A/N: I've been reading a lot of stories on this site over the past month, and I often see Shepard coming to trust Cerberus quite quickly in ME2. Not that there's something inherently wrong with that, all our characters are different, some are more trusting, some less. I want to say this upfront, however: Morgan is definitely not going to trust Cerberus, ever. So, prepare to see a very frustrated TIM and equally frustrated Operative Lawson. The chances of Morgan and Miranda becoming best friends are... slim, but perhaps eventually there is hope for something like grudging respect.
As always, big thanks to all those reading and reviewing! Your feedback is like a cup of hot, black coffee to a tired mind inspiring and motivating!
Chapter 8 To Wake in the Arms of an Enemy
The first thing she hears is the loud screeching of the alarms, at first distant and dull as if her ears were stuffed full with cotton. Then they grow louder and louder, together with a woman's voice, urgent over the comms. She feels as if she has heard the voice before, but she does not know from when. What is happening? Where am I? I... thought I was dead, wasn't I? more important questions race through her mind, brain working overtime and trying to comprehend the situation surrounding her.
Aww, damn it, don't tell me that this is the sodding afterlife and Ash was right all along, she curses mentally, forcing her eyes open. The room she is in looks more like a cross between a science lab and a medbay, and less of something one would expect to wake up to in afterlife. Shit, how is it that I'm alive? What madness is this? she feels at a loss, almost close to panic.
"Commander Shepard," the woman's voice is loud over the comms. It really does seem familiar, somehow. "Commander Shepard, the facility in under attack. I need you to get up, arm yourself and make your way to the shuttle bay. Commander Shepard, you must get up!"
"Alright, alright..." she croaks, then trying to rise, but slumping back immediately. The sensation is like being stabbed with thousand needles all at once and her insides are twisting, it seems as if every piece of her body is aching as she tries to move. She slowly brings her hands up to her face, tracing her cheeks, finding deep marks, almost as if her face has been ravaged by some sort of garden implement. But there is little time to spend lamenting her new scars. If the woman on the comms is to be trusted and this is not some kind of sick experiment, she needs to force herself up and moving.
Screaming from pain, she rises in one swift motion, jumping off what seems to be an operating table. If these sickos have been experimenting on me... she thinks, grinding her teeth as her body slowly adjusts, the pain starting to ebb away. She shakes her head before grabbing a pistol from a nearby table compartment and rushes towards the nearest exit, deciding to for now trust the voice on the comms. I don't think she wants to get me killed. She would have had ample opportunities for it as I lay there unconscious.
The halls outside are littered with corpses of the personnel, all as one gunned down by what seems like hacked security mechs. In another room, separated from the hallway by bulletproof glass, she can see several people in lab coats desperately banging on the windows, looking at her pleadingly. A heavy YMIR mech appears behind them, unleashing a barrage of heavy slugs. Morgan instinctively ducks even if the bullets cannot harm her, then turns away from the disturbing sight of the glass covered in blood and minced internal organs of the hapless scientists.
The voice on the comms is starting to break up due to some kind of interference, before disappearing for good and she is left to seek a path through the facility on her own. Now and then some of the lighter LOKI mechs try to shoot her, but even with her body feeling slow and unresponsive, she dispatches them with relative ease, silently hoping none of the heavy mechs would get in her way. She stumbles upon some logs describing the incredibly expensive project undertaken by this facility, slowly beginning to understand that its focus has been her recovery and 'restoration'. But I was dead, wasn't I? she thinks, confused even more. You just can't bring someone back from the dead. That's... magic, not science!
Little further up ahead, she runs into a survivor, shocked to see her running around and shooting mechs. He introduces himself as Jacob Taylor and confirms what she has suspected ever since waking up in the lab. Her memories of Normandy's destruction, of her own death, they are not mere fiction. Those events were real, and according to Jacob's words, scientists have been working for the past two years to put her back together. "Welcome to your life," he says, watching as the truth slowly sinks into Shepard's mind. Two years, she repeats mentally, feeling devastated.
"The Alliance has officially declared you killed in action," Jacob explains. "The whole galaxy thinks you're dead." Gods. My friends... my mother... they have grieved and dealt with my death already, she realizes, her arms shaking as she struggles to take it all in.
As they proceed deeper into the facility, trying to clear their way to the shuttles, Shepard continues to grill Taylor with more and more questions. He claims that this Project Lazarus was trying to bring Shepard back just the way she was, she is not a clone or some sort of unshackled AI that is running around, convinced she is Commander Shepard. Morgan feels a little more reassured, despite the stinging pain of her recreated body protesting about all this running, ducking and shooting, she feels like... well, herself.
Taylor tells her a bit more about himself and the woman that has been speaking to her over the comms. She is Miranda Lawson, top ranking officer of the station and in charge of Project Lazarus. Jacob is her top lieutenant and in charge of the station's security. Even though Morgan finds the man rather likable, she declines to comment on his success as security chief, considering the hacking of the mechs is more than likely an inside job.
Lastly, she asks about the Normandy and her crew. Jacob's reply makes her breathe out a large sigh of relief. Almost everyone has made it off the Normandy, save for Navigator Pressly and some of the ensigns on the lower decks. He mentions that the alien members of the crew also escaped safely, meaning Liara and Garrus, but he has no idea where they would be now. Shepard doesn't care about details, right now it is enough to know her friends are safe. She only needs to get off this facility, then the first thing to do will be to get in contact with her old crew, write a message to her mother.
Another voice pokes them through the comms a while later, asking whether someone is still alive on this frequency. The man's name is Wilson, and Shepard thinks she has heard his voice before too, then mentally remarking that the man sounded more shocked than relieved to find fellow survivors. Together with Taylor they formulate the safest escape path, while Shepard wonders if the fact that this Wilson was serving as the chief medical tech on the station is of any significance.
Morgan readies her pistol, fearing that this 'safe passage' might lead into another squad of hacked mechs. Her suspicions prove correct very quickly, but she makes swift work of the opposition, as Jacob is already launching an angry tirade at Wilson. Shortly after that, Wilson starts yelling that the mechs have found him, reporting on being shot in the leg. There's no more doubt in my mind now, Morgan decides as they rush to aid Wilson. The others were executed cleanly by the mechs, shooting to kill and then several control bullets for good measure. They don't just shoot someone in the leg, leave them alive and then move on.
As they fix Wilson's injuries, it appears that Jacob also has his own suspicions, as he wonders how come Wilson even has the clearance to the security mech wing. Wilson angrily defends himself, trying to convince them that Miranda is the traitor. Shepard tells them to settle down and work together at least until they have escaped the station.
"Well said, Commander," Jacob agrees. "But before we move on, I think you should know the truth. The Lazarus Project, devoted to bringing you back, it is funded by Cerberus."
Shepard blinks, standing like frozen. "Why would Cerberus want to bring me back?" she asks slowly, glaring at Jacob. "Two years ago, I put several of their sick projects to permanent rest. I figured that would put me on top of their bounty list." At least it really does feel as if they have rebuilt me the way I was, she thinks, remembering Jacob's words. All my hatred for Cerberus... it is still there, with me, they have not made me an obedient, brainwashed little puppet.
"I can't answer that, Shepard," Jacob shrugs. "Basically, things change. Besides, Alliance declared you dead. Cerberus were the only ones willing to bring you back."
"Well, of course they declared me dead. I was dead! That's what you do when someone dies," Morgan snaps angrily. This is... all wrong. No one else has earned this sort of second chance ever again. Who am I to be given such dubious honor of breaking the cycle of life and death?
Jacob promises to take her to someone called The Illusive Man once they get off the station, man who would be able to answer all her questions. The name indicates someone high in the ranks of Cerberus, and Shepard quietly nods her agreement, deciding that it might be beneficial for her to play along for now and perhaps find out more about this despicable cabal of terrorists she has sworn to dismantle.
They finally reach the shuttle bay. As the door slides open, a tall, dark-haired woman steps up and without hesitation raises her pistol, lips tightly knit as the shot at close range takes off half of Wilson's face. Jacob is deeply upset, protesting, but Morgan nods approvingly. "Well deduced," she says. "I was wondering if I would have to do something similar myself." Not to mention the only good Cerberus operative is a dead Cerberus operative.
The impossibly perfect looking woman introduces herself as Miranda Lawson, leader of Project Lazarus. She is cold, professional and ruthless, everything that Shepard would expect from someone high in command at Cerberus. She is displeased with Jacob's honesty in revealing who they work for, and Shepard makes a note that Jacob does not appear to be as fanatically devoted to the terrorist ideals as most of the Cerberus operatives she has met before.
Lawson then demonstrates her heartlessness by refusing to look for any more survivors, claiming that Shepard is the only one who matters, but when pressed with questions why exactly does Shepard's life matters so much, she is evasive, claiming that her boss, The Illusive Man, will explain everything at length.
Seeing that there is nothing else to be gained by remaining on the station, they finally board the last shuttle and take off. During the journey to another facility where The Illusive Man is waiting for them, Miranda decides that it would be jolly good fun to run some tests, just to make sure Shepard's mental faculties are intact. She orders Jacob to pepper Morgan with a pile of questions about her past, her military career and so on.
Shepard answers a few questions before getting annoyed. When they start to probe about her memories of the Skyllian Blitz and Virmire, Morgan feels her insides twisting with rage, mental images of slowly strangling Lawson flashing before her eyes, and finally she ends up telling the Cerberus cheerleader to piss off.
In another anonymous, secret Cerberus facility, she is brought before The Illusive Man. Well, merely a projection of him, the leader of the terrorist organization is understandably cautious when dealing with the woman who neutralized so many of his expensive projects couple of years ago. Shepard listens to his words, scowling as he tries to make nice, trying to brush off the past, claiming they have common goals going forward.
She decides to listen for now, allowing him to explain. And the news, if accurate, are troubling. The Illusive Man speaks of grave threats to entire human race, and Morgan is surprised by his deep knowledge of the Reapers and their intentions. Her host tells Morgan that over the past year, entire human colonies have been disappearing, and he believes it is the work of someone serving the Reapers, just like Saren and the geth worked for Sovereign.
"Nobody wants to admit it, but humanity is under attack and Cerberus is the only group willing to do something about it. We're not as evil as you think, Shepard," The Illusive Man says amiably, lighting up another cigarette and bringing it to his lips. "Our goals are similar, we merely have different methods."
Shepard laughs at the absurdity of the statement. "Using amoral and detestable methods can alone condemn you as evil," she shakes her head. No, if these people want her to believe that Cerberus has changed for better, they will need to try harder. Much damn harder.
Still, hundreds of thousands of humans have been abducted from the colony worlds, in seemingly random strikes, and according to The Illusive Man, the politicians and the Alliance have merely blamed it all on slavers and pirates. He offers Shepard a chance to see for herself before she decides whether to work with Cerberus or not. The colony of Freedom's Progress has recently gone silent, and the Illusive Man provides her with a shuttle, asking that she takes Miranda and Jacob with her and investigates the colony.
Fine, I'll play along for now, Shepard decides as she leaves the briefing room. I'll use your people and your resources, at least until I can get in touch with Hackett and Anderson... I can't believe they would just sit idly on the sidelines, as thousands and thousands of humans are abducted by unknown enemy. Something in all this... just isn't right.