Three Little Lovebirds
Chapter 19 – Awakenings I
"Shepard! Shepard, can you hear me?"
Lucy groaned softly as the voice wormed its way into her ears. It felt like someone had plugged every nook in her skull with cotton wool and then clobbered her over the head for good measure. She'd only been lucid a few seconds and she could already feel the onset of a massive migraine. Even in her dazed state, however, it was hard to miss the urgent tone
"Wha-" she ventured, irritated when nothing but a slurred grunt came out. Forcing her eyes to part slightly, she tried again. "Doc, is that you?"
"Doctor, is that you?" corrected the somewhat exasperated voice, "And yes, it is me."
"Let's keep it down a bit shall we." Lucy hissed, bringing a hand up to nurse her aching sinuses. When she was content that her forehead wasn't about to implode, she continued "What in god's name happened?"
"I was rather eager to ask you the same question." Chakwas replied "While you were under, the ship was attacked."
"What?!" Shepard yelled, instantly regretting it as fresh waves of pain rolled over her "Is anyone inured? Are we damaged?" She struggled to sit up, but a firm hand pushed her back down.
"We're fine. The only person who isn't, or rather - shouldn't be, is you." The doctor was pacing; something Lucy only knew she did when she was nervous. "It wasn't an 'attack' in the physical sense. Our computer systems were invaded by some sort of rogue AI that seemed intent on targeting the neural stimulator."
"Guess that explains this headache." Shepard commented absently, struggling to makes sense of what she was hearing. Rogue AI? This was bad news.
"It took control of the device." Chakwas continued "Effectively taking control of your subconscious. I have no idea what it did to you but-" She trailed off, hesitating.
"But?" Lucy prompted, frustrated at having to play catch-up.
"Well, you were screaming...pretty loudly." The medical officer's face was pale. "It was...well, it was very disconcerting. For all I knew you were dying or being tortured or god knows what. The AI was in control of the systems, I couldn't get any readings from anything."
She drew a steadying breath before asking "Can you remember anything Commander? Anything at all that might give me some insight into what happened to you."
Lucy tried. She really did. But no matter how much she willed herself, the last thing she could recall was closing her eyes as the neural stimulator put her to sleep.
"There's nothing." she said at last "Just one big empty space from then until now."
"That's too bad." Chakwas frowned "Still, the scans indicate that you're as healthy as ever. As long as you're sure that you're okay, I'll release you back to active duty. Just promise me you'll come straight back if you feel or remember anything."
"I promise Doc."
"Joker's prepared a report on the particulars of the attack for you to review as soon as you're able, but I'm guessing you'll want to hear the good news first.
"Good news?" Lucy looked at Chakwas nonplussed.
Before the doctor could continue, a faint groan attracted both their attentions, accompanied by the sound of shifting sheets.
"Lucy?" said a very husky, very familiar voice "Is that you?"
"Yes." Chakwas said quietly, more to herself than anyone else, "Good news."