"Hello, there, Thorian. I'd like to have a wee bit of a chat with ya." I said, tone friendly, as I approached.

And then, it got even weirder.

By spitting out a green asari.

"Invaders! Your every step is a transgression. A thousand feelers appraise you as meat, good only to dig and decompose."

"For one, my feelings." I clutched at my chest.

She kept speaking, ignoring me. "I speak for the Old Growth, as I did for Saren." That piqued my interest. "You are within and before the Thorian. It commands that you be in awe!"

I looked up at the thing. "If you have a hand, I'll kiss the back of it. Is that the kind of thing you're looking for?"

Okay, maybe I was in a manic today.

"You mock the very planet you are on with your words. The Thorian extends across the land and back through the ages." She bowed her head, looking up at me creepily through her lashes.

"Okay, you're weird. Anyway, We're here to kill you. Which, I'm sure, you already know. So, if you could do us a favor and just hang there for us, that'd be great."

"You can no more kill the Thorian than cut the sky." As soon as she was done speaking, she drew her pistol, firing.

I, of course, took it, because Liara was standing behind me, and I wasn't about to let her get shot in my stead.

"Your blood will feed the ground and the new growth!"

"What about flesh? I've heard human tastes like chicken."

"I doubt I will ever get used to humans making quips in life-threatening situations."

A callback to the conversation the... other day? Was that really just yesterday?

"How well do you guys think you can hold your own?" I asked.

And then watched as the plant spit out several more asari.

"I've got bullets." Garrus responded.

The other two agreed, tossing a couple of them away with their biotics.

"Good."

I cloaked again, running around, looking for something that would help us kill this damn thing. Maybe the tethers? It wasn't just floating in the space, it had tendrils holding it up.

There. And there. And over there.

When the last one was shot to hell with my shotgun, breaking off, the Thorian fell down into the pit below. The pit that we couldn't see the bottom to.

Before I could rejoin my team, I caught sight of a... sack? breaking open and an asari falling to the ground. Cautiously, I went over to her. She was blue, instead of green, so I had hope that she wasn't whatever the Thorian had produced.

As she stood, I got a good look at her, and my eyes widened. She was beautiful. I'd only ever found one asari attractive before.

Her.

But the woman standing in front of me was... breathtaking, to me.

"I'm free. I'm free." She whispered in wonder.

The sound of gunfire behind me had me looking over my shoulder. Oh, just stragglers. They'd done a good job. It showed me that I could count on them to get shit done.

Her eyes turned to me. "I- I suppose I should thank you for releasing me."

With the last creeper down, and no more green asari in sight, the others came over.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Shiala. I serve-" Hesitation. "I served Matriarch Benezia. When she allied herself with Saren, so did I." I heard the sharp intake from Liara. "Benezia foresaw the influence Saren would have. She joined him to guide him down a gentler path. But Saren is compelling. Benezia lost her way."

"What do you mean?" My friend asked, stepping forward, our arms touching as we stood side by side.

"Saren..." It clicked, a light going on in my head. "can control minds."

"Saren has a vessel. An enormous warship unlike anything I've ever seen. He calls it Sovereign. It can dominate the minds of his followers."

Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me.

The man had a fucking Reaper.

"They become indoctrinated to Saren's will. The process is subtle. It can take days, weeks. But in the end, it is absolute."

"Did Saren give you to the Thorian?" I asked, my thoughts racing.

"I was a willing slave when Saren brought me to this world. He needed my biotics to communicate with the Thorian, to learn its secrets. Saren offered me in trade. I was sacrificed to secure an alliance between Saren and the Thorian."

"And when Saren got what he wanted, he sent the geth to kill the Thorian." The pieces were falling into place. The bigger picture revealing.

"Yes. Saren knows you are searching for the Conduit." Who, what, now? She knew who I was, who we were? "He knows you are following his steps. He attacked the Thorian so you could not gain the Cipher."

"Cipher..." I thought for a moment. "You mean... for the beacon? For the message the beacon gave me?"

"Yes. It was meant for a Prothean mind. To truly comprehend them, you must think like a Prothean. You must understand their culture, their history, their very existence."

I could sense Liara getting ready to say something about the subject, it being her specialty. I touched her arm, giving a slight shake of my head. Motioned for Shiala to continue.

"The Thorian was here long before the Protheans built this city. It watched and studied them. When they died, it consumed them. They became a part of it."

"And Saren has that information now." I wished I could chew on my thumbnail, but helmet. And gloves. "What is the Cipher, really?"

"It is the very essence of being a Prothean. It cannot be described or explained. It would be like describing color to a creature without eyes."

I nodded silently, head bowed.

After a few moments, I looked back at her. "You communicated with it for Saren. So, in theory, you would have this Cipher, correct? Would you be willing to share it with me? Mind melding?"

"That's what she calls it." Liara rushed.

"What? It's not wrong. And it's not like it's an insult." I groused.

Shiala approached me, slowly reaching out her hands. When they were cupping my cheeks, she said. "Every action sends ripples across the galaxy. Every idea must tough another mind to live. Each emotion must mark another's spirit. We are all connected. Every living being united in a single, glorious existence. Open yourself to the universe." Her eyes shifted, becoming black. "Embrace eternity."

The same vision, only more detailed. I felt something change within me, my very cells being rewritten to understand and take in the information. It was disorienting. At the end of it all, a clear picture of a Reaper appeared.

The unidentified thing at Eden Prime we'd seen reaching down from through the clouds.

A confirmation on the thought that Saren's ship was a Reaper.

I slowly came back to myself, feeling her hands slip away as she backed up a few steps.

"I have given you the Cipher, just as it was given to Saren. The ancestral memories of the Protheans are a part of you now."

"What just happened?" Kaidan asked, moving around to my left. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I-" I shook my head. "I'm okay." I finished lamely. I couldn't begin to describe what had just occurred or how I felt about it.

"It will take time for your mind to process this information." She added helpfully.

If I were human, I'm sure that would be true. More and more was making sense, pieces of the puzzle rapidly fitting into place.

He pressed. "You look pretty rough." I felt amazing. "We should get you back to the ship."

Did I really look that bad off? Well... Yeah, I could see it. Everything about me had just been rewired, it made sense I would physically show the strain of that.

"I am sorry if you have suffered-"

I waved her off. "Nothing a little nap won't fix. I needed that Cipher, and if that means I have to feel a little fatigued, then so be it. Well worth it, for what you've shared." Changing the subject from my health. "Do you know what the Conduit is, by chance?"

"No. I'm sorry." Damn. "All I know is that Saren believes the Conduit was the key to the Prothean extinction." I noticed her eyes stray to my companions, before moving back to me. "You have the Cipher. Your visions will lead you to the Conduit. I only pray you find it before Saren does."

I let out a hum, thinking. "Will you tell me about yourself?"

"There is nothing remarkable about me." Her eyes widened a little at my question, at my curiosity. "I was merely one of Matriarch Benezia's disciples. For nearly two centuries, I followed her, learning at her feet. When Benezia revealed her plan to join Saren, she gave her disciples a choice. Only those who were willing had followed her. Many felt her plan was too dangerous." A shake of her head, a glance at the ground. "But I believed in her. I thought she could turn Saren away from his insanity. Instead, we joined him in it."

"Where will you go, now?"

"Viridian." Liara didn't like that at all.

Kaidan didn't either. "Shepard, you can't be serious. Letting her go? She worked with Saren!"

Garrus stayed quiet, keeping his own council.

"If... you would allow it, I would like to stay here with the colonists. They have suffered greatly, and I played a role in their suffering. I would like to make amends."

"I think that's a wonderful idea." I gave her a genuine smile, happy with her decision.

"Thank you..." An expectant look.

"Oh! I never introduced us." I fought the urge to smack my helmet like I would my forehead. "This Liara, Kaidan, Garrus. And I'm Viridian, though some refer to me as my last name. Shepard."

"Viridian." I... loved the sound of my name in her voice. "Thank you. May fortune smile upon you."

"And you." I motioned toward the way we'd come. "C'mon. Let's all go check on those colonists. I hope the nerve gas didn't adversely affect them."

"Nerve gas?" She parroted, surprised.

"It was either that or knock them out with a blow to the head or something. They attacked us the moment we came back from ExoGeni."

The walk up was silent. For my part, I was deep in thought.

"I can't believe it." Juliana's voice reached us, getting louder the closer we got. "Jeong says we'll have all the money we need to keep this place going." She spied us over her daughter's shoulder, waving us over.

"We heard you saying you've got the funding for Zhu's. That's great."

"It's all because of you." A gesture to include my companions, as well. "I can't thank you enough."

Shiala broke off from us, going to talk to some of the colonists. Fai Dan was nowhere to be found, and I overheard a couple of the people talking about how he was laying down because he was dizzy and nauseous. If those were the only side effects, and he was the only one to exhibit them, then I was happy. He'd be fine.

"We're gonna head out now." I said, walking up to Shiala, who had been joined by Juliana and Lizbeth. "Oh, here."

Bringing up my second bank account, I wired a hundred thousand credits into Zhu's Hope's account directly- which I had managed to gain access to while in the science facility earlier.

I lowered my voice. "There, a gift from me."

The two humans' omni-tools went off, alerting them to the new deposit. Both of their eyes widened, and they turned to me.

I held up a hand, cutting them off before they could say anything, grinning. "Bye!"

With that, we went back to the Normandy.

"Do you need a therapist?" I asked Joker after I made my way to his chair.

He looked back at me, a deadpan expression. "Oh, yeah. Loads."

"Alright, I know when to leave people alone." Holding up my hands to ward off his look. "I'm just gonna go punch in the next location we're heading to."

"Shepard." Kaidan called out as I walked past him.

I went over to him, tilting my head.

He looked hesitant.

"What's up?" I prompted, tone friendly.

"I think you should see Chakwas. Maybe get some rest, before we jump straight into another mission." A pause, then adding on. "Shepard."

I wrinkled my nose. Did I have to? "We have to take care of those geth first. After that, I'll take a break." It was the best I could offer as assurance.

He frowned. "By the time we get done with all four bases, it'll be time for bed, basically."

"Perfect. Then, I'll get six hours of rest."

He looked like he wanted to say more, so I reached out and touched his shoulder. Trying to keep him from arguing further. "Look. If the geth launch an attack on Citadel space or even colonies that are close by, and no one's around to minimize the damage... Well, that's a bad day. We have the opportunity to prevent any of that. And since there's no way of knowing when they might do anything, we've got to jump on it now."

There was a heavy silence for a couple minutes while he visibly struggled with himself, thinking it through. Eventually- "You're right. Sorry, Shepard. I just..."

"Don't want to see me cutting corners, regarding my health. And I respect that, I do. I appreciate it, too. But there's more important things at hand right now. I'm sure you know what it's like to have to run on fumes until you've got a chance to breathe. You get through it."

"Just- Remember we're here to help."

"I never forget." A soft smile. "Now, I've got to get the coordinates in the CIC. We'll all be heading out for these bases."

"Yes, ma- Shepard."

I laughed, shaking my head as I walked away.

Armstrong Nebula. From the looks of that information, it seemed they were amassing in multiple systems there. We'd have to find the planets ourselves, but that wasn't anything a quick scan of them couldn't solve. I picked Vamishi first.

Joker got us there quickly, and a few scans later, we had our planet. Maji.