-My conversations with Legion and Mordin are probably going to not be that great. Please bear with me. I will come back and redo thrm, but for now I will stick with it. BioWare owns…of course.

A Tale of Fortune

Chance

Dr. Daniel Abrams hurried around the clinic on Omega. He did everything he could to ensure that things were kept running the way that Dr. Solus would have wanted them to have been run. There was no other way. He did things with such expediency and effectiveness, that made any other way of running the clinic seem tame. The young Batarian male laid out on the table, coughing violently. Shepard and his team had helped to eliminate the plague, but there were still those who were infected. Luckily for Daniel, Mordin had left behind a good amount of the antidote to use on anyone else who may still be infected, like this young Batarian. His temperature had skyrocketed and his cough was getting progressively worse.

"Poor kid," Daniel thought to himself. He knew that he had to give him the antidote quickly or this kid would not live to see another day. The father of the boy had to be restrained out in the waiting area. It was hard for Daniel to not sympathize with him; he had no kids and had no idea how hard it was for a parent to watch his child suffer like this. Before they finally got him calmed down he had torn apart three Mechs and almost destroyed a fourth. The father had hurt himself in the process and Daniel promised to treat his wounds if he would just calm down.

Things had gotten crazier in the clinic since Mordin was whisked away by Commander Shepard a few weeks ago. He did not work with at the same speed that Dr. Solus was able to but he sure as hell tried too. Learning from the best meant that people generally expected the best out of you, and being a human was his downfall. The Salarian doctor was so much smarter than he was, but Daniel was determined to not let that be an excuse for him.

He checked the monitors that were hooked up to the boy and grabbed the needle that was filled with the antidote. "Alright buddy, this is going to make you better okay?" Daniel tried his best to comfort the boy but he knew the best thing for him to do was try and cure him and not be a psychologist. Daniel injected the needle into the IV line, and slowly pushed all of the contents of the syringe out. He turned his head back to the monitors and watched as his heightened heartbeat slowly began to drop back to a normal rate for Batarian children. The boy took in a deep breath and coughed once more. But this time the cough was more subdued than the others were. Daniel smiled and knew that he was on the road to recovery. In a few moments the parents would be allowed into the room and could take him home. It would take a few days but he would be able to make a full recovery.

All four of his eyes looked up to Daniel and blinked together. Daniel but a breathing mask on him just as a precautionary measure. Better to be safe than sorry. One of the many things that he had learned from Dr. Solus. One of the funnier things that Mordin used to tell him was 'if there is no pulse, the patient is dead'. Daniel would laugh every time Mordin reminded him of that, but it was merely because Mordin wanted to get Daniel into the habit of being thorough and always double checking results and patients. Efficiency and effectiveness. Mordin may not have been in the clinic anymore but Daniel did his damndest to make sure that he tried to live up to the doctors high standards.

Now the boy was breathing fine and not coughed for almost five minutes. Everything was going to be okay for him. He had stopped bleeding and his temperature had dropped significantly. Daniel walked over to one of the Mechs standing outside and protecting the door.

"Please bring this boys parents to me," he ordered. The Mechs acknowledged the command and walked back into the waiting room. A moment later they had returned with the Batarian couple. The mother instantly went over to her child and cupped his hands in hers and kissed it. She smiled the best smile a mother with a sick child could and looked up at Daniel and mouthed to him 'thank you'. He nodded and flashed her a half grin. There was the reason he wanted to do this. To be able to help families who need it and so they can resume living their normal lives.

"How long until he is at full strength?" the father asked. His raspy voice was much calmer than what it was an hour ago when he was destroying Daniel's security. Being a kind hearted person allowed Daniel the compassion and decency to be able to forgive him.

"That is up to him and his body," Daniel began. "I gave him the antidote for the plague and it hinges on how his body can react to it. With it already having taken such an effect on him already then it could be a few days, give or take. But he will make a complete recovery and be back too 100% soon. Now, on to your injuries." The Batarian held out his left arm; lacerations and burn marks started from his fingers and went all the way up to his shoulder. He had given the Mechs one hell of a beating and acted as if these were not the worse wounds he had ever had. Had those Mechs been set to kill and incapacitate, this man would have never seen his son again.

Daniel worked quickly to get the man patched up and his wounds dressed. He handed the man a bottle of pain killers to try and mitigate what pain he would feel for a couple days and the Batarian accepted with a grin and tilt of his head. Daniel imitated the head tilt, knowing it was something that the race did quite often.

"If there is anything else that you need me to do for your son, please bring him back. But like I said, he should be able to make a full recovery in a matter of days," Daniel walked them out and the young boy waved as the door shut behind them. He was a brave little guy that had quite the resilient immune system. He was tough too and Daniel guessed he must have gotten that from his father.

Daniel looked around at the rest of the clinic. No other patients as of right now. That meant that Shepard and his crew had done a good job in releasing the cure through the air vents. Some things were beginning to turn around here in the slums of Omega. Not many people cared much about the slums or the people living in it, but Dr. Solus saw the need and cared enough to want to make a change. Daniel had determined that he would try and finish out what Dr. Solus had started.

Daniel wiped his forehead of some sweat on it and went to the private terminal that used to belong to Dr. Solus. Like most days when he checked his mail there was tons of mail, most of it grateful patients and those who were asking for medical advice. There was one that stuck out to him though, but it was addressed to Dr. Solus and not him. It said it was from an unknown sender and was not able to reveal what planet or even the star system that it came from. Odd. Most messages that received by the clinic had where they came from. This was quite the anomaly and Daniel wanted to open it and read it. But it was addressed to Dr. Solus and not him. He remembered Shepard telling Mordin that they would be on a ship called the Normandy. It took Daniel a few moments but he was able to locate the ship and forwarded the message to Dr. Solus.

Still though, Daniel was a little perplexed at the privacy of the message. And most people who knew the doctor knew that he was no longer on Omega. He made sure to send out multiple messages to those who followed his work. It didn't matter though. Daniel's work was here and he was sure that whatever Mordin was doing was helping out a greater good for the galactic community. Maybe one day he would get to see the doctor again, and show him what good has happened here on Omega. He knew that Mordin would be proud…

Fate

Commander Christian Shepard was glad to have notched another win on his belt. Although this was not as important to the galaxy much like his victories over Sovereign and the Collectors was, this was more for personal pride. He sat down in the Mess Hall with Tali, Garrus, and Jacob. All four of the crew members looked at each other. At least the three gentlemen assumed that Tali was looking at them through her mask. Garrus shook his head and brought up his Omni-Tool and transferred credits from his personal account to Shepard's. The big Turian hated to lose and he hated losing to Shepard even more. Jacob and Tali followed suit and transferred credits as well. The great Commander had won yet again at Skyllian Five Poker, a game that he had learned very well over the years.

"Damn it Shepard," Garrus said. "You always find a way to win don't you." Shepard smiled and gathered up the playing cards. It was not normal for an Alliance ship to allow gambling on board. Then again there were a lot of regulations that the Normandy was breaking. The most significant one was Shepard bunking with Miranda, but no one was about to report him, and why should they.

"I would apologize Garrus, but I don't want to say I am sorry and not mean it," Shepard said grinning. He remembered the day that he and Tali played with Ken and Gabby down in engineering. Shepard had won that day as well. Tali did a fine job not telling Jacob and Garrus about Shepard being good at poker, and he promised he a cut of the winnings if she could keep up the charade. Thus far it had worked to perfection. He did feel bad for her because the crew had always looked at Tali as a nice girl, almost with the 'girl-next-door' aura around her. Everyone loved her and enjoyer her company.

"You played a good game Shepard," Tali said. She stood up from the table and adjusted her suit. "I need to get back down to engineering. Ken and Gabby are planning on adjusting the couplings and they said they will need my help." She turned and left the mess hall and went back down to her normal station in engineering.

"Good kid," Garrus said. "She has a big heart and she is courageous. I am glad that you were able to get her back on the team Shepard."

"I agree," Jacob said. "The vids I saw of her that Cerberus provided were amazing. She has a great natural leadership ability about her. Something I wish I had. And like you said Garrus, she is courageous." Jacob took a drink of the beverage he had next to him, stood, and saluted Shepard. He left the mess hall as well and went up to the armory. The Normandy was planning on getting a new shipment of weapons to be compared to the ones that had collected while they were fighting the Collectors. Garrus smiled and shook his head once more.

"That guy is too stiff for me," Garrus said. "He tries to make it look like he is a bad ass, but something tells me that he is a little soft underneath. Don't get me wrong Shepard. I saw him fight the Collectors and he held his own. But he tries too hard." The Turian stood and stretched and let out a yawn. "I better head back to the battery. We have cleaning and calibrating to do. Talk to you later Shepard." And with that Shepard was alone in the Mess Hall. Miranda was out on the Citadel meeting with Councilor Anderson, exchanging the files they had on the Akuze incident. She told Shepard that she would find anything and everything that Cerberus had on it and would take all of those things to the councilor. Maybe he would have a little bit of peace about it then. That was about an hour ago so he figured that she would be back later on.

Other than that, not much was happening for the crew of the Normandy. It had been very quiet since they returned from the Omega 4 Relay. Shepard felt too stagnate, he had to be doing something or out fighting against insurmountable odds. The thought and feeling of not doing anything made him feel too mundane. The rest was something that his mind and body needed, although he was not getting that much rest at night with Miranda.

He looked around and watched as some of his crew members walked around going back to the barracks, or getting some of the food that Chef Rupert had made them. One came out of the infirmary having been sick for a few days with the flu. Dr. Chakwas took fine care of the man. Shepard stood and walked through the infirmary and nodded at Chakwas on his way to the AI core where Legion stayed hooked in at. He and the Geth had been keeping track of the rewritten heretics and their acceptance back into the Geth society. After Shepard had activated Legion he had learned numerous things about the Geth. Most of what he and the rest of the galaxy thought were true ended up to be misnomers.

"Shepard Commander," Legions said as Christian walked into the AI core. Legion had been plugged into the Normandy and using their long ranged scanners to detect where and how many Geth had tried to be reintegrated. He unplugged himself and turned to face Shepard. Their was still the hole in his body that Shepard had tried to get filled but Legion disinclined. He felt that it was a battle scar to remind him of what his race of people had to go through for man years.

"How are things out in the Perseus Veil," Shepard asked approaching Legion. It hadn't been that long ago that Shepard had considered to sell him for scrap parts back to Cerberus. But without Legion, Shepard doubted they would have been that successful against the Collectors.

"Reintegration takes time," Legion said. "We understand that this process will be long. We do not fear the heretics, we are apprehensive."

"It is a delicate situation, I am sure. But it seems like the Geth are pretty patient at times," Shepard said, folding his arms across his chest.

"We can be if the situation calls for us to be," Legion said. "We tried patience with the creators when they would not answer our concerns about our souls. It was unfortunate that war and bloodshed was the results of our relationship with the creators. We are happy to know that creator-Tali'Zorah has befriended us."

The last comment made Shepard chuckle. It must have been hard to be an inorganic on a ship full or organic life forms. But Legion must have been comfortable with the crew or he would not have called Tali his friend. But Legion continued to rattle on about the 'heretics'.

"We have not successfully located all of the 'heretics' that Shepard-Commander suggested we rewrite and welcome back into our community. We want to accept them as they want to be accepted. Would we Geth be wrong if we judged those who acted with Sovereign and the Reapers?" Legion had never been one for such deep conversations, other than the one time he asked about his soul and the souls of other Geth.

"That is up to the Geth," Shepard replied. "You have no control over what they do. Would the Quarians accept you after your war with them? Tali seems like she has."

"Creator-Tali'Zorah is different than the files we have on the creators," Legion said. "We accept the hate from other creators but creator-Tali'Zorah shows no signs of what we know as hate or contempt. All indications point to a form of what organics call friendship. Is it safe for us to think of creator-Tali'Zorah as a friend?" Shepard could not help but laugh at Legion. Not because Legion was trying to tell jokes or be intentionally funny, but because he was so different from any other Geth he had fought, and different from the rest of his crew. It was almost if Legion was a small child, eager to learn what this universe has in store for him. His…there…whoever it was, was desiring to learn more about organics so it would be able to fit in with the crew. It was nice to see something like this happening.

"Tali is not like the other Quarians, you're right. Since the two of you have been working together, she has been learning more about your people and now knows that not all Geth are evil and want to destroy organics."

"Destruction of organic life forms is not in our programming. We wish to learn about all species to acquire new knowledge. Acquiring knowledge improves our people and allows us to become more like the other organics."

"I suppose you could say that Legion. Since humanity has become part of the galactic community we have grown exponentially. It is amazing to note that we humans are the newest of all the Citadel races and yet we have become one of the most important in a matter of years."

"Shepard-Commander should be held responsible for that," Legion said respectfully.

Shepard shook his head, "No Legion. Many humans have died to try and preserve our rights and the rights of others in the galaxy. I am only one man. And while people may look up to one man, it is those in the background that really do all of the hard work. I would not be here if wasn't for the sacrifices of others." Shepard took a long pause. All he had known, or thought he had known, about Geth was being rebutted by Legion. Many believed them to be a hostile race, but Legion made him look at them differently ever since he was activated. Even scientists have said that Geth, before the Eden Prime War, would tend to keep to themselves and not want to be concerned with galactic affairs. Yet Legion was wanting to be more than a spectator in the galaxy. Legion wanted to learn and grow and know more about the universe he lived in. This made him truly one of a kind find. He was different.

Legion even had personal memories that he continually shared with Shepard. Eagerly shared at times. As a human Shepard could not have imagined wanting to relive memories that were painful or opened up old wounds. But that allowed Shepard to be able to trust Legion. The Geth viewed themselves, not as a single unit, but as one large unit that shares and cooperates and furthers themselves independently. Being so open with their own race and the race of others, gave them no time or reason to lie at all.

Legion was unique to say the least -

"Commander, Yeoman Chambers has informed me that you have received a very peculiar message at your private terminal," EDI chimed in, unannounced. He blue avatar popped up at a terminal down in her core. "She requests that you be available to look at it right away."

"I am on my way up EDI," Shepard said. She disappeared and Shepard turned back to Legion. "We will continue this another time Legion."

"Yes Shepard-Commander," Legion said back. And with that Shepard left the Geth to himself.

Shepard crossed through the Med-Bay as Dr. Chakwas was working on the normal paperwork that was assigned to her. He rode the elevator up to the CIC and once the doors opened up, he saw Miranda and Kelly huddled over his private terminal. He approached them and they split apart as he leaned down to read the message.

To: Normandy

From: Abrams, Dr. Daniel

Shepard,

I received a very secure and very encrypted message a few moments from someone whose name I do not recognize. The message was actually sent to Dr. Solus and I was unsure of what to do. So the most logical thing in my mind was to forward the message to you and have Dr. Solus read it himself. Thank you Shepard.

Dr. Abrams

"Bring Mordin in here," Shepard said looking over to Miranda. She nodded and hurried over to the tech lab. Surely most of the people who knew Dr. Solus and most of his former colleagues knew that he was with Shepard, or at least knew that he was somewhere and not on Omega. Within a minute, possibly even thirty some seconds, Miranda had brought Mordin into the CIC and they began to read over the message.

Dr. Mordin Solus,

My name is Dr. Corson. You may have heard of me through my research that was conducted a few years back in regards to gene manipulation and cloning. I am considered to be one of the top minds in terms of DNA research and using DNA to create new life. With that being said, I am held captive somewhere in the galaxy. I do not know where I am at, due to having only been in a cell and a laboratory for nearly five years. I was captured by an animalistic race known as the Anahaus. They are giant and deadly creatures that crave nothing more than bloodshed and power. Many have not hear of them, they tend to be a reclusive peoples. They stormed into my home one night and killed my family years ago. They took me captive to help them breed an army.

I do not have much time, because I would love to send you more information and data on the subjects and what kind of race we are held here by but sadly I cannot. All I can hope is that this message can be traced back here to my whereabouts and that you will be able to find someone to come and help me and the other Salarian doctors here. If we are not helped then a new army will be unleashed upon the galaxy, one that could rival the Krogans in terms of shear strength and power. I do hope that you receive this message in time.

Dr. Corson

Kelly looked a little in concerned by what she had read. Shepard and Miranda quickly became cool and cold faced, not wanting to be read by the other two with them. Mordin just stood there, one hand folded, the other resting on his arm and hand under his chin rubbing it. He was deep in thought and Shepard did not want to distract him until the fast thinker had all of his thoughts collected. The uncertainty of it all was the worst part. This could be a fake message, or it could truly be a genuine cry for help from someone who was in trouble. But of course there was no real way to know unless they went and checked it out for themselves. But where did it come from? And what were the Anahaus? The name did not ring a bell to him. He prided himself in his knowledge of the species in and out of Citadel space but this was different.

"Ahh yes Dr. Corson," Mordin said, breaking the silence his usual fast paced speech. "Studied genetics. Good doctor. Top of the proverbial food chain in terms of research. I studied many of his documents and much of his data. Very thorough that one." Mordin nodded and kept rubbing his chin. "Sad to hear about his family. Lovely wife, or so I've heard. Held captive by Anahaus."

"So you have heard of him," said Miranda as she leaned against the terminal. She cocked her head to the right as Mordin kept talking.

"The doctor studied cloning for many, many years," Mordin continued. "Gene therapy is where he began but switched when cloning market began to boom. He is quick and precise, the way someone who works with cells and DNA should be. Brilliant doctor. Personal idol if I may say so."

"The message said something about breeding an army though," Miranda said.

"Cloning is a very effective way of amassing a giant army," Mordin replied. "Quick results. No waiting. Also heard of rapid growth hormones. Could be deadly to fetus if not monitored properly or given at the wrong time."

"Have you ever heard about these Anahaus people?" Shepard asked, finally saying something.

"They are a strong race. Brutish. Enjoys fighting almost as much as you," Mordin said with a small smile trying to make a joke. "Predominately male species. Cloning makes sense if they are trying to build a massive army. Not a smart species though. I am surprised they have been able to master the intricate process known as cloning."

"That could explain why they have captured Dr. Corson and other Salarians," Miranda chimed in. "Salarians are brilliant but can sometimes be easily manipulated if they are afraid or intimidated. If they were all treated like Dr. Corson and had their families killed then that could explain their participation."

"Working with DNA and having gun pointed to head, not good work environment," Mordin said. Again, another failed attempt at a joke, but this one did make Shepard laugh inside. "Would make sense for Anahaus to use Salarians. Smarter. Smaller hands that are a lot steadier. Makes it easier for us to manipulate DNA and work with cells. Quite a remarkable process actually, cloning that is. I saw vids of Dr. Corson working on DNA and genes. He cloned a baby Hanar in less then half an hour. Very smart man. Of course Hanar are not complex species. Not like a human or Asari." Mordin began to pace back and forth in the CIC. Shepard began to say something but Miranda stopped him. She was interested. "Most humanoid are hard to clone. Much more now with Biotic powers and Element Zero radiation being factors. Not impossible, just not always easy. Not sure about your cloned sister Miss Lawson. Vague details.

"Dr. Corson has found ways to expedite the growth process for many species. For a human of course it takes roughly 18 to 25 years to mature. Corson could cut time in half. Quite spectacular. Marvelous. That would give another reason for his capture. Background knowledge in cloning. Growth hormones. Army." He paused and took a much needed breath. "Finding him should be a priority. Answering questions to why he was captured secondary."

Finding where the message came from exactly would be the hard part. It was a very secure message, unlike any he had seen in a long time. The most recent secured messages that Shepard had received were the ones from The Illusive Man. But these were a lot different.

"EDI find a way to track where this message came from," Shepard said looking up to the ceiling almost on instinct. He knew EDI was not right 'above' him, but it was a good way for him to differentiate between talking to crew members and the AI. "Once you find out where it was at give Joker the coordinates. That is going to be our next destination."

EDI's 'mind' began to wrap itself around the message, trying to decipher every line of encrypted code that was keeping the Normandy's computers from tracing it. EDI became almost like a disease of sorts and ate away constantly at what blocks had been put into place by the sender. Random segments of code began to pop up in front of EDI. Curious. She liked to think that she knew a great deal about some things but this was indeed peculiar. None of it seemed to make sense, it would just randomly pop up in front of her as she was trying to gnaw away at the encryption. She knew that it couldn't be an actual firewall because as the Normandy's line of hardware defense, she was the firewall. Anything that was foreign to the system immediately was re flagged and she took care of it.

This was quite the anomaly though, the message that is. EDI started noticing a pattern in it though. Like most firewalls it was blocking her, but unlike firewalls, it was redirecting her to somewhere else. Maybe it wasn't trying to keep her out, just trying to help her get to where she needed to be. That was indeed something new. She was being told where to go and what to do. Whomever sent the message wanted them to find out who they were, but had to make it look like the message was encrypted just in case it didn't get sent out completely or if it went to the wrong person. EDI chuckled to herself and continued to follow where the firewall was sending her.

Whoever created this system was so damn brilliant. Of course the firewall wasn't half as smart as she was, but it did act as if it had a mind of its own. Could have just been clever programming but still. Technology was moving forward exponentially fast. In a few years even she could be considered obsolete if they were to come out with a new and better AI.

Finally she made it to where she wanted to be, the epicenter of the message. It had only been about a second since Shepard asked her to find out the originating coordinates of the message. She was slipping a little bit, but was determined to get the information to Joker quickly. Getting to her destination was the hard part, but getting it all out was easy. She was able to extract the vital information that Shepard had needed and learned a few things for herself. A total of three seconds had passed since Shepard had ordered her to get the coordinates. Good timing.

The coordinates popped up on a screen in front of Joker. He cracked a smile and began to plot the points before he let Shepard know.

"We have the coordinates Commander," Joker said over the ship wide comms. "That's my girl EDI." Joker gave an 'air high five' to EDI's blue avatar. "So what next Commander?"

"Anderson," Shepard said.