(30 minutes ago)

'Why, Miranda', Tali questioned.

Subject Zero jabbed her finger at the ex-Cerberus agent,

'She knows what I a…'

'I theorized, Jack,' Miranda interrupted, 'I had no prior knowle…'

Jack's eyes rolled at Miranda.

'You always fucking knew, bitch. Your involvement with the Lazarus project proves it. What they did to me? The modifications? The rebuilding? Sound similar?'

'I didn't r…,' Miranda began but was cut off.

'You brought him back to life!? All those implants, all the grafting and fucking rewiring? Don't you see!', Jack spun to take them all in. 'Don't any of you see! Of all the beings, living or dead, me a Shepard, we're the only two of our kind!

'I had no idea you were the subject of those reports, Jack,' Miranda whispered.

'You're a lot of things, Lawson, but dumb ain't one of them. Soon as the Illusive Man added my dossier to his rogues gallery, you got my file. You knew what I was and what they did to me before we even met. You and your perfect fucking brain couldn't have been fooled by the simple connection of dots.'

Miranda's silence elicited another snort from Jack.

'They won't believe me,' Jack absently waved her painted hand at the group, 'so I want you to tell them what I am. I want you to tell them why I am.'

A hint of pain bled into the condemnation, in syllables only uttered successfully by the betrayed,

'It took years of experimentation, of fucking killing myself, to uncover the truth hinted at in the files Shepard gave me. Finally it took Cerberus coming for me in Grissom for me to learn…to learn what you've always known.'

On cue, Subject Zero's eerie white biotics flared, prompting the circle of heroes to again raise their weapons.

'Tell…them.'

Long removed from any loyalty to her former employer, Miranda never-the-less hesitated, knowing the forthcoming admission would effectively end any debate concerning Jack's proposed mission.

'Talk, Miranda,' Garrus stepped forward, 'We can't spare the seconds for theatrics.'

'She…', Miranda started, trying and failing to select words that sounded less insane.

'She's…she's a Reaper killer.'

Looks of utter shock and disbelief filtered through all of the visible faces of the gathered warriors.

Not knowing what else to do, Miranda continued.

'Cerberus's desire for a human champion existed long before Shepard. They wanted an example for the Universe; one that clearly displayed humanity's supremacy. Efforts were made in cloning, genetic modification, and selective embryonic manipulation, but none produced anything more than a 'perfect' human.'

As if the last statement was her personal albatross, Miranda's head lowered before she continued.

'Cerberus needed something more…potent, so they began a Frankenstonian mix of all of their singular scientific pursuits to date. They would have their champion against the coming tide, no matter the cost in lives and souls. Jack was the first of what was to have been an army, but she ended up being the exception rather than the rule. Humans simply can't wield biotics at her capacity. Hell, Asari Matriarchs would burn out trying to match a tenth of her potential.'

'That's impossible,' Liara breathed.

'They killed countless children until they finally found the one singular being that could handle their…science. So its not impossible, just costly.'

'And Cerberus paid the price for power with the lives of innocents,' Tali spat inside her helmet.

'Yes,' Miranda stated simply.

'The Collector ship,' Garrus whispered, 'The Human Reaper…that's what they were doing. Feeding thousands to make one all-powerful life-form…it sounds like the same thing.'

'Yes', Miranda again responded simply and truthfully.

'Why not reveal this little, goddamn tidbit before now? Shepard sure as shit could've used a 'Reaper-killer'', Zaeed Masoni chewed the question like a mouth full of rocks.

'She's not perfect,' Miranda interjected before Subject Zero could answer. 'No being can do what she can without a pri…'

'Shut up,' Jack snapped. 'You've served your purpose, cheerleader, they know what they need to know.'

'They deserve to know the rest,' Miranda pushed her point.

'Just like I deserved to know!', Jack raged. 'If I'd known what I was I could've helped sooner! I could've kept him from being alone out there!'

Subject Zero's biotics roared in response to her anger; energy crackling and spitting off of her flesh.

'I could've been by his side! I could've fought them off of him! But you useless sons-of-bitches let him fall and now you are going to try and stop me from getting him with what? Philosophy!? Morality!?'

Forsaking her own safety, Miranda stepped forward. With her eyes locked on Jack, the ex-Cerberus agent spoke for the others.

'What do you need from us?'

Calming somewhat, Subject Zero allowed several seconds to lapse before nodding slightly at Miranda.

'I'm only going to have one chance at this. At first I thought I'd just go out and bring him back, but now I know that once I get him…'

'He'll want to continue to the beam,' Miranda finished.

Again Jack nodded,

'My power is finite, and where I'm going, I'll need every sliver of it. You know what I am, I'm a sponge not a faucet. I can carry a metric shit-ton of power, I just can't produce all of it.'

'You need biotics,' Miranda stated calmly. 'As many as we can get.'

This time, both women nodded in union; their minds in agreement.

Miranda spun on the others

'She is the only one that can save him. Find Katsumi and the 'sneaky' Salarian she requested; I'll muster the biotics.'

Glancing over her shoulder, the cheerleader smiled at the criminal,

'I have an idea what Jack's up to. Perfect fucking brains occasionally have their advantage.'

Stunned into silence, the group slowly shifted their attention back to Jack, regarding their companion with new gazes; gazes fresh with the horrific knowledge of her origin. Producing a bow and a half-smile, the demi-god known as Subject Zero 'presented' herself to her teammates, as if making their acquaintance for the first time.