A/N: Well this'll be the last of the mass-updates, not as in Mass Effect, but rather as in a swarm of chapters. I hope you've enjoyed them all, so please review if you have a moment - it's all us authors get from writing on this site.
Shepard didn't even try and stall Andrew from getting his head onto a pillow. The blonde was literally asleep on his feet; Aria on one side keeping him up, and himself on the other. Andy didn't even have time to take in the fact that the apartment they were entering was absolutely massive, and luxurious to boot, before Aria was helping him into a bedroom and unbuttoning his suit. It fell off of him, lightening the load that was dragging him down, and not bothering to get into pyjamas he walked over to the bed and crashed onto it; asleep before his head even hit the pillow.
"How is he?" Shepard asked as Aria appeared back in the living room, and the uncrowned Queen of Omega sat down with a sigh.
"He's exhausted. I've never, ever seen him exhausted before; he's always had enough energy to get himself back to wherever he's sleeping on his own two feet."
"He did fight a Reaper," he reminded her, but she shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly in response.
"Yeah, but he's also defeated fifty mercenaries singlehandedly in two hours where they had superior positions, munitions, and weapons, and he kept on going. I know because I watched it all on video before he wiped the archives so that the Blue Suns wouldn't know he'd done it."
Shepard sat down, sparing a glance over at Samara and Morinth who were talking quietly near the kitchen, and then shook his head. "I don't think you quite fathom just how incredibly powerful the Reapers are. I'm not surprised he's exhausted; the last time a Reaper was defeated it took one hundred human cruisers, fifty Turian dreadnaughts, ten Asari Command frigates, and the Destiny's Ascension to take it out. At the end of it there were over fifty thousand dead, and triple that injured." Aria's eyes were wide in shock and Shepard sent her a small grin. "So I think he deserves to be wiped out."
"Mmmm," the man grumbled as he woke up, and stifled a groan when he tried to move and felt his body protest. It took a couple of seconds, but the memories of just why he was so sore quickly made themselves prominently present in the forefront of his mind. Before he could begin dissecting the meaning of it all he felt the familiar weight by his side and turned his head to see Jack sleeping; her hands bunching his singlet up into her fists, and fine, but clearly visible tear tracks down her cheeks. They were long dry, but the sight alone made his heart plummet, and he gently shook her. She stirred after a few more insistent shakes, until her eyes cracked open to look at him. They were bleary and unfocussed for a moment, but quickly snapped wide open and filled with awareness when she realized that he was awake. "You fucking idiot," she growled dangerously, and he held up his hands slightly.
"Whoa, you said come back to you. I did."
"No," she grumbled, though he could hear the raw relief in her voice, "I had to come to you, because you decided it'd be a fantastic idea to fight a mother fucking Reaper by yourself."
He gave a grimace. "Ah... so Shep told you that, did he?"
She sent him a withering glare, "'Course he did, if I didn't get the goddamn story I threatened to melt his balls off."
"Ah... that explains it then."
She didn't give him even a moment's reprieve. "Why the fuck would you do something so reckless? It's a goddamn Reaper for fuck's sake Andy! Like, a fucking kilometre high, and they've been wiping out entire universes for an eternity! What the fuck made you think you could kill it?"
He gave another sigh and pulled her closer, overpowering her attempts to keep out of his embrace until she finally surrendered. "I couldn't leave it there Jack," he explained softly. "It's Samara's daughter we're talking about here, and even though she was acting all tough and calm about killing Morinth... I could see that doing it would damage her for the rest of her life time. What Morinth's experienced will probably haunt her nightmares all the same." He looked down into her frustrated brown eyes and raised his brow. "If I was indoctrinated; possessed by a Reaper, would you try and save me?"
"What the fuck kind of question is that, huh?" she growled angrily; her eyes filled with an inner fire, "You think I'd walk away after all we've been through?"
He shook his head and stroked her cheek to calm her down, but she jerked her head away in annoyance. "Jack, it was too late by the time I realized what I was facing. She tried to meld, but I wanted to find out what made her feel odd, so I turned her technique around and used it on her. Before I knew it I was being redirected by something, and when I tried to force my way into the part that was sectioned off I found myself head to head with a Reaper. If I'd pulled out it probably would've taken complete control. It was a lose-lose situation Love; either way I would've had to fight it, and I took the safer option and didn't allow it to emerge."
She was silent for several very long moments; her eyes burning into his chest as she thought about what he had said, but after nearly a minute she gave a short, sharp nod before meeting his gaze again. "Fine, I forgive you... but please don't do something like that again." She all but begged the last part, and he gave her a sad shake of his head.
"I can't promise you such a thing Love. Chances are I'm going to have to do something like that again to kill the Reapers, and I'm not going to walk away."
She gave a sad nod and then buried her face into his shoulder; hugging herself willingly into him. "I- I don't like it... but I understand." He felt a wave of relief flood through him, and so nearly missed her next words. "So we need to train harder; faster... we need to be better so that next time we can face more than one of them before collapsing. We need to be the best."
"We?" He knew as soon as he opened his mouth that he'd made a mistake with the question, and so quickly waved it away with his hands as if to dispel his words. Her head came up all the same, her eyes telling him in no uncertain terms that he'd better not have actually meant to say that question, and he nodded. "Just slipped out," he murmured against the top of her head to escape her piercing gaze, "I know you'll be beside me until the end. Sorry for making it sound like I didn't trust you to be there or anything."
"But you don't want me to be there."
It wasn't a question, but he replied anyway. "No, I don't. If I had my way I'd have you holed up safely in a bunker somewhere until it was all over, and if you had your way I'd be strapped down in the same bunker with a biotic nullifying field around the facility." She gave a small smile at the imagery and gave a nod of agreement, and he sighed with a small, defeated smile. "But neither of those things are going to happen, because we're both too bloody stubborn, so we'll have to meet in the middle and fight together and make sure the other doesn't get killed."
"Agreed."
They enjoyed the silence and comfort they were drawing from being together for several minutes before Andy spoke again. "So what's been happening?"
She shuffled across and bent her arm so she could rest her head on her hand while looking at him in the dim light and gave a shrug. "Not a lot. Shep gave me a call around ten hours ago," Andy's eyebrow rose at the figure, "and told me you were injured in a battle. 'Course I blasted the fuck here as soon as I could and asked him just what the fuck was happening, and he told me you'd gone toe-to-toe with a Reaper. If you'd been uninjured an awake at that moment you'd soon've been really damn sore." He winced at the mental imagery, but she ignored his discomfort and carried on with her update. "So I checked in on you, and then Mordin showed up a few minutes later and gave you a once-over before declaring you severely fatigued. The rest of the ground team trickled in over the next few hours, and since Morinth's been sleeping as well nobody really knows what really happened. They're waiting for one of you two to explain." He gave a groan and sat up in the bed, revealing that he was wearing a clean pair of boxers and a new singlet, and Jack blushed before looking away when he sent her an inquisitively raised eyebrow. "I- I didn't look or anything, but you stunk... so Mordin gave you a sedative to keep you under and then had the shower run you through a full decontamination and cleansing cycle. I just stuck the new clothes on you by touch." She blushed a deep red when she realized what she'd said, and quickly stuttered, "B-b-but I didn't feel or t-touch anything like... well t-that or anything!"
He gave a small chuckle and pulled her head towards him so he could peck her forehead. "Even if you did, Jack, I really wouldn't mind." He slid off the bed and stretched, giving a small eep of pleasure as several vertebrae snapped back into alignment. He smiled over his shoulder to her when he saw his favourite slippers and fluffy dressing gown waiting for him. "You're amazing, you know that?" She blushed harder and he slipped into the garment, tying a small knot around his waist to conserve his modesty. "But really Jack, I trust you with everything - including my body. If you're ready to move forward in our relationship, then so be it, just make the move and I'll follow your lead." He missed the blush on her face as he was busy slipping his feet into his slippers, but saw her small smile and nod when he turned back around. When she saw that he was ready to go she quickly got changed into an almost matching ensemble, saves her gown was blue in comparison to his brown... interesting that, and followed him out of the room and into the hallway.
When they reached the living room Morinth was in the middle of explaining the entrapment within her own mind. "I thought that everything was completely natural; like it was all me. I didn't feel as if I was being manipulated, and I truly felt that ripping another's soul from them felt good... but after Andrew tore the Reaper-"
"Its name was Otrere," Andy interrupted, and all the heads in the room turned to look at him in surprise. He sent them a small smile as he walked over and took a seat, and waved Morinth down when she moved to stand. Jack quickly took residence at his side; her legs curling automatically up underneath her, almost like a cat, and she moulded herself to his torso.
"It's good to see you up and about," Shepard greeted with a warm nod and a smile, and Andy returned them both.
"Feels good to be up and about. I've never felt so drained in my entire life, and it's something I hope I won't be feeling again."
"Andy," interrupted Samara; her tone noticeably warmer and more respectful than it had been at the beginning of the mission, "you just fought a Reaper... and killed it. Anybody would be wiped out if they were lucky enough to survive... which nobody would if they faced one on their own as you did."
There were nods of agreement all around, and Miranda put her glass down on the table before nodding with a small smile to him. "That's one less Reaper that can attack us, Andrew, and if I was my old self I would've put in a commendation for you to the Illusive Man. It'd be a bit ironic though; commending you for removing something that I still would've had stuck in my head."
Andy gave her a slightly humoured smile. "Yes, I suppose it would have been."
"You said its name was Oto-something?" questioned Shepard and Andy gave a serious nod as he leant forwards slightly.
"Right," he agreed, "Otrere."
Morinth nodded with a small frown. "The name does sound familiar. When you destroyed it however, I could look back and see the haze of manipulation that clouded my memories." She sent him a beaming smile, "Thank you again for saving me. Mother was telling me that she had planned to kill me... but you not only gave me back my life, but my free will as well."
He gave a small nod of acceptance. "It wasn't a problem; it was the right thing to do."
He received a respectful nod in return and knew that Morinth would be a fast and firm ally should he require one... ever. "You knew its name... how?"
He turned back to Shepard and gave a sigh. "Man you guys are gonna freak out on me, I just know it. Well I essentially copied Morinth's attack; an offensive, devouring meld, in order to get access to her mind. I faced down Otrere, and then pierced it with my biotics before allowing the hunger to focus itself on the Reaper. What essentially followed was me eating its very existence... and assimilating it into my own."
Five pistols immediately answered his confession, and he gave a dry chuckle, noting happily that Jack was still at his side and had her hands at the ready to project a shield over them both. "I told you you'd freak out, didn't I? See, as Morinth can probably confirm, when one absorbs the existence of the other it has no sentience. The effect of the meld strips consciousness and energy from what it takes, and then brings it into the devourer's mind in... well the best way to put it is a self-contained library." The guns lowered a fraction when Morinth nodded in agreement of Andy's explanation, and the young man continued. "So I can look through its memories, knowledge, all that, without being affected by it unless it's natural." Seeing confused looks he explained, "Like if I saw that the Reapers were actually the gate-keepers to heaven, and their 'wiping out' was actually to take us to a better place, I'd not see them as being evil any more. Likewise, if I saw them experimenting on live Protheans then I'd hate them even more... which unfortunately is the case." Miranda especially looked quite pale at the revelation. After realizing that she herself had been a human experiment, any news of live experimentation on sentient beings made her queasy. Knowing just how brutal and evil the Reapers were brought up mental images of live torture that made her feel ill. "I couldn't hope to hold all the knowledge and memories of Otrere, as the fucking thing is around five billion years old." Everybody boggled at the figure, and Andy sent them a wry smile. "Yeah, imagine my surprise when I happened across that titbit of information. Taking everything in would've killed me a thousand times over, so I set a search pattern. It's hard to explain," he interrupted before anybody could question how such a thing was possible, "so I won't even try. Suffice to say that I have such control over my biotics that I can do complex tasks like that." He brought up his Omni-tool and started a new entry in his dairy before sitting back. "No time like the present to make a list of what I know now though.
"I know names of all the Reapers up until six hundred years ago, whereupon Morinth was infected, as well as what each of them looks like; I know about their hierarchy and political system; I know of their weaponry capabilities and biotic powers, as well as attacks that I will attempt at a later date; and I know of the technological knowledge that they have gathered from all the races they have destroyed." His eyes glinted with wisdom and immeasurable knowledge, and he gave an almost awe-filled smile as he shook his head. "You can't even fathom some of the things I now know, and I will not reveal the majority of them yet - it isn't time." He gave a reassuring nod to Shepard as the man holstered his pistol, "But I would appreciate it if you allowed me access to the upgrade terminals on the ship with unlimited access. There are upgrades and requisition orders that I will need to place in order to make us battle-ready against the Reapers."
Shepard gave a nod after a second and begun tapping on his Omni-tool, and Tali voiced the next question. "What kind of technology are you talking about?"
He gave a wide grin and shrugged easily, "Well I suppose I can tell you a couple of things. The first is the core designs that the race that created the Mass Relays used in their ships." The Quarian's eyes widened under her mask, and Andy sent her a wide grin. Other people were openly gaping, and Andy gave a small chuckle to himself as he thought of all the other things he now knew how to build, maintain, upgrade, and use. He nodded to Shepard. "More to your interest would be the weapons I now know of. There was one race that existed three billion years ago called the... well I can't even pronounce their name, but when the Reapers came to wipe them out they managed to destroy five hundred of the Reaper fleet before being destroyed. Their heavy weaponry is... uncomprehendable, and their 'small arms' are simply out of this universe." He turned to Mordin and tapped the side of his nose with a smile. "I might have a couple of top secret projects for you to work on sometime soon Professor." The Salarian looked positively giddy at the concept, and Andy turned to his wife before leaning down with a small, soft smile and whispering beside her ear. "I know that you wanted one... to have a family." She tensed, and he gently squeezed her shoulder. "What they did to you... I can reverse it so that you can bear children again, my Love."
A gasp left her lips, and a second later he found himself pulled into a brutishly tight embrace that would've broken all his ribs had they not been reinforced. He gave a smile and patted her back as silent tears ran down her cheeks, and he shook his head whilst mouthing, "Private moment" to the rest of the crew to stem their curious expressions; it took a lot, a hell of a lot, to bring Jack to tears in front of people, let alone ones she hadn't yet accepted into her trusted clique, such as Miranda, Mordin, Aria, and Morinth. Finally Jack leant up and kissed his jaw softly, conveying just how much what he had told her meant to her, before excusing herself so she could calm down in private. Shepard was the one to start up the conversation again after she had left. "Well that's fantastic to know, and we'll drop into the Citadel to pick up all the supplies you need for your projects as soon as we're done here. The biggest question, however, still remains... and that's just why the hell they took possession of Morinth."
Andy gave a small smile and shook his head. "And therein lies the rub," he muttered before turning his head upwards and looking at the ceiling. "They had everything planned. Morinth was supposed to die in order to slowly devastate Samara, to the end that she would eventually turn against the Code and kill The Order as retribution against their rules forcing her to kill her daughter." Samara looked disbelieving, but Andrew fixed her with a stare as he shook his head. "You have no idea how killing her would have affected you in the long term, despite your wisdom and experience." Not waiting for an answer her turned his head towards Shepard and gave a humourless chuckle. "Their possessions were all scheduled to end today, so by now all those that were possessed in the same manner are continuing on with their lives none the wiser; their jobs in our eradication done. They had it all planned out perfectly."
"What happened?"
Andy gave a sharp bark of laughter that voiced a complete lack of mirth before fixing Aria with a small grimace. "I did. I was something they never expected, and I've changed everything. In a way it's good, because they are unaware of the changes I've made about to make an appearance and compound... but at the same time what I've just done, and what I now know... it's going to change everything. All that information I just knew, like who to talk to about Morinth, and where to go to find her... that's all gone now."
Miranda gave a small chuckle of amusement. "It sounds as if you knew the future or something."
His complete lack of laughter of returned amusement made her freeze, and her eyes widened. "I did," he confessed before standing, "but I don't anymore. Everything's changed, and now it is going to come down to adaptability and the ability to think on our feet. My warnings and pre-planned manoeuvres during missions will simply be guidelines from now on. I've changed the present too much for my visions of the future to be anywhere near accurate anymore."
"I find it incredible that you saw the future," admitted Miranda, "but can't you just see it again?"
He shook his head sadly. "One-time thing, I'm afraid. If anything we should be pretty safe because the Reapers have completely withdrawn from our galaxy now, and they have no way of monitoring us until they begin the war in earnest, apart from through the Collectors... and with the new tech I can re-create and merge we should be able to get through the missions ahead without any casualties, but when they arrive I have no idea what will happen." He turned to Shepard with a thoughtful gleam in his eye after a moment. "Shep, you should be getting a call from Admiral Hackett sometime soon, and he'll tell you to keep the mission he assigns completely secret, and to do it alone. Don't. Come to me the moment the call comes, and only go on that mission when I tell you to."
Shepard stared deep into his eyes for several seconds before nodding. "I'll trust your judgement on this one. If there's anything you need just tell me, okay? You're one of the biggest weapons we have against the Reapers if what you say is true."
Andy nodded and walked over to the door leading to the hallway, and turned a sleepy smile over his shoulder. "Well I'm still tired as hell, so I'm going back to bed. Oh, and would you make sure the fridge and stuff is stocked? When I wake up I'm going be hungry enough to eat a Thresher Maw." Not waiting around to see the reactions to his statement he stepped back into the hallway and walked leisurely back to where he had been sleeping - pushing open the door, and then finding himself confronted with a sight that made him freeze in his tracks, his eyes widen, and his eyes hurriedly transmitting the image into his memories, whereupon they were permanently inscribed; never to be forgotten.
Jack was standing with her back to him, completely naked. Spinning around and slamming his head into the wall in his shock he stuttered out a quick apology for coming in unannounced. Cursing himself for not being considerate enough he waited for her response, and after several seconds felt a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay, you can turn around now."
He did so, and then blanched in surprise when he saw that she was still naked, though this time facing him and baring her front in its entirety. She gently moved forwards and hugged him, and his arms automatically encircled her protectively. "You're naked," he murmured, and she gave a small chuckle.
"Congratulations Fucker, you can see."
He sighed into her hair and then rested his chin on the place he had warmed with his breath. "I hope that you're not doing this out of a feeling of obligation Jack."
She chuckled again, and he looked down onto her face that was angled upwards with a small smile on her lips. His eyes flickered to where her heavily tattooed breasts were pressed against his dressing gown, but then moved back to her eyes almost immediately. "You'd push me away and refuse to do anything with me if it was," she commented, "so I've decided to give up trying. I'll let things happen if I feel comfortable with them... and I feel comfortable doing this." She gave a small chuckle as she laid her head against his chest once more. "It's... odd. Everything about what I'm feeling with you is odd... but this takes the cake so far." He cocked his head in a silent question, and despite not being able to see him she felt the movement and answered. "So many people've seen me naked... but you seeing me like this... it feels really weird. Normally I just wouldn't give a fuck, but with you I... I wonder if I'm pretty enough for you, or if my tits are too small, or... I'm nervous, and a little bit scared."
He nodded in understanding and gave a small chuckle. "I know just how you feel Jack. You know, although I'm not shaking at the knees right now, I'm pretty nervous too."
"Why?"
He gave a nervous hum. "Well you're naked... and you're holding me right now... and that's going to get quite a reaction from me."
It took a moment for Jack to realize what he was implying, and she blushed beet-red when she finally noticed something hard poking into her abdomen. "Oh," was all she said, a little too surprised to say anything more, and Andrew gave a lopsided grin down at her.
"Yeah... and it just seems unfair that I get to see all of you, and you don't get to see all of me... which means that in the next couple of minutes I'm going to be just as naked as you are. I'm just as nervous as you are. And for the record," he added with a small smile, "from what I caught a glimpse of... you're perfect. Your breasts aren't too small... and you've got a really nice arse."
She grinned widely as she blushed, and gave a small laugh; the tension finally broken. "Thanks," she murmured before stepping back and letting his eyes roam freely over her body, and he sucked in a sharp breath. She truly was perfect in his eyes. Her frame was slim and athletic; her muscles small, but toned for maximum performance. She still held enough fat on her body to give a delightfully feminine figure, and yet also held features of a seasoned fighter. Her beautifully flat stomach hinted at the abs that lay beneath with small protrusions, and her hands were calloused; knuckles hardened from various battles. Scars littered her skin despite being masterfully hidden by tattoos, and the ink itself was spread over her entire body; only stopping just above her quim, and from what he could see half-way down her ass, before continuing down her legs, though lesser in number than on her torso. His suspicions were confirmed when she turned around and walked towards the bed, and he watched her entire body move with rapture. She finally slid underneath the sheets, beckoning him with a small expectant smile, and he took in a deep breath before dropping his gown to the floor, stepping out of his slippers and then pulling his boxers off. Her eyes widened slightly before narrowing with approval, and Andrew found himself blushing for the first time in quite a while. He quickly made his way to the bed and slid in behind Jack, and she turned over so that she could look at him; the sheets falling just short of her breasts. "You're hot," she commented, and he blushed even harder, eliciting a laugh from his lover.
"Thanks," he muttered as he pulled her into a loose embrace, and both stiffened when they felt his penis slide in-between her legs; coming to rest right along her vagina. "Sorry," he apologised nervously, "I blame that on gravity and a number of other factors."
"S'alright," she mumbled back after a moment, slowly relaxing despite the fact that they were mere centimetres away from penetration, and after a few seconds snuggled deeper into his arms. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, relaxing even more when she felt him soften, and she smiled up at him. "Thanks."
"Bad mental images of Mordin and Grunt are my friend right now," he fired back, and she sent him a grimace with a long, drawn out, "Ewwwwwwww, did not need to hear that Fucker. Shit, no wonder you're soft! I'm surprised your dick isn't curling up and wilting!"
This time it was his turn to laugh, and he relaxed completely; pulling her closer and focussing on their closeness rather than the sexuality of the situation. "Yeah, sorry about that. Your fault for being so goddamn beautiful though."
A small smile replaced the amused grimace, and she beamed into his chest at the compliment; a light crimson dusting her cheeks. "Long day."
"Sorry for not contacting you myself - I barely had enough strength to stop falling asleep let alone think of anything else."
She shook her head, her hair tickling his chest. "Not your fault, but next time we're fighting beside each other, 'kay?"
He gave a nod and a smile, "Agreed. 'Sides, I might just have a new toy for you and me to try out so long as you don't mind having an amp again."
She pulled back from his chest with a raised eyebrow. "An Amp? But you said we'd blow up if we used amps!"
"Ah, but I was talking about normal amps," he grinned, "and the Protheans designed one for unleashed biotics like you and myself. They couldn't achieve what we did, but it was their hope that somebody could one day use it against the Reapers. Otrere absorbed the essence of the Protheans and found out what they had been planning, and so destroyed the entire research facility as well as all the ones the researchers stored their backups at."
"Why was it such a threat?"
He gave a small chuckle and a grin. "By absorbing Otrere, I absorbed all those that he had absorbed. I have the knowledge of the Prothean researchers that created the Amp, and from their calculations it would boost an unleashed biotic's potential by almost thirtyfold."
"Fuck... is that even possible? We'd be able to do like... anything! Seriously, it's a little too good to be true, don't ya think? You've got the whole invisibility, advanced healing, and all that jazz going on, and we're both unleashed Biotics... and now we're gonna get stronger?"
"We're going to need to be stronger," he explained, "because the Reapers are going to target you and I specifically when they come here, because the Collectors are going to find out that we're a threat soon enough. Of course they'll know that Otrere is dead by now, but not that he's been absorbed... which is a very, very good thing." He shrugged, "To most we'll be godlike in power, but to the Reapers we'll be their equals. We're not tooling up to face this galaxy; we're tooling up to defeat the destroyers of galaxies."
She nodded after a second, looking a little daunted, and he squeezed her tighter with a small smile. "Cheer up Love, you and me to the galaxy and beyond, yeah?"
Jack was silent for several seconds before murmuring sleepily, "I watched Toy Story too."
Andy had the good grace to look sheepish before snuggling down and falling asleep by his lover's side.
Shepard had not been amused.
Their supply run to the Citadel, in his mind at least, should not have been synonymous with 'filling up half the cargo bay with purchases'.
Jack and Andy disagreed.
Andy was now three billion credits lighter, and only six million's worth was on the Normandy. The rest was scheduled for shipping to various places over the next three weeks. The money had come from Izzy, and Izzy had gotten said money by hacking the bank accounts of extremist organizations such as Cerberus, Terra Firma, and the Batarian slaver rings. The latter wasn't really extremist, but neither Andrew, Jack, Izzy, nor EDI agreed with their culture, and since it was those four that had organized the whole thing they stole their money anyways. Of course when Jack and Andrew explained to the slightly irritated Commander that a lot of that space would be cleared when they had replaced the ships armour, main guns, and shield generators he had relaxed. When Izzy had added that they had also included material to upgrade the medical bay and EDI's core the Commander had finally accepted the situation and bade them to hurry up with the upgrades so he could get some space back.
And so they had begun construction.
The first port of call was to create the advanced nanobots that the Xeon race had designed in cooperation with the Heliodroids to maintain themselves; being artificial intelligences and all. As soon as the first one was made, which took nearly one hundred attempts due to a lack of accurate equipment; it simply replicated itself to the number Andrew specified using base materials that he had provided. The lack of 'accurate tools' to create the new technology could have been misleading, as they had the best tools the galaxy had to offer at their disposal. The best in their galaxy, however, was not enough when it came down to some of the things they were to create. The creation of the nanobots allowed them to build a machine that had an accuracy nearly fifty times more precise than anything they currently had, and that allowed them to create the more advanced nanobots, which in turn allowed them to create more accurate tooling mechanisms. This cycle continued for nearly three weeks until they finally achieved the final version of the nanotechnology. By destroying all the now-outdated nanobots and tooling rigs the newest 'strain' of technology cloned itself until they were nearly fifty trillion in number.
And the entirety of the colony could fit inside Andrew and Jack's room; filling it from floor to ceiling.
Of course that just wasn't a feasible place for them to reside, and so Jack suggested that Andy make them line the cargo bay until they were needed. It turned out that that was a fantastic idea, and now the entire room had a brand new, metallic sheen to it. What none of the crew realized however, was that that 'metallic sheen' was actually alive. With the new technology in place the truly revolutionary and exciting construction projects could be undertaken, the first of which was the Morphic Armour. It required ten billion nanobots to create one suit, however they were packed to such a density that the resulting creation was as thin as a piece of silk. Consequently it also weighed close to one kilogram; nearly fifteen lighter than the 'normal' medium armour that most people used in the Universe. Using a programming algorithm the nanobots were essentially a morphological, regenerating suit of armour. Shepard had walked in on Jack shooting Andy with the most powerful sniper-rifle in their arsenal while the man himself was dressed in a mere singlet and track pants, and had been set to shoot her himself for murder when the mercenary had simply stumbled when the round slammed into him. Shepard had watched in amazement as a series of ripples spread out over the singlet, almost as if a pebble had been cast into water, and the small hole that had appeared in the very centre quickly close up.
And that was when the armour was set to stealth mode.
In battle mode it weighed the exact same, but covered the entire body with latticed, flexible armour plating a centimetre thick. As soon as a round even touched it the momentum of the bullet was spread out over the entire suit and then transferred into the ground beneath the wearer if the medium was suitable. When being constantly fired upon, the resultant momentum displacement was enough to allow the wearer literally run up walls. Garrus had taken great pleasure in recruiting Shepard and Jacob at one point, and as all three were shooting off Widow Sniper rifles Andy had been stuck to the ground for half an hour as he tried to blast the three troublemakers with his biotics. The nanobots that were destroyed at the impact zone of the round were simply replaced by assimilating the round's mass and elements into the suit and creating new ones.
The result was a suit that acted like a fluid when needed, could be carried in a canister the size of a grenade, and could be worn... everywhere. Clothing was no longer needed; the nanobots could simply arrange themselves to look and feel like virtually any outfit the wearer wished, with the added benefit of being stronger than the best medium armour on the market, and in battle it was nearly twenty times more shielding than the newest experimental heavy armour... but didn't restrain flexibility in the slightest, and had climatic equalization features that kept the wearer at a constant, comfortable operating temperature. The nanobots themselves actually utilized the body heat of their user to power themselves, and only used their Eezo cores if in a situation where full protection was needed.
Only the ground team knew about and were outfitted with the suits, but considering that all the floors in the Normandy were now covered in a centimetre-thick layer of nanobots if the ship ever came under attack they could move to protect the rest of the crew.
The next upgrade required the full use of the new, most accurate nanobots created. When Andrew truly got into the specifics of creating the technology Jack simply enjoyed watching him work. She wasn't insulted or put off by being the ignorant one; she could still best him in hand-to-hand combat if biotics were banned, despite his upgrades, and she knew that he didn't think any less of her for not understanding. He'd admitted to her that the only reason he understood was because he had the knowledge of the most advanced races' best researchers that ever existed in his head.
Andrew had created a new Omni-chip.
The chip itself was composed of nanobots so that upon first insertion it would reconfigure the entire network inside the body of the user to allow it to function at full capacity. He'd given the first one off the line to Jack, and she'd been scared senseless when she slotted it in and felt cool tendrils spreading out around her body. After being pummelled for not warning her about the nanobots recreating the information pathways the Omni-tool used she had allowed him to run a series of benchmarks on it. The results were incredible, though not unexpected. Since he hadn't stuck to a single race's technology when creating the chip, it was more advanced than anything that had ever existed. A chip that was as thin as a piece of cardboard, and two centimetres square, had ten times the power of the galaxy's five most advanced server banks...combined.
The first time Izzy had jumped to the new Omni-tool she'd fainted with the power she had at her fingertips. Andrew literally had to reboot her. Now Izzy's existence resided primarily on his and Jack's Omni-tools, and only 'small-time' tasks were being executed on the server banks spread out around the galaxy.
The most important function of the Omni-tools however, was a very serious matter.
Andrew and Jack now had every single piece of music in the galaxy at their fingertips.
The Krogan section was quickly deleted, and the Hanar and Elcor music relegated to the section tagged as 'Comedy'.
Jack had been completely pushed out of the things Andrew was talking about to Mordin, and even though she'd badgered both of them for information on just what the 'top secret' projects were, she only ever got sly expressions and a shake of their heads in return. After two months since getting the supplies however, Andrew and Mordin, as well as Izzy and EDI, deemed one of their many projects perfected and decided to try it out... which led to the current scene.
The crew was eating dinner together; Mordin sitting to Andy's left while Jack was eating to his right, laughing at a joke her lover had just told. Miranda looked slightly disgusted at the crudeness of the story, but was still chuckling slightly. Tali snapped one of her nutrient tubes into her facemask, and Jack gave a suspicious frown when he saw Mordin and her lover jerk their attention to the action. Despite them masterfully talking and pretending that nothing was amiss, now that Jack had seen the signs she could follow their eyes flickering to the thickness of the tube. When Tali disconnected it from her mask and finished eating she turned and laughed at something Gardener had said.
Which is the precise moment Andy muttered something under his breath, and a tear the length of a hand opened up on the Quarian's suit. Everybody that could see it froze immediately, though Mordin and Andrew with barely concealed anticipation, and then all hell broke loose. Jack stared at Andy aghast, and he caught her expression before sending her an excited wink and turning his attention back to the still-oblivious Quarian. Gardener had noticed the silence and wide, terrified eyes of the crew, and despite not being able to see the problem he pointed it out to Tali. The Quarian followed the cook's finger, and then everybody's eyes. There, on the side of her torso, was a tear, and through that tear pale lavender skin was visible. This time everybody was frozen, at least until Kar rushed to her side and tore a package from his waistband before trying to repair the huge gash in her suit. The moment he had covered it Jack heard Andrew mutter, "Disengage mask clamps and vent."
There was a small click and hiss, and Kar's eyes shot up to Tali's, glowing terrified beneath her mask as she breathed in unsterilized air for the first time in her life. "Oh keelah," came her heavily accented voice, and Kar jumped up and tried to help when she fumbled anxiously with the controls of her helmet; attempting to reseal herself from the bacteria-ridden atmosphere around her. All her attempts, and Kar'Shaal's however, were in complete vain because her suit was no longer her suit. Nanobots had begun replacing it bit by bit the moment she had begun ingesting her meal, and those nanobots were under Andrew's control.
"Andrew, help her!" yelled the distraught pilot, and Andrew gave a nod.
"Nanobots, reform to configuration four with one-way transparent veil."
And they did. Her entire suit shimmered before reforming, and everybody's eyes widened when the sleeves disappeared and shrunk into a form-hugging sleeveless hoodie; a veil covering her face. The bottom of her suit morphed into a pair of jeans that catered to her unusual leg shape, and a pair of comfortable slippers completed the ensemble.
Complete and utter silence.
Until Kar leapt over the table and tried to attack Andrew. He was stopped mid-flight; frozen in mid-air, and everybody watched with bated breath as Andrew stood. He ignored the glare of his friend, and looked across at Tali who stood stiffly in shock. "Tali, trust me when I say that you can breathe." He could see the glow of her eyes underneath the black veil staring at him, and after several seconds the sound of a breath being let out echoed like a gunshot in the room, and then a hesitant, shaky breath being taken in. Andy pulled up his Omni-tool, shocking everybody saves Jack with its beautiful blue haptic interface in comparison to the usual orange, and looked at the information the nanobots were providing; turning to Mordin slightly as he spoke. "Heartbeat elevated but within safe levels, as expected due to the shock; respiratory function normal; muscle scans show no deterioration; and blood sample shows full integration. Restructure is in stage four, and systems will be fully self-sufficient within thirty six hours. All protocols are green across the board." He grinned as he looked up at stock-still Quarian. "How're you feeling Tali?"
She was silent for several seconds, until she looked down at her bare hands in a state of clear shock. When her voice came out it was smooth; unmodulated by her headpiece. "I- I feel fine... normally with even a small suit puncture I would feel something by now..." She looked up at him. "What did you do to me?"
Grabbing Mordin around the shoulders he gave a wide grin, and even the Salarian couldn't find it in himself to be irritated by the one-armed 'chummy' gesture. "Mordin and I have been working on a cure for the Quarian immune deficiency," he explained with twinkling eyes, "and we've found it. Congratulations Tali; within forty hours your body will be completely able to survive in a hostile environment on its own."
She didn't know what to say. Nobody knew what to say. She eventually managed a small, "But why is my face covered?"
Andrew gave a shrug as he released Mordin. "Quarians haven't been seen outside of their suits for hundreds of years. I've invaded your privacy enough by showing your arms; it's your decision as to whom you would like to first see your face." He threw a food tube to Kar and sent him a wink. "That's your dose. If you take it now it'll be active within a few seconds and the nanobots will replace your suit with Morphic armour."
If he could see his pilot's face he was sure it would have been shocked. "Th-thank you."
The two Quarians, or rather Tali who dragged Kar with her, had run off almost immediately after thanking both Andrew and Mordin profusely, and neither were seen for the next three days. Knowing that Tali's father, Admiral Rael'Zorah, was about to bring his Geth platforms online through a hack he'd had Izzy do, he told Shepard to set an immediate course for the Migrant Fleet. This of course, gave Andy yet another chance to play a prank... and after getting Tali and Kar on the comms they were excited at the prospect as well. Whilst on the way to the Fleet Shepard had requested an urgent meeting with the Admiralty Board, and after quickly verifying that they were who they said they were Andy, Jack, John, Tali, and Kar'Shaal were escorted to the chamber in which the meeting would be held.
It was very, very hard for John, Jack, and Andy to keep their faces straight knowing what was about to happen. Kar and Tali had no such problem, as they were hidden beneath their Morphic Armour made to look like their Environmental Suits. Rael'Zorah looked especially irritated at having been called to the meeting, despite the fact that his daughter was there, and Andy had to hide a snarl at his annoyed, "Why have you called us here and interrupted our duties?"
Shepard stepped forwards, his armour thinning and changing into smart attire similar to what Andy had worn to the VIP section of Afterlife, and the entire audience gasped at the spectacle. "I think I'll pass that off to our chief technological designer and engineer Andrew Kronos."
Heads snapped towards him in recognition, and he noted that the crowd parted quite widely as he approached Shepard from the back of the crowd. He wasn't surprised; his name was synonymous with complete destruction of his enemies, and although the Quarians weren't one of his foes he still made for an imposing figure. Leaning on the rail he gave the board a charming smile as his suit shifted to his most comfortable day-wear; a light grey hoodie, track pants, and a pair of his self-designed and customised trainers. Jack soon shifted to the same attire, with the exception of the hoodie in favour of a black singlet, and the entire Quarian people watched with awe. "Sorry for 'interrupting your duties', Admiral Rael'Zorah, but we have something of interest to the Quarian nation. Tali?" The woman in question stepped forwards holding a small glowing orb, and once more the crowd parted as she, Jack, and Kar walked up to the podium as well. She set it down on the small desk available to them, and Andrew smiled once more at the board. "This, my esteemed and fellow engineers, is a Stabilised Flux Generator."
"It doesn't look very impressive," commented Tali's father snidely, and Andrew leant forwards with a raised eyebrow.
"I've always wanted to know, Admiral, just how far that stick is shoved up your shtenal?" Gasps rang out in the chamber, and Andrew watched the man's grip tighten on his own rail. "But that can wait, can't it Admiral? After all, with your attitude it'd take years to extract the damn thing." Ignoring the murmuring of discontent at his blatant insults at one of their most respected he continued. "It doesn't need to 'look' impressive, Admiral, because its record speaks for itself. I'm sure everybody's seen the Normandy by now?" He looked around and got nods from every Quarian whose eyes he met and gave a nod of his own before turning back to Rael with a sly grin. "Well out ship uses this little baby right here," he tapped the orb of light, "to power it."
"Preposterous!"
"Scan it yourself if you don't believe me," he challenged, and Tali's father gave a snort before stepping confidently forwards and walking towards the bench on which the supposedly infinitely powerful power core rested. Quickly bringing up his Omni-tool, looking at Andrew smugly the entire time, he brought up a benchmark program and touched one end of the haptic interface to the orb's surface. His Omni-tool quickly fizzed, and he jerked it back from the object with his glowing eyes widening behind his mask. Everybody close to him could see the results on his still-jerking Omni-tool, and Andrew leant forwards with a predatory grin. "That's right, Admiral, three hundred thousand Evetrions." Gasps of shock and murmurs of amazement came from the eagerly listening crowd, and Andrew leaned closer to the stock-still Admiral; speaking loudly enough that his whisper could carry to the very back of the crowd. "And that... well that's only five percent of its possible output."
Admiral Rael'Zorah fainted.
Tali had to stifle a snort of amusement, not at all impressed by the earlier attitude of her father, and all of the humans gave matching grins of triumph. The other Admirals quickly attended to their fallen member, and Andy stepped back from the podium. Tali quickly took up where he had been standing, and waited for her father to rouse once more and stand, albeit shakily, before speaking. "Now the second function of the Flux Generator is as a wormhole generator." She tapped it once, and a hologram popped up above it. She quickly tapped away at the complex interface, and a moment later it pulsed and a tear opened up beside her. Grinning all the way underneath her mask she stepped through it, and then tapped her hand on her father's shoulder. The man's yell alerted the rest of the audience, and heads snapped to the Admiralty Board before several people fainted at seeing Tali standing behind her quivering father. She stepped back through the tear in reality and deactivated the Generator, and the wormhole closed. "Of course doing that uses up all the energy it produces, and that's just for one that size. Andy's got a more powerful one back on the ship that is solely dedicated to creating wormholes that we can jump through."
And then came the kicker.
She turned around and waved a hand over her face like a fan, her exasperated voice coming from her mask a moment later. "Is it just me or is it getting really hot in here?"
All four of her teammates made a show of checking themselves over and shrugging, and Jack cocked her head to the side. "Could just be your damn suit, must be like a fucking boiler in there."
Tali nodded thoughtfully, "Could be..." A moment later she brought up her Omni-tool; its interface a beautiful vibrant purple, and everybody was treated to a holographic bust of a woman appearing above her arm. She hummed and haa'd as she flipped through clothing choices, and nodded when it came to a plain white singlet, a pair of skin-tight jeans, and sleek combat boots that she had designed the night before. Tapping a small button on the interface she scrolled to the option that said 'SLOW' and tapped it again. Eyes widened as her suit's boot section shimmered and morphed into the selected boots; purple-patterned black leather forming as if from nothing, and then the jeans that dipped below their tops. The ripples spread upwards even further, reaching her torso, and the suit seemed to disintegrate to reveal soft, thin, white material that hugged her body. The ripples finally travelled down her arms, and Rael let out a yell of, "NO!" when her bare skin was revealed; her three slim fingers visible to all. Neither Tali nor the transformation reacted to the protest, and the ripples finally reached up her neck, dissolving the suit and finally her mask. Her long black hair fell out behind her and reached just below her shoulders, and for the first time in many people's lives they got to see what a Quarian really looked like underneath their mask. Tali's team were the only people that weren't horrified and so could fully take in her appearance, and Andrew let out a soft smile and a warm, friendly nod when Tali's head turned towards him and the rest of her squad mates; her brow lifted in a silent question, and her glowing white eyes tinged with worry.
She was beautiful.
Andrew was surprised that hair was still a feature on their bodies, but then shook it off; evolution took tens of thousands of years before things started to change significantly. Her skin was light lavender, and looked just as smooth and flawless as that of an Asari's. Her face was highly angular and defined; holding human characteristics, but to a far more sleek design. Her eyes were narrower and more slanted than that of a human; tilted slightly upwards, and glowed with a magnificent radiance. Her lips were thin and coloured a light blue in comparison to the rest of her skin, and her long, silky black hair contrasted strikingly with the rest of her features. Andrew stepped forward, unafraid, and rested his hand on the bare skin of her shoulder before sending her a small chuckle and squeezing slightly to reassure her. "Smooth as a baby's bottom," he murmured, and a dark purple blush spread across her cheeks.
"Quarantine team!" came a yell from up front, and Tali raised an eyebrow before crouching slightly when her father yelled, "Permission to forcefully restrain granted!" Andy quickly adopted a fighting stance, as did Shepard, Jack, and a quickly morphed Kar, who was now dressed in much the same as Andrew. The crowd that had come to spectate quickly rushed away from the five; giving the battle-ready group a wide berth, and the crack-commando squad attacked with the intent to restrain Tali.
It didn't work out well for them.
Andrew quickly pivoted with trained ease; smashing one of the Quarian's square in the gut, and the ran up the torso of another before flipping backwards; kicking him in the head and ploughing the commando behind him to the ground in one fluid movement. Jack likewise was moving in a brutal attack pattern, not to kill or injure, but rather debilitate. The order quickly came to "Subdue the humans with lethal force if necessary!" and bullets quickly begun flying. By this point only the admirals, the Normandy group, and the commandos were present in the room, and Andy breathed a sigh of relief; he didn't want to have the deaths of any innocents on his hands. Any space that was uncovered on the ground team's bodies was quickly wreathed in a small film of blue; proximity sensitive to rounds, and the moment one came within a centimetre of their bodies the nanobots would shoot out and redirect the momentum of the rounds. The effect was amazing to watch. Small jets of black occasionally flared out over the crew's skin to intercept the mass-accelerated projectiles, and then Andy caught Tali's eyes as he redirected a punch from one of the Quarian commandoes. He nodded towards one of the knife-wielding ones, and after a moment she gave a small nod and cheeky smile before moving to cover his back as he charged the man. As soon as he was within arm's reach the Quarian swung wildly, and Andy redirected its attack path... right into Tali. She quickly raised her arms, and a shallow slice opened up on her skin. She quickly slapped her hand over it, her eyes flaring, and Rael yelled out when he caught sight of the blue blood seeping out from beneath her fingers.
The Commando team all stopped their attacks to see what had happened, and Jack, Andy, Kar and Shepard made quick work of them the moment their attention was diverted; knocking them out. Andy unhurriedly pulled some medi-gel from his pocket, and Tali lifted her hand to expose the ten centimetre long, bleeding cut. He quickly lathered it with the gel, and within moments the cut had been covered by a shiny film of artificial skin that stimulated healing factors. "Well Father," she said as she turned to face him with a raised eyebrow, "I wasn't expecting you to do that."
"Tali! Get back in your suit now, I order you!"
Her eyebrows rose further. "I'm sorry," she said dangerously as Kar walked to her side, bringing his own unsuited condition to attention, "did you just order me to do something Father? Because you've never really acted like a Father." The man stepped back as if physically slapped and Tali took a step forwards; her face twisted into an expression of anger. "Ever since Mother died," she growled, "all you've cared about is your work. Those... things you've been working on Father," Rael tensed, "they would have killed you, and taken the Allerai if you'd activated them. The only reason you're not dead right now is because Andy," she jerked one of her fingers towards the silent blonde, "ordered a hack on your ship and discovered that you were mere hours away from doing so, and then ordered Shepard to call an urgent meeting here that would require your presence." The rest of the Board looked confused, but Tali ignored them. "So I won't do what you asked me to," she said definitively, "because I don't need to. I was just cut by an unsterilized blade, Father, do you know what that should mean? I shouldn't be standing right now; I should be on the ground weakening with every single passing second." She launched a quick, brutal, and powerful hand-to-hand attack on Andy, which he easily rebuffed, and then turned back to her father with a small smirk. "As you can see Father, I'm not weakened in the least, and no longer need a suit. Had you not overreacted and allowed us to explain, you would had discovered that Andrew and Professor Mordin Solus found the cure to our immune systems - and do you know what else Father, Admirals? He's even got us the inhabitant rights to a tropical planet called Virmire!"
"How can you still be standing?" questioned Rael weakly, as if he hadn't heard his daughter's explanation, and Tali looked over her shoulder before nodding to Andy. He pulled a pistol from inside his hoodie, and then raised it to point at the Admiralty Board. Two seconds and five small 'fwut' sounds later all of the suited Quarians looked down in horror at the small darts that had blown right through their shields and imbedded in their thighs. Moments later the darts dissolved and slid down their legs like liquid, before quickly replacing their suits with casual clothes that Tali had pre-chosen. The looks of terror on the Board's faces when they were finally revealed were almost comical, and Andy quickly snapped a picture with his Omni-tool. Tali sent him a small glare, and he returned a sheepish shrug and a protest of, "Hey, it was funny!"
"Not helping, Andy."
She turned back around to face the stiffened and silent Admiralty Board, and the five all watched with amusement as they tried to hold their breaths. Admiral Shala'Raan was the first to succumb to the need for air and gasped as she drew in a deep lungful, and Zaal'Koris followed soon after looking terrified. Daro'Xen held on for the longest... knowingly at least, while after four minutes Admiral Han'Gerrel fainted from a lack of oxygen and begun breathing as soon as he lost consciousness. Andy approached the four, and walked right up to Rael. Right in the middle of a breath he gave a great cough right into the Admiral's face, filled with nice, lethal - to Quarians at least - bacteria, and watched as the man's face paled. Zaal'Koris finally got over the shock of the whole situation, and opened his mouth. "You will be arrested for our murders, I swear that to you!"
"Feeling alright there?"
The General opened his mouth to retort, and then quickly snapped it shut when he realized that he felt perfectly fine. He looked over at the other Admirals, making doubly sure to look at Rael who had caught a nice lungful of harmful bacteria, and his expression quickly turned from furious to confused, and then to one reminiscent of a lost puppy when he saw the man standing stiffly, but very much alive and well.
Tali had simply smirked.
The talks had gone on for nearly ten hours, whereupon the public had slowly trickled back in - at first horrified that the avatars of justice in their system were un-suited and breathing in unclean air - but quickly turning amazed and completely awed when even after hours none of the bare-skinned Quarians had fallen ill or shown any signs of being any different to how they would normally be within their suits. The talks finally ended with the Quarian people swearing their allegiance to face the Reaper threat, and Andrew transferring the required supply of the immune-enhancing nanotechnology onto the ship, as well as providing them with a locked Stabilised Flux Generator as he didn't want them playing around with wormholes.
Andy had killed the nanobots of the newly generated clothing of the Admirals so that it was simply artificial cloth instead of the Morphic armour, and then departed with Shepard and the rest of the crew feeling tired, but happy and satisfied with the day's happenings. They had gained a huge ally in the fight against the Reapers; an ally that would soon be colonising a world for the first time in hundreds of years with the space and resources to help build the required weapons against the threat.
Leaving Tali to explain to the rest of the crew what had happened Jack dragged Andy into their bedroom, locked the door, and then promptly stripped herself before forcing him to do the same and yanking him underneath the covers. They had barely said their goodnights before they had fallen asleep; both with matching smiles on their faces and thinking of what the next day would bring.
