Kaidan's vision was blurred and he found it impossible to think. Or rather, he couldn't stop thinking.
"So...cold..." He shivered as he wrapped his arms around him. "Can't breathe..." He stammered.
Memories of Calesten came washing back to him again. The inhuman screams. The death.
"One...by one...They were taken from me." He shook. " We were sent on a God damn fool's errand. They were...twisted before my very eyes..."
His cabin was mercifully dark and quiet around him.
"Stay back. Go away!" He cried out as he pushed at the phantom hands of the dead away as they tried to grasp his clothes.
He blundered out of the bed, falling to his hands and knees. The cold metal floor of his cabin seemed to reach up to him. Slender cold skeletal hands arched to caress his face. He shuttered across the floor away from the alien appearance. The form twisted and perverted. A form distilled from the dead. He crashed his eyes shut, covering them with the palms of his hands.
"They couldn't be stopped...destroyed...only shutout." His voice trembled as the world gently enclosed around him. "And they blame her for it..."
-"My name is Miranda Lawson. Director of Project Lazarus."-
His eyes snapped open and saw that the vid display at the cabin desk had come to life.
"What..." he said aloud in disbelief.
Raggedly he got to his feet and limped to the desk. He crashed in to the seat and found a small bottle and a container of water. The data pad next to the collection held simple instructions.
It was then that Kaidan recognized the migraine that was battering his head.
He popped two pills in to his mouth and took a heady drink of water washing them down. All the while his eyes never left the vid display.
His wife stood in front of the entire Tribunal self-stripped of rank. The now bear uniform jacket hung loosely from her form. Her black tank top contrasting sharply with her pristine pale skin.
-"Director of Project Lazarus? Interesting how that...doesn't come up in your dossier Mrs. Alenko."-
-"It's Lawson, Ms. Jagdhund. And as far as the reason why my directorship doesn't come up in my Alliance dossier? It is very simple. I lied."- She smiled with a sweet iciness.
-"I wonder how your Husband would take to your...sudden choice of name."- Udina said with a sickly smile tailored to his face.
Kaidan couldn't breathe. Unlike before where it felt like he was trying to breathe in vacuum, now he felt like he had a steel beam across his chest.
-"Captain Alenko isn't here, and what he thinks really doesn't matter to me right now."- Miranda answered back in ease.
Kaidan saw the vid cam catch a glimpse of Parasini at the defense table. She was hunched forward, her head in her hands.
-"I also don't see anything above clerical administration when it comes to your file about your past with Cerberus."- Cassandra said dryly.
-"To his credit, the Illusive Man demanded the best and he always got what he wanted. He wanted to ensure that Lazarus would succeed, and so he chose me to lead it."- Kaidan watched as Miranda turned to face Dr. Orslan. -"Doctor, the model again and this time, do try to be more discreet and tasteful."- She hissed at the old man.
Orslan looked like a shivering little mouse as he looked over to Cassandra, who gave a simple nod of her head and he tapped a few commands on his omni tool. Kaidan saw the model of Shepard reappear on the floor. This time it was clothed in white to protect the figure's modesty.
Miranda walked confidently, but reverently up to the virtual display. -"During my time with Cerberus leading up to project Lazarus, I was involved in many ventures. Many of them I'm not proud of. Of some I am; and of Shepard's the most." She lovingly and gently caressed the model's cheek with the back of her right hand.
-"Dr. Orslan was indeed correct when he found the false positive. Shepard's cellular structure does regenerates on an incredibly abnormal level. But I have to disagree with the doctor. The reason is very much important. You see, Shepard simply does not have a normal DNA structure. In fact it is virtually nonexistent. The cause was the enormous amount of gamma radiation her body was subjected to. Completely correcting and repairing that level of trauma is not possible for us with normal medical procedures."-
-"How did you get the body? Was there a Cerberus vessel tailing the first Normandy like Captain Alenko suggests?"- Cassandra asked.
Kaidan watched as Miranda let out a callus bark of a laugh. -"How Cerberus came in to possession of Shepard's body, is irrelevant to this trial; and while Cerberus may have been actively keeping tabs on the first Human Specter, Cerberus didn't shadow her. Believe me when I say that Cerberus was keenly aware of Shepard's operations against its cells during the Eden Prime war and as such, Shepard was observed at a great and respectful distance before her...accident."-
-"You mean death."- Cassandra sniped. -"So your team rebuilt her."-
Kaidan's gaze was fixed before him. She's told me this before...And I thought it was all a lie...
-"No. We recreated her." Miranda walked back over to the virtual model took its features in to her sight. "Simple reconstruction wasn't enough and wouldn't have worked. We faced organ rejection on a tremendous scale. That would have been unacceptable. It was an incredibly humbling lesson in how every person it truly unique."-
-"Hence why the use of cybernetics was so extensive."- Cassandra reasoned.
-"Yes. But the application was academic in approach looking back on it now. The cybernetics coupled with organic reconstruction may have stabilized her body to the point where it gave my team a starting point to work with her and understand just how bad the damage was. The Cybernetics didn't solve the main problem. They didn't restore her life."-
Miranda walked over to the model, and ran her hand softly down the back of the model's head, following the neck to where it met the shoulders. -"During my time with Cerberus, many of my operations and projects dealt with improvements to human biology. Some of these resulted in fantastic medical break throughs. Many of which were funneled through the Sirta Foundation, or Binary Helix. One such project dealt primarily with the human brain. The results of the operation were...interesting. We learned that information 'stored' in the brain can't be extracted upon the death of an individual. The primary reason is that the 'pathways' that the individual had created to that information are lost upon death. The long term memory is very much there, but there is no way to get to it. The key question to Lazarus was how to rebuild the necessary bridges to that knowledge, information and identity."-
Kaidan watched her glide over to the mouse-ish doctor and smile sweetly. -"But that is where the good Doctor Orslan came in to play."- He watched as Cassandra looked over to the Doctor, giving him an almost contemptuous look.
Orslan tugged the collar of his shirt. -"I don't know...I had nothing to do..."-
-"Humm..."- Miranda hummed sweetly as she walked up to him, towering over him. "As I said Orslan, you tell good stories, but you do have the unfortunate habit of leaving out information. You were invaluable to the project. The Galaxy owes you much."- Miranda said lightly as her sickly sweet smile never abated.
-"Before Shepard's death a Cerberus cell that the Doctor was apart of, Enigma, had just finished putting the final touches on a device that could map a person's mind. This scan not only could contain the knowledge a person knew but more importantly held the specific pathways to that knowledge."-
-"Why was the device created by Cerberus, and what was its application to your project?"- Cassandra asked.
-"The original intent was to replace prominent people with in the Alliance and various other human groups with agents sympathetic to Cerberus ideals and aims. That was of course, before it was found that a living mind couldn't be reprogrammed, as I am sure that Dr. Orslan could have told you."-
The man only winced at her words.
-"Yet the brain scans were done anyway."- Cassandra said dryly.
-"Of course."- Miranda quipped. -"Information is always powerful, no matter if it can be used at the moment or not."-
-"How many scan were done?"-
-"I don't know. The Illusive man was not very open to sharing information between cells."- Miranda's eyes drifted back to Dr. Orslan. -"But perhaps when this petty show is over, the good doctor will be able to give you an idea."-
Kaidan watched as Cassandra didn't take the bait.
-"So you had the body, and you had the map of Shepard's mind. How did you program your creation to think it was Shepard?"- Cassandra asked. Kaidan could tell by the glint of her eyes that this was exactly what she was waiting to hear.
-"I never had to program anything. All I had to do was watch her wake up."-
Kaidan watched as Miranda keyed a few commands and the model on the floor derezzed in to an image of a creature very much like the one that Dr. Orslan had displayed earlier. Miranda canted a hip to the side, her undone uniform vest looking like a short navy blue lab coat.
-"When people think of the Reapers; images of titanic sized machines spring to their minds. But what people don't understand is that those monstrosities were just a skeleton. A body, a vessel; not unlike a starship or a city."-
We are each a nation. Independent. Sovereign's cold words came drifting back to Kaidan as his eyes were fixed on the image in the Vid.
-"This Nanite you see before you is aReaper. And they were the key in bringing Shepard back. As soon as we injected them into Shepard's body, they went to work reestablishing Shepard's mental connections in her brain, reestablishing a cell structure and a growth routine. They accelerated bone and tissue repair, and advanced Cerberus's implants to unknown levels of sophistication. It was both mesmerizing and terrifying to behold. I had my doctors working in shifts on Shepard and joined them in their research just to keep up with the Nanites and monitor their progress."-
-"Those things. Those machines...How did they..."- Tevos's voice caught in surprise.
Kaidan could only watch in crumbling despair as Cassandra stood quietly by, a thin smile on her face.
-"Our technology is based on theirs. They repurposed entire living populations...to reproduce their kind. So it shouldn't be such a surprise that they can repair an organic body. The surprising thing about the Nanites is that with Shepard they almost acted like a catalyst. Almost, and that is where Lazarus failed."-
-"Lazarus failed?"- Cassandra asked still holding a smirk to her face. "So you never brought Shepard back."
He watched as Miranda scowled. -"As the Nanites reestablished the mental pathways in Shepard's brain, reestablishing who she is, they came in to contact with both the information from the Prothean Beacon that Shepard had come in to contact with, and the Prothean Cipher. It would have been one thing if Shepard only had the Beacon information, but the Cipher was something entirely different."-
-"Just what was this Cipher?"- Cassandra asked.
-"Lazarus wouldn't have known about it had it not been for Dr. Orslan's fantastic work with Shepard. During the same period where he took the mental scan, he also did a full psychological analysis on the Commander. That is how he came across it."-
Kaidan's eyes drifted over to the small man, who suddenly took on the look of petrified wood.
-"Wha...what do you mean?"- Orslan squeaked.
"The Prothean Cipher was given to Shepard by an Asari through a mental meld on Feros who received it from a creature called the Thorian. A plant like live form which had the ability to absorb knowledge and information from the dead. A creature Shepard had destroyed on a mission there, much to Cerberus's initial dismay."- Kaidan watched as his wife gave off another cold smile. -"I think the Illusive Man would say he got a better deal in the end though."-
Kaidan could hear the audience chattering again, but quietly, and the Council did not step in. He knew the last thing they wanted was a another example of what had been kept from the public eye.
-"The problem with the Cipher is that it just wasn't pure knowledge; it was the essence of being a Prothean. Shepard was given the basic understanding of a long dead people. I am sure before her death; her mind saw this information for what it wanted to see it as. Purely information. But when the Nanites started to process the Cipher they saw something completely different. They saw another mind structure."-
-"What do you mean they saw another mind structure?"- Cassandra asked carefully.
-"To put it in layman's terms they saw two distinctly different minds within Shepard's brain. The Nanites didn't differentiate between the Prothean Cipher and Shepard's human experience; they combined the two to create a hybrid Human and Prothean mind. Shepard's human experiences intertwined with the basic behaviors of a Prothean. Two different ways of processing and interpreting the world around her became one."- Miranda shot Doctor Orslan a sadistic and sneering smile as she gated slowly up to him. -"Orslan, as I said, you were invaluable to the project. Thank you."-
The Doctor reached up and tugged the collar of his shirt nervously. -"I...I...I..."- He choked as he tugged at his shirt collar again. As Miranda drifted away and back towards the virtual model and the doctor fell to the tribunal floor convulsing. Kaidan watched as his wife looked back at the crumpled man with an unsympathetic face. The majority of the Tribunal audience stood in shock, or to gain a better view.
-"Medic!"- Cassandra yelled and Sohmon pointed at the two C-Sec agents who stood near by.
As the agents poured in, flowed past Miranda and hunched over the doctor; Kaidan couldn't tell what was going on. But his wife's calm and detached demeanor sent a shiver up his spine.
"I know her not at all..." He breathed as he continued to stare in to the vid.
[][][][][][]
"Order!" Udina roared. "We demand order!"
Tense moments passed and finally the body was removed, and the Tribunal quieted again. An agent went over to Sohmon and quietly spoke to the Executor. Sohmon's gaze immediately snapped toward Miranda and Cassandra joined him. What words they exchanged, Miranda couldn't hear.
"Citizen's, please take your seats." Tevos rang, and obediently this time the audience followed.
"Director Lawson." Cassandra called out in anger. "It seems that Dr. Orslan committed suicide."
"Of course he did." Miranda stated coldly
"Cyanide." Cassandra responded.
"You really thing that you would take him alive?"
"We already knew that the doctor was an ex-Cerberus agent."
"Of course you did, but I doubt he really told you anything of great importance about his operations with Cerberus. The promise of amnesty is the only reason he would have come here. SAI has done a very good job of protecting him. Trust me Prosecutor, I never touched him, I gave him no signal. It was his choice. Obviously, I made him...uncomfortable. "
"So he knew you."
"He should have."
"I meant before your time with the Alliance."
"So did I."
Cassandra looked up to the Council. "I have no further questions."
Sohmon then stood up and puffed out his chest like a proud cock. "And I move to have Ms. Lawson removed and detained by Council Security."
"I disagree! Mrs. Alenko will be detained by the Alliance Military..." Mikhailovich roared.
"For once, the Admiral is quite right you know, Executor. Council Law allows each Council Species to handle...such things...themselves if they have to personnel and facilities to do so. And considering how prominent the Alliance presence on Esthasia is; I believe do have the personnel and the facilities." Miranda said coolly. She was delighted to see Cassandra give her a smirk of disgust.
Miranda watched as each of the Councilors gave her a sneering look. Then her eyes caught Gianna take to the floor. "Council, the Defense would like to take the opportunity to engage Director Lawson, if the Prosecution doesn't mind." Gianna courted.
Cassandra coolly took her seat next to the Turian. "Not at all. I doubt we will really learn anything more than what we already have. That the Director's little project is a modern day example of a science experiment gone very very wrong."
"Oh I haven't even started, Ms. Jagdhund. I haven't even started." Miranda purred. She tapped her omni tool and the Nanite image disappeared in to nothingness.
Tevos looked down her to pedestal and over to Valern. She then looked down to Gianna and simply gave a nod of approval.
Miranda was still standing in the middle of the Tribunal's marble floor and the rays of sunshine. She gave Gianna an appraising view. The Defense Councilor gave off the impression of inexperience, but it was all just a very good impression, and one that she knew the woman used very well.
"Director Lawson. You will have to excuse me, but I have to say I am somewhat surprised by your open admission of the Lazarus Project." Gianna spoke.
"The Alliance knew that I was involved with Cerberus."
"That is true, as is your assistance with the Alliance in tracking down any remaining traces of Cerberus."
"As was apart of my agreement with them, yes."
"But you told them nothing of Lazarus, did you."
"I had no reason to. In fact I had every reason not too." Miranda canted her hip to the side. "Tell me Ms. Parasini. If the Alliance had 'known' about Lazarus, what do you think they would have done to Shepard?"
Miranda saw Gianna fall silent. She knew that the Defense proctor knew, or at least had a very good idea of what would happen.
"Instead of being simply incarcerated like she was after destroying the Alpha relay, Shepard would have been treated like a lab experiment. A Freak." Miranda said mechanically. "That is not something I would not and will not accept for her."
"But why Shepard? Why bring her back? A clone would have far easier, and I assume, much less expensive. Was it because of her Specter status? Her past?" Gianna asked.
"Why did The Illusive Man choose Shepard? I had very much the same question. After all, she is just one woman. But The Illusive Man had his reasons; reasons I didn't come to fully appreciate till later."
Miranda took a few steps back. "It may be strange to say this of her, especially of how this trial has chosen to mirror her; but Shepard represented hope. Hope embodied by the pure desire to live. I can't say that she was the Paragon of Humanity. I can say that she didn't care about the species of her crew, but who they were as people. She didn't care about their backgrounds, only that they could get the mission done. The Illusive man wanted that beacon of hope. One that would either inspire or raise everyone to follow her." She looked to the Council. "He may have been wrong about many things, but Shepard was not one of them."
Sparatus narrowed his eyes at her. "It is also obvious he wanted something more then a simple beacon."
"Of course he did Councilor." Miranda answered detachedly. "Of course he did."
"Director Lawson, you said that the Nanites are the Reapers. That the giants we all saw were nothing but vessels, shells, or bodies."
Miranda tightened her gaze on Gianna. "Yes I did."
"So then by your reasoning Shepard is nothing but a host for them."
Miranda's face soured. "That is a gross over simplification of the situation. Not unlike Ms. Jagdhund's brash statement yesterday."
"It is not foolish if it the truth." Sohmon shot back.
"I said that the Nanites were the catalyst for Lazarus." Miranda said tersely.
"I believe you said, 'almost a catalyst'." Gianna corrected.
Good, she was listening. Miranda smiled.
"Director Lawson. You don't strike me as the type of person given to simple flights of fancy. Or the type to try something as drastic as using Alien technology in such a way without having some idea of the results." Gianna courted.
"Good, because I did have a very good idea what would have happened to Shepard if things went, oh how did Ms. Jagdhund put it, went very very wrong. Tell me Ms. Parasinni, does the name Paul Grayson mean anything to you?"
Miranda watched as Gianna shot her a careful look. A look that spoke of a shadow of familiarity.
"That is classified, Director Lawson." Udina called out. "Specter level."
Murmurs erupted again in the tribunal. Hushed whispers, and barely spoken thoughts.
"I am not surprised that it would be, Councilor." Miranda lazily strutted across the tribunal floor, ticking the passing seconds off with the click of her boots on the pearl and obsidian granite floor. "Because you see, the people can never know how close the end can lurk for them in the shadows. Can they?"
"I knew him." Aria called out from the jury table, her expression one of careful consideration and caution. "He worked on my security detail when I ran Omega. That was of course, before he disappeared."
"Cerberus took him." Miranda simply said. "I don't know what he did, but he displeased the Illusive Man greatly. He didn't take failure or rejection very well."
"Why was Paul Grayson so important?" Gianna asked.
"Defense; that is enough." Sparatus growled.
"Director, what happened to Paul Grayson?" Gianna pushed.
"Silence!" Valern barked.
The cries from the audience told something different. "NO!"
"Silence? Silence when the truth is far so close at hand?" Miranda smiled. She looked over at the Prosecution table and she could read the look on Cassandra's face. Fear. fear of the unknown.
The Councilors tapped voraciously at their data terminals and Miranda knew what they were doing. They were all racing to control the damage she was inflicting. Part of her wanted to widen her smile even more as she relished the power.
"Paul Grayson was the subject of Operation Lightwatch. The Illusive Man was interested to see what would happen if Reaper technology, specifically Nanites, was introduced in to an organic body."
"What were the results?" Gianna pushed.
"Fascinating." Miranda looked back over to the Aria. "Tell me Ms. T'Loak, do you remember anything identifying about Grayson?"
She watched as Aria's eyes narrows for a moment, then shot back to meet her gaze.
"He limped on his left side."
"Yes. The Nanites corrected that, and more. They tripled his reflex time, and doubled his strength." Miranda said mechanically. "But that still wasn't good enough for the Illusive man."
Miranda crossed her arms over her chest as she set back on one leg looking out towards the crowded stands.
"The Illusive man used Grayson's addiction to Red Sand to break down his mental barriers. It was as Grayson's mind fell that the Nanites took total control of him."
"And so he became a Reaper." Cassandra hissed.
"Hummm, no no my dear Jagdhund. More like a death machine. A tool." Miranda smiled. "The Reapers, or the Nanites, take you pick; used him to destroy the Cerberus facility where Lightwatch was operating from. Through Grayson, they eliminated all of the operatives of the cell. They then used him to infiltrate the Citadel."
"Why?" Gianna asked.
"To open the Relay." Miranda quipped.
The buzzing and commotion rose again at her command and a sly smile graced her face. "Just as the Reaper Sovereign had tried a year before, the Reapers tried again with Grayson perhaps reasoning that a more 'covert' approach would work. They were becoming more and more desperate. The Reapers needed a way in."
Miranda turned to address the audience. "Why do you think Shepard destroyed the Citadel when the Reapers came back in force nine years ago?" She walked forward with a seductive sway in her hips.
"Director, are you so sure? Perhaps you are letting your pride in your 'pet project' blind you. From what I understand the second battle of the Citadel was hell in space. The Protection fleet was decimated, and the Citadel was rained with Reaper troop pods. They had nearly overran the Presidium when Shepard arrived with her ragtag band of Quarian and Geth ships. The Quarian and their Geth creation's contempt against the Council is well known. I am sure they had no qualms in acting the accomplice to Shepard's orders." Cassandra baited acidly.
"What?!" Tali stood up in anger.
"Objection!" Gianna roared. "The Prosecution's claims are hearsay! The Quarians and Geth have kept civil relations with Council Space."
"Yes, civil if cool relations, Defense." Cassandra sang. "Or perhaps Director Lawson, you will use the defense that the destruction of the Citadel was the only way to ensure that it did not fall to the Reapers."
"Objection deigned." Udina said aloofly as he looked over to the jury stand where a very smoldering Admiral stood. "Admiral, the Council understands your position, but we can not simply ignore history."
"Legion then stood and looked back at the Human Councilor. "That is a logical statement, but inaccurate." Tali then took her seat again, satisfied at Legions statement. The unit then looked back to Miranda. "Continue Lawson Operative, four point three eight seven minuets have been wasted."
"Thank you Legion." Miranda nodded to the Geth platform. "I will say Prosecutor that I have heard both theories, and I will admit that both do fit Shepard's style quite nicely. But you fail to understand, much like the most of the Galaxy fails to understand. Shepard destroyed the Citadel in order to buy us time, just like she did with the Alpha Relay."
"That is a lie!" Ambassador Somosk raged. "Don't try to use propaganda to cleanse her hands of Bahak!"
Miranda turned to face the Batarian. Her face withering and frigid. Her eyes treated him with utter contempt. He is a leech. No, he is a speck of a spider that deserves to be crushed under my heel.
"Ambassador, since you continue to try to propagate your agenda, let's have it out then. Shepard has never deigned what she did. She did indeed ram an asteroid in to the Relay; and by doing so she caused a supernova that obliterated the star system. She has always admitted that."
"And she should pay for it with her life! Somosk roiled. The Batarian's sneer displayed his jaggedly pointed teeth. "I have nothing to discuss with you Cerberus whore. Alliance junkyard bitch."
Miranda's cold smile only grew. "But I have something to discuss with you. Your appearance at the trial has been most telling Ambassador."
The creature's sneer only deepened.
"Your background boasts you as being a freedom fighter for your people. A leader who fought both the oppression of the Hegemony and from the Reapers during your people's darkest of hours. It is most impressive."
Somosk's sneer turned in to a smile that dripped of self satisfied preening.
"Yet what is even more impressive is the great pains you have gone to bolster and protect your facade."
-The Hegemony knew nothing!- A recoding played. Miranda turned and commanded her omni tool to come to life. Scores upon scores of files poured forth on to the Tribunal stage. "Secret communiqués, voice recordings of conversations; trust me Ambassador. It is all here, and I do have it all."
"It...it's a Lie! These are all lies!" The Batarian screamed.
Coldly Miranda turned to him, sauntering ever closer like a madam demanding payment from a John. "The reality is very different from the fantasy isn't it? The self styled 'Freedom Leader' is nothing more than a Hegemonist apologist and sympathizer who left scores of his people behind to be butchered and slaughtered as he waited out the terrible years in a hidden bucker like a space rat."
"And so you stoop to manufactured facts and dis-information..." He drawled.
"As I said, Ambassador, I have it all." Miranda hissed, and she again called the image of the Nanite to the floor. The Ambassador shuttered away in to his seat, his compatriots giving confused glances towards each other.
"How did Cerberus get their hands on Reaper Nanites?" Gianna asked trying to redirect the course.
"Why would you be interested in that?" Miranda asked with a tinge of sweetness to her voice.
"Color me curious, Director Lawson.
Miranda tapped in a few commands and the Nanite was replaced by scores and scores of still photos and small video clips that spanned the diameter of the tribunal end to end.
"The Council has noted Cerberus's interest in Reaper Technology. Well, the interest wasn't just expressed by Cerberus now was it? It is known that the Turians developed ship weaponry based on Reaper Technology and the Salarian STG have used Reaper code to enhance their security and infiltration network. The Batarian's even had a full Reaper to examine, though they obviously knew nothing of the dangers involved. Yet, what differentiated Cerberus and the Alliance's interest from...the others...was that they wanted to understand what the Reapers were. Blame it one the innate quality and tenacity of Human curiosity if you wish."
"What!" Admiral Mikhailovich roared from the jury stand. "You have no proof!"
The other members of the Jury were silent. Even the Batarians.
"Don't take my word for it. Please Ladies and Gentlemen, take a closer look at these files." Miranda said.
One by the images came in to the forefront and enlarged. It was evident that the large chunks of debris were from a Reaper. There were images cataloging the pieces to every detail and images showing two crates with the Alliance symbol on the side with hundreds of small vials. A vid showing the meeting between admiral Hackett and a Cerberus operative. They were seen exchanging unheard words with an image floating between them.
Shepard's.
"...The Alliance...knew?" a Tribunal attendant said aloud in aghast loud enough for the Vid cam to capture the audio. Admiral Mikhailovich looked considerably paled.
"These files were...procured from SAI mere days after they were compiled by a very talented team. The crates you saw with the vials did indeed contain Nanites. These were sent to Lightwatch, for analysis, understanding, and obviously...trials."
"Why didn't the Alliance inform us about this?!" Sparatus roared and twisted to look at the Jury. "There are Council laws against tampering with unknown alien technology. Especially in this manner!"
"Because Councilor, only key members of Alliance Parliament knew of this, and I am sure that the ones who did know are long dead, very much like Admiral Hackett. "Miranda soothed. "Let me remind you Councilor; Cerberus was very good at hiding and operating very much in plain sight. This operation with collecting Reaper Nanites actually was child's play when compared to other operations and programs that Cerberus was involved in...such as N7."
"Interesting how that program keeps coming up." Gianna said coolly.
Miranda couldn't help but let off a smile.
"Tell me Director." Cassandra blustered out. "Did you take any precautions when you were, 'resurrecting'' Shepard? A Control chip in her brain for example." She enticed.
"The station where Lazarus was based was rigged with explosives if the Nanites took over Shepard. The Nero protocol. And since you did mention it I did bring up the thought of a control chip, but the Illusive Man condemned it. He wanted Shepard, and as I said, he always got what he wanted. That is one time I am glad I listened to him." Miranda smiled happily.
"In what manner was Cerberus involved with the Alliance N7 program." Tevos asked. Checked anger resonated from her voice.
"Extremely clandestine and involved from the very beginning. Only a few people in the Alliance, Admiral Hackett again being one of them, knew the full extent of the N7 program. As has been shown to this Tribunal, N7 was passed off as simply another layer in proficiency rank for the Alliance Special Operations division. But as Councilor Sparatus so keenly pointed out, the Illusive man wanted something more than just a beacon. He wanted an Arbiter, a Vanguard, literally, for humanity. N7 laid the bedrock of that desire."
"Instead what he helped to create was a monster." Udina smirked.
Miranda turned and gave Udina an ugly sneer. "Ah Udina, still trying to pander to the masses while pushing your own agenda. How...uninspired. You have always reminded me of all the worthless career politicians of old. I much preferred Anderson's methods. More honest and straight to the point. Tell me, after he stopped Grayson, how did he return to the Council? I noticed a marked difference. You diminished in power."
"Defense, do you have any further questions." Tevos said tersely cutting off Udina before he could retort.
"And what about Arhoyt?" Gianna asked.
"Cerberus wasn't involved with Arhoyt. Shepard made it very clear that she was not working for or with Cerberus any longer after she destroyed the Collector base." Miranda said mechanically. I know where this is going.
"You said to Ambassador Somosk you have it all Director Lawson. What do you have of Arhoyt."
Miranda's eyes softened. She stood still for a moment deciding what to do. In all honestly she respected the man that was Steven Hackett. She had never really met him, but she knew of him by reputation. She also knew how Shepard felt about him. But ten years is long enough. I hope his memory endures...
She keyed in a few Commands and a recording started to play through the still and breathless air of the tribunal.
-My name is Miranda Lawson. If you are hearing this than I am dead, and perhaps Commander El'Jaid Shepard is as well. But it has to be known. The truth about Bahak has to be known. Start of recording.-
-Admiral Hackett. I wasn't expecting you.- Shepard's voice rang out to the vaulted ceilings.
-Commander you did a favor for me, so I felt that it was only right for me to debrief you in person. I also came to thank you personally for stopping the attacks on Humanity's Colonies. Of course that was all before Bahak went silence and reports started filtering in that the Mass Relay was destroyed. What the hell happened Shepard? The operation was supposed to be a basic sneak and grab. You were supposed to get Dr. Kenson out of Batarian custody and return her to Alliance space." Hackett said gruffly.
-And that is exactly how everything went, till I found out about Object Rho, and The Project.- Shepard responded.
-So that's what Kenson found. She only reported an incredible find. What was Object Rho and its purpose?- Hackett said with unease.
-My best conclusion is that it was an intelligent homing beacon. It informed the Reapers of a 'safe' access point in to the Galaxy, a side effect is that it sent off a beeping transmission that increased in rate and tone as the Reapers drew closer. It also had the dual function of being an indoctrination device. Possibly to protect itself.- Shepard said easily.
-How do you know that Commander? How do you know that the object was Reaper in origin?- Hackett asked critically.
-It...spoke to me...as I fought off wave after wave of Kenson's people.- She said in a detached voice.
-Dr. Kenson, along with everyone else associated to The Project, was Indoctrinated. Object Rho knocked me out with some kind of energy wave and Kensen held me captive for two days. They had set up a timer that was counting down to zero and the Beacon's tone pulses had increase markedly from when I first arrived at The Project, to when I broke free of captivity." Shepard said sharply.
-It spoke to you? You also believed that Kenson was Indoctrinated?- Hackett responded in a surprised and slightly unbelieving tone.
-Yes.- Shepard quipped.
Miranda could taste the bittersweet thickness of the air as the moments of silence passed by.
-I killed Dr. Kenson when she tried to sabotage The Project.-
More moments of silence passed.
-Tell me what the purpose of The Project was. Was it just to observe and Study Object Rho?- He breathed.
-No.- Shepard responded coldly.
-The Project was designed to stop the Reapers by destroying the Mass Relay in the Bahak system. I fired the Project. I started the engines that shot the Asteroid into the Mass Relay. There were only moments to spare before the Reapers arrived when it hit and set off the massive supernova.-
Only the sounds of two people breathing could be heard by the Tribunal.
-Admiral. I only bought us time...they're coming.- Shepard said softly but earnestly.
-and I don't know if we can stop them if they do come.- Hackett said.
Miranda heard how Hackett's voice betrayed the exhaustion, torment, and the frustration that he had been struggling to contain.
-Shepard. I don't need to tell you how many people were in the Bahak system when the Mass Relay went off.- His voice grated.
-The Batarians want blood for this. There is enough evidence linking you and the Normandy to what happened in the Bahak system for them to make this a reason to go to war with all of Humanity. It's not just about the Alliance. And if war happens, the Council will not step in, regardless if you're a Council Specter.-
He took in a deep breath, and lowered his voice. -And you know what will happen if the Reapers catch the Galaxy already embroiled in a war.-
-What are you saying Admiral?-
-The Alliance Parliament sent me to take you under arrest. You will stand trial for Bahak and in doing so avoid war with the Batarians. I can't stop this Shepard. I would if I could, but I can't. I am asking you to do you duty for the Alliance. I know you have, but I am asking for more because I have too. If I had my way, I'd give you a Medal. I'd even add a promotion to Vice Admiral for all that you have done. But you have also done a hell of a thing Commander.-
The room had fallen deathly silent.
Miranda's eyes drifted over to the Jury table and saw that Admiral Mikhailovich had left.
"Are you done Defense?" Valern asked. His voice was trembling.
"One more question." Gianna said easily. "Director Lawson. You said that Lazarus failed. I cannot see why, because it seems that you did indeed bring Shepard back from the grave. So then that leaves me with the obvious question and the one that everyone here wants to know. Is Shepard Human?"
Miranda saw it for just a split second in the woman's face. That plea for the truth, the demand for honesty; and just as quick as it appeared it vanished behind the woman's visage and mask of inexperience. But Gianna's words still echoed in the Tribunal. Miranda could tell that every eye, both in the chamber and from all across the Galaxy were pinned to her.
My next words will be the tipping point. She thought as her silken tongue moistened her lips. I have all the power now. Miranda closed her eyes and let the silence soak in to her very core letting a small warm smile caress her face. Oh this is intoxicating. There is beauty and power in imperfection and failure.
"Ms. Parasini, I am no more qualified to answer that than you are." Miranda gracefully gated across the floor to the gates of the Tribunal floor where Alliance marines waited to escort her.
"What do you mean you're not qualified?!" Tali spoke up. "You brought her back!"
Miranda turned and gave the Quarian a warm and comforting glance. "That may be True Admiral Zorah Vas Normandy, and maybe I need to reframe my statement. It is not my position to say what Shepard is and is not. I have my opinion, but it matters little when I will not be the one deciding her fate. I will not be the one to cast the verdict." She turned her head to the Council. "And neither will they."
She waited at the gates standing tall. "You will decide if she is Human or not." Before she parted the barriers leading to the outside world she turned once again to the Jury. "Or perhaps she is something more that cannot really be defined and as simply Human."
Author's Note: Chapter re-posted for a missing section! Sorry!