DISCLAIMER – I do not own Mass Effect franchise, the story, or any of its characters. All rights go to Bioware.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Chapter posted on 31.1.2017.

Tags: Action, Sci-fi, Adventure, Friendship building, Love.

Rated M – for mature and adult themes.

Enjoy…

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Chapter 15 – Revelations

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"Well, physically, you're fine, Commander," Doctor Chakwas declared as she shut of her medical omni-tool.

"Well, that's good to hear!" Ashley piped up perkily. "Considering how it was with Captain Anderson, it'd set up a bad rep for the ship if both of its CO's had to be relieved of duty right after their first mission."

"What? You don't think I'd be a good commanding officer, Williams?" Jaina called out with a good-natured smirk.

"Now, that'd be telling, ma'am," Ashley replied in a mock-innocent way.

The people around them chuckled.

The entire team was still down on the colony, currently sitting or standing around a large set of chambers that served as the colony's clinic – a well-equipped one, at that – located on the second floor of one of the small side towers above the main rooftop plateau upon which the main part of Zhu's Hope was located. Nobody else was here; not now, at least. The colonists were only now beginning to wake up from their sleep.

"Regardless," the matronly doctor continued, "though you may be in the clear physically, Commander, you should know that I am, however, detecting some very unusual brain patterns. Have you experienced any dizziness or nausea?"

"No, nothing of the sort," he replied as he stood up from the chair and adjusted his gear. "My sense of balance is unaffected, my eyesight is sharp, and I actually feel fresh and alert." He shook his head. "It's entirely different from anything like what you said, doc."

People were silent as Marcus looked the side, the contemplating frown creasing his brow.

"I can't explain it exactly, but I feel different," he said at last. "It's like seeing things in a different way."

He raised his ungloved hand and touched the desk in front of him, then removed it and looked at his palm.

"I feel the need to touch things," he said. "It's almost as if I'm expecting something to happen. There's nothing, of course, but it doesn't feel right that it is so."

"Your mind is adopting the Cipher, Commander," the asari, Shiala, spoke up from where she was sitting on a medical bed, drinking a cup of hot chocolate, slowly recovering from her ordeal. "You have been given a unique gift – to know how a Prothean thinks."

"If that is true," Chakwas spoke, "then the best medical explanation I can come up with is that your brain is undergoing a process of developing both new neurons and new neural links that would simulate a Prothean's neural physiology. Frankly, I've never seen anything like this in my medical career."

"It is not uncommon amongst the asari, Doctor Chakwas," Liara spoke. "The nature of our mind meld is such that we can adopt some neural physiology characteristics of our partners. Though it is only of minor magnitude."

"Be that as it may with asari, dear," Chakwas spoke with doctor's concern, "this is a human mind we're talking about. We just don't know what will happen."

Marcus spoke up then, addressing Shiala: "Is this what happened to Saren?"

"I assume it is so," the asari commando said. "I didn't have much chance of seeing the results before I was cocooned in the Thorian's pod. Whatever the case, though, I don't think Saren has much advantage over you, even though he did get the Cipher before you did. In fact, I think you are the one who has an advantage over him."

"Why?"

"When Saren traded with the Thorian in exchange for the Cipher, he had to use me as a medium for the Thorian to transfer the knowledge to him."

"The… poly-meld, right?"

Shiala nodded. "That transfer method was the only thing Saren had available. But when I became a part of the Thorian, the Thorian then studied my body. He… it… was surprisingly quick and efficient at it. It joined minds with me using its own method, and learned from me – our language, our way of thinking – and it also found the way to make a more efficient mind meld. That is what was given to you, Commander. The Cipher you received was much clearer, much stronger, and much more efficient than the one Saren got. He might very well need weeks for the Cipher to truly take root and manifest in his brain, and even more to actually make heads or tails from the beacon imprints. But you, on the other hand, already feel and are tapping into the Cipher's changes in you."

"It'd be good if it is as you say it is, Shiala," Jaina said. "It'd be good to be ahead of Saren in something, at least."

"I agree," Marcus said. "Right now, I'd take any chance I'd get."

"How about the imprint that the beacon gave you?" Jaina asked. "Does it seem a bit clearer now?"

Marcus thought on it for a moment, just letting his mind wander over the memories that were imprinted into his mind. Erratic flashes, static, noise – all of that was now almost gone. The images were now clearer, steadier, easy to look at where before he had to struggle to keep an image from running away from him after no more than a second or two. It was still far from fully clear and focused, but he could tell that there was an improvement already.

"It is clearer, now," he admitted. "Nothing useful, however; not yet. The Thorian said to give it a bit of time, and I will. But right now, I need to know what is going on, Shiala. You were a part of Saren's crew. I think it's time you explain just what the hell is that maniac doing. I mean – trying to summon ancient genocidal machines?!"

Shiala took a deep breath as she lowered her gaze to the floor.

"I wish there was a clear-cut explanation, Commander," she replied. "But the whole thing is convoluted beyond measure."

Jaina spoke up as she took a few steps around:

"We know that he is searching for the so-called Conduit and that the purpose of that is so that he uses it to enable the return of the Reapers, the sentient machines that destroyed the Protheans… What we don't know, however, is why he's doing what he's doing. If we did, then we might be able to truly get ahead of him."

Marcus sat down on a chair and crossed his ankle over his knee as he leaned back and scrutinized the asari commando with his gaze.

"What was your role in all this, anyway?" he asked.

"I was a follower of Matriarch Benezia," Shiala said, then shrugged. "When she joined Saren, so did I, as well as almost all of Benezia's followers."

"Why?" Jaina asked.

The asari commando sighed.

"A little over ten years ago, Benezia started working with Saren," she said. "At first, they were just associates – two powerful, rich, and influential figures that had worked together to shape the Galactic affairs. With her as an influential Matriarch, and him as a Spectre, they could do almost anything. Before he met her, Saren was already an accomplished Spectre. When they started working together, he gained power unlike any other.

"But, as the time went on, Benezia began to notice a change in Saren. He was becoming more and more obsessed with countering humanity, and had begun openly voicing his plans of completely subjugating them; and violently at that. So, Benezia joined him, thinking her presence would help her sway him into a less violent path."

"Sounds to me like it happened the other way around," Jaina murmured.

"Which doesn't make any sense," Marcus stated. "Matriarchs are not morons. They have centuries of experience. No offence to all present, but nobody manipulates like asari do. What happened?"

"It's Saren's ship," Shiala stated ominously.

"That dreadnought?" Jaina asked.

Shiala nodded. "It's a warship of unprecedented power, unlike anything I've ever seen."

"You don't need to tell me," Jaina said ruefully as she crossed her arms and leaned back against a desk. "I had a close shave against its weapons. It beats anything the Alliance has. Hell – what anyone has!"

"That's not its only weapon," Shiala said gravely. "The Sovereign – the name Saren gave to the ship – has a much more insidious tool at its disposal. I'm not an expert, but it's some sort of energy field. When a person is near Sovereign, that field interacts with the person's mind, slowly but surely driving the person to think that Saren's way is the true way. The process is subtle, but it is absolute. It happened to Benezia… and it happened to me."

"Are you telling me that a piece of technology would really have the ability to control the mind?" Marcus asked skeptically. "Like the Thorian mentioned down there?"

Doctor Chakwas spoke up:

"I'm surprised that you ask that, Commander. You know well that virtually every clandestine agency in the Galaxy uses advanced neural-interfacing technology for interrogation purposes or for deep-level mental conditioning of their agents. And, besides, you know well what a batarian slave control chip does – a most vile piece of tech if there ever was one. In all those cases, the tech works to alter a person's neural landscape – identifying zones of brain activity associated with certain thought patterns and then working to either unravel the local pieces of the neural network or to create new links – thus causing a person's thought patterns to radically change."

"Yes, I know, but all of those technology solutions you mentioned require them to be implanted directly into the cranium," Marcus said. "And not only that, but they need a nearby external computer terminal that they're linked with so that it can control the process. But this thing that Shiala says is not an invasive operation – it's just a goddamn signal. It works by just being near the damn ship!"

Chakwas nodded. "I agree," she said. "What Shiala is speaking of is simply far beyond anyone's technological prowess."

"Even geth?" Jaina asked as if she already knew the answer.

"They'd have needed tens of thousands of living test subjects from each of the species in order to find a way through which their brains work to even begin to think of developing a basic prototype of this kind of advance remote mind control," Chakwas said grimly. "And I do mean basic. Batarian slave chips work with brute force, and they often leave their victim barely coherent. This indoctrination, apparently, leaves the victim fully functional and acting normally. To achieve that kind of level of control, the Geth would need to raid whole colonies to get enough test subjects for the systems development. Something like that, even if the colony was deep in the Terminus, would surely have been picked up."

"So, it's just as I expected," Marcus said grimly.

Jaina looked down at him. "You're thinking that the Sovereign isn't a geth ship, aren't you?" she stated.

"You're right – I don't think it's a geth ship," he said. "Shiala, do you know where Saren got it?"

"No, I do not," Shiala replied gravely. "But you are right about your assumption, Commander, I can tell you that much. Many might think that Sovereign is a geth ship, but it is most definitely not! I was on geth vessels while I was with Saren, and I can tell you for sure that Sovereign is nothing like them. Geth vessels are not exactly ergonomic since geth don't need comfort, but even they follow some basic and well-known concepts of shipbuilding.

"The Sovereign, however, is completely alien in its design. Its internal layout is not just non-ergonomic, but seems as if it was never even meant for people. There are no decks, no elevators, no service stairs or ladders. The hallways defy logic, always curving and branching unexpectedly, and the chambers we used as crew quarters were actually made from prefab sections that were attached to the bulkheads. The only thing that seemed to be already made and incorporated into the ship was the chamber that Saren used as the Command Bridge.

"Other than that, there were no other chambers whatsoever. The crew was non-existent. Other than us, commandos, Benezia, and Saren, there were only a few more geth around – far too few to man a ship of that size. We never saw anything that resembled engineering. There were no corridors that led there, there were no comm reports from other sections of the ship. There were only… only whispers coming from the distance… apparitions in the corners of your eyes that would disappear when you looked, and a constant sense that there was someone right behind you, watching.

"It was not long that we realized that the only way one could hope to escape such sensations was if she was to be near Saren and heed Saren's wishes. Soon enough, we all became willing slaves to his will." Shiala then looked at Liara and said, "Even Benezia."

Liara said nothing, expressed nothing. Except the tightening around her eyes, she braced firmly through the torrent of conclusions that the information was bringing.

"What about now?" Jaina asked. "Do you still feel the whispers and see shadowy figures?"

"Not anymore," she said with great relief evident in her voice. "Since my time with the Thorian, something happened. Like the colonists, it made its influence on me. Maybe it's the spores, or maybe it is something else, but I no longer feel that terrible pull that the Sovereign had on me. It is still there – I can feel it, just sitting in the back of my mind – but it is firmly contained, forbidden from touching any more of my mind."

Marcus and Jaina shared a somber look, before turning to look at Shiala.

"What to do with you, now…" Jaina sighed as she mused out loud and sized up the asari commando.

"If it's alright with you, I'd like to help the colonists," Shiala said.

"Pardon my bluntness, but what can a commando like you do for a colony like this?" Jaina asked.

"Not the services of the commando, but there is something quite important that I can do," Shiala spoke. "You see, the Thorian has become a… what do you humans call it… ellynfant in the room?"

"Elephant," Jaina corrected.

Shiala nodded and continued: "The colonists have lived for over a decade thinking that they would build a life here. Suddenly, bad luck came along and told them that they have a neighbor who had a house there long before they did; a neighbor who can be downright nasty if pissed off, but who will not mind them staying."

"Sounds about right," Jaina said, then squinted. "Where are you going with this?"

"The colonists will most certainly feel angry and violated for being used by the Thorian, Commander," Shiala said. "They will feel like leaving the colony in fear, and this fear and anger might lead to a desire for retribution. But after ten years of building, they feel that this is their home. That may very well sway them to stay.

"What I want, Commander, is to help bridge the gap that exists between the colonists and the Thorian. I wish to convince them that what happened with the Thorian will never happen again, that those that feel they must now run away don't actually have to, and that those that stay can live with their new neighbor. I want to mediate both sides, and ensure we can all coexist to a mutual benefit."

"A noble cause," Jaina commented after a moment. "And a hard and a long-lasting one."

"Nothing less would be expected if I were to mitigate the suffering to which I was in part to blame."

Jaina looked at Marcus. He nodded.

"We will allow you this, Shiala," Jaina said.

"Thank you, Commanders," the asari replied, sincerity flowing through her voice.

Garrus spoke up:

"Not to be the one to pour ground glass in your drink, but what about the Alliance? They might not be so fond of Thorian. Or the Council, for that matter; I know there are many agencies that would just love to perform all kinds of tests on the beastie. You know – the kind that makes the test subject very angry and confrontational?"

"The Alliance and the Council can do jack shit about the Thorian," Marcus declared firmly from where he sat in his chair. "Feros is a garden world, and Thorian covers much of its surface. Hell – Thorian is the garden that makes this world. To kill it would mean destroying a garden world, and that's against all Citadel conventions. Besides, the asari will jump at the chance to make contact with such an alien creature. They might be tenacious enough to stop salarians from attempting to do experiments on it, at least the invasive ones. The turans? They're dextro-amino; they won't care. The only thing that cannot be controlled are rogue and pirate agencies, but that is what will always cause trouble anywhere."

"I will mediate with the Thorian and teach it of these things," Shiala offered readily. "I will ensure that relations don't suffer because of the few rotten apples."

"Good," Marcus nodded. "With that, I declare this resolved."

Wrex barked a laugh from where he was leaning against the wall.

"Shit, Shepard," he chuckled, "I wish those pyjacks at the Citadel solved situations so quickly."

Garrus spoke up, "It is more likely that they will form a committee to find a solution to what kind of team should be sent here to assess the situation and write a report on it."

"And that's all they'll ever be able to do," Marcus said with finality, and then looked at Shiala. "You best begin with helping the colonists as soon as possible. The sooner you start, the faster we can achieve stability in this colony, which is in everyone's best interest."

"I will start immediately," Shiala stated readily, "if you don't want anything else from me, that is."

Marcus shook his head, and Shiala immediately stood up and left.

An ominous silence descended upon the gathered crowd.

"Well, that was a lot of info revealed in one sitting," Garrus said. "The Thorian, the Cipher, the Reapers confirmed as the destroyers of Protheans…" The turian shook his head.

Tali spoke up: "That last makes me very disconcerted," she said as she rubbed her forearm. "To us, quarians, having Geth as a scare-story is bad enough. Having ancient machines that killed a far more advanced species than any of ours are? Something like that is downright terrifying! And they can control minds!"

"Those ancient machines aren't here, yet," Marcus said in a low, grim voice, while he sat with his elbows on his knees, his fingers laced together. "Jaina, you got the render of that ship from the Normandy's sensors?"

Jaina nodded and activated her omni-tool, bringing up the file and flinging it into a nearby terminal. The three-dimensional image of the ship appeared in the air. Everybody got closer to take a good look at the monster.

"Tali," Marcus called as he looked at the image, "You're the best around here when it comes to understanding ships. You've been paying attention to the description Shiala gave of the Sovereign, right?"

"I did," the young quarian replied.

Marcus pointed to the vessel with his chin. "What do you think of it?"

Tali got closer to the 3D holographic render and began slowly padding around it, getting her face near, examining it from all angles as her interest in it grew.

In the end, she straightened up and took a deep breath. "Hmm… Looking at it now, and based on what we heard Shiala say, I'd have to say that I agree: this ship was not made to be used by people," she said.

"We get that," Kaidan said, "What with it being built by the machines and all, so –"

"No," Tali interrupted him, "you don't understand. I mean it was not made for anyone to be inside it!"

"What do you mean?" Jaina asked, frowning.

"Look. Geth are machines – that much is true," Tali spoke. "But despite the fact that the geth themselves are VI-s, they are still very much dependent on their robotic mech platforms. That means that they still need space inside the ship where they would keep their mech bodies in an accessible state – to quickly wake up and run to a designated location. They'd need proper access corridors to move around, to approach various ship sections for maintenance. This is what Shiala was talking about when she mentioned Geth building their ships in accordance with some basic and well-established concepts.

"But if what she says about Sovereign is true, then we're looking at something else entirely! I mean – lack of decks? Lack of any kind of crew quarters? Not even Geth build ships like that. From what Shiala said, it sounds almost as if this ship's interior layout is that of probes and unmanned vessels. That is what I meant when I said it wasn't made for anyone to be inside it. I think it was built to be autonomous. In fact, it's almost as if…" She trailed off, realizing something, with shock registering in her body language. "Keelah… that…"

"What is it?" Marcus demanded.

Tali remained silent for a moment before she exhaled and shook it off.

"Ah… Nothing, sorry," she said, waving it off. "It was an outrageous idea that just popped up in my mind, really."

Jaina then reached out and placed her hand on Tali's shoulder sending her a firm, somber gaze.

"Tali, we've just met a planet-spanning, million-year-old talking plant that mind-controls people," she said gravely. "I think that we need to abandon our staid ideas of outrageousness."

An understanding passed through everyone present. Tali swallowed, then exhaled, and finally spoke:

"Point taken," she said, then looked at the image of Sovereign. "It's just that… well, when I said that the ship is most definitely built to be autonomous, an idea popped into my mind – that this ship… Commander, I think it might actually be a single, giant AI."

Silence.

The incredulous looks were shifting back and forth between Tali and the Reaper ship. All except Marcus.

"Marc?" Jaina spoke quietly, recognizing that grim frown of determination on his face, "You're not thinking what I know you're thinking, are you?"

Marcus looked her straight in the eyes, and spoke in a low voice:

"I don't doubt it for a second."

Jaina clenched her jaw and her eyes tightened in worry as she glanced at the Sovereign's projection.

"Mind sharing that revelation you two had obviously just had?" Wrex rumbled very slowly, sensing the grim aura around the two Commanders.

Marcus just looked at the projection for a second before he pointed a finger at it.

"That thing over there," he said waving a finger at it, "I think that is not just some Reaper ship Saren found. I think that that… is an actual Reaper."

The teammates spent a second rooted to the spot like stone statues before the eerie sensation passed through them and their gazes slowly turned toward the Sovereign's projection. After a moment, Garrus was the first to speak:

"How can you be sure, Shepard?" he asked slowly.

"Because it's all here," Marcus continued as he tapped his temple with his finger. "The beacon gave me a lot of info, and I'm still sorting it out, but today's events had shaken up a few memories loose even before the Thorian gave me the Cipher. It happened when the Sovereign fired its weapons. It loosened up a beacon memory of the very same beams of destructions, and they were being fired by multiple Sovereigns. And it was not just one image… there were hundreds of images overlapping. Hundreds of different worlds, hundreds of different battles all crammed into one burst, but there was one thing that was unmistakable. It was the towering hulks of Sovereign's kin. Now, I know that you might think that it just might be ships, but it's more than that. It's about the imprint of the Prothean enemy's face that the beacon transferred to me.

"Enemy's face?" Ashley asked bewilderedly.

"Yes – face," Marcus said, leaning forward in his chair and stapling his fingers together. "In any war, the enemy always has a face. Tell me, Ash, what was the face of the enemy in the First Contact War?"

"Well, it was the Turian Hierarchy," she said, shrugging.

"No, I'm not asking who. I'm asking what was the face," Marcus reiterated. "When I'd yell "enemy", what would flash before your eyes?"

"Well, it would be a turian's face," Ashley said slowly.

"Not turian frigates or APC-s, right?"

"Right! I think I get it."

"That is what I'm talking about," he said. "Just like the turian's face was the face of the enemy during the First Contact War, that way, to everyone, the enemy's face was that of a rachni warrior during the Rachni Wars. During the Rebellions, it was the face of a krogan. To a quarian, even today, the face of the enemy has a flashlight in its center. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Everyone nodded, murmuring affirmatively.

"Good. But, you see, in the images that the Protheans gave me, this," and there he pointed at the Reaper, "this is the face of the enemy. When the word 'Reaper' is thought, the beacon imprint sends this – the Sovereign's image – into my head. There were no other things. No mechs or geth-like troopers. There were only huge, monstrous constructs with tentacles and red eyes that shot beams of death. That was the enemy's face. So, yes. There is no doubt in my mind that what we're seeing here is a Reaper itself."

Liara spoke up after a moment:

"I am ready to believe that!" she declared, drawing everyone's attention. "The Prothean beacons do not just transfer images or sounds. They also imprinted and transferred the Prothean's emotions, impressions, sensations – everything that makes the information as accurate as possible. If the beacon imprint gives you the impression that the Reaper is nothing else but this," and there she pointed with her open hand at Sovereign's image, "then I know it is accurate."

There was a prolonged silence as his teammates' gazes stood riveted to the image of the alien vessel. The ship suddenly seemed like a true living creature rather than the imitation that they thought it was. The more they looked at it, in fact, the more the idea seemed obvious. The contours that were first thought to be made for intimidation and psychological warfare now seemed something else entirely; and it only made it far more intimidating.

"It seems more logical by the minute, when you think about," Garrus muttered. "Why would a machine want to remain in a small shell when it can assume a form which is huge? It provides far more mobility, far more protection, more guns…"

"The processing power that would be inherent with the size must be off the charts," Tali said. "It is only logical – the bigger the body, the bigger the computer that can fit in."

"The Protheans must've been crazy to build A.I.-s of such magnitude," Wrex rumbled. "That, or they really needed to have someone squashed."

Marcus chuckled. "Really? The Protheans built it – you really think so?"

"Who else was there?" Wrex retorted, shrugging.

"Liara?" Jaina called, turning her head toward the young asari.

"Yes, there were many species before the Protheans," Liara immediately spoke, understanding Jaina's cue and going for the core. "That's what my archaeological findings and theories have confirmed. They all have risen up at one point in time to rule at least one part of the Galaxy before they were violently cast down. The same pattern seems to be repeating at regular intervals, and the Protheans were merely the last ones in the line."

"So, you're telling us some of those earlier civilizations may have built the Reapers?" Kaidan queried.

"Something like this?" Marcus said skeptically, then nodded with his chin toward the projection. "Something with that much foreign shape? I don't think anyone could have built it. Just look at it. Nobody would have been crazy enough."

"I think I see what you're saying," Jaina ventured carefully, her gaze scrunching up in concentrated thought as she leaned in toward Sovereign's projection. "We might have something akin to the geth here. One of those ancient civilizations had built a precursor prototype of a Reaper as a weapon to use against others and the weapon got loose. Tali? Correct me if I'm wrong, but Armatures and Colossi, as well as those Juggernauts and Prime units – they weren't around at the time of the rebellion?"

"No," Tali agreed. "They had built and developed it themselves much later in order to optimize their destructive and processing powers."

Jaina nodded. "And, like the geth after the rebellion, the Reapers might have continued on advancing after they had destroyed their original creators," she said. "Like the geth, they could have built more of themselves and could have advanced their own form into what we see here."

"A perfect killing machine," Garrus mused as he leaned against the desk above which the projection was and carefully examined it with his predatory gaze. "Huge, with supreme destructive capacity, its shape such that it is perfectly adapted to existence in outer space. Yeah… with them not being constrained to a single body, I can definitely see that happening."

They all listened with grim attention as he gave his analysis.

"I can't say that I would know what protocol would dictate such machine's actions, but if I was an AI, I'd want to ensure my survival," Liara said. "That means that I'd want to destroy everyone else who might come along after – thus destroying all of those civilizations whenever they came to rise in power."

"That actually makes perfect sense," Wrex declared. "That's exactly what I would have done if I was in their shoes to ensure my survival – actions done with cold, hard logic. Like a machine."

"Well, if that's the case, then why aren't we seeing any more of the Reapers but this one?" Ashley queried. "Why is only one here, and why would it need Saren's help to enable the return of its kin? And why in God's name would Saren want to bring them back in the first place?!" she finished with exclaim.

"He hopes to control them somehow, no doubt," Marcus said, looking at her from the corner of his eye. "Anderson was adamant enough that Saren hates humanity's guts. He might even be satisfied to just point the Reapers in our direction."

"Fair enough," Ashley said, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "Though that still leaves the questions of why is only one here and why does it need Saren?"

"Scouting," Marcus declared with a shrug as if it was a natural thing.

"That's right," Jaina backed him up. "This one might be nothing more than a vanguard sent out to scout the Galaxy for the best way to defeat us – examining our defenses, seeing where we are the weakest.

"And as for why it needs Saren's help, it might be that Sovereign is using Saren in turn," Marcus said, sharing a look with Jaina.

"Precisely," she agreed. "Sovereign might have played Saren – promising him a power of some kind, or maybe promising to help him destroy humanity if he were to help Sovereign in his plans. Who better to help him undermine our own defenses than the Council's top agent, the one who knows all the protocols and weaknesses? Hell, for all we know, Saren himself might be indoctrinated by the Sovereign's mind controlling abilities, just as Shiala was."

"Keelah," Tali muttered in dread. "To think that a machine could be that advanced."

"Enough to be a master of manipulation," Liara said. "A terrifying thought indeed. But with all that we're seeing…"

"Hmm… maybe," Kaidan agreed, "but there is something that's nagging at me something fierce."

"Go on," Marcus prompted.

"It's back when we were on that skyway, about to storm the second mega-tower," Kaidan said. "We've seen then what the Sovereign is capable of when it launched that attack against the Normandy."

"It sliced the top of that distant mega-tower right off like a hot knife through butter," Wrex agreed.

"So, why didn't it finish its job with us back on the skyway?" Kaidan drove the point. "I mean – Saren had already lifted off with his frigate, and we were right there in the open! It could have leveled the entire colony. Why didn't it?"

There was a moment of pause.

"Actually, I think I have an explanation to that," Garrus said as he turned bodily toward the others. "This Sovereign, even if it really was a Reaper and even if it was extremely advanced compared to us, it is still one ship. There is just no way that it's indestructible, no matter how much advanced it is. All evidence points to that fact."

"What do you mean?" Marcus asked.

"Look carefully at what is going on," Garrus said, spreading his arms. "Look at how Sovereign and Saren are approaching this whole thing of bringing about the return of the Reapers. They're doing it in secrecy; as far away as possible from anything that might reveal their true goal and Sovereign's true nature. Why?"

"Because if the Council knew for sure they have a giant-ass, dreadnought-sized AI freely walking about, they'd go haywire faster than you could blink," Wrex declared loudly. "They'd muster every single gun in the Galaxy down to a peashooter to kill it, Terminus tensions be damned!"

"Precisely," Garrus said. "This is typical highly-advanced AI behavior we're seeing – another piece of evidence that the Sovereign is really an AI. It is hiding from organics. Because if the Council found evidence that Sovereign truly is a Reaper, they'd muster a fleet at the very least."

"So, how does that tie in to it not shooting us from the skies when we were on that bridge?" Ash queried.

"Because it is one thing to destroy a millennia-old and abandoned mega-tower when it tried to destroy us in the Normandy," Jaina spoke up. "It is quite another to destroy a whole civilian colony."

"Exactly," Garrus pointed out, raising his eyebrows. "Combat ships get destroyed all the time – that hazard's in their purpose description – but colonies being bombarded from orbit? All hell would break loose if someone performed an orbital kinetic strike against an established colony. Not even pirates do that. According to the standard protocol, a major and a very-well-equipped investigation would ensue, and they'd be sure to discover this wasn't an ordinary ship that fired. Sovereign didn't use its weapons on Eden Prime, but if it did here, simple impact analysis and the destruction patterns would instantly suggest super-dreadnought weaponry that is way above anything we have. That'd raise quite a few red flags. I think Sovereign knew that. In fact, I'm positive it considered that."

"My god," Kaidan muttered.

"You can say that again, Lt," Ash said with dread creeping into her voice. "That amount of intelligence in a machine is downright evil."

"And something we must not disregard," Liara pointed out. "Wars are not won by having the biggest gun or waging a long fight, but by successfully performing a critical strike. I am not an expert on war, but even I'd wager that this is what Sovereign is trying to do."

"And I'd bet that the critical strike will occur the moment Saren finds the conduit for it," Marcus finished with a growl, then turning abruptly from where he stood and taking a few nervous paces around the room. He stopped, placing his hands on his hips and releasing a heavy sigh as his head dropped down. "For all we know, the moment the Cipher solidifies in Saren's head, he might have enough info to instantly summon an army of gigantic machines to pour from wherever they are and steamroll through us."

"That might not be the case," Jaina said calmingly. "We don't really know how they'd fare against our warships."

"Oh, but I do know," he said ruefully.

She searched his face carefully, reading the minute tells that nobody but her knew existed.

"Is it the beacon imprint that's showing you that?" she asked.

"It showed as much already back when I first accessed it, Jay," he rumbled somberly. "I've seen flashes of images even then – of how the very same beams the Sovereign launched against you destroying fleet after fleet of Prothean warships; it's just that I couldn't see who was firing those beams back then. And if the Protheans were as advanced as we all think they were, yet have fallen to the Reapers, then what kind of chance do you think we'd have?" He shook his head. "There is no other way, Jay. We either stop Saren before he opens the conduit, or we all perish."

There was a moment of grim silence in which he sighed once more.

"I just wish the Cipher in my head would fix these images faster."

Jaina swallowed a lump, forcing a neutral face. She could acutely sense the depth of his burning need to stop Saren and to stop Reapers; she felt just the same, too.

But there was something to be said about the frustration of having the solution already at hand, but lacking the key to open and use it; especially when it was something as survival of the Galaxy that was at stake. She wasn't the one in possession of that key, so she didn't feel it.

Marcus, though? He felt it. Oh, god, she knew he felt it hard. It made her wanted to step in close to him, to touch and hug him, to at least touch his cheek and tell him it'd be okay… but it wouldn't be… proper. And she cursed it inwardly. She cursed that need for soldierly stoic-ness in front of their subordinates and that fickle aspect of human mind that needed to have a strong, unmoving leader. She knew Marcus was strong enough to keep it in for as long as it took, but still… doing the right thing hurt.

It was then that Liara spoke up hesitantly:

"There… might be a way to help you remember faster, Commander."

That immediately brought both Jaina's and Marcus's attention. Both of their heads turned to her – Marcus's alert and focused; Jaina's almost desperately hopeful.

At the onslaught of the entire team's gaze turning attentively toward her, Liara force-schooled her face into neutrality, sending a couple of quick glances left and right from the corner of her eye, gauging everyone's reaction.

Her cheeks were darkening, Jaina noticed. Guardedness, consternation, self-consciousness – all of that was written over the young asari's face – but she was pushing it down. A sense of duty the young woman felt was indomitably pushing all those sensations down, and Jaina felt a huge surge of approval for the young asari welling up in her.

"This is not something that's… conventional… is it?" Jaina asked with a small smile, then nodded invitingly. "It's alright, Liara. I assure you, every single one of us here is aware of what's at stake if we don't pursue every single path we can; even a drastically radical solution is better than having no solution at all."

Liara chuckled wryly, her eyes still not brave enough to meet Jaina's.

"Well, it might really sound radical, but I assure you it is benign in its nature," the young asari said, then took a deep breath and sent a clear and solemn blue gaze Jaina's way. "What I am proposing, Commander, is a mind meld between Commander Marcus and me. It will help sort out the imprint faster."

There was a moment of silence.

"Umm," Ashley spoke up uneasily, looking sideways at the girl, "not to sound shocked, but – isn't a mind meld how you asari have se… I mean, procreate?" she finished with a croak.

A heartbeat passed in complete silence before Liara spoke:

"I'm… afraid that I'm not very familiar with human customs, Chief," she said slowly, almost innocently. "Is this a… proposition?"

Another heartbeat of silence before Ashley began sputtering.

"Pr-prop-w-wha?! Nooooo, nonononononono! Hold on!" Ash declared loudly, standing up and making a warding motion with her hands. "I-I-I wasn't… look, I… this…" she stammered for a moment before her eyes met Liara's.

Mischievous amusement was breaking out all over Liara's face, making Ash narrow her eyes in sudden realization.

"Ohhhh, I so fell for that one, didn't I?" she said.

A loud, raucous laughter exploded among everyone present, blowing off the tension that was building up dangerously.

"Alright, laugh it up!" Ashley declared in mild annoyance before she turned her eyes to Liara. "But just so you know – it's game on, asari," she declared with a smirk, to what Liara merely crossed her arms over her chest, a quirk forming in the corner of her mouth.

"To answer your question, Chief," Liara spoke, bringing the permeating laughter to a hold, "there are many ways the asari melding can be used other than procreation or sexual liaisons. It is quite common for close friends to meld with each other. It can be used to share memories, to share experiences that were once felt, to share knowledge – much like the Prothean beacons themselves, in fact. But it can be also used to help another person, to alleviate pain, heal mental scars, or bring a peace of mind. There is a reason why it is called a mind meld."

"Hmm, interesting," Jaina mused, her attention instantly perking up as she took a step toward Liara.

Marcus first sighed, then chuckled inwardly. He knew Jaina, he knew her tells and thoughts, and he knew exactly what was going through his wife's randy mind at that very moment. And there was nothing he could do about it to assuage her, even if they'd been in private; that woman was tenacious and unyielding when she set her sights on something.

Jaina continued, "Well, while I can I definitely say that I wouldn't be against this idea of you melding with Marcus, Liara, I'd still be interested to know how is it that a mind meld can help in the first place?"

Liara took a contemplative huff as she thought out a way to explain before an idea came to her, her face instantly lighting up.

"Ah! I got it," she spoke up animatedly. "Do you know what a sliding puzzle looks like? A 5-by-5 image made of twenty-four small squares, with one square missing so that you can slide the other squares around to form an accurate image?" When everyone nodded, she continued, "Well, that's what Commander's brain right now is like. It has received a bulk transfer from the beacon, but the full image that the puzzle should create was mostly blurred save for a piece here or there. Now that he has received the Cipher, his brain can finally recognize what that image is supposed to be, and it is instinctively searching for a way to put the puzzle into proper position by sliding the pieces around. The thing is, his brain has only enough free room, so to speak, to slide only one piece at a time. It takes a lot of time to slide the pieces around in order to complete the puzzle, does it not?"

Everyone nodded, shrugging as they conveyed their understanding of the simplicity of the explanation.

"Well, what would happen if there was more than one empty square to maneuver all those other pieces around?" Liara continued, driving the point. "What if there was a whole additional empty row down which you could move those pieces of the puzzle? Or a whole new empty board? How quickly could you complete the puzzle then?"

"A minute, no more," Jaina declared, slowly understanding where Liara was going to.

"And that is what the mind meld would provide," Liara said eagerly. "I would virtually offer a part of my mind to be used as a whole new space through which to shuffle the images so they could align into their proper place! And furthermore, I was trained in the more complex techniques of mind sharing. With me helping the images slide along, I am certain that we could finish in seconds what would otherwise take days or maybe weeks for Marcus's mind to do on its own!"

Liara huffed out a breath of air victoriously as she finished, grinning, and her gaze passing over everyone to see whether they understood.

"Huh… it certainly makes perfect sense when you explain it like that," Kaidan declared.

"Eh… I already knew of that thing the asari can do," Wrex said off-handedly, shrugging from where he leaned against the wall. "An asari friend helped me once like that, long ago, when I had a particularly nasty blood rage episode."

"I had no idea an asari's mind abilities extended that far," Tali admitted in amazement, looking at Liara solemnly.

"Few do, unfortunately," Liara said ruefully. "They are mostly interested in the overinflated stories of our promiscuity. Though, to be frank, not many maidens are exactly eager to prove them wrong, if you know my meaning. And this is why I'm particularly being careful not to presume anything when it comes to this," she said, sending a bold gaze to both Marcus and Jaina in turn. "Because, no matter how you look at it, melding is considered… an intimate matter… I wouldn't want this to be misinterpreted as an intrusion into your marriage."

The corner of Jaina's lips quirked into a small smirk. "I assure you, you need to worry about that from me, Liara," she said, then narrowed her eyes discerningly. "Though I am actually more wondering about you… I get the feeling that a meld is a very important matter to you."

Liara nodded slowly, keeping her eyes down to the floor.

"It is," she said quietly. "I have always considered it a special thing not to be stepped into lightly like so many others do, and only to be shared with confidants or trusted friends. And I feel that you, Commanders, are the kind of people I could trust with anything."

"You don't have to do this, Liara," Marcus spoke up. "I understand that this is –"

"It's alright," Jaina interrupted as she looked at him. "Look, there's nothing for me to mind, Marc. As an XO, I'd have to insist that you do it for the sake of our mission." She then looked at Liara. "Besides, as a wife, I'd be grateful that there's someone who is willing help keep my husband's mind healthy."

Liara's shoulders lowered slightly in relief, and the young asari smiled back gratefully at Jaina for being understood.

"Alright," Marcus said after a moment. "We'll do it. Thank you, Liara, for going out of your way to help us."

Jaina spoke up then, "Shall you two do it immediately, or…?"

"I'd have to advise you to do it when we're safe on the Normandy," Doctor Chakwas said seriously. "This clinic might be well equipped, but I wouldn't feel comfortable until we're safely at FTL where no one can interfere – should any complications happen to either of you."

"Very well, Doctor, we'll do that," Marcus said, then spoke to the rest of the crew. "Pack your gear. We're lifting off as soon as we make sure the colony is going to be secure."

His team filed out of the clinic and trekked toward the Normandy with Marcus and Jaina following a bit behind, when a chime came from his omni-tool.

"Shepard," he replied after he tapped the button.

"Pressly here," came the Navigator's voice. "The SSV Athens has just entered the system. I've updated them on the situation, and they'll be dropping shuttles in approximately twenty minutes."

"Understood," Marcus replied, then cut the comm and turned to Jaina. "Come on; let's go see what's going on with the colonists."

The two of them left the clinic and descended down the short platform. The clinic had been set up on one of the side towers that rose from the main rooftop plateau upon which the colony proper was established. As they walked across, Marcus and Jaina noticed that the colonists had already woken up from their gas-induced sleep, and were now slowly working through the prolonged stiffness that would stay with them until tomorrow morning.

They made their way to the center of the colony, from where the ExoGeni scientists were working with the colonists. Stavros and his men were there too, providing immediate security and assistance, but what surprised Marcus the most was the sight of several Thorian creepers with the asari clone itself standing near the entrance to the lower reaches of the mega-tower.

"Commanders," Stavros spoke up as the two joined up.

"What's the situation, Stavros?" Marcus asked as he nodded toward the Thorian creepers.

"They just came a few minutes ago and said they want to establish peace," Stavros said. "The colonists are wary, but nothing untoward has happened. Fai Dan is there, along with that asari commando; they seem to be mediating. I gotta give that man some credit; he knows how to keep his head cool. The colonists seem to respect what he says."

Marcus nodded, and they approached the small grouping. Fai Dan was there with a few colonists in tow. Lizbeth Baynham was there, too. The Thorian had sent two of its massive juggernauts to protect the clone, as well as four Prothean-like creepers that were armed with pilfered geth rifles. They were facing no less than ten of Stavros's men, all of them at stand-down but their stances wary.

"Commander," Fai Dan spoke up when he saw him. "I can't thank you enough for saving us from the Geth. I'm sorry we fired on your ship."

"It is I who fired on your ship," The Thorian's asari clone spoke with its multi-harmonic voice. "These people had nothing to do with it. I didn't know there was a difference between your ship and the one from Geth. They were both only flying things that spawned enemies. I know better now."

Fai Dan seemed uncomfortable with the Thorian's presence. Lizbeth and her mother were fascinated. Ethan Jeong seemed downright terrified. And Shiala, she… her body language spoke something else entirely. The asari commando then turned her attention to the two Commanders speaking up:

"We have spent a bit of time speaking of what is going to happen now," she said. "I have already assured the colonists that the Thorian will not wish for conflict with them. I think that we will be able to find a very decent solution for us all that doesn't include any conflicts."

"Oh, believe me, Commander," Fai Dan spoke up empathically, "we know that we would stand to lose a lot if we were to fight the Thorian. But there will be a lot of people who will feel angry and violated for a long time."

"Have any voiced their desire to leave?" Jaina asked.

Fai Dan shook his head. "This is our home, Commander," he said. "A lot of sweat has been invested into this place. Blood, now, as well. There might be a bumpy ride ahead of us, but we won't give up."

"That's a lot of willpower," Jaina noticed. "Many people would see just an ancient crumbling city."

"We did, too, when we first came all those years ago," he said, then raised his head and looked around the colony, fondness welling up on his face. "But there is something about this place. It's not the residue of Thorian's spores talking, believe me. This place has a soul. We had built it. Rebuilt it. We had taken the crumbling remnants and have carved something new out of it. It is ours. It is home."

Marcus raised his head and looked around the colony. For the first time in many hours, he could actually look at the colony and appreciate what he was seeing. For a place that was supposed to be the tomb of an ancient species, the mega-tower and the two smaller towers that rose from its top were teeming with life. Over the massive and monumental walls of concrete, terraced hydroponic farms rose high into the sky, covering the whiteness of stone in a thick carpet of green. Between the compactly arranged prefab housings grew numerous small trees and flowered bushes that were brought from Earth. And most important of all, the once-crumbling ancient towers and structures showed clear evidence of restoration in many places.

"I can see what you mean," Marcus said. "It would be a shame for this place to be gone."

"I will assist the colonists," the Thorian said through the clone. "The deeper knowledge of the outer universe is new to me. I wish to help and provide in exchange for that."

Lizbeth Baynham spoke up: "This will be an amazing scientific opportunity," she said excitedly, then stammered, "that is, if the Thorian allows."

"The walking beasts of this world had always poked my vines and ate of my fruit," the Thorian spoke. "I had always allowed it. When they die, I consume their remains. That is how it is and has always been. I will allow you to take of my fruit as well. You may go and look everywhere; I have my protection if you overstep," and the clone turned its head to look at the giant juggernauts.

"There's just one more problem," Marcus spoke sternly, turning to Jeong. "Where does the ExoGeni stand now?"

Jeong fidgeted nervously.

"The company has already declared that it is shutting us down," he said. "The funds are already being rerouted to other projects, and the personnel will too, once the HR determines where best to put them."

"Oh, yeah?! Well, fuck that!" Lizbeth exclaimed angrily. "I'm not letting them put me anywhere! Consider this my resignation! I'm going freelance."

Jeong sighed. "The company is probably trying to try to make it seem as if nothing ever happened here; trying to make it seem as if they never knew what was happening."

Marcus narrowed his eyes. "Are they, now?" he asked with an ominous promise seeping into his voice.

"Are you telling me they want to sweep this under the rug and act as if they didn't intentionally break several of Alliance's and Galactic civil rights laws?!" Jaina growled like a lioness.

Jeong gulped. "There's nothing I can do!" he squealed. "I'm just one man! If I try to testify, an "accident" will happen to me quicker than you can say "chimichanga"!"

"Oh, you won't need to testify to anything!" Marcus growled firmly. "Who's your boss?"

"I… It's Alexander Johansen," he stammered. "Alexander Christian Johansen."

Marcus tapped his omni-tool and activated his Spectre info requisition. Only a few moments later, a picture of a classy-looking man in his thirties popped up.

"It says here he's the CEO of ExoGeni," Marcus said. "That him?"

Jeong nodded quickly. "Yeah. I wasn't a big fish, but the structure for this project was such that I took my orders directly from the big boss. Wh-why? What're you going to do?"

"I'm going to have a brief talk with Mr. Johansen," Marcus said. "I am going to make sure that what happened to this colony never happens with any other colony ever again."

He then turned to Jaina. "We're going."

The two soldiers walked away from the slightly bewildered people and went toward the docks. They were the last ones in and, just as they entered, the orders for liftoff were given. As the Normandy rose into the air, they passed the group of SSV Athens's relief shuttles that was descending toward the colony in an ordered formation. With a final glance at the tactical display screen, Marcus nodded in satisfaction. Things were looking up for Zhu's Hope, and things were looking up for their mission against Saren, too. Time would only tell whether the Thorian would be a true boon, but as things were going, there was nothing but good to be seen.

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Thank you all, for your positive feedback. Leave more reviews so that my rating can grow! Yeah, I know, this'd make me look as if I'm hoarding reviews for the sake of fame - but can you blame me? I mean - it's a good, story, no? I think I stand a chance to eventually enter the top 50 when it comes to favs/follows or sumthin' like that. What do you think?

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