"Joker, how've you been? Didn't have the chance to properly greet you earlier."
"I knew someone was watching me." He mock glared.
I laughed, holding up my hands. "You staying on as my pilot?"
"Of course." He snorted.
"I'm glad to have the best damn pilot to ever exist on my team."
We shook hands, grinning at each other.
"Okay. First thing's first." I left him, going over to the large map. Punching in where I wanted to go.
Since Liara was in the Artemis Tau cluster and so was Kahoku's team, we'd be going there first. Whichever we find first. First come, first serve.
While we were on our way, I down to the captain's quarters. Found a box labeled "Fragile" that was amongst my things. A sigh of relief left me.
A knock on my door, and I slid the box out of sight.
"Come in." I called out, turning to face whoever it was.
Dr. Chakwas came into view as the door slid open. "I was just coming to ask when you last had a physical. You're the only one I can't find health records for."
"Ah, yeah. I'm not sure, a few months? A year? Time blends together when you're constantly out on missions."
A sage nod. "I understand. When do you think you will have the time for a check-up?"
I grimaced, not exactly thrilled at the idea. "I have the time now, before we get to Artemis Tau, if that's good for you."
"It works perfectly."
I followed her across the way, watching as the windows in the med bay blackened so no one could see in.
"I've got a question, Doc." She raised her eyes to mine for a moment, to let me know she was listening, as she listened to my heart. "How good are you at keeping things off the record?"
A beat of silence, then. "Will it determine how truthful you are with me?"
"Yep."
"The HIPPA Act protects patients from their information being spread around."
"True, but that hasn't stopped some doctors."
"It stops me."
"All I need to know." I offered a smile, digging through my pants to find one of the inner pockets. A rectangle with four slots.
A pill case.
A lifted eyebrow met my action, her hand reaching out and taking it from me.
"Lamotrigine, Lithium, in the first slot. Along with a fish oil, because why not? Latuda and Lithium in the second. Lithium in the third, and Fluoxetine in the fourth. I also have a 'take as needed' prescription for Propranolol. For anxiety." I rattled off. "Fluoxetine is for anxiety attacks. Sometimes, they happen."
"Bipolar?"
"Bipolar One, yeah. I have a six month supply of everything in my room, in six blocks of thirty to thirty-one day cases like this one. What I was about to unpack, actually, when you knocked."
"I take it it's a secret?" She examined the pills. Seemingly satisfied, she handed it back.
"Yeah. People don't like mental illness. Most importantly, without Nihlus to defend my position, I don't want the Council to revoke Spectre status simply because of the stigma still surrounding mental illness."
"It's understandable. I've seen first hand how people with mental illness are treated. It isn't pretty." She rested her hand on mine in a kind gesture. "It's safe with me." A pause. "Do you have a therapist?"
"Ah, negative on that. I had one for a while, but with the missions I was going on with Nihlus, I didn't have much time to talk. Or much to talk about, since they usually ended up being classified."
Another nod, a soft hum of acknowledgment.
We fell into a comfortable silence for a few minutes, before- "Tell me about yourself." I prodded, curious. Did she ask for this placement? Did she like it here, out in space?
"I enlisted right out of med school. Earth always seemed boring to me... too safe, too secure. I figured the colonies were teeming with exotic adventure." That answered that question. "I wanted to travel the stars, tending to the wounds of tough soldiers with piercing eyes and sensitive souls. Turns out military life isn't quite as romantic as I'd imagined." At my chuckle, she smiled, giving a little shrug. "But humanity needs the Alliance if we want to keep expanding through the Traverse, and the Alliance always needs good doctors. So I stayed on to do my part."
"Respectable." I murmured. "Any regrets?"
She let out another soft hum, thinking, as she tested my knee reflexes. "Sometimes I think about opening a private practice back on Earth, or maybe taking a position at one of the new med centers out in the colonies." A fond smile. "But there's something special about working on soldiers. If I left the Alliance now, I'd feel like I was abandoning them."
She stepped back, typing her findings into her tablet. "You can get dressed now."
"Did you want to draw blood today or another time?" I offered as I pulled my shirt over my head, smoothing it out on my torso.
"When was the last time you had it done?"
"I, ah, maybe a few months?" I hedged. I didn't want to admit it had been over a year, because that was usually frowned upon.
Eyes narrowing, she went to gather the needles and tubes. "Today, then."
I stared at the ceiling while the blood was taken, already feeling nauseas, and I wasn't even watching it.
"And every month, from now on."
"Yes, ma'am." A cheeky salute.
"Go on." She rolled her eyes, shooing me out of the room.
I laughed. "See you around, doc."
Kaidan glanced up from the console he was working at, catching my attention. I wandered over.
"Do you have some time to talk now, Shepard?"
"Of course." A gesture toward the two chairs in the space. "Have a seat."
We sat, me crossing my ankles and leaning back against the chair. He leaned forward, elbows on knees.
"We're a long way from backup." I tilted my head at the turn this conversation was taking. Where was he going with this? "We're probably going to have to make tough calls." He paused, glancing away. I could almost hear the apology about to leave him.
"Go on."
"I'm just saying... try to leave yourself a way out. I've seen what cutting corners can do to someone." The unspoken "I'd hate for that to happen to you" floated between us. I knew what he wanted to say- I'd gotten this talk before from many people before him.
I studied him carefully.
Before I could respond, Joker's voice sounded in my ear. "Hey, uh, Shepard. Urgent message from Alliance Command coming in. I'll, uh, patch it through."
I raised an eyebrow, my omni-tool lighting up. Admiral Hackett's voice spilling from it.
"Shepard, it's Admiral Hackett."
"I meant to reach out to you while I was at the Citadel, but it slipped my mind." Being made Spectre would make anyone forget things.
"It's alright. I was able to reach you through your ship." A pause, a raised eyebrow and a look from Kaidan. "We've got a situation here, and you're the only one who can handle it." Another look from him, incredulity on his face. "There's an Alliance training ground where we test weapons and technology in live-fire simulations. One of the VIs we use to simulate enemy tactics in the drills is no longer responding to our override commands. It's gone rogue."
"This computer is thinking on its own?" The man beside me muttered.
I gave a sharp shake of my head, holding a finger to my lips.
Hackett heard it, disapproval dripping from his words. "We're not stupid. This is a virtual intelligence, not a true AI. It's not self-aware, and it can't access any external systems. We didn't do anything illegal here." The lecture went on and on, feeling endless. "Virtual intelligence support is critical to our military success. VIs process thousands of status reports and react in nanoseconds. No human can do that." There was another pause, where I could hear him take a deep breath. Collecting himself. "We need you to fight your way through the training ground to the VI core and manually disable it. The VI controls all of the facility's weapons, drones, and automated defenses. You're the only one who can pull this off, Shepard."
"Don't worry, Admiral." I used my best honeyed voice. "I'll get it done."
"Good luck."
The call ended there, with him cutting the connection first.
Before I could say anything, Alenko bowed his head to me. "Sorry, ma'am. I should've kept my mouth shut. It won't happen again."
"I'm all for the comments from the peanut gallery. After the conversation is over. Or at least, where it won't be overheard. It's harder to persuade someone to do what you want if they remember that one time someone with me said something they didn't like."
"Of course. Again, I'm sorry, ma'am."
"Viridian. If you can't do that, then Shepard will have to do. I'm not a 'ma'am,' not by a longshot."
"You're a Spectre, ma- Shepard. I'm just trying to show you respect."
I rolled my eyes. "If you really want to respect me, don't call me ma'am. Ever again. Not unless you're dying or something." I added flippantly.
There was a spark of hesitation, his eyes darting away, then back to me. "Ah, are you this informal with everyone?"
I let out a genuine laugh, covering my mouth to try to quell it. "Sorry, sorry. Let me put it this way- If I'm being formal with someone, I don't like them. Or the situation is bad. Probably life or death." I wrinkled my nose, adding. "Especially if it's a politician. Always have to watch what you say to them." I stood, stretching my arms up over my head. "Okay. I should go see how close we are to Artemis Tau."
We had indeed made it to the cluster. I opted for the Sparta system first, getting a scan of every planet. Everything was copacetic, until we hit Edolus and picked up a distress beacon. Artemis Tau, distress beacon. This could be Kahoku's missing men.
Broadcasting to my team's ear pieces, I let them know we'd be going planetside in twenty. Plenty of time to don their armors and be ready. Once finished, I went down to the cargo bay, toward the mako. Everyone was already there, waiting for me.
"C'mon, everyone. Pile in." I hid my grin. "And wear those seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy ride."
The Normandy broached the atmosphere, dropping us toward the planet's surface. After we touched down, it only took several minutes of driving.
My eye twitched at the large, flat expanse spread out before us.
"Stay in the mako." I ordered, climbing out. "Alenko, you're in the driver's seat. Don't drive up close, no matter what happens. Keep the mako intact. We'll need her to get off this rock."
Without waiting for anyone to object, I quietly shut the door and made my way carefully to the beacon, which happened to be placed directly in the middle of the area.
Right smack in the center of a thresher maw nest.
As it reared its ugly head, I cursed softly. I'd been right. And hopefully, with it focused on me, it wouldn't go after the mako.
We tag-teamed it- me on the ground, running it around, and them in the mako, firing the big guns. There were a few dicey moments, where it decided it was done with me and wanted to take a crack at the vehicle, but I was quick to draw it back to me. Twice, it dove at me, and I nearly didn't jump out of the way in time.
Eventually, it went down, and without too much fuss, all things considered.
I heard the mako door open and glanced over from where I was studying the corpse of the thresher.
"Shepard!" Williams was the first to speak. Well, loud enough for me to pick up, anyway.
Wrex was next. "Ah, I missed how crazy you are."
I shot a quick smile his way, turning back to the body. Waved a hand toward it and the dead marines. "This wasn't an accident. Kahoku's men were lured here."
"Are you sure? Could it be their distress call?" Alenko asked, frowning.
"I'm sure." A decisive nod. "Anyone who's been on an uncharted planet before knows you avoid the flat surfaces." Confused head tilts all around prompted me to elaborate. "Flat expanses of land are the perfect places for thresher maw nests. They like it because it's easier to maneuver, without having to take hills and mountains into consideration. Also harder for their prey to hide, if they're forced to be out in the open."
I wanted to run my fingers through my hair, but not only was it up, I was wearing a helmet, too.
"Anyway, let's get these men in a better spot, for him to come pick up." A muttered, "I wish there was more we could do" under my breath.
It didn't take long to find a little nook at the base of one of the hills, big enough to hide the men's bodies from anyone who happened to be nearby for any reason.
Once back on the Normandy, I sent a message out to Kahoku, letting him know what we'd found and where we'd placed the bodies. Then, I chose the Knossos system, still in the same cluster. Hoping we'd find something on-
Bingo. Liara was on Therum. After we got her, we'd go straight to the Local cluster and deal with that VI. Which, I knew for a fact, thanks to one of the missions I'd gone on with Nihlus recently, it wasn't a VI. I'd found the information when I was pouring through data at another Alliance sight, out in the Traverse. A secret, covert operation they were running. Which just so happened to have a rogue VI, as well. The one there had been a VI, but not by choice. They'd been trying to replicate what they'd done on Earth's moon, to no avail so far.
And now, I was being tasked to deal with it. Maybe Hackett didn't know the extent of what they'd been doing on Luna, before it had gotten out of control.
...
As soon as we touched down, Joker's voice was filtering through.
"I'm picking up some strange readings underground a few clicks away from the landing zone."
"Got it."
I knew when to drive carefully and, being flanked by lava on one side, I knew this was that time.
"Keep an eye out, guys. Coupled with that warning, I don't trust this place. Something's waiting for us here, I'd bet lives on it."
There were murmurs behind me. I caught "lives? As in, not her own?" I was half tempted to tell them I didn't care much for my life, but I kept it to myself. With some difficulty.
Turrets and geth awaited us. Easily dealt with, but annoying, all the same. Garrus and I took care of them on foot with snipers, the others staying in the mako and using its equipped guns. It was nice. Reminded me of working alongside Nihlus, which left me feeling more than a little nostalgic, a bit melancholic.
"You'd think they'd be harder to fight, being made out of so much metal." I sighed, putting my pistol away.
"You act like that was a walk in the park." Williams frowned, breathing hard.
"It wasn't?" I cast a look over my shoulder at them, blinking when I found them all slightly out of breath. "Huh. Just used to fighting tougher opponents, I guess." A shrug. "Let's get inside, see if we can't find Liara."
Alenko commented as we descended into the tunnel. "You sound like you know her, Shepard."
"We've met before, became fast friends. Every once in a while, when I have the downtime, I visit her at whatever dig site she happens to be at." I smiled, thinking about her. "I think you'll all like her. She's great. More than a bit naïve, but it's part of her charm."
Luckily, the elevator was big enough for all of us to get on without having to make two trips.
"Uh... hello? Is someone there? Could you help me? Please?" A familiar voice called out as we reached the last floor the lift could take us to.
There she was, surrounded not just by a blue shield, but also by a blue bubble that held her a few feet above the ground. How'd she manage that?
"Liara!" I threw my arms wide, grinning. "We have to stop meeting like this."
"Viridian?" She gaped, before shaking her head and sighing. "I'm trapped."
"I gathered that." A gesture toward the console behind her. "That how we get you free?"
"Yes." Another sigh, this one screaming "I'm stupid, I can't believe I've done this. I knew it would keep me safe from the geth. When I turned it on, I must have hit something I wasn't supposed to. I was trapped in here."
"We'll find a way around, don't worry." I pointed at Williams, Tali, and Alenko. "Stay here. We don't need the barrier going down for some unknown reason while geth are rushing in. Keep her safe." A glare at the three of them, before I smiled. Back to my cheerful demeanor. "Let's go."
"If anyone can get through, somehow, it's you." She murmured as we walked away.
More geth down, and a mining laser reactivated later, and we were standing behind her. I linked my omni-tool to the console, running a simple code crack program, and both barriers went down.
Liara landed with a grunt. Straightening up, she dusted herself off. "Thanks, Viridian."
"Of course." I waved off her words.
"Your mother is working with Saren. Whose side are you on?" Alenko demanded, pointing a finger aggressively at her.
Quick as a bullet, I was between them. He took a step back, surprised. "She's not her mother. She would never side with someone like him."
"Exactly." Liara crossed her arms, uncomfortable, but not shying away from the confrontation. "I may be Benezia's daughter, but I'm nothing like her! I have not spoken to her in years." Looking to me, she shook her head. "How did you manage to get past?"
"A bit of mining." A chuckle. "There was a mining laser, broke through the wall easily."
"Of course." She sounded a little embarrassed, probably because she hadn't thought of that. "It makes sense. We should go, before more geth arrive."
"My sentiments, exactly. Alright, every-"
The ground began shaking, the walkways we'd come down originally collapsing.
"That's not good." Garrus muttered.
"Eh. Just have to find a new way out, and fast."
Heading back toward the second elevator, the one that had gotten us to her, we rose up.
"If I die in here, Shepard, I'll kill you." Wrex said, serious.
"Ah, you'll be fine. No one's dying today."
While the elevator was going, I took a moment. Facing away from everyone, I let myself slip into a vision. Watched different versions of events.
"Do as I say." I cautioned- ordered- when I was done. "Alenko, Williams, you take point. Wrex, Tali, you go next. Liara and Garrus will be the next duo, and I'll bring up the rear."
"What-"
"Don't argue with me." I growled, the elevator coming to a stop. "Go!"
I cloaked, readying my sniper rifle.
In the middle of the krogan's monologue, he dropped to the ground. The geth with him followed suit quickly after.
"Go!" I shouted, when everyone just stood there in surprise for a second too long.
It got their butts in gear, and it wasn't long before we were sprinting out to the safety of the planet's surface.
"There, that wasn't so hard."
"Wasn't expecting to get that much cardio in, ma'am, but glad we're all safe."
I made a face at Williams. "Only call me 'ma'am' if someone's life is in danger. I mean it. Unless it's a life or death situation, don't call me that."
"I-" She looked at me with wide eyes, unsure how to take that.
"That goes for everyone, by the way." I tapped my temple. "Remember that." Opening the link to the Normandy, I called for extraction.
