Chapter 9: Hope

It wasn't long before Garrus stopped being amazed that his shoulder was healed, probably because it was the reason why he was imprisoned. He lost count of the days that passed. The salarian and his entourage announced at the beginning of every visit that it was a new day before beginning questioning, though Garrus guessed he could be lying about that. He wondered why they were not trying to force the information they wanted out of him with torture, but he supposed the reason could be that no matter how badly they wanted to acquire information, they didn't want to be in a cell with what they believe is a Protoform to get it. Garrus considered his situation much more fortunate for that.

So, every supposed day he woke up to a thunking sound and found a tray with some type of dextro-protein food and water laying upon it beside a wall. He guessed there was a panel that opened to send in food and water somewhere on that wall, but he could not find the seams of the panel and whoever was sending the trays in would not open it unless he was looking in a different direction. Though, he was grateful that he was fed and that it was always dextro-protein food, as he would go into anaphylactic shock if it wasn't no matter what his captors thought he was. The trays were never returned and now there was a stack of them in his cell, and if he bothered to count them, Garrus would know how many days passed by.

After the food arrived, the salarian would come and begin questioning and always commented on Garrus's "determination to maintain a disguise." Garrus made a snappy comeback in return and then the interrogation began for the day. The salarian asked questions and made creepy comments, and Garrus asked for freedom and the only one who was happy at the end of it was the salarian who seemed to always be happy which was just not right.

Then Garrus was left alone, or rather was left the illusion of being alone as he was certain there were cameras watching him at all times. He filled those hours with exercising as much as he could in his cell, playing with the used food trays, pacing and sleeping. If he didn't get out soon, he feared he would soon begin talking to himself.

Garrus spent a lot of his time going over a mental checklist of what he needed to do as soon as he had his freedom. First thing he planned to do was get out of his armor. He had been wearing the same armor for so long and made use of the armor's waste system the whole time. The waste system of this particular suit compressed and dried out waste for storage until it could be unloaded into an appropriate waste disposal receptacle. Since it had been so long since Garrus had a chance to empty it, the system was probably overflowing, jammed and in serious need of cleaning if not replacement.

The second thing he planned to do was get a bath.

The third thing would be inspecting his armor to see if it could be salvaged through a thorough scrubbing or just replacing it. Garrus was considering replacing more and more as every day passed, but he knew after he got out he was just going to clean it and continue to use it.

The fourth thing on his checklist was tracking down that annoying salarian and punching him in the face. The salarian was probably STG and so this plan would probably get Garrus killed, but by this point he was honestly considering that it might be worth it.

Another "day" came by, a tray of food and a cup of water thunked into the cell and Garrus sat on the floor to eat it and the door outside his cell opened. Garrus told the salarian where to shove his head and just let him eat in peace.

"Is that what passes for manners these days?" asked a voice that was very much not the salarian's. Garrus turned and stared at his visitor in disbelief.

"Executor Pallin," Garrus was aware he sounded like a child who was finally seeing his father come home from tour in the Terminus, "You're here."

"You really got yourself into trouble this time haven't you?"

"Executor, they think I'm a Protoform."

"I know. I have been watching," said the Executor. Garrus's heart sank at that. "But you might not be. A Protoform has never been successfully captured before and I don't understand why STG is so determined to believe that one has been captured now."

"So you believe me?"

"I believe we could be mistaken," replied the Executor, which Garrus noted was not an affirmation. Damn.

Garrus sighed. "What can I do to prove I'm me?"

"Tell me about yourself. If your memories and reactions don't match up to your profile, then you are a Protoform. If they do match, then you are Spectre Garrus Vakarian."

Garrus rubbed his face. "I am Garrus Vakarian. I was born on Palaven. My father was Kaisarus Vakarian. He was a C-Sec investigator, a legend. I do my best to be a good investigator in his memory." Garrus sighed. "I was little more than a kid when I received the news. That he wasn't coming home." Garrus swallowed. He could remember getting the message on their private terminal. Just a formal and bland letter and his father was gone. It didn't even say how he had died, other than that he was on duty at the time. It was at the funeral where he learned the details. "He was on a case when he was attacked by a Protoform. He didn't survive." He made a soft laugh. "But neither did the Protoform. After my father died, I applied for Spectre training, but I applied for both C-Sec and the Spectres as soon as I was able."

"Tell me about your mother," said Executor Pallin.

"Dead. I was really little when she died, so I never knew her." Which was not helping his case in his opinion, but it was completely true and Garrus could only hope that the truth would bring him freedom.

"You file says you have a sister, what can you tell me about her?"

"My sister is Solana Vakarian. She's… still alive." Garrus remembered the last time he saw her. She looked so small, nothing like the big sister he had idolized for years. He remembered how her arms shook as she took a drink of water from a cup, spilling so much of it on herself. Garrus took a deep breath. "She's sick. Corpalis Syndrome. Ah, it's a neurological disease, degenerative. I pay for her treatments. Can I talk about… anything else?"

"Tell me about your work and your friends," said the Executor.

Garrus grimaced and lifted a closed hand. "Friends… there is Chellick…" he raised one finger, "and Nihlus…" he raised another finger, "and that's it. I don't think Saren counts. He's Nihlus's friend, not mine."

"Why is Saren not your friend?"

"He… I don't know what it is but something is off about him. I feel like I should never let my back be turned towards him. But he trained Nihlus and he respects him so I put up with him when we meet up at Flux for drinks."

"What did you talk about the last time you and your friends were together?"

"We talked about Protoform. Chellick was trying to drown himself in liquor after his partner got eaten and Nihlus was giving me advice on how to kill them. Nihlus told me before I left to get a partner of my own. I am really regretting not listening to him now."

"Do you remember the last time I yelled at you?"

"I was in the C-Sec infirmary after we busted the Batarian Ambassador. I can't recall what was said, but I remember the pain medicine the doctors put me on was unusually potent."

The Executor sighed at Garrus's response. "Alright, I am going to go check your answers. I will be back shortly." At that, he left.

******************** Hope: End *******************

Talk for reader:

As much fun as that salarian was to read, he was a pain to write. If you liked him, I'll bring him back for round 2.

I couldn't find the name of Garrus's father anywhere so I made one up. It sounds like a dinosaur.

According to a hard to find page on the wiki, Solana is the name of Garrus's sister, not mother. Oops.