Epilogue: Safe?

The Stranger's Transport, 17:32 pm

Floating above Washington DC

Adam looked at the data on his holopad the satellite feeds had picked up by the time the reactor went critical. Of the eight million residents of the entire city, only an estimated seventeen thousand got out of the city via the shuttles. A few may have left before the chaos using their skycars, but it is unclear how many may have gotten out. Sarif had been calling all of his employees that were not at the facility during the evacuation for five hours to see if they may have survived. Overall, however, the death toll was around seven million, seven-hundred fifty-thousand.

I never asked for this. Adam thought as he lowered the datapad, looking out the window to the clouds. I never thought so many people could die just because of one man pulling the strings so precisely to turn everyone against each other.

He rubbed his eyes and looked out towards the sun. It made him think of the Greek myth of how Icarus had flown too close to the sun only to let his wings melt and plummet him to the ocean below. Sarif's idea to get that nuclear power plant running again was like that in a way; he had worked so hard to restore its former glory, but in an instant, it was all lost. Adam also thought that these Phoenix implants might've been in a similar situation. If the public discovered that such implants existed, think of how many people could be outraged against it or even endorse it for everybody to use. They would be forcing the next stage of evolution; organic and synthetic compounds combined to form the perfect immortal being.

It was scary to even think of.

"Adam." He heard a familiar voice speak behind him. Adam turned around to see Dr. Megan Reed. They had been in an intimate relationship before, but they had separated a few months ago. Megan offered him a job at the facility after he quit the Metropolis Police Department a month ago. Not only did Sarif approve of him, but The Stranger as well.

"Megan." He spoke silently. "I thought you were onboard another ship during the evacuation."

"I was busy helping with the Phoenix implants down in the lab of this transport. Certainly the most important project that Sarif has ever worked on in his entire career."

"Yeah, but I can't say I'm not worried about the man or his experiments."

"David tried to do good things for Metropolis and for the galaxy as a whole, Adam."

"And now Metropolis is gone thanks to William Thatcher. But something confuses me. Our failsafes were some of the best the galaxy has to offer. How can one man breach those said failsafes in a matter of seconds? Pritchard and I ran through the simulations. It would've taken thirty minutes to sift through the entire firewall to access the failsafes. Only an A.I. or perhaps a smart V.I. could go through those firewalls and disable the failsafes around the core in the time it took him to crack them and set the core to go nuclear."

Megan raised an eyebrow. "You're not saying one of The Stranger's sons went through the firewalls and gave Thatcher access to the core, are you?"

"I'm not immediately accusing his 'sons' of anything, but they are a few possible explainations towards why Metropolis is destroyed. Thatcher was said to have a V.I. that broadcasted his message all across Metropolis, but our techs are having trouble finding it."

"Pritchard must be off the walls over this, then."

"That's one way to put it." Adam sighed. "Hey, listen. I've got to check on something real quick. I'll talk to you later if you want."

"Okay, Adam. It's good to know you survived this."

"You missed me that much?"

"Adam,... perhaps another time we can talk about the past."

"I'd like that."

Megan nodded and walked away. Adam shook his head. They had split for a reason, but perhaps a small part of him never accepted what had happened. Even to this day he couldn't remember why they broke up. Maybe it was fate playing a cruel trick on him or perhaps they were just moving in different directions in the relationship. But he could dwell on all of this another time. There was too much to do in the coming days ahead.

After a few minutes of walking, he had reached the captain's cabin of the ship. Originally, it was meant for either Sarif or The Stranger to use. However, both leaders decided to lease it to Michelle Thrask, who had given the warning of Thatcher's plans. Adam waved the security guard away, indicating he needed privacy for this. The guard obliged and escorted himself away. Adam opened the door, being careful not to trip over the armor pieces scattered all over the floor.

Michelle was sitting on the bed, looking sadder than a kid who dropped his ice cream cone onto the tarmac. Adam could tell she had been crying for hours, but now she was quiet. Her hair was sopping wet and a towel lay on the floor near the bed. No doubt she had taken a shower; either it was to wash away the stress of battle or to hide her tears.

"Michelle Thrask?" Adam spoke calmly, cautious as to not provoke her. The young woman turned her head towards him, and he continued. "I wanted to check in on you. You've had a hell of a day."

"Yeah." Michelle whispered, drained of her emotions. "I appreciate the thought, mister..."

"Jensen." He spoke as he approached the bed. "Adam Jensen. I was the head of security back at Metropolis's Calypso headquarters."

"Thank you, Mr. Jensen. I..." Michelle's words trailed off.

"Look, I know that we couldn't get into the facility to save your friend and I'm sorry for that, but I need you to try and answer a few questions for me. I'm trying to piece together Thatcher's plan of attack, and your friend was on his trail all along. You maintained contact with him throughout the whole thing. That means that you are our best lead in all of this."

"He was more than a friend to me, Mr. Jensen." Michelle spoke with more emotion behind it. "Christian and I were going to start dating once this mess was over."

"And you have my sympathies. I've been in the same boat you're in before. To find someone so compatible with you only to have fate drive you apart. Maybe we can honor your boyfriend's sacrifice by making sure that William Thatcher's name is mudded for the rest of time."

Michelle rubbed her nose. "Okay. What do you want to know?"

"I've looked at what officials have been saying. They claim that Thatcher destroyed the police station using a bomb. Do you know how he did it?"

"Yeah. Christian found the remains of a skycar in what remained of the police station. It looked like it had crashed into the building."

"Clever. He carries the bomb in a car that goes suicidal and crashes into the station. Maybe it was rigged with explosives. What happened next?"

"As I said to your bosses and Admiral Taggart, we ran into a man that attempted to hold me hostage in the Statesman Hotel. He told us of how Thatcher was targeting your facility."

"What did this man look like?"

"He had his hair completely shaved off, with a goatee. He was definitely getting old; probably fought in the First Contact War."

Adam pulled out a picture on his datapad. "Was this him?"

Michelle grabbed the datapad from Adam's hand, looking at the picture of a man dead in an alley. "Yeah that's him. I suppose he didn't make it."

"Actually, he was dead before the police department was destroyed. The Alliance found him in the alley behind the Statesman Hotel with multiple stab wounds. Time of death was around 9:45 am."

Michelle's eyes shot up. "But that's impossible. He was in front of us at the police station!"

"Perhaps Thatcher had sent a decoy in order for you to follow his lead. Or perhaps your friend here faked his death, although the pool of blood would've ruined his clothes so you would've known about it."

"But it was the same man. Same face, same voice, same presence. There's no way he was an imposter!"

Adam hummed, deciding to move on from there. An investigation on that man's connection to Thatcher's plan being revealed to them could come later. "Let's move on to the Calypso building. Did you pick up anything from your friend's communications?"

"Just a few things during the fight. I heard parts of William's monologuing, some thuds, and the last few minutes Christian talked to me. He went to the shuttle you told him about, but it was gone when he got to it. Then Christian said something about heading to an elevator and the signal began to fade. There was a lot of static."

"Static?" Adam asked, tensing. How far down did he go? "Was there anything else?"

"A loud noise at the time the city exploded. I think it was the reactor going nuclear."

"What did this noise sound like?"

"A whooshing sound or something. It was a little too loud." Michelle rubbed her ear. "My eardrums are still killing me."

A whooshing sound? But that can only mean- Adam jumped up, startling Michelle. "Come on. We need to get to the cargo bay."

"Why?" Michelle asked as she stood up.

"We need to go over inventory there. I think we left something behind. Intentionally." Adam walked as fast as his legs could take him down the halls, with Michelle trying to keep up. Opening the elevator door, Adam walked in and pressed the button to send them to the cargo bay. Michelle looked at the man with curious eyes, trying to determine what set him on edge. It was something about the final moments between her and Christian, she just knew it.

Adam stormed out of the elevator towards one of the requisition officers. "Is everything in order on the shipments list?"

"Almost." The officer spoke. " We've confirmed one item was missing from the charts. It was probably left behind during the packing. It was in the special projects category, clearance level one."

"Which level one project are we talking about?"

The officer looked at Michelle, looking confused at what they were talking about. The officer then began to whisper in Adam's ear, which seemed rude to Michelle for some odd reason.

"That's what I figured." Adam replied. "Has Sarif or The Stranger been notified of this?"

"I notified them both once we found that the item was missing. Sarif was coming down now to make sure we didn't miss it."

"Adam!" Michelle turned as she heard the man's voice behind her. A man in his early fifties walked out of the elevator, and the way he dressed stated he was the boss. "I didn't expect you to be down here. Or Miss Thrask for that matter."

"Save it, boss. You left a level one project behind in the building! Did you not think of the risks that imposed?"

"Relax, Adam. Everything was set up exactly the way The Stranger told me to set it up. It was secured as another way out in case workers were left behind."

"And what if Thatcher had gotten his hands on it? We would not only have aided in the escape of a terrorist, but he would also have had a hold of our technology!"

"The Stranger doesn't settle for less. He designed clearance to be given to those connected to the broadcast signal. We would've been fine."

"What are you two talking about?" Michelle asked impatiently.

"Where's The Stranger now?" Adam asked Sarif, ignoring Michelle.

"He took his shuttle and left for Arlington Cemetery. He said he had to pay respects to a fallen soldier since a day where a city went nuclear is a good day to do so."

"Then I know exactly where we need to go." Adam turned to the requisitions officer again. "Do we have a second skycar parked in this hanger?"

"Yes, sir."

"I'll need the activation code. I'm taking it to The Stranger's location."

"For what purpose?" Everyone seemed to ask Adam at once.

"Point B." Adam gave his datapad to Sarif and grabbed Michelle's arm. "Come on!"

"Hey!" Michelle complained. "You don't need to tug!"

Sarif shook his head. Only Adam would be crazy enough to try and follow The Stranger. Looking at the datapad he saw that it was on the page of when meltdown had occurred. He sighed at how years of hard work had been eradicated from the face of the Earth through its own self-destruction. But then he looked real close at the image. Something looked distorted on a corner of the picture. Zooming that spot of the picture in as far as it could go, he hit the button on the pad to enhance the image.

His heart stopped for nearly a beat.

"My God." Sarif whispered as the image sunk in, making him retreat back into the elevator to make notes on his discovery. "The Stranger isn't going to like this one bit."

Two days later

Sergeant Zach Shepard had just come back from a special assignment on Mindoir. Apparently, the colonists who were rebuilding the settlement had suspicions that batarian slavers were going to invade again so close to the seventh anniversary of the attack. Thanks to an anonymous tip, Zach was able to slip into a batarian dreadnought with the assistance of Corporal Tori Kamal and Private Fred Savage. Both had been assigned to the garrison force on the planet, so they volunteered to assist Zach with his 'suicidal' plan.

They had taken a normal vessel from the docking bays and disguised it as a shipment transport that was to drop goods from Mindoir off at Arcturus Station. The dreadnought 'disabled' the vessel and boarded it, but those who came in were immediately knocked out. Kamal and Savage then dressed up as the boarding party, transferring Zach as their prisoner onto the ship. At that moment, their vessel began to access the enemy ship's systems through the hacker they brought along, disabling core parts of the ship. Finally, they drew their guns out and shot every batarian down, limiting actual casualties down to a minimum. With a reasonable amount of live batarians and evidence of their plans, Shepard and Kamal flew the dreadnought to Arcturus Station to hand the prisoners over to the courts.

Mindoir. If only Stark would visit and see its progress.

Zach still felt guilty for Stark's brother Robert's death after all of this time. Even after Torfan (which the physical scars have healed, despite the prosthetic ribs he now has) he still couldn't shake this feeling of guilt that led to Stark's rage. At least the Alliance listened to him and let Stark receive N7 training. But these thoughts led to others he failed, on Akuze with Ericson, Red, Toombs, Jess...

Jess...

"Hey, Shepard!" Corporal Kamal broke the thoughts of Zach's mind. "There's something on the news I think you need to check out."

Zach walked inside to the recreational room they had taken their break in. Another Alliance soldier was sitting on the sofa with his mouth hanging open. The headline on the vidscreen caught Zach's attention, however:

Metropolis destroyed by nuclear meltdown; madman kills millions.

"You see that?" Kamal asked. "Isn't that where you grew up?"

"Yeah." Zach replied. He couldn't believe it. Metropolis was gone. A long time ago, it was a beautiful city. But after years of rich bureaucracy separating the poor from their glorious paradise, the city was ready to give up. But who set the fire to the whole city?

"Sources have announced that twenty-five-year-old William Thatcher had caused the destruction of Metropolis, causing damage to life and property along the way. The estimated death toll of this nuclear catastrophe is around seven point seventy-five million, with others possibly missing or alive but unaccounted for."

William? Zach thought to himself. I didn't think he had the audacity, manpower, or materials to do this. I guess times change.

"It must be ironic." Kamal stated. "You helped save Mindoir, but you lost your own home."

Zach shook his head. "Metropolis wasn't my home. It may have been where I grew up, but it was not a home."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Kamal apologized.

"It's okay. At least my friends had left before then. Father Callahan had left for Vancouver to aid some members of the church to help spread the gospel, and Lance and Brittany had left the city as soon as they were able. The good parts of it are safe, and that's good enough for me."

"To add to this disturbing news, the Alliance News Network received this video footage one hour ago, and we were asked to broadcast it live. Ladies and gentlemen, we are unsure just what this film contains, but we are sure that it was created by Thatcher himself."

Zach watched as the screen switched to showing William Thatcher looking at them with piercing eyes. A lit cigarette was in his hands, and he was ready to smile.

"So, now the whole galaxy knows that I, William Thatcher, have taken fire from the gods. I have cleansed the Earth of a Utopian fiction, killing those who would dare stand in the way of our dreams. And before you ask yourselves why I am speaking to you now, it's because this video was prerecorded immediately after my first video." William laughs. "I grew up in this city for twenty-five years, and I knew it was a shit-stain that no one was going to wash. So I took matters into my own hands for you." William brought his hand out to the crowd. "I cleansed the Earth of Metropolis for you. Now, it might take years for the radiation to wear off like it did Chernobyl, but it'll be a beautiful place again thanks to me. I did all of this to prove a point: that the human race is still weak compared to what lies outside our solar system. We still insist upon living a chaotic life with each other when we could be living a more chaotic life with the aliens as my friend so desires. You probably are all labeling me as a terrorist who wants to watch the world burn, but I honestly don't give a fuck about anywhere else on Earth. There's a whole galaxy out there that can use a bit of chaos.

William sighed. "But I bet that's what you're wondering now? How can William Thatcher say that? He died in Metropolis! But whose to say that I lived? What if I survived my own death only to come back as someone else entirely? Think about these things as you remember my name: William Thatcher, the destroyer of Metropolis." William smiled mischievously before running away from the camera, ending the film.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: So, that's the end of Metropolis. Good thing, too. I probably would never get back to Resolution. But I will because I promised I wouldn't stop until it was finished. Now to clarify a few things, the reason for the flood of Deus Ex references came from the fact that I was playing through the game Deus Ex: Human Revolution quite a bit during that time. So I threw in the characters I actually liked and made sure their stories synced with the Mass Effect universe.

Now I'm sure you've got these questions in mind: What happened to Christian? What are these Phoenix implants Sarif is working on? Why was Thatcher's final message so cryptic? Here's how I'm going to answer it: Christian's fate will be revealed in the legendary ending, the Phoenix implants are actually part of the Mass Effect universe and you should know what they are if you ever took the time to play Mass Effect 2, and as for William... I'll let you think upon that.

Anyways, the schedule will go as follows: I'll be placing up the legendary ending either tomorrow night or the day after, then I'll be working on a special one-shot suggested by one of my most loyal fans, and finally I'll get Resolution back on track with Chapter 41. All I'm going to say for that chapter is that Shepard and Shepard get to know each other better, and someone starts singing. As for Stark, you can expect a lot more hard times.

Shout outs to Bud89, Admiral Anderson, and firesprite1123 for your continuous support.