The winner is lonutRO. The survivor's name was never given. Even if you ask her what it is. It was a bit of a trick question.
The Wildcard
Chapter 19
"Alliance ships are inbound to secure Captain Taylor and his crew, Commander." Joker informed over the COM. "We'll be long gone by the time they get here."
Shepard paused for a moment on her way to the conference room, now wearing her civilian rags. As soon as they got back on the Normandy, Shepard immediately changed out of the tesla armor and delivered it straight to its owner.
She had gone to Chakwas to see if the suit was tampering with her cybernetics. Thankfully, there was nothing wrong with them. She did not necessarily like the idea of going back under the scalpel. Especially with a random thought that started going through her head, involving a certain female Cerberus operative talking about how if she had it her way, she'd have put a control chip in her head.
That just made shivers run down her spine.
"As much as it pains me to say it. Don't even give them the taillights." she said back as she continued walking.
"Roger that." said joker before cutting the line.
Kasumi Goto POV
'Beautiful.' Kasumi said to herself as she sat in her usual spot in her room.
She was wearing the suit Plague made her, and spent most of her time since, looking over the design. It was better armored then her other cat suits, while at the same time felt twice as comfortable.
It had to be made of that nerve materiel he usually made Shepard wear. Difference was she could wear it in public, while Shepard had to wear something over her version, unless she wanted others to think she was walking around in some kind of naughty latex lingerie.
The thought made a giggle a little, as she messed with the front of the suit.
For some reason, there was a strange bit of extra cloth in front of her throat. It was stretchy, but she doubted she could pull it over her head. Although, now that she thought about it, a reverse hood would seem like a disadvantage. That is unless you were playing pin the tail on the donkey.
When she considered pulling it up while her hood was already on her head, imagine her surprise when it suddenly came to life and connected with the hood.
Once the shock went away, she looked at the reflective glass in her room to see the cloth worked with the hood to create cowl that covered her mouth and nose as if she was wearing a scarf.
She smiled when she realized Plague had put into an account, her carrier choice. Funny once you thought about it.
Usually a friend would try to dissuade the individual from being a cat burglar.
In addition, here he was, actually supporting her.
Although, technically he himself would be pegged as a negative influence. Well… Who on the ship wouldn't? Everyone on the ground team has killed before, and every one else works for Cerberus.
"Hello." a synthesized female voice greeted her out of nowhere. "It's nice to meet you. Are you my new friend?"
'That's not EDI.' she thought to herself. "Who's there?" she asked as she stood up and looked around the room.
The door did not even open.
"I do not have a name. I am sorry." the voice said back in a slightly saddened tone, also helping Kasumi realize the voice was coming from the inside of her hood. "I am Kasumi Goto's personal combat, reconnaissance, and stealth Artificial Intelligence. I have been installed into the Stealth Suit MK3, which original design belonged to Big Mountain." Kasumi's eyes widened when she heard that. She understood Plague used AI's, but it still surprised her. "The changes in the design, of the suit you are currently wearing was manufactured by Big Mountin's CEO and head of the scientific branches of the Think Tank."
"You are in the suit?" Kasumi asked to clarify as she started to relax a little once she realized Plague would not give her something hazardous to her health.
"You are correct." it… she answered. "This is the second suit to house a copy of me. Are you Kasumi Goto?"
"Yes…" she answered and immediately heard a girlish squeal.
"Who can I hide you from today?" the AI asked cheerfully as Kasumi tried to get over the shock of hearing a voice screech in her ears at practically point blank like a giddy teenage girl.
"I… don't need hidden at the moment." she told her as she started walking to the bar. "Why did Plague put you in the suit?"
"I would guess for Science reasons, but The Courier does not fancy that field much." the AI explained.
"Who's Courier?" Kasumi could not help herself to ask.
"The CEO of Big Mountain has gone by many aliases over the years." she explained as Kasumi got herself a drink. "The Courier is the first alias he has used within Big Mountain."
"Interesting." Kasumi remarked as she realized this was a good chance to gain some more information on her friend, while at the same time getting to know her new one. "What did you mean when you said he doesn't fancy science?"
There was a small silence before the AI answered. "The CEO of Big Mountain has rarely gotten himself involved in the decisions, and experiments taken place by those within the Thank Tank. When ever he did, he would only suggest small changes, all while not fully getting involved with someone else's experiment."
"What kind of experiments are we talking about?" Kasumi asked as she walked back to her seat with a glass of batarian ale.
Watered down of course, she did not want to get hammered.
The whole "Big Mountain" thing would have supported her guess long ago that Plague stole the gear he used. Would as in, if she didn't already know he was telling her the truth. And Plague being a CEO of something? Now that was unexpected.
"There are many scientific branches within Big Mountain. The top being mineralogy, humanology, and medicine. Run by Doctor Dala. The uses of sound waves. Run by Doctor 8." Kasumi paused when she realized the AI said the person's name was a number. "Doctor Borous specializes in canine cybernetics. Doctor 0..." there's another number. "… Specializes in dismantling robotics. These four work under the supervision of Doctor Klein, chief head researcher of logistical operations and idea-ology, co-CEO of Big Mountain."
Once the AI was finished, Kasumi sat there in silence before lowering the cloth covering her mouth to take a sip of her beverage. The pleasantly burning liquid making her relax. Once she had a few seconds to think after, she slumped back in the seat she was on.
"I may not be a scientist, but I am pretty sure some of those don't count as scientific fields of expertise." she voiced as she looked out the large window to her left. "And I think that dismantling robotics guy got gypped. Anyone with a wrench and screwdriver can take apart something."
"Let it be noted that I have not been the first to say so." the AI agreed.
Kasumi laughed at that, and was extremely surprised when the AI did the same.
"Do… do you have emotions?" she asked before her mind could finish processing the program's laughter.
"The first version of me was only self aware, with a small understanding of human emotions." she explained. "Since then the original went through many upgrades and experiments. I am the ending result. I can see why something my seem comical, scary, gross, and depressing. I am an exact copy of my mother AI."
'This is extraordinary.' Kasumi thought to herself.
Not only is the AI self aware, but it has a full set of emotions as well. Making it practically sapient. Such technology was beyond the top technological geniuses of her generation. The amount of credits such an AI would fetch outside of Citadel Space would be exponential! Not that she would sell, the suit after Plague put so much work into it, but the concept of him making her a gift that would be worth far more then those in the black market can provide made her speechless. And that was without the nerve material the suit was made out of.
"Miss Goto?" the AI asked after a long silence drifted by. "Are you alright? I know you are all right, but I don't know what is wrong with you. Does your heart usually beat this quickly? Miss Goto? Kasumi Goto? Kasumi? Goto? Kasumi? Goto? Kasumi? Goto? Kasumi ? Goto? Goto? Kasumi? Kasumi Goto? Goto? Kasumi? Kasumi? Goto Kasumi? Kasumoto?"
"What?" she asked suddenly with a fit of laughter from hearing the childish song made by the Artificial Intelligence. "I… I think we are going to get… along just fine."
"I know." she responded quickly without hesitation. "We have things in common."
'This is going to be good.' Kasumi thought to herself as she took another sip. Wearing a suit that might as well be made out of the rarest gems the galaxy could offer, made her feel highly optimistic and giddy all of a sudden. Or it was just her drink… who knows? "What would that be?"
"We both occupy the same space at the exact same time." the AI answered. "And we are both sneaky."
Kasumi couldn't contain herself anymore. She didn't know if it was the first answer said in a little girl voice, or the crafty sounding voice used in the second one.
No matter the answer, Kasumi quickly placed her other hand over the top of the small glass in her hand so that it wouldn't spill as she practically started falling over in laughter on the couch.
She had to go and see if her and Plague were back in speaking terms. How else would she thank him?
"What do I call you?" Kasumi asked once she calmed down.
"I…" it started o say, but went quiet for a moment before continuing. "… I don't have a name."
There goes her smile. "Hold on. What?"
"I was never given a name…," the AI repeated sadly.
"I guess we will have to fix that." Kasumi replied in a thoughtful tone. "Just give me a while. Something will come to me."
Plague POV
"And that is how I got over my fear of deathclaws." Plague announced loudly to the turian walking next to him as he entered the elevator to get to the CIC.
He had spent an hour since the last mission checking the gear delivered back to his room. Thankfully nothing was missing, although the mini nukes were placed in large containers with a flashing biohazard sign on them.
Why would they put them in there? Fuck if he knew.
"What are you talking about?" Garrus asked him as he selected the crew deck, while looking at Plague as if he was insane. Well… even more insane. "You just stepped in and said "And that is I got over my fear of deathclaws." And what by the spirits is a deathclaw?"
"Did I?" he asked as he tilted his head. "Could have sworn I was just talking to you." he then did a dismissive shrug and stood there calmly as he waited for the elevator to reach it's destination. Of looking over and seeing Garrus giving him an expecting look, Plague answered the second question. "A deathclaw is a giant mutant that looks a little like a lizard on its hind legs with long curved horns, and has claws both long enough, and sharp enough, to be considered as steak knives sticking out of it's hands, that are capable of slicing through a foot of reinforced steel."
After that explanation, the rest of the time it took to get to the Crew Deck was quiet.
When the elevator made it to it's first stop, Garrus gave him a slight nod as he stepped out.
When Plague finally made it to the CIC, he looked around the area for the indigenous red head that stalks the environment for prey, using an energetic smile gifted to the specimen, and giving the ability to slip through defenses in order to find the right form of interrogation the wildlife of the Normandy would call an interview. Upon seeing the coast was clear, he strode out of the elevator and made a beeline to the cockpit.
He wanted to finally get a chance to speak with the pilot, who held his life in his hands every time he flew too close to an asteroid or planet.
Over the seat looking over the controls, Plague saw a black and white cap resting on the head of a man who was leaning in to give something his full attention.
If he looked to his left, he could see the holographic glowing blue sphere which was the ship's AI on top of a projector.
He didn't know if it could tell he was there, but to be honest, he didn't really care.
Back to the pilot.
He was considering going back to engineering, maybe talking to the quarion down there, since the man looked like there was something important he needed to concentrate on.
As he started to leave though, that train of thought just ran off the tracks when he heard a noise he was familiar with. The volume must have been turned down so those on the way to the cockpit, couldn't hear unless you happened to be right behind the pilot.
"Ahhhh! Ahhhh!" that was the sound of a woman, two women… more accurately, women in the middle of a "nocturnal activity." "Ahhhh! Yes!"
He wanted to turn around and head to the elevator, but once you hear something like that, and if you happen to be a healthy male, it made it hard for said individual to turn away. The moans acted as a magnet to anyone with a healthy libido and a sense of curiosity.
He felt his growing curiosity begin to slowly make him creep closer to the chair, and eventually peer over the seat.
Thankfully the man in the seat was courteous enough to not do what males usually do in this kind of situation.
The second thing he saw was a small holographic screen showing… wow.
The women happened to both be asari. And to 101's amazement, there were a few more woman on the screen as well.
The two asari, who were apparently both tied spread eagle on a large bed, were being dominated by two human women, and another asari, and were all using an assortment of implements to do so. Most of which you wouldn't normally even consider using for such a purpose in the first place.
"Uh… wow." Plague commented as he watched the scene after a few seconds. He said it quietly out of reflex. "Is… is that a… snow globe?"
Usually someone wouldn't be able to hear something so quiet, but apparently if you happen to be a pilot who happened to be watching some adult rated material when at a time where he would usually be flying a spacecraft, he would be on high alert.
"W… What the hell?" the man suddenly yelled in alarm as he jumped in his seat while a hand shot up and batted the screen away, thus turning it off. Or pausing it. Plague couldn't tell. "I swear, Shepard. It's not what it looks like! Someone's playing a prank on me, or something. It just popped up!" he loudly triad to defend himself before looking over his shoulder. "Wait… your not Shepard…" he realized and let out a sigh of relief before it dawned on him that there was an unknown individual standing behind his seat. "… Who are you?"
Plague let a small silence pass as if letting the man calm down. "I would shake your hand and introduce myself, but I am not sure where it has been up until this point." Plague went quiet again, the awkwardness of the situation both men found themselves in escalating slowly. "I am Plague. I have been on the Normandy for almost a few weeks now…"
"And you wanted to meet the man flying the ship…" Joker finished, calming down a little. "You that crazy one in engineering?"
"Do I look like a bald woman wearing only tattoos from the waist up?" he asked back.
"No… the other one we picked up on Omega way back that messes up my baby's security cameras." he clarified, seat now turned to look at Plague fully.
"That might be me." he answered as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I should probably leave you to your… work."
"Yeah. That would be appreciated." Joker said back and adjusted himself in the seat. "Busy stuff…"
"Right." it was quiet again until Plague started to back away. "See you around… I guess."
"Yeah… hey… about what you saw…" Joker began as he lowered the bill on his cap. "Let's… just pretend this…"
… didn't happen." Plague finished as he started to turn, both taking the silence as a sign to depart.
As he walked he could have sworn he heard the pilot mumble something about putting a bell on the man who had disturbed his piece and quiet.
Kasumi Goto POV
"What about, Isabella?" the thief asked the AI in her suit, as she sat on her bed to read. It was the name of the main character in the book. "Bella could be nice."
"No. It sounds too… what's the word?… snooty." the AI replied. "And the girl in the book is so dramatic."
"You do know Bella means something like 'Beautiful woman' in Italian, right?" Kasumi asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Why else would I say it's snooty?" the AI repeated. "Why are you reading that anyway?"
"No reason." Kasumi answered as she put the book on the shelf. "Do you have a name in mind, or will I do all the work?"
The AI was quiet for a few seconds, as if using that time to contemplate the question, before answering. "I know many names, but I honestly can't decide on what to pick."
Plague POV
"You know this is unnecessary, right?" the turian in blue commented as they circled one another on a blue mat in the cargo hold. "Don't get me wrong. I like the occasional spar as much as the next guy."
"Not like there is anything else I can do on this ship." Plague complained. "And don't you dare say "Oh I'm sorry, but I have some calibrations." and then expect me to just walk away."
To be frank. Plague still had some pent up hostility bottled up since the last mission. He needed an outlet. Sure he could build something, or whatever, but one can only do so much before clawing his eyes out.
"I don't really see the point of this either…" a female, filtered voice agreed with the turian. Plague had managed to catch the quarian when she was done with her shift. "And what am I doing again?"
Plague sighed before looking to the purple shape at the corner of his eye. The girl was standing on the side of the mat with crossed arms, her facial expression hidden, but most likely conveying a confused look.
"You are the referee." he repeated as he looked back to Garrus. "Your job is to make sure it is a clean fight."
This caused the girl to look around the small space they took up. "Why not ask… EDI how to turn on the sterilization scrubbers? You cant honestly expect me to do that." she then shook her head a little once something popped up in her mind. "Not to mention you both would get sweaty."
Plague burst out laughing, and thus confusing the quarian further.
"Not what I meant…" he then shook his head a little before preparing himself again, hands outstretched and in a boxing position. A large majority of is gear was now within his room, and he had a good view of the elevator in case someone wanted to do a little "shopping." threw the cargo bay window. He wanted this to be fair. Would be a disadvantage to the turian if he was nearly triple his weight class.
"He means, he wants you to make sure the fight is fair, and that we don't go overboard." Garrus clarified. Upon seeing Plague's face he spoke. "I've been around humans long enough to catch the meaning of some of your sayings."
101 just gave him a nod before taking a small hop. Unlike the alien, Plague just had his jumpsuit and boots.
"Alright." Tali voiced. "I think I can do that. Even though what you are asking me to do is strange."
"Its not really that out of place, actually. Soldiers spar on turian ships all the time." Garrus piped in.
"When ever you want us to start, miss Zorah." Plague said as he watched the turian's form, committing every move to memory.
There was a second reason to this as well. Studying.
Other then humans, asari, and batarians, Plague had no real experience in fighting other alien species. This gave hims the opportunity to identify weak points without having to do so on the fly on the battlefield.
"Fine. Get ready…" Tali announced as she raised an arm. "… Go!" she started as the hand fell.
Garrus didn't just lunge like he had thought he would. Instead he continued circling. The blue, avian eyes focused squarely on the human before him.
Plague wasn't much different.
They both slowly started to gravitate towards one another as they continued to maintain eye contact.
Plague's heartbeat was starting to increase as the anticipation grew. They were close now, both awaiting the other's move. Soon the stalemate would have to be broken.
And when Garrus took another step, Plague saw an open…
"Rip his fucking face off!" yelled a loud voice on the side of the mat.
Instinctively, Plague's head turned to look for the source. That didn't sound like the quarian at all.
Unfortunately, Garrus didn't slip up like he did. He took advantage of the opportunity and sent out a jab that connected with Plague's temple.
The sudden impact drew Plague out of his momentary confusion, and he rolled his head back with the hit.
He didn't react fast enough, but he avoided most of the damage. The momentum he was in made his body spin once, and within that rotation, delivered a fist at the turians head.
Garrus didn't see it coming, and was hit just above his left mandible before sending an uppercut on a trajectory to hit Plague's chin.
101 threw his head back before it connected and sidestepped before the turian could react. He pulled his left arm back and was deflected to the side by the turian's other hand. Using the momentum again, Plague's right hand swung again, only this time Garrus back stepped.
Garrus then used that distance to his advantage. His long arms swung in a 1 2 jab, followed by a straight left. The first was dodged with a simple step to the right. The second was blocked. But the straight hit its target.
The talon clad fist smacked him in the forehead.
When Plague recovered he went on the offensive. Using his speed and slightly less bulk, Plague side stepped to Garrus's side and delivered a right hook that was blocked, while the left jabbed into his side. His right came back for redemption and smacked the other side when Garrus turned in response to the left jab.
Plague didn't expect the next boost in the turian's speed when he recovered.
Fist to the left side of his jaw. Right jab to the ribs, followed by a left to his stomach.
101 took a step back with his guard up so that he could recover from the assault. But what he saw made him take off the metaphorical gloves.
The turian was doing his variation of a smirk.
Tali'Zorah POV
'They are going to hurt themselves." Tali thought to herself as the two started circling again.
Garrus is fast. That she knew already. But to see her friend get hit so many times after the first punch was not a normal sight.
Although, not as strange a sight as the human woman standing next to her.
"Fuck him up!" the bald individual coerced.
When Tali fist saw the woman stand next to her to watch, she isolated the spot and focused on the fight. Being a quarian, she never saw any form of a lack of clothing. She could have sworn the only thing keeping the woman's breasts out of view, were straps of leather.
And they hardly did that.
"Um… Hello." Tali nervously tried to be friendly.
"Whatever." the woman acknowledged irritably without looking.
And that was how far the "conversation" went.
She was pulled back to the fight when 101 took three big hits from the slightly taller being.
What happened next shocked her and, no doubt, Garrus. The area around 101 was engulfed in light as ultiple objects were heard hitting the floor.
Tali had seen the human use his technology a few times on the ship, but it still caused her to gasp. She had asked Garrus and Shepard about it since she heard about how protective the man was towards his belongings.
The ability to manipulate atoms and add it to your own without altering the space around the individual. No matter how she approached the concept in her mind, it still made no sense.
Once the light was gone they saw Plague surrounded by, what can only be described as, a small arsenal.
Knives, hand guns, explosives. Surprisingly she didn't see his mechs.
"Lets try this again, shall we?"
Before Garrus could answer, 101 had already pounched him in the face, causing him to reel. He barely recovered fast enough to block a jab aimed to his left mandible, but he didn't see the other slipping past his defenses and hitting his stomach. The speed 101 was now using would have been said to be impossible, if it weren't for the proof before her eyes.
His speed had doubled and making his punches fast.
It was truly a moment were you would wonder if the hand was indead quicker then the eye.
Suddenly a fist connected with Garrus's face again, followed by an uppercut that almost lifted her friend off of the mat.
Garrus landed on the mat hard as he covered his face.
"Damnit!" he shouted, not in anger, but defeat.
"You alright, buddy?" 101 asked as his form calmed down and started walking over to his downed opponent.
"I… I'm good." the turian groaned as one hand left his face to grab the hand offered to him. "Almost had you…"
"Almost and definitely are two different concepts." the human commented as he patted Garrus on the shoulder. "Was fun."
Tali was a little surprised by the look on Plague's face. The smile he had given her when they met was there. How he was able to go from a fight to a friendly demeanor.
It was… strange.
"How did you do that?" Garrus asked as he popped his neck. The action making Tali cringe.
"Nothing is holding me down right now."
"So…" Garrus started in surprise as he looked over to the pile of objects on one side of the mat. "This whole time… you had a handicap…?"
"What?" Tali asked in shock.
"Yup." Plague answered shamelessly with a smile.
Garrus just shook his had as his hand moved to, what Tali thought was, a still sensitive area on his face.
The items started to light up again and vanish as Plague rubbed the back of his neck. "No hard feelings right?" he asked as his hand was offered.
"Yeah. We're good." Garuus shrugged as he reached out to give the man a handshake.
Before the two hands could make contact however, Plague pulled his hand back as if he had been shocked while his whole body stiffened.
The three… 'That woman is gone… Must have left when the fight ended.' …two saw the look of pain on the man's face as his breathing started to grow heavier while he cradled the arm with the other.
"Are you all…" Garrus began to ask and got interrupted.
"I… I'm sorry. I have… to go now." he said suddenly as he turned to walk quickly to the elevator.
"Wait… are you…" Tali was ignored as he brushed past her.
He didn't seem like he did it to be rude. Just seemed as if he were distracted.
Elsewhere
She shivered as the night's cold air went over her form. Instinctively, she brought the unrestrained upper part of her arms, shoulder to elbow, as close to her sides as possible.
The days on this world were warm, not burning. The nights were cold, but far more beautiful then what she was used to.
The outline of the trees in her view in contrast with the moonlight. Well… moons… There were three as far as she could tell, but that didn't matter… as strange as that sounds.
She got over the shock the first night. She was more focused on the form sitting a few seats to her right.
She didn't know if the man was asleep with his helmet on. If he was awake, then this would be a short attempt. If he was asleep, then good for her if she worked quickly.
She felt the stinging in her wrist where she was trying to pull her hand out of the tightly wrapped wire. Thankfully the rest of the enclave were camping outside. Bad thing about that, was they could be just out of view, but right next to the opening.
She felt weak. The lack of nourishment made her attempts to pull her left petite, but callused hand out of it's restraint feel like an extreme effort. The feeling of the wire scraping the skin made her wince as she bit down on her lower lip.
She could see fresh blood shimmer in the small amount of light provided to her on the back of her hand that sported a large scrape.
'Get the thumb out.' she egged herself on as the wire became close to the joint connecting to her thumb.
If she could get the wire to slip past that part of her hand, then getting the rest out would be easy.
She took another glance at the, hopefully sleeping, Enclave before suddenly quickly pulling her hand out of the wire loop.
The serge of pain that went from her hand and up her arm, made her teeth sink in deeper into her lip as she stifled a whimper. She was afraid to look at the condition of her hand, and hugged it close to her as she silently sobbed from the pain.
'Almost… Almost there…' she thought to herself as she tried to forget the pain flooding through her limb.
Once she was free she could search the man near her for a stimpack.
She looked to her right hand attached to her bad arm and looked for a better way to free it. Thankfully she found the twisted knot on the underside of the armrest and quickly started twisting the two strands of wire with her throbbing hand. Once it was free she let out a strained breath when the muscles in the arm were finally able to relax.
Now she had to free her feet.
She looked over to the man again and saw he had shifted a little in his seat, most likely to get more comfortable. Thankfully this told her the bastard had been asleep like she had hoped.
When she started to lean forward she heard a sound from the opening and slammed her back into the seat and weaved part of her hands into the wire to make it look like she was still restrained as she bowed her head to pretend to be asleep.
She didn't dare to close her eyes, so she cracked the less swollen one open just in time to see an armored form walk past the opening in the aircraft.
Once he was out of view she let of a breath and quickly, but quietly, went back to find the knots holding her feet to the seat.
Once she found them it was easy to untie.
She stood up for the first time in what felt like weeks and grabbed onto the wall next to her for support when her legs started to wobble under her.
Finally she was free. She was free!
Her moment of joy was then replaced by anticipation as she looked back to the man still in his seat.
If she was going to survive, then she needed a weapon. And that plasma pistol on his hip looked like a nice candidate. Once she had it, she could hunt, eat, live. Soon her stomach will have something inside of it.
Shakily, she walked over to the man as quiet as she could and started to bend down so that she could reach for the weapon on his belt. It was close. So painstakingly close. She could practically taste the food she would be able to obtain with it.
Her fingertips lightly grazed the weapon when a voice was heard that made her heart leap into her throat.
"So close." the man before her said before ramming his helmeted head into her unprotected one.
She reeled and hit the metal surface behind her as the man's height enveloped her own as her left hand went up to the sore spot. She could feel the warm sticky liquid on her hand from where she was hit and glared at the man.
His weapon was now drawn and aiming right at her as he motioned for her to move deeper into the vertibird.
"You should have stayed in your seat and waited until the boss was tied of you, you little bitch." he said to her, making her realize this was the man she had bit in one of her first days in captivity. "Now I have a fucking excuse."
"Go fuck yourself." she seethed, earning a hit to the side of the head with the firearm's bulky barrel, making her fall to the side.
"That's what you are for, bitch." he said.
His intentions became clear as a wave of hatred, horror, and disgust hit her. The man wanted to get back at her for what she did the other day. And apparently he got over the idea of the Courier finding her.
When she didn't get up, he grabbed onto her right arm in a tight grip that made her gasp in pain. If he wanted to, he could break the bones easily with his power armor.
He threw her further in, making her crumble to the floor from both the combination of pain, and the lack of energy.
When she looked back up she saw the man remove his helmet and drop it in a seat as he walked up to her.
Her heart was beating quickly in her chest as she used her left arm and her legs to push herself farther into the belly of the aircraft. If her mind wasn't as cloudy as it was do to the throbbing pain in her right arm, and the fear of what might happen to her, she would have realized she was going exactly where the man wanted her to go.
She could have sworn her heart stopped for a second when her back hit the wall. Upon turning her head she realized there was nowhere else to go. She looked back to the man who motioned his weapon for her to stand.
Her mind was working in overdrive as she saw nothing else she could do and started pulling herself up.
When she was on her feet, the man walked up to her and grabbed her by the neck as his other hand placed his weapon on the armrest next to them so that he could take advantage of her ripped clothing.
When his hand eagerly started to grope her right breast, she forced her eyes shut as her hands balled into fists, the action made her arm throb even more.
"Look at me." he said to her. When she didn't do it, he started to tighten his grip on her neck as he repeated with a harsher tone. "I said look at me!"
The force on her windpipe made her start to struggle in his grasp as her eyes shot open. Her left hand tried to loosen his grip, but only made him tighten even more.
Giving in, she looked at the man with pure hatred, earning his grip to loosen slightly around her throat.
She could see the lust in the scum's eyes as he continued to feel her up.
She didn't know what to do. She couldn't see any way out of the situation. Instinctively a woman would kick a man in the groin if put in a similar situation, but his power armor would absorb the impact. She would only succeed in breaking her foot.
If she were in a better condition she could out maneuver the man and snap his, now vulnerable, neck.
It was when she tried to avert her eyes away from the man that started to undue the restraints for the lower parts of his armor that she saw something.
The plasma pistol!
It was so close. It was still on the armrest next to them. She just needed to get to it.
She was suddenly getting choked again when the man noticed she wasn't looking at him.
When she heard a piece of armor fall to the ground, she forced herself to look as far away from the man's crotch as possible. It was then that she got an idea.
A disgusting idea that made her want to vomit.
But it was the only way she could think of to get the man to let go of her.
She swallowed her pride as she readied herself for her plan.
"I want it." she said quietly.
The man froze, either from confusion or something else she couldn't tell.
"What?" he asked as he came a little closer.
She could feel his vile breath on her face as she looked at him.
"I said I want it." she repeated a little louder. "I want to taste it."
The mere idea of even beginning to think about giving the man head sickened her beyond words. He looked into her eyes, that she forced to look seductive, and saw the smile on the perverts face.
She had heard stories about the few who had escaped situations like the one she was in. if you suddenly seem like you are going to willingly participate in your would be rapist's activities, then you could catch them off guard.
"Fucking whore." he called her as he took a step back and let go of her neck.
She forced herself to show a coy smile as she sauntered to him seductively, swaying her hips a little more then usual as she started to lower herself onto her knees in front of him. She couldn't bare to see the manhood before her so she kept her eyes locked with the man as she reached up. She was thankful for the lack of lighting.
When she grasped his shaft she wanted to painfully twist it and rip it off if she had the strength to do so. A part of her made her smirk once she found out the worthless shit was a poor example compared to any other man.
Predictably, he threw his head back and let out a pleasured sound when she lightly tightened her grip.
That was the opportunity she needed. She forced her injured arm to lift and reach for the gun next to her and ignored the pain as she grabbed the weapon.
"Suck it." he ordered as he started to look back down at her. Once he saw the weapon aimed right at his manhood, his eyes widened in shock as the weapon powered up.
"Sure, sugar." she seethed right before she pulled the trigger right when her hand let go of him.
A look of unimaginable pain appeared on the man's face in the second the plasma round illuminated the space. (For the sake of both me and my male readers, I will not describe what would happen to one's loins when shot with an intensely burning plasma bolt.) She took in her revenge with a broad smile on her face and shot him in the head, making his body fall back as his face was dissolved. It was worth the pain going through her arm from the recoil. (Perk: Black Widow)
She only had a few seconds to take in what had happened and quickly started searching the dead Enclave. The noise would no doubt attract the others. She had to work fast. Thankfully, she found what she was hoping for.
He had two stimpacks on him.
She put the weapon in her good hand while the weaker limb did it's best to hold onto both syringes.
Without hesitating, she put what energy she had left into a sprint. She needed to get away.
When she exited the downed aircraft, she was instantly shot at. She ducked and almost tripped as adrenalin started to kick in.
The survivor only had to make it into the brush.
A plasma bolt barely missed her head, making her able to temporarily feel the radioactive heat across her left cheek.
She tightly cradled the two syringes in her burning arm as if they were her only lifeline.
Her lungs felt like they were on fire.
As soon as she entered the tree line, she changed directions and went to the left. Fewer shots streaked past her, and when she suddenly turned again around a tree trunk, she heard a bolt strike and start to dissolve the wood.
She ran as if hell itself was after her, making her scrounge up small reserves of energy.
When a branch raked across the right side of her face, she paid it no mind as she turned again.
She didn't know how long she had been running, nor did she even care.
She was free.
Plague POV
Plague fell to the floor of the elevator in pain as what felt like electricity surged through him. The beeping from his pip-boy was going crazy in the small space.
Luckily, no one was in the elevator with him.
He gritted his teeth to silence himself as the doors opened to the Engineering Deck. Plague forced his eyes open and saw his hand dissolving again and slowly start working it's way up his arm.
His stomach clenched painfully as he fought to keep down what he had eaten earlier.
Every movement felt agonizingly painful.
Before he could collect himself and exit the space, the doors closed in front of him before his hand could cross the threshold. His brain felt like it was going to force its way out of his own skull, while his limbs felt like they were burning.
He watched painfully as his arm was ripped apart before his eyes. He thought his pip-boy was malfunctioning, or maybe it had been tampered with. Plague had no idea what it all could mean, and he couldn't go to someone for help, since they couldn't see his hand was being atomized. They would call him crazy.
Well… Crazier.
His ears were ringing, making him not notice the elevator doors opening. Next thing he knew, he felt two gentle hands rolling him on his back.
"Plague?" a familiar voice called. It cut through the pain and allowed him to focus. "Plague! Stay with me." the voice ordered as he felt one of those hands slap his cheek lightly, but at the same time franticly. "I need help over here!" the voice was sounding more panicked. "You'll be ok. Adam, stay with me!"
At this time his eyelids finally closed completely.
Kasumi Goto POV
"Adam!" she shouted as his eyes closed.
It took everything she had to drag him out of the elevator before it closed. Thankfully he must have left most of his things in his room or else he would have went back down. Even with the change in weight, she had trouble.
Kasumi didn't know what to do. When she first saw Plague on the floor when she called the lift, she had thought he was dead until he started shaking and gasping for air. The sight scared her, and made her make sure she wouldn't lose someone else she cared about.
"What's wrong?" Gardner asked as he rounded the corner, followed by a member of the crew who had been in the mess.
"He just came up in the elevator like this." she explained quickly as the two men kneeled down to examine Plague. "He was awake, but…"
"What is all the yelling about?" shouted an annoyed Miranda in her Australian accent before she turned the corner and saw the three crowding around the fourth on the floor.
Her eyes looked worried for a moment until she say who it was and showed an emotionless look.
Kasumi didn't particularly like the woman. It was not always like that. She thought the member of Cerberus was a little too bossy when Shepard was not around, and at the time she saw her as someone she could annoy a little. It wasn't until she had tried to remove Plague's pip-boy that she became wary of her.
"What happened?"
"He seams stable Ma'am. Out of it though." reported the man next to Gardner.
The woman's biotics activated, making Kasumi instinctively react. She drew a hidden handgun she had on the side of her left boot, and aimed it at Miranda, who didn't expect such a reaction. If she wanted to get to her friend, then she would have to go through her first. If Plague was on the ground then there could only be a few explanations, and they were all bouncing around in her head and settled on two. One: Plague was ill. Second: Someone somehow made him the way he was. And the operative rounding the corner at such a convenient time made Kasumi go for the latter.
"What are you doing, Miranda?" she asked accusingly, as she got up and stepped over Plague, placing her between him and the female biotic.
Miranda looked at her with a look of annoyance as she collected some biotic energy in her right hand.
"He needs to be looked at by Dr. Chakwas." she explained in an irritated tone. "I was going to take him to the sickbay."
Kasumi didn't buy the explanation, and made that clear by sending a glare at the woman who had to focus a little more to see it through both the hood, and cloth casting her face in a shadow. Only her eyes were visible. Just barely.
"You can't fool me, Lawson." she announced as she tensed. "More like you were going to "Score one for humanity."
That caused Miranda to return the glare aimed at her. "Step aside, Goto." she ordered as her biotic aura became more visible.
The hall became quiet as the two awake men started to back away from the oncoming conflict between the two women.
"Now calm down you two." Gardner started as he tried to become the mediator. "Lets all relax and get the man to the sickbay."
"She is not going anywhere near him!" Kasumi growled, making Gardner back up even more.
It wasn't until the elevator doors opened to reveal another human, that the mood in the space changed.
"What the fuck are you doing, Cheerleader?" Jack asked hatefully when she saw Kasumi standing between Miranda and an unconscious Plague, and picked a side.
Her biotics flared as she stepped out of the elevator, bathing the walls with a blue light.
"This does not concern you." Miranda stated as Kasumi saw her biotics activate even more as if in an attempt to compensate for the second female biotic standing next to the thief.
Normally Kasumi would be a little concerned when packed into a small space with the bold woman, but right now she couldn't have asked for anyone better. At the moment they both had a friend in need. Maybe not a "friend" to Jack in the same sense of the word, but a friend none the less.
Jack gave her a hate filled glare and started cracking her knuckles before she replied. "Oh, I think it does, Bitch."
Taylor Shepard POV
"What?" Shepard almost shouted on her way to the elevator from her cabin.
"Cat fight heating up on Deck two." Joker repeated in both a panicked, and amused voice. "Miranda vs. Jack and Kasumi, right in front of the elevator."
"Shit!" she shouted to herself.
Jack and Miranda fighting actually made sense, but why the hell was Kasumi involved?
The slow snail's pace of the elevator fed her anxiety. Each second was more time for people to get in the way of the fight and get caught in the crossfire.
The quiet within the elevator was demolished once the door finally opened while she was welcomed by shouting.
"Stand down!" Miranda ordered angrily until Shepard stepped out of the elevator.
She looked to her left and saw Jack and Kasumi standing side by side defiantly as if they had the same purpose. Jack's eyes were filled with hate and anticipation, while Kasumi was calm and at the same time looked worried. For what, Shepard didn't know until she noticed a man on the ground behind them.
Why Kasumi was involved became perfectly clear to her. Her friend was down and the woman who had tried to take advantage of Plague's vulnerability in the past was to Shepard's right.
"Yes, Miranda. Stand Down!" she ordered as she looked to her. "What happened?"
Miranda's biotics dwindled a little and then went back to full strange only to suddenly deactivate when Shepard pulsed with her own.
After composing herself she answered, but still sounded quite annoyed. "Something is wrong with 101, and I was going to provide some assistance. Carrying him with biotics would reduce the amount of wasted time he could have been receiving help."
"Bullshit, Cheerleader!" Jack yelled as she pointed an accusing finger at the woman.
"I second that statement." Kasumi agreed, drawing Shepard's attention to her.
She had not even noticed the thief's new wardrobe.
It was an outfit that looked a little more armored then her last one, while the material looked quite familiar to her.
It was when she was thinking of how it looked like a form of latex that her eyes widened in realization.
Plague had made her a suit.
That was… unexpected.
"Between me, Jack, and Kasumi, I think we can handle getting him to the sickbay." she spoke as her biotics glowed again. Her eyes were focused on the woman, giving a silent massage for Miranda to try something. "Do you have a problem with that?"
Don't put too much thought into the Black Widow perk thing. Where else would a put it in?
Anyway the question I have for this chapter is rather simple. Now that you all know who the AI is, I was hoping you guys could help me out with something. What the hell do I name her? I am terrible with names so I am asking you all for help. I want a name that would suit (No pun intended.) her. So please send in your suggestions and I will pick the one that a like the most.
And whole else here can't wait for Mass Effect 3? The demo kicks ass. If anyone wants to send me a massage, my gamertag is Matalvisdrake on xbox live. Feel free to tell me what you think of the Wildcard, or ask questions. I will say this now, I will not blindly accept friend requests. I only do that if i happen to know the person. Saves me the trouble of trying to remember who is who.
Anyway, see you all next time.