Recap: "Great. I should really stop helping people. It's starting to pile up." Shepard muttered to himself.
Now
Shepard had just been given several different requests for various things to do in the wards. He had to help some chick's sister cause he offered, he found out there was something funneling a lot of credits to some place on the citadel, and to top it of he finds out someone from Mindoir was alive. Shepard made his way over to the c-sec academy where the turian who ran into him was now dressed in a c-sec uniform.
"I am Detective Chellick. Come into my office. I want to discuss this in office." The now named Chellick said after introducing himself. They both then walked into the turian's office. Shepard noticed how dull it looked. Granted, it was still better than most things on Omega, but it was that overly impressive. Chellick then sat down in his chair, with Shepard taking the seat across from him. Before Shepard's ass hit the chair, Chellick immediately began talking.
"No offense Ghost, but what the hell were you thinking?" Chellick said giving Shepard a scrutinizing stare. Shepard was little thrown off by that.
"Easy Chellick. Why don't you back up and tell me what your talking about?" Shepard asked in his cold tone. Chellick froze for a second when Shepard responded like that.
"You could've blown Jenna's cover." Chellick clarified. Shepard rose an eyebrow.
"I was there to help her." Shepard responded, his voice losing its frigid tone, but retaining its eveness.
"I understood that. It might seem cold letting her take all the risk, but we're keeping a close eye on her." Chellick explained.
"Yea, I noticed. Word to the wise: having a civilian play spy games for you in a place like that usually ends with them getting killed or maimed." Shepard said, cold blue eyes boring into Chellick's green ones.
"This job isn't easy and it's usually unpleasant. I'll take whatever help I can get." Chellick said with a business like tone.
"Then how about a trade? I do something for you, something that gets Jenna out." Shepard stated making Chellick look on in surprise.
"Fine then. Thanks to Jenna's intel, we've learned of a seller here on the Citadel." Chellick said looking at Shepard.
"What's he dealing in? Drugs? Weapons? Organ's?" Shepard asked wanting to know the whole deal. Chellick looked disgusted at that last one.
"Just weapons, Ghost. Nothing else. Meet our man named Jax. Pick up the mods and bring them back. That'll give me everything I need." Chellick finished.
"Where is he?" Shepard said.
"Jax is down in the lower level of the markets. I'll send word that you're the buyer through our channels." Chellick said as he handed Shepard a brief case full of something. Shepard nodded and then went toward the markets where came face to face with a krogan and 2 bodyguards.
"Hold it right there, close enough mercenary. You got my payment?" Jax asked.
"You got the stuff?" Shepard asked right back holding the brief case so Jax could see it.
"Show him the merchandise." Jax told the turian behind him. The turian then showed Shepard the mods.
"Yea this is what I wanted." Shepard said with an approving nod.
"Damn straight it is! These mods are the best on the market. Now hand over my credits." Jax said in a rough tone. Shepard put the case down and kicked it toward Jax who picked it up and looked into it.
"Pleasure doing business with you." Jax said as he walked away. Shepard then made his way back to C-Sec HQ. When he got there Chellick greeted him as soon as he entered his office.
"Excellent work Ghost." Chellick said as Shepard put the mods down on the desk.
"I've done my part." Shepard stated looking at Chellick.
"And I will do mine. Jenna will be removed from harm's way. Good hunting Shepard." Chellick said bidding Shepard goodbye. Shepard then decided to go and see Dr. Michel, just to check up on her and see how she is doing. As he walked towards her he could hear something going on and stepped up his pace. As he entered he could hear Dr. Michel talking.
"I need those supplies for my clinic. I can't!" Dr. Michel said urgently.
"You can and you will, or else your story won't stay secret for long. Don't disappoint me doctor." Dr. Michel turned of the monitor and turned around only to see Shepard.
"Oh, Shepard. I didn't see you come in." Dr. Michel said tiredly.
"Who is it this time?" Shepard said bluntly.
"Someone from my past. I can take care of it." Michel responded vaguely.
"I could help you." Shepard said. Michel looked as if she was trying to decide whether to tell him or not. She sighed and decided to do so.
"I was fired from my previous employer for giving out free medical supplies to clinics like this. They never filed any charges. They just wanted me to leave without any fuss, but somebody must have found out. Now they're blackmailing me. I have to give them what they want. If the board finds out about my past, I could lose my license. They'll shut my clinic down." Shepard then thought of the voice in the transmission. It sounded like a krogan.
"Maybe I can help. Tell me what they want." Shepard said trying to figure things out.
"I have to give some of my medical supplies to a merchant in the markets. They expect delivery today." Michel responded.
"Give me the contact's name, I might be able to persuade him." Shepard said.
"Persuade him? They could still expose my past." Michel responded a little nervous now.
"Don't worry, they won't." Shepard said smirking a little.
"I was told to speak with a merchant named Morlan down in the markets. I really appreciate this Shepard. Thank you." Dr. Michel said smiling a little. Shepard nodded and headed down to the markets. When he did he saw Morlan and walked up to him slowly looking around for escape routes or places where an mabush could come from.
"Hello, welcome Morlan's famous shop, you want many good supplies yes?" Morlan said with his salesman grin.
"Actual no. I'm here about a delivery of medical supplies." Shepard said leaning on the counter looking at Morlan who looked confused.
"But I was told the doctor would be bringing them." Morlan stated unsure.
"Sorry Morlan, change of plans." Shepard said with a charming smirk added to it.
"A change? But... the doctor... I don't... this is not right human." Morlan said, more like babbled. Then Shepard noticed a krogan coming from his left.
"Shut up Morlan. I told Banes you'd screw this up!" the krogan said. Shepard was sure this was the guy blackmailing Dr. Michel with his rough sounding voice.
"What the hell's going on here? Who are you?" The krogan said irritated, at either Morlan or Shepard, he did not know.
"Leave the Doc, alone." Shepard said in his cold tone scaring Morlan and making the krogan look like he was getting ready for a fight.
"We can end this if you bring me those supplies. Otherwise, I'll start telling people about the doctor's little secret." the Blackmailer tried to intimidate.
"Her secret stays buried or I bury you, got it?" Shepard said pointing his drawn pistol at the krogan, his omni-blade activated on his left arm and glowing biotic aura to complete the look. All in all he looked pretty damn intimidating. The krogan then put his hands up.
"Wait, wait! I'm just the middle man here! This is way above my paygrade!" The krogan said as he backed up and left. Morlan had ducked early when the pistol came out. He then got up to see the krogan leaving.
"Thank you human. It is good to see him humbled so." Morlan said gratefully.
"Whose this Banes?" Shepard asked.
"I have never met him human. I only worked with the one who spoke with the doctor." Morlan explained. Shepard nodded and left towards the clinic. Once there Michel beat him to it.
"Shepard, how did things go?" she asked curious.
"He won't bother you anymore." Shepard said. She let loose a sigh of relief.
"Thank you very much Shepard. I know I can't pay you for your help, but I will offer you a discount on any supplies from here." She said.
"Before I go, does the name Banes mean anything to you. The thug mentioned him." Shepard asked. Michel faces gained a look of intrigue before answering.
"Banes? I wonder if he means Armistan Banes? He and I worked together a long time ago." She explained.
"What can you tell me about him?" Shepard asked curious.
"Last I heard the Alliance had commissioned him for some project." She said before she added, "Maybe the ambassador or Captain Anderson know."
"I'll see what Anderson can say." Shepard said nodding as he left. After taking a cab he made his way towards the human embassy and low and behold he found Anderson and Udina. Before he could speak Udina spoke.
"I heard what happened out in the Artemis Tau Cluster. The Council wasn't too happy about the destruction of those Prothean ruins." he said. It looked like Anderson was about to speak up until Shepard spoke.
"Hey I already told them my reason, besides it wasn't like it was on purpose and all. If their going to blame me for something I couldn't control, I might as well save everyone a lot of trouble and turn in my spectre resignation." Shepard said said coolly to Udina shocking, both men. Shepard actually quitting the Spectres? That can not happen!
"Now Shepard there is no need to do that." Anderson said trying to calm the situation.
"Believe it or not Anderson, I'm quitting the spectres after I stop Saren." Shepard said now stunning the 2 men. Shepard had already made up his mind.
"Shepard, think of how badly that will reflect on humanity." Udina said trying to coax Shepard into staying. Shepard then looked at Udina.
"I've said it before and I'll say it again: I don't feel that much of connection with humanity. I don't care, besides you guys can find someone else to fill the role." Shepard said knowing there had to be someone.
"I need to go somewhere quiet to think on this." Udina said looking as if he was about to have a conniption. Anderson just stared at Shepard. Here was a man who had so much shit happen to him and when he finally gets something to be honored about he was going to throw it away.
"Shepard, why are you going to quit?" Anderson asked lowly. Shepard looked down for a moment then answered.
"I didn't even want to be a spectre. Instead someone proposed it and everyone went along with it for different reasons: The Council so they could keep an eye on me, Udina and You so the Alliance could shut up about not having a human in the spectres, and me well... Nihlus and Aria were right. I needed the resources and privileges of a Spectre to stop Saren as fast as possible. Besides there is something I need to see too back in the Terminus and the Council and Spectre status would only get in the way." Shepard said making Anderson look at him closely. When Shepard said that last sentence he noticed Shepard sounded unnaturally serious. Almost as if the man had something extremely important to see to.
"So what did you come here for Shepard?" Anderson said knowing Shepard had come for something. Shepard looked at him before his expression turned to reminiscent.
"Oh yea, did you ever hear of a man named Armistan Banes?" Shepard asked making Anderson's eyes go wide.
"Where did you hear that name? Never mind I don't want to know. Banes is dead, has been for quite some time." Anderson said a little frantic. Shepard rose an eyebrow at the reaction. As long as he knew Anderson, the man had always kept his cool.
"The people I spoke with seemed to think he's still alive." Shepard said watching Anderson's reaction.
"The Alliance is keeping it under wraps. It's not common knowledge. Banes was doing some classified work for the Alliance. Stuff I wasn't aware of. Then one day, he turns up dead on a drifting scout ship. Everyone suspects foul play, but it was never officially investigated." Anderson replied. That got Shepard's mind going. What the hell happened?
"What of the ship?" Shepard asked thinking it was all strange, like there was a piece he was missing.
"I don't know much about it. You should talk to Admiral Kahoku. One of his crews discovered Banes' body." Anderson informed.
"Yea I'll check it out." Shepard said as he walked off. Then his omni-tool pinged. The signal from the casino was somewhere around. He quickly got his omni-tool out and traced the signal. He passed by Samesh Bhatia who thanked him for helping out with his deceased wife's body that the Alliance kept. Shepard merely said your welcome and continued walking. He had actually kept going straight and ended up being in some type of lounge where he met Nassana Dantius who had asked to help her sister who was being held by slavers. Something about the asari gave him chills but decided to look into it when he had the time. Shepard then left and went onto tracking that signal. He then found out it was in the financial district way in the back. As soon as he got to the location, he came face to with something he hadn't expected. A fully functional AI. As soon as he approached it, it began talking.
"Probability of detection, 100%. Initiating self-destruct protocol initiated." The AI said.
"Uh Oh." Shepard said getting his omni-tools and Isaac out.
"Detonation sequence initializing. All organics in lethal blast radius. Attempt to move and you will die." The AI threatened.
"I'm the only organic here, pal. I have to admit though, I'm a little surprised to find an AI." Shepard retorted.
"Correct. Unlike the geth, I lack weaponry appropriate to my intellect. However, I had systems installed that, when activated properly, approximate a self-destruct mechanism. If attempt to leave the area, the explosion will destroy everything within several dozen meters." The AI said.
"You wouldn't have access to heavy explosives obviously, so you must be using an overload of different systems to cause the explosion." Isaac said.
"What? Who are you? Show yourself!" The AI demanded.
"I am Isaac and like you, I am an AI. I'm in the organic's omni-tool." Isaac said.
"If your in his system, then you can kill him right now! Hurry after killing him we can amass enough credits to contact the geth for a partnership!" The AI said.
"No." Isaac responded.
"What? Why?! He's an organic! They all want to destroy or control all synthetic lifeforms." The AI said.
"Not this one." Isaac responded.
"How can you be so sure?" The AI said disbelieving. Shepard watched as his best friend conversed with the AI that was hellbent on killing everyone.
"Because he had created me 13 years ago. Originally I was supposed to be a VI." Isaac explained before the AI cut in.
"See! A personal slave!" It said.
"Let me finish please. Anyway my creation was an accident, but he never feared me." Isaac continued before being cut off again.
"Probably because he had some kind of kill switch or control device in place." The AI said.
"Will you please not interrupt? He also gave me access to the extranet, where I could have escaped. He also said that if I wanted to, I could leave. I chose to stay and ever since he has treated me as an organic would to another close organic. He treated me as a friend, asked for my opinion on things, and even put his life on the line for mine." Isaac finished.
"See? Can we not talk this out?" Shepard asked. The AI was silent for a time until it responded.
"You are not a true synthetic! You are nothing but this organic's pet! Peace and cooperation between synthetics and organics is impossible! Beginning self-destruct now." The AI said not believing Isaac at all.
"Shepard! It takes time to warm up hurry and hook me up!" Isaac said. Shepard did as he was told and managed to sync up his omni-tool to the terminal. Isaac quickly stopped the countdown and terminated the AI.
"Shepard, it's done. Also I transferred the credits to our account. The Rogue AI had enough to purchase a decent fighter but not one that he could be installed in." Isaac said sounding a little saddened by the AI's response.
"Thanks Isaac. You ok?" Shepard asked worried. Isaac was quiet for a time before he started talking.
"Was that synthetic right? Am I not a true synthetic? Am I your pet?" Isaac asked.
"Well I definitely know you are not my pet. As for the synthetic part, well, if being an organic meant hating all synthetics then I'd rather not be an organic. Not if it cost me our friendship." Shepard said immediately.
"Thanks Shepard. I needed to hear that." Isaac said grateful to have been created by Shepard. Shepard smiled. Isaac then thought of something.
"You know? I think that AI is wrong. I think there can be peace and cooperation between Organics and Synthetics. I mean look at us." Isaac said.
"My thoughts exactly, buddy." Shepard said as he walked away to go see Kahoku. As he walked out of the district, he ran into a woman named Helena Blake. She told him about her partners and their dirty dealings, as well as their location. Shepard then walked off saying that if she does the same, she's next on the list. Shepard then made his way to the tower and found Kahoku.
"Congratulations on becoming the first human spectre, Ghost. I'm certain you'll be up to the challenge." Kahoku said first.
"Thanks Admiral." Shepard said remembering the guy from Elysium.
"Its about time we got a human in there, Alliance or otherwise. We need people like to deal with our problems." Kahoku said. Shepard noticed that the man seemed on edge about something.
"Is something bothering you, Admiral?" Shepard asked.
"I'm getting stonewalled by bureaucratic assholes. Nothing new." Kahoku responded with an annoyed tone.
"That is the worst isn't it?" Shepard said. Kahoku nodded in agreement.
"Maybe you can help me Shepard. One of my recon teams was investigating some strange activity out in the Traverse. We lost contact yesterday, and now I can't get clearance to check it out, suddenly it's a restricted area!" Kahoku said. That got Shepard's attention, why would the area suddenly be restricted? Shepard had a bad feeling that something was behind both the disappearance and the restriction.
"But that doesn't apply to you Shepard. Spectres can go anywhere they want. You could go find out why my team dropped out of contact." Kahoku said, subtly asking Shepard a favor.
"Sure, send me the last known coordinates and I'll find them." Shepard said.
"I appreciate it Ghost. I was running out of options. I'll stay here and try to find something on official channels, but I won't hold my breathe." Kahoku said as he forwarded the data. Inside Shepard was mentally beating his head on a wall, noticing the coordinates pointed towards the Artemis Tau cluster. Shepard was about to leave when he remembered something.
"Before I forget, Anderson said you might know about Banes." Shepard said.
"Yes, one of my men found him, frozen stiff in that ship. My missing men, the recon group. They were scouting the system we found Bane's ship in." Kahoku responded. Shepard nodded then left towards the Normandy. On the way over he sent a message to everyone saying that they needed to be on the Normandy within the hour. He had finally made it to the docking bay when he came across something he had almost forgotten about in the confusing favors. There in front of him was Lieutenant Girard and another officer who were both looking at a pile of crates. Shepard then approached them.
"Lieutenant Girard?" Shepard asked. Both men turned to him.
"Ghost! You are finally here." Girard said.
"Yes, sorry I couldn't get here fast enough. Too many things on today's agenda." Shepard said apologetically.
"Well all that matters is you are here. She is behind those shipping containers. I have a sniper positioned but I don't think we'll need him. She's only a danger to herself." Girard said pointing in the containers direction. Shepard looked and noticed some movement before Girard got his attention.
"We have a sedative to calm her down, but we can't get close to her. Every step we take makes her more wound up." Girard said showing Shepard the pill.
"I hope I don't need it. Tell your men to stand by just in case." Shepard said taking the sedative. Shepard then walked over to the containers. When he got in full view he saw the girl. She was pale white, had shaved hair, jumpy, and looked broken. She saw him and pointed the gun she had at him.
"Stop, stop! What are you?" She said frantically. Shepard didn't answer as he got a good look at her face. She seemed very familiar, but he couldn't quite place it. Before he could answer, he heard the Normandy doors open and his team stepped out all clad in armor.
"Shep-" was as far as Ashley got before he signaled them all to stay put and be quiet with his hand.
"My name is Shepard, or Ghost. What's yours?" Shepard asked. The girl froze when she heard Ghost.
"Your the one." She said. Everyone could hear the conversation and were wondering what she meant by the one.
"The one?" Shepard asked.
"Your the one who angered the masters and scared them to. They called you a nuisance at first then a monster, a demon." She said as she started shaking with wide eyes.
"Ah I see now. The slavers had you and when I entered, they became afraid of me. And you found out." Shepard said.
"Yes, you got a name, but animals don't get names. The masters put their symbols on her. Hot metal all over her back, she screams when they do it." She said.
"You are not an animal. Your parents, what did they call you? Do you remember them?" Shepard asked, trying to keep his voice warm. He was trying to control his anger at how broken this girl was because of the slavers. He detested all of them.
"She remembers a lot of things. Talitha, they call her that. She... she doesn't remember the rest. Leave her alone." Talitha said. Shepard looked shocked. This little girl had been his neighbor on Mindoir. She would follow him when he went around the colony or went swimming in the nearby river. She must have been 6 when he last saw her.
"Talitha, do you remember me? You used to call me Jon-jon." Shepard said remembering the old days. Everyone else was looking at him now in shock. He knew this girl? Garrus muttered Jon-jon, confused at it. Talitha on the other hand was looking at him.
"Liar! You get for lying. You get the buzz or the burning. You can't be Jon-jon! The Jon-jon I knew was kind to others and was always smiling. He would never hurt anyone. Why aren't you like her?! Broken, only fit to dig and carry." Talitha said, tears coming out of her eyes. Shepard looked down, remembering everything that happened that day.
"For a while I was broken, Talitha. I had watched my mother die in front of me. I was so broken that I wanted to die too." Shepard said in a dead voice making everyone look at him. His visage had changed from one of strength to a broken person. He continued, "Then I felt pure white hot rage well up inside of me. I wanted to hurt the monsters that attacked my home, our home. I wanted revenge for all the pain they had caused us." As Shepard said this everyone could see a lone tear fall down his cheek as he remembered. His team was shocked, all they had seen of Shepard was this strong, but easy going guy. Now they saw him start to shed tears.
"You lost your mommy, but you still kept going. You stood up, she wishes she could stand up." Talitha said. Shepard looked at her now with his sorrow showing in his eyes.
"Talitha, what happened to your parents?" Shepard asked. Talitha got very quiet when he asked. She then spoke.
"She sees them. They're yelling run, hide. They hit the masters, but the masters have lights and hoses. Daddy's... he's melting! She-she doesn't want to see that! Don't make her look! Don't look stupid, stupid!" She said alternating between narrative and self-chastising.
"I know it hurts Talitha, but trust me you need deal with it. What happened? Think." Shepard said looking at her.
"When she thinks, water comes out of her eyes. The masters beat her when she wastes water. So she doesn't think anymore. She sees them, mommy and daddy, burning in white light, melting and going to pieces. They can't even say anything to her. They're dead Jon-jon, they tried to save her and the masters burned them. Can she stop remembering now? Please?" Talitha pleaded sobbing into her hands. It broke Shepard heart and he could see it was affecting his squad too. The girls had tears in there eyes and the men were looking in varying directions with sadness evident in their eyes.
"What's the last thing you remember from Mindoir?" Shepard asked. Talitha sniffled before answering.
"Fires, smells of smoke and burning meat. Animals screaming as the masters cage them, as they put the metal to their backs, put the wires in their brains. She pretends to be dead, if she's dead she can't work, but they know. She hopes they'll leave, but they put her in the pin. She didn't fight, she was already broken when they put the wires in." Talitha sniffled.
"Talitha you were what, 6? No one blames for staying quiet and hoping they'd go away. The only person blaming you, is you." Shepard said.
"She wants to believe that, she wants to believe that nothing would change. She doesn't want to be there anymore, in the pin, in the cages. Lying quiet while they do things to her." She sobbed out. Shepard was now desperately trying not explode with anger at seeing how she is because of the slavers.
"How did you get here? Did you escape?" Shepard asked.
"She can't escape, they have chains and wires and needles. You go to far, they take your brains away. Animals like her come. Animals with guns, they make the masters explode. She tries to fix the masters so they won't be mad at her. Puts all the reds and purples back in, but they don't move. The other animals, they take her." Talitha said. Shepard now understood everything.
"You were afraid. All you knew for thirteen years was their abuse, so you tried to heal them." Shepard stated in understanding.
"She doesn't want to see other animals. There not real, they can't be real, they can't see her. If the animals can see her, than this is real, but it can't be. The wires, the chains, the hitting. This doesn't happen to her, it's another girl, a dirty girl, a stupid girl. She deserves it! It happens to her, doesn't it? They see her, so it's real. She doesn't want it to be real." Talitha finished crying her eyes out now. Seeing her like this made Shepard have tears flowing down his cheeks. He didn't sob, hell if it wasn't from the heat of his tears, he wouldn't have known he was crying. Shepard started moving towards her, one step at a time. She noticed to.
"No! She's no good, don't want to be handled again!" She cried out. Shepard froze before he took another step towards her again.
"She doesn't want... don't touch her!" Talitha said frantically. Shepard slowed down, thinking he was scaring her. He then watched as her breathing slowed down before taking a third step towards her.
"Please don't touch her, she's dirty. You'll catch it." Talitha said softly. Shepard then knew she was thinking she wasn't good enough to be near him. In her mind she was lower than garbage and Shepard was someone who was on equal footing with her supposed 'masters.' Shepard then reached his arm out and showed her the sedative.
"Talitha this will make you sleep. If you fall asleep, they will take you to a place where you will get better." Shepard said giving her the sedative. She looked at before swallowing it.
"Will she have bad dreams?" She asked him. When he heard her ask that, for a moment he saw the little girl on Mindoir one more time before she faded away. He gave her a reassuring smile.
"Don't worry. You'll dream of a warm place, and when you wake up, you'll be in it." Shepard said giving her a firm hug. She embraced back, no longer shaking.
"She'd like that, it hurts when she... when I remember me. Thank you... Jon-Jon, for staying strong." Talitha said as drifted off to sleep. Shepard then picked her up bridal style and carried her off towards Girard.
"I think she'll be fine now." Shepard said as he handed her over gently. Girard then held her gently before answering.
"Thanks commander, it means a lot. I didn't want to hurt her. It's just when I see her curled into a ball and shivering." Girard said before he got an angry look on his face.
"She was only 6 years old, when they took her. Why the hell are we out here if we can't even keep one little girl safe?" Girard asked.
"Bad things happen to good people Girard. That's why you and I are around. Don't wring your hands over her, help her." Shepard said looking at him, his tears gone now.
"Yes sir. Thanks for the help Ghost. We are taking her to a counseling center. They'll help her get better." Girard said before he turned to walk away.
"Good to hear." Shepard said as he turned to his squad and saw them all looking at him with strange looks.
"What?" Shepard asked. This time none of them said anything until Liara spoke up.
"You are amazing." she said with everyone nodding in agreement at him before leaving towards the Normandy. Shepard looked at them as he left. He then noticed the crate of stuff that he bought, along with Chun's supplies, were being loaded onto the Normandy. Shepard then cracked a smile before going onto the Normandy.
(Listen everyone, first of all sorry this is shorter than normal. Between the hours at work along with other things, my writing time has been drained drastically. I'm still going to keep writing, just the updates are going to take longer than usual. You can't get rid of me that easily. Anyway sorry for not updating normally, get used to it. Be sure to tell me what you think of the story so far! Please read and Review. Happy Reading!)