The room was circular, cold, bereft of any decorations to hold your gaze.
All but the chairs forming a semi-circle in the room, all but one occupied, all by creatures looking at her.
She had been introduced to them, but they were still strangers.
Considering her recent escapade she wasn't surprised to feel herself not trusting them, to fear them.
Illogical, they saved me. Liara frowned. No, logical, saving does not imply a positive disposition, they clearly want something from me, I should be cautious.
Liara had never been comfortable around strangers, especially when there were a lot of them at the same time, it had been a part of her choice of career, besides escaping her mother's controlling aspect and a fascination with the puzzle she had stumbled upon in the Protheans...
It didn't help that they were aliens.
Not that Liara had anything against aliens, but she had in her lifetime only learnt to deal with fellow Asari, Hanar who usually argued her right to certain digs, Volus merchants and Turians usually working the security where she worked.
No, she was just afraid that she'd somehow insult them or explain herself in a way offensive to their culture...and if she did that...fear squeezed her gut again.
There was the Krogan, almost seated right behind her, still in his armour. Liara had mostly learnt of them by reputation, a bad reputation. Wrex does not seem like a bloodthirsty barbarian though. She glanced back at the monster of an alien, the large red eyes steady looking back, studying her with a cautious look in his eyes. Actually seems intelligent...shouldn't make any assumptions.
Next to the Krogan the Turian sat. Garrus wasn't it? While there was the comfort of knowing the Turian species and their culture Liara felt nervous under the predatory gaze of the man, the scaly face creased in a frown, as if he was waiting to place judgement on her at any moment. The fact that he ignored his wounded arm hanging in a sling in favour of being around to frown at her spoke volumes of him as well. Facts of a species versus individuality...sounds like a paper in the making...Liara shrugged the otherworldly thought aside, knowing she was just trying to distract herself from the feeling of imminent danger.
The Quarain just to her right was a bit of a strange one in the group, while the rest looked like soldiers and warriors, Tali was short and petite, not looking the least dangerous. Save the silver eyes... Liara refused to look at them, memories of cold Geth eyes looking at her far too vivid in her memory, she didn't doubt that with her mind associating the Geth to Quarians further made her uncomfortable too.
The two seated humans a bit ahead of her offered no comfort either. Ashley was too busy looking at Kaidan and fussing with the bandages across his chest to pay Liara more attention then the odd accusatory glare...and the man himself was obviously not all there, hand drifting to his head as if suffering from a headache, or his chest where the injury was more obvious...or simply lolling his head as the medications he no doubt had received began to kick in.
She didn't belong among them, and they all knew it.
As if to make it even more abundant, there was only one chair left, and while empty, it clearly belonged to the man standing before her.
Commander Shepard was huge. While technically not as large as Wrex, there was something larger...about him... Perhaps it's him being tall while comparatively more lean in stature? Humans are like Asari in build, perhaps I'm reacting to my preconceptions about the size of humans? Or simply comparing him to the other two? She looked up at the man, the uniformed man eyeing her up with a curious look on his face, half suspicious, half eager. Or simply because I'm extremely scared? She hid her whimper behind a clearing of her throat. "I...again I must thank you for the rescue, Commander."
After all that had happened, after the introduction of the entire team and the revelation of her being rescued by the first human Spectre the words sounded somewhat...tame.
The man frowned, head cocking to the side, evaluating her words, or so she hoped. Shifting where she stood she spoke again, looking at Ashley as the woman once more shot her a glare from her fussing with Kaidan's bandages as Liara forced herself to speak again: "I'm unsure how to express myself around your species, I don't know much of it, excuse me if I at any time offend you..."
The female human opened her mouth to speak, eyes afire with what Liara could guess to be anger, but Michael silenced her with a gesture, not even glancing at her as he kept his eyes upon Liara, making her feel even smaller... His voice wasn't as cold as before, almost...pleasant...but held a guarded tone: "It wasn't out of the goodness of our hearts, but you're welcome."
"I understand." Liara forced herself to take a calming breath, before trying to sum up the situation: "There were no emergency signal from the dig, so you must have been in the area, and were obviously looking for me. I don't know why, but you are clearly interested in me for something besides the interest of keeping a fellow sentient person alive."
The man nodded, head cocked to the side. "Correct."
"So why are you interested in me?" Liara frowned to herself "Can't believe a Spectre to have an interest in archaeologists, even one in my small field...and I haven't been doing anything but research these last fifty years..."
"Fifty years..." Ashley shook her head. "...Asari...freaking weird..."
"I'm probably older." Wrex rumbled behind Liara, though it didn't sound much supportive, rather just pointing something out.
Ashley merely snorted.
At such close range Liara could see a flicker of irritation in the man's eyes, swiftly gone when Michael glanced back and shot Ashley a friendly smile. "That's not why we're here Ash, we can discuss you being but a kid compared to others later." Ashley's snort turned into a cough as the man turned back to Liara: "And our interest in Miss T'soni here is in relation to her mother."
"M-mother?" Liara blinked, then frowned in puzzlement. "You mean Benezia? I haven't talked to her in..."She frowned, trying to recollect, then blinked, her voice betraying her surprise. "...thirty years?" She looked away, whispering to herself as much as to them: "Has it really been that long...?" There was a small stab of guilt at the realisation, but Liara ignored it as she looked back up at Michael: "I'm sorry but I don't know where she is and can't really give any directions..."
A few laughs around her made Liara stiffen where she stood, realising that they were finding something amusing with her honest words.
Michael however was not laughing, a look of...something...crossing his face...and he shot a glance back at the laughing companions, eyes narrowing. "Silence." The word was cold, and the laughter died out, when he looked back to her his tone shifted again, becoming soft, worryingly soft: "I'm afraid to tell you your mother has been marked a traitor and criminal against the Citadel council..."
Liara blinked, took a step back. "Oh." She opened her mouth to say something else, something more...intelligent...but nothing came.
At least there was no laughter.
How did...? Why would she...? I don't...
She felt Michael's hand on her shoulder, it was large, heavy, and carefully squeezing her. She was dimly aware of staring at his chest. "She is in league with a rogue Spectre named Saren who attacked a human colony in the hunt for a Prothean beacon, he is working with the Geth, as to his final objective we're not sure...nor why Benezia is working with him."
"I...I see.." Liara shrugged off the hand on instinct, then managed an unsure smile at the warm eyes focused on her. "I am then afraid that you've rescued me for nothing, for I did not know this..." She swallowed. Mother...what have you done? "I cannot even understand why she would do this, she has always had a bit of a...harsh look on the Council...but I cannot fathom why she would..." Liara blinked, her mind sliding away from the confusing thoughts. "...wait, did you say Prothean?"
There was a new light in the warm eyes now, a needing light...intense and frightening. "Yes, he tried to acquire an intact Prothean beacon, we believe he stole the information within it, though I too was exposed to it." A grimace, quickly gone, burnt away from the need in his eyes...
A need Liara now too felt. "You were exposed to a Prothean beacon!" She stared at him, feeling her heart thump with an excitement she hadn't felt for a good forty years. "And you...lived!" She found her eyes bulging at the implication. "I've been studying the Protheans for fifty years and never found anything like a Beacon! And never heard of one surviving exposure to one!" There was a grimace on Ashley's face even as Liara noticed a small flinch in Michael's face. Perhaps humans and Asari aren't so different...as I am apparently still good at putting my foot in my mouth. "I...that had to have been a traumatic experience, I'm impressed"
Michael's hand shot back, rubbing the back of his neck, in the room there seemed to be an...awkward air.
At least the possibility of execution or similar ends is lower now. Liara breathed a sigh of relief.
"This does not help us." Wrex finally pointed out. "Though what I want to know is why the Geth were after Liara in the first place if she and Benezia aren't on speaking terms?"
"I am unsure..." Liara looked over at the Krogan, frowning at the observant question. "...perhaps she merely wished to keep her family safe..." She grimaced. "...though I doubt it." Then shot the Krogan a doubting look: "Besides, the Geth were there, all else is theories, they could have been sent on order of this Saren man, or come to kill me, not to capture, or it could have been simple luck, they might have been there simply to create a base. We cannot know." She looked back at Shepard, bowing her head slightly. "Though I admit that there is sound reasoning for a theory where me being the only expert on Prothean culture and history could be reason to kidnap me in order to acquire information for understanding the Prothean beacon and any information of the race."
"You've been studying the Prothean for fifty years?" Again Liara turned her head, this time towards Garrus, the Turian eyeing her like something to be eaten. "What have you learnt?"
"Well...most of it can't be properly verified, due to the scattered amount of partial evidence..." Liara breathed a silent sigh of relief when no one started to argue, fellow historians usually did at that point...instead she felt her face warm as she continued: "But I am certain of several things. That the Prothean before their end had spread and dominated the galactic civilisation even more so then the Citadel space does now. That they at that peak of their civilization were enjoying a level of technology close, perhaps slightly more advanced, then us. And that they were annihilated within the span of perhaps a year."
Next to her she felt Michael suddenly shudder, but no one but the Quarian's turning head indicated that anyone else noticed as Garrus with a confused clicking of his mandibles asked: "Annihilated? How?"
"It's difficult to say." She answered, feeling herself warming up to the subject. "The evidence is circumstantial and weak, it's almost as if someone..." She made a plaintive gesture. "...worked hard to remove the evidence after their destruction..." She hesitated, then added. "...as well as that of other species before them."
"Other?" Kaidan's voice was but a whisper, him looking up from his injured and drugged state to peer at her, the intelligent gaze full of apprehension.
"Yes." Liara nodded eagerly. "I have uncovered evidence that the Prothean civilisation was built upon the ruins of another, older civilisation, that in turn was built upon another, this has been going on for aeons as far as I can tell...one civilisation upon another...each annihilated at the peak of their development."
There were many blank stares around her, the listeners not quite focused on what they thought a boring subject, yet too polite to say it. Liara held back a sigh. Always the same...
Michael's voice, however, was rough. "You could understand the visions created by the beacon?" Looking back at him she found the man's gaze hesitant, as if he was unsure he actually wanted to know...
If she hadn't been so eager Liara would have been heedful of it: "Yes! I would be able to decipher at least part of their message, Prothean beacons work by projecting visions into the receiver, the only problem being that it's supposed to be for a Prothean mind...I gather it was less than informative to you?"
Hesitation, the man's right hand closing into a fist, a muscle in his jaw twitching as he looked away, voice distant. "In a way..."
"Shepard." Liara caught her hands before they grabbed at the man, her feet inching forward, drawing a growl from Ashley, the human glaring daggers at Liara. She ignored it though as she spoke: "Please, this information could sky-rocket my research, and be of great help to you if any of the information concerns your hunt for this Saren. I can meld with you to search these visions for-"
Michael hesitated, his right arm shaking as he rubbed his chin, eyes darting left and right, conflicted.
Instead it was Garrus who had interrupted her. "Wait...you want to mate with him!"
"Absolutely not!" Ashley growled, before her mouth snapped shut, eyes flickering to Michael – who didn't seem to have heard, still looking thoughtful and conflicted – and then Kaidan, who just gave her a tired look.
"I too..." Tali added, her voice small. "...fail to see what good that would do..." She glanced left and right, then down at her lap, going quiet.
Liara felt her shoulders bunch up at the implication, a spike of irritation shooting through her as she looked at the others. Aliens, to start with they take mating too seriously, secondly they never check the facts of Asari properly. "It's not mating, that would require..." She ignored the blush creeping onto her cheeks. "...more." Perhaps 'less' would be the proper term... "It's simply a way to meld our nervous systems so I may search his memories."
"Still not seeing that happening." Ashley grumbled, arms crossed over her chest, Kaidan completely forgotten as she glowered at Liara. "You're not doing your weird alien thing to Shepard, especially since I don't trust you."
"I see." Liara bowed her head. "That's reasonable of you..." If perhaps, a bit too harshly put, defensive even, not bothering to check facts. "...but I do not know how else to help...and I want to help...if nothing else but to do the right thing when my mother does the wrong..." The female human hesitated, her gaze turning introvert. "...can you understand that?"
There was no answer from the marine, the woman looking down on her knees, knees held tightly by her hands, as she bit her lower lip.
"I've never heard of melding ever being dangerous..." Wrex rumbled, shrugging. "...and I doubt Liara here would want to be killed by assassinating the Commander right in front of us..."
Ashley opened her mouth, to protest further or to agree, Liara wasn't sure. But Michael beat her to it: "Do it." Looking back at him she found his eyes cold, a hint of steel beneath them as he straightened, standing stiffly before her as he nodded: "Meld our minds, this information is vital."
Liara looked at the others, waiting for some sort of protest, but there was none. Garrus and Wrex eyeing her carefully, Kaidan with interest...and the two women starring at the floor.
Then back to Michael as she took another step back, feeling his hot breath brushing against her forehead as she looked up at him and felt her body tingling as her nervous system shifted... "Try to relax..."
The man's jaw twitched, his body shook, but he didn't step away.
"...and embrace eternity!"
There was a jar, as if the ship had suddenly slammed to a halt, the world disappearing into a black haze.
Objective comes first... She wasn't sure if it was a thought or spoken out loud, she was too distracted with the feel of Michael's skin, not against hers, but rather as if it was around her, as if it was her skin... It felt rough, hard...and too big.
Go deeper...
Nothing happened.
She had done melding a few times with other Asari researchers carrying important information...but never had there been resistance...
She pushed...and something slid aside.
"Give me your money!" The words were sharp, uttered by an angry Shepard, his tone carrying a note of desperation. "Now!"
"P-please I don't...it's just a single credit!" A stranger's voice, shaking. "N-no! He-here I-" A grunt, a groan...a moan of pain...and the scent of blood was around her.
No.
"M-mother?" Her own voice, small, a child's.
Her mother's voice, cold, dismissive. "Not now little wing, I'm working."
"B-but I-"
"I said, not now."
No.
"Mom?" Shepard's voice, pained, different, not even a teen.
A creaking.
"M-mom?"
A man's voice, rough and hoarse: "Hey kid, beat it, I've paid for the full hour, let her enjoy the fucking pot while I enjoy the fucking."
A chuckle, loud in her ears.
No.
"Goodbye mother." Her own voice, older, colder, trembling with emotions suppressed. "I'm leaving."
"That's it? After all I've done for you?" Her mother's voice, venomous, yet still dismissive, always dismissive... "You are wasting your potential."
"And it's mine to waste, not yours."
A slammed door.
No...deeper!
Gunfire, screams, people dying.
Guilt, a deep, stinging guilt...
"Shepard! We can't hold them! We need to-"
A push, not her own, Michael's, a distant no...
Terror...ground-shattering terror...waves of it.
Her concentration wavered, then she tried to focus on it, make it tangible, a picture...
Danger, there was danger, no one knowing what to do, leaders gone, planets aflame...
Michael's voice, hard, angry, defiant: "Unacceptable..."
Focus...
Message was chaotic, even without the impressions coming in mixed order, as if it had been sent in a great hurry.
Danger, a planet, important...something missing...something missing...hidden, not to be found...hidden!
Go deeper...
Terror, more terror, screaming, dying, screams across time and space, frozen still, now unleashed, coming at her...a galaxy screaming...
A galaxy!
"No!" Liara tumbled backwards, clutching her head as she in panic cut the connection, her head swimming, the room spinning...rising, falling...
With a grunt she fell down on the floor, arms catching Wrex's legs as she landed between them, his clawed hands instantly on her shoulders, stopping her from tumbling further.
Gasping for breath she ignored the worried questions rising from the room as she looked over at Michael.
He didn't even seem to breathe as he stood there, arms tense and shaking as he held them to his sides, head bowed as he stared at his feet...then looked up at her.
The gaze was naked, pained, fearful...frightening.
Then something slid into place, kind concern smoothing his own worries, covering them from her as he took a step forward. "Are you okay? Did you find anything of use?"
"I...I'm fine..." Liara replied, the lie easily escaping her lips as Wrex rose, his powerful grip helping her to her feet before he released her. Letting her right hand come up to push some sweat away from her forehead she shook her head: "There was...much there...it will take time to decipher." She frowned, ignoring Ashley's scoff. "It's clearly a warning though, and there was something...hidden, as if it had been encrypted...very strange..."
She didn't say anything of what she had felt before the message, and was thankful Michael didn't as he nodded: "It's better than nothing, and if you can decipher it...it would help."
Liara bowed her head, managing a shaky smile. "I'll begin on it immediately Commander, it's the least I can do."
Michael looked back, the warmth of his gaze slipping away...replaced by something cold and calculating, making Liara turn her head away. Even his words lacked the earlier warmth: "Good, thank you Liara."
That was when there was a beep from the ceiling.
Then the pilot's voice: "Erm...Shepard...Council's on the line...they don't sound happy..."
8
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Thanks to Abydos Jackson for her assistance.