Galactic Core
Avernus Station
The amber from Miranda's omni-tool was a beacon in the emptiness as she scanned the surroundings. Other than the light, nothing moved. In the small screen of the omni-tool, a ghostly lattice like a fish net, glowed beneath the floor. Hidden sensors, as she suspected. Tapping on her omni-tool, she changed the scan settings. The geth behind her reflected her stillness as she stood in a corner, their optics panning the surroundings. Not getting the readings she was looking for, Miranda gestured.
They moved silently along the corridor, coming across a door. Miranda ignored it. The sensor at the control panel of the door was a sign the room beyond was cleared by another team. Her purpose was not to duplicate their efforts but to extend a more thorough search. With the omni-tool extended, she eyed the seams of the walls and floor intently.
A tap on her shoulder. The geth, Vord, pointed to the ceiling. There was nothing to be seen but she knew better. Lifting her omni-tool higher, her eyes narrowed when the scan returned the readings she was looking for. Calling up the map, she marked the spot and studied it carefully. Frowning, she highlighted plausible targets and sent it to the geth squad, tapping two messages rapidly into her omni-tool.
Two of the geth, Maxtine and Pisor, moved off. Vord read the next message and it cocked its head, as if listening to a message. Like Cy, it had two signal receptors and a capability that was extremely useful in their present errand. She didn't have to wait long, less than a couple of seconds, before it transferred new data over to her. Appraising herself quickly of the teams' progress, she realised she had to speed up her search and acquire her objective as soon as possible.
The other blood trail led to a medbay. Like the large laboratory, there were no equipment, not even a work console. Neither were there any corpses. Except for the traces of blood and a thin film of dust, it was almost as pristine. With nothing to pick up, they moved further in and found a huge elevator that could only be a cargo transport. Unable to read the script, they left it alone though Shepard noted the decks it serviced; it didn't go beyond the sixth deck. They left a sensor sentry on the lift and went on, destroying any security eyes they came across.
They came across lavatories, smaller elevators and rooms with racks and cupboards that could have held armor, weaponry and equipment. After an hour of corridors and intersections, Shepard called a halt for a brief break. With Cy standing guard near the door of the room they were in, both Miona and Hiaras sat down against the wall, the former adopting a meditative pose. Considering the vibes of impatience and anger Shepard could feel coming off her, it was a good sign she was attempting to stay in control. She parked herself near Cy and read the updates queued for her attention.
The map of the fifth deck was almost completed except for a strip in the center that not a single geth probe from any of the teams could get into. Judging from the measurements, the strip could be the buffer zone between the administration and laboratories. Perhaps the area for decontamination, disposal and bathing facilities. At the rate they cleared each room, it would take them another couple of hours if they were the only team on the station. The geth squads were moving so much faster than their organic counterparts they would clear the strip by the time they themselves reached the strip in another half hour. Since the probes were stymied, she sent a directive to them to spread out and keep watch. That done, she moved on to the next update.
The laboratories Kirrahe and Osinae found held nothing more than a repository of files pertaining to the Eosians project. There were no biological samples or matter in storage. Garrus and the other geth teams pulled cache after cache of files from work consoles in empty rooms and offices. They would soon be unable to draw off any more data. If only they could send the data over to the Dynius to analyse and sieve the information. They couldn't risk it. Shepard didn't know if Lance laid booby traps in those files that could disable the dreadnought or whether he packed up everything he could use and left, leaving the station as a fall back crib for future use.
The message attached to the data update from Storm1 only read; check out the dried meat. Immediately following that were vids of the merchant freighters Thax was checking out. The cargo compartments were filled to the top with sealed two meter tall cylindrical containers. Of course Thax would ignore the warning from the geth trooper, attached to his squad, about the contents. He would insist opening a few without consulting or notifying her. With the time stamp reading more than an hour, it was pointless to get on the comm channel to countermand his action.
A soundless hiss left her when she saw what was in the containers. Husks. No, something was off. She frowned and reexamined the image. Husks were skeletal-like with exposed cybernetic implants but the bodies in the containers were fully dressed in one piece suits. All had hair. The other similarities to husks were the skeletal frame, the blue in blue eyes, half lidded in death and the blue black skin. She glanced at Miona. The asari's colouring was lighter. There was a sheen to her skin that didn't appear on husks or indoctrinated subjects. Her alteration was clearly different. Did the dead man undergo the same slow steady deterioration as the TI? Did it kill him eventually? Whoever was recording moved his arm in a slow sweep from head to foot. It was then she saw the wound in the corpse's head. Shot.
She sent a query to the geth attached to Thax's team. The answer came back swiftly. The nanites that were detected were of a signature that did not match those found in husks. Nor did it fit the Adjutants. With another glance at Miona, she pulled up the cell samples the Alliance had discreetly removed from the Omega survivor group and compared them against those of the corpse on board the freighter. No match. There were some similarities in the cell structure and even those were slightly off. Calling up the samples of the scan she took of the corpses in the maintenance room, she compared them against the others. Closer to Adjutants but not those from the survivor group or the freighter corpse. Finally, she pulled up the sample of Miona. No match.
With the ever changing variants, it was hard to discern the precise function of these new types of nanites. Once cybernetic contamination took hold, it was impossible to reverse the process. Looking at the differing cell structure and the end result, perhaps Cerberus or Terra Firma tried to divert the purpose of the original cybernetic cells.
The corpse on the freighter suggested that he retained some form of intelligence. Were the changes an attempt to prolong his life? Or was it merely a measure to ensure a reliable resource to maintain the running of the station? She stared at the image of the dead man a while longer before removing it. Whatever it was, it was clear there were differing branch offs from two main groups of cybernetic contaminants. One that was commonly used on humanoids, the other the more infectious strain of the Adjutants. Whatever else that could be gleaned from the data would have to wait.
Nehra's update was an exuberant burp. Apparently, her sales pitch paid off. There was no hardware or any shipyard materials in the loading docks and workshops but there were plenty of work stations that yielded copious amount of files, inventories and blueprints. She could imagine his glee in getting such a find but was it really the treasure trove he thought it was? Just as well there wasn't time for him to examine his find more thoroughly until after the mission. So far there hadn't been a whiff of any biological materials so she could leave him to potter about in the lower decks with the geth making sure he didn't get in over his head with enthusiasm.
The last update was a brief squirt from Miranda confirming the existence of an extensive biosensor security grid beneath the flooring. The deployment of such a net, from many hundreds of technological projects Cerberus were researching and developing over the years, was debated over during one of their discussions. Not a good sign. How many other projects had borne fruit? Ten to one, the net was tied in to a central mainframe, perhaps another cybernetic entity like the one found on the turian dreadnought. A chilly tingle went up her spine as she imagined having such sensor wires to her brain, feeling the footsteps of every single being on board the station. Was that how it was to EDI with all the thousands of data bombarding her sensors? But no, the gynoid had no organic nerves. It was probably different for her.
She sent the security grid warning to all the teams. They had to assume their movements were tracked, despite their scrupulous destruction of security eyes. The two asari read the message, then looked at the floor and lastly at her. Shepard immediately waved them to silence before either one could say what was on her mind.
"Ready to move out?" she asked softly. They stood up silently. As they went out into the corridor, she quashed the absurd urge to tip toe.
As if she was thinking of the same thing, Miona muttered, "If only there isn't any gravity."
"That'll slow down our progress to a crawl," Hiaras returned before Shepard could answer.
"We can walk on the walls.."
"We could except that we have no idea where the gravity controls are."
"It has to be on the upper levels." Miona pitched her voice higher, hoping Shepard would heed the suggestion.
Everything they saw so far affirmed the theory that Cerberus, or was it Terra Firma had packed up and left. It didn't matter to her whether the former or the latter was in charge. They were of the same ilk. After seeing those bodies in the lab, disappointment and fury whirled hot in her. With nothing to inflict her fury on, it was hard to keep it in check. All this thorough scanning of room after empty room was extremely tiresome and a waste of time. Surely one look was enough? The faster they find the core of the station, the faster they could find out where those bastards fled to.
"Isn't it?" she added impatiently when Shepard said nothing.
"It doesn't matter when we get there because we will. Leaving any pockets of unsecured zones is an unnecessary menace," Shepard said without looking around, pausing briefly to check the next door recess; another lift. Sticking a sensor sentry next to the door, she moved on.
"It's a waste of time when it's clear they have moved away." Miona eyed the lift.
Not caring for the stubborn insistence, Hiaras said sharply, "Every possibility has been addressed at the briefings. Having survived Omega, you know it's never wise to have shadows at your back."
Biting down the temptation to spit out an angry reply or point out that a wild youngling she was no longer, Miona glared straight ahead. She knew better than to engage the commando in a argument but being on the receiving end of a reproof to a valid suggestion only ratchet up her frustration and increased her desire to hit something.
"Cy, take point." Shepard waved the geth forward. She slowed so she could drop back beside Miona. "You can take one of the lifts to the upper deck."
Miona stared at her, taken aback by the sudden suggestion. "What?"
"Back that way." Shepard jerked a thumb over her shoulder.
Miona looked at the lift behind them and back to Shepard. Was the human telling her to conduct a search of the upper level? Hot delight flashed through her. She began to head to the lift. Shepard grabbed her arm but cautiously, feeling the tension in Miona.
"Once you're up there, you are on your own," she said.
The heat in Miona cooled slightly at that. "I would seek alone?"
"Isn't that what you want?"
Shepard waited. When Miona did not immediately walk away, she said softly, "You seek a measure of retribution, resolution, answers. They could be be here, they could be not. I agree to bring you along because you deserve a chance to find out. If you can't play ball, then you can swack it alone."
Miona tried not to lash out at the human as frustration twisted in her. "I ache to slake my fury in their blood."
"So you said when we talked on the Normandy. You also said you're not certain of your self control. That was half an answer then, what of it now?"
Miona looked at the lift. The call of blood and the temptation to step into it was so strong she could taste it. Step into it and she'll be in a hunt she often imagined would be hers one day. Stalking her quarries with no mercy, vengeance for the fallen, for what they had suffered, for what she had suffered. But given what she saw so far, her prey would not be flesh and blood. It was likely of metal. The burden of her fury was hard to bear, she wanted flesh and blood. The thought of spilling her life blood on metal was anathema to her, a waste. Empty of life and sentience, mechs were a poor substitute for their real masters. Far better to save it for those who would surely present themselves. Now or in the future. If she lived to see it.
"It would have been different if you brought me here straight from Omega when you liberated it," Miona said. "I would have been the untamed fire."
"I don't doubt it. So what is it going to be?"
Miona looked at Shepard and nodded. "I'll not hunt alone."
Pleased with Miona's decision, Shepard waved to the other two who stopped several paces ahead to wait, to continue on. They would reach the center strip in several more minutes. Her omni-tool beeped. The geth teams on the other side had reached the buffer zone.
"Okay, hold up," she said. They halted. "The other teams are clearing out the last zone on this deck. We'll wait here."
"What happens after they're done?" Miona asked as she squatted down.
"We move up." Shepard sent the recall to the geth probes, they were going to need them for the upper decks.
"I could have gone on. It would have made no difference," Miona said with a little petulance.
"Nothing is certain." Shepard studied the positions of the teams, all of which except hers, were at the boundary of the buffer zone. The map of deck five was now complete. She assigned teams to the lifts closest to them. "Once we get the all clear, we head up that lift we saw back there. It's going to take a while." She sat down on the floor.
"Is that wise?" Hiaras asked with heavy emphasis.
"Does it make any difference which part hit the deck? It's still me." Shepard grinned when Hiaras snorted.
Tiny movement along the corridor drew her eyes. The probes were returning, zig zagging around Cy and Hiaras's feet before bumping to a stop against her leg. Returning them to their niche on her back, she checked on the progress of the geth teams. As she surmised, the buffer zone was a decontamination facility. With deck five completely cleared, she gave the green light to the other teams to start up to deck six. She frowned. There was something odd about the map.
"What is it?" Hiaras said, noting her intense scrutiny.
"This deck is only accessible via the lifts, there're no stairwells. If any of their lab rats broke loose, they'll be contained but that means, the lift shafts could be choke up with eyes and trippers."
She sent a warning to the other teams and another to Thax to advance to deck two. He could obey or choose not to, it was his choice. His dissent had thrown part of the infiltration plan awry. If he landed in trouble, he would have to get himsef out. The geth trooper with the krogans had its orders. If it could help the krogans, it would. If not, it would bail and reconnect with the rest. She checked the update from the ships. No sign of any activity along the perimeter or from the relay. So far so good. She stood up.
"Let's go."
They backtracked to the lift. With one swift movement, Cy opened up the maintenance panel. It took a few seconds to lock the lift down and opened the doors.
"Is it networked?" Shepard queried, wondering if station transit was linked in to the biosensor grid. Hiaras waved to Miona who generated a biotic lift to help her reached the maintenance hatch.
"Standard service automation. Do you want a complete trace?" Cy asked.
"No, if there's a central brain, let's not tickle too much yet." Shepard waved to Hiaras to stop after she opened the maintenance hatch. Cy stepped in, scanning the elevator shaft.
"No active sensors detected," it reported.
Hiaras climbed up and helped the rest through. Shepard spotted the maintenance ladder easily. It shouldn't take long to get to the exits of the next deck. Her gaze halted several meters up, where the other set of doors should be.
"We have a problem," she muttered. "All D5 teams report status of D6 acquisition."
"Claw1. That's a negative," Garrus said as he looked up the lift shaft he was in. He stepped back and craned his head. "D6 to D13 are inaccessible. We have D14 in sight."
"Sit1. Affirmative, we have acquired D6," Kirrahe said, Osinae followed after. One by one, the teams reported in.
"D14 seems exclusive, should we risk it with so few? " Hiaras asked after it became clear that the only teams that were able to access deck fourteen were theirs and Garrus's.
"Shall we link up, Seeker?" Kirrahe wanted to know, a tinge of worry in his voice.
"I'll pull two of the geth teams to follow Garrus's and our track. If it gets too hot, we'll pull out. Claw1, how does that sound?"
"Seeker1, feet's itching."
"All teams continue with mission parameters. GT2, track after Claw. GT3, you're with us."
The geth teams acknowledged the new directive. Shepard began to climb, running a scan of the wall where the doors to deck six should be when she was leveled with the deck. Nothing turned up. The wall was solid. She continued climbing, halting beside the doors to deck 14. Toggling the maintenance panel, she opened the doors and quickly rolled the geth probes through. The probes scattered swiftly, sending back scan data seconds later.
"Corridor is clear." She stepped out on to the deck cautiously. The others climbed up after her. Cy went into high intensity scan, moving closer to the walls.
"Passage is more narrow," Hiaras said as she looked up and down the intersection they were in. Three metres wide at the most.
"I'm detecting numerous mechs in the room around the corner." Cy marked the room on the map. "Structure and design similar to Ramparts. They're currently inactive."
"Took them long enough to turn up," Shepard muttered. The room would be to their left if they head straight through the central corridor. Not something they should do. Destroying the mechs while they were inert would be great but that could set off a chain reaction they might not be able to handle. Of course it could still happen later but for now, she'd prefer to keep the ball in their court.
"What's the count?"
"Thirty."
Her mouth went dry at that. Thirty ramparts would make one hell of a fiery hole. Should they halt and wait for the other teams? Or come back later after sending in some geth ZCP (zone clearance probes)? Coming to a decision, she said, "I'll set up a trip at this end and we'll head right."
Pulling out sensor mines from her belt, she set them on the wall a distance from the lift before heading for the right passage. The feed from the geth probes scurrying ahead of them showed long stretches of corridors and no life signs. The passage they were in appeared to have only one door access. As they advanced steadily, she kept an eye on the developing map and an ear for Garrus's update. There couldn't be just one room of those mechs.
Half an hour later, her suspicion was borne out. They found another roomful of mechs close by. Garrus found two at his side. It set her on edge when she saw the position of the mech rooms. The mines they left behind would take out the first few but not the rest. If all of them continued to head inwards, it would be difficult to get out without having their hides fried. She had the geth teams now on their back trail to halt and hold. She got on the horn with Garrus. If she knew her turian, he wasn't going to back out.
"Claw1, be advised current position is ticklish."
Garrus's reply was swift. "Seeker1, Claw1 is on the roll unless you want a rain check."
"Laggers buy the drinks," she returned with a grin.
"Claw1 is beating feet, try to catch up."
She snorted at his reply. Considering the position of his team on the map, they hadn't made much in-roads so his challenge was moot. It didn't matter. If they get through this, she would be treating them all to drinks. Except for the geth. Would they be partial to energy cells? She signalled the geth teams to continue. GT3 would reach their position in ten minutes and secure the lift area.
Pulling her thoughts back to her bearings, she saw they were approaching the door recess in that long stretch of passage. From their position, they were on the port side of the station, close to the outer edge. She looked at Cy as they took up positions at the door.
"Clear," it said and hacked through the door lock.
When the door opened, the unexpected blaze of light took them by surprise. Blinking rapidly to clear the dancing spots, Shepard stepped in, rifle held at the ready. A huge plasglass stretched from one end of the room to the other, offering a panoramic view of the distant galactic core. Sofas and small tables were placed with careful consideration of unhindered view. Empty shelves, a long bar counter and pots of withered plants lined the back wall.
"An observation gallery," Hiaras said, checking the ceiling before looking down at the shiny black floor.
"Uh huh, they cleared out everything up here too," Shepard said, more to herself than answering Hiaras as she checked the shelves which could have held bottles of liquor. Numerous circular dried markings were all that's left of the bottles.
Miona spotted something peeping over the back of the center sofa. Between the contrast of the dark of the room and the light shining in from the window, it was almost hard to make out what it was but she thought it was the top of a head. She walked around the sofa.
"So who is this?" she asked almost conversationally. "And that one." She waved at the corpse in the nearby armchair.
Shepard joined her, her breath catching slightly when she saw the body slumped in the armchair. "Infection hasn't taken over completely."
She took in the dark streaks creeping up the man's face, the hole in his right temple. Tufts of dark hair remained on his balding head. Several strands of hair had fallen to his chest. Shiny bits of metal were scattered all over the body and the floor. Frowning, she picked one up and struggled to define it. It looked familiar. Where had she seen it before?
Something glinted under his hand. Turning it over, she saw it was an old fashion revolver. The sight of it triggered a memory. She picked up the revolver, examining it carefully. The chamber fell open. There were more of those metal pieces. Bullets or was it shell casings? It looked as if the gun hadn't been fired. But then, she was no expert on a firearm this old and the corpse plainly had a bullet in him.
Miona was puzzled. "What is that?" she asked.
"An old firearm, a common weapon humans used centuries ago."
The chamber could be twirled if she remembered correctly. Shepard grinned when the chamber spun when she gave it a spin. Cy cocked its head, optics flaring, its curiosity was clear so she handed the revolver to it. It turned the weapon over in its hands, scanning thoroughly.
"Primitive but effective," it pronounced.
"He used it on the cushion." Miona pointed to the thoroughly perforated cushion in the chair placed a distance away before the body. "And on whoever that was." She nodded towards the second corpse huddled in the sofa.
"This one is completely subsumed," Hiaras said as she peered at the second body, "but I've never heard of husks dressing themselves up."
Biting absently on her lip, Shepard gazed speculatively on the corpses. "I'm guessing the one with the gun was a thrall whose lucidity led him to kill her and then himself before he's completely taken over."
"Closely related or perhaps they had a relationship." Hiaras nodded in agreement. "He didn't want to lose himself to the rot."
"She's not the typical husk," Shepard observed. "Her structure retained a more human than the skeletal form."
"More cybernetic tinkering," Miona said coldly.
"Thax and his teams found containers on the freighters on deck one, all loaded with corpses like her. Dressed and shot in the head. They could have circumvent the original directive of the Reaper implants or perhaps slowed down the metamorphosis so the subject retained some semblance of awareness." Shepard turned her gaze on the corpse of the man. For some reason, she was certain she had seen him somewhere before.
"Why would they bother to do that?" Miona tried to resist the temptation to smash in the face of the man. He was after all dead and pain was beyond him but she felt in her bones that he was one of those who directed Cerberus.
"With the Reapers implants taking control, they had few personnel they could rely on. Perhaps it was one way to retain the manpower they needed." Shepard stood a step back, hoping a little distance would joggle her memory.
"What is it?" Hiaras scanned the room, thinking something had alarmed her.
"I've seen him before."
Frowning in concentration, Shepard tried to piece together a complete face in her mind; removing the dark streaks and replacing the hair. It was difficult for death and the cold of the room had shrunken the flesh. Dimly, she could almost see it. Suddenly, she heard a voice; Thank you for your time, Commander. Remember Terra Firma on election day. Because Terra Firma remembers you. A close-cropped dark hair man with a goatee, smiling and offering his hand.
"Charles Saracino."
"Where did you bump into him?"
"Citadel, back in 2183. He was in charge of Terra Firma and approached me to support his bid for his candidacy for the Alliance Parliament. I refused and never saw him again." Crossing her arms, Shepard contemplated Saracino's face thoughtfully. "When Terra Firma didn't manage to land a speaker in parliament, he must have headed for Cerberus or perhaps they made him an attractive offer he couldn't refuse."
"Then he was one of the movers within Cerberus," Miona growled. Unable to resist any longer, her arm lashed out and struck Saracino's head off from his shoulders. It flew off with a sharp crack and bounced across the dark floor before coming to a halt under one of the tables.
"Miona!" Shepard grabbed her arm before she could strike again. "There is little point to that."
"But it is something." Wrenching her arm free, Miona stepped away, ignoring the biotic glimmer about Hiaras. The commando glanced at Shepard who gave a slight shake of her head.
"Claw1 found two bodies near the admin section on deck five," she said. "They were killed while having a party which implied they were possibly the ones in charge after the Illusive Man died. Or they could just be subordinates who were either not doing their jobs or vying for control that Saracino had them killed. Well, either him or someone else," she added as an afterthought.
"He killed himself when he realised the Reaper implants were taking over," Hiaras concluded with satisfaction. "Leaving Greenacres in control."
"He may not be the only one calling the shots since we know little about the command structure," Shepard muttered, glancing around the room. There was nothing more they could learn. "Let's move on."
"Would it be possible to acquire this artifact?" Cy held out the revolver as they stepped out. "Only two bullets were expended."
"Not certain that's an artifact, it could be a replica but sure, if you want it." Shepard watched with amusement when the geth simply stuck the revolver to its chest piece. Odd that the geth would have a desire to collect antiques but then, the geth were evolving in interesting ways. She checked the map and saw that the corridor curved left. "There's a chunk of space after this bend."
"Could it be the central core?" Miona could barely suppressed the hunger in her voice. That one swipe at the corpse had only increased her turmoil. She wanted to rent someone.
"If it is, you get first dips if there're any surviving personnel," Shepard said evenly.
Hiaras remained silent, her senses on the alert for any dubious movement from Miona towards Shepard. She wished the human heeded her advice to get Miona to Thessia rather than bring her along on the mission. Though the young asari was composed during the voyage, she had been steadily displaying subtle signs of pent up violence from the moment they boarded the station. Now it was blatant. Did the sight of the corpses increased the agitation or was it something else?
Shepard tapped into her comm. "Claw1, status?"
"Nothing much. Found an empty armory," Garrus said. "Corridors are narrow, looks like there's something in the middle."
"It's big. We're heading towards the other half of it."
"We'll try to link up. Claw1 out."
The walls swam by smoothly as they followed the corridor. It was a long continuous stretch with no intersections. It worried Shepard. If the ramparts woke, they could only retreat in one direction with hardly any cover. If there was another roomful of the mechs further down, they would be trapped. It had to be a deliberate design. She felt herself tensing up when they finally reached the entrance of the big chunk of space she was talking about.
"Life signs," Cy said, its optics directed at the door. The others immediately brought up their rifles. "Ten life signs. Stationary."
"Weapons?" Shepard tried to ignore Miona's heavy breathing behind her.
"Unable to confirm. Shall I proceed?" Cy lifted one hand to the door panel. At Shepard's nod, it hacked through. The doors hissed open. Before Shepard could say anything, Miona rushed through and disappeared into the shadows of the room.
Half expecting bodies to come flying out, Shepard stepped in warily as her helmet visor adjusted to the gloom. She relaxed slightly when nothing reacted. There were no Cerberus soldiers lurking around. Instead there were the shapes of cryo containers and work consoles lined neatly against the far wall. It was smaller than she expected but there was another door at the far end, probably leading to another bigger room. She could see Miona standing before one of the containers, oddly still. What was the matter with her? Cy moved around the room and fiddled with a panel at the wall.
"Ten life signs," Hiaras said as she approached the containers. "From-," she fell silent, coming to a stand still.
Shepard blinked when the lights of the room came on. The two asari seemed rooted to the floor. What's the matter with them? Her eyes widened when she followed their gaze. The bodies in the cryo containers were chillingly familiar.
"Shit," Shepard breathed, unable to believe what she was seeing. "Shit." Her eyes narrowed.
Miona turned. "Shepard, they're you."