Disclaimer: I do no own Mass Effect, I do not claim to own Mass Effect, I am only doing this for fun.
Author Notes: I wish I could say this episode wrote itself, it did not. But it is done, so please enjoy!
Episode 64: The Revenant of Eden Prime [Part II]
The next two days were an exercise in patience for Shepard. After they had finished up inside the mine, Carl and Denis assumed organizational roles for what needed to be done from thereon. For the benefit of keeping in touch, Shepard gave them instructions on how they could contact her on the Normandy without driving out to the beach every time. Fifty kilometers was still about an hour's drive given that the colonists seemed to prefer wheeled vehicles to flying shuttles. After that, the two groups parted ways and her team returned to the Normandy.
Once back, the first thing Shepard did was update Admiral Hackett, even sending him the endoscope image, just so that he would have some proof of there being something in that mine. The Admiral effectively rubber-stamped the report, telling her to contact Colonial Affairs with it, but then keep going.
After that she duly contacted Colonial Affairs. It took some running around to get in contact with the agent in charge of the whole thing, but he took one look at that endoscope image, hummed, and announced that he could tell he was looking at something decidedly artificial. Given where she found it, and her status, it was officially a case for sending a small team of specialists to take a look at the site.
Then she mentioned that she suspected that the ark's power core was failing, and that she had already arranged for some local help to clear the blocking debris. The agent in charge was less than pleased, but in the end they reached a compromise. Shepard ended up summoning Liara to the OD, so that the agent in charge could tell her in person that she was put in charge of the site. The debris removal was to be done under her supervision, as the first team member on site, so that nothing of archeological value was damaged or destroyed in the process of debris removal. Fortunately, Liara took it all in a stride and assured the agent that it would be done correctly.
Overall, that meeting with Colonial Affairs ran for three hours. When it was done, Shepard signed off and sighed. Liara breezed out of the room, saying that if she was going to be establishing the archeological site for Colonial Affairs, there was some preliminary preparation work that she needed to do. Shepard was perfectly happy to let Liara take charge in that sense, as she was hopelessly out of her depth when it came to academic things. Instead, she was left wondering exactly how much was going to me back to haunt her. After all, she had intentionally kept Colonial Affairs oblivious to the tensions that she had unintentionally stirred up. Still, even if she got reprimanded for the oversight, Colonial Affairs was unlikely to complain too much. They would put the ark on one side of the scales, the corporate issues on the other, and the corporates would be sent flying when the scales tipped. Colonial Affairs was essentially a government organization. They would run roughshod over corporate interest if their own were more pressing.
As far as Shepard was concerned, Sunstone could not go after any of them. Alliance Colonial Affairs in conjunction with the miner's union would glare them down quickly enough and Shepard had her Spectre immunity. Sunstone really ought to be thankful that so far everyone was willing to keep their expenses to a minimum. Technically Colonial Affairs could have gotten them to restore the power core. Though Shepard much preferred to get the job done sooner rather than later, and she was perfectly happy with the workaround the miners concocted. The company operating the town's power plant was entirely a non-issue. Colonial Affairs could pay them for the siphoned kilowatts ipso facto. They had no reason to join the argument if the electric bill was paid.
After all that was said and done, Shepard could not help but wonder what they were going to find inside the ark, and if what was inside that mountain was even the ark at all. Some part of her maintained a detached skepticism. Just because there was a door, it did not mean there was much behind it. She could not shake the lingering fear that the ark would end up going nowhere, making the whole effort moot.
Everything was compounded by the fact that Shepard did not like leaving so much up to people she barely knew. She would not call herself an obsessive micro-manager, she knew her limits and could delegate tasks to those better suited for the job. However, this was different. Everything in her said to do something, at least to check in, if not outright assist. She could not just believe that this whole thing would go smoothly.
By the time Carl contacted her to announce that the preparations were done and that the miners would be in place for the start of the next day, Shepard had been ready to climb up a wall. By their departure time Eden Prime had thrown its next curveball at them. Thought their on-board clock declared it to be morning, it was actually well into Eden Prime's night on this part of the planet. Nevertheless, it was go time, so they packed supplies onto their Kodiak and departed with time to spare. Shepard assumed her usual position in the cockpit with Nihlus, which allowed her to the get the lay of the land.
This part of Eden Prime did not have pronounced light pollution, and with no moon, the night was pitch black. The roads leading toward the two iron mines were weakly-lit. Shepard had seen the new mine this time. None too surprisingly the most backlit part of the whole yard was the Sunstone Mining Company logo billboard. The new mine's yard was easily four times larger than the old mine's. The support building was also enormous and had a large containment dome for a large fusion reactor. If her eyes had not been playing tricks on her, then the new mine also had multiple entries, each connecting to a different block of tunnels, and getting its air and power from the single support facility. The tangle of rails that allowed movement in and out of the mine was complex to match as well. There was even a small train yard with two lines of rail running toward Blackrock itself, likely directly to the foundry.
As the Kodiak flew past the new mine, the town of Blackrock grew larger on the view screen. The town's function as an extraction and processing center for iron and steel meant its population had to be large enough to support both the mines, small port, and processing complex. At night it was an island of white-blue light against the black of the sea, mountains, and the forests surrounding the town on all sides. The lighting also highlighted the wider main streets and larger central buildings, which had to be the town's civic and shopping centers.
The town's industrial heart was on the south side of the city, dominated by the foundry and mill complex, an ugly tangle of buildings, pipes, and backlit steam stacks practically a stone's throw away from the port. The clustering meant that the railway leading from the mine into town did not have to pass anywhere near the residential areas on the north side. The town's power plant, a single facility with six containment domes, was even further north, reachable by a single wanly-lit road which wound its way up some foothills.
As the Kodiak turned toward the old mine, Shepard noticed a major change in the activity level of the staging yard. It seemed like the miners had gotten all the power they could ever want, as the whole yard was positively floodlit, as most of its old lights were still functional. The great metal doors into the main mine tunnel had been thrown wide open. There were already fully configured mine trains in the aperture, waiting for work to start.
At the ore yard there was a truck with a long, flat open trailer. Whatever it had been carrying was gone, but the lowered ramp and caterpillar tracks in the dirt leading away from it told Shepard enough. The miners had borrowed some heavy machinery and had already moved it inside. All of it indicated a certain eagerness to get to work. Perhaps over-eagerness even. Carl had given them a time to show up, and they were not late, but the miners still beat them here by some margin.
The previously empty employee parking lot was also no longer empty and desolate looking. There were also two pickups by the old life support building. One had chest refrigeration units on its bed, and the other a full camp kitchen. There was also a collection of badly mismatched portable furniture all around it, creating a sort of outdoor eating space. After seeing that, Shepard would not be surprised if some people had brought full camping gear like sleeping bags and tents. Did they think this was some sort of adventure? Or did they want to make it as such?
When the Kodiak came around toward the ore yard to make a landing, Shepard took a loose count of the volunteers drawn out by the arrival of the flying craft. She counted thirty people outside, and there was no way of knowing how many might be inside. Then and there she knew that there was simply no way that this size of operation would stay a secret from the Sunstone executives. She would not be surprised if the suits would show up with a whole legal department in good time. This further compounded on Shepard's pressure. If that door did not end up producing some sort of vindication for the miners, then she might just get them all into some trouble. It looked like the miners were betting quite a bit on this, as if they had already accepted the mere possibilities as factual certainties.
"Nihlus… I think I might have created a monster," she murmured as the Kodiak touched down.
"That or given these colonists the first bit of genuine excitement they have had in years," Nihlus replied. "Relax, Shepard. If it makes you feel better, go ahead and say that you had to pressure them into helping you. Sunstone cannot touch us, and if you claim that you forced the miners, they will not be able to touch them either."
Nihlus did not quite understand what she was getting at. Well, that was fine. She would just have to wing it. "They're unionized anyways." It was a lame reply, but factual, and it would do given the circumstances.
"Even better!" Nihlus' mandibles flicked, even as he triggered the Kodiak's thrusters to power down.
Shepard shook her head and reached for her seat harness. She had to wonder, would Carl let her do something like that though? He might just be the oddly honest kind. The sort who would not let anyone take the fall for anything, even if there would be no consequences involved.
In a few moments she was on her feet and moving aft toward the door controls. It took maybe another half a minute before her feet touched ore-strewn ground, but by then the Kodiak was already surrounded by a small crowd, at the head of which were Carl and Denis.
On seeing her emerge, Carl separated from the crowd and approached the shuttle, looking mighty pleased with himself all the while. "Commander! You're here early… but we're earlier!"
Shepard tried not to show any sign of how weirded out she was right at the moment. Carl was normally very energetic, especially for someone in his fifties. Today though? It seemed like his energy level regressed his age some three decades, to the point where he threatened to outdo Jenkins in exuberance. "Hello, Mister Fenton. Let's wait a moment until Nihlus finishes locking down the Kodiak. Procedure, I'm sure you understand."
"Oh, right, no problem!" Carl beamed.
"I've seen the setup from the air. I must admit… this seems well organized," she would be diplomatic, even if there was some part of her that was super wary of it all.
"Well, I admit, things kind of got out of hand. We just borrowed the dozer and some tools and intended to commute. The outdoor kitchen... well, one of the volunteers mentioned it to his wife, and the ladies took over. Next thing we know they're pitching in credits and buying groceries," Carl admitted.
Shepard grinned. "So I assume that means that you have been nominated as the foreman of this operation?"
Carl shifted his weight from foot to foot. "Me and Denis both. Not our idea either. But they figure since we've already worked with you lot, that makes us the natural fit. Denis is the one with the brains for planning. I'm the one making it up as I go along." Then he leaned in closer and cupped the side of his mouth with a free hand. "But don't tell him that, I convinced him that I actually have a plan." He grinned and pulled away.
Shepard glanced back, and saw that the Frenchman was working on his omni-tool. He looked more like a corporate than any of the other men. The illusion was broken by his stained overalls and the safety gear hanging off him. Then she glanced back at Carl and grinned. "Somehow I get the feeling he'll figure it out before long."
Carl sighed, "You're probably right."
Shepard heard multiple sets of footsteps crunching on the gravel behind them.
Carl straightened, "Ah Spectre Kryik, there you are! You do know that keeping a lady waiting is bad manners, right?"
Shepard blinked, Carl was definitely in an excitable mood if he was making that sort of comment to a turian Spectre. When she glanced back, she caught Nihlus' mandibles give a flicker. The others were behind him, with Kaidan and Liara carrying the archeologist's equipment case between them.
"I would say something, but Shepard would cut my food rations," Nihlus replied, looking her right in the eye.
Carl laughed loudly.
Before Shepard could come up with a way of replying to that non-reply, she heard rushing footsteps scrambling over the gravel from the direction of the gate. "Mister Fenton! Mister Benoit! Bad news!" A young voice shouted.
Shepard whirled, surprised. A girl no older than fourteen skidded to a stop about halfway between the two men, looking from one to the other, but then doubled over, and slapped her hands on her knees. "Dad… said… he saw… two company… cars turn up… the road here." She choked out in between gasps for breath.
"Easy there, Lily. Thanks for letting us know," Carl replied.
"They probably saw our Kodiak fly in," Shepard murmured.
"Two cars yes?" Denis asked as he approached the girl.
"Yes, two." Lily repeated.
"Lily, go get something to drink at the kitchen, and then radio your dad… tell him we got this. The Spectres are here and Miss Waters won't be able to do much," Carl instructed, sounding more authoritative by the second, all signs of exuberance gone.
"Or anything." Nihlus slipped in, his voice darkening.
Lily straightened, still breathing hard, but getting more control over it by the second. She had clearly ran quite some distance, maybe even from the other side of the yard. Her eyes flicked over the entire group, growing wider by the second, but they stopped on Nihlus. "Are you a Spectre?" She asked shyly.
"Yes, Shepard and I both are." Nihlus replied, good natured.
"Don't worry, we'll handle this," Shepard stepped in, literally having to slide into the girl's line of sight, as her eyes never strayed from Nihlus. That was a new experience for Shepard.
"Oh, sorry! When I heard Spectre, I assumed… that dad misunderstood numbers… sorry!" Lily slipped her hands behind her back and turned her gaze to the ground.
Shepard grinned, the child made an assumption that there would be one Spectre, and naturally that they would be either a Salarian, a Turian, or an Asari. "No harm, no foul." Shepard smiled. "Thanks for letting us know." Then she turned to the others. "Legion, I want you to come with Nihlus and me," if intimidating the corporates would get her what she wanted, she would do it. It was not like she was asking Legion to do more than just stand there.
"Acknowledged," Legion replied.
Nihlus merely nodded.
"I will come as well," Carl slipped it. "This is what I'm good at."
"Thank you Mister Fenton. In the meantime…" Shepard replied and turned to the others. "Doctor T'Soni, Kaidan, I would like you to do some preliminary work. Figure out what's going on in there." She flicked her hand in the direction of the mine entrance. "Where and how we can help."
"Will do, ma'am," Kaidan replied.
Liara nodded behind him.
Shepard turned to Nihlus. "Well, let's go show the suits what Spectre immunity really means," She chuckled darkly, turned, and began to walk toward the yard gates.
"And you say I enjoy using my privileges." Nihlus replied as caught up to her.
"Oh just this once even I'm going to enjoy it."
By the time the two company cars made their way up to the mine, Shepard made herself comfortable at the yard gates. The black vehicles materialized from the gloom like phantoms with bright eyes, driving up as close to the gates as they could short of running the four of them over. Shepard would even give them a bonus point for aligning their xenon headlights in front of the cars, making it an utter pain to look in their direction. Shepard would never think another word about Legion's sensor suite after this. She merely reached up to her helmet controls to darken her face shield.
Then the lead car's back door opened and Sophia Waters climbed out. She was clad in a dark pantsuit, but she had not changed from her heels to flats. Shepard had to work real hard not to grin right then. Heels were fine on the road, but Sophia would not be walking across the graveled yard like that. It showed that she had been in a rush and did not think ahead, and that did not flatter anyone. After her emerged four men, and only one of them was her assistant. The only thing that Shepard was sure of was that the men were not wearing hard suits. If they had personal kinetic barriers, they would not be all that impressive.
"Incoming," Nihlus murmured practically right into Shepard's ear.
"Let her come in." Shepard replied. "That is… if she can. In those shoes."
"I do believe that is sadistic, Commander," Carl murmured.
"Oh, no. Just punishing a stunning lack of foresight." Shepard replied without even looking at him. She was merely not in the mood to take nonsense from the corporates right now. Especially when said corporate should have remembered that she was basically untouchable. Also, if Waters wanted to be taken seriously then she really should have remembered where she was going.
Sophia had been looking out over the yard but a moment later she turned and started on her way over. Much to Shepard's amusement, necessity dictated that she had to watch her footing, keeping her gaze low. Shepard smiled to herself. Maybe she was being a little sadistic after all, but this type of sadism was hardly the worst she had ever done.
"Mister Fenton, Commander, I do not remember authorizing this- any of this." Sophia started, throwing up an arm in the direction of the yard as soon as she was within two meters of Shepard.
Shepard heard Nihlus hum. She knew why, his prickly pride did not like being brushed off.
"You did not need to authorize anything, Miss Waters," Carl replied. "We volunteered."
Sophia took a long inhale, almost as if to settle her reaction down. "Mister Fenton, it is fine if some of the men wish to help on their off hours… but I do not remember authorizing the right to use of company resources such as equipment and vehicles."
Shepard did not like Sophia's tone right then. It was almost condescending, as if she was suffering to explain what should have been patently obvious. It took Shepard a genuine effort to keep her expression neutral when in actuality she wanted nothing more than to rip into the haughty woman right then.
"I was told that a bulldozer that should have arrived at the maintenance facility hours ago has failed to appear. Now, standing here, I can see a large flatbed trailer of the sort used to transport such equipment and rather obvious caterpillar tracks leading from it toward the mine." Sophia went on in, growing haughtier by the word.
Shepard had enough about halfway through. "Congratulations, Miss Waters, you can read tracks." She stated blandly. "Now if only you were blessed with the ability to look past your nose, instead of just down it."
Sophia froze in place and her mouth outright fell open.
Shepard smiled. Somehow that felt good. Sure it was all sorts of petty, but she would argue that it was warranted pettiness. "Following our initial expedition into the mine, we discovered artificial material hidden underneath a pile of debris. The bulldozer is the bare minimum required equipment to clear the debris in question. The rest of what you see here… is voluntarily supplied by Sunstone employees and their families."
"I can vouch for that. Everyone is here because they want to be here. None of us intend to claim overtime," Carl slipped in.
"There." Shepard smiled. "The bulldozer is the only thing people borrowed from Sunstone." At least she hoped it was, because she would not be pleased if the miners ended up leaving her with egg on her face. "So let us dispense with the finger pointing, and get to the point, shall we?" She wanted to get started on clearing that chamber. This conversation was literally a waste of her precious time.
Nihlus chuckled, low and dark. Shepard saw the silhouettes of Sophia's men shift about in the glaring halo of xenon lights. The executive glared at her as best she could. Shepard merely crossed her arms under her bust, affected her best impression of the Titanium Lady and held the glare.
"Very well," Sophia replied in monotone.
Shepard grinned, it took Sophia a good five seconds to realize that no one there would budge on this. The monotone was only a slight improvement over plain old condescension, but it was probably the best thing they could get.
"Let us get to business then. Commander, I was contacted by Alliance Colonial Affairs to confirm that they have taken an interest in your discoveries. They will be sending an archeological team soon." Sophia went on. "Sunstone's executive board is complying with those demands. However, as they insist on the right to have someone present here to ensure company interests are preserved. The discovery was made on Sunstone's property after all."
Shepard knew that it would come down to this, but she had not been able to come up with any way to stop it. The claims Sunstone had on these mountains had to be respected to some degree. The fine wrangling would have to be left to Colonial Affairs and the company's legal department. It was a minefield she was singularly not qualified to navigate.
"As long Sunstone merely wants someone present to stand there and watch… I suppose it can't be helped," Carl stated.
Shepard glanced at the miner, he spoke those words with a note of resignation in his tone. It was as good as a white flag waving. It seemed like Carl was not willing to fight the company too hard. It was not her place to argue with that. She would have to make sure that Colonial Affairs knew where the lion's share of the credit should be given. She turned back to the suits. "Well, Miss Waters… I sincerely hope that suit isn't dry clean only, hard hats are mandatory inside that mine, and you will want to get flatter shoes. I get the feeling the executives won't be amused if you have to claim injury benefits for a broken ankle."
Sophia shifted her weight from foot to foot, "You leave that up to me, Commander. You worry more about not embarrassing yourself."
The glare of the headlights was still much too bright for Shepard to really make out the other woman's expression, but she would gamble on it being very sour. A moment later Sophia turned around and made her way back toward her car. Shepard mentally chalked that under 'petty win'. She turned back to Carl, "Well, now that's over with… shall we get to the job at hand?"
"After you, Commander," Carl replied as he courteously extended his arm out in the direction of the mine.
She turned and started on her way back toward where they had left the others.
"Are you really going to allow Waters in there?" Nihlus asked as he fell in step with her.
Shepard shook her head. "I can't stop her. But the operative question is… will she deign to go in there herself?" Shepard replied. "I get the feeling that she'll send one of her goons. They're whipped dogs. I eat their type for breakfast." She grinned. "I'm sure we can… concoct something to eject them from the site, safety rule violations or something."
Carl chuckled, "Oh yes, we can definitely come up with something."
"There you have it." Shepard said as she patted Nihlus on the upper arm. "You worry too much."
Nihlus hummed, but it was the amused sort of hum. "Pot calling the kettle black, Shepard."
Shepard smiled, but chose to say nothing. She would occasionally indulge in a bit of small scale hypocrisy. Though her mind was already busy running the possibilities. Waters sticking her nose in created a bit of a wrinkle in her plans.
It was another hour before the work could start in earnest. In the meantime, Shepard's plan to rid herself of Sophia failed dismally, and worse yet, ended with her having egg on her face. Apparently, as condescending as Sophia Waters could be, she was not arrogant enough to think herself above getting dirty. Shepard had thrown down the gauntlet, and Sophia picked it up by having her assistant fetch her coveralls, work boots, and a hard hat. She had to stuff something into the boot toes to get them to fit properly and the coveralls hung off her frame, but she wore the gear without complaining. It meant getting rid of her became harder. They could no longer say that she was not complying with every safety regulation in the book.
There were thirty miners, though only half would enter the mine proper for what Carl has begun to refer to as their first shift. Furthermore, someone had to stay above ground to keep an eye on the blowers. It just figured that the machines worked at a reduced capacity. The oxygen was getting into the mine, but about half the rate the machinery should be producing. Add to that, the work chamber was not terribly big to begin with.
Once they were on-site, Denis took over the operation as a foreman would. Legion's earlier rudimentary analysis had been enough to provide the workers with a starting point. Now Legion assumed position in the chamber entrance as a silent watcher. They drew more than a few curious gazes, but none of the miners openly questioned the synthetic in their midst. Shepard suspected that Legion was probably scanning and running complex calculations in their head, to ensure that no one would get hurt.
The first order of business for clearing the chamber was to attach safety line moorings to the ceiling. Once the risk of falls was negated, the miners went about business setting up the site. Without explosives, heavy cutting wheels, or mining lasers, the job had to be done using manual labor. To that end they installed a portable generator outside the chamber, to power electric tools.
The younger miners harnessed up and climbed onto the pile to get a good look at it from that angle. However, much to Shepard's surprise, Liara proved all too eager to join them. With one of the older miners controlling her safety line, she made like a mountain goat, hopping from rock to rock, looking in crevasses just to make sure that nothing had archeological value. Then, once she was sure that the rocks were bare, she would spray an X-shape on them with fluorescent paint.
With five or six rocks marked at a time, the miners could get to work. The younger men would first attempt to break them up in situ. However, if any of the rocks proved resilient, they would drill in hooks for chains. Then, when the chamber was emptied, the bulldozer would pull the rock off the pile, creating much noise and vibrations that were felt some distance away. Then, after each pull Denis insisted that they watch the pile to make sure that it remained stable. Only after a few minutes would Denis allow the men to go at the rock in earnest. Finally, when the rocks were reduced to rubble, the bulldozer would scoop it up, carry it out of the chamber, and dump it into an ore hopper car.
After the first two pulls Shepard was none too surprised to see that Kaidan volunteered for guardian duty. He would take up position just inside the chamber while the men worked, putting himself in position to intervene with his biotics if needed.
Thus, slowly but surely the pile started to shrink away. Shepard, Nihlus, and Carl mostly stayed out of the way. Sophia hovered around them, flinching every time any rock bigger than a watermelon hit the ground. Shepard honestly could not blame her either, even she jumped when the first boulder came down. As time moved, Shepard found herself zoning out, floating in her thoughts without really paying attention to what was going on around her.
Thus she was jarred out of that state when Nihlus turned to her, right in her motion-sensitive peripheral vision. "At the rate they are going, it might be a day before the chamber is clear," he stated, sounding rather bored.
Shepard surreptitiously glanced at her HUD clock and was actually impressed, he lasted two hours. She would not have even said it, but the thought had crossed her mind sometime after the first pull.
"That is fine, Spectre. Most of the men here knew what state alpha three was in," Carl said. "It's why the ladies put together the cantina, and why we pooled every sleeping bag and tent we had. I bet you have all sorts of stuff in that fancy shuttle of yours."
"We have supplies, yes." Shepard murmured.
"It would not be the first time we slept in the Kodiak," Nihlus added.
"Somehow I doubt you intend to stand here the entire time the men are working," Sophia slipped in.
"Oh standing here is not a problem for me. I'm not the type who chooses to get comfortable somewhere else while people do a job for me," Shepard replied. "Also, I'm a sniper. Patience is an absolute necessity in my line of work. But if you would feel more comfortable being elsewhere… by all means. No need to suffer on our account." She had to make a genuine effort to sound perfectly neutral, as if she was making an honest suggestion, and not passively-aggressively taking a swipe at Sophia. As far as Shepard was concerned, the rebuff was warranted. She would be lying through her teeth if she said that she was enjoying this standing around, but at least she had the good grace not to openly complain about it.
Sophia's lips pursed, the woman was clearly cooking up a rebuff, though her glare was almost as good as words. Then there was an eruption of noise as the power tools kicked back into gear. The racket echoing across the walls made holding a conversation difficult if not outright impossible. Shepard turned away to conceal her grin.
Meanwhile, on the Normandy…
Garrus sat down at his table in Life Support and reached over to bring his terminal out of standby. Then he looked up, "EDI, I need a small favor from you."
The intercom speaker in the ceiling emitted a scratch. "What can I do for you, Officer?" EDI replied.
"I need to make a video call to my father on the Citadel. I want to make sure that there are no conflicts with your firewalls." Garrus replied.
"There are no conflicts. I do not block personal video calls. However, without using the Normandy's main communication array, I cannot guarantee the connection's security without your explicit request and authorization." EDI announced calmly.
"That is fine. Security is not an issue, so thank you EDI." Garrus replied.
"You are welcome," EDI replied.
Garrus hummed and pulled the terminal a little closer. This call was hardly about personal information, and he could keep identifying terminology to a bare minimum. He wanted to clarify some things from the autopsy report his father had given Shepard. Clearly she had only skimmed over it, and in doing so, missed a curious little part. It was the first time he had seen Shepard miss something, so he would blame it on stress and just cover the oversight.
Before inputting any addresses, he glanced at his multi-chrono. With the Normandy on Terran time and the Citadel on its own he had to be mindful of differences. Then he opened the video call application and tapped his address book. A few more taps and the video application was pinging away. He leaned back in his seat and waited.
It was a good five minutes before his father accepted the call request. The camera showed him in his office at the moment.
"Garrus. Well, this is unusual. You do not normally call." Castis greeted.
Garrus really did not care for video calls like this. Very few mass produced terminal models had microphones that could pick up the low frequencies emitted by the second larynx, making the conversations impersonal. Specifically though, he did not call his father often because there was very little he could say which would not result in an argument or lecture. He was a horrible son who was imposing on his father. "Sorry Dad, I… my job keeps me busy."
Castis shifted in his seat, "Is something wrong?"
"Nothing is wrong." Garrus replied. "We are currently… well I cannot say where over an unsecured connection. Shepard is pursuing her own investigation into a certain matter. I will only say that if this works out, it will be all over the Galactic news eventually." If there was even one Prothean survivor the news would be all over it in an instant. "I am just doing some background work. We discussed the reports you gave her, and I wanted clarification regarding a certain point."
"I see. I am surprised that Shepard is not asking them."
"Dad, she is… you may have heard, but one of the Alliance admirals tried to get her discharged. Then there was the meeting with you-know-who, and that is all on top of all her other duties and obligations. She is at capacity right now. One more thing and… I am worried for her. This is me doing what I can to help," Garrus explained.
"Alright, what do you want to know?"
Garrus sighed, it seemed like this would not result in an argument. Small mercies there. "The autopsy report lists an implant recessed into the skull. Were they able to figure out what it was for? She was biotic, but I have never seen any biotic amp framework recess anything into the skull in that position." He would not even be surprised if the confusion over the clone being a biotic was the reason why Shepard had missed it. She probably did not know anything about amp installation. Garrus only knew because it was impossible not to know while dealing with illegal, uncertified modified amp smuggling and sale on the Citadel.
"As far as I know that implant is some sort of brain-computer interface." Castis replied.
Garrus glanced down at the pad containing his report notes, just to make sure he was not overlooking something himself. "The report showed that she did not have anything… artificial though."
"Correct, no artificial limbs or sensory devices." Castis replied.
"Curious. I do have to ask…" Garrus trailed off for the moment. As far as he knew those types of implants were only used to relay signals from the brain to a cybernetic prosthesis or severe sensory defect correction. Modern medicine could reattach most severed limbs. If the limb was too badly damaged to reattach, it was possible, though time-consuming, to clone a biological replacement. Cybernetics were a faster alternative, but most people still waited for an organic replacement. "Why would someone with no cybernetics need such an implant?"
"That is a question I do not have an answer for."
That was not the sort of reply Garrus wanted, and he also knew that his father was unlikely to pursue the matter. It went beyond the scope of the immediate investigation, and Citadel Security only had so many resources. Sometimes they just could not pursue a matter right to its actual end. Nevertheless, Shepard would want to know about the implant and they would just have to find the answer on their own.
"Do you think there is more to the device?" Castis asked.
Garrus looked up, meeting his father's gaze through the screen. "If Shepard is right about the clone's origin… that implant was not there for aesthetic purposes. It was doing something." At the very least it might have been testing something. At worst, it was something much more nefarious. Cerberus seemed like the sort who would run unethical experiments on unaware targets.
Castis hummed, "Yes, it now seems like a question that we ought to answer."
"Dad, it may be that… she did not even know she had that implant." Garrus said, even as he asked himself why it took him so long to think of that possibility. Now that he thought about it, he could even see how some of the circumstantial evidence seemed to support that idea. "It really looks like the clone did not even know whom she was framing, or the fact that she was a clone to begin with. After her final target survived… after Shepard's arrest was announced… she panicked and ran for it, and they sent someone after her. We are dealing with very evil individuals. Slipping her a secret implant seems like something they would do."
"That is a valid point," Castis straightened in his seat and clasped his hands on the desk in front of the terminal. "Tell you what, I will ask the technical expert to take a look at it, and see what theories they have."
"Thank you, Dad." Garrus bowered his head.
"Do not thank me yet. He might not find anything. At the very least this will take time. Open cases take priority."
"For once I will not argue. There is no immediate need to present this to Shepard. She has enough to worry about these days," Garrus replied. Even if the work took a week or more, he knew it would be done, that was all that mattered.
"Good. I will send you whatever I get. I assume you want that personally?"
"Yes, I would appreciate that." Now Garrus felt guilty about calling so randomly, and only discussing whatever he wanted.
"Show your appreciation by calling your mother. She is worried about you."
"I will," Garrus replied without a moment of hesitation. He could do at least that to assuage the feeling of being the worst son in the universe. Truthfully, he should have called a long time ago, but some part of him had been terrified to disappoint her like he had already disappointed his father. Though there might just be what humans called silver lining to what happened on the Citadel. His father met Shepard, he now knew that she was an atypical Spectre.
"Your mother will want to know all about your new job, employer, and friends." Castis finished.
Garrus all but cringed. Yes, he could definitely see that. Spirits have mercy on him if Solana happened to be in the room. Whereas his mother might accept that there were parts he could not talk about, his sister would compensate by formulating a long list of questions he could answer. Then she would proceed to guilt trip him into answering every single one.
"She is still just an employer and a friend, right?"
Garrus snapped out of his thought hearing that question, "Dad! I- that is we- it is not like that!"
Castis shook his head, "I understand."
Garrus was wholly unconvinced, not with the way his father said those words. Before he could stammer anything vaguely resembling a reply. He noticed that his father's attention had been drawn away by something above the camera's line of sight.
When Castis looked down again, he moved one hand toward the console controls. "Sorry, Garrus, but I need to go. It was good hearing from you. I expect more calls, and the next one better be about something other than business."
"Yes, I will try." Garrus knew he suddenly sounded cagey. But how could he avoid that after the suggestion his father just made? All considering he was only getting away without explaining because his father was on duty.
Castis gave a final nod and then disconnected the call.
Garrus closed his application and clasped his hands in front of him. That conversion left him with a number of new questions. Foremost there was the issue of the brain-computer interface. His instinct told him that there was something in it. He also suspected that none of them would like the answers as to what it is. Cerberus were different from anything Citadel Security typically dealt with. Some traitorous part of him wondered if Shepard could really handle them. He had to force that voice into the darkest recess of his mind. Shepard could and had handled worse.
On the topic of the female, he wondered, was everyone around him aware of his affections for Shepard? Everyone save for Shepard herself? Come to think of it, how was that even possible? How could someone so observant and intelligent blatantly overlook rather overt affections? Sure he was not as open about them as Kryik. The Spectre practically used every excuse to touch her. Garrus could not bring himself to be that undisciplined as she was still his commanding officer. Still, he would do anything for her. She had to know at least that, right? Where and how was the message being lost?
He knew that she could not hear sub-vocals, and while that had to be a part of it, the majority was likely something cultural. He had seen the human crew clap each-other on the back and shoulders. It seemed like humans were quite a bit more tactile. Maybe he needed to be a little more overt, albeit still tactful and more respectful than Nihlus. Maybe what he needed was an unequivocal and unmistakably human display of affection. Something that would convey the message without embarrassing Shepard in the process. Yes, this called for some research.
At the Whistling Mountain Mine, the Next Day…
The work on clearing Alpha three ended up slowing down as the hours passed. The smaller rocks were easier to move, but the biggest ones at the base of the pile proved to be quite dense. It took longer to break them up, which was more exhausting for everyone. Still, by the time the work stopped for the night, a ten hour block that would allow the miners to rest, half the chamber was done.
The highlight of the day was when the rock-hoppers reached the back of the debris pile and cleared the topmost rocks there, thereby exposing the top of the door buried behind the pile. That evoked lots of cheering and gave the miners a tangible something to strive for. The discovery had a curious effect on Sophia, it seemed to sober her up. Suddenly the haughty woman could no longer muster a comment, and she seemed more interested in the project than not.
After the work stopped, the whole crew emerged to have dinner, which ended up quite the jovial affair. The news about the top of the door coming into view swept the camp like a tidal wave. It was all people talked about as they consumed a seemingly endless supply of freshly-grilled shish kebabs dripping in barbecue sauce. Some of the men even partook in a can of beer to toast the discovery. The positivity and cheer was such that they even shared the food with Sophia and her goons, if only to be good hosts. Thought some part of it also had to be to embarrass Sophia. After all, the corporates had not arrived prepared to stay overnight. Sophia outright admitted defeat when she and her crew slinked off in their cars as soon as they were done eating their shish-kebab humble pie.
After dinner, a number of people decided to take the opportunity to ask questions, so Shepard roped Liara into helping her answer them. In the midst of all that, the three children camping with their parents finally decided that they had been patient long enough and now was the time to satiate their curiosity. Legion ended up their prime target. The geth's reaction to being hugged by a ten-year-old was priceless. Shepard had never seen their emotive plates spread that far out. It ended up devolving into a three-on-one game of soccer, with Legion goal-keeping. Though it did not last long, as Legion was too good at catching the ball. Even Lily, the oldest of the three, could not score against them.
Two hours after dinner the women rounded up the children and escorted them toward the sleeping area. Half an hour after that the gathering broke up in earnest and everyone went back to wherever they were sleeping. The crowd shrank a little as some of the miners had decided to commute.
As agreed, everyone was up again eight hours later. Two hours for a quick breakfast and waiting for the commuters to return, and the work resumed inside the mine. Rested and motivated by the emerging door, the miners hit their second breath with gusto. Even Liara's pace of checking rocks began to look slightly manic, not that any of them would come out and say it. By lunch hour the door was half exposed.
As far as Shepard could see, it was a square of titanium, about five meters to all sides, set into a thick frame. The fit was almost seamless, with no visible hinges, gaps, or any decoration to speak of. There was only one section, right in the middle, which seemed to project outward a little bit. This bland appearance reminded Shepard of the vault they had seen on Feros. She would not be surprised if the design was similar, which meant the lock would have large neodymium magnets for bolts, pins, or grab plates.
It was some time before dinner on the second day when the final rock was finally broken up and the bulldozer carted its rubble away. The miners celebrated with another round of cheering and congratulating each-other on a job well done. When the initial cheering had died some, Denis sent most of the men out to announce the completion of the job to the outside world. Shepard knew that it would summon Sophia too. The woman was currently out in the yard, doing work from the climate-controlled comforts of her vehicle, which doubled as a mobile office. For now the only ones left in the chamber were Carl, Denis, and two of the miners whose names admittedly escaped Shepard right then.
Shepard stepped into the chamber and stopped in the center, staring at the door and wondering what to do now, dimly aware of the fact that she was the center of attention right then. What now? That was the million credit question.
"No visible lock, no handle, no hinges…" Carl murmured, seemingly to himself.
"Figures getting it open would be harder than clearing the room," One of the miners murmured.
"Any ideas, Shepard?" Nihlus asked.
Shepard shook her head, she would be lying if she said she had a clue right then.
"Let's try something obvious then," Liara stated as she approached the door, raised her hand and placed her palm right to the on the projecting central panel. For a long second there was nothing, and Shepard opened her mouth to call Liara off, but then the door emitted a series of loud clicks. The central panel split down the middle, halves sliding away, exposing a computer panel with a small screen, which instantly lit up.
"By the Goddess!" Liara whirled. "I thought to try… but I didn't think- it still has power!" She sounded both surprised and awed.
"Careful, doctor… it might be booby-trapped," Denis said.
Shepard heard the others gather behind her. The light from Legion's sensor suite seemed to refract off the door's metal surface.
"I do not think it makes sense for them booby-trap the door," Liara argued.
Shepard could not help but agree. This was not some tomb that might be targeted by grave-robbers, and it was not a vault that needed to be protected from thieves.
"Are you going to open it now?" One of the younger miners asked, looking from Liara to Shepard and then back.
"I would like to, yes. That is, if we can. Wouldn't you?" Liara replied.
Shepard would actually prefer to open the ark colony as soon as possible, after all, they could not be sure how much power there was left. If that door had an opening mechanism that included neodymium magnets, then they needed power to shift them. The question was more how to open it? Nabu had only given her the location. He had not given her any as-is instructions for what to do when facing the door. He certainly had not given her anything that resembled a password.
The screen set into the door blinked, and the door emitted a loud hum. A green light erupted from the corners of the previously-concealed panel, coalescing in their midst into a holographic projection. Liara gasped and clasped her hands over her mouth. The miners backed away, both surprised and curious at the same time.
Shepard merely blinked. She had seen Harbinger manifest in a similar manner on Solcrum. A bipedal alien with distinctively insect-like features: three fingers on each hand, two toes on each foot, having no external ears or nose, and four eyes that each had two pupils. They were also clad in a very peculiar suit of what she assumed was armor, draped on top with what looked like a cloak that opened over their right shoulder.
"Is that… a Prothean?" Denis asked, breaking his previous silence.
"Must be," Carl replied hesitantly.
"Sapient life signs detected. Identify yourself and state your intent." The hologram spoke in a deep, vaguely reverberating synthesized voice.
The chamber fell silent. Liara stared at the hologram with wide, shocked eyes.
"Well there's the first hurdle to jump. My translator caught about none of that. What about you Spectres?" Carl said as he turned around.
"Mine does not work here either," Nihlus murmured.
"What about you, Commander?" Carl concluded.
"Our military issue translators do not work for this either," Kaidan said.
"Sapient life signs detected. Identify yourself and state your intent." The hologram repeated, seemingly oblivious to the entire exchange.
Shepard emerged from her momentary stupor and opened her mouth to say that she could understand the hologram just fine, but realization bricked her across the head before she could utter a word. Of course she could understand the hologram! Nabu had taught her the Prothean language directly! The hologram must have a program behind it, a VI at least, if not outright an AI. Nabu must have known about it, and known that she would need to interact with it.
"Doctor you wouldn't happen to know Prothean, would you?" Denis asked.
"No. Unfortunately I don't, it's a dead lan-" Liara stopped cold, her eyes widened, and then she rounded to Shepard, "Commander this is what- the cipher!"
Shepard could not help but grin. Liara had connected the dots. The miners were looking at her now, and she knew she could not deny the truth for much longer. "I'm not sure what sort of reply it wants. But…" She approached the hologram. The words were right there on her tongue, and Shepard hoped it would work. Sure, Nabu had said her accent was atrocious, but she had to try. "Prothean VI, fifty thousand years have elapsed since this door was sealed." Speaking Prothean was very weird for her, it was very different from English, harsher, more clipped, with sharper sounds. Out of the corner of her eye she saw all the miners freeze to the spot. It was probably a good thing that Sophia was not there to see this.
The hologram turned to her, its ethereal eyes boring through her being. "We are aware of the passage of time. State your intent."
"I was told of this place by another Prothean. He requested that I seek out the sleepers," Shepard replied, and she would be proud of the fact that she had not lied. Though she sincerely hoped that saying something like that would work. Because if there was an actual password lock, or if the VI was programmed only to respond to something specific, she would be in trouble.
The hologram seemed to hang without replying for a long moment. Shepard idly wondered if she had misunderstood or said something wrong. Then it blinked out, and for all of a brief moment there was only silence. Then the door started to hum as its internal mechanisms came to life. Then the humming became louder, and there was a series of eight thuds spaced about a second apart from each-other.
"It sounds exactly like the vault door on Feros," Liara mused.
Shepard hummed her quiet assent.
Suddenly the whole door started slide back, exposing multiple deep, metal-lined grooves in all four sides of its thick frame. It pulled back about a meter, exposing just how thick it was in the process. Then there was a loud thud and the humming shifted. The door began to slide to the right, into a massive recess in the wall, leaving behind a cavernous unlit maw.
Shepard stared into the dark passage, unblinking. "Well, this must be how the Egyptologists felt back in the nineteenth century."
"I'd say, this is rather exciting, no?" Carl asked.
Shepard nodded, numbly, she could not deny that.
"And best of all, we know there are no such things as curses!" Carl finished.
Shepard was not going to say it, but she thought it. The comparison felt somberly appropriate. It was possible that they would find a whole lot of mummies in cryogenic stasis pod sarcophagi. But at least she was not here to strip the place bare of its valuables in order to display them in some far-away museum. At the same time, she could not help but worry. The lack of lighting inside did not bode well for the installation's power reserves.
"Are we going in there, now?" Kaidan asked.
"I would like to go in," Shepard replied. "Oh… and from this point on I would advise everyone to avoid touching unidentified objects."
"Is it dangerous inside?" Denis asked.
"Maybe," Shepard replied, but then shook her head. "As far as I know, the Prothean Empire collapsed after waging a war with someone else. I also know their enemy resorted to biological warfare. Now, it's obvious that someone went to great lengths to hide this door. I would be cautious." There would not be any active neurotoxin inside, but there were above-zero odds of encountering canisters of the toxin. She did not need someone poking them wrong and the toxin being released.
Liara laid a hand on the breathing mask hanging around her neck as she stared Shepard down. Shepard nodded, but said nothing. Liara had understood her fully. The miners did not need to know about the Neurotoxin as long as they did not go opening anything.
"Alright, then… I think it would be best if we kept the number of people going in there to a bare minimum," Denis said.
"The men you've sent out will have alerted Miss Waters," Shepard replied. "I expect her to pop up any moment now." It went without saying that they would probably have to take Sophia inside as well.
"Alright then, John, Terry… go grab some torches from the stash, we'll need them," Denis said.
The two younger miners nodded, turned, and went for the mine train as fast as moving inside the mine safely would allow.
Shepard turned to the others, "Here comes the fun part folks. Nihlus, Legion, the three of us will take point, while I don't expect any trouble, the odds of it finding us are not zero. They won't have any organic sentries in there, but they might have something more automated. Maybe even synthetic units. Legion, if you detect anything of that sort, tell us, immediately."
"Acknowledged," Legion replied.
"Kaidan, I'm putting you on bodyguard duty. If something does happen, I want you to get everyone out of there."
"I figured you would say that," Kaidan smiled. "You can count on me."
The younger miners came running back, both carrying a large, battery-operated lantern lamp in each hand. They passed two to Carl and Denis.
Shepard found the whole situation oddly amusing. Sure, the civilians were much too calm for the full effect, but this was beginning to look like something straight out of an old-fashioned mummy movie from the twentieth century. Joker was missing out on something that he might have enjoyed, if his condition had permitted him. "I want to make a video recording." Shepard announced. Documenting this felt important, and she could show the recording to Joker as well.
"I need to make a brief video recording inside myself, just to supplement my notes," Liara said.
"This does seem like a good occasion for that," Carl said. "I don't mind. Does anyone mind?"
The other men shook their heads in almost unison. Shepard grinned, but before she could say anything, they heard voices from outside the chamber. Amidst them was Sophia's by-now familiar haughty tone. She was talking to another of the miners. A few moments later she appeared, assistant trailing behind her, both in full safety gear. One look at the door and the woman stopped cold.
"You're right on time, Miss Waters. We were about to go in," Shepard said.
Sophia rounded on her.
Shepard almost laughed. "From now on, Miss Waters, this is my show. I suggest you trail along, mind your footing, and do not touch anything. You are about to see something once in a lifetime." More than one lifetime even, maybe. Assuming of course any of the Protheans had survived. Shepard turned to the dark entrance and inhaled deeply. If she was at all sentimental, now would have been the perfect time to make quote, but Shepard did not fancy herself a sentimental. Instead, she took the first step into the darkness beyond that vault-like door.
Author Notes: There you have it! People did wonder why Garrus was not trailing behind Shepard this time. He had a reason, and it's a good one. That and he's being a loveable dork again. This episode may have the dubious honor of having the single-longest note (see below) I've ever written.
General Notes:
My Considerations – The Mass Effect universe is driven by a stylistic choice when it comes to cybernetic body parts. The only ones we see are Saren's! Whereas Shepard's clone also mentions being a "spare", in case Shepard needed a limb/organ. This implies that the norm is to reattach/clone parts rather than apply cybernetics. I posit that cybernetic limbs are merely rare, with 99% of people choosing a feeling, organic limb over a synthetic one. Cybernetics are more common for sensory defects/damage; whether congenital, accidental, or brought on by degenerative conditions not corrected with DNA therapy. At their core, all cybernetics require a "Brain-Computer Interface", which bridges the gap between cybernetics and the neurons of the brain.
Chapter Notes:
Nothing here…