Shepard awoke in the same park that he had been having dreams of. Was he dreaming or was he dead? He could see the ghostly black images all around him. He looked around and as he looked to the left by the warped trees he saw a boy stepping out from beyond them.

"Are you the Catalyst?" Asked Shepard

"No." The boy replied

"Where am I? What is this place?" Shepard asked the boy as he looked around, "I've been here before in my dreams."

"This is the collective subconscious of the Reapers, of Harbinger. It is where the minds of those Harbinger has enslaved or those he has preserved reside, a subconscious neural network, from here Harbinger controls all those who are connected"

Shepard was finding it hard to take in what the boy was saying, a few moments ago he was on Earth, then the Crucible and now here. He had a lot of question but no idea where to start, so he ended up asking the first one that came to mind.

"Why does it look like a park?" Immediately Shepard felt stupid asking such an irrelevant question with everything that was going on.

"What you see as a park, is your subconscious trying to piece together the neural network in a way that you will be able to comprehend."

"Wait, hold on a sec, you said this is the subconscious of the Reapers.. So why am I here?" Shepard demanded.

"You fought it, you've overcome it. But you still haven't worked it out? The child asked with an amused tone and look.

"Worked out what?" Shepard was starting to get frustrated.

"Indoctrination."

Shepard was stunned but for some reason in his mind, he was not surprised. Alot of things haven't been making sense recently, as he looked back and reviewed some recent events in his mind, everything that happened on the crucible, what Anderson and Harbinger has said. How could he not of realized this?

"So I was indoctrinated?.. for how long? Shepard finally replied.

"The process had begun the moment you encountered Sovereign, but your will was strong. It was a long and slow process and it didn't reach fruition until direct contact with Harbinger at the Conduit on Earth. When he attacked, the blast that had hit you knocked you out and broke your will. Indoctrination was just about completed then."

"Then how did I end up on the Crucible?" Replied Shepard, unable to hide his confusion.

"You were never there, you never left Earth. Indoctrination created the illusion you were still in control, still had hope. Harbinger had your mind and you had become bound to his will, his subconscious neural network, just as we had. But you broke free and regained your will."

Shepard's heart skipped a beat, if everything had been an illusion then does that mean it wasn't over?

"So then.. I didn't stop Harbinger and destroy the Reapers?

"You did. Your mind was connected to Harbinger's subconscious, just as was the Catalyst, by breaking free you broke Harbinger's control over you and the Catalyst. The source of Harbinger's power and control resides in the collective subconscious and is controlled by subliminal suggestion. When you chose to destroy the Reapers, your mind unknowingly harnessed the Catalyst's power with your subliminal suggestion which then led the Crucible to destroy the Reapers."

"I think I understand, but doesn't that mean I destroyed all synthetic life as well? Replied Shepard, his voice full of regret and guilt.

"No, only the Reapers. It was part of Harbinger's plan to take control over you to play against what he believed to be your weaknesses. He lied about all synthetic life being destroyed as he believed you'd never pick genocide."

The area started to shift around them, started to distort and fall apart. "What's happening?" Shepard demanded as he watched the world around him crumble.

"Your actions destroyed the Reapers, thus the collective subconscious also. This is the last spark of that subconscious before it fades from existence."

"I'm sorry." Shepard replied, feeling strangely sympathetic for the boy.

"Don't be, we are free and that is thanks to you. And to show our appreciation, we will leave you with a parting gift. The Mass Relays, a single power core from the heart of a Reaper has enough residual energy to reactivate a dozen Relays."

The world had now almost completely crumbled from beneath them.

"So is it over?"

The boy paused for a moment, "No, Harbinger's mind managed to separate from the subconscious. We suspect he now shelters in the mind of his latest agent." The boy paused again and looked up, "And now it is time for you to return" As he looked up the world grew dark and Shepard felt his mind once again slip away...