Hedging
Jak stared at the newest quarian and then at Illia who nodded slightly. It wasn't just him.
"Elan'Shiya? The material you asked for is here." Her tone, oh my god! Her tone… Jak had heard it so many times while he had been in the asylums. She had given up.
The quarian did not look up. Indeed, her posture was one step away from beaten! Jak bristled at that and he could see Illia tense as well. Elan'Shiya held him down and her fingers squeezed gently. A warning? A request? Hard to say.
"Ah, Korri." Elan'Shiya sounded grateful and the newly come quarian relaxed a little. "Thank you for coming so quickly. I hope security didn't give you any trouble."
At that, Jak tensed even further. He stared at Korri and his heart went totally still as he saw bracelets on her wrists that did not look decorative. He couldn't see her ankles, but there was something around her neck that the other quarians did not have on their suits as well. His blood started to boil. He saw Shepherd's eyes light on the odd decorations as well and her posture was tense as well.
"No, Ma'am." The quarian said softly. "I should… get back."
"Wait." Shala'Raan spoke up. "Korri, you may be needed here. We have an emergency case and I know you have studied non-quarian physiology."
"Not much else to do but study, Admiral." Korri's tone was perfectly respectful, but the songs that rang thought her mind rang with hate, fear and despair. She looked at Jak and he forced a smile. "A… a human?" Her tone turned odd, confused.
Can you hear me? If so, do not answer aloud. Jak asked in the silent way that Illia and Lara had managed. The quarian jerked and he spoke aloud. "I am sorry. My name is Jak. I...seem to have made a mess."
"So I see, human Jak." The quarian was shaking her head slightly. "I… Admiral I need to get back."
"Korri, I need your help." Elan'Shiya said quickly. "He is suffering from energy burns inside his head. It was..." What followed was a spate of esoteric medical gobbledygook that Jak immediately tuned out.
She can hear us. Jak sent to Illia.
I know. Illia replied. But she is scared. With reason. If the quarians realize what she is, she may never be free. They might lock her in a lab for the rest of her life. It happened during the rachni wars. Korri stiffened and Illia sent to her. We won't leave you here.
"Who are you?" Korri said slowly. "That was a krogan who came with Tali'Zorah. But… you are human." She looked at Shepherd and then at Jak. Then she looked at Illia. "And asari?" Her tone was odd, not childlike, but confused and scared.
"Korri, please." Elan'Shiya indicated the floor beside her and the newly come quarian knelt. They started working on something.
"Why is she wearing binders? No one would say on the Rayya." Tali said flatly. No one spoke and she snarled. "I didn't know. I never asked. Shepherd..." She pleaded.
"Tali." Shepherd sounded a little sick now. "That is an internal Fleet matter. We cannot interfere. Tali, we need to go." She said quietly. "We have an appointment with the Omega 4 relay."
"I… Yes." Tali shook her head but her eyes were on Admiral Shala'Raan. "Admiral Shala'Raan? If I come back, we are going to have words." She spun and stalked from the room, back stiff and straight.
"If?" Jak asked softly.
"There is a good chance none of us will. No one has ever come back from that relay." Shepherd said with a shrug. "But we have a good crew and the best intel available. Add to that? The Collectors just made this personal. They attacked my ship and took most of my crew. I am off to get them back."
"Give them hell, Commander." Jak said with a frown.
"With pitchforks, Lieutenant." Shepherd braced herself and gave him a sharp salute.
"Ma'am?" Jak jerked as Elan'Shiya did something, but it didn't hurt and he relaxed. But a Commander saluting a Lieutenant? And he wasn't even in the Alliance anymore! What the hell?
"Something Hackett and Anderson rammed through." Shepherd held her salute, waiting. "The Alliance gave you the Star for saving the colony on Terra Nova. Always takes a while to process. It went through a day after you vanished from the hospital." Jak's eyes went huge at that. The Star of Terra was a big deal. It was the highest award the Alliance could give. It was usually given posthumously. It entitled any bearer to a few perks. The right to a salute from any serving Alliance soldier was merely the smallest of those. Shepherd had earned it on Elysium. "Your whole team got it. All eight of you. It isn't nearly enough, but it is a start on what the Alliance owes you."
"I... Doc." Jak pleaded. Elan'Shiya sighed but nodded. He raised his hand slowly and carefully, giving the best salute he could while flat on his back. He dropped the salute as soon as he could and Shepherd dropped hers. "If we do not meet again, Commander? It has been an honor."
"You say that now." Shepherd snorted. "Wait until Joker hears who you were. He will spam your email if he ever finds it demanding a fly off to find out who the best pilot is or at least to share stories." Jak groaned again and Shepherd chuckled. "The price of fame. Good luck. To all of you." Her eyes swept the room and then she was gone.
Jak stare after her and then stiffened as Elan'Shiya laid something around his neck that closed with a click. "Doc."
"We have to isolate your head." The quarian replied calmly. "With the shock absorbers, we can make is so your inner ears are not disrupted when we move you. It will feel very odd, but if it works, you can go with no danger."
"Will I be able to see? Hear? Talk?" Jak asked, dreading the worst.
"Not as easily. But we can work it out." Elan'Shiya reassured him.
"Jak, we have got you." Illia said with a grunt. "Trust me. If we can move you, you are in the clear." But her eyes were on Korri. Admiral Shala'Raan was sharp eyed.
"What is your interest in Korri?" The admiral asked slowly. Jak tensed and both of the quarian medics froze for a moment before Elan'Shiya started working again. Illia looked at the Admiral and then at the still floating Daro'Xen. "This is not her concern now. It is the entire Fleet's concern."
"Korri has a gift that is incredibly rare." Illia said slowly and carefully. Korri spun to stare at the asari, her eyes apparently huge underneath her visor. "It is also incredibly disorienting. Korri, do you have blackouts? Sleepwalk? Sing in your sleep?"
Korri stiffened but did not speak. She went back to what she was doing with Elan'Shiya. Jak could see her fingers trembling.
You can hear me. Jak said slowly. We mean you no harm. Your songs are beautiful. Sad but beautiful.
"My..." Korri jerked and then snarled. "Get out of my head!"
"We are not in your head, Korri." Illia's tone was soft and gentle now. "You need help, girl. We can give it."
"No one can help me." Korri said weakly and then gave herself a shake. Elan'Shiya's posture looked worried.
"They helped me." Jak said softly. "Massive post traumatic stress. Brain damage. They couldn't fix it, but they helped."
"I cannot..." Korri stammered and then snarled a bit, focusing on her work. "No! I will do what is required and go back to my-" She broke off as Elan'Shiya laid a hand on her arm.
"Your cell, Korri?" Elan'Shiya said sadly. "Because that is what it is. They keep you in a cell. They lock you in every night because they are afraid of you."
"They should be!" Korri snapped, her hands working to extend something around Jak's head.
"Wait. Stop." Shala'Raan said quickly. "Korri. Stop. Please." She begged. "If Illia's friends can help Jak Collains with all the damage we see in his scans, maybe they can help you."
"We can." Illia said quietly. "Her damage is psychological, not physical. What have they done? Given you sedatives to stop the songs?" Korri jerked and Illia shook her head. "No. You self medicate, don't you?"
"You don't know me!" Korri all but screamed. Both marines took a step forward, but Shala'Raan waved to them and they retreated.
But I want to. Jak sent with every ounce of his empathy, his compassion, his fear for her that he could send.
"What is this?" Korri begged. "I can hear you. In my mind. Is this mind control? Telepathy? What?"
The Admiral tensed but Illia's gentle voice sounded and everyone relaxed.
"It is not mind control or telepathy, Korri." Illia said when Korri sobbed a little. "It is a mix of ultrasonics, pheromones and dark energy quantum entanglement on the atomic scale. Not anything anyone has ever been able to duplicate in a lab. No tech can replicate this. Not tech can stop it all. You are one of three people we know of who can do this naturally. It isn't a weapon. It is a gift. Your songs are beautiful. Can you hear ours?"
The rachni music swelled in Jak's mind and he could see Korri stiffen. She could hear it.
"Please don't." Korri begged as the music sounded louder and louder in Jak's mind. "No! Don't give me hope again! I can't! Not again!" The pain and heartbreak in her voice had Jak in tears. He was not the only one. He saw Illia's eyes glistening.
The helmet sealed around Jak's head and he couldn't see for a moment. Then the visor cleared. He could still hear the songs but nothing else.
Jak? Illia sent. You okay?
Can't hear normally but yeah. Jak tensed as Elan'Shiya's hand touched the side of the helmet and a speaker came alive.
"He should be able to hear now, but hopefully, the absorption will prevent any jarring." The medic sat back. "It is very similar to the shock absorption of our envirosuit helmet. It is not a vac suit, but it should work for a short time."
"I am good. But… Korri." Jak said sadly. "Oh Korri." She was crying. There was a murmur in his mind and it took a moment for him to realize she was speaking softly the same way he did. It was so soft and so hurting. So bleeding raw.
Ican'tIcan'tIcan'tIcan'tIcan'tIcan'tIcan'tIcan'tIcan'tIcan'tIcan'tIcan'tIcan'tIcan'tIcan'tIcan'tIcan't
His heart went out to the quarian as she sobbed in her mind. He saw Illia's face soften as well.
Yes, you can. Jak sent every bit of reassurance he could even as her monologue continued.
"We cannot leave Korri here." Illia said flatly. "She cannot be used as a weapon, but that won't stop people trying."
"What is wrong with her?" Elan'Shiya had Korri in her arms, trying to soothe and failing. "She doesn't have brain damage!"
"No." Illia frowned and then shook her head. "I don't know how she is doing this or why. But if anyone else finds out she can do this, her life will be in grave danger. Cerberus took Jak and Lara to try and find out how they were linked. The scans they did… Your own admiral did the same. Korri is not linked, but maybe, someday… She might be."
"She is broken." Jak said flatly, sitting up. This time, Elan'Shiya did not stop him. Nothing went wrong and he nodded to her. "Thanks, doc."
"You will heal, given time." The quarian medic hugged her colleague who cried harder. "I have tried to help her."
"You have." Illia reassured. "There is nothing wrong with her. But her songs will have made all kinds of people think there is. Have you tried electroshock yet?" She asked mildly.
"What?" Elan'Shiya demanded angrily. "We would never do that!"
"They did during the rachni wars, when people heard the songs." Illia bowed her head. "I wasn't around then, but I read up a lot when I got this job. People who hear voices or songs in their minds that no one else can are crazy. They have to be, right? Maybe she is. I don't know her well enough to say. If anyone deserves to be crazy after what was done to them, Jak and Korri qualify. We helped him, we can help her."
"Truly?" The voice was low, concerned and not one that had spoken recently. All eyes went to the floating quarian who was still hanging there. Shala'Raan shook her head. "Your encryption on my mute was good. Not that good. I was angry. I didn't understand, Raan."
"You could have gotten everyone on this ship killed, Xen." Raan said flatly. "If Illia here wasn't as restrained as she is… You would have."
"We do not want to fight." Illia raised her hand and Daro'Xen lowered to the floor. She stood gingerly and did not move otherwise as the biotic fields released her. "We understand the cost far too clearly to wish violence on any."
"Then how do you explain the rachni wars?" Shala'Raan demanded.
"I can't." Illia said sadly. "My queen cannot. She doesn't know what happened. She was in the egg, not even hatched when it went into stasis. But she could hear even in the egg. So many lives, so many songs, silenced. We believe there may have been another party involved, but we have no proof." She stepped forward and laid a hand on Korri's shoulder. "We will not let anyone silence you, Korri."
"And if I want it?" Korri demanded through her tears.
"The only true silence for such is death, Korri." Jak said in the silence that greeted her outburst. "And we will not kill you."
"But I WANT IT!" This time, Korri did scream.
"No, you don't." Jak said heavily. "You want the pain to stop. You want the nightmares to stop. You want people to stop looking at you with pity or worse, quietly ignore you." Jak moved to Illia's side and laid his hand on Korri's other shoulder. She was trembling as she stared at him. "Believe me, I know how that feels. There only thing worse than being alone in an echoing emptiness..."
"Is being alone in a crowd." Korri bowed her head and sobbed. Jak sighed and squeezed her shoulder.
"You are not alone, Korri." Jak said with a growl as he looked at the other quarians who had not moved. "No matter what anyone tries to make you, you are not alone."
"I never did." To Jak's astonishment, Daro'Xen stepped forward and laid her hand on Korri's trembling helmet. "I am not good with people, Korri. I never have been. I never will be. I focus too tight on what I am good with. But your father would be proud of you."
"My father was a traitor." Korri croaked through her tears.
"Define traitor, Korri." Shala'Raan said quietly. "He was not a citizen of the Fleet. He was not born here. He never took oaths. He considered himself a prisoner."
"That is exactly what he was." Jak and Illia chorused. They looked at one another and then shut up. All of the quarians stared at them and Jak shook his head.
"You knew him." Daro'Xen said slowly.
"Did you?" Jak asked. The dark suited quarian nodded. "I see."
"Several of my peers and I were of his age and we were asked to try to befriend him. Also to keep an eye on him." Daro' Xen patted Kori's helmet gently. "What we quarians did to him cost him his family and his sight. He was never going to trust us, but he wasn't aggressive. He was never violent. He simply did not feel the same way we did. I learned so much, simply watching him work. He was incredible. The best technologist I have ever seen."
"He was the reason that colony ship jumped to Arcturus instead of Omega." Jak said quietly. A pin dropping in the room would have sounded like a grenade. "He helped me and Lara. I can't say more. I gave him my word."
"I can just see him doing that and laughing his ass off." Daro'Xen sounded darkly amused. She sobered "Can you help Korri?"
"Yes." Illia said calmly. "It will not be quick or easy, but we can." She knelt and laid her arms around Korri who sobbed into her shoulder. "Not here and it is nothing any tech known can duplicate."
"Is… is he…?" Korri sputtered on her tears and shuddered as Illia held him.
"I am sorry, Korri." Illia said sadly. "He passed away. He didn't know about you."
"Just as well." Shala'Raan muttered. "I shudder to think what he might have done to the fleet to get her back. Xen..." The last was a command.
"We found you on a geth ship, Lieutenant Collains." Daro'Xen said slowly. "I will not apologize for taking you from what we thought was certain death. I do apologize for hurting you. That was not intended. We did not understand the link between you and Lara and that nearly cost you your lives. I apologize."
"You nearly started a war between the rachni and the quarians. No one would have won such a conflict." Jak said slowly. "I do not understand your history with the geth. I don't have all of the context and I won't, since I am not quarian. This will likely be classified or whatever you quarians call it and hushed up as we call it. I can accept your apology for the hurts done to me. Lara… may or may not wake up."
"I..." Daro'Xen shook her head. "I fixate on the geth and see only their defeat. That is what I am, what I do. I cannot change that."
"Fixation will kill you as surely as a bullet would, Admiral." Jak shook his head. "For now? I need to get to Lara and see if we can help Korri."
"Korri." Shala'Raan's voice was odd. It was gentle, but held command at the same time. "You are detached from your duties on the Rayya for medical care. I am sending you a set of files. Possibilities. Maybe a fresh start." The Admiral's omni-tool lit up and Korri's did as well. Not that she was in any shape to read at the moment. She turned to Illia. "I am assuming that your 'employers' are also interested in Ryder's work."
"One reason." Illia hugged Korri again. "If the Reapers do come, we want a chance to survive as a race."
"You cannot believe that." Daro'Xen sounded more like her old self.
"When you eliminate the impossible, Admiral, whatever is left, no matter how improbable, must be the truth. A human named Arthur Conan Doyle said that. Can we really ignore such a threat?" Jak said calmly as he rose and helped Korri to her feet. She staggered and he held her up. Easy, girl, We have you.
I am not a girl. Her mental tone growled. Jak had to smile. She wasn't as hurt as some he had seen, if incredibly fragile. He could almost feel her mind bending nearly to the breaking point,. He sent what aid he could and felt Illia do the same.
You would barely be an infant to an asari. Illia sent dryly and both Jak and Korri jerked.
"Hedging bets is rarely a horrible idea, Xen. The Andromeda Initiative may be the ultimate hedge bet." Shala'Raan said softy as Elan'Shiya rose to give Korri a hug. "But frankly? I don't think any of us want to bet against these people."
"Wise."