Chapter 22 has arrived. Mass Effect is owned by Bioware, so let's get to the story!
Ch. 22: The Echo Shard
Citadel
Commander Shepard
Shepard stood next to a taxi ready to go to the hotel. Suddenly Shepard's omnitool beeped and he looked at it. He opened his messages and noticed a new message from Tali. Before he got into the taxi he read the message:
To: Commander_Shepard
From: The_Tals_22
Subject: Hey!
Hey Shepard, how did the meeting go? I just wanted to say I accidentally left something in engineering and I would appreciate it if you could get it for me. ;) I attached a picture of it to this message so you'll know what it looks like, but don't open it!
Thanks, and I love you! :)
Tali
Shepard closed his omnitool and smiled at the message. He got into the taxi and headed towards the Normandy, wondering what the item could be...
Citadel
Javik
Javik stood in front of the Normandy's airlock waiting for it to open. The door opened with a hiss and he walked inside, thinking only of the secrets of the Echo Shard. It would answer his every question; he would understand his purpose now, and purge these strange emotional thoughts. Javik rushed through the CIC and pressed the button for the elevator. As he waited for the elevator he heard footsteps coming towards him. Javik spun around and saw Shepard walking towards him with a smile on his face.
Javik turned towards the elevator door. The Commander was here, but why? Was he not supposed to be mating with the Quarian? Shepard stood next to Javik and began speaking.
"Hey Javik, what's up?"
Javik turned to Shepard with a glare. "Everything above us is up, Commander, why would you ask such a stupid question?"
Shepard chuckled. "I meant how are you doing?"
Javik shook his head and looked towards the elevator door again. "I am wondering why primitives would design elevators that take forever to arrive at a floor."
Shepard laughed. "I wonder the same thing sometimes, Javik."
After a moment of silence Javik spoke. "What brings you here, Commander? Were you not planning on mating with the Quarian?"
Shepard shook his head. "You know I do more than 'mate' with her, right Javik?"
Javik turned to Shepard. "I am sure you do, Commander, but that does not answer the question. Why are you here?"
Shepard sighed. "Tali forgot something in engineering, and I need to get it for her. It sounds like it might be some kind of present for me possibly."
The elevator doors opened, and Javik and Shepard walked inside. Javik began wondering what kind of gifts Liara could give him...
Javik cursed under his breath and Shepard turned to him, looking at him curiously. "You know, I didn't ask why you're here. What brings YOU to the Normandy, Javik?"
Javik took a deep breath and exhaled. "I am planning on continuing my book for Liara. I've been having trouble lately but I believe I've found something to give me inspiration."
"Inspiration?" Shepard asked curiously. "What did you find?"
Javik turned to the door again. "It is unimportant, Commander."
After another moment of quiet the doors of the elevator opened to engineering. Javik turned left and walked to his room while Shepard turned right towards engineering. Javik needed to learn the secrets of the Echo Shard; he had to know the truth of his people! How much knowledge had he hidden away inside of it? What had become of his squad... of the woman he knew nothing about? He hoped desperately that the Shard would end his torture...
Javik opened the door to his room and turned towards the Echo Shard. He looked for a moment with wide eyes and began cursing: The Echo Shard was gone.
Normandy SR-2
Commander Shepard
Shepard began walking out of engineering with a bag in his hand; it was rather small but it seemed important. Shepard resisted the temptation to open the bag and walked up to the elevator, pushing the button. The elevator doors, however, didn't open; he had to wait again.
'Damn it, Javik left quickly.' Shepard thought until he heard a yell from Javik's room. Shepard walked over to Javik's room and opened the door.
Javik was kneeling on the ground with his hands on his head. He was cursing several Prothean curses only Shepard could recognize. Shepard walked up to Javik and cleared his throat.
Javik turned to Shepard and roared with anger. "What have you done, Commander!? Why would you steal the past of my people from me? I NEED to know what happened to them!"
Shepard put his hands up defensively. "Calm down, Javik. What happened?"
Javik glared and crossed his arms. "As if you don't know, Commander. You're the one who stopped me from learning the secrets of the Shard before, and now you steal it from me? I MUST know what happened to my men, my people, and my planet! I need to see it all, why can you not understand that?"
Shepard raised a hand. "Stop, Javik. I didn't steal the Echo Shard, and if you really wanted to look at it I wouldn't stop you. But you know as well as I do that the pain it may cause wouldn't be worth it."
Javik roared again. "It does not matter how much pain it gives me, Commander, anything would be better than the torment I'm in now! I need to drown out my suffering!"
Javik fell down to his knees. "I … I can't stop thinking about her, Commander. She is around every corner in my mind, she is in everything I see! You can't understand how much torment I'm in right now, how much I need it to make this stop!"
Javik suddenly stood up and turned around quickly. Shepard thought he saw a small tear falling out of one of his eyes.
Javik walked towards the terminal. "Commander, please bring the Echo Shard back. I need it... I truly need it."
Shepard took a step towards Javik. "Javik, I didn't..."
Javik turned towards Shepard with an angry glare; the tear was falling farther down his cheek. "Stop the lies, Commander, I need it! Bring it back."
Shepard backed out of the room and turned towards the elevator. He got inside and sighed. What could he do? He didn't know what happened to the Echo Shard, and he knew no one else was on board...
Shepard's eyes widened and he turned on the comm. EDI responded. "Yes, Shepard."
"EDI, which floor did the elevator stop on last?"
"The captain's quarters, Shepard. According to my data feeds Tali is the one who used it last and she is also the one currently in your cabin."
Shepard shook his head; this was confusing. Tali had wanted him to go to the Normandy for her, she wouldn't have come now. Shepard hit the button for deck 1 and turned on his shields; this could get ugly if something bad was happening.
The elevator door opened and Shepard walked out. He stepped towards the door to the captain's quarters and took a deep breath; he had no idea what he would find. The door opened and Shepard looked inside with a confused look; a Quarian who looked exactly like Tali was grabbing things off of Shepard's desk and throwing them in a bag. The Quarian turned to the sound of the door and held up a pistol.
"Get back!" The Quarian said with an accent similar to Tali's; she seemed calm and collected despite being discovered.
Shepard began glowing with biotics. "What are you doing here, you're not Tali."
The Quarian laughed. "Figured that out all on your own, did you? You may have discovered me, but there's more to come! We won't rest until peace returns to its thrown!"
Shepard took a step towards the Quarian. The Quarian began firing the pistol and Shepard leapt into action. The pistol rounds fizzled off Shepard's shields and Shepard backslapped the Quarian with biotics. The Quarian dropped the bag and her pistol and she slammed into the wall. Shepard grabbed her by the helmet and lifted her up.
"I asked you a question, what are you doing here!?"
The Quarian began laughing hysterically. Shepard roared with anger and slammed her to the wall. "Answer the question!"
She stopped laughing and looked Shepard in the eye. "It doesn't matter what I'm doing here, what matters is the future. Their glory will return! The peace will soon return! We will serve our masters again, the way nature intended!"
Shepard shook his head with a glare. "The Leviathan."
The Quarian seemed to smile through her mask. "Telling you who would ruin the fun. All I know is the Reapers can be reactivated! Their power can be put under the control of anyone! All you need to do is discover the proper signal and they WILL reactivate under anyone's mandate! My masters are so proud of you, you killed the AI! You have given all a chance for peace-"
Suddenly the Quarian began shaking violently. Shepard tried to make her stop moving but after a few violent shakes she stopped moving entirely; she had been killed. Shepard set her down and turned to the bag. Inside the bag were a few items from his desk, an OSD full of his personal information, and the Echo Shard. Shepard looked at the Echo Shard and stuffed it away; the dead Quarian took priority over Javik's foolish request. Shepard picked up the dead Quarian and lifted her out of his cabin; he was glad there hadn't been blood…
Citadel
Tali'Zorah
Tali sat in the hotel room looking everything over again. Shepard had gotten a sterilized hotel room, so Tali was enjoing the time she could with her helmet off. The hotel room itself was beautiful; everything was clean and bright, the kitchen was stunning, and the bedroom was incredible! The bed was soft and it felt smooth on her cheek. Everything about the room was perfect, and when Shepard brought the item...
Tali's omnitool beeped and she opened it. Shepard had sent her a message; he wanted her to return to the Normandy ASAP. Tali put on her helmet and face mask and sighed; shore leave would have to wait, again, and Shepard wouldn't get to know what the item was...
Author's endnote: Well shoot, what happened? Who's this random Quarian? What will the public think about this little occurrence? And why do I keep talking about the Echo Shard anyway? Answers will hopefully be in the next chapters, so stay tuned, and as always review, follow, favorite, etc.!