Chapter 23
Zhu's Hope - Feros
Her gaze narrowed as she entered the camp again. Garrus and Tali led the near senseless colonist towards the medical building while she and Wrex approached Fai Dan once more. The man, while still looking thoroughly exhausted, gave her a grin.
"Shepard! I'm glad to see that Ian is safe," he said, bowing his head politely.
"You've got some questions to answer, Fai Dan," she said as she turned to Wrex and nodded.
The krogan stepped up to Captain Martinez, who took a step back as the intimidating krogan cornered her. "Don't move an inch, Captain, unless you want to be the next nameless kill to throw on the pile," threatened the massive mercenary as he eyed the woman's rifle.
"Spectre, what is the meaning of-" started Fai Dan as he looked back over to Shepard. But he stopped as he found her pistol pointed directly in his face.
"I'm going to ask a few questions. I realize that you may not be able to answer them all, but your screams of pain will be all the answer I need. If you lie to me, I'm going to get very liberal with the use of my pistol, do we have an understanding?" she asked, no less threateningly than Wrex.
"Very well, Spectre," he said as his eyes nervously stared down at the barrel of her weapon.
"Good. Now tell me, did ExoGeni implant you with any devices?" she asked, her hand now firmly gripping his shirt to make she he didn't try to escape.
"N-No Spectre. ExoGeni has not implanted anything into our bodies," he said as his terrified eyes made their way up to hers.
"Have you recently had any pain caused by an outside source?" she asked, narrowing her questions down even more.
"Yes...I have," he responded solemnly.
"Does this outside source have anything to do with ExoGeni?" she asked, wondering if perhaps the company had discovered some kind of weapon that could inflict pain with no noticeable ammunition.
"No," he said simply.
"Does this pain have anything to do with the prothean ruins?" she asked, noticing as his eyes widened slightly. He didn't answer and simply squeezed his eyes closed. She knew she had hit the mark, but getting a straight answer was likely the put the man in a coma. Even so, she still needed an answer to make sure he wasn't faking his fear. "Is that a yes, or no?" she asked as she pressed the barrel of her weapon against his chin.
"Y-Ye-aaaaaaaaghh!" he shouted as he fell to his knees. Her suit immediately read his reaction. Dilated eyes, shaking hands, sweat dripping from his forehead. He wasn't faking the pain.
She released him and put her weapon away before signaling Wrex. "We've got what we need," she said as she turned away from the leader. "I'm sure ExoGeni's databases have more information." Wrex snorted, then stepped away from the captain, who quickly moved to help Fai Dan to his feet. "Your water is flowing again, Tali has returned with the power cells, and the food is waiting to be picked up. We cleaned the geth out and destroyed their transmitter, so you shouldn't have any more geth troubles for the moment."
"Th-Thank you, Spectre. I hope you find what you're looking for in ExoGeni, even if you couldn't find it here," said the man as he weakly stood to his feet again. She turned and looked at him, then sighed to herself as she gathered the others.
"Alright. We're headed to ExoGeni HQ now. The skyway should have plenty of vehicles for us to use to get there," she said as she looked at them all.
"How likely is it that any of them have weapons?" asked Garrus curiously as he gripped his sniper rifle.
"Given that this was a science colony, our chances of that are slim to none," she said as she looked over at the turian. "Any better ideas?"
"Well, despite it being primarily a skyway, there's still a road for ground vehicles," he said as he looked over at Wrex. "Perhaps we could bring a hammer with us, just in case?"
She thought for a moment, then nodded. "It shouldn't be too hard for the Mako to drop down to the roadway. Plus, given the amount of geth we're likely to encounter, I can't say the extra firepower won't be put to good use." Turning away from them, she activated the comm again. "Joker, Alenko, do you read me?"
"Loud and clear, Shepard. What's up?" asked Kaidan from inside the ship.
"Get the Fire Team and Liara fully geared and have them drop in the Mako on the ExoGenetics skyway near the colony tower," she said as she stared up at the tower itself.
"Everything alright?" he asked curiously.
"We've got issues with a prothean... something. Technology, life forms, I'm not sure exactly. But Liara's assistance is needed to help out the colonists. The Fire Team is coming down with her to make sure she isn't ambushed while I'm gone, and the Mako is our battering ram into ExoGeni," she responded before turning back to the others.
"Understood, Shepard. I'll let them know immediately," said the lieutenant as the comm died.
Zhu's Hope Hangar - Feros
Shepard watched as the tank flew from the cargo bay, then used its jets to stabilize itself before landing. It came to a halt just outside of the garage before finally pulling inside and unsealing its atmospheric pressure. When the hatch finally popped, she wasn't surprised to see Liara's armored form jump out first.
Practically sprinting to Shepard, the asari skidded to a halt in front of her. "Shepard! You said you had something prothean for me to examine?" she asked excitedly as the turian fire team exited the vehicle as well with their own armor and weapons.
"Not exactly," said the woman as she patted the doctor on the shoulder. Liara's form sagged for a moment as if saddened. "From the information I've been able to gather, something in the prothean ruins has taken hold of the colonists. Whenever they tried to tell me about it, it caused them immense pain."
"Wait, so... mind control?" asked Liara curiously as she looked down, presumably deep in thought. "I've never heard of anything like this in all my years at the institute. Something prothean that seems to monitor its victim's minds and conditions them into... servitude through rewarding and punishing?" she asked incredulously.
"That's what it looks like. I need you to figure out what it is, and if there's any way of releasing the colonists from its hold," she said, before turning to the turians. "You all are here for her protection. While I don't think that the colonists would do anything to harm her, I can't be sure under their current conditions," she ordered firmly, getting a salute from the squad.
Zannia, the leader of the fire team, checked her assault rifle. "She'll be safe with us ma'am."
"Also, use your atmospheric seals. One of the colonists warned us not to breathe the colony's air... for some reason. I have no idea if it's related to what happened to them, but no point in taking any chances. And Liara…" she said as she turned to the asari. "Try not to poke and prod too much. Asking them to reveal too much causes them severe pain. So don't ask anything you don't absolutely need the answers to."
"Understood, Shepard," said the asari as the turians saluted one last time. Liara then led the fire team back down the elevator to the colony itself.
The spectre jogged over towards the mako and slapped the side. "Everyone else, hop in. We're in for a bumpy ride."
"Aren't we always with you at the wheel?" asked Garrus, who got a playful glare from the woman before he climbed up.
ExoGenetics Waypoint - Feros
"Shepard, if you roll this thing one more time, I'm getting out," growled Wrex as the vehicle jarred again.
"It's either car sickness or a bolt of plasma to the face! Pick your poison, Wrex!" shouted Shepard as she steered the tank wide again. Thus far, they had been hit with rockets, ground fire, and one of the armatures had even taken a chunk off of the back of the vehicle with a well-placed shot. But a combination of swift maneuvering from Shepard, as well as Garrus firing back with the main cannon had put most of the enemies down. That said, they still had two more armatures to get through before they finally made it to the ExoGenetics waypoint.
"Poison sounds good about now," groaned Tali from the back as she held her stomach in dismay.
"We humans have a number you can call if you don't like someone's driving!" she shouted as she swerved the wheel again. The entire tank circled in an arc before slamming side first into one of the armatures, making it collapse over top of the vehicle. Suddenly, a bolt of plasma blasted into the armature's side, causing it to let out a mechanical wail before sliding off.
As soon as the machine slumped sideways, the cannon on top of the tank roared and blasted the last armature through its head, sending the parts scattering into the abyss below the walkway. It too slumped over onto its side as the light died from its core. Panting heavily, Shepard began turning the wheel towards the building nearby. "Can't dance, and can't drive? I guess all your talent went into killing," said Garrus with a slight chuckle.
"Make me pull this Mako over Garrus," she said with a glare before they finally reached the safety of the waypoint. There didn't seem to be any geth inside, so she moved slowly.
"Shepard, there appears to be another communication signal. But it's not the geth," said Tali as she pulled up the wavelength on her omni-tool.
Looking back at the quarian, Shepard stopped the vehicle. "Can you play it?"
Nodding, Tali activated the sound. "There's movement! Some kind of... ground vehicle. Do geth have ground vehicles?" asked a feminine voice.
"It appears they aren't aware that their communications are on," replied Tali as she looked up at the commander.
Shepard nodded, then turned back around and moved the vehicle forward. "Shit, they're getting closer! Everyone shut the hell up! If it's not the colonists, then they might figure out we're here!" came a different voice, this time a man.
Stopping the armored tank, Shepard turned to Garrus. "Tell me if you can see where they're hiding out."
"Actually, I think it's just up ahead. There appears to be a small depot near the ramps leading up to ExoGeni," he responded as he zoomed in with the weapon.
Moving forward again, she stopped in front of the depot, which was little more than a ramp leading into a small storage room. Popping the seals, she hopped out of the vehicle and walked to the edge of the slope. There was nobody in sight, but she knew they were there. "This is Council Spectre Jane Shepard! If you have weapons, I'd advise you to put them away," she said as she began to descend the narrow corridor.
"Spectre? Did she say Spectre?" asked the same frantic woman from before.
"Shut the hell up Juliana!" snapped a man who was trying to be quiet. But she heard them loud and clear.
"I already know you're there. If you stay in hiding, I'm going to enter with my weapon out and your likelihood of being shot increases," she shouted into the echoing room.
"Son of a-" came the man's voice. "Fine fine! We're here!" he yelled as he stepped out from cover. With him came several others, all dressed in lab coats similar to Liara's, with the exception of two, who wore armor. They likely worked for the same security forces as Martinez. As she reached the bottom of the ramp, she focused on the man and woman whose voices were prominent over the radio. But as she approached, the man held his hand up to stop her. "That's close enough!"
But the woman in the lab coat reached over and yanked his hand down. "Relax Jeong, they're obviously not geth," she said with a glare.
The man jerked his arm away from her and returned the look of disdain. "Get back Juliana," he snapped before he turned on Shepard. "Who are you? What do you want?" She examined him for a moment, from his long face to the neatly shaven head, to the almost constant scowl he wore before speaking.
"I've already told you who I am. I'm Spectre Jane Shepard, and I'm here to find out what the geth are looking for," she said as she looked between them.
"See Jeong? You worry too much," said the woman as she folded her arms over her chest.
"And you trust too easily," he grumbled as he looked away.
"I'm just glad to see a friendly face. I thought we were the only humans…" she said as she looked over and spotted the diverse squad as they too came down the ramp. "Err... living things left on the planet." Shepard could easily see that her comfort levels dropped when her squad showed up.
"You're not. Fai Dan and some of the members from Zhu's Hope are still alive," said Shepard as she eyed the two. The look of surprise on the woman's wrinkled face, and the grumbling coming from the man alerted her.
Turning to the man, Juliana immediately glared. "I thought you said they were all dead!" she snapped in anger.
"I-I said they were probably all dead," he defended as he refused to make eye contact with her.
"They're alive, but the geth have been really laying into them," said Shepard as she turned back to the brunette woman.
With a sigh, she crossed her arms again, giving a tired expression. "We feel their pain. Those damn synthetics are relentless. First, they block any communications from getting out of the building, then they keep throwing themselves at us."
"The geth had a transmitter down in the tunnels below the tower. With it gone, you shouldn't be seeing any more coming from the direction of the colony. We even cleared the skyway on our way here," she said as she looked between them again. "Me and my squad are heading to ExoGeni, and we need some information."
The man's scowl deepened as he looked straight at the spectre. "What kind of information?"
Ignoring Jeong, Juliana spoke up again. "The geth are in ExoGeni's headquarters just up above us. I'm not sure what other information we can give."
Pointing at Shepard threateningly, the man spoke again. "Those headquarters are private property, soldier! You're to remove the geth and nothing else!"
But any backbone he had fled as Shepard stepped up to him and gripped his pointing finger fiercely. "Tell me, Jeong, where does ExoGeni executive sit on a list of rankings from civilian to Spectre?" she asked coldly as she squeezed his hand.
"Ha! It's been a while since I've seen someone stupid enough to give Shepard an order!" barked Wrex from the entrance.
"She's a damn Spectre, Jeong! Quit trying to throw around weight that you don't have!" snapped Juliana before she turned to Shepard with a pleading look. "Please Spectre, he didn't mean anything by it." Snorting, the commander released the man's hand from her crushing grip. He whimpered slightly and shuffled backward, away from her.
"I want one of you to tell me what's wrong with the colonists," she ordered as she glared at Juliana.
The woman's eyes widened gently. "What's... wrong with... the colonists?" she asked, seemingly stupified by the order.
"You don't work for ExoGeni?" asked Shepard as she stared at Juliana.
"I do, but I couldn't imagine what you're talking about. Aside from you telling me that they're still alive, I know next to nothing about them," she responded in genuine confusion.
Turning towards Jeong again, Shepard took a step forward. "How about you, Jeong?" she asked, making the man step back again.
"He definitely knows something," came Garrus's voice over the comm.
But the man stayed silent. And she wasn't about to torture the information out of him, as she had other things to attend to. "How about why the geth are here? Do you know anything about that?" she asked, still only getting silence in return. "Fine, I'll find out for myself. Don't go anywhere, Jeong. When I get back, I might have some more questions," said the woman as she turned to head back to the vehicle.
"Uhh... Spectre," said Juliana, her voice now more tense than before. Perhaps her intimidation worked a little too well. "My daughter, Lizbeth. She's been missing for some time now."
"We'll find your daughter's body after they clean up the geth," said Jeong sourly. If the woman's heated glare had any effect on him, he didn't show it at all.
"That's my daughter you're talking about!" snapped Juliana angrily. She clenched her fists, looking like she was about to swing on the man before she finally turned back to Shepard. "I know she's still alive."
"Was she in ExoGeni HQ during the attack?" asked Shepard curiously. The woman nodded, and Shepard turned inwardly. "I'll keep an eye out for her as I'm clearing the building," she said as she turned away again and headed up the ramp.
"I would say there's little chance of her surviving, but humans have surprised me before," said Garrus as he flexed his neck. "Not always in a good way."
"We'll keep an eye out for her, but that's all. We're not going to scour the building while geth are scrambling the communications and killing everything," said Shepard with a sigh as she got back into the driver's seat. "I still wish I knew why the hell they are here."
"Don't worry, Shepard. I'm sure we'll find what you're looking for in their headquarters," said Tali cheerfully. Shepard looked back at her with a smile, but she wished she had the same confidence. Starting the engine of the Mako again, she began to drive up the ramps and towards the headquarters itself.
ExoGenetics Headquarters - Feros
Almost as soon as the mako entered the building, its nose was hit with a direct shot from a rocket launcher. Everyone in the vehicle rocked as the slower weapon bypassed the kinetic barriers and scored a direct hit.
Growling, Shepard looked back to find Garrus already on the main cannon as he recovered from the shock of the attack. Despite their surprise attack, the welcoming party was dead within seconds as the mako's auto-cannons ripped through their shields easily. "I hope this isn't a prelude to the rest of our stay here," she said with a groan as she pulled as far up in the building as space would allow. "Looks like here's where we leave the Mako. Make sure you're well armored when we get out of here. Also, save your oxygen for when we're back in the colony. No telling how long we'll have to stay there after we're done here," she said as she reached up and released her seals, allowing the filters on her suit to do the work.
The others followed suit, and soon they climbed out of the vehicle and made their way up a set of stairs. With Shepard leading, they made it to the doorway to the nearest staircase. Unfortunately, they were halted by a glowing blue barrier. "Looks like they've blocked communications, and entry to the building," said Tali as she opened her omni-tool.
"How... does this work?" asked Shepard as she reached up and pushed her hand against the shield. Her kinetic barrier immediately popped as it made contact.
"Cyclonic shielding. A while ago, geth fighters began using these shields. It's essentially a kinetic barrier that spins, deflecting objects in a circular pattern rather than a simple repulsive shield. It's good for fighters, and frigates mostly. But not much for bigger ships, or anything that doesn't have a set shape. It's also good for doors such as this, as it keeps physical objects like us from entering without being horribly mangled," she said as she lowered her omni-tool again.
"That sounds extremely useful. Why hasn't the rest of the galaxy caught on to this?" asked Shepard as she turned to Tali.
Tali simply shrugged; another human gesture that made Shepard smile, as it was overly exaggerated for emphasis. "We only found out about them a couple years ago. And only by accident. As you know, the geth very rarely cross the Perseus Veil, and anyone who goes into the Veil... doesn't return. We haven't had the resources to recreate them yet. And even if we did, they'd be too expensive to house on most of our ships."
"I see," said Shepard as she noted that for later. "In any case, we're not getting in this way. So, it looks like we'll have to start down here," said the spectre as she walked over to what used to be a staircase. It was now shattered and broken, which meant that it was a one-way trip unless they found another way around.
"You sure about that Shepard? We might be trapping ourselves if we go down there," said Garrus as he looked at her through his darkened faceplate.
She simply smirked at him and shrugged. "No worries, Vakarian. If it comes to that, I can stand on your head to get back up," she said jokingly. He raised a talon to say something, but then lowered it again and shook his head. "Seriously though, we'll find a way out. But we'll never get anywhere if we stop here," she said before turning towards the edge and jumping down to the ground below.
As she stepped forward, the heavy thud of Wrex landing sounded behind her, then two more signaling that Garrus and Tali made it down as well. Nodding to them, she held up her weapon and aimed it forward as she snuck from the small broken stairwell and into a larger room that looked like it had seen much better days. Half the ceiling support had crumbled and crashed to the floor below, leaving scoring and plenty of debris for ambushers to hide behind.
But no shots came from the debris on the floor below. Instead, her barriers stopped a shot directly to her right as she stepped out of the stairwell, nearly making her jump out of her armor in surprise. Her pistol was up instantly and focused on another brunette human that was holding a pistol. It took a large amount of her willpower not to fire and put the woman down, but her eyes caught the lab coat she wore, and she ripped her weapon upwards. "What the hell do you think you're doing!?" she snapped angrily.
"Damn it!" shouted the woman before she dropped her weapon and raised her hands high. "I'm sorry! I thought you were geth!"
Sighing to help slow her heart rate, Shepard aimed her weapon down and stepped towards the woman. "It's fine. We're all a little jumpy right now," she said as she eyed the woman from head to toe. Looking at her face, she almost recognized her features. "You're safe now. Most of the geth up there are cleaned out."
"Oh thank goodness," said the woman with a sigh of relief.
"So, who are you and what are you doing here?" asked Shepard curiously.
"It's my own damn fault…" growled the woman as she shook her head. "Everyone ran as soon as the geth hit, but I stayed to try and back up data. Next thing I know, a geth ship latches to the side of the building, then all the exits are blocked off with some kind of barrier, and all communications were cut."
"Don't worry, we'll find a way out of here once we figure out what the geth are after," she said as she eyed the woman. "Now, you didn't answer one of my questions."
The woman nodded and looked down at the ground nervously. "Oh, right. Sorry. My name is Lizbeth Baynham. I worked here for ExoGenetics," she said as she looked Shepard up and down. "And... who are you?"
"Council Spectre Jane Shepard," she responded as the woman went wide-eyed. "Now, I'll ask you the same question I asked Jeong. I hope the answers line up, for yours and his sake," she said as she took an intimidating step closer to the woman.
"They're after the thorian!" said the woman almost in a panic.
Shepard's eyes widened at how little pressure she had to put on the scientist to get an answer. But then she realized what she had said. "I'm sorry, thorian?"
Nodding rapidly, she spoke as if her life depended on it. "It's a lifeform indigenous to Feros. ExoGeni discovered it underground in the prothean ruins. We were studying it!"
"Do you know where this thorian is? Or where we can get more information on it?" asked the spectre as she narrowed her eyes at the woman.
"O-Of course! Here! Take my ID and you can access all the files that I backed up onto an OSD. It's through that door and at the top of the stairs," she said as she folded her arms. "I accidentally dropped it while trying to escape. I don't know if anyone has discovered it yet, but they were following me down the stairs."
Nodding, Shepard turned to the krogan. "Hey Wrex, real quick, can you toss her and Garrus upstairs?" she asked as she turned to Garrus. "Let her in the Mako." Then she turned back to the woman herself. "Alright Lizbeth, we're going to try and retrieve that OSD, and turn off the geth shields in this place. You're going to wait in our vehicle until we return. Your mother has been looking for you."
The young woman went wide-eyed at the remark. "My mom's alive!?" she asked incredulously.
"She is for now. We'll take you to her as soon as we're done here. But you're going to wait in the vehicle. Understood?" asked the spectre.
Lizbeth nodded happily with a smile on her face. "Yes, of course. I'll wait for you to get out," she said as she followed Wrex and Garrus.
As they walked away, she activated their helmet comm. "Garrus, make sure you cuff her to something. I don't want her driving off without us," she ordered as she turned towards the door that led up the stairs.
"Affirmative," he responded. It took a few minutes for the turian to return, but as he did, he nodded. "She wasn't exactly happy about it. Buuuut, she really didn't have a say in the matter. It was either cuffed inside an armored vehicle or out in the open for any stray geth to find."
"I'd think not. If she has the same corporate streak as Jeong, I wouldn't be surprised if we ran out the door and she gunned us down with our own cannon," said the spectre as she prepared her pistol again. "In any case, prepare yourselves. She said she was being followed. We may still have the element of surprise."
"Surprise isn't an element," said Garrus sarcastically.
Shepard smirked, knowing how the turian loved pulling apart human terminology. But she said nothing more and began moving forward. They began slowly climbing the steps with all of their weapons raised when suddenly their ears were assaulted by cursing. "Machine garbage! Tell me what I want to know, or I'll crush you into virtual dust!" Looking up, the spectre could tell that it was only a few flights up. Turning to the others, she signaled for absolute silence before moving again.
As they approached the staircase, Shepard could see the rough krogan mercenary holding the OSD in his hand while yelling at it again. But it appeared that the VI installed onto the device refused to relent. "Apologies, but I am unable to comply. You lack the proper clearance to access encrypted files. Would you like to review clearance protocols?"
"No, I don't want to see the protocols! You're going to give me the data I need or I'm going to crush you from existence!" growled the krogan as he shook the projector.
"Apologies. Please contact a supervisor about a Level 4 Security Exemption or make an appointment with-" started the VI. But the krogan's cursing stopped him.
"Stupid machine!" he shouted, echoing his voice throughout the stairwell. Finally, he sighed to himself. "Doesn't matter. I'll get the geth to pull those files from you with or without your permission."
"If there are no other inquiries, please pass this device over to the administrator currently queued behind you," requested the VI formally. The mercenary spun around, and his eyes widened as he saw four different weapons aimed directly at his face. In a fraction of a second, all of the triggers were pulled, and his head exploded, leaving a crater where his cranium used to be.
"Heh heh, no kill like overkill," said Wrex as he checked his heat sink.
Shepard reached down and pried the device out of the dead krogan's hands before opening it herself. "ExoGenetics Corporation would like to remind employees that the discharge of firearms is prohibited on company grounds. Breaking this protocol could result in a fine of one thousand credits, or even incarceration depending on the damage to property or other employees." Shepard ignored the threat, and instead opened her omni-tool to try and crack open the encrypted files. But she stopped as the VI spoke again. "Greetings Administrator Baynham. Do you have any inquiries?"
Shepard looked down at the small light-projected figure before nodding. "Right, the ID," she said as she ran a few questions through her head. "Access encrypted files on the thorian."
"Accessing files on Species 37. One moment please…" said the VI as its light-based form began to scroll numbers by rapidly. Suddenly it stopped again. "Access to files granted. Inquiry?"
"What is Species 37?" asked the spectre impatiently.
"Species 37 is an ancient creature of unknown origin found within the ruins of a prothean city on Feros. It was found two galactic months and three galactic days ago. Ever since, Subject 37 has been the basis of an in-depth study by ExoGenetics employees," said the VI dutifully.
Shepard glared at the device, her inner krogan struggling to come out. "But what is Species 37?"
"Apologies, could you elaborate on the question you are asking?" came the monotone voice again.
"Tell me what Species 37 is. What kind of creature, and its effects on the environment," responded Shepard sharply.
"Species 37, when compared to life on Earth, appears to be a fully sentient type of plant life. It consists of a cluster of nerves that form the brain at a central location, with tendrils comparable to vines that grow out from the center mass and have expanded through the ruins below the Zhu's Hope colony," said the VI, causing Shepard to glare.
"The thorian is underneath Zhu's Hope!?" she asked incredulously.
But the VI shook its head. "The central nerve cluster, considered the brain, is directly under the Zhu's Hope colony. The rest of its form consists of tendrils that expand over an area of many kilometers."
"And what effect does the thorian have on the colonists?" asked the spectre urgently.
"Through the dispersion and inhalation of spores, Species 37 can exert a form of control over unsuspecting prey with infliction of pain. Over time, the subject will be conditioned through the release of painful pulses directly into the brain's sensors for activity that Species 37 deems wrong, and the release of endorphins in human subjects for activity that Species 37 deems right. How it determines these things mostly appears to be based on the survival instinct of Species 37 itself," said the VI.
Shepard just stared at the holographic figure blankly for a moment. "So, it releases spores into the air, and when the colonists breathed in these spores, they fell under its influence," she said as she shook her head. "When did ExoGeni start noticing that the colonists were being influenced by Species 37?"
"Unable to find relevant data. ExoGenetics, upon discovering Species 37, moved the Zhu's Hope housing directly on top of Species 37's location. After it was determined that the creature released spores defensively, it was discovered that live human testing was the only method of accurately determining the full effects that these spores had on living creatures," said the figure, leaving Shepard's jaw nearly on the floor.
"Those bosh'tets moved the colonists into the line of fire for testing!?" asked Tali incredulously as she stared at the device with wide eyes.
Ignoring the quarian's outburst, Shepard continued to interrogate the machine. "How long does it take before prey can be infected?"
"The process is based entirely on the brain function of each individual. It was found that the more intelligent a creature was, the slower the process took, with the exception of fauna born on Feros. Closed environment testing on fauna from Earth showed an almost instantaneous conversion to subservience. Human testing revealed that a week of exposure to the spores was sufficient time for Species 37 to begin conditioning. Salarian testing in Zhu's Hope, meanwhile, took nearly three weeks of exposure before they too started to show signs of conditioning. The effects on other galactic species are forthcoming, but still weeks away," said the holographic assistant.
Shepard nearly crushed the device in her hand in anger. However, she instead nodded and made another request. "Access personal files."
"Lizbeth Natalie Baynham, Administrative Assistant of ExoGenetics' Bio-Medical Division with a level 4 Security exemption," said the figure.
Shepard opened her omni-tool and downloaded the personal data before scanning it curiously. Garrus stepped up and stared at her, trying not to be obvious about looking at the data. "Anything good?"
"Looks like she was on probation for disagreements with company policy, mainly due to them using live human testing without consent. They restricted her access to the project, but she was still cleared for access to basic project data. They were going to reevaluate her and likely demote her for insubordination," said the woman as she closed the files.
"Well, looks like we found our potential whistle-blower," said the turian as he checked his weapon. "So, what about the geth?"
Closing down the OSD, she stashed it away and pulled her pistol back up. "Looks like we've got the answers as to what's wrong with the colonists. But it still doesn't explain why the geth are here. Let's hope we find more ahead. I'd like to go home with more than just a higher kill count."
"Why? What's yours at?" asked Wrex as he plodded down the hall with her, his shotgun gripped loosely in his hands.
She smirked at him as she continued, pistol aimed down at the floor. "You know, most other empathetic creatures don't count their kills."
"Yeah, Wrex. You should get a visor like mine. It counts them for you," said Garrus as he held his assault rifle low.
"I think Garrus missed the point of your statement," said Tali as she followed behind the rest, watching their back.
Biomedical Wing - ExoGenetics Headquarters - Feros
It was eerie. In all her time studying the geth, hearing stories about them, or outright being taught how to fight them back on the Migrant Fleet, she had never seen anything like this before. Shepard had continued to lead them through the building. Aside from the party in the lobby, they had yet to run into any more of the mechanical killers.
But that all changed quickly, when Shepard silenced them and slowly moved out onto a mezzanine. The stairs to the mezzanine had shattered, but it was the geth that worried her. The quarian looked over the railing and saw two geth sitting in front of what looked like an ancestral shrine. Their heads were lowered, as if asking for guidance. The entire scene made her skin crawl under her suit and sent chilling tingles up her spine.
Reaching over, Shepard tapped her on the shoulder and pointed to the geth with her omni-tool lit. Understanding the command, she activated her own tool and reached forward, stunning the two machines. Shepard then reached up with her own and popped their shields with a cyber-attack. Afterwards, Wrex and Garrus both ended them by filling them with rounds.
"What the hell was that about?" asked Shepard as they all hopped down from the mezzanine to examine the strange altar.
All three of them looked to Tali, who shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know! I've never seen anything like this before!" she said as she walked up to the device and ran her hand over it. "This almost looks... prothean."
"Come to think of it, you're right. This doesn't look geth made at all," said the commander as she closely examined it as well.
"Were they worshiping it?" asked Wrex as he looked between the two.
"The geth are a highly intelligent sentient race of machines. I doubt they've developed any kind of religion in the short amount of time they've been on their own," she said as she shook her head lightly as her ears began ringing. "Does anyone else hear that?"
"Now that you mention it, yeah. Something's buzzing," said Garrus from behind as he shook his own head.
"Maybe it's coming from the device. It may be some kind of communicator," said Shepard as she too showed signs of hearing the buzzing.
"If so, we should destroy it," replied Tali as she looked at the others urgently. But Shepard held up her hand.
"We can't. If it's prothean made, then it needs to be examined. Whatever the geth are using it for is irrelevant at the moment," she said as she accessed her omni-tool. "After we clean up here, we'll pick it up and bring it back to the Citadel for study."
"I don't think Jeong is going to like that," said Garrus with amusement in his voice.
"After hearing that ExoGeni was performing illegal experiments on the colonists, Jeong will be lucky if he leaves this ordeal walking," said Shepard firmly as she turned away from the object. "In any case, let's find out where the power for the barriers is coming from, and get rid of it," she said as she raised her weapon again and led them into the next room.
Biomedical Wing - ExoGenetics Headquarters - Feros
To say it had been an uphill battle was both an understatement, and an annoying pun. The squad had made their way into the labs of the biomedical wing which was swarming with more geth than the entire rest of the building.
As soon as the spectre peeked around the corner with her omni-tool, the display was shattered as a round blasted through it. The orchestra of clicks and mechanical chirping that followed meant that the gig was up. No longer having the element of surprise, Wrex barreled out of cover and blasted one of the nearby machines with his shotgun, sending its scrap soaring across the room before he ducked behind a collapsed part of the ceiling.
Tali sent her drone rolling into the room to provide a distraction as Garrus too ran out and began laying heavy fire on the invaders. Shepard activated her stealth once more and vanished from sight. Luckily for the team, her IFF showed her position clearly on their HUD's so that they didn't accidentally fire on her.
What felt like wave after wave of the geth marched from the ship and slammed against them, keeping them mostly in cover as the weapon fire flowed like a river. "Wrex!" shouted Tali.
"What!?" shouted the krogan over the comm as he blasted another of the geth who had gotten too close to his cover to shreds.
"Remember your supernova?" asked the quarian as she detonated Chatika again, taking out the leg of the geth that had killed it.
"I do! You want me to run out there and use it right now?" he asked incredulously as the geth weapons chipped away at his cover.
"I don't think we really have a choice! We're going to run out of heat sinks if this keeps up, then we won't have the option!" shouted Tali as she rose up to fire her shotgun at a nearby geth. Unfortunately, the near constant fire from the machines kept her shields depleted almost the entire time they had been fighting. A stalker that she had yet to see fired a round and as she ended the geth in front of her, she flew back and hit the ground with a gasp.
"Tali!" shouted Garrus loudly as he sprinted from cover and did a flying roundhouse that sheared the assaulting geth in half with his spur blades. His shields had taken the rest of the shots fired as he rolled into Tali's cover before he finally reached forward and grabbed her, pulling her up against the barricade. "Tali! Are you alright!?"
"I... I'm fine. Thank you," said the quarian as she reached up and rubbed her chest through the thick plate of armor that they had purchased on the Citadel. "Keelah, that's going to leave a bruise…" Sighing in relief, Garrus gripped his assault rifle and began helping her to repel the nearby wave of enemies.
"Hey Shepard!" shouted Wrex over the din of the endless war.
"Yeah?" asked the commander from across the room.
"I need a distraction! You might have to take some fire off me for a moment," yelled the mercenary as he panted heavily.
"Already had something in mind," she responded, causing the three to look at each other curiously. Suddenly, an explosion detonated against the far wall. All fire ceased for a few seconds, and the entire back wall groaned in agony before ripping clean of the building. The geth ship, which had two of its three claws sunk into the floor, began to tilt as it lost support from the wall itself. When it finally hit the point of no return, gravity pulled the ship downwards, causing the floor where the claws were anchored to rip clean from the ground. Almost six geth went soaring out of the building with the floor and the ship both to crash to the ground below.
As the ship fell, the power cabling went taut and instantly snapped, coiling around a large prime unit before dragging it across the floor and out into oblivion as well. "Heh heh, you never cease to impress me, Shepard," said the krogan as he burst out from cover and hammered a geth to the ground with his shotgun, then trampling it to death as he charged his biotics. Throwing both hands forward, a wave of energy smashed into the remaining machines, sending them all cascading out into the open air before they followed the ship down into the depths.
Tali groaned as Garrus helped her to her feet, her hand gently rubbing the spot that the round had impacted her. "Well, that worked out fairly well," she said as she looked up at Shepard, who not stood on top of a thick chunk of ceiling that had crushed the life from one of the geth as a result of the ship falling.
"Tali, Garrus, help me look around and see if the geth have tried to infiltrate the networks here. Wrex, you snoop around and see if we have any more that need cleaning up," ordered the commander as she jumped down from her position, her face shield showing furrowed brows.
"On it, Shepard," said the krogan as he exited the room from the other side.
Tali pulled away from Garrus for a moment before bringing up her omni-tool and looking around. Shepard and Garrus followed her lead, and before long they met back in the center of the room. "Shepard, I'm not seeing any kind of intrusion into the systems at all."
Shepard nodded in confusion. "Me neither. I don't understand it! Why did they come here if not to get information?"
"Well, ExoGeni was the communications hub of the entire colony. Chances are, they were here solely to keep anything from getting out to the galaxy," replied Garrus, who got a curious look from the commander.
"Perhaps. It is a tactical strategy to knock out the communications when invading. But there has to be more to it," she said as she tapped her helmet with her palm.
"Maybe they didn't need the information on the computer," said Wrex as he entered the room again. "Chances are, if Saren was here, he got all the information he needed before coming here. While he may not be a Spectre anymore, he still has connections."
"And anything he needed the blanks filled in on... well…" said Garrus as he gestured towards a human body that had been dead for at least a few days.
"You could be right. But if ExoGeni was just a strategic foothold, does that mean that the geth are here for the thorian? If so, to what end?" she asked as she cleared them all and began making her way back through the building and towards the mako.
"I guess the only way to find out is to confront whatever it is directly. We're certainly not going to be getting anything from the col... o... nists…" started Garrus as they all stopped as they entered a large room. Around every edge of the room were more dragon's teeth, all with their blades glistening crimson. But there were no bodies, no colonists, no scientists, no nothing.
"If they've been making husks, then where are they?" asked Shepard, her voice betraying how unnerved she was as she stared at all the horrific technology.