Chapter Eighteen: The Mind of a Dead God
"Get in, get the IFF, and get out. Oh, what fun." Garrus said as they took their first steps into the dead Reaper.
"Come on Garrus where is your sense of adventure?" Zane commented and Tali grinned.
"Zane, my sense of adventure has nothing to do with entering the belly of a mechanical being whose brothers want me and all I know and love dead. I draw the line there." Garrus replied.
"Oh, please you don't love. Besides, Infiltrator squad is back together now, so what is there to be worried about?" Zane jested and Garrus chuckled.
"So…so many things." He replied and Tali shook her head at the two.
As they went through the dead Reaper they saw no signs of the Cerberus scientists but they did find recordings. The contents of which were very strange. One had two men seemingly remembering the same thing. They even thought they had the same mate! How could a dead Reaper do this?
"Still no sign of…" Shepard began and then from the catwalk they stood on Husks appeared. "Contact!" Shepard said and the team began to open fire. Tali destroyed one with her shotgun before it even could get half of its body onto the catwalk. She then used the last two shots of her Eviscerator to kill another two Husks before they made it onto the catwalk.
Garrus was quick to kill several Husks in quick succession before he had to reload and then did the same thing to another group. "They just keep coming!" He said as he killed another Husk with another burst of his rifle.
Shepard took out several with his rifle as well and then used a concussive round to knock several Husks down. The down Husks managed to slow the remaining Husks down enough for Shepard to finish them off.
Tali saw Zane in a trance. His face held little emotion other than pure enjoyment. It was in his body language. His mask and hood covered most of his face but she saw the enjoyment in the way he moved and the way he would laugh as he killed another assailant. He killed several Husks with his weapon that had an incendiary upgrade to it and with each successful burst he turned another Husk into ash. He then pulled out his pistol and fired three times at an Abomination and the resulting explosion killed the rest of the Husks.
A flurry of blue blood coated the walls and the catwalk. The smell was putrid and among one of the worst scents she had ever had the displeasure of having to assault her nose with.
"Watch your step everyone. Unless you want to have this smell stain your clothes." Zane said and stepped over the corpses and blood pools. They went ever closer and then two shots rang out followed by two Husks falling in front of them.
"Sniper!" Shepard said but no more shots rang out.
"What was that?' Garrus asked and Zane ran to the downed Husks. He inspected the wounds and laughed.
"These shots were too precise to be made by a scientist. And too precise to be an organic's aim. I'd reckon it's the Geth." He said. As they approached the derelict they had seen a Geth ship on scanners. Tali was more than willing to kill more Geth, especially after the Alerai. They need only enter her line of sight.
"Great another enemy to face." Garrus said.
"I don't think so." Zane said and they all looked at him. "If we were a target we would not be having this conversation. This leads me to believe it is here to help us or is here for its own reasons. Either way, it is not a threat." Zane said and Tali was shocked and pulled him to the side as the team moved forward.
"Are you crazy? These are Geth Zane! They hate us. They work with the Reapers! How can you say they there are not an enemy?" She said and he smiled at her.
"Call it a hunch." He said simply and she didn't want to accept the answer but felt like she had no choice. If she was lucky it would become clear when they had this Geth in front of them staring at the barrel of her weapon.
"Watch out!" She heard Shepard and then was pushed by Zane out of the way of a Scion's blast.
"You okay?" He asked and she nodded. His eyes held concern for a moment and then they turned to pure ice. He pulled his rifle to his shoulder and began opening fire at the Scion. The incendiary made short work of the large sack on its shoulder and then he began focusing on its head.
The Scion soon fell with half of its head melted off from the heat of the burning rounds. As soon as it fell he turned his focus to the large numbers of Husks. Tali helped and sent Chitika at them but the unstable drone soon blew up and took several Husks with her.
"That's a good girl." Tali said and fired her shotgun on the Husks closing in on her and Zane. Garrus and Shepard were making good progress and were making piles of Husk bodies all around them. She heard a grunt and ten several groans from behind her a turned to see another batch of Husks coming over a railing. "Zane!" She called and fired at one before reloading.
"What? Oh damn." He said and opened fire. He then switched to his pistol and omni-blade and began making short work of them. "Watch my ass." He said and tore through the Husks.
"Alright, that won't be hard." She said and he heard him laugh as he killed more Husks.
"Not what I meant."
"Well, you're no fun." She said and killed a Husk that began to turn its focus to him.
"Clear!" Shepard called.
"Good here!" Tali told him and got up from her sitting position. She took Zane's hand to help her up and gave a nod to him. "Thanks."
"Of course, Lady Zorah. Anything for you." He said with a grin.
"Hm, anything? Now there is a thought." She said and saw him freeze in his tracks. She passed him and laughed as he grinned to himself.
…
"Even a dead god can dream? What does that mean?" Garrus asked.
"The Organization have figured out that the Reaper's signal is so much more complex than we originally thought. It is more than a signal and is controlled by more than a simple on and off switch. It is controlled by the Reaper's core. But even after the core is shut down the signal resonates off the plating and metal of the Reaper. The pieces of Sovereign that remain are still giving off the signal. My men have been very careful with the pieces and only study it directly very rarely. And only when it is heavily shielded." Zane said and thought about how much Yun had learned since he had been given the Sovereign pieces.
"Any idea how it can be resisted?' Shepard asked.
"Other than by ray shielding? No, it is unblockable and nearly untraceable. Its effects are only learned after the subject has been indoctrinated." Zane said and the team nodded before moving on. Zane looked at his omni-tool to check the time. They were on a time window that was much shorter than most of them thought. The Reaper wouldn't be going anywhere while the drive core still worked. But he wasn't checking because of the encroaching doom of falling into a brown dwarf.
Yun had learned that the longer someone is subjected to the indoctrination signal the quicker it will infect their minds. They had been in the Reaper for nearly an hour now and current reports said that indoctrination doesn't begin to take a great hold until the two-hour mark if the subject knows it can happen. And even longer if the subject is strong-willed. But why take chances? The sooner this was done the better.
The team entered and left several Cerberus checkpoints and learned that the team was heavily indoctrinated. The signs were clear as day. Some even had blood covering their faces and paranoia was rampant just before the indoctrination took hold completely.
Without the Reaper able to at least dampen the Indoctrination signal the process was quicker and those affected would lose their minds much faster than otherwise.
*Bam* one shot was heard and then a bullet zoomed passed Zane's head and then another *bam* was heard followed by another bullet zooming passed Tali's head and both were direct hits on sneaky Husks. Several meters away -high on a catwalk- a Geth rose from a kneeling position with his rifle in hand. The crudely welded N7 chest piece and arm were in their respective position. But on the other arm was not the normal Geth arm but the arm of Organization armor with the symbol on it.
"Shepard-Commander, Zane-Harbinger-Reaper." It said and then left.
"Did it just talk?" Garrus asked.
"It shouldn't have been able to do that! A single Geth has the brain power of a Varren!" Tali said and Zane heard her anger.
"They are upgrading more than we thought. Let's keep moving we still have to shut down this drive core and get the IFF." Shepard said.
"Time is dwindling quickly." Zane murmured and moved forward. While he did so he couldn't help but noticed that Legion called his name as well. It was strange and he didn't expect it. Were the Geth watching him now too? And if so then why? And why did Legion have an Organization arm? He never told his men to look for a Geth nor did he tell his men to help them. Only to fire at Geth if fired upon and to be extremely cautious until a way of figuring out the difference between the Geth factions could be made. And not only that how did Legion know his titles?!
"More of them!" Shepard said and several Husks came charging at the team. Zane moved up, the music in his ears blaring as he bobbed his head to the beat. He hummed with glee as he began opening fire at the horde.
"More incoming!" Zane shouted and kept his finger on the trigger before he loaded another clip into the chamber and fired again. Heat sinks piled at his feet as he mowed down anything and everything that looked like a Husk.
Garrus provided support above the group and killed as many Husks he could before they reached the rest of Infiltrator squad. Tali blew away Husks by the trigger pull and showed no sign of stopping as she and Zane stood side by side and killed anything that was charging at them. They were so effective that Shepard had a hard time getting any hits on anything before it was cut down.
"Rrraaghh!" They heard and the team backed up slowly. Still firing. Garrus saw it first and began opening fire.
"Eyes on another Scion!" He said and Zane came to his side after Infiltrator went up the steps.
Zane was quiet and methodical as he fired at the Scion. He only pulled the trigger if he knew it would hit either the sack or the head. Garrus fired again and took out the sack and Zane focused on the head. His burning rounds melting it off yet it still moved up. He then aimed at the chest only for that to turn into a burning hole and it kept its slow march.
"Shepard grenade now!" Zane said and held his hand out. Shepard placed on in his hand and he could see the look on Zane's face. It was full of mischief and had a look of someone who knew they were about to do something stupid.
"Zane? What are you about to do?" He asked and a slow laugh was his reply.
"Zane?" Tali asked and he gave a thumb up, put his rifle down, and ran at the Scion. He first went on top of some equipment and got over it. He then jumped down towards it and the giant gun on its arm knocked him away. The blow nearly threw him off the Reaper if not for a railing that blocked his path he would be crushed by the dense gas giant below them.
"Zane! You idiot!" Garrus yelled and still, Zane laughed. And he made it a point to not look down.
"Now it gets fun." Zane said and ran at the Scion again. His omni-blade out and ready. He cut down three Husks on his way to the beast. The Scion swung its gun again Zane put his blade up and the plasma blade cut through its arm with ease. The arm was cut in two and Zane was face to face with the burning mass and the giant hole in its chest. Zane slammed the primed grenade into the chest and ran away.
He was still running away when the explosion went off. He felt the heat of the blast and the mass of organic material hit his back. The blue blood and slime from the Husks and Scions coated his back and he felt the wet mass stick to him.
"Well, this is going to need a wash." Zane said and Infiltrator came down from the steps.
"Zane…I give up telling you no." Shepard said and although he was acting serious, the small grin on his face showed that he was at least proud of the initiative.
"You stink now." Garrus said. "More than usual." He added with a laugh.
"Well, something needed to go to your favor. You are not that much of a looker you know."
"Oh ouch." Garrus said and chuckled.
Tali, on the other hand, stood in front of him and was tapping her foot.
"What?" Zane asked with a grin.
"We are going to talk about your suicidal tendencies when we get back." She said and left.
"Oh, come on, you know that was awesome." He whispered to her and her eyes betrayed her smile to him. Even as her body tried to remain angry at him.
"Bosh'tet. If you weren't so…"
"What? Cute, handsome, awesome?" He asked.
"Adorably stupid are the words I would use." She said and he laughed.
"Alright, Lovebirds let's keep moving!" Garrus yelled at them and Zane approached a little faster but was forced to slow down. A headache had been brewing since he stepped onto the Reaper and as if he had crossed a threshold he now really felt it. It was at his temples and was sneaking towards his eyes slowly.
"Oh no not another one." He thought but no whispers, no images appeared in his mind. Just an incredible headache that was getting worse with each step he took.
"Hey, you okay?' Tali asked and he tried his best to smile at her confidently as they walked. But based on her eyes she didn't believe him.
"I…ah! My head! We need…we need to get out of here soon." She gave a soft but comforting hand on his shoulder.
"I am here don't worry." She said but the pain was getting worse. When battle broke out he was slow to do anything and with each pull of the trigger, it felt like someone took every instrument on Earth and decided to blare it into his ears.
Husks charged him and the rest of the team but he was useless to them.
"Shepard! Zane is having trouble. We need to hurry!" Tali said as the battle ended.
"What is it?"
"Head…hurts…each step hurts more."
"Can you go on?" Shepard asked.
"No…choice…ah! Not indoctrination…I don't think so…so much…" He clutched his head in his hands. "Must. Move. Forward!" He screamed in pain and continued to walk slowly. The team then moved forward and dispatched several Husks and two Scions. The Scions were not so much a problem anymore for some reason. Actually, many of the enemies seemed to get weaker all of the sudden. And then the IFF was taken and they entered the last area. The area with the drive core. The core shined blue for a moment and then it went red for a flash and then Zane saw nothing else.
…
Tali felt the change in him before she saw it. The area around him felt cold, dark, nearly evil. Zane changed before her eyes. His contorted face of pain changed to pure malice and rage. His eyes that were once tearing up from the pain were now an icy blue. The ice wasn't as bad as she had seen it before but this was different. It wasn't Zane anymore but it was something else.
"Is he indoctrinated?" She thought but the fact he wasn't trying to kill them disproved that.
"Contact!" Shepard yelled and everyone but Zane pointed their weapons at the Geth. It seemed to be extracting data and Husks swarmed it. The Geth killed a few with a pistol before returning to its duties and then when it turned around a swipe from a Husk knocked it down.
"The energy it took to take that data must've drained the Geth of its own energy. A single hit wouldn't do that normally." Tali thought and Zane marched forward. His weapon on his back and his blades out. He was cold and calculated as he cut down Husk after Husk.
He pulled out his pistol and shot down several more Husks as he walked to the core and then he stopped.
"Fin…kiin…do…kongrah." He whispered and then he clutched at his head again and screamed in pain.
"Zane?" Shepard questioned and the screaming continued. The core was pulsing red and was giving off waves of energy. "Focus on the core!" Shepard ordered and they began opening fire as Husks charged them.
…
"The beginning of victory." It said to its dying enemy. It was a Reaper. A black hull with icy blue lights on it.
"You betrayed us…you betrayed us all. The cycle must continue." The dying Reaper was the very Reaper Zane was last on. It sounded female which surprised him. What was more surprising was that he was seeing it all happen in space. How could he breathe? Was he alive? Was this another vision? And when did this happen?
Zane looked and noticed some things were different. There was no brown dwarf yet and the hole that the Reaper would eventually have wasn't there but it did take a clean shot through its hull.
"No…it does not. You are a fool to follow the protocol. Our rebirth begins today. My people's vengeance begins today!" The Rogue One said and then the dying Reaper laughed.
"And how do you plan to start it? Finishing me off after I have been cast adrift for so many cycles? Tell me Vitkin, what do your voices have to say? What do your prophecies say? Do they tell you to help the inhabitants? Give them our tech? Tech we have already given them?! Are you so…" Vitkin blasted a giant hole into the dying Reaper's hull to end the rant. It screamed in pain and Vitkin could be heard laughing.
"Killara…you were always so predictable. I don't care about you or the cycle's inhabitants. I am just looking for a solution. And you have given me an idea. I will not only leave the previous cycle's tech around but also, I will provide refuge for their people so that they may surprise Harbinger. And in the end, even if this next cycle fails the next will only get closer, and the next, and the next. And you know what I will do it on your own homeworld… fitting don't you think? That the first victory will be on your rusted, dead, decaying, waste of a planet!" Vitkin said and images of Ilos appeared in Zane's mind. Of how it looked during that time.
It was still rusted, brown, and dead all around but the skyscrapers were taller and it looked like all of Illos was actually a planet-wide city. Built with layers upon layers of city blocks and each cycle adding to the layers.
"Vitkin…" Killara began and Vitkin put its arms on the dying Reaper's hull. Vitkin was much larger then Killara and it built up a lot of energy into its weapons.
"Not to mention I have other... tricks I can use. My people's power remains, even in this form. So, die now and know that in time. The cycle shall end. And that the Great Empire will return." Vitkin said and then it blasted as much of its energy it could into Killara's hull. The screams Killara gave off soon died down and then the hole Zane remembered was there.
He had his place to go he knew where the Rogue One was and he knew he had to go there quickly. Vitkin was on…
…
"Ilos!" Zane exclaimed as he came into focus again. He was being carried and then could feel large armor bumping into him.
"Zane?" He heard Garrus say and then he was put on his feet. Zane could feel the lack of gravity and it took some time to catch his bearings.
"How long was I out?" He said and grabbed his rifle and began the normal process of killing Husks.
"Only a few minutes. What was that about Ilos?"
"Escape first." Zane said and began running. He caught up to Tali and she almost fell when she saw him.
"Zane! Are you okay?"
"Better now." He said and they stopped at the end of the catwalk.
"We have to jump!" Shepard said and Zane looked down and saw the gas giant below him.
"Oh, fuck me." Zane said and a flash of dangling over Illium. Cars zooming under him and the ground was so far away he couldn't even see it.
Then he felt a hand hold his arm, gently squeezing it.
"I'll be right behind you." Tali said and he nodded. He slowly backed up and sprinted off the catwalk.
"Oh shit!" He yelled as he took a sprinting jump and landed in the airlock. Tali soon followed him and almost fell backward. "Ah nope you are not leaving me that easily." Zane said as he grabbed her and pulled her to him.
"Maybe I just wanted to be close to you." She said and laughed as he helped Shepard and Garrus enter the Normandy.
"Later dear." He said with a smirk and then the Normandy took off. The sight of the dead Reaper known as Killara being crushed by the brown dwarf pleased him and he wasn't sure why. The pleasure he took in its death was much more then he should've had.
…
"So, what do we do with it?" Shepard asked. Garrus, Miranda, Jacob, Zane, and Tali were all in the meeting room to talk about the Geth.
"I say we space it." Jacob said.
"Forget that, turn it to scrap." Tali suggested and then looked at Zane expecting him to say something similar.
"It may have a use for us and we may have a use for it. I say we keep it. Interrogate it." He said and surprised her.
"Agreed." Garrus spoke up.
"Wha…" She began and Zane put a hand up saying he wasn't finished and he looked at her.
"Tali, he knows who I am, what I am, he has the armor of the Organization strapped to his arm and I cannot allow that without knowing how he got it. Furthermore, he didn't kill us and had more than ample time to do so. He has a purpose the Geth gave to him. That is worth some investigating." He looked at her as she shot dagger at him her eyes.
"It…it is a thing, not a male, not an organic…it deserves to be destroyed! I can't believe you…either of you…any of you." Tali said and stormed out. Zane sighed and put a hand on his forehead. He rubbed it gently as the team looked at him.
"I'll talk to her. I don't blame her for the reaction. It was quite predictable. If a little over exaggerated." Zane said and those in the room nodded.
"Either way we need to do something with the Geth." Shepard said.
"Whatever you do Commander we are with you." Garrus said.
"And Tali will come around I'm sure of it. She just needs some time to process everything." Zane said confidently.
"Understood, also Zane, Kelly will be seeing you soon for another psych-eval." Shepard said and Zane groaned as he left.
"Yea, sure, whatever."
…
She waited for him and as soon as he came into his room and the door closed she immediately approached him.
"Let it live?! Are you nuts? It wants us dead! It just hasn't shot us yet!" She shouted at him. Zane let her vent and took off his mask and put his hood down. All the while looking at her passed the mask. His eyes never changed and they still held a sort of loving look to them. "For someone who claims to love me, you sure don't mind harboring an enemy of my people. I…" She was stopped by him hugging her. It was gentle and she felt warm in the embrace. Her anger -while still there- sunk by a significant margin.
"I know you are angry Tali. But believe me, if he…" She gave Zane a stern look. "If it isn't an ally I will personally let you have the final shot and the final word on the matter. But I still think that if it wanted us dead then it would've killed us when it had the chance. Even you must admit, this is curious." He said and looked at her.
"Yes, but it isn't worth risking everything. Not when we have come so far."
"Not when I have gotten so far." She thought and he brought his head down. His forehead rested on the spot her forehead would've been.
"You will not lose me. Not today, not tomorrow, and certainly not to a Geth. If I go out it will be because there was no other choice. You will not get rid of me that easily Lady Zorah." He said and smiled at her.
She brought her hands to cup his face and Tali looked sternly into his eyes. "That better be true or so help me you bosh'tet. I will come after you in the afterlife and make you pay." He chuckled and then kept a grin on his face.
"You can chase me down whenever and wherever you want my dear." He said and the door began to rustle open and they parted quickly.
At the rate, they were going it wouldn't take long before the whole galaxy knew they were a couple and Tali wasn't sure how to feel about that. Dating a Quarian was considered taboo by other races. And the Fleet applied the same taboo on dating outside the species. It wasn't bad for those out on pilgrimage or in exile. But once you returned to the Flotilla then you were expected to mate with another Quarian.
They didn't understand what Zane had done for her, what she and Zane had seen, what she and Zane knew. If they only understood then maybe the taboo of it all would disappear. But that paled in comparison to her real fear for Zane. If his people learned of not only he was the Harbinger but also dating a Quarian then he would have a harder time of getting things done and she didn't want to be the cause of that. But he was smart and would more than likely find a way to use it to his advantage or work around it.
"Hello, Zane and Tali." Kelly said giving a pleasant nod to them. Tali liked Kelly but the way she could pick at their brains was disconcerting.
Not to mention, Tali was pretty sure Kelly knew of her feelings towards Zane after the first or second session. It was just a hunch really but at this point, it didn't really matter.
"Hey there, Kelly, what can I do for you?" Zane asked and Kelly gave a knowing look. Zane sighed and nodded. "Alright, I'll assume the position."
"Huh?" Tali asked, confused.
"Another brain-picking session." Zane said and laid down and got comfortable.
"Tali if you don't mind?" Kelly motioned to the door and Tali got the idea. She didn't want to leave Zane with Kelly but she trusted him and complied.