A/N: This kind of chapter is hard to write, particularly in April, the anniversary of my wife's death. The support of the Editing Gang, Comma in particular, was important in that regard. This chapter would have once been a source of far more angst than this.
I would appreciate all feedback for this chapter, as I'm still working out how to do this. The EG had me change the flow of this entire arc significantly.
The Next Chapter is already underway at 6k words so far.
As for other stories, check out "Extrasolar Capture" by Nolanstar, "Shadow of the Phoenix" by SLotH4, and of course the works of Xabiar, Aberron, and Katkiller-V.
'To be wise is to realize that you know almost nothing, and that what you do know may be false. Complex does not mean competent, and the most damning fool of all is an educated fool.'
-Doctor Ganar Okeer, 'Trivialities of an Eon'
After her last set of transmissions to various governments, Shepard wanted to spend more time talking with Liara, but ended up pushing her lift chair to Medical instead. With all of the damage Liara had taken, work on her medical issues was going to be a slow process. Fittings for her legs had to be finalized if she wanted to be mobile in a week, not to mention all the other internal damage she'd taken.
Shepard reluctantly left her in the medical bay with Doctor Sedanya, who would prep her for the next stage of cybernetic surgery. There were still additional adjustments to Liara's eye implant, refinishing her arm replacement, and treating the burns on her legs even before those fittings would be started, so hanging out and waiting would simply take too long.
Shepard didn't like just leaving her there, but understood that hovering would only make things more awkward. Shepard reflected that she had her own healing to do.
While in medical and chatting with Sedanya, she mentioned the ongoing hard ache she had in her chest and the feeling of burning sensations she had in some nerves, and the asari doctor sighed, her eyes flicking downwards and her hands making a sign of siari frustration. "According to most of the scans we took, you suffered some organ damage when you were rammed by an aircar and then, well, irradiated. We've done what we could – and we still have more work to do. In particular, some of the armor sub-plating is probably something we should replace."
Shepard tilted her head and Sedanya continued. "I believe Doctor Lawson did warn you that internal damage would take much longer to heal. With all of the nanotech, cybernetics, and whatever Vigil placed in you mingling around, your own living flesh is already compromised. There's some burst blood vessels and bruising on your heart and liver that may take weeks to heal fully, even with healing nanotech."
Shepard nodded, lips twisting into a soft frown. "Alright, doc. I guess I got so used to not much doing real damage – aside from Okeer – that I forgot there are parts of me that are still squishy." She forced a smile onto her face and inclined her head. "Take care of Liara and Telanya, and let me know when Li is out of surgery."
Sedanya made a sign of siari agreement. "At once. I'll also let Miranda know about your pain issues."
Shepard left the medical level, unwilling to think very much about the damage she'd taken. Killing Tetrimus had been non-negotiable for her, and if she had to deal with some aches and pains… well, those were old friends. It wasn't like she had better options – Tetrimus had been stupidly fast, very strong, and a better biotic. If not for the reactor, even without the aircar, she wasn't sure she could have killed him.
And that was after he'd already been fighting off damn near everything, she thought sourly. She shook her head. That line of thinking was only going to depress her, and she still had things to do. Exhaling, she tapped her omni-tool. "Pressly. Liara's tied up with medical shit. What else is going on I need to look at?"
The voice of her XO sounded a touch tired, and gave a soft laugh. "A lot, ma'am. Grunt has been asking about you for some time. Matriarch Aethyta also has asked to speak with you, as has Tela Vasir. Trudy needs to go over our approach plan and the media coverage, Miranda needs to talk with you and Trellani about something to do with Liara."
A short pause, then a cough. "Other than that, the situation is under control. The last of the major surgical operations are complete, no casualties or complications. Jack and Ezno are in recovery, and Garrus is in medical three with his team. As a reminder, we're scheduled to have a talk with the turians next, you may want to be sure Garrus is ready for that."
Shepard nodded. "Thanks, Charles. You sound tired. Hand shit off to Trudy or Miri and take a nap, that's an order. You've probably been running full out since we launched for Ilium."
Pressly's voice grew a bit laconic. "Yes, ma'am. I'll be turning over to Ms. Lawson in a while, after you have time to sit down and talk with her and the matriarch. Anything else, ma'am?"
She reached the elevator and got inside, tapping the habitation level key and exhaling. "Nope. Shepard out." She cut it off, and then pinched the bridge of her nose as she tried to put her thoughts in order.
She was still tired and in more than a little pain, an emotional wreck, and yet her body wasn't tired at all. She didn't know if that was good or bad, but she could feel the edges of hunger and figured after talking with Grunt she could get them both some food.
The door to the elevator opened, and she stepped out, moving to the right and toward the room Grunt stayed in. As she walked along the passage, the batarian Sensat exited his room, then froze when he turned to face her.
He glanced away, tilting his head to the left. "Mistress." She recognized the head movement as a batarian gesture of respect, and the title to be a borrow-word some batarians used for strong alien females, like asari matriarchs.
She paused, leaning against the wall. To be honest, she'd never really had a real conversation with any batarian – most of them seemed to be stupid macho morons so blown on their own superiority complex as to make thinking, much less talking, pointless. The one she'd interrogated back during the Damocles Incident was insulting even after being captured and with a gun in his face.
Unsure of how exactly to proceed, she waved a hand. "I don't need a title. How is everything?"
Sensat's mouth drew down. "It is unwise for me to treat one such as you with casualness. As for how things are going, I'm… unsure. I myself am fine. Garrus is in a bit of an emotional mess right now, and I'm not the best person to get involved in that. Romance like you people… non-batarians… do is… strange for me."
She arched an eyebrow. "Romance? Kinda surprised you know the word. I've seen how batarians treat their wives."
He shrugged. "You've seen how the assholes do, I'm sure. I won't make excuses for my people, but many of us left the Hegemony because we were sick of what we'd become. If we keep acting the way we have, sooner or later someone is going to wipe batarians out – rachni-style. Everyone acts in their own fashion, then judges others based on familiarity."
He spread his hands. "As for females… have you seen batarian females, Mistress?"
She sighed and grimaced. "Yeah. The ones I saw were like… toddlers, mentally."
Sensat laughed, a sharp, bitter sound. "Yes. My wife was a genius by most standards, she could do basic math and sort of hold a conversation. So romance is often something a batarian only reads about – or has a chance to experience – in terms of aliens, and as a result the entire concept is hazy to us." He glanced down, hands going to fists, and Shepard arched an eyebrow. "Not that my family was the best in that regard either."
"…Was sounds past-tense."
He nodded. "I admit one reason I had no reservations about joining Garrus – and you – is I understand fully what revenge is like. The need for it. I was never a… 'good' batarian. I wanted to create, to invent, to discover. Batarian society prizes power only, not ability but demonstrations of it. My grandsire had no use for my interests, all of the attention was on my brother. My brother who was better with money, my brother who had high-caste connections… my brother, who in his arrogance, ended up finding that which destroyed my family."
He sighed. "I'd already left, at least on trading runs. My best friend and I had official permission to do so, but my wife and children were left at home." He closed his eyes. "The Imperial Guard burned my family home to ashes with all within due to what my brother discovered."
Shepard swallowed in understanding. "I'm… Jesus fuck, why?"
Sensat exhaled. "Everything in batarian culture, batarian life, is face. It's presentation and effrontery and confidence. My brother, the fool, tried to use what he learned – that Elysium and Torfan were deals with 'lesser aliens' – to manipulate his way into some kind of deal. Instead, he insulted a high-caste who had our entire family destroyed."
He met Shepard's gaze squarely, his dark features calm. "I won't sit here and pretend I felt 'love' for my wife. She was… familiar. I was… fond of her. I can say I cared for her, my brother, my children. I can say no one should ever have the right – or power – to simply burn people alive for mistakes that were never theirs."
He lifted his hands. "And so here I am, in the secret base of the female that is the most unpalatable figure to batarians ever; a woman who makes them feel fear. I won't make up a story to act as if I am somehow… what is the word…? Ah. 'Altruistic.' I want revenge. And I don't think you'll tolerate the Emperor forever."
He met her gaze. "But I'm not sure where that leaves me, personally."
She turned that over in her head and nodded. "It leaves you as one more of the gang, I guess. Revenge I can understand very well. And for what it's worth, I never really gave much thought to just the regular batarian civilian. Most of what I saw were slavers or the Fist of Khar'shan, or on a few occasions SIU cleanup teams. None of that made a very good impression."
She smiled, and deliberately tilted her head to the left. "But you don't seem to act like them."
He gave a thin smile. "I should hope not, as I doubt very much I would like being punched into paste." He stepped aside, up against the wall, and gave a shrug. "In any event, I'm sure you are very busy, and I have nothing of importance, but Garrus… you should talk to him. He's going to need advice."
She frowned. "Advice on what?"
Sensat sighed. "On Omega he was mated with Melenis. Now his wife is alive, and I cannot expect anything but both wanting him and the situation being a mess. I'm not sure how turians work that kind of thing out. Nor do I wish to find out how humans do so – your sniper woman Kasumi has mentioned something called 'harem manga' and was rather forcefully ejected by Butler and Angel." He turned and walked away.
Shepard watched him for a few moments before bursting out into laughter.
O-TWCD-O
Grunt's rooms – a sleeping area, a refresher and bathroom area, and a main room – were usually a little messy, but as she entered his quarters, all data-slates and padds had been neatly stacked, weapons racked and his armor removed and placed on a stand. Godsplitter was hung on a wall, the leather wrappings dark with oil and the blackened metallic shaft and head polished.
Grunt himself was wearing a large white robe, examining his armor closely with some kind of program on his omni-tool, and turned as Shepard came in.
She glanced around and then at Grunt. "You said you needed to see me?"
"Yes. Come in." His voice sounded… strange, and somehow different, but she shrugged, stepping fully into the room and sitting down on one of the oversized benches Pressly had put in the room. Grunt laid down a padd he had to one side on the shelf, fingers tapping on it for a moment.
For a few seconds, nothing was said. Then the krogan turned to face her, arms folded.
He spoke calmly with a rolling, deep tone and cadence unlike his usual voice, in a disturbingly familiar manner. "I ask that you take no action until I may explain what has transpired."
She stiffened. "You sound like Okeer."
Grunt's form gave a sort of swaying motion, air whistling past his teeth. "I did warn you, I believe, that my legacy was already secured before we did battle." He placed his hands together. "I would ask that you listen, and then we can discuss how to proceed."
She slowly stood up, keying her reflex trigger and preparing herself for a fight. "What happened to Grunt?"
The thing wearing Grunt's body gave a soft laugh. "I will start from the beginning, if you are not opposed to the concept. There are a great many things to be discussed. To place your mind at rest, Grunt's mind – his mentality, beliefs, and personality – are intact. Mine are merely an… overlay. A method, however inelegant, to cheat death for a time."
He made a gesture with his left hand. "Much as you have, by the technological sorcery of beings beyond our imagination and understanding. I wish to talk, to explain – and then, hopefully, to come to a peaceful accord."
She tamped down hard on her instinct to call for security – or to punch – and instead exhaled slowly. "Explain. And it had better be a fucking good explanation."
The muzzle twitched into a mocking smile. "I assure you, mighty Shepard, our paths no longer conflict. However, to the matter at hand."
The krogan sat down on the opposite bench, interlacing thick fingers, voice musing, the rich baritone rising and falling. "Long ago, the krogan race laid the seeds for its own destruction. You can ask your Loresinger Krul for details, skewed and… inaccurate as they may be. In short, I decided then that the krogan people did not grasp how to master themselves."
The deep blue eyes narrowed. "I have done things that both krogan and alien would call
abominable. Experiments, cruel murders, the obliteration of untold hundreds of millions, perhaps billions, of krogan newborns due to the Genophage. Entire generations of krogan minds and emotions shattered, because the alternative was bleak, unavoidable extinction. Either at the hands of enraged aliens, or by our own stupid meatheaded aggression."
She glared. "None of this explains why you're in Grunt's head."
Okeer's voice was amused. "One must understand the setting before my explanation will enlighten you as to why we are here. But again, I digress. Bypass centuries of useless idiocy… and open unto the Benezia Incident. At the time I had engaged in re-engineering the Genophage. Thanks to the meddling of the STG, a new possibility had emerged."
The krogan leaned back. "The otherwise brilliant Mordin Solus made a key, critical mistake in his use of certain aspects of krogan biology. I know you are no medical connoisseur; boring you with technical details serves neither of us. The importance of this act was that I could effect changes over time to the core of the krogan genome, and to shape how the krogan race would evolve in much faster timescales than natural evolution.
"Unfortunately, researching methods for achieving this not only required staggering amounts of material and money, but also experimental technology that I had to develop. I languished for centuries in this effort, prior to the changes effected by Mordin, and then when I had the opportunity, I found I could not act – until mighty Saren contacted me to hire Ganar Clan mercenaries."
He looked up at Shepard. "Some investigation of my own led me to the discovery that his plans were not the stuff of some Spectre law enforcement regime, nor turian melodrama, but a deep-rooted plot that could have – if he'd been honest – changed the face of galactic politics. Among other things, he had a huge amount of very advanced genotyping and gene sequencing labs, and wanted to create hybrid supersoldiers using rachni genetics"
She nodded in disgust. "Saw those. Fucking sickening. You went along with this shit?"
Grunt's massive shoulders shrugged. "Science merely is, Shepard. One can utilize nuclear power for medicine or devastation. Nanotechnology can be a boon, healing on levels no surgeon could match, or horrible poison. I am not one to turn from progress due to the costs and ultimately, I had no choice."
Okeer's voice became musing. "Saren was not entirely beneficent in his recruitment of me, but the truth was simpler: he needed krogan to experiment on, and I had taken a great many captives for my own experiments. He had money, connections, and technology. To be sure, I had vast resources of my own, but most were in Asari Space and far too closely watched for me to use."
"So I went along with his scheme, and in the fullness of time, Saren and Benezia's machinations introduced me to the Collectors. I will spare you the back-and-forth, the interference of the Broker, and many other useless trivia to get to what you asked."
Okeer's voice lowered further. "The Collectors have technology that allows for the capture and implantation of skills, memories, even entire personalities. This is part of what they use to condition those they capture for integration. Into what, I did not ask. The technology lets them 'copy,' for lack of any less precise terminology, their minds and memories into fresh bodies. I grasp that they are all clones of some genotyped base creature, and thus 'killing' any given Collector is usually a waste of time."
She nodded. "So they let you use this… technology on Grunt."
The krogan nodded. "Precisely. I had another test subject in mind for that, but the Broker's interference ruined it. Instead, I used this body to first attempt to 'make' a Loremaster, and then to incorporate genetic and other improvements and concepts into a working living being. The idea was to proffer… Grunt… all my years of experience, all my knowledge and skills – and to hone his mind as an independent being."
His muzzle parted in a grimace. "Unfortunately, the Collector tech doesn't work as well on subjects with very strong willpower. He absorbed all the knowledge – but the memories and my lessons, he rejected completely. Grunt was intended to oversee my other plans – my changes that I have already seeded into the wastes of Tuchanka."
Okeer's voice rose. "When he was unsuitable for that, I 'copied' my mind into his. The trigger for me to awaken was either a half century or when the boy lost consciousness or experienced other mind-affecting… injuries. On Ilium, that is exactly what happened."
At the back of her mind, Shepard was surprised at how calmly she was taking this. Her expression was composed, a sardonic quirk to her lips. "Well, points for mad science. But why do this at all?"
Okeer barked a bitter laugh. "A pair of reasons. First, I needed to oversee the great work I had begun on the krogan, to ensure things went as planned. My own family was deeply divided by my idea, and your friend Urdnot Wrex killed the most competent of my male offspring, Skal, during the Benezia Incident. Most of my descendants did not know the full plan, and thus I wanted to make sure someone with the full plan could observe. With Grunt resistant, I had no other choice but to make that observation personal."
He frowned. "The second and more pressing reason is that I did not trust the Collectors, or their purported goals. Having a backup in Grunt was thus a measure of security and a method to ensure if they did betray me I could come back to address the issue. That is in large part why I have revealed myself to you."
He spread his hands. "The mental construct I have allows me to 'suppress' Grunt's active consciousness. It is neither permanent nor without certain drawbacks – I cannot keep it up forever, as it was never designed for that. But it allows me to be of certain use to you, assuming we can come to an agreement."
She pinched the bridge of her nose and grimaced. "Yeah, that's great but I trust you about as far as I can throw you. So before we do any agreeing to shit… hey, Vigil."
With a pop, the sphere appeared. "Yes, meatbag?"
She gestured at Okeer with her free hand. "I assume you've been listening? Is he safe?"
Vigil pulsed. "Manifestly not. He's in the body of a form much stronger and faster than his original body, and I'm sure he's included upgrades. Is he a source of danger due to viral agents or nanotech? No. Whatever technology he's talking about is nothing the Sethani used. I suspect it must be Reaper in origin, as transfers of a mind intact without side-effects or damage to a hosting mind is something even the Inusannon and Tho'ians could not do."
Grunt's gaze was on Vigil, keenly examining. "Ah, yes, the Inusannon 'VI.' " The krogan gave a snort. "Clearly details of your sapience and ability were kept hidden from the ignorant masses."
Vigil's tone became smug. "I believe you once wrote in your observations on krogan society that the best method to hide something was playing on the assumptions of others."
Okeer spoke with a silky overtone of amusement. "Ah, to have one's own lessons finally utilized in the light in which I intended. To know one such as yourself has deigned to read my works is an honor."
Vigil pulsed. "You're one of the few meatbags in this galaxy who has a brain and isn't drinking what the zombie here calls 'idiot ball tea,' so there is always that."
She sighed. Of course Vigil would like the mad scientist. "By 'safe,' I meant is he, you know, indoctrinated?"
The silvery sphere shimmered and pulsed again, playing a faint gray light over the krogan, before speaking. "Whatever was used, Shepard, does not appear to have had any indoctrination effects. There are minor – very minor – amounts of imbalances in certain brain chemistries, but I suspect those are from the… from Okeer staying awake since Ilium."
Vigil pulsed a third time, sullenly continuing. "I suppose I should pay closer attention to the members of the team going forward, meatbag. I only scan for indoctrination. But in theory, he should be harmless in terms of Reaper contamination."
Shepard glanced upwards momentarily, and nodded decisively. Arms folded, her voice hardened as she addressed the krogan. "Fine. Spill out exactly what you want, then, doctor."
Okeer spread the arms of Grunt's body, hands open. "Three things, none of which should be difficult. My primary goal in the short-term is to ensure the Broker is not a threat to my greater works. He is cunning and curious, and was far too interested in what I was up to even while alive. While I do not think he has the scientific capacity – or audacity – to stumble upon my full plans, he could interfere and cause great harm to both my future designs and the krogan as a whole."
She nodded slowly. "Why would he do that ?"
Okeer's brow furrowed slightly and his voice became cool, a grim roughness that echoed in the room they sat in. "The Broker is dangerous because he ignores no data-points or opportunities for profit. At the very least, I suspect he is thinking I had a cure to the Genophage, or some way to nullify it. If he could obtain such, he could bargain with the krogan and gain a great deal of power over them. The fact that no such cure exists in a form he could grasp doesn't mean he will not consider it an option – even more so now that you and your allies have ruined the bulk of his ground military power."
She nodded again. He'd thought this out pretty far, but then again she knew he was supposed to be some kind of genius. "Alright, next."
He spread his hands. "The Reapers. Suffice it to say, I was not fully cognizant of the Reaper issue until after my death – and I have no doubt the krogan would be obliterated or worse by them. They are a threat to all intelligent space-faring life, and perhaps more. In my earlier days, I had dabbled in developmental archaeology – the study of how sapient races evolved socially and technologically. Many pre-spaceflight races were destroyed by heavy orbital bombardments, resulting in huge explosive craters… and vast, kilometers-wide spreads of hardened elemental iron. I suspect Reaper cleaning of our galaxy may not only include space-faring races, but those who are deemed some kind of threat."
The krogan gave a toothy smile. "As my plans are meaningless if Tuchanka is a smoking ruin, by force of facts our courses must now parallel. The threat is real – I have occupied myself these past few days correlating my earlier works with Doctor T'Soni's own research, and there are multiple matches."
She frowned. "Vigil?"
The sphere pulsed. "Unsure, meatbag. The Inusannon observed only a handful of Cycles, and no direct observation of such a thing was found. But in searching through university archaeology databases from all races, I find at least partial evidence of seventeen such extermination-level events for non-spacefaring races in the past two and half million years. It seems a plausible threat."
She faced him squarely. "And your final reason?"
The krogan gave a gusty, almost human sigh. "Hubris, perhaps. I am old, Shepard, in ways few others can hope to match. I am older than any asari matriarch, or any other krogan – the next oldest is thousands of years younger than I. For over seven thousand cycles of the sun, I have guided and watched krogan development, and to a lesser degree, the fortunes of my asari children as well. The leadership of the krogan has always been held by those with less brains than bravery, and I fear age and poor choices have made young Thana more foolish than need be."
Okeer leaned forward in Grunt's body. "I know a great many things of use, in both terms scientific and martial. I am intimate and connected with the Thirty, I can gain access and audience with the Batarian Emperor and the hanar Choir of Ascent. I offer you all this and more, in return for being able to ensure those who are blood to me prosper and thrive."
She leaned back, gesturing with her right hand. "Before I agree to shit, I want to talk to Grunt."
The head gave a slow nod. "Very well, Shepard."
Grunt gave a sort of seizing, jerking motion, standing stiffly then falling down onto the floor. She flung herself by his side, but Grunt was already sitting up slowly, one hand holding his frontal plate.
"Ugh… my head." His voice sounded normal again, and she exhaled a little as she helped him to his feet and to sit down on the bench.
She smiled thinly. "You okay, big guy? Did he hurt you?"
Grunt tilted his head, then shook it with a wince. "No. Took over after another krogan damn near killed me. Kept Zaeed alive, kept the fire team alive and killed some kinda big robot in the fight. Since then, he's been reading everything he could access on my terminal – news, files, gossip."
She nodded. "I'm sorry he was able to do this to you." She paused. "If you see what he does, can you know what he's thinking?"
He shook his head again. "No, Battlemaster. Sometimes I catch emotions – usually amusement. He finds many things funny that aren't really funny. But mostly he simply talks… and talks. And talks."
She gave another nod, biting her lip. "It's your body here. I don't know if we can stop him from taking over, but if you want—"
He held up a hand. "I don't like it. I don't like him in my body. But he has a point. He's a better fighter than I am, he knows a lot of things I don't." He paused, his bulbous eyes flickering around the room. "Okeer was known for keeping his word. That much is in the lore of the krogan people."
She stood up. "Is switching painful or hard?"
Grunt twitched, and Okeer's voice rolled forth, the baritone amused. "Not at all. It is also instant. I presume you have conditions for our agreement?"
She closed her eyes for a second. Really, this was the kind of thing she should take to Harper, he could see all the angles. Or even Kelly. But Okeer was old – could they really be of any use?
The alternative – trying to match wits with him herself – was even stupider. If nothing else, death had at least taught her that. She opened her eyes and gave him a thin, cool smile. "First, let's go talk to TIM."
O-TWCD-O
She had to give Harper credit. He sat there and listened to the story, smoking, and then calmly nodded.
"I see."
She scowled, shaking her head. "You're taking this pretty fucking well."
Harper gave what could charitably be called a smile, almost a smirk. "Given what we have already achieved and seen, one more surprise of this magnitude should not be unexpected. Given Okeer's legendary status, I admit I was rather surprised you were able to triumph in single combat."
He paused to put out his cigarette. "That being the case, to be able to have Doctor Okeer working with us is a net positive, Shepard. Doing so in a fashion that no one but Cerberus can even imagine was possible is only more of an improvement. I do, however, wish to bring in a… second opinion."
Standing on the far side of the table in one of the base's meeting rooms, Okeer tilted his head. "In regards to how to proceed?" He had taken control again to retell his story to Harper, after asking permission to do so.
Harper inclined his own head. "Precisely." He tapped the comm-link built into the table. "Cena Krul, if you have a moment, could you please come to Meeting Room Seven? It is in regards to a… krogan issue, if you will."
Krul sounded wary through the intercom, if polite. "As you wish, Cera Harper. Krul out."
Harper leaned back in his chair, meeting Okeer's gaze, who only began to laugh softly. Harper arched an eyebrow. "Exactly what do you find amusing, doctor?"
Grunt's body shook with laughter, but after a moment Okeer spoke. "I will let you find out for yourself. In the balance of the time before she arrives, are there any other conditions?"
Shepard spoke up. "I want Grunt to have his body most of the time. Not negotiable."
Okeer folded his arms. "Naturally, and an acceptable request. I would not require more than, let us say, four or five hours daily of his time. This can be done while he, or at least his mind, sleeps, if that is palatable to him and you."
She nodded. "We also need some kind of guarantee on your actions. Not to be a bitch, but you've done some shady shit in the past."
The wary set of the eyes and amused grin on Grunt's face was so alien looking she shuddered. Okeer's voice was wry and almost cutting. "As have many who have joined your group, I suspect. Putting in some kind of way to 'lock me out' will be hard to achieve, mighty Shepard, without a great deal of somewhat dangerous experimentation. Is my word not sufficient?"
Harper smiled. "That is why I have called Krul." He looked up as the female krogan entered the room, stumping forward stolidly to come to a stop in front of the table.
Krul's voice was cool and blunt. "You requested me? Is this about the file on the krogan?"
Harper shook his head. "Not at all. I'll let Shepard explain."
"Gee, thanks, dick." Shepard huffed and turned to Krul. "So, ah, this is a little weird… but somehow Okeer managed to plant a copy of his mind, and memory, and other stuff into Grunt that can come out and take over."
Krul eyed Grunt for long seconds. "Is this a joke of some sort?"
Grunt straightened, and Okeer's voice sounded almost fondly amused. "Humans are not given to the same kind of practical jokes as your old paramour, Akrula. I must admit I was… somewhat surprised to find you in Cerberus of all places."
Krul stiffened and faced Okeer squarely, staring with wide set eyes. "How in the name of Vurtha…?"
Okeer spread the hands of his borrowed body. "As with most of my achievements: science, experimentation, and lack of morals. I believe those were the terms you used, yes, so long ago?"
Krul's growl was filled with anger. "You experimented on innocent females!"
Okeer leaned forward. "Females doomed to wander in the Vakat Wastes for being barren? Females tossed into female clans that were little more than scavenger thieves? Spare me. I did not expect to hear the soft histrionics of Urdnot morality from you of all people, Akrula."
She hissed. "I am not that person any longer. I am only Krul. Akrula died on the sands of Tuchanka and the dead should be left to rest."
Okeer's voice was biting. "Truly, your time wasted among the other clans did you no favors. Do your erstwhile allies know who you really are?"
Shepard traded glances with Harper. "Krul?"
Okeer turned his head to face Shepard. "Hardly. Her true name, you see, is Akrula."
He turned back to stare at her. "Ganar Akrula, Loresinger of Clan Ganar. A skilled and talented Loresinger who abandoned her own clan to wander and sing when she was thought to be barren. Who defied the consensus of the Loresingers to reach out to me and learn of the truth of krogan history, and dared defy the Urdnot. Who left us to try and teach the clans to unite, to bring themselves into a new era."
His voice became mocking. "And who, upon becoming pregnant by a puling, worthless, Weyrloc thug, was accused of treating with Ganar 'sorcery' and nearly murdered by the very people she sought to uplift and educate. Tell me, how is all that altruism working out for you in the long hunt, child?"
Krul lowered her chin, leaning forward slightly, and smiled sardonically, her voice mocking. "Is that 'failure' supposed to matter to me? I will say to you what I said to Wreav when leaving Urdnot's questionable custody – if there was no place for me on Tuchanka, I would make my own. I have done so, here. The question becomes: why are you still corrupting and ruining all you touch?"
Okeer's voice took on a touch of anger. "The alternative is death, foolish child. You still cling to the idea that concepts like altruism, generosity, and kindness have any meaning? Perhaps for the soft beings of worlds less compromised than our own, but let us not dance around the subject. Reality is cold, and dark, and cruel. The games of the leaders of the galaxy are lethal and beyond the understanding of simple minds focused on food, sleep, sex, and enjoyment."
Krul snarled. "So because the universe is unfair and evil, we are supposed to be? That is bankrupt thinking, Eldest. I turn away from the darkness because the light is and should always be our goal!"
Grunt's body stood up to its full height. "I turn away from nothing because survival trumps everything. I dared to do what I did because no one else had the spine to do so. I experimented to find answers, instead of relying on drugged shamanic visions and mindless, internecine combat." He exhaled. "Most of all, I rejected the petty morals of the Urdnot that put us in the shambolic state our race exists in."
Krul's voice was soft. "And your goal here? Among these aliens who have already profaned nature and defied fate? What new depths of horror will you sink to, or subject the krogan race to now? You have 'helped' enough, and you are dead. This ghost of yours has no true worth, from its unnatural creation to the parasitic blot you are on the life of Grunt."
Okeer's sigh was equally soft. "My goal? I will do what I have always done. Seek truth, regardless of cost. Seek understanding, even if doing so offends or horrifies. Prepare for that which more short-sighted fools ignore."
Harper gave Krul a look. "I won't comment on the legality or the moral framework in which Doctor Okeer operates. Nor should I even comment on the ramifications of it. I've done worse in some ways. But I think, based on our conversations, you have a better understanding of what he will and will not do than Shepard or I could achieve. Is he a liability to Cerberus, Cena Krul?"
Krul stared at the form of Grunt for several seconds before shaking her head slowly. "Not as you understand liability, no. His danger is not of that… flavor. He will not turn on you unless you refuse to listen to him, and he would die before betraying an ally… unless they force his hand. In thousands of years of lore and song, not once did the Eldest break his sworn word."
She swung her gaze to Shepard. "But his danger is very real, Shepard. It is a danger of a failure of moral strength, to disdain concepts such as honor and care for ones such as 'advancement' and 'progress.' There is no pity or sympathy in the mind of Okeer, no innocence or purity, only goals and objectives."
Shepard grimaced. "I kinda figured as much, Krul." She turned to face Grunt. "So what exactly can you offer?"
He gave a mocking smile. "I am the foremost expert on krogan biology, and the creator of the Genophage. I know enough about it to… enable changes. Indeed, parts of my plan hinge on that. But I can give you insight into how to make the krogan a force for Cerberus. My insight is not only into krogan – I have studied turians, asari, salarians, batarians, drell, humans – even vorcha. Perhaps with my skills we can even improve or enhance your Revenant Procedure."
He spread his hands. "I am well-connected to many important people in society. I can… if my existence is revealed to certain parties… reduce the amount of resistance you will face in certain political arenas, particularly from the Thirty. Even if I am kept hidden, I know their secrets, I know their weaknesses and fears, and I can predict their actions based on thousands of years of experience."
He paused. "I have intelligence on what is occurring in the Batarian Empire and what has already transpired. I have a network of agents capable of operating in places and locales where your own people would not be welcome or unnoticed. I am a skilled scientist, and I can explain and demonstrate what I have learned from the Collector technological devices I worked with."
He smiled. "Finally and most importantly. With the exception of Tetrimus and Tazzik, I believe I am the only being in the galaxy who has had the pleasure of meeting directly with the Shadow Broker, and can give you critical intelligence on what he is."
Krul snarled. "And the cost?"
The krogan shrugged. "My greatest experiment is already afield. It needs nothing more than monitoring, and mostly in the abstract. I would ask to be able to participate in certain researches I did not have time to work on, things that I suspect would aid Cerberus in the long-run. I would ask to have a portion of time devoted to ensuring whatever Cerberus is planning does not destabilize or further ruin the krogan people. Beyond that and forbearance, I am willing to accept whatever level of accommodation to this shadow-life is granted."
Shepard sighed. "Cheap at twice the price, I suppose. Alright, get lost, Okeer, I need to talk to my boy."
Grunt twitched and then sagged, groaning. She frowned, touching his forearm. "You okay?"
Grunt's voice was normal again, if strained sounding. "Yes. Just… tired." He frowned and looked at Shepard closely, then straightened. "I am unharmed, though."
She smiled, and then glanced at Harper before looking back. "You're in his head, or he's in yours– what do you think? You're the one most affected by this bullshit."
Grunt's expression became thoughtful, and again she was struck by how eerily familiar he looked. After a moment he nodded slowly. "I think he is worried about something. Something to do with the Broker and something to do with the batarians. He didn't expect to wake up this soon and it almost feels like he is regretting something. That's all I know."
He shifted his shoulders. "As long as he does whatever he does when I'm asleep, I don't care. His ideas are still weak and his goals bore me, and if my Battlemaster wishes to use him, that's not a problem."
Krul looked at him, piercingly. "And you don't fear he has some way to steal your body entirely? Or worse, corrupt your mind? You don't fear that he has survived death?"
Grunt barked out an abrupt laugh. "Hah! He couldn't do that when he had me unconscious in a tank strapped to his stupid machines, he can't do it now. He didn't survive death, my Battlemaster did. All Okeer did was make a copy and cheat. I don't fear that."
Shepard smothered a smile, and Harper nodded. "Very well, Shepard. This was an unexpected bonus – I'm sure Doctor Solus and the medical team will have many things for Doctor Okeer to do."
She nodded. "Grunt, when you go to sleep, tell him he can work with us, and to report to Mordin in the labs. We'll see how good he really is." She turned to Krul. "Keep an eye on him, please. And let me know if anything is changing that we need to look at."
Krul nodded, rolling her shoulders. "I will do what I can. If there is nothing else, I need to speak with you privately, Shepard."
She glanced at Harper, who shook his head, and then she nodded. "Fine. Grunt, head down to the mess hall and get some chow. Okeer didn't eat when he was running your body."
"Figures. Stupid." The krogan stumped out, followed by Harper, and the doors shut.
She turned to face Krul. "Yeah?"
The female krogan folded her arms. "Do Okeer's words about me change anything?"
Shepard snorted. "No. Sounds like you did what you had to, and as for Okeer? The stupid fucker is gonna try the 'anything in the name of science' line with me? Sorry, that was the old Cerberus. Sounds like you got fucked over trying to do what was right, and I'm never going to have a problem with people who risk their lives to help others."
Krul unfolded her arms, head tilted, her stance softening. "Good. I did not think so, since you are not krogan, but…" She trailed off, and then shook her head. "It does not matter. You need to talk to Garrus."
Shepard's smile faded. "I ran into Sensat. He told me about Melenis and Garrus."
Krul nodded. "Garrus was in despair most of his time on Omega, and Melenis was attracted to him. The night before the last assault, things shifted, and they joined as one. Then, I thought this was a good step in healing for Garrus, to move on. Now, with his first mate not actually dead, Garrus is in a trap that has no exits." She turned away, then paused. "Shepard. One more thing. Do not trust Okeer."
Shepard snorted. "I wasn't planning on it, the guy is more into mad science than Cerberus was."
The female turned to face her, expression grave. "You misunderstand. Okeer is smarter than you, or me, or Harper. He is smarter than anyone ever, as far as I know, and has more experience in manipulating and shading the truth to people than anyone. He does not move openly, he corrupts – over years, decades, centuries. He has, in this mad plan, eliminated anyone searching for him, made himself nigh untouchable, and placed himself into a stronger, more powerful body than he was born with. He will learn whatever dark arts brought you back to life and there is no telling what will come of it."
Shepard frowned, thinking. "We can't get rid of him without hurting Grunt, and I'm not going to do that."
Krul nodded. "I did not suggest you should, but be wary, and keep in mind his plans have spanned millennia in some cases. He is not some… formulaic villain in a saga-song of yore, but a man who was able to openly butcher, commit horrible crimes, dine with monsters like the Batarian Emperor – and yet be fêted and honored by the Citadel and high society. You are overmatched if you compete with him on his own terrain."
She left the meeting room, and Shepard blew out a breath. "Great. More good news."
O-TWCD-O
Garrus grimaced. "I'm a bit nervous."
Liara smiled, sitting in the lift chair, even as she tried to ignore the phantom ache in her legs. She shifted a bit, and then gave a small asari shrug. "It is to be expected."
Garrus flicked a mandible. "Sure. I get it, intellectually. Doesn't mean my gullet isn't doing flip-flops."
The second surgical operation had gone well, and the implant sites for her new cybernetic legs were grafted to her nervous system. Plasma cautery had been performed – she could have opted for slip-on temporary sites and to regrow her natural legs, but that would have kept her sidelined for almost a year.
Time she could not afford.
With little else to do but wait for Sara to return, she'd accompanied Garrus to the medical bay where Telanya was in recovery, preparing to be awakened from her medical coma. The asari ex-cop had taken far more damage than Liara had, both from the high-explosive blast that had gone off and from Tetrimus's strikes.
Part of her skull had been savagely fractured, bits of bone driving into her brain – the doctors weren't sure if it was from the tech-mine explosion, or the much larger one that had left her with heavy second and third-degree burns. It had been only through the skill of the doctors – and Vigil – that the wounds had not killed her, but now they had to see if any memory or other brain damage had occurred.
Liara patted Garrus's hand. "I know the feeling. My stomach has been roiling, and I have developed a sort of shaking that I cannot seem to calm. I know she – Sara – is alive, but it has been… so long… part of it doesn't feel real. And knowing how to react…"
She trailed off, and Garrus nodded. "In a way, I feel guilty. I didn't move on for months and months… and then when I finally do, I find out she's not actually dead. If I had just—"
Liara shook her head. "Do not pursue that line of thought. You know better, Garrus. I cannot imagine any of us expected any of the others to be alive. There were times… I wondered if I should simply give up. My mind came unraveled before I could follow such an impulse, but you cannot blame yourself for moving on. Clinging to death does not make one a better person."
Garrus shook his head. "But I didn't move on. I just gave up. I was in pain and… I wanted it to stop. And because of that, now Melenis and Telanya are both going to be hurt. I did something because I was broken, and maybe in time that would have grown into something more than just two people clinging to each other. Only there wasn't time… and now I don't know what to do."
Liara was going to speak when the door to the small medical room opened, and Miranda Lawson came through, followed by Doctor Sedanya. "Everything is prepared, Mr. Vakarian. Shall we proceed?"
Lawson's voice was archly cool, and Garrus suppressed his nerves and gave a brief nod. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be. I'm going to stand out of sight though, as to not mess everything up."
He stepped back, and Sedanya tapped a series of commands into the haptic panel on the far wall, while Miranda touched several controls on the complex stack of life-support and medical equipment next to the bed where Telanya lay. Garrus looked down at her as they worked, taking in the slackness of her face, the thinness, the new scars and hard signs of battle and suffering.
Miranda spoke calmly. "Reducing xeno-adjust barbitolysis to eleven percent. Begin infusion when ready, doctor."
Sedanya tapped another series of commands into her panel, then folded her arms. "Flow steady. Increasing cortical stimulants… now."
The machinery next to the medical bed gave a series of sharp alarms, which Miranda silenced, then turned to lean over the bed. After about fifteen seconds, Telanya gave a soft groan, stirring slightly, and grimaced.
Miranda's voice was calm. "Telanya Vakarian… can you hear my voice?"
Garrus's hands clenched as she spoke. "…yes… where…?"
Liara responded. "I am here, Tel. We're safe. Tetrimus and Tazzik have been defeated."
Telanya's eyes fluttered. "I feel… light. Weak. Everything is blurry…"
Miranda nodded. "You were heavily injured, and we've had you in a medical coma. I'm going to very slowly sit you up now, tell me if you feel dizzy or lightheaded."
She touched the bed controls and the top of the bed slowly elevated, pushing Telanya to a semi-upright position.
Liara scooted her lift chair closer and took Tel's free hand. She sent a gentle pulse of sensations, a code they'd worked out to confirm each other's identity if separated. "You are alright."
Telanya blinked several times before focusing on Liara's face, taking in the bandages, then glanced down at herself. "I seem to be in possession of most of my body parts for a change."
Liara gave her a warm smile. "Yes, you are fortunate."
Telanya glanced to her right, taking in the forms of Doctor Sedanya and Miranda Lawson, her eyes widening. "Lady Liara, where exactly are we? What happened?"
Liara's voice was strained. "We are safe. As to what has occurred… that is a complicated tale, but it appears we have been rescued by Cerberus, which is the employer of the Butcher and the Archangel."
Tel gave her a look, then glanced down at the blanket over her form, which was trimmed in gold and had a Cerberus insignia on it, before giving a brittle laugh. "This is far too ridiculous to be any kind of suspension simulation. So, why did Cerberus, of all people, rescue us?"
Miranda folded her arms. "We are also opposed to the Broker, and both the Butcher and Archangel had a personal interest in seeing you safe. We were also hoping you would assist us."
Liara took Tel's hand again. "Listen. I had… a very large shock awaiting me when I woke, and I am still trying to process it. It's going to be just as hard for you, but I wanted you to be… ready."
Telanya gazed at Liara for several seconds. "We have descended into madness, evil, and darkness together, Lady Liara. Where you go I will always follow, and there can be nothing left for me to fear when I have lost everything."
Liara shook her head, a tear trickling down her cheek. "I only wish that was true." She half turned in the chair. "Come out."
Telanya looked up and to her left, as Garrus slowly walked to the foot of her bed. His scarred features shifted through several motions of his facial plates before his mandibles spread in a turian smile. "…I didn't believe it when I first heard who the Sisters were. I thought I was… I thought you were gone. So I don't know what to say, or how to say it…"
Telanya slumped back on the bed, mouth open, eyes wide with shock and something else, before glancing wildly at Liara. "This… this…"
Liara's voice was soft. "Sara is alive too. Cerberus… science. Or something." She squeezed Tel's hand. "She says what we have done… does not matter."
Garrus merely looked at Tel, eyes almost empty, and she met his gaze before trembling. "So everything we sacrificed and suffered… was for nothing? Everything we endured—"
Garrus cut her off. "And all the ways we fucked up our lives, our belief in law, our reason for doing the things we did is pointless? You know better. I killed walking shit on Omega, and you killed walking shit on Ilium."
"WE KILLED INNOCENT PEOPLE!" Telanya screamed, wrenching out of Liara's grasp and tearing several probe lines off her shoulder. "We butchered civilians and—"
Garrus's voice was icy cold as he abruptly cut in. "I spirits-damned blew up a bunch of kids." He watched her mouth open in shock and gave a grim, cold nod. "We all fucked up. I'm not any cleaner than you, or Liara, or Shepard. She killed off three hundred thousand people in orbital bombardments and didn't even bat an eye at it."
He walked forward, kneeling down to her side, mandibles tight against his jaw. "I can't fix what I fucked up, and I fucked up a lot. I can't change what happened. I know this seems like a dream, or some kind of sick joke – but it isn't. I'm here." He took her other hand in his own. "I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough to protect you. I'm sorry I was too spirits-damned cocky and that got me knocked out of the fight."
His grip tightened. "I'm sorry neither of us is what we thought we'd be… but I am not letting you go. No matter what you've done."
Tel met his gaze, then looked away. "…This is so fucking unreal…"
Liara gave a slow nod. "It is, in a way." She glanced up at Miranda. "How much remains to be done in terms of her medical condition?"
Miranda spoke with a note of caution that wasn't usually present. "Given the amount of internal injuries she took, I'd be far more comfortable if we had a detailed neuroscan done, and replaced several ribs and a few other bones with cybernetic replacements. We also need to do workups on her blood work – and yours – after months of abusing stimulants and sleeping aids. There's probably organ damage in both of you and we may need to install filter trays – which will be fun, given asari regeneration."
Liara nodded, lips pursed sourly. "One cannot exactly plasma cauterize a lung. I see. And how long would this take, in theory? I understand you can make no firm estimate—"
Miranda shrugged. "About the same as you, three or four days. She won't need any full out replacement limbs so she can be up and about by the end of the day, if she's careful."
Telanya laid back against the bed, exhaling sharply, looking sour. "I can afford to be careful, I suppose." She glanced at Garrus, then at Liara. "And once we have recovered?"
Garrus spoke, his voice full of hate and fury, enough to drag her gaze back to him. "We find the Broker and kill him deader than we did fucking Saren. After that…" He flicked a mandible. "Well, I'll let Shepard do all the heavy briefing crap." He glanced at Miranda. "Can I have a little time alone, Miss Lawson?"
Miranda walked around the medical bed and began pushing Liara's lift chair. "I'll be back in half an hour for neuro prep, Cena Vakarian."
Liara sighed as the two of them exited, the door sealing behind them with a soft rasp, and Garrus turned back to look at Telanya. "…There's other problems. Problems we need to talk about."
Telanya looked at him for a long second, incredulous. "I'm not even sure how the Abyss I'm alive, or you're alive, and there's more to drop on me?"
Garrus took her hand. "…I'll start from the beginning, then."
O-TWCD-O
Shepard had spent most of the day with Grunt, and later with Trudy, going over the plans to meet up with the Citadel reps. The asari would be sending a ship before the Normandy reached the Citadel, to take custody of Trellani's body and verify it. Likewise, the salarians indicated they were sending a representative to meet with Shepard prior to her arrival on the Citadel to discuss 'matters of concern to the STG.'
Trudy had summed up the major reactions across the galaxy – shock, speculation, conspiracy theories, and memes. Or as she had put it: "Everyone lost their ever-fucking mind all at once."
The human response had been the most chaotic and varied. On most of the colony worlds and among the poorer segments of the human population, news that Shepard had returned from death was treated as a nigh-religious miracle, propelled along by the Neo-Catholic Church's embrace of the concept. Neo Berlin, Mindoir, and Dirth had all gone into partying hysterics and the Fist of Kyle security force – adrift and demoralized after Kyle had died – had renamed itself the Fist of Shepard and grown even larger.
Most people in Sol itself and the richer humans were in mixed states of confusion. The Japanese Emperor's statement that she had returned from death through science hinted that Harper's attempts at concealing the Revenant Project had not been as complete as he had hoped, but she doubted the HLoS truly understood the issue.
The wealthy and powerful were split in their opinions – the more militant Families of the Third and Second Rank and most of those inclined to back Udina's Information Party were delighted at her return, while the more commercial-oriented Families didn't really care.
In general, humans were happy to see their hero back. The fact that the Butcher was already seen as 'fucking awesome' was the cherry on top, and the extranet was crammed full of memes pointing out a human woman had beaten the shit out of Okeer and Tetrimus, two of the most powerful and frightening figures in galactic history.
Asari reaction to the survival and identity of the Sisters of Vengeance, on the other hand, was almost entirely negative. Sharp questions from the majority of the asari focused on the concealment of their identity as some kind of ploy – and more than one darkly hinted at the idea Liara had been working for Aria. While this was true, it was going to be denied hard, as most asari loathed the Queen of Omega.
To Shepard's disgust, that line of rumors made the butchery the Asari Republic had been committing on Ilium somehow more palatable to the clanless. Many comments were made that if Aria was active on Ilium, the reaction of the Justicars was perfectly valid, and given the other conspiracy theories floating around the asari extranet, even wilder suggestions were made.
Shepard had a flicker of memory, talking with Jiong on Thessia, where he'd said the asari media was nice and respectful in-person and trashy online. He'd been absolutely right on that.
Turians had gone absolutely insane over the reveal that Archangel was Garrus Vakarian, with widespread video of his father Regulus cheering wildly at the video of Garrus beating down Tazzik and screaming out battle cries. Almost a hundred percent of turians had positive views of the Archangel and the idea that he and Shepard were reunited was seen as even better. Warden Kuril had – in a rare moment of reaching back to the Hierarchy he spurned so often – confirmed her identity and that he had verified it was really her.
Salarian reactions were muddled. The salarian nightly 'news mockery' shows – where salarian comedians and intelligence types mocked how other races attempted to spin news and tore apart conspiracy theories – had a field day with the coverage. They had trotted out the very long list of impersonators and fraudulent types who had, at one point or another, claimed to have been public figures thought dead, and all of them had been found out and exposed. Celebrating her return before the bioscan was just asking to be disappointed, in their view.
Trudy felt that, in general, everyone was at least openly curious about Cerberus – and that they'd had hits on their extranet sites and had hired on a few hundred more ex-Marines and even a few alien mercenaries. All of these were kept in bases far from Shepard's hideout, of course, but if they could be vetted and confirmed as trustworthy, some would be brought over to augment the forces she had on hand.
When she finished with that and Liara had calmed Telanya down, Shepard had linked up with her wife and traveled to the part of the hab level where Aethyta and her Black Blades had settled in. Most of the surviving Blades were still badly wounded, and Aethyta herself was still in a sling for her injured arm, but other than that the group seemed in high spirits (if consuming way too much alcohol for Pressly's taste).
The room they'd given Aethyta was originally designed as a security force barracks. In Shepard's opinion, like everything else Cerberus did, it was richly furnished and lavishly overdecorated. The dual-stack beds looked like they had complete entertainment systems, and the main area had a two hundred twenty centimeter holoscreen, bookshelves full of both real paper books and shelving stuffed with padds, and a full kitchen.
Of the fifteen Black Blades who'd accompanied Aethyta, eleven had survived the chaos of Ilium. While three of them were torn up so badly it would take months of restorative surgery and physical therapy to fight again, the rest were in better shape. Cerberus armor cam systems on the Centurions who'd assisted at the fight at the Canni Hotel and other footage had revealed the Black Blades had killed over one hundred top-level Broker soldiers, sixteen mil-spec cyborgs, and over a dozen ardat-yakshi – they'd accounted for more kills than any of the other forces on the planet, in some cases combined.
Shepard wanted to keep them around if at all possible. As she and Liara entered, the latter was a bit surprised to see both Tela Vasir and the ardat Morinth sitting in plush chairs near the middle of the room, alongside Aethyta and two other Black Blades.
Aethyta took in the sight of Liara in the lift chair and the blanket over her legs and sighed. "How bad was it?"
Liara shrugged. "Both legs, at the knee. The fittings are in place, tomorrow morning I'll use the temporary cybernetic limbs until the battle-ready blueware limbs are finalized and QA'd. I should be walking by noon tomorrow."
The matriarch nodded. "Tela here lucked out, only needed a bridger for her jaw and some minor repairs, and Mirala didn't need any limb replacements at all. Most of my girls will be okay, although Smiya, Samae, and Jhaha will take your Illusive Man up on his offer for blueware."
Shepard nodded. "Fine by me. Blow his money, see if I care."
Tela Vasir sighed. "That seems petulant, Shepard. Anyway, you called the… er, Mirala and I here, auntie. What's this about?"
Aethyta sighed and looked down at the floor. "I guess, kiddo, it's about clearing the tidepools of what I've done with my life. Before I get into this…" She gestured to Shepard. "You'll wanna sit down."
Pushing Liara toward the group, she sat down in one of the leather seats next to her, interlacing her fingers and leaning back. "Alright."
Aethyta grimaced and gestured to the two Black Blades sitting next to her. One of them was half covered in bandages and missing an arm, the other was sitting in yet another lift chair missing a leg. "These are my oldest students – Smiya and Crennsa. They've… well, they know. What I'm about to go into."
The matriarch swallowed. "When I was… young… my family didn't really care for how I acted. I was into blades and old history, reading shit about the Silent Queen and the Ninety Shades of the Blade Dance and all of that. Nezzy and I were close… probably too close, given…"
She trailed off, then took a sip of the drink on the table next to her. "Nerves, heh." She took another deep breath, and looked up at Tela.
"When Nezzy took off with her first bondmate, that Palavanus, I… didn't handle it well. I knew both Houses would have screamed if we'd bonded – specially back then, when the whole mess about the damned T'Chmath having two ardats in the main line. I… I ended up focusing on killing, and I let myself get used. By the Matriarchs, by fucking Thana T'Armal, by my own frustration. And I didn't think ahead very much."
The matriarch met Tela's gaze. "I ended up having a… stupid affair with one of the lesser house distant cousins. And, surprise surprise, I got pregnant. And at the time… I was the eldergirl, and chatelaine…"
She looked away, and an expression of confusion was on Tela's face. "But…"
Aethyta's voice was rough. "Vhais and my mother wouldn't let me… claim you. So instead, you were said to be purebred from Sanasi, the adoptee. That way you'd never have any shot at the Matriarchal throne, as Sanasi was not trueborne from Trierson Vasir."
A short pause and ragged breath, and then Tela spoke. "…So you really are my mother. Makes sense. Explains a lot of the depths-shit I had to put up with growing up."
Aethyta nodded. "I wanted to tell you long ago, but I wasn't able to without messing up my connection to House Vasir, and probably making you more… miserable than you were already. Now, though…" She sighed. "It doesn't matter. I've loved you as best I could, did my best to train you and teach you, and—"
Tela held up a hand. "I'm not… well. I am upset, but not at you, aun— mother." Her lips quirked. "Goddess knows how many times I've said you've been more of a mother to me than Sanasi ever was, the bitch, and now I guess I know why. I'm not happy about not knowing, but…" She glanced over to Liara. "That makes us sisters, then."
Liara's gaze was cool. "Try to keep from getting my wife killed in the future, sister." The last was said with biting sarcasm, and Shepard actually chuckled.
Liara turned to face her. "You know she was the one who—"
Shepard waved a hand. "Yeah, Harper told me." She turned to look at Tela. "Bea Shields warned me the Broker would always go for the money. If not Tela, he'd have co-opted someone else to bait the trap for me. Fuck, he might have gotten Bea to do it herself, pissed-off as she was about the wedding. That doesn't mean you're off the hook, Vasir. What happens next kind of depends on what you plan to do."
Tela shrugged, the asari motion jerky and somehow sad. "I have no idea, really. My life was an empty piece of shit before this all went down, and my Family disdained me. I thought Liara and Aethyta were dead. I thought I'd sent a good woman and my family to their brutal deaths because I was too stupid to predict the Broker didn't give a shit about casualties." She smiled thinly.
"Given I had to have been seen fighting alongside the Sisters and the Black Blades, and the realization that I've double-crossed the Broker now in the open, I'd be dead if I just up and went back to the Citadel, like Cerberus would allow that in the first place. But with Aethyta here, and Liara…" She met Shepard's gaze. "I'd like to join you and make up for what I did."
Shepard sat still for a few seconds, then nodded. "One chance. Everybody fucks up. I did, and I got a chance to change, and I took it. You double-cross me or any of us again, I'll kill you myself." Then she put on a bright smile. "On the bright side, you're supposed to be pretty dangerous in a fight. If you help kill the Shadow Broker, that will be a good start towards proving you're actually on our side."
Tela nodded. "…More than fair. I'm almost done being a Spectre. I'm… tired."
Liara gave a snort. "And what do you plan to do, sister, instead of kill for the Broker and Council? Kill for Cerberus instead?"
Tela shrugged, and Aethyta frowned. "Little Wing, I know you're upset with her… but I'd like you to give her a chance and keep an open mind."
Liara laughed again, with an edge to it. "I'm trying very hard, aithntar. It's hard when your long-dead wife and another thought to be dead friend come back to life, and you find out the person that led us into the trap that got her killed is actually your sister." Her voice sounded bitter, and after a second Shepard took her hand.
Shepard was amused. "Hey. I could say the same thing about Harper – even if he's done some good and isn't the asshole I thought he was, he's also responsible for a lot of bad shit in the past. I would definitely say that about the High Lords. I should scream it about having to deal with fucking Okeer." Liara looked at her curiously, and Shepard waved a hand. "Later. Anyway… we need all the help we can get – and Tela worked for the Broker for a long time. She'll have useful information."
Liara nodded slowly, then looked up at Aethyta. "Given the nature of this revelation, why is Morinth here?"
The ardat gave a sort of nervous smile. "My mother, Samara, was her student. Considering what you were just talking about, I'll give you three guesses."
Liara stared at Morinth for a long second before her gaze slid to Aethyta. "…Are there any other sisters I don't know about? Is Aria or perhaps the Azure Lily also a part of the family? Goddess, please tell me Vaenia isn't one of my sisters."
Aethyta snorted. "No. Goddess, even I don't know who Aria's aithntar was." She gestured. "Mirala… was the result of me being stupid, an ugly affair with Samara, and not realizing she wanted more than just her provenance. I never knew about her being my child until Ilium."
There was a long quiet moment. Aethyta looked back-and-forth, watching them absorb the information. "You're all taking this better than I expected. I figured someone would… freak out."
Tela shook her head. "I think we're just… tired. I'm empty. Liara's probably falling to pieces. Mirala nearly got killed by her own mother and has been chased and distrusted for Goddess knows how long." She gave a weak smile. "I'm not… sure what to feel about it, but I've read Mirala's file. She's not a fucking Nightwind, she's not a monster, and she killed bad guys I've wanted to murder for literally decades. That's fine with me."
Liara also smiled faintly. "It is ironic, in a way, that I was so fearful and distrustful of her when we first met. I suspect if not for that I would be… more distrustful. But she did not sell us out, and kept her word. More than I can say for many." She glanced at Shepard. "If Sara can accept her…"
Shepard laughed. "She fights crime by fucking it to death! Of course I accept her."
Liara rolled her eyes.
Mirala relaxed into her chair, suppressed tension leaving her as she smiled. "Thank you. Both… all… of you. To simply be accepted means more than you can understand." She sighed. "Just wondering what that will cost you… my mother will not be happy until I am dead."
Shepard snorted. "I've put up with enough fucking death threats from the Justicars towards Liara to bother to pay any attention to them now. As long as you're with me, part of my crew, no one touches you." She sighed. "Though the Republic will probably be pissed."
The Black Blade on Aethyta's left spoke. "Yeah, we know. That's why we're here" She looked at Shepard. "Short version, we, ah, disabled most of a unit of Republican Guards and killed at least a few Justicars to save Mirala's life. I'm pretty sure that means we are completely and utterly gonna get wave-fucked up the midnight if we go back into Asari Space… and there's no real worlds outside Asari Space that would take us in since Ilium is on fucking fire."
The other Black Blade, Crennsa, made a gesture of siari unity. "So. It's obvious that Liara's sticking with you, Butcher. And where Liara goes, Mama Fish goes. And where Mama Fish goes… we go." She tilted her head. "Assuming that is okay, of course. Cerberus doesn't have the best track record with aliens, although that seems to have changed a lot."
Shepard nodded. "Most of the stupid shit got obliterated before I got myself killed. Harper and General Petrovsky aren't big fans of turians, but they deal with Garrus okay. And Harper was banging Trellani…"
Smiya exhaled. "Yeah. Mama Fish, the Council of Matriarchs is going to go fucking insane if they find out you're working with the Dark Matriarch. They may put injunctions on our Houses or House Vasir—"
Shepard shook her head, then paused. "Alright, go time. How willing are you all to keep a secret?"
Aethyta leaned back, crossing her legs, rubbing her still bound arm with her left hand. "Kinda depends, I guess. On the secret."
Shepard nodded. "I'll be happy to take in Tela, the Black Blades, and… Mirala. No questions asked. In return, if you are asked, you tell everyone that Matriarch Trellani is dead."
Crennsa gave a smirk. "I'm guessing that means she isn't, the crazy bitch." She turned to Aethyta. "I told you taking a contract to kill her or her family was stupid. Now she can fucking get out of being dead. Aren't you glad you listened for once, Mama Fish?"
Aethyta leaned forward, uncrossing her legs with an alert expression. "You mentioned Okeer. He's dead. You were dead. There's a lot of dead people who aren't fucking dead all of a sudden, and Trellani is dangerous in ways you can't even understand. Level with me, Sara. What's this about?"
Shepard exhaled. "Due to… various methods, we've found a way that allows Trellani to move her consciousness and mind into another body – a flash-clone. Though it gives her a pretty short lifespan – maybe another fifteen or twenty years. But it means I can present her dead, original body – with her sword and equipment – to the Thirty."
Smiya nodded. "Making them think she's dead. Huh. Clever. But you know she's dangerous?"
Shepard nodded back grimly. "I know the bitch is crazy and a fucking terrorist, and believe me, I am not goddamned happy at all that I'm not actually rid of her. But she's useful, and she's lost almost all her biotic power – and she's gonna have to stay carefully hidden, so she can't get up to blowing up any more fucking innocent colonies."
No one spoke, then Aethyta chuckled. "Girls? I have a pretty good idea of what might have set Trellani off, and frankly… if I have to choose between fighting for fucking Shepard or the Council of Bitchtriarchs, you know my pick."
Smiya shrugged. "Half of us are former Eclipse girls, Mama Fish, sixth daughters of Lesser Houses. And Goddess knows we've killed more asari than Trellani and Cerberus combined. None of us give two shits about her blowing crap up as long as it doesn't get us killed."
Mirala gave a soft smile. "Given how I've helped the human Commissariat train and condition child asari that I'm almost sure were slaves, I've done just as bad. I don't have a problem with her."
Tela Vasir gave a tired nod. "As long as Shepard is keeping an eye on her, she's not going to do anything. And I trust in Shepard's ability to determine if she's worth sparing or not."
Aethyta smiled. "Alright, the Blades are at your disposal. And I presume my daughters as well."
Mirala smiled at being included in that, a sort of wistful look in her eyes, and Shepard leaned back. "Cool. Here's the thing… I meet with an asari battlecruiser in about a week, just before we head off to the Citadel. I'm handing over Trellani's body at that time. Who should stand with me from your group?"
Tela spoke. "Myself and Aethyta. Keep Mirala out of sight and deny any allegations they make."
Aethyta gave a lopsided grin. "Good idea. I mean, the truth 'bout my Blades will come out sooner or later, probably once we have to hit a ground target – but keeping them in suspense for now can't do anything but help."
Liara nodded, and Shepard was about to speak when her omni went off. "Shepard here."
Trudy's voice was calm but a touch irritated. "Sorry to interrupt. It's about, ah… the matriarch."
Shepard nodded. "I've briefed Aethyta and the rest. They know. What's up?"
"She said she needed to speak with you and Liara as soon as possible. Is this a bad time?"
Shepard glanced at Aethyta, who frowned. "Not at all… can she come to Hab 4?"
"I'll let her know."
Shepard clicked off. "I wonder what this is about?"
Trellani entered the barracks room of the Blades about five minutes later, as Liara and Morinth were conversing about things on Ilium and Shepard was being told about the various skills the Black Blades possessed.
She was dressed in a simple haze-gray gown, with a single line of gold and a panel of overlapping hexagons in dark burnt orange over one shoulder. Her unlined, untattooed features were youthful, but there was a weight in that purple gaze that remained unnerving to Shepard.
Conversation trailed off as she walked forward, a gentle smile on her features, stopping next to Shepard. "I did not expect an audience, Shepard."
Liara gestured, her voice dry. "I have family I did not know about, Matriarch. And I'm sure that my aithntar has things she would like to discuss."
Trellani looked amused as she sat on the only open seat, making a languid gesture of siari welcome. Her voice was almost as dry as Liara's as she spoke. "No doubt a great many things. No matter. I will discuss what is needed to be shared and then indulge Matriarch Aethyta in her curiosity."
She took a deep breath, then turned to face Shepard. "I am given to understand Miranda gave you a warning about joining, yes?"
Shepard nodded, and Trellani continued. "At the time of your… death, Shepard, Doctor Sedanya made a desperate and perhaps ill-advised attempt to save the life of your bondmate. Until now, every Soulforge that has broken has resulted in either instant death due to mind-shock or a rapid descent into insanity. Sedanya used a method to forcefully sever a bonding pattern and then attempted to seal that connection with a mind healing technique."
Trellani gestured to Liara. "I can almost be assured she was not fully successful. You have experienced a number of hallucinations, emotional instability, and the like, yes?"
Liara nodded, swallowing. "Yes. It was not bad at first, but a year after her death I was having a great deal of difficulty sleeping… and by the time of the fight on Ilium, waking hallucinations and biotic feedback issues."
Trellani nodded. "As expected. Based on the timeframe and the legends of the Soulforge, I would expect you to lose biotic shaping capability in a month and probably mental collapse within two to three more months. This would almost certainly be followed by neural collapse within days, and then death."
Shepard frowned. "You can fix this?"
Trellani made a sign of siari agreement. "I have lost much of the sheer power I once had, but none of the skill. I did modify you, using similar, but more… refined methods. I broke the shards of the bond, the rathlai, and from them fashioned a sort of feedback loop to deal with both the bondshock and the visions from the Dark Beacon."
She spread her hands. "Such is not a permanent fix. In a few years it would begin to fail, and the only question would be if you went insane from the same sorts of things Liara is suffering or if the Beacon would simply shatter your mind entirely."
Aethyta ran a hand along her crests. "I'm presuming you didn't just come here to give bad news."
Trellani smiled. "Not at all. I can repair the damage to both of you, but there will be side-effects and dangers, and I wanted to go over those now. First of all, both of you will have… there is no exact term in human language. The asari word is 'renth-rathlias.' The closest translation is 'ghost memories.' Fragments of the soul of the other… or neurochemical residue and channeled ion disruption of neuronic bonds, depending on if you prefer the echas poetic or the medical diagnosis."
The matriarch stood, tapping her omni-tool, and the huge panel on the wall lit up with diagrams. "In Liara's case, the bond is still technically 'active.' There is a ritual treatment she will need performed to unseal the inshai, the bond-link gates, and at that time the full horror of your severed bond will hit you all at once."
She turned to face Shepard. "Your bond was not just broken, but removed, so the 'ghost memories' in your mind will be at full strength. When you bond with Liara, they will flare to life – your minds and brains are looking to reestablish known factors… but both of you have changed."
Trellani gave a sad smile. "You have changed so much, in fact, that I do not think a bond is even possible any longer."
Shepard almost snarled, but Liara's hand on hers stopped it. "You would not come here to describe how to rejoin ourselves if there was no hope."
Trellani nodded. "…Indeed. You cannot hope to bond – you must force yourself to the Soulforge again, and Shepard must take on all the pain and share it with you. The two of you must find enough strength to… share all you are and isolate and eliminate or absorb the chaotic fragments of what was. If you are successful, then once again you will be one soul in two bodies. If you fail, I strongly suspect both of you will be insane or dead."
The matriarch looked at Aethyta. "There is no method or certainty by which I can say if they will be successful at this or not. In the end, it does not matter. Liara will begin to become mentally unstable in roughly two to three months, and Shepard in a few years. I would suggest we do not engage in trying this until after we have dealt with the Broker and have time to both prepare and recover."
Liara closed her eyes and squeezed Shepard's arm tightly. "I… I am not sure I am able to do that, Matriarch."
Shepard was less polite. "She's in pain, Trellani. She can't even fucking sleep without Miranda giving her the kind of knockout drugs we usually use on fucking batarians. I get what you're saying, it's dangerous. But I'm not going to be fighting a hundred percent against the Broker with my own shit like this, much less my wife's."
Trellani folded her arms. "The decision of when to proceed is not up to me, but the two of you. All I need to know is when you plan to do so, so that I can prepare the ritual – and who will be doing it."
Aethyta snorted. "I'll be doing it. I'm not a priestess, but I've seen a lot of the shit Nezzy did, and I'm the strongest of the Art among my girls. Plus, I've already seen that fucking Beacon and all the shit in Sara's head – I can handle it."
Trellani nodded slowly. "There is also a risk to the ritualist… a rather large one. If you are not careful—"
The blademistress gave another shrug. "Big whoop. If I die and they're okay, then at least I've accomplished one thing in life without fucking it up. I'm ready whenever they are."
Liara swallowed, and smiled weakly. "We'll… talk about it tonight, Matriarch. I'd like to… I need to get to know my family more before I risk my life once again."
Trellani nodded. "If there is nothing else…?"
Aethyta stood. "There is. Mind chatting with me a bit? We never met that much after Nezzy sponsored you, and I've got… a lot of questions."
The Dark Matriarch stood in turn. "I'm sure you do. Come, and leave your sword with your daughters."
Aethyta stared at her. "Why?"
Trellani's voice was archly amused, yet bleak. "Because you shall not take kindly to the answers."
