Disclaimer: All Characters, lore, and locations of Mass Effect and BioWare belong to BioWare. The story is of my own thought.
Inspired by totallybursar's Stars Fade. Please for the love of all that is beautiful, read this story, Stars Fade is a work of art. The writing is superb! Also read Vergil1989 the Crossover King's Dragon Effect Sword, Sorcery, and Biotics. If you aren't already, no waffles for you!
Chapter Title: Courtesy of Linkin Park for their awesome inspiration.
"Numb"
An empty sleep, an unusual thing for a Warden, but there was a mental stir. A flash of pain sprung across his body, spreading across his chest from his shoulder. The man's eyes shot opened as his hand gripped the flesh of his shoulder, digging in as the pain seared into his soul. His sight was all but crimson; the pains making his body react in such a way.
Despite his body trying to shut down to ignore the pain, he could see images, at least a blur of images, crimson blurs. He tried to speak, but the pain made whatever he uttered into a lowly groan. He looked up towards the ceiling of the room he was contained in. In his distraught mind, one thought came to mind, coherently of course.
"Am I dead?"
"If you were dead, then pain wouldn't be a factor? Wouldn't it?" A snicker rang out, the man tried to move, trying to see through the crimson veiled vision as the pain from his shoulder intensifying as he struggled. But from he could see he could only two blurs as black tendrils started to slither their way back to his vision.
"Who said that?!" he shouted in his mind, awaiting a response. The tendrils started to retreat as the blurs started to move closer, at an alarming rate. "What are you?!"
"Emma" the voice said. It made no bloody sense to the warden. But still as he stared on at the blurs, their movements now increasing, still being excruciatingly blocked by the crimson tide over his vision. And now a voice in his head! It was driving him insane
"As if I wasn't already" the mage thought.
But as he rambled to himself at the speed of thought, the pain then subsided for a brief moment, allowing the warden mage to lift himself on his arms. As he took the opportunity to do so, the blurs were starting to become much clearer to Nihlus. But the first thing that startled him, was not that he recognized what it was, but the realization of the pain and life he was still living, the labored painful breath as he took each one into his body. But then it became all too real, and the voice was silenced.
"SHIT!" The mage blared out in his physical voice as the blurry figure pounced on him, pushing him hard back onto his back as he struggled, his hand pushing onto the figure, trying to summon a bit of his magic to aid him. But there was nothing. Well. Nothing until the pain came back.
With the warrior-like slam, the figure ushered in a new period of pain as he felt the bone shattered within his shoulder. He continued to shout and spite against the figures, even as the one came closer to him. Closer and closer the spectator approached, a bright orange light appearing over its arm. It always meant trouble to Nihlus.
The figure trying to hold Nihlus down was losing its grip, shouting at the spectator to approach from what Nihlus could tell. The spectator approached its orange light hovering over the young warden. Despite the pain, the warden's vision started to clear, however still guised under the crimson tide of the mind's numbing effect. An older women is what the mage saw, fiddling with the orange light on her hand.
The mage turned his head over to the other figure, staring at the nearest thing he could see, its chest.
Disregarding the physic capturing plating of the armor, one thing got his attention. A large "N7" emblem on the women's… "Maker…" the mage groaned, his hand immediately springing free from the women's grip, glowing with a blue hue as it smack against her chest plate. Even black out the young mage was a dangerous foe, still pushing his limits. He was able to push the women off of his person far enough, far enough to put his other hand around the older woman's throat, tightening his hand as tight as he could. For a few moments, they stood there looking at each, the women eyes meeting Nihlus' own. He still tightened his hand, waiting for the air to escape her body. As the two committed to the standoff, the mage saw something in the elder's eyes…something that reminded him of another elder… "Wynne." His eyes widened as he begun to release his grip. But in the corner of his eye, a fast and rather brutish object caught his attention; and in a split-second, his mind faded to black, his body and spirit becoming numb.
"You are pathetic." A voiced echoed; the last thing he could make out, all in that split second of consciousness. It was going to be a long, empty sleep.
"Garrus! Switch Weapons!" Garrus snapped his head towards the voice of the commander, following the commander to the edge of the room, looking down at scene below, the human on the floor quickly recuperating from his small spill.
"Spirits Shepard!" Garrus yelled angrily as he put his Vindicator on his mag-lock, taking out his Mantis rifle.
"Don't 'Spirits' me Garrus! Take a position; Kasumi you too!" the commander shouted out again, edging towards end of the floor of the observation room.
"Well I'm impressed." Kasumi of course, would only say that. To Garrus, only this specific human would have the carelessness to say a thing in a situation like this.
"Well…this is Kasumi were talking about," the turian rogue thought to himself, kneeling down on the floor covered with broken glass. The turian adjusted the magnification level of his scope's systems, compensating for the relatively short distance down between the observation floor and the room below.
"Yeah, well. Me too I guess," Celest said as she holstered her pistol, setting herself over the edge, trying to get herself down. "Garrus, if anything gets hinky, take a shot," she said, looking over at Garrus quickly before looking back at her prospective landing spot.
"Shoot-to-kill?" Garrus asked, his eye never leaving the scope of the large rifle, with the human biotic still within his sights.
"Depends..." Shepard pushed herself off the edge of the observation deck, landing hard on the floor of the procedure room. Garrus thought for a moment at what that meant, but the though quickly reconfigured itself to the point that Garrus knew what it meant. Shoot-to-kill became a last defense action. Kasumi took upon herself to set herself next to Garrus, her weapon pointing down towards the man, but she was mainly for support, should Garrus miss his shot.
As the scene below started to unfold, the two sat there silently, completely unnoticed by the actors below. With Shepard standing between the human and what was supposedly Fallik, Garrus kept his aim trained on the human male, his mind wondering to what happened before. "Spirits…Shepard you really do manage to really find the strangest people in the entire galaxy," the turian rogue thought to himself, his talon keeping close to the trigger of the rifle.
"Hmm" a familiar sound rang in his ears. The all too familiar loud-as-hell 'Hmm' that meant a certain someone was pondering something. "You know Garrus, if this guy lives he might of some…use to me," the Master thief said softly. Garrus's head snapped towards Kasumi, an inquisitive look taking shape on his face-plates.
"What?" the thief asked, her face utterly covered by the hood of her outfit, "Hey pay attention!"
"What?" Garrus asked, looking back at the scene in the lower room. The biotic had the krogan's shotgun…and was aiming it at Shepard!
"Shit!" the turian said, mentally kicking him in the ass for his lack of an attention span. He quickly reattached his sight through the modified scope of the rifle, aiming towards the glowing human. But at the last second, the human was, "relaxing" the weapon in his grip, lowering down to his waist. The man's head tilted downwards, looking at the large shotgun, muttering something to him. Garrus saw this as an opportunity, sharply aiming for the man's shoulder, pulling the trigger as tight as he could. The Mantis fired its powerful shot, slamming immediately into the shoulder of the one-man army. What would normally be kill shot, turned out to be a simple disablement, the man probably wouldn't have full function of his arm. But there was a slight problem…the damn human was bleeding out!
Garrus immediately rose up and jumped of the balcony of the observation room, rushing towards the subject as Shepard approached the man as well.
"Garrus! Get some medi-gel on that wound! Kasumi get down here!" the Commander shouted at her team, eternally pissed if this mission ended as badly as she thought it was. "Damn it Garrus I think you nicked something." She said, taking the shotgun from the subject's reach.
"Hey, if I thought you wanted him dead, it would be more than a flesh wound Shepard!" Garrus shot back, applying the medi-gel with his rifle's barrel supporting his weight as the Omni-tool worked its technological magic. "As if magic wasn't becoming more real today…" Garrus thought silently to himself.
Shepard just stood there, pondering on what could have just happened. Either one of them could have just died, or here she was, wrongly interpreting Garrus's actions. "Shit…and I'm worried about them trusting me…I can't trust them totally." The commander thought to herself, rubbing her neck with her gloved hand. "Is he going to at least live?" she asked with a slightly apologetic tone.
Garrus looked at the scans on his Omni-tool, trying to make sense of the information; the medi-gel had set in correctly but the shot had completely shattered the shoulder bone, the medi-gel wasn't exactly stitching that correctly. "Well…I'm no expert Shepard…Chakwas is going to have a look at this…can't move him without doing any more damage," the turian said, his Omni-tool shutting down.
"Ok, Kasumi, patch me through to Bailey." Shepard said, her attention now towards Kasumi, awaiting a link to the outside of the building.
"Right…let me just boost the signal, walls are causing some…never mind, you're linked," Kasumi said, shutting her Omni-tool as well.
"Well that was fast," Garrus said.
"Please, Garrus remember who you are talking to."
"Right…"
"Cut the chatter!" the commander shouted, the two teammates immediately clamming up as. As Celest put her hand on the side of her head, tapping on the communicator to Bailey's transmissions, she continued to say, "Captain Bailey, this is Commander Shepard. I need an update on your status."
"Commander Shepard, glad to hear you're still alive. Hope you had some luck in your side of the mission," Bailey said over the line.
"With all due respect, Captain. I need an update," Shepard said, obviously annoyed with the captain's canny attitude.
"Right…Well, my officer's made it into the building. We're clearing it out floor by floor. Not much resistance on Bloodpack's side."
"Good. Listen Bailey, I have an injured personnel that needs medi-vac. Can you clear the landing pad so I can call in a shuttle?" Celest asked.
"Well I can do that…have to go through some channels. But obviously again you're a busy woman so let's don't do that and say we did," the snarky officer said.
"Thanks Bailey, I owe you one."
"Damn straight." The line of communication terminated, but Shepard quickly reconnected the line towards the Normandy's frequency. With Garrus and Kasumi keeping guard, the group was at best secure. None of the Bloodpack had either gotten through to this level, or they were killed off by the raging biotic that now lies silently on the cold metal floor.
"Normandy! Come in!" Shepard said loudly, her hand still glued to the headset of the recon mask.
"Normandy here. Can I take you order?" the voice said.
"Funny Joker," Shepard chuckled.
"Eh, I do what I can. But in all good fun, what do you need Commander?"
"Oh now he wants to be serious. I need a damn shuttle and medical crew at my location. Tell Chakwas to get her hacksaw ready."
"Alright Commander…but don't mention hacksaw ever again. Makes my bones cringe…and they can break if they cringe," Joker said, as Shepard mentally waved it off.
"In all retrospect, Mr. Moreau, your bones cannot cringe, they simply break. There is no in-between," an artificial voice said, obviously EDI…the only artificial voice on the Normandy.
"Thanks EDI…for the totally awesome observation," Joker sighed.
"You are welcome Mr. Moreau."
Shepard shook her head, turning off the transmission after saying, "Thanks Joker, Shepard out." Shepard turn towards the squad, quickly shouting out her next orders, "Okay, Garrus help me her," motioning towards the subject "Icarus." Garrus looked at the body for a second, but then joined Celest in pulling him up, and wrapping the man's arms around their own necks, along with Shepard trying not to break the man's shoulder any more than it was. "Kasumi," she said, struggling with the man's weight of and posture of the shoulder, "watch our back, we don't want any surprises…"
"Got your back Shep." As the team exited the procedure room, they had to carefully avoid the bodies and the debris from the fighting before; quickly avoiding all of that, they had made it to their elevator, and had started their descent back to ground level.
2185CE:
Twelve hours after Phi-Tech Incident
Normandy SR-2: Communications Room
The Illusive Man stood up, staring at the glowing giant of a sun as the Commander continued to speak, quickly reviewing the mission de-brief.
"…and we had gotten him to the shuttle; at the moment Dr. Chakwas has him stable, he'll make a recovery."
"A recovery from what perhaps?" the Illusive man hissed, taking another puff of the cigarette.
Celest folded her arms and continued to speak, "A shot to the shoulder, we had enough problems with a bunch of vorcha and a krogan with a petty grudge with Cerberus." She briefly looked around the room that she stood in, taking up another answer, "and a raging biotic full of drugs wasn't exactly put into the briefing report.
"To my knowledge and to the files that you so graciously gave us, what little it was, say differently, Shepard."
"Bullshit, how many people did you kill to make that thing?" Shepard shouted, pointing her finger at the Illusive Man. It was then he turned around, directly staring at the women with his cybernetic eyes.
"To my knowledge Shepard, six months of research doesn't make a human as gifted as this one. At least that is what Dr. Finnegan notes say."
"Bullshit, from what Jack says, Cerberus has been hunting to make the ultimate biotic for years. What different is this?"
"We had no knowledge he would be of no literal use to us. His appearance on the station intrigued us, but nothing more," the Illusive Man exclaimed. "Now, if your report is finished, we can transfer Subject Icarus to Project Phoenix for disse-"
"Hold on! I'm not done here! You think I'm just going to let you take the kid from near-death to be dissected for your sick experiments. If you don't want emotional problems getting in the way, then you should quit sending me to find you dirty little secrets; it's bad for our "mutual" agreement as you call it. No absolutely not!"
"Don't get high-and-mighty on me Shepard, his very existence changes everything!" the man exclaimed, raising his voice as he took a drink out of his glass.
"Changes what?!" the commander shouted, "your experiments has no regard for human life, everything is for your edge, nothing more."
"Our work is for humanity. You are a prime example of that," the man shot back, smiling as he did.
"Maybe, but I won't continue your so long traditions. He stays…for now."
"Well, be my guest Shepard," the Illusive Man sighed, taking a seat in front of the QEC, "Humanity only knows that your team needs another man for the Collector home world."
"I decide who's on my team, but this kid, no way. He's too unstable. Mordin and Chakwas already found suppressants I haven't even heard of. And also he's been a human pin-cushion. I don't need another Cerberus-hating Jack."
The Illusive Man took another puff of his cigarette, solemnly saying, "Very well, good work Shepard, continue your…progress."
"Connection Terminated, Shepard," EDI exclaimed.
"Bah, Thank you EDI," Shepard said, just before stomping out of the room, her armor still on from the previous mission. But her patience was wearing thin enough from that entire mission. Despite the Illusive Man's attempts at consoling her feelings about their experiments; in her eyes, Cerberus was still bastards. Bastards like the pirates on Torfan. She wasn't going let them just have another pin cushion to prod at.
Stopping midway from the Research laboratory, she thought to herself; thinking of all the people Cerberus had actually still had in their clutches.
"Bastard probably doesn't even care…they have more where this kid came from...But what the fuck to with him?!"
"Shit! I have enough problems with the Reapers and the collectors," she yelled out, her voice echoing in the hallway, "Now there's someone who doesn't even know where he is…" Her thoughts stopped midway, focusing back on the man currently in her ship's medical bay. "I need answers," she whispered to herself, "Hah! I need a reality check too! Magic…"
"But you know…weirder things have happened."
Shepard immediately jumped in her boots, staring at the door to the armory. Whatever she had just heard…it wasn't anyone or anything she could see…and she wasn't talking to herself…
"EDI? Did you just say something?"
"No Commander."
"Thanks EDI…logging off for now."
"Logging you out Shepard."
"…What the flying hell?" she mumbled. Confident that whatever it was had stopped, the thought had halted, and she head towards the Research lab, and then onward to the CIC to which she would head to the medical bay on the crew's Quarters As she passed through the CIC, Shepard was stopped for a moment, by Yeoman Kelly no less.
"Commander if you have a moment?" the yeoman asked.
"What is it Chambers?" the commander asked, restarting her stride towards the elevator, rushing passed the yeoman's post, with Chambers hot in pursuit.
"Well, it's about our new guest," Kelly said edging towards the commander as she waited for the elevator to arrive.
"We don't have a guest Kelly," Celest shot at the young yeoman. "He's only here till we find out what to do with him." The elevator doors finally sprung open, the two both entered the large freighter. As the door shut behind them, the two stood there, each not uttering a word for a few seconds, before the commander broke the silence. "…Ok. What do you want to know?"
"It's..." the yeoman started off, "not really what I want to know Commander. The Illusive Man had sent over more details over Subject Icarus from some recovered information from Asclepius Cell. As you know…I am a certified psychologist."
"Chambers…" the commander grumbled, pressing the palm of her hand towards her still masked face before looking back at the yeoman, "after Torfan, my mind was picked and prodded by psychologists and scientists…All of them saying I was unfit for duty. I honestly hate everything about that profession. And the people down there all had much more experience than you…They were experimenting on him. You'll just freak him out honestly. You can have access if and when it's suitable, Understood Chambers?"
"Yes Commander," the yeoman said, saluting the commander. The elevator finally stopped, the doors opening wide as the two arrived at the Crew Quarters. Standing in front of them was a rather large krogan, clad in steel-colored armor, blue eyes staring into the elevator at the two humans.
"Shepard," the krogan snorted.
"Grunt," Celest replied, stepping out of the elevator an passing the unnatural krogan. Grunt stepped into the elevator as Shepard pass him, staring at Kelly who stood there.
"Oh." Celest said, stopping in her tracks and looking back at the krogan. Taking the Claymore from the spinal mag-lock on her armor, she threw the large shotgun at the krogan. Grunt caught the weapon in mid-air; immediately unfolding in his hands, the krogan sized the weapon in his hands, grinning as he looked down the sight of the gun. The krogan emitted a guttural snicker, making the commander smile at the…gleeful krogan?
"Saw that and thought of what you told me earlier…better than buying the expensive bastard son of a cannon."
"Yeah!" the krogan roared, laughing maniacally as he lowered the weapon. Kelly stepped to the side, away from the krogan looking a bit worried. Celest merely laughed underneath her mask, letting the elevators doors shut as she left Kelly and the super-krogan alone.
"Well that just made my day a bit brighter." The commander thought to herself. She finally walked away from the elevator, passing several of the Cerberus personnel, waving them off with a salute as she headed towards the medical bay.
As the doctor continued to record the report, the patient laid silently on the table. Despite what Shepard and her team said they had witnessed, she did not find any physical abnormalities in the patient's body. During the short stay in her medical bay, the patient had exhibited unusual brain activity, and short moments of lucidity. There had been over three small bursts of the patient gaining consciousness. However there was that, and of course the slip back into unconsciousness. While it was strange for someone to slip in and out of consciousness, it wasn't abnormal for someone to suffer from shock. The patient was obviously young by standards, but it was clear that he had fighting experience from the field reports from Shepard. Still it was strange. She started to read her own report back to herself. Quickly reviewing the data she presented, she started to enter the last bit of her entry.
". . . In conclusion, patient suffers from massive trauma to upper arms and torso, also experience from early childhood trauma. Likely abuse, possibly resulting in an unhealthy mental state; it is also likely that the patient suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, either from an early childhood incident or the experimentation performed by Cerberus Operatives.
Needle marks are still present on the patient, confirmed by evidence procured by Commander Shepard, created by one Dr. Eisley. After reviewing that evidence, I can only agree with Dr. Eisley's early assessments that the patient suffers from physical degeneration, there is evidence of bone degeneration and a heighten metabolism. Without proper care, the patient's body can break down if the patient lacks proper nutrition or from prolonged exposure to septic environments. The patient has suffered from an increased condition during his captivity by Cerberus operatives…it is likely they did not care in regards to their studies.
Finally, the patient has not been identified on any Council or Alliance census; however he has been identified on the records supplied to us by Commander Shepard and Cerberus records. I cannot say what Commander Shepard has reported is realistic or not. Human or of any race biotics of the described magnitude do not exist."
Dr. Chakwas saved and exited the report, shutting down the terminal leaving her seat. Turning towards a scanner on the other side of the room, she looked at the current progress report that the machine had.
"Hmm, better send this blood culture over to Mordin…needs to confirm these high element zero levels. I wonder…" the doctor pondered.
"Wonder what Doc?" a familiar voice said. The doctor jumped a bit in her shoes, turning around to see the commander, still armored head-to-toe.
"Ah Shepard, you gave me a scare…" Chakwas said, holding a hand over her heart, "I didn't even hear the door."
"Well, we were trained to be killer's doctor," Shepard said, her mask distorting the snorted chuckle she made.
"If by 'we' you mean the N7…I guess you would be correct," the medical officer replied.
"Well of course. But anyways, you were saying?"
"Well…it's about our guest…"
"Oh great…" Celest sighed. "What's wrong now?"
"Well it's nothing definitive Shepard, but the man you saved today has had quite the experience. He's perfectly human as it is…I don't see any evidence what you reported."
"Doctor if I was right about the Reapers… just trust me…I know what I saw… Kasumi and Garrus saw the same thing. There's nothing human about him." Shepard looked over at the table briefly, the biotic still resting peacefully on the table. A few hours ago he was as wild as a rampaging krogan… "Hell he threw a rampaging krogan…" Shepard pondered looking back at Chakwas, listening as the women continued to talk. But as the good doctor continued to blather on about the biotic, a sound drew her attention back to the table, Icarus was stirring. She quickly nudged Chakwas on the arm, pointing the doctor's attention towards medical table.
"What the bloody…Shepard help me here." The doctor shouted, loud enough for the crew in the barracks to hear.
"What's wrong?" Shepard asked.
"I'm trying to keep him in a medically induced coma…but this is the second time since I put him under to work on his shoulder."
"For, what?"
"The man has puzzling neural issues, similar to yours two years ago. I'm wondering if he was exposed to a beacon. And of course there's other anomalies as well. "
"Like I was on Eden Pri- wait...Shit!" Shepard lunged at the man, pushing him down on the table, trying to keep him still. A snap was heard. The shoulder bone under Shepard's hand had re-broken, despite the advanced medicinal techniques to heal it; it was rather still too fresh of a mend. The man struggled underneath her grip, which was beginning to loosen. Despite the biotic's stature, he was quite strong. Clearly he didn't need his abilities all the time. Or did he?
As Chakwas was activating her Omni-tool to send another batch of suppressants and painkillers into the patients system, the "biotic's" aura increased slightly, slamming his glowing fist into Shepard's breastplate, sending Shepard backwards, slamming her into desk behind her. To Chakwas' amazement, not saying that didn't already surprise her, she sure wasn't expecting this. The man reached up for her, grabbing her throat tightly, tight enough for her to struggle for air. Her Omni-tool deactivated, the injection of the coma-induced drug cocktail vanishing with it. They stood there for a second, staring at each, but something took her attention away for a split second, and it wasn't Shepard.
The fact that the man's arm was at all usable shocked her. The bone had entirely re-broken from Shepard's slam. But here it was in her sight. The bones, under the sleeve of the patient's shirt and his skin was moving, the crackle of bones and veins popping out under the skin. The man layer, there as calm as ever, as if nothing was going on at all. The crackle and popping finally stopped as the man loosened his grip.
Shepard grunted in pain as her head impacted the side of the desk, the rush of pain freezing her for a second from both the slam into her chest and her head. Shepard, felt a major throb on her head, immediately, pulling off the recon mask, her hair falling out as she gripped the back of her head. She pulled back one hand, seeing the small patch of blood present on her glove. She felt almost sick to her stomach as the dizziness set in, but as that did, so did rage.
She looked on at the scene before her, Icarus with his hand around Karin's neck…She wasn't going to let anything happen.
"Karin!" She yelled out rushing towards the table. Taking her fist and pulling it back behind her head, she saw nothing but red. There are situations in the world to which we know that people recognize an incident in their lives, even if there is no recognition to anyone else. To Shepard, this could have just been Torfan all over again. She immediately slammed her fist into the patient's head, knocking him out as hard as she could. The man closed his eyes, whatever he was thinking wasn't even a glitter in his mind. The man's hand released the doctor's throat; she quickly breathed in much needed air grabbing her throat as the soreness and pain started to set in. Shepard just stood as the doctor looked at her, both of them regaining their composure. The blood from the back of Celest's head started to run down her face as she looked down at the man, her hands balled up into fists as if she wanted to continue pelting the man. But she did not.
After a few moments of regaining their thoughts, Chakwas took the opportunity to speak first;
"*panting as she spoke* I should probably look at that wound Commander…" the doctor said, her breathing starting to relax. Her voice was still hoarse from the strangling.
"Look at yourself, Karin... I'll be fine," Celest said, clearing inching towards moving the door of the medical bay.
"Commander." The doctor clearly wasn't fooling around, her voice still as motherly as possible. Shepard stopped in her place, quickly turning around and heading for the other table. Her head was still pounding, it as if a flash grenade had just exploded in the room…if that had happened she would most likely be blind, let alone be able to sock the young patient in the dome. As she passed the good doctor, she quietly spoke, holding a bit of anger as she did;
"I guess I should brief Ms. Chambers…"
As EDI was locking the Normandy for its night cycle, she began her daily task of examining the video surveillance of the ship's inner halls. During this time, she would log anyone's movement on the floors, also alerting anyone of importance if there was a disturbance at this time of night. As she did this, the halls remained empty; everyone was resting for the next mission that Shepard would point the crew towards. But something caught EDI's eye…well her visual sensors…well more like her audio recorders. A voice, singing in the most casual sense. Without a care in the world. EDI quickly went through each of the crew's audio logs, even those of the specialists that the Commander had recruited Mr. Moreau, and the Commander herself. None of the audio logs had matched the voice she heard. She looked for where the voice was coming from, only finding the origin of the voice in a milli-second later. She activated the holographic terminal in the crew quarters, her holographic figure appearing out of thin air in the galley.
She saw the shadow of a small stature man, lying on the main table of the galley, the sound no longer emanating from the room. The man breathed in as he did, and began once more to sing the melody, as best as he could of course.
EDI simply listened, as he obviously either did not notice her, or he did not care. She listened, and it was interesting.
"Time was once a blessing
but long journeys are made longer
when alone within.
Take spirit from the long ago
but do not dwell in lands no longer yours."
"Be certain in need,
and the path will emerge
to a home tomorrow
and time will again
be the joy it once was."
~Endure
(A/N: And here is the next chapter, I might cry. So far you've guys have been awesome and patient. I had the first half literally done a week and a half ago…and forgot to right the rest. Brilliant I know right? Anyways, enjoy reading these guys! I hope it at least makes your day a bit brighter. I know it did mine when I finally finished writing. But anyway, keep on reviewing and passing on the awesome advice! Thank you guys so far and just wait till the next few chapters! Who knows…we might see a loyalty mission or two… after Shepard and the Warden stop butting heads and finally learn to get along…those crazy kids. And holy damn, and Author's Codex…I'm shocked. If you happen to notice…the possession entry is taken from the Dragon Age Codex. It simply explains it better. The Indoctrination has been edited for the story's sake. If you also notice…indoctrination and possession…sound similar do they not?)
Author's Codex:
The Understanding of Indoctrination: A Brief 2185 Edition of Physical Science Galactic
By Senari T'nak of Physical Science
While the "supposed Reaper hypothesis" has not been directly as of now, the process of indoctrination has become a high concern from high-ranking intelligence officials, causing worry that indoctrination was used during the Eden Prime Fiasco. This document will briefly explain the implications and hypothesis behind the rumors of indoctrination. The precise mechanics of the indoctrination effect are poorly understood. It is believed that the Reapers generate an electromagnetic field, waves of infrasound and ultrasound, or both in order to stimulate areas of a victim's brain and limbic system. The resulting effect varies depending on the intent of the Reaper: the victim may suffer headaches and hallucinations, have feelings of "being watched" or paranoia, or come to view the Reaper itself with superstitious awe much like the geth during the Eden Prime Fiasco. Ultimately, the Reaper gains the ability to use the victim's body to amplify its signal, manifesting as voices within the victim's mind.
Supposed victims of indoctrination have reported whispers you can't ignore, that compel you to do things without knowing why. Over days, perhaps a week of exposure to an anything Reaper oriented signal, the subject stops thinking for them and just obeys, eventually becoming a mindless servant. The mental damage from indoctrination is severe and permanent. It should be known that through the use of Indoctrination, the supposed Reaper threat is able to assume control of the completely subservient indoctrinated. This hypothesis was given by one Commander Celestine Shepard of the System Alliance, savior of the Council and the Citadel.
It is proposed that the "Reapers" arrive from dark space every fifty thousand years to eradicate all life from the galaxy. Doing this they require indoctrinated slaves to bend to their will and to use to destroy galactic civilization. As of now, no evidence has risen to support this claim, which leads experts and officials to dismiss this claim.
Divine Andrastian Archives of the Ninth Age of Dragon
Grand Cathedral, Val Royeaux, Orlais
Under documentation of Seeker Ernesto Avin of the Antivan Chapter
~From The Maker's First Children, by Bader, Senior Enchanter of Ostwick, 8:12 Blessed.
"Why do demons seek to possess the living?
History claims they are malevolent spirits, the first children of the Maker, angry at their creator for turning from them and jealous of those creations he considered superior. They stare across the Veil at the living and do not understand what they see, yet they know they crave it. They desire life; they pull the living across the Veil when they sleep and prey on their psyche with nightmares. Whenever they can, they cross the Veil into our world to possess it outright.
We know that any demon will seek to possess a mage, and upon doing so will create an abomination. Most of the world does not know, however, that the strength of an abomination depends entirely on the power of the demon that possesses the mage. This is true, in fact, of all possessed creatures. One demon is not the same as any other.
Demons can, for instance, be classified. Enchanter Brahm's categorization of demons into that portion of the psyche they primarily prey upon has held since the Tower Age.
According to Brahm, the weakest and most common of demons are those of rage. They are the least intelligent and most prone to violent outbursts against the living. They expend their energies quickly, the most powerful of them exhibiting great strength and occasionally the ability to generate fire.
Next are the demons of hunger. In a living host they become cannibals and vampires, and within the dead they feed upon the living. Theirs are the powers of draining, both of life force and of mana.
Next are the demons of sloth, the first on Brahm's scale that are capable of true intelligence. In its true form, this demon is known as a shade, a thing which is nearly indistinct and invisible, for such is sloth's nature. It hides and stalks, unaware, and when confronted, it sows fatigue and apathy.
Demons of desire are amongst the most powerful, and are the ones most likely to seek out the living and actively trick them into a deal. These demons will exploit anything that can be coveted—wealth, power, lust—and they will always end up getting far more than they give. A desire demon's province is that of illusions and mind control.
Strongest of all demons are those of pride. These are the most feared creatures to loose upon the world: Masters of magic and in possession of vast intellect, they are the true schemers. It is they who seek most strongly to possess mages, and will bring other demons across the Veil in numbers to achieve their own ends—although what that might be has never been discovered. A greater pride demon, brought across the veil, would threaten the entire world."