"Commander! Over here! Help!" Brooks was on the opposite side shooting at an enemy I couldn't see.

"Hang on." We ran forward and almost smacked into a blue wall. We turned around and there was another blue wall to our backs.

"Not good." Mordin slowly lowered his gun.

"Brooks! The vault sealed us in!" My stomach was churning. Something wasn't right.

"Is there an override?" Wrex asked.

"Do not see any." Mordin shook his head. "Bad planning."

"Cortez? Brooks? Do you read me? Is anyone on this frequency?" I dropped my arm slowly when I saw Shepard B approach.

"The short answer is no. They're not"

I raised my gun and fired. The bullet hit the barrier. Nothing happened. I tried a few more times in different areas. Nothing.

Shepard B shook their head. Yeah, that was a stupid idea. I'm full of'em today.

"The longer answer involves your friends trapping in iridium vaults and forgotten for…well, forever."

"There's iridium the sirens haven't absorbed yet?" I got three confused looks. I cleared my throat. "Others know about this. About you. The Alliance will stop you."

"What do you think, Staff Analyst Brooks? Will the Alliance stop us?" Shepard B came closer and I saw Brooks for the first time.

"I wouldn't know." Brooks leaned her arm on Shepard B's shoulder. "I don't actually work for them."

"Who the hell are you?" I jabbed a finger in their direction. "And do you really thing I won't track you down?"

"My name doesn't matter. I never keep the same one for more than a few days." I just wanted to punch that smirk off her face. "And if the Illusive Man hasn't found me yet, you never will."

Except I have the Shadow Broker on my side.

"You're Cerberus?"

"Was. Mr. Illusive and I didn't see eye to eye. He's indoctrinated whereas I prefer the whispers in my head to be my own." Brooks paced a little.

"Why not come to me? We could've worked together."

"In a way, we did. I'm the one who put together all those dossiers on your 'suicide mission'."

"The Collector base?"

"There was the asari justicar, the drell, the salarian doctor." She motioned towards Mordin. "It's good to finally meet the famed Dr. Solus. I actually liked your heartless, ruthless nature."

"Feeling not mutual." Mordin did what I've termed 'the salarian growl'.

"They were all mistakes. We were a pro-human group who started looking to aliens for help." Brooks shook her head. "So, I bided my time, and when I found another you who agreed…I woke."

"Shepard B." I interrupted.

"Up."

"What was the point of it all?" It all seemed a round about why to kill me.

"All we really wanted was your Spectre code."

When I unlocked that door after the sushi place. I was tricked again!

"But then you survived the hit and insisted on bringing your damned asari into it, so I had to tie up loose ends."

"Khan."

"But then your sex bot."

"I have a sex bot? Oh, right, EDI. She's Joker's."

"Just had to go and recover the data. So here we are forced to…contain the situation."

"Fair warning; nobody who's betrayed us has ever survived." I held my head up high. "It's a record I'm proud of."

"And yet they keep trying." Wrex sighed.

"Fail to learn from past experience." Mordin shrugged. "Doomed to fail."

"You two may think you're clever. And yeah, you where-just a bit-but cleaver doesn't beat a bullet." I crossed my arms "And yeah, maybe I am trapped in here, but don't get comfortable. Because that bull's-eye on your back is getting bigger by the second."

"That sounds very dramatic. And if someone like, say, Commander Shepard made the threat, I'd be worried." Brooks smirked. "But you're not Shepard. Not anymore."

"You had Miranda, I have her." Shepard B motioned towards Brooks. "Mine has more bite."

"Have you ever met Miranda? Plus, mine had bigger tits."

"It was fun while it lasted." Brooks smiled at me.

I could feel my blood starting to boiling. "Of course the Illusive Man hasn't found you. It's hard to find something when you don't bother to look for it."

Her smile vanished and she glared at me.

"And since he just let you walk off with Shepard B, it says clearly that neither of you mattered to him. Useless pawns that no longer serve a purpose."

Brooks was scowling, but Shepard B seemed to be ignoring me as they walked towards a console and brought it to life.

"What are you doing?" I was following them.

"Setting things right. Remember this?"

Images of the original council appeared.

"You are the first human Spectre, Commander." The asari said. "This is a great accomplishment for you and your entire species."

And the images were gone.

"Except somewhere along the way you forgot about your entire species." Shepard B turned to me. "You've saved more alien lives than you have human."

"I don't care what species they are. Every life counts, but maybe a clone wouldn't understand that." I shook my head. "You're going to make a lousy me."

"You know the one thing they can't duplicate?"

"Having a soul?"

"Our handprint." Shepard B looked at their hand. "Life gives it its shape, not DNA…which is a problem." They turned back to the console. "Computer, update Council records. Subject: Shepard, human Spectre."

"Accessing record. Please input new data." They placed their hand on the console. "Biometric identifier update. Good day, Commander Shepard."

That's it? It was that easy to steal my identity?

Brooks and Shepard B started for the door. "Now, if you'll excuse me, the Normandy needs its captain. So…" They stopped walking and turned back to look at me. "I should go."

Oh hell no!

"Farewell, Commander." Brooks smirked over her shoulder. "I guess this is where 'legends' go to die."

Before they were out the door, the vault started moving. I wobbled but managed to stay on my feet. I grabbed Mordin's arm so he wouldn't fall.

Once it finally stopped moving, Wrex spoke. "Refresh my memory: Didn't we used to win these things back in the old days?"

Mordin: "Out smarted by Not-Shepard."

Me: "It said, 'I should go.' Do I sound like that?"

Wrex: "As long as I've known you, yeah."

Mordin: "Never noticed. Not important."

Silence.

Wrex: "So this vault we're sealed inside of…We're not going to worry about that?"

Mordin: "Trapped in a vault. Not ideal."

Me: "How come nobody told me this before? I'm open to feedback here."

Wrex: "Well, I thought all humans said it, like some weird Earth custom or something."

Mordin: "Troublesome to change what's not broken."

Me: "I'm more confident than they are. More in control. With me, it's more like 'That's all for now'."

Wrex: "Spoken like a krogan. Show'em who's boss."

Mordin: "Dominance must be asserted when entering a situation."

Silence.

Wrex: "Probably not a lot of air in here. An hour tops."

Mordin: "Given size of vault and three inhabitants…air enough for an hour…perhaps."

Me: "Maybe it's: I should GO. I SHOULD go. 'I' should go…Or sometimes 'I'll talk to you later' because you know what? I never do. Leave them wanting more."

Wrex: "Shepard! Why are you not more worried about this?"

Mordin: "Shepard! Lack of oxygen. Should be more concerned."

Me: "Hmm? Oh. Glyph, you still out there?"

Glyph: "Yes, Commander."

Me: "Unlock this damned thing, and go find the others. No one steals my ship. Not even me."