Welcome to the second part of Scott Gardner's journey. If you haven't already, I highly recommend you first read the previous entry, Mass Effect 1: Monsters in the Dark. Just like the first story, this one has been sitting completed on my computer for years and I finally decided to do something with it.
I would like to address the main problem with trying to novelise Mass Effect 2. The loyalty missions!
Having the relative freedom to choose the order in which you do missions works brilliantly for a video game. However, trying to form it into a concise story for a novel (or even a movie/tv show) is a nightmare. I've read other fanfics where all the loyalty missions are included, but the sense of urgency with the Collectors is lost in the process.
I've included ones that have consequences beyond the individual character. Mordin's is the perfect example. The consequences of his mission don't only affect him, but the whole galaxy as time goes on. I've given a little nod to some of the other loyalty missions, dealing with some of them in other (admittedly far more convenient) ways.
Anyway, now my babbling is over, I sincerely hope you enjoy the story!
Lazarus
Pain was all I felt. Darkness was all I could see. Faint, muffled voices could be heard around me but the words made no sense, they were just incomprehensible noises. My entire body felt like it was being sliced by a thousand tiny blades. My visions of the Prothean extinction returned more vivid and traumatising than ever before. But before they ever became too much for my mind to handle, I would suddenly slip back into the dark, cold calm of unconsciousness.
Voices returned. But this time I could hear the speakers far clearer than before. They were muted and felt far away, but I could clearly hear a man's concerned voice,
"Something's wrong. There on the monitor, he's reacting to outside stimuli. My god, Miranda… he's waking up!"
"Damn it Wilson he's not ready yet," a woman's voice said briskly, "give him the sedative."
My eyes shot open and I found myself in an enclosed room with bright, clean white walls and roof. An adjustable light hovered above me and the brightness hurt my eyes. Completely disorientated I reached out for the nearest body, hoping that it was one of my friends. My hand flailed about weakly as I grasped for help, desperate and scared. The woman's hand grabbed my wrist and gently laid it back down,
"I need you to try and relax Commander," she turned back to her associate, anxiety growing in her voice, "give him the sedative."
"I have. It's not working," the man, Wilson, complained.
My chest was in agony as my breathing became more panicked and out of control. The woman, Miranda, had to push my hand down again and she leaned in close enough for me to see her clearly; piercing blue eyes and long, jet black hair as dark as night against her snow white, clear skin.
"Commander," she said to me, "please relax. Wilson, give him another dose or we're going to lose him."
Where I had felt nothing but excruciating, crippling pain I now suddenly felt light and numb. I could no longer hold my head up and it thumped back onto its rest. Everything began to fade again, but before the world disappeared from sight and mind, I heard Miranda speak fiercely,
"I told you your estimates were off Wilson! Run the numbers again. We cannot lose him; he's the only hope we have."
I returned to the black, empty void as my consciousness slipped away: The visions of the Reapers exterminating trillions of lives playing over and over to me as I lay at their mercy, unable to shield myself from their fury.
An explosion went off; somewhere nearby.
"Commander!" an Australian accent yelled over an intercom, "Commander wake up!"
My body jerked and shuddered as another explosion went up even closer than the last. I opened my eyes, and realised to my surprise that I could see clearly. Miranda's urgent voice came over the intercom again,
"Commander, I need you to get up and get out of that room. There's a pistol in the locker next to the door. Hurry!"
I tried to sit up but immediately regretted it, my body felt like it was being torn apart by a rabid beast.
"Your scars aren't healed but you need to move. The station is under attack."
Fighting through the pain I managed to lever myself off of the bed. Only, it was not a bed; it looked more like an operating table. That thought spooked me a little to say the least, but I knew the sounds of battle when I heard them and the noise of gunshots and explosions were getting closer by the second. Limping and lurching across the medical room while hunched over as my abdomen screamed with pain, I reached clumsily for the pistol and rammed the only available thermal clip into it.
"I'm going to open the door and let you out, Commander," Miranda's voice said, "you need to follow my instructions if you want to get out of here alive. Be ready for the mechs, they'll attack you on sight."
The door opened and I peeked out into an empty corridor, but I heard the whining and whirring of mechanical parts moving. When I moved out with the pistol raised and the first bullet came whizzing past my head, all the pain and agony that I was in was forgotten and my training and instinct took over.
The mechs were simple security bots with no armour and very simplistic targeting systems, but the machine pistols that they carried were renowned heavy-hitters. Following Miranda's directions, I shot my way through several small groups of wandering mechs until I came to what appeared to be a mess hall. Several mechs had their backs to me and were engaging a single soldier on the far side of the room, seeking cover behind the kitchen counter. The mechs were closing in, but the soldier was no rookie and had biotic abilities which he used to hold the enemy back effectively. I dropped a couple of the mechs and attracted their attention when I shouted to the solitary soldier,
"Hit them while they're on me!"
Having time to aim up a biotic shot, he bowled over most of the mechs like pins at an alley and from both sides we both moved in and picked off the last of them.
"You're the last person I expected to see coming through that door. It's good to meet you Commander Gardner. I'm Jacob Taylor."
The dark skinned American motioned me over towards the way out,
"The mechs have gone crazy Sir, we've got to find the project leader and get out of here."
"You mean Miranda? And what project?" I asked, hoping to actually get some traction on what the hell was going on.
"That's her. And the project… well… is you, Commander."
"Me? What's going on?"
"Sorry," Jacob said, "forgot that this is all new to you. Tell you what; we find Miranda and get to the shuttles, I'll answer any questions you got."
In our current predicament he made perfect sense and so I let him lead on,
"Which way to the shuttles?"
Jacob took point and together we covered each other's backs as we moved through corridor after corridor and climbed several staircases. Jacob opened an access panel for one of the doors,
"We can cut through here. It's the security station; maybe I can shut off the mechs from here."
The door opened and a pistol whirled around to aim at us, but just before I let off a shot Jacob put a hand on my gun and lowered it. The man holding the pistol was a fat, bald and sweaty looking man with much of his hair gone, and in random patches as well, but Jacob sounded happy to see him,
"Wilson, thank God you're alive. We need to get out of here."
"Glad it's you Jacob, those mechs got me in the leg. And Gardner… good to see you up."
"Wilson," I remembered the row I had heard between Miranda and an associate scientist," you were there one of the times I woke up."
He looked round at me with sharp, intelligent eyes,
"Yeah that was me… ahh!"
"Relax," Jacob said as he applied medi-gel to Wilson's leg, "the shuttles are close by, no doubt Miranda will be nearby."
"Forget it," Wilson argued, "the mechs were swarming all over that area. No way she's still alive!"
"A few mechs won't drop Miranda," Jacob replied calmly.
"Then where is she? Why haven't we heard from her?"
"I have," I said, "she guided me to where I ran into Jacob."
Wilson almost looked disappointed,
"I guess she's not a traitor then."
"What?" Jacob's voice grew dark.
"I figured she was the one behind the mechs going crazy. I came here to try and disable them but she… whoever did this fried the system."
"Why the hell would Miranda sabotage her own project? Kill her own people?"
"Because of the Commander's… true allegiance. I thought she would see it through to see if we could actually bring him back to life, to prove that it could be done. And then take him out before he becomes a threat to us."
"Who is "us" exactly?" I grew suspicious. Wilson threw me a sideways glance but did not answer. Jacob spoke up,
"If I tell you who we work for, will you at least give us a chance to explain why we need you?"
"Depends," I retorted.
"You want to piss off the boss, that's your call Jacob," Wilson spat. Jacob ignored him,
"Commander, we work for Cerberus."
The name "Cerberus" hung in my ears for a long moment.
"And what do terrorists and extremists want with me? Why would you help me?"
"We need you," Jacob implored, "Humanity needs you. I don't have a lot of details, they're above my pay-grade. But thousands upon thousands, maybe millions of Human lives are in danger and we need you to find out what's going on."
I stared into Jacob's dark brown eyes and saw the truth with which he spoke. I simply nodded and said,
"Then let's get out of here to somewhere safe; then someone can tell me what Cerberus needs from me."
That was enough for now. The three of us continued through the facility, Wilson puffing and panting behind as Jacob and I scouted the way ahead and advanced. When we reached the door to the shuttle bay and entered, we saw the bodies of many men and women scattered around along with a good number of mechs.
"Miranda's been through here," Jacob said confidently, "she'll be at the shuttles, come on!"
I sprinted up the stairs after Jacob, and after shooting the last remaining mech that appeared out of a side office I joined him at the large gate that barred us from escape. Just as Wilson came up behind us, Jacob punched a code into the terminal and the gate parted before us; and there waiting for us was Miranda. Her eyes darted quickly from me to Jacob before coming to rest on the rotund Wilson. She raised her pistol and fired a shot straight through the scientist's neck, killing him instantly in a shower of blood.
I ducked aside as the shot was fired and trained my pistol on the dark-haired woman. She glanced at my gun with contempt as Jacob stepped in to stop me firing,
"Hold up Commander. Miranda, what the hell are you doing?"
"My job," the Australian-accented woman answered calmly, as if having a casual conversation over coffee.
"We've known Wilson for years!" Jacob protested, "Why'd you kill him?"
"He was a traitor. He hacked the mechs and everyone who's died on this station died because of him. And he would have killed us as well."
"But why?" I could hear the agitation on Jacob's voice, "he helped you and the bio-division bring Commander Gardner back. Why would he do that?"
"I intend to find out, but later. Right now, we need to get off this station: My boss wants to see you."
"You mean the Illusive Man? I know you're all Cerberus," I said to her.
Miranda's eyes flashed to Jacob,
"I should have known my friend's conscious would get the better of him. It's true; we're Cerberus. But I've put a lot of time and effort into this project, into you. I'd suggest that you give us this one chance."
I almost refused, but if they had gone through what could only have been a tremendous amount of trouble to bring me back then something important must have been happening.
"Ok," I said, "one chance. Let's go."
Where our shuttle was heading nobody would say, though I suspected that Miranda knew. To say that I was not unsettled by this whole experience would be a blatant lie. To know that I had been dead, and then brought back to life by those who I had always considered dangerous enemies. What was it all for? Then a curious thought struck me,
"How long have I been… out of action?"
"Two years and eight days, Commander," Jacob answered.
"Two… years?" I could not believe what I was hearing, and for the rest of the shuttle journey I found myself unable to speak. How much would I have missed? What was going on in the galaxy that was so terrible that Cerberus needed me? What had become of my squad? What had become of my friends and family? What about Tali?
While I sat in silence, Jacob and Miranda talked quietly between themselves until she was told that we were close to our destination.
"Commander," she said assertively, "before you speak with the Illusive Man, we need to see if your memories are still intact. Jacob has vouched for your combat abilities but we need to see if we really have brought you back as the man you were before you were killed."
Her frankness was kind of annoying but I let it slide,
"So this is an interview now? I left my resumé on the Normandy. My bad."
"A few questions to see if you are who you should be."
She switched on a data pad and fired away with the questions; she started with my childhood and where I had grown up before asking me about the battle on Elysium,
"During the Batarian attack on Elysium you won the Star of Terra and became a Hero to the Alliance and Humanity. Do you remember how you achieved that?"
"Blind luck," I said as the visions of my dead marines flashed before me, "If I didn't hold that position and give the men time to retreat to the Communications base then the Batarians would have overrun it and turned our anti-ship batteries against the Alliance ships. I did it to save as many lives as I could, but I don't consider myself a Hero; that was just politicians playing it up."
"I'm gonna have to disagree with you on that one Sir," Jacob said, "I remember seeing the news-vids about the battle and hearing what you did; made me proud to be an Alliance soldier and a member of the Human race that day. You're a Hero to millions."
"Moving on," Miranda continued in an uncaring tone, "on Virmire, where you destroyed Saren's Krogan cloning facility, you had to leave one of your team behind when the nuke went off. Can you remember that?"
I felt my temper flare and a faint burning sensation all across my body, but it obviously bled through to my expression.
"He remembers Miranda," Jacob said, "I don't think we should overstep our boundaries."
"Commander?" Miranda queried, pushing for an answer.
"I left Kaidan, a friend, behind to die that day," I answered fiercely, "and I didn't do it casually. And if I had stayed to save Kaidan then more lives would have been lost."
"I understand your decision, Commander," Miranda said, "it must have been terrible. But everyone in Cerberus agrees that that base had to be destroyed."
"Good to know," I said grimly.
"I think that's enough Miranda," Jacob said finally, "the memories are there and we know he can fight. This isn't the way to get the Commander to join our cause."
"Fine; we'll just have to hope that our little field test will be enough," the Australian beauty sounded irritated, and I was really beginning to have a bad feeling about her. Jacob on the other hand; I had decided that he was a good man, and he had definitely been in the Alliance at one point or another judging by his combat techniques. He was a trustworthy man; he was just in with the wrong crowd.
The small shuttle eventually docked at another large space station, no doubt another secret Cerberus facility. When I stepped aboard, I immediately wondered if we had even left the previous station as everything looked exactly the same; except for the many curious faces of the Cerberus staff that gazed out at me through numerous windows. I was thankful for the lack of mechs trying to kill us at least. Just as I was getting sick of the hundreds of staring eyes that were fixated on me, Miranda led Jacob and I into a private room before telling me to keep going through another door on the far side.
Jacob and Miranda went to do their own things and I was locked in the private room, unable to go anywhere but onwards. The room beyond was lowly lit, small and empty except for a round pad in the centre of the floor. When I stood on it a wall of light rose up from around the perimeter of the pad and encircled me, and the virtual image of a suited man sitting in a chair appeared in front of me.
"Commander Gardner," he greeted me with a husky voice.
"Illusive Man," I replied.
"I thought we'd be meeting face to face," I said to the Cerberus leader. In my head I imagined having a chance to kill the bastard.
"A necessary precaution; especially for people who know what you and I know."
"And what do we know?"
"That Humanity is facing the greatest threat that has ever existed."
"The Reapers," I agreed. The Illusive Man took a long draw of his cigarette,
"Good to see your memory is intact. How are you feeling?"
My antagonism towards Cerberus was really taking a hold of me again,
"Only my friends and family have the right to ask me those sorts of questions."
"We're on the same side Gardner, it's only our methods that differ. Nobody wants to admit it but Humanity is at war and our brief existence in this galaxy is at risk."
"So what do you need me for?"
The Illusive Man stood up and began pacing back and forwards,
"While you've been sleeping, entire Human colonies in the Terminus Systems have been disappearing. No one knows how or why, but hundreds of thousands of Humans have been abducted. We don't know who is responsible, and I need you and your abilities to get to the bottom of this."
"Bringing me back to life couldn't have been cheap. You must have been able to train an entire army for what you spent on me."
"You're unique; not just in your abilities but in what you represent. You stood for Humanity at a crucial moment against Sovereign and Saren. Your name is known across the galaxy. You're more than a soldier; you're a symbol."
"I didn't do that just for Humanity. The Reapers are a threat to every species."
"That they are. But now only Human colonies are being targeted. One can speculate that with the destruction of Sovereign at the hands of the Human Alliance, and you, Humanity has attracted their attention."
"You think that the abductions are being carried out by the Reapers? Did they find a way here without the Citadel Relay?"
Taking a long drink of his bourbon, the Illusive Man looked at me thoughtfully,
"I don't believe that it is the Reapers themselves; at least there has been no evidence of anything like Sovereign. But I know that whoever is behind the attacks in working for the Reapers. To that end…"
"You going to tell me what I need to do now?"
"I'm sending you to Freedoms Progress; the latest Human Colony to go silent. Search for any clues as to how the abductors are taking the colonists and what they're doing with them."
"And if I don't find anything?" I asked.
"Then you and I will go our separate ways and you need never see or hear from me again."
"Not that you'll ever stop keeping tabs on me."
Illusive Man smiled,
"Your rifle and leadership are your weapons; information is mine. Miranda and Jacob will accompany you; but you will be in charge of the operation. Good luck, Commander."
In an instant the communicator shut down and I heard Miranda and Jacob speaking outside of the room again. When I emerged from the dark comm room, I was led by Jacob to an armoury where I was spoiled for choice. However, I had become very fond of the weapons that I had carried into battle against Saren and the Geth and soon I had acquired a brand-new Mattock rifle, Paladin handgun. Last of all I went in search of a sniper rifle; my first and most efficient means of offense. However, when I found a Widow rifle, Miranda appeared and said,
"We had a feeling you'd go for the familiar. We've got an upgraded Widow rifle that we were going to give you later; if you're interested."
"Show me."
The Black Widow, as Jacob called it, was a creation of exquisite design, and as far as guns went was gorgeous to look upon. Outwardly it looked similar to the Widow that I had ravaged the Geth soldiers with before, but it was sleeker and more elegant in its design. According to Miranda, it had even greater firepower and stopping power than the previous model, which had been considerable. However, what got my attention the most was that I was not required to reload after every shot; this Black Widow was able to fire three consecutive shots before I had to eject the thermal clip, meaning that I could lay down extremely accurate and rapid covering fire and if I was required to make an immediate follow-up shot I could do so. This would prove especially effective against armoured targets and vehicles, or Krogan.
Finally, when I was carrying enough firepower to take on the Geth all over again, I was presented with a suit of armour; white and gold armour with the Cerberus insignia emblazoned proudly on the chest piece.
"So is this you claiming ownership of me now?" I asked, my eyes fixed on the repugnant symbol.
"You can burn it off later if it offends you that much," Miranda retorted.
"Done."
Once the perfectly fitted suit of armour was on and activated, I went to move back to the shuttle bay; and that was when I first caught sight of my own reflection. I did not believe that it was me that I was looking at; my face and neck were lined with scars and my eyes seemed to be glowing a dull, blood-coloured red. I halted and rounded on Miranda,
"What have you done to me?" I said as I ran my finger along one of the deeper scars on my neck.
"You weren't exactly in one piece when your corpse was recovered, Commander. We had to use extensive amounts of cybernetic upgrades to compensate for parts of you that were considered a total loss. I'm surprised that you haven't noticed before now; you should be feeling a lot stronger and faster than you were… before."
I looked back at the glowing demon eyes in my reflection,
"How much cybernetics did you use? Am I just a machine now?"
"You're still you, Commander. The Illusive Man wanted Commander Gardner as he was when he defeated Sovereign; and that's exactly what I've given him."
"You'll forgive me if I disagree," I said solemnly. I stared into the flared-up eyes that looked back at me for a moment longer when I muttered to myself,
"My family and friends wouldn't even recognise me now. Not even…" my mind strayed to Tali again, and I wondered if there was even a chance that I would ever see her again.