~Paige~
I was now in my room looking at a photo of me and my brothers. God, I miss them. I heard a knock at my door.
"Come in!" I called. The door opened and I saw Kaidan. "Hey, Kaidan. What's up?" I asked him. He walked in and took a seat in the chair.
"You seemed a little irritated when we had to talk with Liara. Are you okay?" Kaidan asked, concern showing. I gave him a small smile.
"I'm fine. What made you think anything was wrong?" I asked him. He raised an eyebrow.
"The way you looked like you wanted to rip Liara's head off," he answered simply. I frowned.
"I did not!" I denied. He gave me a look. "Okay, maybe I did…she was practically flirting with him. 'You must be remarkably strong-willed, Commander.' 'I cannot think of anywhere safer than on your ship.' Not really professional if you ask me," I crossed my arms. Kaidan chuckled.
"Paige, do you have a crush on the Commander?" He asked me. I blushed furiously and let my hair cover it up before I turned.
"No way! That's insane! I only just met the guy! How I can I have a crush on him if I've only just met him?!" I asked. I heard Kaidan walk up and he placed a hand on my shoulder.
"There's nothing wrong with a crush. Just don't let it get to you where you feel the need to rip Liara's head off," he told me. I chuckled.
"I'll try. Do you have a crush, Kaidan?" I smirked looking at him. He blushed a little.
"D-don't change the subject!" He told me. I let out a small chuckle.
"It's not like I'm going to tell anyone. I promise, mate," I said to him. He shook his head and sighed.
"It's not that, it's just…I don't really know if it's even a crush," he said to me. I knew he was lying, but I didn't want to push him. I nodded.
"Okay. But whoever it is, is lucky," I said to him. He raised an eyebrow.
"How so?" he asked me. I smiled.
"You're a sweet guy, Kaidan. You have compassion, you're smart, considerate, and no doubt know a thing or two about romance. That's what a girl looks for in a man. Unless they're a slut then they just want sex," I half-heartedly joked, half serious. Kaidan chuckled.
"Thanks, Paige. I better get back to my station. I just thought I would check on you," he said to me. I nodded at him with a smile.
"No problem. I'll see you later, mate," I said to him. He nodded and walked out. I started cleaning and looking over my guns when I heard another knock. "Who is it now? Come in!" I called. The door opened but I didn't turn around.
"Thought I would come and see how you're doing," I heard a strong voice say…John.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I said to him. He sighed.
"You seemed a little irritated early," he told me. Man…I was hoping he didn't catch that.
"Where are we heading next?" I asked hoping to change the subject.
"Feros. Stay on topic, Paige," John said to me.
"Look, it's nothing. My shoulder was just bugging me a little," I half lied.
"Alright…we're almost to Feros. And just so you know…I'm not interested in Liara," I heard him say. My eyes widened a little before I turned and saw him with a small smile.
"What do you mean?" I asked playing dumb. Please don't tell me he…
"I heard your conversation with Kaidan when I came to check on you. Sorry," he said to me. I blushed.
"These walls should really be soundproof," I muttered. He chuckled.
"So…you have a crush on me?" He asked with a smirk.
"I don't remember saying I did. I remember asking Kaidan about his crush," I told him. He raised an eyebrow.
"You didn't really answer my question, Paige," he said to me. Joker…help me!
"Commander, we have landed in Feros," Joker said over the com. Thank you, Joker! John let out a frustrated sigh.
"I'm on my way," John told him. John then looked at me. "When we get back, we're finishing this discussion," he told me. He then left and I sighed of relief.
"Thank you, Joker," I said. I then went down to the lower deck and got ready. Garrus and I then followed John off the Normandy. After we walked off, we walked over to a man who stopped us.
"We saw your ship. Fai Dan wants to speak with you immediately," the man said to us.
"Who's Fai Dan?" John asked him.
"He's our leader. He needs your help to prepare for the geth. They're making another push. Please. Up the stairs passed the freighter," the man told us. Its then geth started attacking and the guy who talked to us died. I took cover with John while Garrus took cover close by. I grabbed my assault rifle and shot at the geth. I got two of them as John and Garrus got a few of the others.
"They're not very subtle, are they?" I asked John. He shook his head.
"No, no they're not," he replied. We got moving then and made it to some stairs where we saw two geth stalkers. We shot at them, managing to kill them. After we made it up some stairs, we found the rest of the colony. They let us pass and we made our way to see Fai Dan. We did find him talking with a woman.
"Oh, Commander. I'm glad they finally sent somebody to help us," Fai Dan said to John.
"You're a bit late, aren't you?" The woman asked with an attitude.
"Arcelia!" Fai Dan scowled at her. He turned back to us. "Sorry, Commander. Everyone's on edge since-," Fai Dan was cut off by the sound of geth.
"Watch out! We've got geth in the tower!" Arcelia warned.
"Protect the heart of the colony!" Fai Dan ordered. We took cover and began shoot down the geth. Once they were down, we decided to take a look in the tower and ran into more geth which we took down.
"Can't these geth take a bloody hint?!" I growled shooting.
"You're telling me! You'd think they'd learn right about now!" Garrus agreed. Thankfully we finished off the geth. They're ship left the area.
"Now that the geth are down, we should get back to Fai Dan," I told John. He nodded to me and we made our way out of the tower. When out, we saw Fai Dan talking with Arcelia.
"The tower's secure. Thanks to you, Commander," Fai Dan said as he saw us.
"I'm just glad your colony is safe," John replied.
"I appreciate your concern…and your efforts against the geth," Fai Dan said.
"They may have been slowed, but they'll be back. They always come back," Arcelia stated.
"Help me find what the geth are after and you'll all get out of here alive," John told her.
"We don't know what they're after. They came, they attacked us. That's all we know. Their main base is at the ExoGeni headquarters. A good place to start looking if you want answers," Fai Dan informed. I raised an eyebrow.
"What's ExoGeni?" I asked curious.
"It's the company most of us worked for before the attacks. They fund this colony. The skyway leads directly to ExoGeni headquarters. You can't miss it," Arcelia answered. I gave a nod in thanks.
"Of course, there's an army of geth between here and there," Fai Dan added.
"I didn't expect this would be easy," John retorted.
"Then maybe I can get this colony operational again," Fai Dan said hoping.
"We'll get going then," John told him.
"Good luck, Commander," Fai Dan wished before we left. We made our way up the tower and to the skyway. Of course we helped two people against geth assault drones. Once done, we got in the Mako.
"Alright, time to head to the geth base," I muttered to myself. John started driving and I kept an eye out with Garrus. We saw a geth ship fly by dropping off some geth and armatures.
"The last batch went south. What are they looking for?" A woman over the radio asked.
"That's come kind of com signal. It's too weak to pinpoint, but there is definitely someone out here," I told John. He nodded as he drove. Garrus used the gun on the Mako to take the geth down.
"She's my daughter. I'll wait as long as I have to," the woman said on the comm. After we took down the geth we made it to a new area. "We've got movement…some kind of vehicle. Not one of the geth."
"Sounds like they've spotted us. They must be close," I mused.
"Forget them. We need to deal with the geth," Garrus told us.
"These people could help us out with that, Garrus," I pointed out. He sighed knowing I was right. We got out of the Mako and made our way down the hall where the people were.
"That's close enough!" A man said wanting to keep us a little bit away.
"Relax, Jeong. They're obviously not geth," the woman said sounding annoyed.
"Get back, Juliana. Who are you? What do you want?" Jeong asked us, obviously paranoid.
"Commander Shepard. I'm here to remove your geth problem," John replied.
"You see? You worry too much," Juliana told Jeong.
"And you trust too easily, Juliana," Jeong retorted.
"I'm just glad to see a friendly face. I thought we were the only humans left on this planet," Juliana said.
"Fai dan and some of the members of Zhu's Hope are still alive," John stated.
"I thought you said they were all dead," Juliana glared at Jeong.
"I said they were 'probably' all dead," Jeong replied.
"They're not dead. But the geth have really pounded them," I told them.
"We know what that's like. Those damn synthetics are relentless," Juliana stated. I nodded in agreement.
"I'll do whatever I can to keep them away from you. But I need some information," John said to her.
"What kind of information?" Jeong asked paranoid.
"Ignore him. The geth are up in the ExoGeni headquarters. Just a bit further along the skyway," Juliana told us.
"Those headquarters are private property, soldier. Remove the geth and nothing else," Jeong told us. My eyes narrowed, he seems a little suspicious to me.
"I'm not interested in your company secrets," John assured.
"Commander, before you go…My daughter, Lizbeth. She's missing…" Juliana told us.
"They shouldn't waste time poking around. We can do a proper accounting of our casualties after the geth are gone," Jeong told her. I glared, he really is a pain in the ass.
"That's my daughter you're talking about! She's still alive. I know it," Juliana stated.
"Where is your daughter, Juliana?" John asked her. I smiled a little. He is full of surprises. Not many people would put something on hold to help with a personal problem.
"She was working in the ExoGeni building when the attacks came," Juliana informed.
"Oh, yeah! There are several places she could hide. For a short time," Jeong said not really caring.
"If she's in there, I'll get her out," John promised.
"Thank you, Commander. Thank you," Juliana said in relief.
"How did you get split up from the Zhu's Hope colony?" I asked.
"Most of us lived closer to the ExoGeni building. Zhu's Hope was mostly used as a port. When the geth hit, we scattered. Until you told us about the others, we assumed they were killed in the first wave. If we had known they were still alive, we might have attempted to join them," Juliana answered.
"They're fairly secure now. Maybe you should do that," John suggested.
"No, no, no, no. I don't think that's a good idea. We-we have no vehicles and the skyway offers little protection," Jeong refused.
"Like the building we're in now?" Juliana retorted.
"Listen, our best hope is to sit tight and wait for company reinforcements. They'll come eventually," Jeong told her.
"Stay bunkered down until I find out what the geth are after," John told them.
"Of course. And please remember, if you see my daughter…" Juliana trailed off. I smiled at her.
"We'll find her. Promise," I told her. She nodded to me in thanks and we left. We got back in the Mako and made our way to the ExoGeni building. There was a little radio chatter we heard. We soon reached a building and got out of the Mako, walking from there. Some more geth appeared and we took them down. "These geth don't need much of an invitation to move in, do they?" I asked.
"They must want something from the ExoGeni systems. Why else would they bother with all of this?" Garrus asked.
"The only thing we can do is find out what they want," I said shooting down one last geth. We to go down a one way drop. Once we looked around a little, we saw a dead varren on the ground. Someone shot a gun and we ducked.
"Damn it!" We heard. John and I aimed our guns and saw a woman. She lowered her gun. "I'm so sorry. I thought you were geth, or one of those varren," the woman said to us.
"You're safe now. But why were you here in the first place?" John asked her.
"It's my own fault. Everyone else was running and I stayed to back up data. Next thing I knew, the geth ship latched on and the power went out. I was trapped. I tried to get out, but the way was blocked," the woman explained.
"We'll get you out as soon as we find out what the geth are after," John promised.
"It's not the geth, it's the energy field they put up. They don't want anyone else getting access to the-," the woman paused.
"I'm here for the geth. It's very important that I find out what they're after," John persuaded.
"I don't know for certain, but I'm guessing they're here for the Thorian," she answered.
"What's a Thorian?" Garrus asked curious. I was interested to know as well.
"It's an indigenous life-form. ExoGeni was studying it," she explained.
"Interesting," I mused.
"What else can you tell me? Do you know where I can find this Thorian?" John asked her.
"I might be able to, but not with those geth crawling around everywhere. Look, we need to get out of here, past that field," the woman told us.
"Do you know how we can shut it down?" John asked.
"No, not exactly. But I think the geth ship is powering it. I've noticed the geth laying power cables everywhere. You could follow those cables, but there's geth all over the place," she answered.
"Tell me what you know about the Thorian," John said to her.
"I really don't know that much about it. I think it's some kind of plant being. I know it's very old. Thousands of years, even," she told us.
"Why do you think the geth would be interested in the Thorian?" I asked her.
"It's just a plant. I don't know why the geth would care. ExoGeni was studying it, but I don't think they found anything special," she answered.
"Tell me about yourself," John said to her.
"I'm just a research assistant for ExoGeni. I came her with my mother. I don't even know if she made it out alive," she said. I smiled a little. This is Lizbeth.
"She's with some others from the colony. She's safe for now," John told her.
"She's alive? Thank god. I thought I was the only one left. Please, Commander. Just get that field down so I can see my mother again," Lizbeth pleaded.
"You stay put. I'll go open some doors," John said.
"Here, take my ID. This should get you past any locked doors. Good luck with that field," Lizbeth said to us. We all got going and found a door way in the back. We all walked in being cautious of any geth that might be lurking around.
"Stupid machine! Access encrypted files!" We heard a deep voice demand. "No, I don't want to review protocol!" We looked down the hall after making it up some stairs. It was a krogan.
"I am unable to comply. Please contact your supervisor," the VI said.
"Damn it. Tell me what I want or I'll blast your virtual ass into actual dust!" The krogan said. I looked at the guys and did a motion that said he was crazy. They both smirked in agreement.
"Please contact your supervisor for a Level 4 security exemption or make an appointment with-," the VI tried to say.
"Stupid machine!" The krogan growled.
"If there is nothing else, please step aside. There is a queue forming behind you for the use of this console," the VI said.
"Oh good. I really need to kill something!" The krogan said as he grabbed his gun.
"Like you'll get the chance!" I retorted shooting. We shot him down and he was dead. We walked up to the VI.
"ExoGeni Corporation reminds all staff that the discharging of weapons while on company property is strictly forbidden. Welcome back, Research Assistant Elizabeth Baynham. What can I do for you?" The VI asked.
"Uh, how do you know I'm Lizbeth?" John asked curious.
"Your access card identifies you as Elizabeth Baynham. Is there something you requite, Dr. Baynham?" VI asked.
"What information was the last user attempting access to?" John asked.
"Fetching data. The previous user was attempting to access details on the study of Subject Species 37, the Thorian," VI answered.
"Tell me everything you told the krogan," John ordered.
"I was unable to provide the previous user with any relevant data. Aside from lacking proper access, there has no new data available on Species 37. All sensors monitoring the observation posts at Zhu's Hope have been inactive for several cycles," VI explained. This made me more curious.
"What does Zhu's Hope have to do with the Thorian?" John asked.
"Species 37 is located within the substructure of Zhu's Hope outpost," VI answered.
"This is what Saren wants," I mused. The Commander agreed.
"Tell me everything you know about the Thorian," John ordered.
"The Thorian is a simple plant life-form that exhibits a sentient behavior uncommon with other flora. Through dispersion and the eventual inhalation of spores, it can infect and control other organisms, including humans. The Zhu's Hope control group has yielded interesting results. Before sensors went offline, almost 85% of all test subjects were infected," VI explained.
"Are you saying ExoGeni knew its people were getting infected?" I asked surprised.
"It was deemed necessary to access the true potential of Species 37," VI answered.
"So that's why they were acting weird," I mused.
"You should contact Joker," Garrus suggested. John touched his ear piece.
"Joker. Come in, Joker. Damn it. That field's blocking us," John cursed.
"We need to drop that field and get back to Zhu's Hope," I said to him. He nodded in agreement.
"VI, what can you tell me about the geth ship and the field its generating?" John asked.
"I have limited data on the geth. They have effectively blocked all sensors within the facility. I have detected unusual power fluctuations, but am unable to determine the source," VI answered.
"Please access 'my' personal files," John ordered.
"Elizabeth Baynham, Research Assistant, Bio-Medical Division. Security Level 4 exemption. You are currently under probation due to disagreements with management over established company policy. These sanctions may be lifted if your next evaluation is more agreeable," VI said.
"What triggered the probation?" John asked curious.
"You were marked as 'combative' about the operations of the Zhu's Hope project, specifically regarding the handling of the infected colonists. As a result, you were tasked with monitoring the safety of the colonists for the duration of the observation," VI answered.
"Tell me about the Thorian," John ordered.
"Species 37 was discovered several weeks ago when a small team was infected with spores while examining ruins near the Zhu's Hope outpost. The outpost was quarantined immediately and the studying of the infection began. Within 21 days, 58% of colonists exhibited altered behavior. Within 28 days, 85%," VI answered.
"Do you know how the creature controls its slaves?" John asked.
"The will-subversion manifests as intense pain if directives are ignored. The effect is severe enough that subjects are soon conditioned against even minor thoughts of rebellion. Observation suggests the Thorian views its thralls in a utilitarian way. Care is apparently taken to avoid injuring them, much as a craftsman avoids damaging his tools. As long as no action is taken against the creature's objectives, the subjects are free to pantomime a normal existence until specifically tasked with something," VI informed.
"What is the size of this thing?" John asked.
"The Thorian appears to be a diffused creature. Its cognitive abilities are centered in large nerve bundles, but it receives data from kilometers of meandering tendrils. We have discovered bundles approximately one meter in diameter, but these seem insufficient to coordinate the massive sensory potential it possesses. It may simply possess such simulation slowly, or perhaps there is a nerve cluster of a greater magnitude we have not yet encountered," VI explained.
"Where is the center of this thing?" John asked next.
"The Thorian is present as a weave of tendrils across much of the lower surface of Feros. Observation of enslaved subjects suggests there may by key clusters that are tended by thralls. Unfortunately, direct observation of Species 37 is limited or non-existent," VI answered.
"That's enough for now," John told the VI who then went into standby mode. We left and looked around and took down two geth that were by this orb of light. We then saw the ship.
"The geth must have anchored their ship to the side of the building with these claws," Garrus observed.
"Subtle as a boot to the face. How do we cut the power if it's coming from the ship?" I asked.
"Could the ship be dislodged? Maybe there's a flaw in one of the other claws we could exploit," Garrus suggested.
"It's worth a shot," I said.
"Let's find out," John said agreeing. We walked up to the glowing orb.
"This place seems almost peaceful. Do you think the geth were using this room as some kind of religious temple?" Garrus asked.
"Well, if they're looking for God, I'd be happy to speed them on their way," I retorted. We made our way away from the area and to a new one. We made it to one of the rooms and were attacked by three krogan which we shot down successfully. I grabbed some data from the terminal and we left that area. After climbing a few stairs we reached another area that was crowded with geth. "These bastards are lucky their easy to kill," I muttered finishing the last geth off. I grabbed more data from another terminal before we went up the stairs and saw another claw. "Just like the other one. We don't have the teeth to tear this out. We should keep looking," I told them. I looked down the stairs. "Such as there," I pointed. Unfortunately there were some more geth. We shot them down quickly and looked around. "This looks like a containment lab," I mused.
"It may be helpful. If we can dislodge even one claw the ship may fall," Garrus said. I walked up to the Shuttle Bay Door Control.
"Think you can activate it?" John asked me. I nodded.
"Yes, I just have to work those valves and get the PSI to at least 30," I said to him. I walked to the valves. Okay, PSI valve 13, PSI valve 11, and PSI valve 7. Once I activated them, I pressed confirm on the panel. With that, the claw he had just passed was broken off. It's then the geth ship fell from the building.
"Great work, LC," John praised. I smiled at him.
"Thank you, Commander," I replied. I then looked at where the claw had been. "The doors will open now and we can go deal with that Thorian thing. Damn. I would have love to have seen the face on their pilot when that thing toppled," I smirked. John chuckled a little.
"Keep your guard up. There still might be a few geth inside the base," Garrus said to us.
"I repeat, Normandy to shore party. Are you reading? Anyone there? Normandy to shore party. Come on, Commander, talk to me!" We heard Joker over our comms. John touched his.
"Is that you, Joker? What's going on over there?" John asked.
"We're in lock down here, Commander. Something happened to the colonists. They're banging on the hull, trying to claw their way inside the ship. They're freaking out!" Joker told us.
"They can't do any real damage. We're on our way back. Just hold your position," John told him.
"Uh…yeah. Okay. Well, we'll just wait right here for you, Commander," Joker replied.
"This place will be crawling with geth in a minute. Keep together and we'll get out of here in one piece," John said to me and Garrus. Garrus and I nodded in agreement and we all left the area to make our way back to Lizbeth. She was standing at the exit thankfully.
"There you are! We should get out of here. I don't think this place is safe," Lizbeth said.
"I need some answers. You knew more about the Thorian than you let on," John stated.
"I-I was afraid. I wanted to stop the tests, but they threatened me, told me I'd be next. When the geth attacked, I stayed behind to send a message to Colonial Affairs. I tried to tell them where to find the Thorian, but the power cut before I could send the message. I-I never meant for this to happen," Lizbeth said. She sounds sincere, so she's not lying at all.
"You did what you could. I'll help them if you can tell me where to find the Thorian," John told her.
"The Thorian is underneath Zhu's Hope, but the entrance is blocked. The colonists covered it with the freighter just before the geth attacked," Lizbeth replied.
"But why are the geth after the Thorian? What could Saren want with it?" I asked.
"Well, it does have unique mind-controlling capabilities. That's what ExoGeni was interested in," Lizbeth answered.
"Normandy to shore party. Come in," Joker said over our comms.
"What is it, Joker?" John asked touching his comm.
"We're getting a lot of geth comm chatter. Looks like they're heading your way," Joker warned.
"Thanks for the heads-up, Joker. You heard the man; let's move out," John said to me and Garrus.
"I'm coming with you. I might be able to help. Undo the mess I helped create," Lizbeth said to us. We nodded and made our way to the Mako.