A/N: Guess who just graduated! I don't know why but it feels like ages since I last updated. Hopefully I can put out faster updates now that school's over, provided of course that my summer job doesn't take too much of my time. Also, who else saw the new Dragon Age: Inquisition trailer? *flails happily*

7: Matriarch

Alice glanced at her brother as the shuttle flew over the green lands of rural Mississippi "Are you sure this is a good idea, John?"

He sighed "You heard Mom, Grandpa is terminally ill; he only has a few months left at the most. He wants to make peace with his family before he dies." John smiled "And meet his great-grandchildren." He glanced back at the main cabin where Lily was playing with Carn "Regardless of what species they are."

Alice sighed and, after a moment of silence said "Do you remember those visits we would take to the plantation at Easter?"

John chuckled "Yeah, Dad always griped about how much he hated those trips but the house was so fun to look for eggs in that we demanded we have Easter there for years." he glanced back at Ashley who was reading to a 3-year-old David. "At least it's just Carn with us. I don't think Grandpa's heart could take it if we introduced him to Mordin. You're sure Chakwas will be okay watching the little runt?"

Alice nodded "I'm sure, Mordin adores Chakwas, and worst comes to worst I have Grunt on standby. They'll be fine."

"Mommy?" Alice looked down to see Carn tugging on her pant leg "Are we going to visit Nana and Papi?"

Alice smiled; Nana and Papi were what the kids called Alice and John's grandparents on their father's side, Kate and Joseph Debroux. "No sweetie, we're visiting your great-grandpa Alan."

"Grandma will be there too." John added, smiling when Carn's eyes lit up.

"We should be there soon." Garrus said from the cockpit "It's just a little farther."

"Thank God." Ashley said "I don't think I can keep David distracted much longer."

When the shuttle finally did land, David wiggled free of his mother's arms to join his sister and cousin at the shuttle doors as they opened to reveal… "GRANDMA!" John, Alice, and Ashley all laughed as David shrieked in delight and raced into Hannah's waiting arms.

Hannah laughed and picked David up, making a show of grunting as she did so. "Wow…" she said lightly, pretending to be out of breath "You're getting so big! Soon I won't be able to pick you up at all!"

David shook his head "Nuh, uh!

Hannah nodded back "Uh, huh!" She put David down and hugged both Carn and Lily before greeting her children and their spouses. "He's waiting inside," she said, leading them toward the small plantation's large white manor.

Inside the entry hall, a shriveled old man sat in a hoverchair. Alan smiled when he saw them. He greeted each of his great-grandchildren, frowning a moment when he saw Carn but quickly replacing it with a genuine smile when the young hybrid ran up to the old man and did his best to hug him. Overall, the first day of their visit went smoothly. Alan was friendly, and even seemed to approve of Garrus somewhat. He laughed when David's undeveloped biotics flared up while he, Carn, and Lily were playing together, accidentally knocking over a vase, or when the kids played hide-and-seek through the manor. He seemed delighted to learn that Ashley was General Williams' granddaughter, revealing that he and the General had attended the Academy at the same time. Finally, too early for the kids' liking, the sun had set, they had eaten dinner, and it was time to go to bed. Once each of the children had been settled into their individual rooms, the adults all sat down in the living room, and Alan's demeanor became much more serious.

"I'll admit, part of me had hoped you wouldn't have brought Carn with you." He said gravely.

John frowned at his grandfather's comment "What do you mean?"

Alan looked out the dark window "I neglected to mention in my message for fear that you wouldn't come if you knew but…" he turned his gaze to look at Alice "There've been some rumblings in the area about a group of anti-alien extremists taking root in the area."

Garrus growled "Let me guess: they're not exactly fond of the idea of a human/turian hybrid?"

Alan nodded and Alice leaned forward, her tone calm but her eyes hard "You should have said something Grandpa."

"I thought that you wouldn't have come if you knew." Alan said sadly "I'm too sick to travel, and I wanted to make peace with my family before I joined my wife. It shouldn't be an issue as long as Carn stays under supervision."

Hannah frowned, "That's going to be harder than you think Dad."

…

Carn was, needless to say, speechless. Sara looked to be a few years younger than Carn, maybe 18 years old at the most. Her plates were the same dark color as Alec's skin and she had the same mix of human and turian traits as Carn, except for the fact that she was female, and thus had female parts such as the short fringe of female turians and (admittedly small) human breasts.

Sara fidgeted under Carn's disbelieving stare "Um… hello?"

Alec chuckled "I think you broke him, sis."

Carn blinked, snapping out of his daze "Sorry, it's just… well… I've never seen another human/turian hybrid before…"

Erin smiled sympathetically and stood up "If you're feeling up to it we can show you around our module."

Carn hesitated for a moment before nodding, throwing off the covers and climbing out of the bed "Yeah, alright."

The module Erin, Alec, and Sara lived in was small and simple. It had four bedrooms, each with an extra-net terminal with limited access. There was a common room with a couch, a vid screen, a table, and some chairs along with a large viewport that looked out into the swirling cloud of a nebula. There was only one door out of the module, and it was locked. According to Erin and Alec, they normally were allowed to leave the module whenever they wanted. The station was divided into sectors, each with about two dozen modules. Each sector contained a cafeteria, a large exercise room, a few classrooms, and other areas for recreation where they could interact with the other hybrids.

"So why is it locked now?" Carn asked.

Erin blushed, "We… might have started a fight in the cafeteria a few days ago."

Carn gave her a curious look "What happened?"

Alec was the one who answered "This guy, Bak, a krogan/turian hybrid-"

Carn's eyes widened "A krogan/turian?!"

Alec nodded "Yep. Anyways, he started picking on Sara. Now, nobody picks on my little sis, so naturally I taught him a lesson."

Erin glared at him incredulously "He would have beaten you to a pulp if me and Sara hadn't stepped in!"

"I could take him." Alec shot back.

"You were crying like a baby!"

"Anyways," Alec said quickly "The guards broke up the fight and Erin, Sara, Bak, and I got confined to our modules for a week. The guards bring us our meals and stuff, but we can't leave for the next few days."

Carn turned stare out the window at the nebula, the swirling dark violet and indigo cloud seemed to obscure the stars. "So… let me get this straight." He said after a minute, turning back to the other hybrids "You were all born here, grew up here, have never even seen a glimpse of the galaxy beyond except for on the extra-net, and you're okay with that?"

Alec shrugged "It's not that bad, except for… well…"

"What?" Carn insisted when Alec fell silent.

"Harvesting." Erin finished with a grimace "Once a year they extract a sample of our DNA. The process is… not pleasant."

Carn glanced at Sara; she'd remained silent since her initial greeting and was shyly avoiding his gaze. "Haven't you ever tried to escape?" he asked.

Alec snorted, his four eyes simultaneously rolling "And go where? Even if we could get past the guards the only way off this station is when the Matriarch docks, and that place is a flying fortress."

Carn frowned "What's the Matriarch?"

Erin opened her mouth to answer but immediately shut it again and just pointed out the window. Carn turned to look back out the viewport and felt his jaw hit the floor. Emerging from the swirling haze like a phantom was the largest ship he'd ever seen. The engine of the ship was a large central halo of asari-make. Four long arms branched off from the halo at right angles, each of them constructed in a three-sided pyramid that jutted far in front of the halo at 90 degrees like a maw waiting to swallow Carn whole.

"That's the Matriarch." Erin said.

Carn watched as the massive leviathan drew closer, growing larger and larger until it took up nearly the entire window. Eventually, the dreadnought passed out of the window's view, leaving a gaping void behind. Shaking himself out of his shock, Carn turned to the other hybrids "Who the fuck is in charge here?"

To his surprise, it was Sara who answered "Vilvia."

"Who is she?" Carn pressed.

"An asari who enjoys playing with genetics," Alec said with a shrug.

"Why?" Carn asked "Why would she even bother creating hybrids? What purpose could we possibly serve? And where the hell did she get the technology to do this anyways?"

Erin shook her head "Your guess is as good as ours."

"She's just some batty old hag with way too much time and money on her hands." Alec added.

Carn sat down, his thoughts racing a mile a minute. Finally, he asked "Are you sure there isn't another way off this station?"

"We've only left our sector for our Harvesting." Erin said "If there is, we haven't seen it."

Before Carn could ask any more questions the locked door out of the module suddenly opened. Carn snarled when he saw Kronov framed in the doorway, flanked by a fully armored krogan and turian. Kronov's mandibles flared in a cruel smile "You're awake. Good, Lady Vilvia wishes to speak with you."

Carn tensed, readying himself for a fight "I'm not going anywhere with you." He growled darkly.

Kronov chuckled, a harsh sound that grated on his ears "You say that like it was a request." He stepped to the side and allowed the krogan behind him to march through the door. Alec grabbed Sara and pulled her back towards the bedrooms while Erin and moved closer to Carn.

"Don't fight," she whispered to him "You'll just get hurt."

Carn reluctantly had to admit she was right, he was good in hand-to-hand, but there was no way he stood a chance going up directly against a krogan. So when the krogan roughly grabbed him by the arm, he didn't resist as he was dragged out of the module. With the krogan pulling him along, and the human keeping an assault rifle trained on his head, Carn was led behind Kronov down a long series of sterile white halls, passing numerous doors along the way. Eventually, Kronov led him into an airlock and, once it had completely cycled, they stepped through into a drastically different series of corridors.

"Welcome aboard the Matriarch." Kronov said smugly.

The Matriarch's halls were a mess, they were much more cramped than those of the station, the lights were a harsh white that made Carn squint, and the walls were missing, revealing the massive circuitry and intricate inner workings of the dreadnought. Kronov and the guards led Carn through maze of the cluttered halls, taking so many twists and turns that Carn couldn't help but wonder if they were lost.

After several minutes of navigating the halls and lifts, they came to a large set of doors. Kronov keyed the panel to open the doorway, revealing nothing but darkness beyond. Carn was shoved into the dark room behind Kronov as the turian gave a little bow to the darkness. "Lady Vilvia, I have brought you the Vakarian boy."

"Leave us." A cool, silky female voice echoed from the blackness. Kronov bowed again and left, shutting the door behind him and plunging Carn into darkness.

Looking around, Carn couldn't see any sign of this Vilvia, only black. Finally, a small point of light appeared high above him. Carn watched in wonder as the light grew larger until it was twice the size of his head, then, without warning, the light splintered apart into hundreds of smaller points of light. The stars -that's what they were, Carn realized- swirled around the room, revealing its shape to be a large dome constructed from midnight black tiles. The stars flowed around him, some gathering into clusters while others spread out. As the stars danced, Carn noticed a shape in the darkness, indiscernible in the meager light. Behind the shape a large number of stars were spiraling together in the center of the room, forming a galaxy. Suddenly, all movement slowed to a halt, with only the newly formed galaxy continuing its spin.

The glow of the stars brightened and Carn could finally make out the figure. Leaning back in a chair behind an elegant desk, her hands folded on her lap, was an asari in a simple silver silk dress; Vilvia. Carn had to admit he was surprised at her appearance. After the grand display, he'd been expecting her to be either terrifyingly deformed or ravishingly beautiful, with breasts the size of melons that were barely contained in one of those absurdly skimpy dresses asari like. Instead, she was fairly average in appearance, average height, average build, average breasts with not an ounce of cleavage showing, everything about her was just average. Hell, she could have been a schoolteacher for all he knew. The only thing unique about her was her skin; it was a deathly pale blue, almost grey.

Vilvia smiled warmly at him. "Hello Carn."

Instantly Carn was captivated. Her voice was so mesmerizing, so enthralling, that the words seemed to dance off her tongue and caress his ears with every letter. The syllables would stroke down one's spine, sending shivers racking throughout the body as unvoiced words whispered sweet promises to the soul. Carn could think of only one other person who could match her prowess: Uncle John.

The floor in front of her desk became fluid, rising up and changing shape like water, solidifying into the form of a hard armchair, its color shifting from black to brown, taking on a wooden texture. Vilvia gestured to the newly-formed chair. "Please," she said cordially "Sit.

In a daze, Carn walked forward and complied. Her smile vanished and Vilvia studied him for several moments, causing Carn to fidget in his seat, feeling uncomfortably like a bad kid about to be scolded by the principal (a feeling he was all too familiar with thanks to Lily).

Finally, Vilvia smiled again "Well look at you," she said, her beautiful voice nostalgic "All grown up and everything!" Carn forced himself to meet her gaze and flinched, her sharp blue eyes cutting right through him. Vilvia continued to smile warmly at him "Why, I remember when you just a little baby! Oh, and you were so cute as a toddler too!"

Carn snarled "You've been stalking me?"

Vilvia recoiled, looking hurt "Stalking you? No! Can't a mother keep an eye on her own child?"

Carn's blood ran cold "My mother in Alice Vakarian, not you!"

Vilvia smiled knowingly "Maybe biologically, but I had a hand in creating you just as surely as she did." She leaned forward, resting her chin in her hand "But that's enough about that, tell me about yourself!"

"Why the fuck would I do that?" Carn replied sharply.

Vilvia chuckled "Why for my research! You're the first of my creations to be exposed to the galaxy. I want to know what that's been like."

"Go to hell," Carn growled; he wasn't telling this bitch anything.

Vilvia's smile instantly vanished. "Very well," without warning restraints shot out of the armrests of Carn's chair and wrapped themselves around his wrists. Carn struggled in vain to free himself as Vilvia rose from her chair, the desk separating them liquefying and melting away into the floor. Her expression was cold and impassive as she said darkly "I guess I will just have to get the information myself."

With that her hand shot out and grabbed his head. Her eyes turned into black holes, her voice as dark, cold, and unforgiving as the void of space.

"Embrace Eternity."

…

Carn didn't remember that the beginning of that fateful summer night 14 years ago very well. On the third day of their visit to Mississippi, Lily, David, and Carn had gone on a hike through the woods surrounding the old Shepard plantation with their parents. They had come across an old abandoned structure in the middle of the woods, Uncle John telling them how it had been the plantation's original manor, but had been sacked and abandoned during the First American Civil War. Lily had wanted to go inside but the grown-ups had forbidden it, stating that it wasn't safe.

That night, when everyone had gone to sleep, Lily had snuck into Carn's room and convinced him to go with her to find the ruin again so they could explore it. They had crept out of the manor, avoiding the security system in place around the plantation and did their best to find their way back to the ruin with a flashlight, but soon got lost. Things only got worse from there.

Carn never knew exactly what those anti-alien radicals were doing out in the woods surrounding the plantation. Maybe they had been staking the place out, intending to raid the plantation when they could find an opportunity. It didn't matter; he and Lily had been discovered by a small scouting party and were dragged off to a clearing somewhere filled with the radicals.

That's when the nightmare began…

"Let me go!" Carn shrieked as rough hands brutally dragged him into the center of the radicals near the base of a tree.

"Don't touch him!" Lily struggled against the radical holding her captive. "You hurt him and I'll… I'll kill you all!"

One of the radicals laughed and hit Lily, knocking her to the ground "Ya' couldn' hurt nobody ya' alien-loving brat!" the radical started kicking Lily on the ground.

Carn screamed and clawed at his captors "Stop it! Leave Lily alone!"

He cried out as someone punched him in the gut, knocking the wind out of him. "Shut the fuck up ya' freak!"

The radicals kicked and punched Carn, taunting him and spitting in his face. Carn felt someone roughly grab his wrists and tie them behind his back while someone else tied a rope tightly over his neck. He felt himself starting to be lifted into the air by the noose, the rope slowly started to tighten around his throat, crushing his windpipe. Terror griped him as breathing became more and more difficult. His senses were starting to dull, the cheering of the radicals turning into a faint echo. He searched for Lily but all he could see was a mass of blurry figures. His vision went dark around the edges and Carn started to sink into oblivion.

Then, there was a sound like a thunderclap and without warning Carn fell to the ground, landing in a heap. He lay there, struggling back from the brink of darkness, taking deep, savory breaths. A strong, calming voice boomed through the darkness. "Step away from my daughter and nephew please."

Carn heard someone snarl "You're that alien-loving bastard that-"

BANG!

Several people shrieked as there was the thud of a body hitting the ground. "Perhaps you didn't hear me. I said: step away."

Another person spoke up "You can't just-"

BANG!

More screams followed another thud. "I'm a Spectre, I can do whatever I want, and I doubt anyone will miss a bunch of racist fucks like you. Now, I won't tell you again. Step. Away."

Carn heard the sound of several people running as fast as they could. After several seconds, a pair of firm yet gentle hands started to shake him. "Carn, Carn are you alright?"

Carn's vision finally swam back into focus as he looked at his savior "Uncle Johnny…?"

John smiled "Hey kiddo," he activated his omni-tool "Alice, Garrus, Ashley, I've found them. I'm transmitting to you my coordinates. Send the shuttle, they're a little shaken up." There was a muffled confirmation as John shut off his omni-tool. "Come on Carn, let's get these ropes off of you."

While John's fingers undid the knots, Carn looked around and noticed that Lily was sitting off to the side, a little bruised. She briefly met Carn's eyes and bowed her head in shame. As soon as John had managed to free him, Carn wrapped his arms tightly around his uncle, catching him off-guard. After a moment, John gently hugged the little hybrid back. Tired and overwhelmed by what had just happened, Carn began to cry into his uncle's shoulder.

John rubbed Carn's back, whispering soothingly in his ear "Shh… it's alright, you're safe now…"

…

Several hours later, after they had returned to the manor Carn lay in his bed, unable to fall asleep. He felt the mattress dip as someone sat down next to him. Looking up, Carn saw Lily's tear-soaked face. "What's wrong?" he asked, sitting up.

"You almost died tonight because of me." Lily choked out, unable to look him in the eye.

Carn shook his head "It wasn't your fault."

Lily gave him a surprised look "But…"

Carn shook his head "It wasn't your fault. I wanted to go with you." Lily still looked unconvinced. Thinking back to something he remembered Uncle John saying once to his father, Carn stuck out his hand, palm facing Lily, fingers spread wide, and said for the first time "No Shepard without Vakarian."

Lily's lips twitched into a smile and she pressed her hand against Carn's, interlacing their fingers. "No Shepard without Vakarian."

Aww… How sweet… I wonder what else is buried in here…

Like hell bitch! Get… out… of… my… HEAD!

There was a shriek and the memory shattered, hurling Carn back to the present. When his vision returned, Carn saw that Vilvia had recoiled. She was now clutching her hand as though burned and was looking at him in shock. Quickly regaining her composure, Vilvia straightened up and smiled at Carn. "Impressive, you managed to throw me from your mind, I'll admit, I didn't expect that."

"I don't like people rooting around my head." Carn growled.

Vilvia shook her head "So rebellious. I'd heard about your… issues with authority."

Carn instantly knew what she was referring to. "Shut up."

Vilvia's knowing smile grew as turned around to examine the galaxy spinning behind her. When she had remained this way for several minutes, Carn asked "What do you want with me?"

There was a pause before Vilvia answered in that enchanting voice. "Have you ever wondered how, or even why you were created?"

Carn hesitated before answering, caught off-guard by the sudden question. "It may have crossed my mind. You used Reaper tech right?"

Vilvia turned back to him, that knowing smile still on her lips "Some, most of the Reaper tech I acquired from the Collectors." Her eyes glinted "Many were the defense codes for human colonies that I traded in exchange for technology, and before that I had a healthy business relationship with them already. They were very interested in my experiments."

If Carn could have burned Vilvia alive with his glare, she would have been nothing but a pile of ashes. Vilvia merely laughed at this "Of course, practice makes perfect, you were hardly the first human/turian hybrid I created."

After everything else he had learned today, this didn't surprise Carn nearly as much as Vilvia had clearly hoped it would. Still, he had one question "Why was I allowed to remain free?"

"You were an experiment," Vilvia explained "I let you go because I wanted to see how the galaxy would react to one of my creations." Vilvia's smile broadened "I must say, you certainly did not disappoint."

"But you didn't let me go." Carn retorted "My dad, uncle, aunt, grandfather, and the Normandy crew rescued me and my mom from your goons."

Vilvia laughed "Really? Haven't you ever wondered why, when your mother went into labor, she was conveniently rescued? I planned it all."

That certainly did shock Carn. "But… your men on the station tried to stop them! My grandfather even died opening the hanger doors so they could escape!"

Vilvia scoffed "Of course, I had to make a show of putting up some resistance, otherwise they would have grown suspicious. I knew that my men would not be able to defeat them, although I did not anticipate your namesake to sacrifice his life. Kronov was severely punished for disobeying my orders."

Carn's eyes narrowed "Are you telling me…?"

"That Kronov killed your grandfather?" Vilvia finished. "Actually, your grandfather killed himself. I'm sure you've noticed Kronov's cybernetics? Those are thanks to your grandfather detonating a grenade right next to him. He's over 70% synthetic now, even his plates are artificial."

Carn let this information sink in. While he had never known his namesake, he'd always held a certain admiration for his grandfather. It was hard not to, considering how he gave his life so that Carn would live. Now that he was learning it had been pointless really, Carn didn't know what to think. He did take some grim satisfaction in knowing that Kronov's deformities were caused by his grandfather however.

Regardless, he still had a lot of questions. "Why are you creating hybrids?" he demanded "What could you possibly have to gain?"

Vilvia scoffed "I hardly expect you to understand."

"Try me," Carn shot back "You might be surprised."

Vilvia studied him for a moment "Very well, I see no harm in sating your curiosity." She started pacing back and forth in front of him "For over 700 years, I have been working to create the perfect lifeform. A species with all the strengths of the galaxy's strongest races, and none of the weaknesses. Asari biotics, turian agility, salarian intelligence, quarian ingenuity, krogan regeneration, all combined into one form. I had almost succeeded, but then humanity showed up on the galactic scene."

She stopped pacing and stepped closer to Carn, leaning down so that their faces were inches apart "Did you know that the reason the Reapers chose humanity as the building blocks for the next Reaper was not actually their genetic diversity. Humans actually aren't all that more diverse than the other races, no doubt thanks to several bottleneck points in your species history. One of them has even developed into a legend across multiple cultures. I believe you would call it 'Noah's Ark'?" she smirked, leaning back "Regardless, the reason the Reapers choose humanity, was their adaptability. Humans are more likely to think outside the box than any other race, they can change direction at a moment's notice, and you can never truly predict what they'll do next. Sure each race is like this to some extent, they'd have to be in order to become sentient, but humans are adaptation personified. Their rapid climb up the galactic ladder is evidence of this. When I learned about humanity, I realized I must add them to the gene pool, if I was to make the perfect race."

"So why only combine the races two at a time?" Carn asked.

"Hybridization is a very slow process." Vilvia explained "It takes countless trial and error to get right, and then you need to observe your creations throughout their lives, ensure that nothing goes wrong. I needed to make sure that each of the races were compatible with one another before I started combining them."

"But what point would creating a perfect lifeform serve?" Carn asked, "There's no reason for it!"

Vilvia smiled, turning away from him "That's where you're wrong." She held up her hand, creating a small singularity in her palm. "Do you know how I first got into genetic engineering?" without waiting for a reply she continued "I originally just wanted a way to cure myself of my… condition."

A light lit up in Carn's brain "You're an Ardat-Yakshi."

"I was an Ardat-Yakshi." Vilvia corrected, turning around to face him again. "I managed to 'cure' myself, although I'm afraid the sterility is permanent."

"Then why not share the cure with the galaxy?" Carn asked "You could have saved millions of people, done a lot of good."

Vilvia rolled her eyes "Typical, only thinking in the short-term. How naïve. During my work, I realized something interesting about my species."

"What?"

"We're genetically flawed." She stated, "I saw that we were a broken race, barely clinging on to our own survival, and as I realized this, I saw that the same was true of all the other races." There was a strange glint in her eyes, something that scared Carn shitless. "I grew disgusted with the galaxy. How could we possibly hope to sustain our civilization when we were barely better than animals? I realized that the galaxy needed something better. A 'Master Race' if you will." She was definitely ranting now. "We don't deserve to hold the mantle of civilization! All the galaxy's races are inferior beings, that don't deserve the blessed gift of intelligence! I decided then and there that I would fix this problem!" She flung her arms wide, shouting to the heavens like a prophet. "I would create a race better than any other that has existed before! A race that would SEIZE the galaxy, and bring us ALL into a NEW AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT!"

Silence fell upon the cavernous room like a flood, Vilvia merely standing there, keeping her dramatic pose. Finally, Carn cleared his throat. "I think you might want to see a doctor. You seem a little unhinged."

Vilvia looked at Carn in shock, like she was unable to comprehend why he wasn't agreeing with her. She quickly regained her composure, letting her arms fall to her sides and flashing a small, sympathetic smile. "I said you wouldn't understand."

"That's because you're crazy!"

Vilvia laughed "All great visionaries were once considered insane. I am no different." She snapped her fingers and Carn looked over his shoulder to see the door open to let in Kronov and the two guards who escorted him here. "Kronov, take our guest to the lab for his first Harvesting."

Carn's blood ran cold as the two guards roughly grabbed him by the arms and pulled him free of the chair. "Harvesting? What are you talking about?"

Vilvia smiled "Ah yes, I forgot to mention we routinely require your genetic material to be cloned and, ah, processed. Unfortunately, the procedure is quite painful." She raised her hand and wiggled her fingers in farewell "Have fun."

Carn snarled as he was dragged out of the room. As soon as the guards had pulled him through the door, Carn acted. He quickly lashed out with his foot to the back of the turian guard's leg, knocking him off his feet and freeing Carn from his grip. Not giving the other guard time to react, Carn quickly spun around and kicked the krogan in the balls as hard as he could. A krogan's one weakness: groin shots. Thank God and Spirits he's not wearing armor. The krogan doubled over, releasing Carn, freeing him to send a fist into Kronov's good mandible before the turian could act, sending the cyborg reeling. As fast as he could, Carn turned and dashed down the hall after delivering a swift kick to the turian guard's head as he tried to get up. He heard Vilvia cry "After him!" just as alarms started to blare throughout the ship.

Carn flew through the narrow corridors, his mostly turian legs lending him tremendous speed. Have to find a hanger. Carn thought as he ran. Or maybe a communications room, if I can't escape I might be able to get a message out to dad or Lily or- He rounded a corner and skidded to a halt a foot from the shut door, its activation panel red. Damnit!

"About damn time that AI got off his lazy ass and did something." Carn spun around to see Kronov back the way he'd come, leisurely striding towards him, a stun-pistol in his hand. He raised the gun, "Now, are we gonna' do this the hard way, or the harder way?"

In a flash, Carn dashed forward, closing the distance between him and Kronov. Faster than lightning, he sent a kick to Kronov's hand, knocking the pistol from his grip. Before he could follow through however, the turian kicked him in the chest, hurling him back against the door. Kronov's mandibles spread into a vicious grin. "Harder way it is then." Without warning, Kronov charged Carn, throwing a fist straight to his throat.

Reacting instinctively, Carn ducked beneath the punch, his eyes going wide when he saw the fist smash through the door right where his head had been moments before. Strength augmentation cybernetics. Crap. Carn quickly sent a kick to Kronov's chest, sending his opponent staggering back a few steps. Kronov snarled and aimed another punch at Carn. He dodged the blow, but ran right into the knee Kronov had aimed for his gut. Crying out, Carn ducked beneath Kronov's next punch and slipped past him, delivering a quick jab to Kronov's ribs as he did so. Kronov spun to back towards Carn, his leg swinging in a spur kick. Carn ducked beneath the kick and rose to punch Kronov in the jaw. The turian cyborg rolled with the blow and used his momentum to send an uppercut right into Carn's chin, knocking him back.

Carn rubbed his jaw and spat out some blood from when he'd accidentally bitten his tongue because of the uppercut. "You're not half bad." Kronov remarked as they circled one another.

Carn grinned "I'm the son of one of the best turian hand-to-hand combat specialists in the galaxy, I'd be an embarrassment to my dad if I couldn't hold my own in a fight."

Kronov's eyes- especially the creepy red cybernetic one- gleamed "That's funny, from you're lack of colony paint, I'd have thought that you already were an embarrassment to your father." His malicious grin grew "Is that why you were with 'Lil''? Because daddy was disappointed his little boy couldn't meet his expectations?"

Carn growled angrily, his temper flaring to life. Calm down Carn, he's just trying to get under your skin. Kronov wasn't finished however.

"Or maybe you're running away because you feel guilty about killing your commander in the turian military?"

Something inside Carn snapped. His vision clouded blood red and a feral roar that ripped the very air asunder with its fury ripped from his chest. Knowing only his rage, Carn charged Kronov. His blows were wild and furious, yet somehow Kronov managed to block or dodge them all which only served to enrage Carn more. Then, like a thunderclap, Kronov's fist made contact with Carn's head. Knocked out of his anger by the shock of the blow, Carn was stunned just long enough to see Kronov's other fist flying towards his head before darkness claimed him…

When he regained consciousness, Carn found himself strapped into some sort of strange pod. Outside, he could see Kronov fiddling with a nearby console. Carn snarled and struggled against his restraints, the noise causing Kronov to look up. The cyborg smirked at him "Well look who's awake."

"Let me out of here you coward!" Carn growled.

Kronov merely continued smirking and pressed a button on the console. Suddenly, pain rocked through Carn's whole body. He clenched his jaw to stop the scream, he wouldn't give Kronov the satisfaction. Carn felt like his very cells were being torn apart and melted down, the burning was unbearable, he had never been in so much pain. Finally, Carn couldn't hold back anymore and opened his mouth to scream.

…

Erin paced back and forth in the module's common room. "Will you sit down?" Alec said, irritated "You've been wearing a rut in the floor for the past hour."

"Carn's been gone for too long." Erin stated "He should have been back by now."

"Relax," Alec said casually "He's probably getting his first Harvesting."

Erin froze, looking at Alec in horror before resuming her pacing more frantically than before. After several more minutes, the door to the module opened and Carn was unceremoniously dumped on the floor by the two guards from earlier, both notably grumpier. As soon as the door closed again, Erin rushed to Carn's side. He was barely conscious, trembling and muttering incoherently.

"Carn?" Erin said gently, placing a hand on his shoulder only to withdraw it immediately when he flinched from her touch. Erin turned to Alec, who was merely staring at Carn in shock, all four eyes wide. "Alec, help me get him to his bed."

With his help, Erin picked Carn up and together with Alec, carried him to his room. Sara stood silently off to the side, watching them with wide eyes. Erin and Alec were able to carefully lay Carn down on the mattress without too much trouble. Erin placed a hand on Carn's cheek when he continued to tremble "Shh… it's alright…" She said soothingly, activating a light mind meld, brushing his consciousness with her own and emitting comforting thoughts. Carn soon stopped shaking and relaxed into her touch. As she felt him drift off to sleep, Erin saw Carn's eyes open briefly and meet hers, conveying a simple message without words:

Thank you.

A/N: Well then, that was certainly longer than I expected. Still, I hope I was able to answer several of your questions with this chapter. Feedback is, as always, appreciated.