For most of his life, Dr. Ishiro Serizawa had believed that knowledge was always better than ignorance. But today, as he hung from the ceiling, hands bound tied to a metal chain suspended from the ceiling, feeling blood drip from his now defunct right eye, he had to be thankful that he did not know the information Cerberus was so intent on beating out of him. This was fortunate, because if he had, he would have already broken by now, revealing the secret that would put thousands of people's lives at risk.

"Give us the access codes to Mechagodzilla," the soldier in front of him demanded, voice distorted roughly through his helmet's mouthpiece speakers, "and we'll get you some medi-gel to patch up your eye and stop the bleeding."

"I told you already," Serizawa insisted, "I don't know them anymore. I had my assistant change them before you captured me."

"Oh?" the soldier pulled out a small, black cylinder from off his armor's utility belt. He flicked it outwards, and it extended into a long, thin baton that crackled with static electricity. "And where might your assistant be then?"

"I don't know. Probably dead. You should have thought about that before you started gunning down innocent civilians!"

The soldier in front of Serizawa looked to his companion, who held rank in this discussion. The commander gave the soldier a curt nod, so the latter struck Serizawa with the baton.

A sharp pain rushed through Serizawa's body, causing him to shake uncontrollably. "Arrgh!" he exclaimed. "I don't know the codes! How many times do I have to tell you!"

"We know you're lying. But it doesn't matter if we get the codes or not. Eventually we'll bypass the security protocols and activate it ourselves. But you, you'll work for us from now on."

"Never!" Serizawa spat defiantly, "I'll never work for Cerberus! Cerberus has done terrible things, like trying to kill the Citadel Council!"

"All for the benefit of humanity, now why don't you consider…"

Suddenly, a mass accelerator slug pierced through the commander's helmet, and his body slumped to the ground. Quickly, the soldier grabbed Serizawa's body and put a pistol up to the doctor's head, holding him hostage until he could assess where the attackers were.

"Drop your weapons and show yourself!" the soldier shouted above, to the second floor of the garage he and Serizawa were in.

Out of the darkness, a man strode into view behind the metal railing. Serizawa squinted his remaining eye and breathed aloud to himself, "Commander Shepard?"

"In the flesh," Shepard replied, "Let the doctor go, and I might consider letting you live."

"I don't think so," the soldier replied, "One false move and the walls get a new paintjob."

Shepard simply smiled in return. "Bad idea."

Suddenly, Serizawa was enveloped in a protective Biotic shell. The hold it had over his body was so tight, he couldn't move beyond rotating his eyeball.

The soldier was taken aback, and was immediately beset by a concussive blast, a hard shot that sent the soldier flying into a nearby M-44 Hammerhead, snapping his spine in two.

The soldier's legs were paralyzed, and his arms flailed about, trying to pull himself up. But it was too late, as Shepard casually walked up to him and finished him off with a shot from his Predator handgun.

"Good work Liara," Shepard said.

"Thank you," Liara released the stasis field and cut Serizawa down with her omni-tool. "Are you alright, Dr. Serizawa?"

Serizawa chuckled grimly, "Well, apart from losing an eye and being electrocuted, I'd say I'm just peachy. But no, your stasis field did no harm to me."

Shepard looked at the doctor. The man was middle aged, his short, dark hair going gray with the hairs in his goatee. He was tall, narrow-faced with one thin, dark eye, the other now a purple mound that was still wet with blood.

"Liara," Shepard ordered, "Stop the bleeding with some medi-gel. Doctor, do you have any idea why Cerberus is here? What were they trying to get out of you?"

Liara set the doctor down and began to work, applying the medi-gel with her omni-tool. The Doctor winced from the sting of the anti-septic ingredient, but replied, "For me, they were trying to get the access codes to an old Japanese weapons system kept on-site. I doubt that is the only reason they are here, but what I do know is that they deactivated the signal that keeps the monster away from this research facility and the nearby settlement of Elder's Valley."

"So, the monsters are on their way to destroy the town?"

Serizawa nodded, "Indeed. You must head towards the satellite dish on the north end of the compound. It's not far from the hangar where we keep the weapons system that Cerberus was looking for. There will probably be a lot of them, so it will be quite dangerous, Commander."

"We can take care of them," Shepard replied confidently.

"I'm sure you can," Serizawa smiled despite himself, "But I would feel wrong not to warn you anyways."

"I appreciate that. On the way here, we contacted your assistant over the intercom. Do you know where she is and how to get to her?"

"Vivienne? Ah, she would probably be hiding in our observatory. The whole area locks down to prevent intruders."

"We can take you there, if that's where you feel you would be safest."

"No!" said Serizawa strongly, "Don't worry about me. I just need a bandage over my eye, and I can reach the observatory on my own. You must head to the relay dish and reactivate the signal at any cost!"

"Are you sure?" questioned Shepard.

Serizawa nodded, "Indeed. There are thousands of innocent lives in the valley that will be killed by the monsters if that signal is not turned back on. There are service tunnels that I can take to get to Vivienne secretly, without being seen. I was only caught because I was trying to get to the relay dish myself and turn it off."

"Alright," Shepard agreed. "We'll head there next and deal with Cerberus. Be careful though, Serizawa."

"Of course," Liara walked over to a nearby first-aid kit and pulled out a roll of gauze. She wrapped it tightly around Serizawa's right eye, keeping it free from exposure.

"There," she said, "But you still have many other injuries. We should carry the doctor to the observatory ourselves."

Serizawa shook his head, "Trust me, I can make it. I'm tougher than I look, and Vivienne is trained enough in medicine to patch me back up when I get there. But I'm no soldier, and I need soldiers to take back that relay dish. Please, Commander."

Shepard sighed, "Alright doctor. But if you see any trouble, make sure to hide and stay put. Don't go out into the open again."

"I promise," Serizawa replied eagerly, "I promise."