CHAPTER SEVEN
Kai leng was on chair in a small operating room, medical equipment filled the area and a tube with traces of a silver liquid dotted with tiny glowing blue spheres stuck out of his arm, he slowly removed it as his implantation operation was now complete. Simone, the same medical officer who was responsible for nursing back to health after he had been shot two months prior was standing off to the corner of the room looking at some medical charts on her Omni tool.
"Ahh, Mr. Leng how are you feeling" she said in an upbeat tone.
"Fine" Kal leng replied in a gruff tone as he began to get out of the operating chair, gripping the arm rest a bit too hard ripping it cleanly off.
"It will take some getting used to, your cybernetics allow for a triple increase in strength thanks to those carbon fiber limbs, you should be able to lift six hundred pounds easily and run at fifty miles per hour, with the stamina to match. Most interesting however is your new ability to use Biotics and recharge your barrier using electric currents. why don't you walk around the facility" said Simone.
Kai leng walked out of the room to a short corridor he could feel the rush of power in his new limbs the sensation of something as simple as walking was how he imagined it would feel to unlock a new power or level up in one of those Virtual reality role playing games he played in his younger days. The corridor was lined with offices each belonged to research team leaders it area still smelled of cut wood and burnt flux from welding a sign of construction recently completed, he could see engineers putting the final touches on what looked like a process control panel, the final touches for this the newest Cerberus facility titled "Sanctuary" The Illusive man had poured significant resources into understanding the Reaper power of indoctrination, this facility was the destination of the colonists that had been kidnapped a week prior they had been in medical stasis and today the research would begin.
Kai Leng came upon a glass window to the facilities' gym inside he could see Cory working out on a exercise bike a force of habit as the implants burned out the body's fats, glucose and stimulated muscles automatically to keep powered this was the reason husks and the like resembled undead creatures. The gym was nothing like the large training area on the Chronos base as it was primarily for the Researchers and their assistants to relax. Cory noticed as he entered the room.
"Care to join, you're one of us now and that Simone, she went all out on you" said Cory.
Kai leng went over to the large punching bag he held back much of his strength attempting to gauge the intensity of his new strength but the resulting punch knocked the bag off the rack sending it across the floor.
"Not bad, I'll have to teach you how to use your Biotics though"
Cory stopped pedaling and dismounted.
"Kai Leng this place outside it looks like a luxury resort the inside looks like a processing plant or something it's haunting, I could figure out every other Cerberus operation I know of fit into the greater good but this one rubs me wrong Kai" said Cory in a somber tone.
"The Illusive man knows what he is doing" said Kai.
"Hello Cory" said The Illusive man himself speaking from a holo projector, a small spherical object that used a mass effect field to hover and project a full bodied hologram of thier leader while returning live video back to his location it could be controlled as if the user was there in the flesh giving a sense of presence.
"Sir, I... didn't mean to" replied Cory
"Never mind, I always appreciated your candor and passion for the cause." said the illusive man in a clam and charismatic tone.
"How are the legs Kai"
"They're fine" Replied Kai leng
"Those cybernetics take time to get used to believe me" said the Illusive man
"Why don't you both walk with me" the trio left gym and proceeded to the end of the corridor to an office. A tanned man of Caucasian heritage sat behind the desk in the room his blue eyes were bloodshot evident of a lack of sleep he was hunched over an electron microscope while taking notes on a data pad nearby. The large window in the room gave an outlook on the facility on the floor below a small robotic gantry device inserted itself into four large pipe like objects no longer than a few feet, the gantry then ascended, moved forward and repeated the process on another set of the objects continuing in a constant back and fourth."
"This is doctor Henry Lawson one of our newest supporters this facility is his idea he can explain best Cory" said
"Ah yes, we will be starting the first experiments soon, our work here will save humanity a continuation of Dr. Nuri's initial work with a different focus, come with me" said Dr. Lawson getting up from his chair and motioned them to the elevator door. Taking it one level down there were soon at a room below where they could see the device from before along with a series of strange six foot glass tubes in metallic pods distributed along the walls and tilted at an oblique angle. XTX servers for simulation modeling and data processing were installed at points throughout the facility. The colonists were now being wheeled by teams of technicians and research assistants still hazy from the medical stasis they had been put in.
Cory noticed they were all adults young to old. "What will happen to the children." she asked in a concerned tone.
"There are being hidden on an uncharted world in stasis pods if we fail and the Reapers destroy us an automated AI program will be there it will awaken them after a thousand years and will educate and guide them so that one day they may yet live" said the Illusive man's hologram with a cool articulation.
The glass tubes opened with a sharp hiss as assistants loaded the colonists and locked them in. Twenty in all, a brown mist then started to flood the tubes the colonists wrenched in pain screaming but inaudible as the airtight glass blocked their sounds as the Reaper nanobots changed them in to husks.
"What the HELL" shouted Cory as her facial expression changed to one of shock.
"A necessary sacrifice in determining the nature of Reaper to husk communication signal our early studies of this allowed us to create what we called a mental compiler Dr. Rotham's teams are is working on the final product now it will allow us to brainwash and flash train any captured human and conjunction with implanted augmentations we will have what we need to protect humanity" said the doctor.
The pieces were fitting together for Cory her moral compass found the action repulsive but necessary. a fast way create an large army, she contemplated if it would be enough to ensure the survival of humanity. Kai leng however looked on with detached expression, a true psychopath, he could not be phased less.
"How does the system work" asked Kai Leng
" The nanides as we call them modified Reaper nanobots are manufactured there" said Doctor Lawson pointing to the a set of the pipe like objects in the room
"The transfer gantry then introduces an aerosol propellant and pumps them into these tubes" he said pointing to the large rotating device and the second set of pipes.
"At this point we are measuring all physical readings we can during the husk conversion process, trying to figure out exactly how the Reapers control their subjects the process has been very much trial and error as we try to get the right mix of nanides to enable the system to be exploited and the Reaper system being heavily encrypted does not help in the least but thankfully your mission on Kar'shan is helping Dr. Rotham on that front." said the doctor finishing his explanation of his experiments.
"Why does the entrance resemble a spa" asked Cory
"Hopefully the test subjects retried from Cyrene will be enough for us to be successful however if we require more, a controlled deception will be executed as a solution, this war will no doubt bring about refugees this facility will be a disguise for somewhat willing subjects coming to sanctuary." replied the Doctor Lawson his detached tone was disturbing.
"Cory have I told you about how I got these eyes ?" asked the illusive man referring to the subtle cybernetics present in his eyes quite visible on the holo projector, most top level operatives who had seen him in person or on holo communicators refereed to them as robotic.
" No, I assumed they were just normal eye enhancements" she replied.
"It was during the first contact war, A rude awakening to our fragile place in the galaxy our first contact with another sapient species did not go so well. I was a specialist working with the Alliance military we were sent on a mission to gather Intel on Turian operations that were continuing after we liberated Shanxi by General Williams, you all know him from your high school history lessons as the first man to surrender to an alien force, a brave man he made a hard decision that saved thousands, I led a small team of close friends , Eva Core and Ben Hislop we discovered what the Turians had been after we didn't know it back then but it was a Reaper artifact the pre cursor to Geth spikes it turned my friend Ben into as husk and gave me these" said the illusive man pointing to his eyes.
Cory was shocked she had never suspected the Illusive man to have been affected by Reaper modification all this time. funding commander Shepard's recovery and mission that brought about the defeat of the collectors and even now were actively opposing the Reapers. Questions flooded her mind as she struggled to figure out how this was possible.
"Yes, Cory I too hear their voices and have known about the Reapers since you were still in diapers, your mission on Kar'shan has enlightened you on what we are up against, more importantly the implants you carry are a liability until we figure out how to protect you this is the only way."
"I don't have to worry about getting brain washed for asking these questions do I ?" asked Cory.
"You, never Cory, you have always been curious but loyal" he replied in a calm tone. His Omni tool flashed on his arm ,after reading the message his expression changed to one of sadness.
"Cory, it's Ms. Mara Mott she was killed on Kahje by Liara T'soni a few days ago, communication lag always makes some news late, I'm so sorry but her sacrifice gave us valuable intelligence, and we can now deploy project Eva Core on the Mars Prothean Archives. "Thank you sir" she replied, Cory held back any expression keeping a collected calmness at the news, Mara was a good friend one of the few she had as a clandestine operative. First Jana one of her trainees now Mara, how many more of her comrades would fall before this war had even started.
"I have a mission for you two, recovering test subjects for the Mental compiler testing, The targets are A fifteen year old girl named Gillian Grayson she was a part of our Biotic research until Paul Grayson squirreled her away to the migrant fleet, her credentials have shown up in Elysium customs records and she is traveling with a Hendel Mirta an Alliance Veteran and former security chief of the Grissom academy who is also an accomplished Biotic. His resignation from Grissom academy coincided with Gillian's disappearance we believe he may be sheltering her " Said the Illusive man.