Chapter 4

Awakening

Shepards POV

"Any change?" Anderson asked.

"None," Kaiden replied, shaking his head. "That blast must've knocked him back a good ten meters. I'm amazed there's so little damage."

Ashley shook her head, "I don't think blood coming from his nose, ears, and eyes counts as 'little.'"

"It was only hemorrhaging of some small blood vessels," I said, repeating what Chakwas had already told us.

Anderson nodded and addressed all three of us, "I've finished going over each of your reports. Do you still think Dazac had something to do with Nihlus' death?"

I responded by shaking my head, "No. His reaction to the idea of it made me seriously doubt it. His actions in getting Williams out of harms way pretty much wiped out any lingering doubt. He's not gonna kill one of us and then turn around and save another."

"I agree," Ashley said, looking at the ground as she spoke, "Still... I feel like there's something he's hiding."

"Well that's obvious," Kaiden added, "I agree, I don't think he had anything to do with Nihlus, but there is definitely something about him that doesn't sit right with me."

"In what way, Lieutenant?" Anderson asked.

Kaiden sighed, "Well, sir, it just doesn't add up. He came on board with Nihlus, with a Spectre, and yet it's obvious he had no idea what he was doing down there. I honestly think that was the first time he's ever seen combat, real or simulated."

"He definitely can't aim straight," I said, remembering the shot he took that went wide and almost hit me. "And he was so sure there would be more geth near the bombs after we took them all out."

"That's right," Ashley said, "He kept looking over toward the ramp, like he was expecting something to come up it. It's like he knew those other geth were down there."

"Hmm," Anderson hummed, pausing for a moment to think before continuing, "Well, we won't find out the truth until he wakes up. In the meantime, all of you should get some rest. And Williams, I've received the okay from Command for your transfer. Welcome aboard the Normandy, solider."

Ashley sharply saluted Anderson, "Thank you sir. I won't let you down."

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I struggled to gain awareness. It took me a while to even realize I was awake, and longer yet to hear or feel anything. I was laying down on something, a bed. I blinked several times to clear my vision before trying to push myself up. For a moment I didn't know where I was, but when the woman sitting at a desk near the end of the bed I was on turned to me, I remembered. It was Chakwas. I was in a Universe that wasn't my own. And I'd screwed things up.

"Dazac," Chakwas said, standing up, "It's good to see you awake. How are you feeling?"

I replied with a simple, "Ow."

Chakwas laughed lightly at my response as she turned to her desk to grab a datapad. I brought a hand to my head and squeezed my eyes shut, trying to focus myself. Ashley had triggered the beacon, and then I'd pushed her out of the way. It was supposed to be Shepard who did that. I really screwed things up.

"Joker, could you inform the Captain that Dazac is awake?" Chakwas asked to the room.

Joker voice came over the speakers, "You got it Doc."

I swung my legs off the bed and pushed myself to a standing position, still leaning against the bed as I fought off a wave of dizziness.

"Don't go pushing yourself now," Chakwas admonished, "You took quite a blow to the head."

I groaned in reply. My head was killing me, but the rest of my body was aching terribly as well. "Everything hurts," I muttered.

"Well, no surprise there," a new voice said.

I turned to see Anderson and Shepard in the doorway. I hadn't heard it open. Anderson stepped in, followed by Shepard, and approached me. He looked to Chakwas and asked, "Well, Doctor, what's the damage?"

Chakwas looked at her datapad, "Well, all of his vitals are within normal ranges. Other than his body aching for awhile, he should be fine. The only thing of note was his rapid eye movement. A sign of intense dreaming. However the odd part is that rather than lasting five to ten minutes, as is normal, he was recorded doing so for close to twelve hours."

"The beacon," I explained, dropping my hand from my head, "It put something in my head. It's all jumbled though. All I can make out is a few images."

"What of?" Anderson asked.

"Organics being killed by synthetics... or rather, by organics turned into synthetics," I explained.

"Like those Husks we fought on Eden Prime?" Shepard asked.

I nodded my head and closed my eyes. Everything hurt, but I continued to explain what I could, "It's... a warning. Of war? Genocide?"

"Are you sure?" Anderson asked seriously.

"The beacons were designed to interact with Prothean's, not humans," I said. "I shouldn't be able to understand any of it unless there are some close physiological similarities between the two."

"You know an awful lot about the Prothean's," Shepard commented.

I huffed, "Unfortunately." I didn't miss the frowns they gave me, or looks they shot at each other. I didn't say anything though. Instead I just asked, "How long was I out?"

"About sixteen hours," Chakwas informed me. "You're lucky, you know. If it hadn't been for your armor, chances are you wouldn't be be awake at all."

I looked at her with a frown but then snapped my head toward Shepard as he explained, "The beacon exploded. It hit you with a lot of shrapnel. It tore the armor up to the point that it's little more than scrap now. And that's after your kinetic barriers took the brunt of the explosion."

I blinked slowly as I processed the information before slowly yawning. When I'd collected myself I asked, "What now?"

"We should be pulling into the Citadel any minute now," Anderson said. "The human ambassador, Udina is trying to set up a meeting with the Council. To tell them about Saren."

I frowned, "I was under the impression that none of you believed he was actually there." I looked at Shepard questioningly, but Anderson answered.

"That's what Shepard and Alenko's reports said," Anderson explained, "But that was before. I know Saren, and this attack reeks of him. I believe you."

"So do I," Shepard said. "I think all three of us who were down there with you owe you an apology, Dazac. Your reaction to our comments made me doubt what I was thinking, and your actions in saving Williams erased any doubt that might have lingered. So, for what it's worth, I'm sorry."

I didn't reply for a long moment, just taking everything he said in. I took a deep breath and slowly let it out before speaking, "Thank you. I understand how you could have thought what you did, circumstances being what they were. I'd pry have thought the same in your place."

"Alright," Anderson said with a nod. "Grab your shield harness and meet us up in the CIC when you're ready. Then we can all head to Udina's office."

He turned and walked out, followed by Shepard who gave a curt nod before following. I watched them go and waited until the door closed to sigh heavily and slump against the bed once more. Chakwas chuckled, "Come, I'll give you some painkillers and a shot of artificial adrenaline to wake you up. Then you can go meet them."

I smiled slightly and looked at her, "Thanks, Doc."

"Anytime," she replied.

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I got myself ready, getting a shield harness on as well as grabbing a spare pistol. Once I was ready I checked my Omni-tool for any messages from Nihlus, but found nothing, so I just went up to the CIC. Down near the cockpit Anderson, Shepard, Kaiden, and Ashley were all waiting for me. As I approached I could see out the window in the cockpit and saw that we were docked. A slight feeling of glee bubbled up in me. I was actually about to see the Citadel for myself!

We all stepped into the decontamination chamber and silently waited before disembarking. The place we were docked wasn't like it was depicted in the game. Instead of an elevator, the walkway continued on into an interior area that could be seen behind windows that allowed one to look out at all the ships that were docked. We walked down the hall until we reached another hallway that we turned down. At the end of it was a nexus of four hallways and an elevator. It was this elevator that we got on and took down to the C-Sec headquarters.

While we were on the elevator Ashley cleared her throat and looked at me, "I owe you an apology, Dazac."

I gave a small smile and shook my head, "Shepard already apologized for all of you. I can understand why you thought what you did."

"It's not just that," Ashley said, making me frown. "It for getting you hurt. The beacon, I mean. If I hadn't triggered that security field or whatever it was-"

I cut her off, "Then the beacon would have exploded before we had a chance to get any information from it." I smiled at her and shrugged when she just blinked at me. "You didn't know it would happen. I should have warned you not to get close to it."

"Wait a minute," Kaiden interjected, "You knew the beacon would react like that?"

I shrugged and avoided looking at him or anyone else, "I know how the beacons work. I'd never experienced it myself before, but I knew it transferred information directly into the mind."

"I've never head about anything like that before," Kaiden said thoughtfully. "How do you know so much about Prothean technology?"

"I don't. Not really," I replied honestly.

"But you do know about the beacons..." Anderson said, trailing off as though he wanted to add more, but wasn't sure he should.

I was saved any more questioning as the elevator stopped and the doors opened. We all walked out and made our way to the Presidium and Udina's office.