A/N: This chapter was supposed to be quite a bit longer, but then Shepard decided that standing there and listening to TIM's Villain's Exposition made her look like an idiot, so we had to scrap the whole lengthy chat...
Chapter 104 - The Temple of Lies
"Liara... about these relics..." Shepard says uneasily, as they slowly explore the temple, having passed the disabled barriers.
"These are all simple artifacts of religious significance only, I'm quite sure none of them are Prothean," Liara replies impatiently, her eyes darting around as if she were trying to notice something that is out of place, a relic or object that did not belong in this impressive collection.
"That's not what I meant, babe," Morgan says quietly, catching Liara by the elbow and making her stop. "Look at this one, for example," she leads the asari to stand before a bust of a grim looking individual. "Who's this?"
"That is Janiri, Athame's guide, who brought enlightenment to Thessia long ago," Liara explains.
"Javik, could you please come over here?" Morgan asks, motioning for the smirking Prothean to join them and stand next to the bust. "Do you see what I mean, now?" she turns to Liara, the similarity between Javik and the man depicted in the bust is staggering.
"But... but..." Liara staggers a little.
"Ah, you realize it too, Commander," Javik nods, his eyes hardening a little as he looks upon Liara. "This Janiri was no servant of an imaginary goddess. He was Prothean. So was this other guide of Athame, Lucen," Javik points at another bust on the other side of the great hall. "There is far more to your history than you know, asari."
"But this can't be!" Liara protests, shaking her head adamantly.
"The Protheans were involved in uplifting quit a lot of species, Liara, surely you must have suspected something..." Shepard starts, but the asari cuts her off sharply.
"Yes, but I thought they would have been... more subtle about it! To intervene so directly, to pose themselves as our deities, it is unthinkable!" she exclaims. "I did not expect that... that some of our deepest held beliefs could be lies!"
"Perhaps you wish to hear more, asari?" Javik asks, looking smug, clearly enjoying himself. "This so called sword of goddess Athame that she wielded against jealous gods who threatened asari ancestors? That was us, protecting you from a race called the Oravores. The goddess Athame's shield that she used to protect Thessia when the heavens grew angry? It was an asteroid strike. We deflected it."
Liara is pressing heavily against Shepard, shuddering, looking as if her entire world is collapsing around her with every cruel revelation that Javik makes. "We get the picture, Javik," Shepard barks at him. "Enough."
"But she is an archaeologist who claims to be interested in the secrets of the past! I am finally willing to share, and now she would turn me away?" Javik chuckles darkly. "We gave your people everything, asari. You could only count as high as your toes, so we took pity and gave you mathematics. We taught you how to plant crops so that you would not starve, we taught you all about the stars, we spent years to genetically modify you so that you could use biotics, all because you were deemed to have potential," the Prothean's face turns to a sneer. "Such a pity you did not live up to it."
Liara is trembling in Shepard's arms, Morgan worried that the asari might lash out at Javik with a biotic attack, understandable as it would be. "Stop... stop, please... enough, make him stop..." she begs, instead.
"The lady said 'stop'," James says, walking up to the Prothean, seeing that he is about to open his mouth again, the large human swiftly punching him in the stomach, shutting him up. "Enough, Prothy. I thought you were supposed to save your ire and hatred for our enemies, amigo."
Javik just glares at Vega darkly, but says nothing after that. Liara uses the small pause to gather and recompose herself, eventually being able to continue, though still leaning on Morgan for support. "He... is right, though, isn't he?" she asks quietly, pointing at another large mural on display, showing a tall figure of a Prothean preaching to a crowd of expectant and reverent asari. "Athame, she was no goddess, she was Prothean... and nothing about my people is real anymore. The asari are a lie, I... I am a lie..."
Morgan's breath catches in her chest as she ponders what to say, but simply cannot think of anything that wouldn't sound stupid or trite. "I love you," she ends up whispering to Liara.
"Then you love a lie," comes the depressed sounding reply.
"Don't care. I still love you," Morgan replies determinedly, leaning closer to plant a quick peck on the asari's cheek.
"You... well, we need to find that artifact... and I think I will be fine now..." Liara eventually manages, reaching out to squeeze her hand. "Thank you."
As they slowly catch up with Javik and Vega, standing in front of the massive statue of Athame, Shepard begins to feel a strange pull deep within her, something emanating from the statue itself. "There's... something up with that statue, isn't there?" she asks, looking at Javik in particular. "And if that is Athame, she looks nothing like the one on that mural back there."
"Yes, her image has been molded to become more like ours over time," Liara nods.
"You mean, as your ancestors tried to cover up the truth," Javik snorts, looking back at Shepard. "And yes, you are right, Commander. There is something about the statue. The Prothean artifact must be near."
They walk around the base of the statue, looking for some kind of clue, but finding very little. All the time, there is a strange and yet familiar itch that pulls Shepard towards the statue like a magnet. She closes her eyes and tries to free her mind, hoping to call the Cipher forth and reveal the truth to them, seeing an all too familiar image growing in the dark, empty void behind her closed eyes. "A beacon!" she exclaims, her eyes snapping open, certain in what her brief vision had meant. "There's not just any Prothean artifact in there! This statue hides a whole Prothean beacon!"
"But that's imp-" Liara starts, but immediately cuts herself short, lowering her eyes in shame. "I'm sorry. After what we have seen here, I think everything is possible..."
"Indeed. Your people hid it inside this statue. It gave them power and influence," Javik says. "Your people are hoarding the knowledge of my race for their own gain."
"Don't try to sound so preachy, Prothy," Shepard cuts Javik off, smirking as the satisfied grin on his lips fades. "Every race has secrets like this. The salarians, the batarians, the humans... I'm not sure the Council really knew about all the things that were in those Mars archives... but Liara, this certainly explains why the asari made such technological advances so fast. This beacon is amazingly well preserved."
"Yes... yes, I suppose this explains a great deal..." Liara admits, shaking her head. "I just can't believe my people would keep all this a secret..."
"Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone," Morgan says softly, watching James stare at her in astonishment, Liara and Javik looking a little confused. "Sure, if we come across the matriarchs who knew about what the beacon contained and still wanted to hide it, I promise to do to them what I did to Han'Gerrel, but I won't see the rest of Liara's people persecuted for this. And if you want to rant about how you now hate the asari and how they should be cast out of the galactic society because of this, go ahead, I can spare a minute. Personally, I have no time for pointing fingers. I've got a galaxy to save."
"Well... kinda makes me a bit pissed off, to be honest... no disrespect to you personally, Doc," James says, turning to Liara, standing there with her eyes downcast. "But I get what you're saying, Lola. And you're right... we got the mass effect technology from the Mars ruins. Not like we found the way to stars ourselves. Hell, if not for that, we'd have bombed ourselves to nuclear winter like the crazy krogan."
"And we learned the same from the ruins of the Inusannon," Javik admits reluctantly. "They were the dominant race of the previous cycle. It was our secret for centuries."
"I suppose you are right," Liara finally nods. "But that is all irrelevant, if we cannot access the beacon. Do you know how to get the data from it?"
"It would recognize me as a Prothean upon a simple touch," Javik says, turning his head at Shepard. "I imagine this Cipher within the Commander's mind would serve the same purpose."
"Yeah, it's just a bit hard to touch the beacon when it's inside the statue, you know," Shepard shrugs.
"That can be easily corrected," Javik pulls out his pulse rifle and opens fire on the statue of Athame, the green beam quickly ripping off the crust of plaster and revealing a darkly glowing smooth green surface of the beacon underneath. "If you were going to tell me that I will be struck down for defiling something sacred, just remember that Athame was an ancient, long dead Prothean and this will not have any consequences."
As Liara is still struggling for words, looking at the glaring hole in the statue's midsection, Javik is already walking towards the beacon, his arm outstretched as he touches the legacy of his ancestors. The entire statue immediately begins to glow bright green as the beacon within it activates, a holographic image separating from the Prothean artifact and floating over to be projected where they all stand gathered and watching in awe.
"Just like Vigil..." Liara gasps, looking at the holographic display of another sour-faced Prothean forming before their eyes.
"Yeah, has to be another VI..." Shepard nods, Javik returning from the base of the beacon to stand next to them.
"Obtaining chronological marker. Hold..." the VI speaks. "Timescale established. Post Prothean cycle confirmed." The glowing hologram floats up in the air as if scanning the view around them and outside the temple where the harvesters still fly around in large numbers and destroyers continue to level the asari cities. "Reaper presence detected. This galactic cycle has already reached its extinction terminus. Systems shutting down."
"Oh no you don't!" Shepard yells at the VI hastily. "You're not going anywhere! We just fought through a horde of Reapers to get here and we're not leaving without answers!"
"To what questions?" the VI turns towards her.
"We are looking for the Catalyst. We need it to finish the Crucible," Shepard says.
The green glowing image of a Prothean nods in understanding as they all gather around it. "I am called Vendetta, an advanced virtual construct of Pashek Vran, overseer of the project you refer to as 'Crucible'. He died fighting the Reapers in the battle of Tranbir Nine. Your remaining time is also at an end."
"Were all Protheans so... grim?" Liara asks, giving off the distinct impression that she had in truth meant a far stronger and more colorful word than 'grim'.
"I guess so," Shepard sighs. "Look, why don't you skip the long version and just tell me where to get the Catalyst! Or... no, don't tell me that you don't know this information either and that was why the Protheans never used the Crucible in their cycle."
"We never used the Crucible because we were sabotaged from within. A splinter group argued we should dominate the Reapers rather than destroy them. It fractured our order of battle. Later we discovered that the separatists were indoctrinated."
"That sounds very familiar indeed," Morgan nods. "Seems like you guys had your own Cerberus to contend with."
"Our studies of past ages led us believe that time is cyclical. Many patterns repeat from cycle to cycle. The same peaks of evolution, the same valleys of dissolution. The same conflicts are expressed in the same cycle but in a different manner and this repetition is too prevalent to be merely a chance," the VI projects some kind of complicated graph before them, but Shepard does not even look at it twice, caring only about the Catalyst.
"Such as the conflict between the synthetics and the organics?" Liara asks, the VI immediately nodding.
"Considering all organics end up developing along the desired pathways of Reaper technological ancestry, it makes sense that the cycles would bear a lot of similarities," Shepard shrugs. "It's what the Reapers wanted."
"That is possible," Vendetta agrees. "It is also possible that the Reapers are merely tools of a more powerful entity, responsible for the pattern."
"This is pointless speculation!" Javik growls. "Give us the information we require."
"Yeah, we need to know about this Catalyst," Vega agrees, piping up after a long silence, the conversation leaving him a little out of his depth. "Trillions of lives are at risk!"
"Trillions of lives are always at risk," the VI replies, somehow managing to sound smug and arrogant. "And if the Reapers have arrived to end your cycle, then this discussion is too late."
"Gods, even a virtual construct of one of your people is a complete asshole," Shepard groans, giving Javik a long stare. "Listen, you glowing piece of green turd, would it hurt you to just tell us what the fucking Catalyst is? We have the Crucible built and ready for deployment, we just need the Catalyst!"
"The Crucible is not of Prothean design. It is the work of countless galactic cycles stretching back millions of years," Vendetta just drones on, refusing to answer Shepard's demands directly. "Each cycle adds to it, improves upon it, and still thus far none have defeated the Reapers with it."
"Just answer the damn question, for fuck's sake!" Shepard yells, feeling her cheeks burning with anger and frustration.
"I am the last of the Protheans and I demand that you release the information about the Catalyst to us," Javik speaks again, also becoming increasingly annoyed with the way the VI is stalling.
"Do you believe that the present cycle is capable of defeating the Reapers and delivering retribution?" Vendetta asks of Javik.
"Despite my misgivings about their attitudes, they have earned their right to try," Javik shrugs in reply.
"Very well," the VI finally nods in agreement. "If you have followed the plans for the Crucible, I will interface with your systems and assist with the Catalyst to..." suddenly, Vendetta hesitates, turning around. "Indoctrinated presence detected! Activating security protocols," and with that, the hologram winks out of their view, leaving Shepard almost frothing at the mouth from helpless rage, especially once she sees the very familiar black-clad shape approaching them.
"Oh, this is just fucking unbelievable," she swears as all as one they ready their weapons, Kai Leng confidently standing before them. "The way this clown arrives just in the very second when we are about to get the intel, I just can't fucking believe this..."
"If I can ask for a moment of your attention," the Cerberus assassin speaks, withdrawing some kind of a small ball-shaped gadget that Shepard at first mistakes for a grenade, but then sees that it is beginning to form into some kind of holographic projection, similar to the Prothean VI. "Someone here would like to talk with you."
The holographic image grows to become a life-size projection of the Illusive Man, as always sucking on a cigarette. "Shepard," he speaks. "I should thank you and Dr. T'Soni. You've helped uncover the key to subjugating the Reapers."
"Uh, guys?" Shepard looks at her friends, all staring at Tim's gloating image. "Did someone issue a fucking ceasefire just because some idiot wants to spout their brainwashed lunatic ramblings at us? Ignore Tim and shoot his clown, NOW!"
Kai Leng almost jumps from surprise as the bullet from Shepard's rifle takes a chunk out of his barriers, and now Liara, Javik and Vega are firing as well, quickly eroding the shields of the startled assassin who clearly has not expected that Shepard would act so dishonorably, choosing to ignore the Illusive Man in a most insulting and demeaning fashion.
"Gunship! Gunship!" Leng squeals like a pig about to be slaughtered, his barriers dropping and several shots strike true as he dives for cover behind one of the artifact stands. "Target the supports! Target the supports!" Kai Leng screams as the gunship suddenly appears above the entrance to the inner sanctum, hovering in the air before releasing a salvo of rockets, heading for Shepard and her friends.
"Oh... shit!" Morgan exclaims, throwing herself on the ground and pulling Liara with her as heavy explosions rock the entire hall, the support beams toppling and pulling large sections of the ceiling down with it, crashing on Shepard and her friends. Morgan quickly pulls Liara with her between two artifact stands, hoping that the gap will create a safe pocket and protect them.
One of the massive support beams cuts deep into the floor, missing Shepard's feet by a few inches, and then a section of the roof comes down on them, creating almost like a small, secure tent. The bad news, however, is that they are completely and utterly trapped, buried under the rubble and unable to do anything about Clown Leng simply waltzing up to the Prothean beacon, downloading the relevant data and then leaving behind a virus to make sure that they can never obtain the critical intel about the Catalyst...