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Blue:Iris:Three

"Bullshit."

Shepard's jaw dropped open as Liara stepped toward The Illusive Man and repeated, "bullshit."

Then she glanced back at Shepard and whispered, sotto voice, "That is the crude expression humans use to express skepticism, yes?"

Shepard mutely nodded, then closed her mouth with an audible click.

The Illusive Man raised his cigarette to his lips, inhaled deeply and let twin plumes of smoke drift out his nostrils. "And why," he tapped some ash off the end, "are you expressing such doubt, Dr. T'soni?"

Her asari began walking around The Illusive Man inspecting him from all angles. Completing her circuit she stood directly in front of him for a moment before turning away, saying over her shoulder, "An impressive facsimile, but only that," her tone one of dismissal.

The figure appearing to be the founder and leader of the human supremacist terrorist organization that had been known as Cerberus said nothing. Liara reached Shepard's side and turn back around to face The Illusive Man; tapping a finger against her bottom lip.

"The real Illusive Man is dead," she began. "According to Shepard's report she shot him, point blank and after put an additional round between his eyes for...how did she put it?" Liara paused and then smiled a wide smile, "Oh yes I remember- purely on principle."

The Illusive Man snorted slightly, exhaled another plum of smoke, "You, of all people, should know appearances can be deceiving Doctor T'Soni- or should I call you Broker?"

Stopping again in front of him, Liara cocked her head to the side slightly, still smiling, "A valid point. As we are in the middle of a meld though, Shepard and I, that would make your inclusion here difficult to explain."

The Illusive Man shrugged, "Perhaps I uploaded my mental signature or essence into The Reapers network and was brought into Shepard's consciousness along with whatever else was included when they altered her implants."

Shepard shuddered at the thought of him being part of her mind but said nothing.

"Or I could be a symptom of her Id made manifest by trauma and the previously mentioned alterations."

Liara grinned back at the man, "Shepard's dark side? I have seen her dark side and it is not a creature of hate such as the one you mimic. She rages at the injustice of being so limited and yet asked by circumstance and responsibility to be expected to do so much. She is furious with the foolishness that she sees all around her, yet committed to doing what she can to correct the mistakes, anticipate them and remove their threat beforehand; despite this she also seethes that she cannot rest and berates herself, hates herself in some ways, because she feels she doesn't deserve it and has failed for desiring it."

Shepard blinked, "Liara-"

Liara turned her gaze to her, the asari's smile softening as she took in the sight of her human, her commander, "she is my hero and my fool," the asari continued. "I love her for that, despair because of it and will protect her from it."

Her gaze flickered back to The Illusive Man, lips curling into a snarl, "and no part of that holds anything of you or your kind as part of it."

The Illusive Man glanced in Shepard's direction who only shrugged saying, "she's got me pegged."

Synthetic eyes glimmered with reflected light from the blue sky overhead; he took a slow drag on his cigarette, the silence strained slightly by the hushed sound of crackling tobacco. With a flick of his fingers the ash vanished disappearing before it hit the ground..

"Very good Doctor T'Soni," he said with a nod to the asari.

"I do not need your praise," she snapped back. "I do not need the opinion of- what are you? Having established that you are not what you appear to be."

It shrugged a shoulder as if conceding a point, "I am the operating system."

"Operating system?" Liara queried.

"Repeating my words does little to argue for your intelligence, Doctor. Regardless, having been actualized through recognition the final protocols were introduced allowing for all this to take place, " It shrugged slightly. "Admittedly initial exposure was to occur during Commander Shepard's REM state but you can't have everything."

A split second later it was pinned against a tree with Shepard's forearm braced across its throat, "What the fuck are you!" she hissed out between clenched teeth.

It appeared to gag a bit and choke out, "Currently...somewhat," a cough, "discomforted."

She eased up on the pressure a fraction. "Spit it out."

"My secondary role is to maintain the function of the implants within your body and mind, Shepard. As I said, I am the operating system."

Shepard stepped back, it staggered a bit but did not fall, "And what was that big metallic fucker I beat to death? And how did I do that anyhow? Was that just something you made up? A joke? One last trap from your master's maybe? Couldn't kill me in life so you're just going to fuck me over in my mind?"

It brushed off the dust from its suit in an all too familiar gesture, "That scenario was created by my predecessor."

Shepard and Liara exchanged looks, "What?"

Liara attempted to interject, "Shepard-"

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Shepard demanded cutting off her asari. "How many of you are in my head? Why did you do this to me?

"Shepard!"

"A predecessor? What is with having all these god-damned machines stuck in me? Maybe I should just blow my own fucking head-"

"Shepard!"

The marine whirled to her asari, "What!?" the bellow echoing frustration bounced across the shadowy woods.

Nonplussed by her human's shout Liara lay a gloved hand on Shepard's shoulder, "I think I can explain."

Taking a deep breath Shepard struggled to push down the surge of fury. It was boiling, right underneath, roiling up from her stomach promising delicious simplicity; destroy this, hit that- problem solved. Instead Shepard nodded wordlessly.

"The ...construct?" Liara raised one querying eyebrow at the operating system's avatar, its response of a slow blink was affirmation enough. "The construct was there to get you angry and frightened."

"It succeeded," Shepard said tightly.=, "I saw you, under that red light and...and the fear, the rage," Shepard shuddered slightly. "But then I was on top of it...and it was screaming and...and..." her human's eyes glazed over slightly as the memory played itself out. "...I loved it, Liara. Finally I could hit one of those things. Beat it, crush it!"

"Kill it?" her asari whispered.

"With my bare hands," Shepard answered, her voice a little husky. Passing a hand over her eyes the commander appeared to come back to herself. "Sorry, the whole thing was more than a little cathartic."

Liara nodded, "But did you hear what it was saying?"

"No, I ...was distracted."

"It was threatening me, Shepard, but before that it spoke of cohesion efficiency with primary focus. That was you, somehow a sort of connection was being attempted between this...operating system and you. I think..." her asari paused. "I'm almost convinced that your emotional response was what triggered that link and the ...for lack of a better term...system upgraded."

The copy of The Illusive Man spoke up, "A simple but accurate assement, Dr. T'Soni. The system required recognition."

"I recognize the face just fine," Shepard said slowly. A dangerous sign.

"Perhaps acknowledgment would be a better term," It continued. "Your mind fought, Shepard. Since implantation your sub-conscious denied us validation. This system is designed for cohesion between the synthetic and biological. That was denied thus my predecessor took the opportunity provided by the meld to create a situation where both sub-conscious and conscious would be in agreement toward the system- that being the system representing a threat to Dr. T'Soni."

"So," Shepard replied, again in that slow voice. "The threat wasn't real."

It shook its head, "The threat was very real. Had you not intervened Dr. T'Soni would have been removed from this construct quite possibly suffering lethal amounts of neurological damage. My predecessor estimated that such an occurrence would yield a successful cohesion of forty point zero five percent though that included a self-destructive response of roughly sixty percent. It decided those were reasonable odds."

Then demonstrating a simple form of survival instinct it added just a bit quickly, "I had no voice in the decision making. I was not active at the time."

And in the same low voice Shepard simply asked, "What am I?"

Without pause it answered, "Commander Shepard."

"I was."

"You are."

"Then why am I in this place, supposedly impossible according to her," she gestured to her asari. "What are you? What AM I?"

Calmly the duplicate Illusive Man reached behind the nearest tree with its free hand, when it pulled its hand back it was now holding a whiskey glass, half full with the bronze colored liquid. Unblinkingly it raised the cup to its lips and took a small sip before reaching again behind the trunk moments later withdrawing a now empty hand.

"This environment is a synthetic mental construct using duplications of memories found in your sub-conscious. It was created to effect a change in your mind's acceptance of our presence through manipulation of your emotional state. It does not technically exist- it is a simulacrum of a reality."

Still in that quiet, flat, voice Shepard said, "A copy of memories, so you can read my mind."

"No."

"And I should believe you because?"

"Because it's too direct to be a good lie," It answered. "And your reaction to such a fabrication would be instantaneous and lethal...and that wouldn't do for either of us. That and it is beyond the ability of any form of technology to 'read minds'. The idea is crude and foolish. Minds are random bursts of neurological chemical and electrical activity coming together and apart in new ways that are entirely unpredictable. Overarching patterns to stimuli can be tracked, of course but that is elementary for even your species."

Shepard's brow creased, the very picture of skepticism, "Yet you said not a second ago that this place was created through my own memories."

The copy of The Illusive Man waved the hand clutching the cigarette dismissively, tendrils of smoke curled up its forearm at the gesture lazily spilling upwards to fade away in the dead air, "As I also said, that is elementary. I am part of your brain now, Shepard. All its activities must pass through the hardware that keeps you alive. The patterns may not be understood but since all the stimuli you have undergone are known it is a simple matter to recall what patterns of activity were based from which source and repeat them. The preceding operating system did not know, nor do I know, what your fears are but we do realize they exist and the patterns of brain activity that was the result of them. These we can copy and replay."

Liara's biotics flared, with a roar the copy found itself hanging in the air, its arms outstretched as if nailed to an invisible cross, when she spoke her voice came in a snarl, lips curled and teeth biting through every word, "So you'll just have her own memories played against her until she breaks and becomes some form of puppet? For your masters? For the Reapers?"

Its spine was arched, the forces pushing just a slight bit farther than the human body was made to go, if such things mattered in this place; according the grimace the copy had on its face apparently they did though no such discomfort was heard in its reply, "This is not wise, Doctor T'Soni."

"I'm protecting Shepard, to me that seems a well chosen course of action," she clenched a fist and the power tightened around her prisoner.

"Liara," Shepard groaned suddenly, one hand to her temple.

"Shepard, what-?"

"I already said, Doctor T'Soni," It drolled, "My secondary purpose is to maintain Shepard's life. I am not a mere avatar in this place, I am the actual operating system." A grimace jerked across Its features at the same time Shepard appeared to wobble, "and you are hurting me."

With a cry Liara released her biotic grip on the copy as Shepard began to collapse; Liara intercepted her before she could hit the ground. Resting one hand on her asari's shoulder Shepard grinned through the pain, "It's okay, I'm okay- you didn't-"

At the same time Liara said, "Shepard, I'm- I'm sorry- I-"

Coughing Shepard allowed her asari to help her to her feet; The Illusive Man's doppelganger, appeared no worse for wear- it stood casually, the ever present cigarette in one hand, its tip glowing a dull cherry red in the shadows, the glass of whiskey in the other hand, where light from that same indeterminate source, passing through the thick glass, cast small rainbows on the ground.

"So," Shepard's voice was rough, "If keeping me alive is your secondary purpose what is the primary?"

A ripple of emotion then, a slight crinkling around the brow and those synthetic eyes, which had been boring into her a moment before began flickering around, taking in everything around them but refusing to make eye contact with her. After a breath it snorted quietly, "I don't know."

"Wha-" Shepard began when it jerked a hand up, palm out; cocking its head to one side, as if listening for something began in a conversational tone, "You might also be interested to know Shepard that one of the functions of my secondary purpose is using the resources at my command to take in information regarding your surroundings. Ambient temperatures, air currents and so on. This data is then shunted to your own mind. The experience will be similar to 'gut instinct' only slightly more so."

Raising an eyebrow Shepard replied, "What does that have to do with anything?"

Slowly, appearing to be enjoying the moment the copy of The Illusive Man, a creature that appeared to be residing in her mind and claimed to be some sort of operating system maintaining the technology that was threaded throughout her body reached up, gently placed the cigarette between its lips and took a long drag.

Then it smiled.

"Duck."

With a gasp Shepard opened her eyes; she and Liara were back in the clearing in the woods. Shepard dove forward out of her sitting position tackling her asari, flattening them on the ground. The split second she moved a sphere of bubbling energy flickered through the space where her head had been, slammed into the trunk of the tree behind them and detonated.

The great tree shuddered and began to tilt, a cracking of living timber to rival the thundering of the waterfall.

In the same motion that had thrown both of them to the earth, Shepard flipped over Liara, reaching for the weapon at the small of her back at the same time; finishing the roll she came up, the barrel of the gun pointing in the direction where the biotic attack had come from. Her mind flashed a halt command a split second before her trigger finger would have sent a stream of mass effect sped death through her target.

The young asari was leaning heavily against a tree. Scores of scratch marks sent a crisscross of purple blood to ooze across deep blue skin and patter on the leafy floor of the woods. Her clothes, at one time perhaps, had been a simple smock but the deep tears had reduced it to shreds. She held one trembling hand out, in Shepard's direction; biotic sparks stuttered across her forearm, between her spread fingers and, even though obviously barely able to stand, her heated gaze bore into Shepard from across the clearing.

"Won't...go back," she slurred. "Not ever; The Black Tide won't...ever take...have me!" she tightened her other arm protectively around her great blue, very pregnant belly that bulged from between the torn and shredded remains of her dress, "You won't have her!" Her voice rising in a great shriek, culminating in an lethal build up of sapphire fury.

If.

If...

If she hadn't jumped between the strange asari and Shepard.

If Shepard had not razor trained reflexes.

If she wasn't The Shadow Broker...

If.

Without a word Liara leaped between the two of them, thrusting both her palms outward toward the other asari, "Wait!" she cried. The words flowed rapidly from her tongue. "Clear water, I offer clear water and pure spirits! There are no shadows here, you are safe! You are safe!"

The other asari blinked slowly, "Clear water?" she struggled to focus, shook her head a few times and stared at Liara. Shepard forced herself to breath slowly, the barrel of her pistol aiming just over her asari's shoulder ready to take the newcomer's head off the instant she though it was necessary. In her opinion necessary had been five seconds ago.

"Yes," Liara said, her voice soothing; she took a step closer. "Pure spirits. I still walk in the light of Athame my sister."

"Light..." the asari slurred. "Athame..." then her eyes snapped open and, glinting with a desperation bordering on madness, focused on Shepard. "Her!"

"Human," Liara hummed quietly while stepping yet even closer. Completely interposing herself between Shepard and the other asari. " I vouch for her. She is mine."

Shepard almost didn't twitch.

The asari's glare started to fade, she staggered and would have fallen if Liara had not closed the space between them catching the other in an embrace before easing herself down to the forest floor, leaves rustling gently as they settled; Liara cradled the other asari's head in her lap, "I have you," Liara crooned, using the fingers of one hand to brush grime from the fallen asari's face. "You're safe, I have you."

Staring up at Liara, but not seeing her the other asari shook her head, "No...not safe," a moment of silence as her throat convulsed in dry swallow. Then her voice, a harsh dry, hard whisper, "They're coming!" and with a sigh her eyes fluttered shut.

It took a moment for Liara to process the words...and then, "Shepard! We have got to go! We have got to go right now!" The fear in her voice almost palpable.

Shepard had questions, they buzzed around her mind in a swarm. Thoughts flittering about with her having no idea where one ended or another began. Frustration and fear drove them, the picnic- ruined, The bonding- a huge category A Class Red What the Fuck Was That? Situation. Then there was the whole talking with a dead man, whoops sorry, now he's a Operating system insider her own fucking head! And to cap it all off, upon finishing their little jaunt Shepard had nearly gut shot a pregnant asari who, for reasons all her own, first attempted to biotically send both her and Liara pinwheeling off the cliff side but then started babbling about dark fish or something.

Shepard heard that singular tone of absolute terror in her asari's voice. All the questions, all the confusion and rage and frustration were cut off as the mental doors in her head came crashing down so she could re-prioritize. Liara was afraid: fuck everything else.

Without an instants hesitation Shepard slapped a hand to the com-unit in her ear, "Lieutenant Cortez, get your bird in the air; we need an evac right goddamned now."

It was a credit to her crew's professionalism that the pilot did not waste any time with questions or requests for confirmations, "Aye aye ma'am. Have your position. Will be air born in one minute, with you twenty seconds after."

Shepard crouched down next to Liara, who gave her a pointed glance at the commander's pistol which Shepard still had pointed at the unconscious asari's face. Shepard ignored the unspoken request and replied, "Rodger that Lieutenant, have EDI prep the med bay. We're bringing home a stray. All I can tell you is it's an asari. I'm guessing dehydration and exhaust-"

Her instincts ripped across her mind and in one smooth motion she pointed her weapon directly up and rolled backwards; for an instant she was parallel to the earth; she began firing into the clear blue sky over head, up until the rounds perforated the stealthed figure that had been plunging toward her from overheard. An arc of purple blood shot skyward and the enemy's surprised shriek was cut short as the final three bullets rode up her throat, face and forehead transforming the dark skinned asari commando's head into pulp. Shepard's shoulders hit the earth and she flipped over back onto her feet. The asari commando's body slammed to the ground right where the commander had been standing a moment before- what was left of her.

Training her gun at the third asari, the very dead, third asari, Shepard took a trembling breath, "Holy shit! Holy shit!" She jerked her head up, glanced around, then looked back down. Her eyes were drawn to the pistol in her hand. Curls of smoke still twined upward. Her knuckles were aching.

"How did you do-" Liara began before cutting herself off and glancing around for other threats. Shepard gaze flickered from shadow to shadow in the forest behind them.

"Commander!" Cortez's words buzzed in her ear, the urgency plainly audible. "I'm en route to your position, eta fifteen seconds, are you alright?!"

Forcing her fingers to move Shepard ejected the exhausted clip and slammed in another one, all the while scanning the trees very aware of all the darkness that surrounded her and the two asari, one who was hers, the other...?

"I'm here," Shepard replied, she idly noticed that up until the moment she had spoken, her teeth had been clenched together so tight that an ache now radiated across her jaw. "We've got company, Cortez, one tango down, no idea if they had friends. You read?"

"Aye commander, touching down in five. EDI reports med bay is prepped."

The Normandy's Kodiak shuttle was visible now; the flash of sunlight off the hull as it flew just a few meters over the canopy. The forward thrusters fired, slowing it and then it rotated ninety degrees until it was perpendicular to the cliffs edge. Then it drifted closer, hovering six inches above the ground. With a hiss of pressure the swing-doors in the side swept upwards, "Scanning coming back negative on anything out there besides you, Commander," Cortez's voices buzzed in her ear. "You're clear to approach."

"They've got stealth," Shepard muttered; giving the surrounding trees one last glance she crouched down next to where Liara was. Without being asked her asari slipped one arm around the other asari's shoulders; Shepard mirrored her actions from the other side. Bracing themselves the two of them lifted the unconscious asari to her feet and started moving toward where the shuttle hovered. The asari's toes dragged furrows through the leaf strewn forest floor making a quiet rustling sound, just enough noise to cover the approach of anyone else who tried to sneak up on them. Shepard craned her neck, sweeping her sidearm back and forth, alert for any hostilities.

At the shuttle Shepard said, "You and her first, I'll bring up the rear."

Nodding, struggling slightly under the deadweight, Liara stumbled aboard. With one last look around Shepard stepped backwards onto the shuttle and pounded twice on the hatchway, "Take us up!" she hollered.

Veering sideways back out over the cliffs edge the engines roared taking the shuttle higher into the sky. Shepard stood at the entrance, staring down into the little clearing where she and Liara were supposed to have had a wonderful picnic. They hadn't had the time nor opportunity to collect their belongings. Even now she could see the white and red checkered blanket under the large tree, one corner pinned down by a still mostly full picnic basket. Lying across the blanket was what was left of another asari, the greater portion of her upper third pulped and torn by the weapon that Shepard still gripped tightly in one hand. Idly she found herself irritated, the the purple bloodstains would never come out of the material even though she knew full well that they'd never be back for it.

When the branches swayed slightly and a second asari commando stepped out from the bushes Shepard was not surprised. She watched as the newcomer strode across the clearing and knelt by the body. Fingers brushed what was left of the others crest, then she looked up at the shuttle. Looked up at Shepard and even though she was far away and getting farther as the craft picked up speed, Shepard knew the commando could see her, knew this surviving commando had been there the entire time and had watched Shepard kill her companion. Shepard knew, down in her bones, that this commando was looking up at her, hating. Hating a great, great deal.

Without a word Shepard stepped back, slamming one fist into the controls; behind her the panel slid shut sealing the shuttle craft.

There should have been stars.

They should have been whipping past the tiny window in the conference room as The Normandy slid through the deep dark ever night of space. Flickering, blazing, their light stretched out long to show the insane speeds the ship could reach effortlessly. There should have been stars out that window. With The Normandy still docked the only thing to see on the other side of the reinforced material that civilians mistakenly called 'glass' but in truth had a name probably several dozen syllables long, was the grey, shadowy rock face of the cavern the ship rested in.

There should have been stars out there.

In the time since she and Liara had returned in the shuttle there had been a flurry of activity. The asari that they had encountered had been whisked away on a gurney to the still unmanned infirmary. Miranda, working with EDI, had overseen their guest's treatment. Liara had vanished into her quarters, no doubt to trawl her network for information. Shepard had issued orders assigning several of her crew to watch positions after having briefed her on their encounter. The rest had been ordered to double-time the loading. Shepard wanted off this rock and she wanted it now.

With a sigh Shepard turned away from the window and sat down at the table; Garrus at the other end, slouched in his chair, resting his chin on the back of clasped hands; to his left Miranda sat straight carefully lining up a data tablet with the tables edge while behind her EDI's mobile platform stood near the doorway. To Garrus' right was Traynor and next to her, with The Normandy in dry dock so he was not needed in the cockpit, Joker. The pilot was impatiently drumming his fingers on the table, waiting for this latest in a long string of meetings to get underway. Between him and Shepard sat Liara; she stared at the bare table top in front of her, looking for all intents lost in thought.

"What I want to know," Garrus said, shattering the silence, "is what exactly is this 'black tide'. That's what our..." his voice drifted off.

"Patient," EDI offered.

Garrus nodded, "Right, patient. That's what our patient said. So, who or what are they? Because right now we've got the alliance all over our asses and the rest of the races won't be far behind. Let's also not forget that whoever this mystery group that has everyone so worked up is is soon going to be on the receiving end of one of Shepard's famous butt-reamings so we can pretty much add them to the 'really pissed off at us' list right now and skip the rush."

Joker opened his mouth to say what surely would have been some retort based on humor and inappropriate observation but Liara cut him off.

"Black Tide," she murmured, not looking up from the table top, "no article, just Black Tide."

"Liara?" Shepard said, the unasked question framed in the tone of her inquiry.

Glancing at her human Liara managed a brief half smile before pressing on, "Black Tide is ...as far as I knew...a ghost story. Among the asari military I mean. Like boogey men; the source of a lot of conjecture and rumor with almost no facts. Until now I had only assumed them to be just that."

Miranda cleared her throat, "I never heard of them through any Cerberus files."

That got some attention, Cerberus' intelligence network was well known by everyone in the room.

"Which is not too suggest here wasn't any," the former operative hastily amended, "but if so I was not made aware of it."

Liara shook her head glumly, "While The Broker network is a pale version of what it used to be I have maintained archives of all previous broker's information and there was very little to substantiate Black Tides existence. If anything the information there just added to the mystery. If we want to really know more we'll have to ask Tevos, if she even does herself or-"

"Ask our patient," Shepard finished her asari's thought.

"Yes."

"Okay," Shepard leaned forward, her forearms resting on the table. "Tell us what you have at least."

Liara shrugged slightly and brushed her fingers over her omnitool. A data packet was instantly spread to data pads in front of everyone else. "From what I was able to glean Black Tide appears to be an ultra elite force in the asari commandos. A group of commandos' commando if you will. I went through all the existing rumors and half whispered facts to try and establish some concrete picture. From what I have gathered the news is not good."

Her asari swallowed slightly, "If anything the summary reminds me of," her eyes flickered toward Miranda, "Cerberus."

The former operative's eyes closed for a moment, she remained that way before opening them again, saying nothing.

Liara went on, "Please bear in mind this is conjecture on my part but I believe Black Tide is a...in your terms...black op. Their missions or objectives are kept to the highest levels of my government with little to no oversight. The implication being that they were allowed to operate virtually unopposed and unrestrained by any treaty or political consideration. Rights, articles of war, all that and more were to be disregarded all for the sake of the mission at the time. I have managed to find a few files where my predecessors speculated on the possibility of Black Tide involvement. They make difficult reading."

"For example?" Shepard asked.

Liara traced a finger through the holographic display on her omnitool. Lines of text, the words glowing an amber yellow, scrolled past. "In one instance it was believe a pocket of batarians slavers were using a religious compound in their space as a base of operations. The temple was asari and had been built with permission from the Hegemony as part of an independent attempt to better relations between my people and theirs. The military report states that there had been a large increase in pirate raids comparatively and diplomatic talk between my government and the Hegemony had begun to allow for an investigation. Before that could happen though the temple was destroyed. A freak accident involving a hitherto undiscovered geothermal vent that ran directly underneath the area and spontaneously erupted with cataclysmic force. The resulting explosion wiped out the temple and everything in a fifty kilometer radius. This included the temple, the asari devotees within and a batarian colony with a population of several thousand."

Liara raised her eyes, her normal sky blue skin turning a darker, uglier shade of blue. "There were no survivors and afterwords the level of pirate activity along that shared border of asari space returned to normal."

No one at the table said anything as they took a moment to digest the significance.

Liara swallowed, "There is more. Similar speculations, observations of industrial espionage that seemed to somehow benefit companies connected to my government later. Rival industry leaders having accidents, critical failures in prototypes, the destruction of factories or system failures," her voice dropped to a whisper. "Kidnappings of CEO family members," everyone at the table had to strain to hear the final words, "their children."

The creak of Shepard's gauntlet as she clenched a fist was startlingly loud in comparison. "Bastards," she snarled.

"Bitches," Joker murmured, "all female, remember?"

"And now they're here," Liara finished.

Shepard's gaze bore into the surface of the table, her thoughts her own for a moment before she shook her head suddenly, "Liara, what was that you said about clear water? To our patient I mean?"

Her asari deactivated her omnitool with a casual flick on one finger and then, clasping her hands, rested them on the table, "It comes from asari myth. The actual translation of Black Tide in asari is Feket Grik."

Shepard frowned in puzzlement, "Okay, I've not heard that much actual asari but that sounds very ...harsh compared to what I remember."

Liara sighed, "That is because it is not actual asari."

"Alien?" Miranda asked.

Liara shook her head, "Schism."

Garrus tilted back in his seat, arms crossed across his chest, "As in a schism in your species? What was it? Religious? Philosophical?"

"No Garrus, it was far worse than that," Liara replied. "Race."

The Shadow Broker rubbed at her temples, as if stalling for time and, with a sigh, began to speak, "We asari do not speak of some parts of our history; fear or shame that somehow we will be found out, seen as weak. What I'm about to tell you is one of those occasions."

"The Feket Grik was a rare type of flower that grew only on one of the larger continents in the southern hemisphere on Thessia. Thousands and thousands of years ago, when my people were at a level of technology equivalent to your own bronze age the asari tribe that lived there was mostly a trade empire and they traded the Feket Grik; as a product it was in high demand- simple application of its blossoms would permanently stain anything, even skin, black making ideal for clothes, clothes and tatoos. The fruits were highly nutritious and tough, able to remain fresh for long periods which made them as a bartering item singularly valuable as well. Finally, the leaves were said to have great medicinal properties and if dried and taken as a power there was..." Liara paused, not quite fighting back a blush. She cleared her throat. "It was a powerful aphrodisiac."

"And this made that particular tribe wealthy," Shepard finished.

"Unbelievably so," Liara confirmed. "And then one of their leaders, an asari...her name has been erased from history...she is referred to only as Kef."

"Kef?" Miranda inquired, a single eyebrow arching.

"The Blackness Found Between Tongue and Teeth of Nightmares," Liara expounded.

Joker whistled, "You people sure get a lot of mileage out of your syllables."

"Not really, Joker. You are forgetting that a great deal of language was more in relation to expressions of thought, shared information. The sound was connected to absolute ideas. Kef has no other meaning, every other word in the title, blackness, found, between tongue, teeth and nightmare, have completely separate synonyms in the asari language. Those synonyms are never, ever used when speaking of Kef."

"And what did Kef do?" Shepard in a flat tone.

Liara was rubbing the thumbs of her clasped hands together, over, under, under, over, she started to speak, stopped, and finally got out, "Genocide."

Shepard only nodded slightly.

"She decided that the Feket Grik was a sign from Athame that only her tribe was worthy of existence and so she declared war on the rest of Thessia. Of course being only one tribe her numbers were limited. She invested heavily in technology for the time. Her tribe was the first to discover and use iron for the purpose of war. Worse she was patient and smart; for centuries she worked slowly. Her forces would attack small villages, isolated temples, merchant vessels. The adults and children over a certain age would be slaughtered but those younger, the infants or toddlers, would be taken. Raised with her and the values of her people. When an asari of Kef came of age their hands would be stained black with the dye of the Feket Grik. I studied this time period while in school. The rite was monstrous. The applicant would thrust their hands into a ceremonial bowl of hot coals to burn away the outermost layer of skin, afterward would follow a pool of acid, a pool of ice water and finally the bowl of dye. After the the hands had healed the skin would be pure black and smooth. Without any markings to separate one from the other. In this way Kef sought to 'unfity' the asari."

"And the pure spirit? The clean water?" Shepard pressed.

"The other tribes saw Kef, her ideas, her methods as a form of spiritual corruption," she grimaced slightly.

"Understatement of the year," Joker mumbled. Liara flashed him a small grin.

"A counterpoint developed, the idea behind it being black stains on the hands meant something fundamentally broken, damaged and beyond assistance or repair. A stained soul. Sweet water and pure spirits being the opposite- open, welcoming, safe, protector, a..." her asari paused and caught Shepard's eye, "shepard."

There was a flicker, not even the echo of a smile, but something gentle tugged at one corner of Shepard's mouth, "Go on."

Liara unclasped her hands, laying them palm down on the smooth surface, "There's not much else really. Her initial campaigns were wildly successful. Kef had acquired vast stores of very modern, for her time, weapons and had trained her warriors well. It was also of great value that her followers were borderline psychopathic fanatics; another factor was, as part of her belief that the rest of the asari deserved absolute destruction, she had created her own dialect of which the name 'Feket Grik' survives making her communications effectively encrypted."

"And then what happened?" Joker prodded Liara, his tone strangely similar to an eager child, sitting at a grandfather's knee, demanding the story continue.

Liara said, "The same thing that happens nearly all the time, Joker. It took some effort but with a galvanizing threat such as Kef the rest of the tribes united and crushed her, her daughters, their armies, the empire that had been forged, the dialect that had been spawned. Even the Feket Grik itself was burned to extinction. If it had not been for the efforts of some far sighted matriarchs at the time, it is entirely possible an entire span of our history would have been effectively erased."

"Wait, " Garrus said, holding up a hand. "Now, thousands of years later your government, knowing full well this story of some asari ruling zealot, psycho, turns around and decides naming a super elite team of soldiers after this historical monster is a good idea?"

Liara could only shrug, "There existence, which has gone on for who knows how long, was merely rumor and only recently as well. The oldest rumor is younger than I am as near as I can tell."

Shepard leaned forward, resting her chin in the palm of one hand, "so now we have some questions."

"Confirming this Black Tide is actually here," Miranda volunteered.

"The purpose behind them being here," Traynor went on.

"Their intentions," Garrus nodded.

"Do they deliver pizza," Joker said.

He ignored the disapproving looks that were aimed in his direction, "Hey, I got nothing tactical to add here. I'm participating."

"EDI, Miranda," Shepard smoothy continued, "what's the news on our patient?"

Miranda picked up one of the data pads in front of her and browsed the page with a flicker of her eyes, "I am not a medically certified doctor-"

Shepard snorted slightly, "Put me back together well enough."

Miranda conceded the point with a graceful inclination of her head, "That was still more science than care and to compound matters I am not a xenobiology specialist."

"Nor am I," EDI added, "though I was able to successfully access the near total amount of information pertaining to asari medical care from the ships library such data alone is no substitute for," she paused in sudden awkward silence, "the human touch."

"She is stable," Miranda picked up. "There was evidence of significant bruising along her extremities, lacerations to the bottoms of her feet and a palms but the main concern was dehydration and extreme exhaustion. Those are both being treated now. As of my latest update from the ship's system-"

"Four seconds ago," EDI clarified.

"Four seconds ago, she was resting comfortably."

"Question," Garrus said resting his chin in one hand, "If you had to guess, and you have to as I'm asking, would you say the bruising and lacerations are because this young lady has been beaten?"

"Yes," EDI replied. "They are systematic in appearance and layered. A swath of injuries all seem to be at the same level of healing, while another are more recent."

Garrus straightened, faced Shepard and drawled, "I move this Black Tide be put at the top of our Shoot Them A Lot list of things to do."

"We have a list?" Shepard asked, a half grin on her face, "when did we get that organized?"

Liara leaned forward, "And her child?" she asked, changing the subject.

Miranda smiled slightly, "According to the scans she has a healthy daughter. Though I would estimate that her due date is very soon. Within half a year, give or take a few weeks. No way to tell without more direct tests."

"Thank the goddess," Liara slumped forward slightly.

EDI's chassis stiffened suddenly, "Commander I have an incoming transmission."

"From who?" Shepard demanded.

"Unknown, but the signal appears to originate locally, so I would presume Black Tide."

Garrus chuckled, "Someone wants an engraved invitation to their own ass kicking."

"Put it up, EDI," Shepard instructed.

A holographic screen snapped into view, hovering over the center of the table. The image it cast showed an asari. Like most of their race this one appeared beautiful but the narrowed eyes, simmering a deep almost black purple, the too pale light blue lips with one corner pulled up in a sneer gave the open impression of predatory cruelty. The asari was dressed in the nearly skintight suit of common to asari commandos but where the typical uniform was undecorated, in this instance, three crimson stripes, beginning at the elbow, ran parallel along each upper arm to meet at the shoulder and form the shape of a red blossom enclosed in a tidal wave.

In one hand she held a long staff, of a kind Shepard had never seen before. Carved from a dark wood, it was covered with carvings that were difficult to make out against the shadowy material. Glimmers of reflected light danced briefly on curls and concave edges that turned back in on themselves; giving the impression of water running down in a continuous outpouring. Aside from the staff however the asari did not seem to be armed; she raised her free hand and held it out toward the screen, palm facing forward and it took Shepard a moment to recognize that the asari on the other end of the transmission was not wearing black gloves but that her skin itself was what matched the color of her uniform.

"I am Matriarch Uyiel," the asari nearly purred in a surprisingly deep voice. For a moment her black eyes flickered across the table before settling on Shepard. "I lead Black Tide and will speak to Commander Shepard."

Her too dark eyes flickered across the screen, seeking a response from among her audience.

Garrus snorted, "As if you didn't already know who she was," he drawled lazily. "She's just so ordinary, right? Another everyday human."

The matriarch's narrowed eyes homed in on Garrus, "You I know, Garrus Vakarian. You would be wise to restrain your tongue as there are still a great many who seek Archangel."

Garrus leaned back kicking his feet up onto the table, "Tell my fan club I'm always available, particularly Tuesday."

"Tuesday's no good," Joker interrupted. "We're fleeing headlong from the combined firepower of an entire alliance fleet, remember?"

"Ah," Garrus replied, hand raised, "but that was last Tuesday, I'm talking about next Tuesday."

"Right," Joker said, drawing out the word.

Uyiel's lips curled in a sneer, "Your candor will get you killed, Vakarian. Soon, I promise."

With a thump the turian's booted feet hit the floor, sitting up straight, "Lots of people have spoken to me about my candor, lady," he stated, thrusting a finger at the image, "but they underestimated my cunning, my capabilities and my...uh...my..."

"Commitment," Miranda coughed into one fist.

"Commitment," Garrus grinned, "yeah I like that."

Shepard cleared her throat and everything stopped.

Her teeth flashing in a hard white against deep blue, the matriarch turned her attention to the commander.

"Commander, at last we meet. I have heard many things about you."

Shepard said nothing.

With only a hint of a pause the asari continued, "It has come to my attention that you recently came into possession of something that does not belong to you. In fact, what you now possess is my property."

She broke off, as if expecting some outburst.

Shepard said nothing.

"I want it back."

Shepard said nothing.

The matriarch appeared nonplussed, "It would be in your own best interests to return it to me."

Shepard raised a single eyebrow, but still remained silent.

Uyiel's smirk dropped, a slight tension now audible in her tone, "I am in no mood for games, Commander. Here are my demands: At sunset this day you, alone, will come to coordinates that are being sent along with this transmission. You will come with my property and return it to me; afterwords you will be allowed to return to your vessel and depart from this world."

Shepard remained still.

The matriarch's lips curled into a vicious grin, "You have my word."

Shepard said nothing.

"However if you fail to act as instructed," Uyiel continued. "the consequences will fall not just upon you but all that stand by you. And these consequences will neither be swift, nor merciful."

Shepard said nothing.

"And just to prove that these are no empty threats..." the matriarch thumbed a command on her own omnitool.

"Commander," EDI said, a note of alarm in her voice. "I am detecting a power build up- a CPU has just been activated. The programs are- I have lost control of the clamps...my own command over the base computers have been removed."

The matriarch's grin was positively vulpine, "And there you will stay, Commander to await my pleasure unless you do as your are told. Otherwise, one hour after sunset my sisters will sweep aboard your crippled bird and butcher everything and everyone they find there."

She paused and light glittered across her dark eyes, "I trust we have an understanding?"

Shepard shrugged a single shoulder, "Sure."

"Excellent, I look forward-"

Shepard cut the channel with a gesture before turning to EDI, "You can hack into this other program I'm guessing."

EDI's face did not actually change expression but the way she held herself just screamed wounded pride, "Before it had even fully come online, Commander. This includes accessing the monitoring systems that are watching the ship and communications from and to off-world. We can leave at any time."

"Nice," Shepard replied with a grin. "We're mobile and they have no idea."

"We still don't know what they're doing here," Garrus interjected.

"Does it matter?" Miranda asked.

"Miranda!" Liara exclaimed. "They were holding our patient prisoner!"

Miranda didn't blink, "I'm sorry Liara, but for all we know they might have a legitimate reason. There could be a prison here, holding particularly violent inmates away from the rest of your society. Black Tide might be assigned here by your government to maintain watch over them."

"If the Matriarch's assembly had a secret prison complex they'd have to find a way to keep its existence unknown to me," Liara responded, her tone implying in crystal clear terms how unlikely that was.

"There's also how she was speaking," Specialist Traynor added. "Words like something, not someone, and calling that poor girl her 'property'.

"Noticed that too did you?" Garrus asked.

Traynor nodded, visibly shuddering slightly.

"Also, gentle reminder," Joker continued, "systematic beatings. Not very nice."

"The last time Shepard met a warden who talked like that she wound up shooting him a lot, freeing a card-carrying biotic juggernaut wrapped up in a sixty kilo body with almost no hair and blowing up a small space station all in the space of one afternoon," Garrus said. A pause and added, "I helped with the shooting part."

"We have to wake her," Shepard said grimly.

Liara sat bolt upright, "What? No-"

Shepard held up a hand cutting off her asari's protests, "We need to know, Liara. What are this Black Tide exactly. How long have they been here? What is their mission. Numbers, weapons, anything she's seen, why they have her. We need to know these things and there's not a lot of time."

"But-"

Miranda said, "you know she's right."

Slumping slightly Liara nodded.

"Uh, Commander?" Traynor hedged, "if I may?"

Shepard gave her the go ahead with a nod.

"Considering this patient has seen you and Doctor T'Soni in a somewhat...hostile situation and she's reacted poorlyit might not be the best idea for either of you two to do the actual interviewing."

"Volunteering, specialist?" Shepard asked. "Interrogation is not your field."

"But this isn't an interrogation; we're asking her help and as far as appearances go I'm fairly harmless looking."

Garrus chuckled, "I'm adding that one to my list of famous last words."

"What?"

"Specialist, I've seen you play chess; I'm not going to turn my back on you, ever."

Traynor glanced down at her lap, "Uh, I'll...take that as a compliment."

"Do," the turian said around his grin.

"So, about my suggestion?" Traynor said turning to face her commander.

Shepard stood up soon followed by everyone else seated around the table, "After you, specialist."

The door to the medical bay hissed open. At the far end, on one of the beds, lay the asari patient. The quiet sounds of the rest of the ship were muted somewhat; and even with EDI's actual self behind a door in the back, there was a hushed quality to the room, a place that was different from every other part of the ship.

Traynor stepped across the threshold, her gaze focused at the empty desk which, during The Reaper War, Doctor Chakwas had always been sitting, ready to lend aid any way she could; be it as a doctor, a confidant, or a friend; which also included being a surprisingly good opponent in Traynor's favorite game, even giving it a twist of her own that the specialist had never tried before.

"No," Traynor said to herself in a quiet voice, "never going to try Serrice Brandy shots-chess again. Thanks."

"Did you say something, specialist?" EDI's voice came through the com.

"Sorry EDI, just ...memories."

"I see," EDI replied and then after a moment, "I miss Doctor Chakwas as well."

Traynor strode across the bay toward the bed where lay the asari maiden. "What's her condition, EDI?"

"The automated system introduced a counter-agent to the sedative a few minutes ago; she should merely sleeping now and will awaken if enough stimulus is administered."

"Stimulus," Traynor repeated. "You could just say 'make a loud noise'.

"I'm a professional," EDI answered wryly.

Rolling her eyes Traynor stepped up besides the bed and got her first good look at The Normandy's 'guest'.

The asair was young, that much was apparent. Though with lying down it made estimated her height difficult there was some sort of air of frailty about her. She lay under a simple alliance blue blanket; her clothes had been replaced with a gown that was the universal teal green color of medical services everywhere. She lay on her back, as her obvious pregnancy made any other position impossible. One arm was bent to curve under the swelling of her belly, an unconscious gesture of affection and defense. Her other arm lay at her side, the hand hanging free over open air off the edge of the bed.

Traynor stepped closer taking in the details; upon closer inspection the patient's wounds were very apparent. Mottled splotches of darker shadow marred the even natural coloring of her light blue skin; along her open palm were multiple lines showing where sharp somethings had sliced into the palm of her hand and around her throat was an even band of dark blue, a bruise that ran around her entire neck.

Traynor leaned down close, her eyes tracking the curve of the asari's neck and the bruise that ran around it.

"A collar," she breathed, a quiet whisper audible only to the air beside her.

And to the asari.

In a blur of motion the asari twisted over onto her side, clapping her hands on both of Traynor's temples; her eyes open and the dim overhead lights gleamed off of two ebon orbs.

The asari's lips curled into a sneer.

And specialist Traynor started screaming.

END

Notes: What, you though I'd abandoned Blue? Hardly. I'm not Bioware.