the camp. We will meet you there after we deal with the geth here. Everyone split up and look for a way inside" Shepard said.
I break away from the group. My mind is starting to feel hazy. I can take a moment to focus. I walk around slowly along the perimeter and pretend to be searching. I see the hole we will have to drop down in order to proceed. Focus on my breathing. Deep and slow. Push the diaphragm down and slowly bring my chest upwards. Fill my torso with air. Let the energy flow and harmonize. I do this for a few minutes until Shepard calls everyone over to the hole.
"This looks like the only way inside and it is one way. Everyone be ready. Avoid shotguns and move carefully. There is no telling if this building will collapse at any given moment" Shepard jumps down and observes his new surroundings. He looked back at us and said it is all clear and to go one at a time. Kaiden goes first and uses his biotics to give himself a soft landing. Garrus kneels down to the edge and carefully lowers himself. Tali did the same to avoid damaging her suit. I just jumped. So did Wrex and his landing nearly caused the hallway to collapse. We advanced to the stairway when we hear "stupid machine." The team carefully moves up the stairs, covering ourselves with whatever rubble or walls we can use and see a krogan threatening to turn a hologram's ass into dust.
"What is another Krogan doing here?" Garrus asked.
"This is bad. See those yellow lines in his armor? That means he is from clan mat'ock. Infamous for doing anything for the right price" Wrex explains.
"I am sorry. Please set aside as there is a line behind you" the hologram gives our position away. The unknown Krogan turns around and charges at us. Shepard throws a grenade. Kaiden and Wrex simultaneously throw a biotic blast which knocks the krogan into the wall. We can hear this awful cracking noise. I do not know if it originated from his armor, bones, or hump. I do not want to know. The grenade explodes in his face and takes half of it in the blast. The sight is unsettling.
"That was way too close Shepard. If he is here, there will be others and we won't be that lucky again" Wrex said.
"Any suggestions?" Shepard said.
"Do not use this against me. Fire can overwhelm our healing factor. Take these inferno rounds. They slide into this slot in the steel blocks of our firearms. The mass effect field will do something I do not understand to make it fiery" Wrex pulled out red metal card things and showed us how to modify our guns. He warns they only last for 30 rounds then it is spent. We made our way to the first claw. We see two geth kneeling in front of a bright white glowing orb.
"What are they doing?" Kaiden whispered.
"The geth might have their own religion. We know very little" Tali said.
"Religion is formed out of a need to understand where they come from, to feel special. The geth know where their origin and have no feelings. Why would they be worshiping anything?" Shepard asked.
"Even sentient robots need purpose and meaning in their life" I comment. This does seem odd now that I think about it. The geth I have seen are not complex enough to be compatible with the energy of a soul and yet, they are attempting religion. I wonder if they can feel something is missing. It would be an intuitive alert rather than an emotion. I wonder if Legion will be different.
"If they want to meet god, we should send them packing" Shepard fires on the unsuspecting geth. Kaiden crushes the other in a azure light. It was a piece of cake with only the two. Tali points out the hardware used by the geth and shows us how to dislodge the claw. Removing the clamps resulted in the claw to drop. The shift of the weight shook the entire building as dust was coming off the ceiling. We explore the building and find the remaining claws. There only issues are fighting other krogan. They are no joke. If we didn't outnumber them three-to-one and have two biotics, it would be challenging. Shepard was able to hack the geth communications and forwarded important information to the council with his omnitool. I am assuming it is a secure line or whatever they do now. Shepard fiddled around with that annoying pressure minigame to finish our quest here.
We made our way back to the mako and to the survivor camp. Shepard is righteous with anger. A vein formed above his right eye.
"We found the data. You were experimenting on the colonists. I know about the thorian!" he screamed at Jong and Juliane.
"We technically did not experiment on the colonists. They settled on top of an unknown indigenous life form. A risk with any colony. We just observed the effects" Jong said.
"I don't care. You let innocent people become infected with who knows what" Shepard's face is getting pink and slightly swollen. He is pissed.
"I am a spectre. I can kill you and get away with it. In fact, I just might" Shepard raises his pistol towards Jong's head. I'm shocked. I look at the aliens and watch Kaiden. His arms are folded and looks calm. I do not like this. My mouth widens as I observe the intense scene.
"Wait, I have a suggestion. The colonist's behavior may turn hostile. The thorian's spores also cause the immune system to be weakened. A low dosage of a neurotoxin, not enough to cause damage in normal people should render them unconscious. Careful, inhalation may cause vision issues" the research assistant said.
Shepard takes a moment to consider. He slowly lowers his gun and tells Jong to get lost. I breathe a sigh of relief. I keep my distance. I do not want to upset Shepard right now. We wait for Juliane's daughter to make a dozen grenades. Shepard gives four to Kaiden and Garrus. I would have questioned why I was not getting a couple if the air wasn't filled with tension. We slowly walked back to the mako. A few minutes pass.
"Shepard are you alright?" I softly ask.
"I am ok. I was angry but it was mostly a show. I want to avoid bloodshed If I can" he explained. I make a mental note for later.
I let go of the tension in my chest. Shepard and Kaiden vent about how horrible exogeni are for how they handled the thorian. Shepard ponders what had happened to Ashely. It is unlikely she has been there long enough to succumb to the effects of the thorian. There was also some back and forth trying to figure out why Saren wanted a mind control plant. Wrex suggested a plan to control the council from the shadows. Garrus thought Saren would contaminate the water supply to influence the general population. Tali had this dark idea to make the other races war with each other and have turians grab power after everyone was weakened. We pull up to the gate and see it.
A wrinkled dark green humanoid figure squatting down. Its head is buried into its knees. A bald head without the classic shine. Very thin limbs. In some areas you can see a bony substance poking through while other areas almost look normal.
"What is it?" Garrus asked with a mixed curiosity.
"Do we really want to know?" Wrex barked up.
Shepard reaches for a small black piece of plastic with a red button on the side. He holds it up to his mouth and says "This is the alliance. We are here to help the colonists. Are you ok?"
No response.
"I will exit the mako slowly. Kaiden you too. Be ready to incapacitate him."
All of us in the back seats move up and attempt to get a view. The driver and passenger seats block most of the light but it does not stop us from peering through. Garrus's right mandible grazes my left shoulder. Wrex is slowly breathing down our necks with an uncomfortable heat. Shepard and Kaiden slowly approach the creature. It quickly stands up and tries to grab Shepard's neck. Kaiden levitates the creeper which causes it to spew a green bile towards Shepard who barely dodges it. A round pierces the monster.
We get out of the mako and approach the dead creatures. A light green ooze comes from the bullet hole. Shepard is visibly shocked and attempting to process what he had done.
"Did I just…" he trails off.
Kaiden kneels down and examines the body. "No I do not think so. Shepard I do not see brain matter. This thing was never human" he remarks. This just causes Shepard to be even more confused.
"If there is one there are more. We need to get to the colony now" Garrus said.
A switch flips in Shepard and he returns to soldier mode. We enter the gate and are met with bullets from the colonists. He tries to reason with them but fails. We used our switching places trick to maximize our shields to get close and use the grenades to knock them out. We proceed to the colony and neutralize violent colonists. We hear gunshots coming from a tower with a few bodies laying on the ground. It is Ashley. She sees us.
"The colonists have gone crazy and have been trying to reach me shortly after you left and to top it all off weird thin green people are running around spitting everywhere" she explains.
Kaiden throws a grenade towards a few if the colonists and I one shot a creeper. Ashley starts to come down when Shepards asks if there is anything important she can see up there. She says the remaining colonists are over to the west of the colony. She comes down.
"Are you alright?" Kaiden asked.
"Yeah I am fine. Thank god I was able to get to the tower in time" She said.
"Smart move. Gives you a clear line sight, easier to aim, and only one way to you. Take notes kids" Wrex said to myself and Tali.
"Careful the shields only prevent high speed impacts. It won't stop the vomit sprays" She explained.
We make our way west and neutralize the remaining colonists. There is no sigh of Fai dan. I am getting worn out. I do not have long until I need to re-energize. My gun needed to cool down and, in my recklessness, I punched a creeper. It sprayed my left forearm. The pain was intense. I focused my awareness onto the damaged limb. I tell myself to let the pain flow. The signal will dissipate soon. It hurts but the pain makes me feel alive. Hopefully my brain will release the feel-good endorphins and I can focus on that. I just have to wait until all the nerves die and stop firing the signal. Wait, I can just use my energy to block the signal from reaching my brain. I will have to heal my arm when I am alone.
"How bad is it?" Kaiden asked.
"I do not know. I have been through worse" I said. I switch to my pistol and let my left arm rest. We make it to the area where the secret entrance to the thorian is. Fai Dan should be coming around the corner soon. I casually hide by nonchalantly leaning against a wall. A few moments pass when the leader of the colony comes with a pistol. He does not see me and focuses on Shepard.
"I tried to fight it, but, I can't" He cries as he raises his pistol towards Shepard.
"Put the gun down. You can fight it. Your people need you" Shepard glances to me.
"I-I uh I am sorry" he placed the gun against his temple. That is my que.
"Hey, You are forgetting something!" I yell. He looks at me with surprise and I smack the gun upwards. The bullet narrowly avoids his head. I tackle him to the ground and lock his hands behind his back. He is putting up a good fight. "Throw a grenade!"
"What about you?" Shepard asks.
I breathe in as deeply as a can. My cheeks filled with air like a hamster storing food. I close my eyes and wait for the grenade. I can feel the chemicals cover my body. I hold until Fai Dan stops fighting. My eyes still closed. I get up and take a few steps away from the cloud. My body is asking for air which I need to ignore. I wave my right arm to move any questionable chemicals out of my atmosphere. I wheeze out the stagnant air out of my chest. I breathe in fresh air; it feels invigorating despite filled with ash and alien spores. I open my eyes and see Ashley right in front of me.
"Did you breathe in any?" She asked.
"No. The researcher who made these grenades said it should not harm uninfected people. I still don't want any chemicals in my body" I said.
Kaiden ties up the colonists and the surviving Fai Dan. We restock with the salarian merchant's leftover supplies and head down to meet the thorian.
"That is a plant?!" Shepard asks in disbelief.
"Never thought I would be so excited to do some weeding" Wrex said as he choked his shotgun.
The large plant-like biomass senses us and sprouts a green asari to greet us.
"Sacks of meat. Only good for digging and fertilizing. Why did you come here?"
"Hey look at that. She is a charmer" Garrus said.
"Saren was looking for you. What did he want with you?" Shepard asked.
"Saren requested to receive information to think like a prothean to understand the vision of the beacon. A bargain was struck" she said.
"How could you possibly know that?" Kaiden asked.
"I have witnessed the war against the protheans. Their corpses nourished me and I learned what they knew. I gave Saren what he wanted and he betrayed me. You carnivores never learn!" She yells in anger.
"We have a common enemy. Give me what he came here, and I can track him down" Shepard said.
"LIAR!" the green asari's biotics start to flare up. The thorian's real body starts to move in agitation.
"I do not like this" Garrus comments.
I need to meditate ASAP. I am stopping this fight. I hate doing this, however I am short of time.
"Shepard, I can get her to talk."
"Please help me. We do not have to fight" Shepard said.
"No more. The time for talk is ove"
I walk up to her. Shepard wants to avoid bloodshed so that is what we will do. I place my hand on her shoulder and look deeply into her eyes.
"UNHAND ME YOU mea…" her face of rage transforms into bewilderment and her eyes grow wide with fear.
If I focus intensely on keeping my energy deep within my body and prevent it from radiating it outward, It will feel unnatural to anyone else. I make my hand cold by transferring the heat upwards and cut off blood flow to my hand. I then absorb all the light entering my eye and make it appear pitch black. Wait, asari do this with melding. I add flowing orange veins in my eyes. To top it all off I share the memory of killing the thorian when I played the game. She won't know it was a game. To her I must seem like a demon. Supernatural eyes and a cold that borders on death, showing her an imminent demise. I hate making people terrified of me; however, this will save her life. Telling myself this does not get rid of my negative emotions.
"Listen closely. All we want is for him to get the knowledge of the protheans. Either you can give it willingly or we can fight. What will it be?" I ask.
"I'LL GIVE IT UP. I"LL DO ANYTHING" She begs. I stop what I was doing. I relax my energy and twist my neck to relieve tension. I turn around and see confused faces.
"What did you just do?" Wrex asked.
"Women looooove me. They like doing stuff to make me happy. Isn't that right Ash?" I said. They look unconvinced.
Shepard slowly steps forward to the green asari and asks what to do. She is visibly shaken but explains melding. Kaiden confirms that is how it works with regular asari. From the outside it looks like Shepard had a sudden headache, but I know he is processing the visions.
"Did you see anything?" Ashley asked.
"I still do not fully understand it, but I saw more. I'll need time" Shepard said. "Thank you for your help"
The thorian remains silent. We begin to walk out when a thorn in my brain nags at me.
"Why do you look like an asari?" I not so innocently ask.
"Saren used an asari partner to transfer the information from me to her to himself. I will release her now and I promise to release to the colonists" She offered. The green asari collapses and melts into goo. In the distance we hear the asari captive be released and calls for help.
The mission is a success. The colony is safe and the geth are gone. Everyone stares at me, trying to figure me out. In this moment, I do not give a crap. I take care of my after-mission duties and ask Shepard if he needs to patch into the council. Apparently in this universe sensitive information involving any connection to Saren must be communicated to the council in person, so we are going back to the citadel. I suspect it might be a while for retrieving Liara or going to Noveria. Shepard tells me to go to Chakwas to get my armed looked at. I am adamant that I need to meditate immediately and say I will afterwards. He tried to persuade me, but I refused. Shepard is concerned for me. Wrex mentions he was amped up to fight the thorian. I offer to fight him later, to get him to release some steam. He laughs and says he might when I am ready. Wrex mentions I look funny. He asked if I was sick since he can't tell with humans. I told him no.
I am in my room which I share with Kaiden. I locked the door and used the panel to say not to disturb me for at least an hour. It is a good thing because I am starting to phase out. Kaiden knocked on the door and asked if anything was wrong and his cannabis was in his nightstand bottom drawer. I tell him everything is alright I'll need time to focus. He leaves. I sit down on the cold metal floor. I close my eyes and focus on the feeling of the ship. How the muscles of my legs support my weight. I breathe in deeply and slowly. I do it again. I do it again, and again. My mind is slowing down. I place my awareness on how the air in my lungs enters into my bloodstream and flows throughout my body. The flow. Feeling my physical matter and energy flow within. I focus entirely on my body, then expand outwards. I feel the immediate air and floor beneath me. I expand my awareness and feel everything into the room. I align myself to this universe. I stay in this state until I feel stable and slightly at peace. A slight smile forms on my face.
I then focus on releasing all the energy in my limbs into pure energy. It is a very difficult skill to learn. It involves training of the muscles to optimize energy production, blood flow, neuron connections, and then total relaxation. Relaxing every little bit of tension in my limb and allowing the energy to flow freely. Then releasing the matter into energy. I do this for each leg, my torso, and head. I leave my left arm alone as converting to energy then back to matter resets my body and would make my wound vanish.
I examine the wound on my arm. It's gnarly. I would heal it all at once, but that will raise questions. I'll fix a few layers at a time to expedite things. I'll tell them I have been taking good care of it and that is why I healed so fast. Technically not a lie. I then add medigel, wrap a bandage around, and head to the doctor. Today was a great day. I wonder how Fai Dan and the thorian surviving will alter things. Oh well, a surprise for the future.