2 4/8 2185
Normandy, above the planet Aite
They received a call from a Cerberus facility couple of days ago. On the distress call, everything sounded off, and that shit was really hitting the fan. Mads hadn't gotten the entire message, but he knew it was important.
Edi had explained that the reaper IFF was close to being finished, and that the only thing missing was a few issues that needed to be sorted. Mads figured they could finish that while he took a look at the situation at hand. He took his entire team with him on this mission, for no other reason than a small part of his brain commanded him to do so.
They arrived at the main facility, and found the typical failed Cerberus setup. The white building showing sign of battle, Geth was the enemy, or at least so he was told. There seemed to be something larger at play, and of course his gut was trying to push some sort of message. The grim nature that was science seemed to be Cerberus main goal, and just how often did it backfire? Way too often for Mads' liking. This organization had a history of trying to play God, or attempt to challenge nature itself.
Dr. Archer was the one to make contact, and he sounded very desperate for help. He gave a quick rundown of the situation. A rouge AI was haunting the place, killing people left, right and center. They were given instructions quickly. Take out the satellite disk, before the AI could upload itself to the wider extranet and become... Unstoppable.
A race against time, it was called. Dr. Archer stressed that the satellite disk was to be shut down as soon as possible. Mads broke his team into two squads. This was the most practice they were going to get before the big mission, which was also due at any moment now.
The AI attempted to say something several times, though it came out as gibberish, at least to them. No doubt the Geth understood, and it was most likely orders, or warnings. Bodies filled the corridors, blood decorated the walls. Severed limps, with no clue as to where the rest of the body was, was a common find.
Of course, Geth was everywhere. They fared well against them, but, to be fair, Geth was at this point the most common enemy they had faced. It was refreshing to see the team work fairly well together. Of course, they would playfully throw remark to each other under the mission. But that was to be expected from them. Mads actually had a sense this would all work out, especially since the Normandy had been upgraded to the max.
"Alright fellas, I'm setting this thing to blow. Get ready!" Mads yelled to the others as he went through the last commands on the terminal. The terminal began its countdown and Mads realized the needed to get the hell away.
"RUN!" Mads ordered as stepped away from the console. They all knew what he meant. They ran for dear life as it counted closer and closer to zero. It was a leap of faith that saved them from both the explosion and the collapse of the satellite disk. The AI once again said something, it sounded very angry. Certainly with more emotion than Mads thought an AI could give out, even when unrestricted.
"Jesus Christ, that was close." Mads said as he got back on his feet. They had landed on a catwalk on a building just beside the satellite disk. Mads dusted himself off as the others arose as well. Once they had caught their breath after having it knocked out of their lungs, they agreed it was time to find this 'Dr. Archer' and get a full read on what was going on here. Mads could sense that something was wrong about his AI.
"It seems mankind's reach exceed it's grasp." Dr. Archer remarked as he looked out the window to see Mads' teammates hard at work putting the bodies in body bags.
"Just…. Tell me what the hell happened." Mads demanded as he rubbed his temples. He was sick of being here, something felt so wrong.
"We observed what happened between Saren and the Geth two years ago. We learned that they were following him because of his status as a prophet and their programming. We wondered if we could do the same, convert the Geth to follow a super AI we created." Dr. Archer explained as he paced around.
"Go on." Mads said.
"My brother, David, volunteered for the program. He is….. Well, he is autistic. We learned he had a unique ability to reverse engineer the Geth language per say, everything looked promising." Dr. Archer went on.
"Jesus fucking Christ. Your brother is the AI?" Mads asked in disbelief.
"Yes, he is. Unfortunately, it became too much, even for David. The Illusive man pushed us for results, and in the rush, we abandoned safety regulations. It has clearly gotten out of hand." Dr. Archer replied.
"Out of hand? Is that the term you use? God damn, you are cold." Mads said. "So, what do I need to do before this shit REALLY gets out of hand?" Mads asked.
"You'll need the access of the three main board members. However, I am the only one left." Dr. Archer said as he went over to turn in his access to shut down the project. "The two others, you'll need to manually reset at each location."
"Okay. I'll split my team in two." Mads planned his approach in his head.
"Captain Romanov. Please, spare my brother if you can." Dr. Archer pleaded.
"We'll see." Mads said as a final note before calling out his team mates.
Sending out two strike teams might have been one of Mads' better ideas. I saved time and certainly put off some stress from his shoulder. He figured that this would be a good way to tackle the collector base once that time came.
They were killing Geth left, right and center as they got an update from the other team. They had reset the access and were awaiting further instructions. Mads, Tali and Garrus were in the front of their strike team, but had yet to reset the second access point. Dr. Archer kept pushing them to hurry on. David was still at large, and could still upload himself into something else, maybe even the Normandy.
Geth weren't the only tool at David's hands. He had security mechs as well. Those sorry excuses for enemies which dismembered so easily, it was almost laughable. Especially when one of the mechs attempted to shoot out the lever needed to reset authorization. Its head flew off as Mads fired his Glock at it. It stumbled around before the green outline disappeared and it collapsed on the floor.
Mads then pulled up the lever and overrode the lockdown of atlas station. David's gibberish once again came through the consoles, as well as Dr. Archer's voice. Mads told him they would move on to atlas now. Hopefully without too much trouble.
Much like anywhere else, that place was a graveyard for all the personal that once worked there. David had been sure to kill them all. Question was, could David be saved? Hopefully, he seemed more like a victim with each passing minute. Mads had sent the other team to clean up in the meantime. Mads, Garrus and Tali were more than able to handle this on their own.
Or so he thought at least. David messed with them every part of the way, making it hard to get anywhere. They lost time as well. It did give Mads time to hear all the logs made by Dr. Archer, and the plot seemed thicken with each one. He seemed like he cared about his brother, but at some level this work was needed.
They came to the VI server console that should give them more access. "Keep on your toes; this shit can go south real quick." Mads ordered as he began to take a closer look. Tali and Garrus both nodded and awaited what would happen next.
With a single push of a button, Mads felt the surge of energy flow through him at an alarming rate. David must have hacked into his omni-tool, or maybe even his combat armor. It was hard to tell. But one thing was clear: He had less control over his own moments. Mads felt his own legs carry him to the door, all while he attempted to resist every part of the way. Tali and Garrus were both baffled by what they saw, and tried their best to stop Mads from going on.
Only it was too late. As soon as Mads passed through the door, it closed behind him. He was sealed off from his team. Just great Mads thought. He gained some moment back, but he knew time was scares at this moment. He moved forward, this time however, David seemed to show him a path.
In fact, David showed more than just a path, he showed what truly happened. Not the words of Dr. Archer, but what David himself remembered. And it almost broke Mads' heart to see it. Used at every point, David was truly a gifted man in his intelligence, but lacking in so many other areas. Maybe this project could have succeed if the right amount of money and time was used on it. But no, man's greed will always be its own undoing.
With the threat of shutting down, Dr. Archer had pushed things along. David hadn't volunteered for the program; he had been selected for it. Even his mind couldn't handle what came next. Mads knew that this wasn't David's fault, but if killing Daivd would put a stop to all of this, he would do it. The harsh reality of this world.
Finally, Mads was let to the chamber after fighting some Geth along the way. David was captured inside a huge sphere. Mads looked in awe at it. He only snapped back into reality when the VI voice told him, that David was trying to upload himself onto the Normandy.
"DAVID! STOP!" Mads yelled as he ran closer, but quickly realized David wasn't going to stop. He had to shut him down. Shit Mads thought as he began to disrupt the connection and attempt to shut it down. It didn't help that virtual Geth were on his ass at the same time. He could really use the help of Tali and Garrus right about then.
"David! Don't do it!" Mads kept trying to get through to David, but was only met with "PLEASE MAKE IT STOP"
And Mads tried to do just that. He kept breaking through to the connection and stopping it, before it tried to reconnection. It was only when the shield shattered under the pressure of his bullets, that Mads could breathe easily again.
But one look at David made Mads horrified at what he saw. David was bearly human at this point, he had been through so much. Mads was tempted to put David out of his suffering, but onyl lowered his gun when he heard Dr. Archer come yelled. Garrus and Tali were beside him, but judging but the grasps from them, they were equally horrified at what they saw.
"Don't kill him!" Dr. Archer begged.
"Fucking look at him!" Mads yelled back. "He is nothing but flesh and tubes at this point!" Mads said.
"I know. I wish it hadn't come to this. Please."
"Please? This shit is wrong on every level! David is never going to be the same! And you did this!" Mads yelled as he pointed to poor David, hanging in all the tubes.
"I'm afraid it was for the advancement of mankind. It could have stopped a war." David replied in his defense.
"Yeah? But it fucking didn't. Instead we have a base full of corpses and a shell of a man behind it!"
"Please, I know. I take-... I take full reasonability for it. I did this to my brother. Please, let me take care of him." Dr. Archer still attempted to further his own goals.
"No, you abandoned your brother when he needed you the most. We're taking him with us." Mads said.
"But Captain-" Dr. Archer didn't even have a chance to finish his request before being pushed back by Mads.
"Stop!" Mads ordered, and it finally dawned on Dr. Archer what he really had done. "Where-" He had to stop his tears from forming in his eyes. "Where are you taking him?" Dr. Archer finally asked.
"A long way from here. With the alliance." Mads replied. Dr. Archer went quiet.
"Joker, we need transport for a David Archer. Please confirm." Mads said into his ear piece. But was not met with Joker, but rather Edi.
"Captain Romanov. There has been an incident on the Normandy. It is vital you return as soon as possible." Edi said.
"Incident? What incident?" Mads asked.
"We will explain once you are onboard."
"Tali, Garrus, please bring down David without harming him. We are taking him with us. Something has gone down on the Normandy." Mads ordered.
"What happened?" Tali asked.
"I don't know. But let's wrap up here and get back as soon as possible." Mads replied.
"This is unacceptable! You not only stood by the sideline and watched your co-workers get dragged off by collectors, but you unshackled edi as well!" Miranda was furious as she took out her rant on Joker.
"What was I supposed to do? I'm hardly in the condition to put up much of a fight against the collectors. The most I could do is break my bones!" Joker replied.
"Enough! The both of you." Mads said. "Joker, you survived. I know this must be tough for you. There was nothing you could do. I am however, worried about Edi being without restrains at this point." Mads remarked.
"I would never do anything to harm my fellow crew mates." Edi said.
"Where have the taken my crew?" Mads asked.
"Biggest possibility would be back to the collector base. We have everything we need to complete the mission however." Edi replied.
"When will the alliance pick up David?" Mads asked.
"In a few hours." Miranda replied.
"Okay, here is what we do. Once David is in safe hands, we will take on these collector fucks and get the crew back! I want everyone to prepare what is needed. Is that understood?" Mads asked.
They all nodded in agreement. "Then let's do this shit:" Mads said as he left the meeting room.