A/N: Ugh, not happy with this chapter, but I have been staring at it for so long without any ideas on how to rework it, figured I might just post it as it is. Just... don't feel as if I brought enough originality to this one. Bear with me, the chapters after this should be far more fun.
Chapter 109 - The Monster That Is My Father
"Creating mindless husks, it doesn't make sense," Liara shakes her head, while trying to follow Shepard's torrid pace as the Commander strides through the halls, still seething with rage. "Unless... it is somehow tied with Cerberus plans to control the Reapers..."
"It has to be," Shepard snarls angrily. "Or else the Reapers wouldn't consider this facility a threat."
"Then maybe the Illusive Man isn't completely in their pocket if they're letting him do this sort of thing, huh?" James wonders.
"Perhaps they have allowed him to retain an illusion of certain freedom in his choices, just enough to make him believe he is not indoctrinated and that the decisions he makes are still his own," Miranda says, looking as outraged as Shepard as she walks in step with the Commander.
"Doesn't change what we have to do here," Shepard exclaims sharply, continuing to lead them onwards, deeper through the bowels of the disturbing husk factory. "Processing, my ass," she curses again as they walk. "Don't think the refugees expected this kind of 'processing' when they lined up to get into the Sanctuary."
"This is monstrous," Liara nods, then hesitating. "I was going to say 'even for Cerberus', but no, I no longer think so. It is plain to see that there are no longer any limits for the atrocities they are willing to commit."
There are monitoring and research stations placed throughout the processing plant, and they stop at each and every of them, trying to pull as much intel as they can about the Cerberus crimes. Miranda is able to access several audio logs left behind by her father, detailed status updates of their sickening research, and her face twists into a murderous snarl, listening to the voice of the one person she loathes above everything else in the whole galaxy.
Henry Lawson speaks of swift progress in upgrading their 'processing' capacity and expresses great delight about the long lines of subjects crowding the gates, desperate to gain entrance into the Sanctuary. He speaks of the deception as unfortunate necessity, as if that would make his sickening transgressions somehow excusable.
There are more logs recorded by Miranda's father, one of them explaining the necessity of creating the husks for one simple purpose, to understand how the Reapers broadcast their orders. This has been Cerberus interest ever since the Collectors, they have learned it from Dr. Brynn Cole earlier, when the ex-Cerberus scientist revealed that she and her assassinated colleague had spent months studying the way that the Collectors and the Reapers communicate.
Hearing how the Reaper signal interacts with the nanides implanted in the subject's body makes Morgan tremble with anxiety when thinking about her own implants, wondering if Reapers could somehow take control of her by sending a specific signal. "I don't think you have anything to worry about, Commander," Miranda says, as if sensing what Shepard is thinking by the mere look on Morgan's face. "The Reapers have no idea about the modifications we made to your implants, they would not know how to control you."
"What about Cerberus, though? They could take control of me for the Reapers," Morgan manages, fighting the disgust that overwhelms her from the mere thought.
"My father claimed that they have made great progress, but they still did not know what exactly in the Reaper signal affects the nanides," Miranda tells her. "They can probably replicate the signal that Reapers sends to the husks, but to create an entirely new signal to take control of someone with such heavily modified implants... I don't think so, Shepard."
"Hope you're right about that, Miranda," Shepard replies, before looking back at Liara and James. "But if Cerberus takes control of me, I want you to shoot me without hesitation, and that's a clear order, okay?"
"You can't ask me to do that!" Liara protests, looking shocked.
"Don't be so dramatic, Lola, we could just subdue you and keep you safe until someone figures out a way to reverse it," James says, giving her a concerned stare. "Besides, Miranda says you'll be fine. Trust her, alright?"
"Yeah, alright. I'm alright," Shepard eventually mutters and they move onwards, through the empty halls of the processing plant.
Or perhaps not so empty, as they are suddenly ambushed by a group of Reaper forces, a squad of marauders emerging on the balconies above them and opening fire and a hideously disfigured screaming banshee uses its biotic charge to suddenly appear right on top of them. All this is supplemented by a pair of ravagers at the far end of the hallway, opening fire with their cannons.
"Fall back! Fall back!" Shepard shouts, realizing the hopelessly exposed position in which they have been trapped in. Liara and Miranda both activate the biotic barriers on the run as they dash as fast as they can to the safety, all the time under heavy enemy fire. When they finally reach a safe spot at the opposite end of the hallway, Morgan knows her shields are already down and James has fared even worse, bleeding heavily from multiple injuries. The two biotics are doing a little better, now targeting the marauders on the balcony, the heavy detonations throwing them to their deaths below.
Morgan is slipping out of cover time and time again to slowly whittle down the ravagers, while the two biotics begin to work on the charging banshee, copious amounts of medi-gel helping James to recover enough to help out Liara and Miranda. When the enemies are finally dealt with, none of them have escaped unharmed from this battle, all seeking to apply medi-gel, and James already looks a little woozy, forcing Morgan to warn him to take things carefully from now on and focus more on covering their rears. A clarification is required later to make James understand that it does not involve constant staring at Miranda's buttocks.
The hallway leads out to another monitoring station, this one next to a set of isolated labs. There is a banshee shuffling around in one of the labs, somehow lured in there by Cerberus, and it keeps throwing its biotics against the glass, trying to get out, so Shepard and her crew try to quickly conduct their business at downloading the logs and then moving on, disturbed by the loathsome creature separated from them by a thin glass shield.
Henry Lawson speaks more about the beginnings of the Cerberus research, mentioning someone called Dr. Nuri and test subject Paul Grayson, the name mentioned by Liara several times before in connection to Aria's murdered daughter. Dr. Nuri had been using red sand to break down Greyson's will, but Henry Lawson explains that their use of adrenalin has been far more effective and efficient. In another log, he seems to be in awe of the Reaper's method to create husks by using the so called 'dragon's teeth', admiring the simplicity of the method that allows the Reaper nanides to attach themselves to the released adrenalin, spreading through the body and hastening the conversion to the final husk state.
"This could be interesting," Liara says, looking over the data pulled from one of the consoles. "It outlines the distribution of the refugees. Some are selected to be turned into husks, some are indoctrinated and sent to the Illusive Man, the rest are used for various other experiments."
"Did you say they were sent to the Illusive Man?" Shepard asks her.
"That is correct," the asari nods. "We can probably use some of this information to track them down and find the Illusive Man's base. If the Catalyst is no longer here... that should be our next stop."
"Good thinking, very good thinking," Morgan manages an approving smile. "I'm hoping that we can take care of everything here, but having something to fall back upon is always welcome."
"So, Lola... looks like they got too far into their research on how indoctrination works, and the Reapers took offense at that? That's the gist of it, right?" James asks as they proceed onwards, to the next part of the processing plant.
"Certainly appears that way, James. What, why are you asking?" Morgan turns towards him.
"Just thinking aloud. I mean, this is sick, wrong, abominable beyond description, but... I mean, what if he really can control the Reapers?"
"Would you really trust Tim with that sort of power?" Morgan asks, blinking in surprise.
"Of course not, but... what if you had that option? To control the Reapers. I mean, if you controlled them, you could also destroy them, right?"
Morgan immediately remembers her talk with Hackett, about configuring the Crucible, and her own words. "It's still a bad idea. Nobody can be trusted with that sort of power and responsibility. Not me, not anyone else."
"Well, I'd trust you to do the right thing, Lola," James says earnestly. "But then, I'm just a big dumb grunt, so maybe you shouldn't listen to me."
"Aww, that's sweet, James," Morgan chuckles, as they continue on their way. "Still, I wouldn't trust myself. I mean, I would like to think of myself as incorruptible, but... better men and women than me have been seduced by power, and here we are talking about almost becoming godlike. If I controlled them, sure, I guess I could order them to destroy each other... but I could also begin to think, why not use the Reapers to help rebuild the galaxy that they destroyed? There's a certain beautiful symmetry in that. And then I could think... hey, why don't I keep control of the Reapers to keep peace in the galaxy? All good intentions so far, but... gradually, this could easily lead to abuse of this power, and it could happen so subtly that I wouldn't even notice. No... nobody should ever control the Reapers, it is too much like playing with fire."
"I think all those are valid concerns," Liara adds, as they carefully edge forward. "And who knows how much of yourself you can retain while also trying to control the Reapers."
The next hall of the processing plant is literally swarming with Reaper shock troops, at least two dozen cannibals, supported by several marauders. Already exhausted and running low on medi-gel, Shepard and her friends take things slow and careful here, playing it as safe as they can, trying to limit their exposure to enemy fire. Morgan does not like the look on Vega's face, his skin looks paler than it should be and he seems to be sweating heavily from very little effort, making Shepard suspect that his body is reacting badly to overuse of medi-gel.
After the long drawn out battle has finally ended in their favor, they come across more and more audio logs left behind by Miranda's father. In one of them he complains that even if they have a good grasp on how Reaper indoctrination works, replicating the process and turning it into a tool for Cerberus is an entirely different matter, his words giving Shepard hope that perhaps the Reaper attack has interrupted this sickening research before they had figured out how to take control of all the Reapers swarming the galaxy. Henry Lawson also refers to the creation of husks as a great success, remarking how easy it is to control them with the Reaper signal.
"There's more here, Shepard," Miranda calls out, having cracked the security on another console. "You will want to see this. Video logs of conversations between my father and the Illusive Man."
"Oh? Let's take a look," Shepard nods as they all gather around Miranda. The conversation begins with Tim demanding to know whether Lawson can deliver what has been requested of him, to which Miranda's father replies that controlling the Reapers is theoretically possible, elaborating on their success in dominating the recently converted husks. Tim sounds pleased even if the larger goal has not been attained yet and tells Lawson not to worry, expressing full confidence that any setbacks will be sorted out in due time.
"Real gentleman, your dad, Miranda," Shepard remarks, having observed the somewhat handsome looking middle-aged man. "Doesn't really look like the monster who has butchered thousands and... well, done the things he has to you and Oriana."
"He always placed great emphasis on appearance," Miranda nods. "So did the Illusive Man, however... there was always something a little... off with him. My father always wanted to retain the appearance of a successful, hard-working, but still inconspicuous businessman."
"What do you mean about the Illusive Man?" James asks.
"It was just a feeling, to be honest. Even when I was alone in a room with him... I couldn't shake the feeling as if there was... someone else with us. Strange, isn't it?"
"Perhaps. Anyway, is there more?" Shepard asks, a little impatiently.
Miranda uses the console to display the next recording, Henry Lawson speaking of their success in replicating the Reaper control signal. He claims that control of the troops is indefinite as long as they remain in close proximity to the signal. When Tim asks if this technique could be applied to the Reapers themselves, Lawson doesn't have an immediate answer, claiming that it is a much bigger challenge.
"Well, let's just hope that these sick bastards didn't manage to discover how to do it after this log was created," Morgan says, once they have finished watching the footage, Miranda unable to find any other interesting information on this particular console. After a brief confusion on how to proceed onwards, James punches a button on the wall to lower an access ladder, leading to the upper levels of the processing plant, hopefully bringing them closer to the communications tower.
There is yet another huge group of Reapers congregating on the upper levels, but fortunately they are not immediately aware of the arrival of Shepard and her group, not expecting anyone to arrive via the back entrance. Before the Reapers can react, their ranks have already been thinned by biotic explosions in the midst of their crowded group, the devastation furthered by James and Morgan both lobbing a few grenades in the thick mass of bodies.
Only a few of the ravagers manage to survive this initial assault, and they cannot put up any meaningful resistance following this surprise attack. The Reaper forces fall, allowing Shepard and her friends to swiftly progress onwards, Morgan quietly hoping that they are nearing the end, starting to feel extremely exhausted from the heavy fighting.
Her hopes for once are answered, as after a brief walk and then a daring jump onto a lift that runs through the length of the processing plant, they are delivered almost at the foot of the communications tower. However, as they get off the lift and are about to dash the last few dozen yards to the tower entrance, Morgan quickly comes to a halt as she notices the worrying sight before them, one, two... no, three brutes cheerfully pounding the last of the Cerberus troopers guarding the tower entrance. They quickly duck out of plain sight, hoping that the brutes would fail to notice them, but their luck has seemingly ran out, the mutated krogan-turian monstrosities starting towards them with bellowing roars.
The hallway they are trapped in is rather short and there isn't much room to maneuver in, leaving them at a distinct disadvantage. The only thing that works in their favor is the fact that it is also very narrow and the brutes can only approach them one by one. "Not good," Morgan mutters, backing off as much as she can, the others falling back with her, shooting frantically, Liara and Miranda's combined warp fields doing wonders in slowing the foes down.
The first brute collapses before it can reach them, the second one is already grievously injured by the time it charges them, Miranda having to hastily duck out of the way to avoid getting squished. The brute crashes into the wall where Lawson had stood, momentarily stunned and James quickly attaches a grenade somewhere on the brute's back, jumping away as the Reaper monstrosity explodes in a shower of blood and gore.
Last of the brutes proves more of a challenge, reaching them without having been even grazed by a single bullet or touched by biotics, charging between their ranks with irritating and dangerous enthusiasm. Fortunately, by now Morgan and her friends have developed good instincts at predicting when the brute is going to charge and who will be the target, always managing to dodge and jump out of the way in time. With combined efforts, the last brute is also about to go down, when suddenly, a very unwelcome guest arrives on the battlefield.
Liara is standing with her back turned towards the tower entrance, throwing one warp field after another at the brute, and completely oblivious to a banshee suddenly using the short biotic jumps to get directly behind the asari. Morgan's mouth goes dry as she sees the banshee raising its claw, about to impale the unsuspecting Liara and she screams out a warning, but it never leaves her throat as the charging brute just about manages to catch her with its long reach and whack her across the stomach, her breath stolen from her with the heavy blow to the solar plexus.
Dreading the sight about to open before her eyes, she slowly picks herself up from the ground, the images in her mind painting the gruesome picture of Liara's head drooping heavily as a banshee's claw protrudes through the asari's chest, her bondmate's body limp and lifeless. Fortunately, the reality is a lot less grim, as she sees that James has reached Liara in the last possible moment, knocking the asari out of the way. The lieutenant pays for his bravery, however, as the banshee's biotic nova lifts him off his feet and throws him into the wall next to the last and now dead brute. James groans in pain and remains lying on the ground, unable to get up on his own.
By the time they are finally done with the banshee, everyone have picked up their share of more or less serious injuries, ensuring that Dr. Chloe Michel will have plenty to do back on the Normandy. James is the one Shepard is most concerned with, though, considering that he is already suffering from medi-gel overdose, there isn't much they can do for him right now, other than disable the communications scrambler and call in Cortez.
The Lieutenant is aware of the situation as well. "Go on without me, Lola, I'll be fine here," he reassures them. "We've cleared the Reapers, it will be safe. If any hostiles appear, I'll just pretend that I'm dead, si? With these few scratches, it might look believable."
"Right, James... we'll be back soon to pick you up," Morgan replies, managing a smile. "Don't go anywhere, alright?"
"Wouldn't dream of it," James calls out after them as they depart. "Wild parties with the Reapers can wait, as far as I'm convinced..."
Shepard, Liara and Miranda quickly run towards the tower entrance, bypassing the door and entering the elevator. "Shepard, if Oriana and my father are still here, this elevator will take us to them," Miranda says nervously.
"It will be alright, Miri," Morgan smiles at her. "We'll play it safe. I will not endanger Oriana, and I'm sure Liara doesn't plan anything crazy either." Liara shakes her head at that.
"Thank you. Both of you," Miranda nods, swallowing heavily as her fingers tighten around the grip of her Carnifex. "Damn, this elevator is loud. So much for getting the jump on the bastard."
"Yeah. Just be really careful if the Clown himself is still here," Morgan adds. Miranda looks at her with a wide-eyed stare. "Clown Leng." Lawson rolls her eyes after hearing the explanation.
The upper level of the tower is a control center filled with blinking consoles and terminals, but fortunately that is not all they find there. Henry Lawson is still on the premises, hiding behind a young brunette, heavy pistol pressed into Oriana's side as her loathsome father is prepared to use her as either a human shield or bargaining chip.
"Commander Shepard," he calls out to her, his pleasant voice somehow making the man even more detestable. "What excellent timing you have."
"I wouldn't say that," Shepard replies, as the three of them approach without lowering their weapons. "If we had caught Kai Leng with the Catalyst here, now that would count as excellent timing. But I imagine he is long gone."
"Yes, he took all my research files and left us here to die," Henry Lawson explains bitterly. "And what the hell is Catalyst?"
"Doesn't matter," Morgan snaps briskly. "So, the Illusive Man left you high and dry, too? And I thought the two of you shared something special from all those video logs we watched."
"I don't care, I just want out alive," the Lawson patriarch snaps. "Damn, I should have predicted it, really. We played around with that damn Reaper control signal, forgetting that it could attract the Reapers themselves. Damnation. Things were going so well before that! With the Reapers attacking, I knew that the Illusive Man would pull a plug on this project. But you will let me leave, or else Miranda will not be reunited with her sister."
"It will be alright, Oriana, we won't let you come to harm," Miranda says calmly, looking at her sister. "You will be safe, I promise. Give me a nod if you trust me, Ori." A few tears escape down Oriana's cheeks, but she manages a quick nod.
"Very touching," Henry Lawson smirks. "So, what will it be, Shepard? My life in exchange for the girl, do we have an agreement?"
Shepard thinks for a while, rubbing her chin ponderously as she pretends to be considering something. "Alright, I guess I really have no problem with you anyway," she finally shrugs. "I was after Kai Leng and whatever intel he was carrying. So, I'll let you walk away with your life in exchange for Oriana and the location of the Illusive Man's base."
Henry Lawson does not take long to reach his decision. "Why the hell not? I owe no loyalty to him after he just betrayed me," he says, releasing Oriana. "There is a hidden space station in the Horsehead Nebula, in the shadow of the dying star Anadius. I have heard them refer to it as Cronos Station." He gives another look to Shepard. "Now, how's that for a measure of cooperation? I'm free to leave, I take it?"
"Yeah, as far as I'm concerned, you can go," Shepard gives another shrug. "But your deal was with me, not with Miranda. She might not be as kind."
There is a predatory grin on Miranda's lips as she takes a step forward. "No, I will not," she snarls, giving a sidelong look at Liara. "Now!" The asari's biotics flare up, paralyzing Henry Lawson in a stasis field, the expression on his frozen face one of utter horror as he realizes that his life has come to meet a violent end. Miranda launches a heavy warp field at her father, the biotic detonation ripping his body apart with tremendous force, killing him perhaps faster than the bastard deserves and spraying them all with a coating of blood and gore.
Oriana quickly runs up to her older sister and throws herself into Miranda's embrace, sobbing with relief. Liara and Shepard exchange quick glances before the asari darts towards the controls of the communications tower, starting her work to disable the jamming.
"Well, that worked out fairly okayish," Shepard speaks to no one in particular. "One complete bastard dead, a sister rescued, and while Clown Leng is still at large and we don't have the Catalyst, we do have the location of Tim's private little sandbox. I believe we should pay him a visit..."
"Don't even think of bringing the Normandy in alone, Shepard," Miranda warns her, pulling away from Oriana. "The station will be heavily defended. You will need the support of the fleets."
"Ugh... looks like I'll have to speak to Hackett... and try to convince him," Morgan sighs. "I trust you two will be joining us on the Normandy?"
"No way, Shepard," Miranda shakes her head, the woman's vehemence surprising Morgan a little. "My sister has had enough horrors to deal with, I want to get her to safety. We'll take one of the empty shuttles to Discovery and find a place for ourselves there. I want to spend some time with Ori before I return to action. But when you're ready to bring the fleets to retake Earth, Shepard... I will be there with you. That is a promise."