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 apologize for this chapter being two weeks behind schedule. Also, thank you to the people who left me well-wishes in message/review form. I appreciate you guys doing that, really! Life has been stressful for me in August, and I may have overindulged in games to distract myself. But enough of me blabbing, please enjoy!
Episode 66: The Revenant of Eden Prime [Part IV]
Only one thing registered in Shepard's mind, Legion's warning had cut off, and all coherent vocalization was replaced with loud chattering. Her fury surged her like a crashing tidal wave. "Kaidan, get the civilians out of here! Legion is not responsible for what they might be made to do!"
Kaidan's biotics manifested even before she finished, "I thought you would say that."
"Lieutenant, please allow me to help," Liara stated as her body erupted with a periwinkle glow. Before anyone could speak she clapped her hands and her barrier materialized with a whomp, expanding to cover the entire civilian group in less than a second. "I will escort them out, it is the least I can do."
Kaidan gave the archeologist a long look.
If Shepard wanted to argue, it became moot as Legion emitted another loud burst of chatter. Shepard had to recognize the urgency of the situation, there was no time to quibble. "Alright, Liara, Go!"
"Everyone! Follow me!" Liara echoed as she turned back toward the door.
The civilians did not need to be told twice. Kaidan glanced at them go a second, but then turned to Legion, his biotics flickering about his body.
Every lighting element on the geth's frame brightened and one of their hands reached for the rifle at their lower back. Then it stopped and emitted another burst of loud chatter, grating and high-pitched. The lights on the frame began to twinkle and glimmer.
Shepard found herself chewing on her lip. What could she do here that would not result in Legion's termination? They were innocent in all this. This was all another mad AI thinking it could do whatever it wanted. They had effectively taken Legion as a hostage.
"You brought that machine in here. Take responsibility and terminate it before it has a chance to do anything!" The Prothean ordered.
Shepard bristled, did he really think she would do that?
"Shepard, if you are going to do something… do it quickly. It will not be easy to take Legion down if they lose control entirely," Nihlus stated as he stepped around her to shield her with his frame.
Shepard knew that Nihlus was technically right, in the cold, ruthless strategical sense. Her first instinct was to believe that Legion's runtimes would fight off the ancient AI's attempt to highjack their physical body. However, the cold logical part insisted that there was an equal possibility that Legion might fail, and then they would be in deep trouble. Legion's shield was akin to Harbinger's black proxies if they allowed it to guzzle power. On top of that they were heavily armed and they would not be lagging. There were a lot of lives on the line, she could not afford a bad call here.
Nihlus was positively stiff, and Javik was glaring at the geth as if it had killed everyone he ever knew personally. Shepard decided that no, she could not bring herself to terminate Legion over this. Her conscience would not be put at ease if she did. She could not give up on the geth just when they needed support the most. There was always another way, and in this instance, it would just take a little longer. Decision made, she turned to the geth. "Legion, if you can still hear me, focus on bringing your communication system offline! Overload it if you must, we'll get any replacement parts you need!" Tali might even have something on hand. If not, Shepard would go to the Perseus Veil to get them, and the Council would just have to deal with that.
"Ack- led- ed."
Hope surged within her. That reply was in Legion's voice, in English. They were still in there somewhere, they were still fighting the AI however they could.
"Primitive attachments will get you killed. Hesitation is a weakness." The Prothean stated as he stepped around both her and Nihlus, his rifle rising.
Shepard saw his finger move down to the trigger and just like that her heart lodged in her throat. She opened her mouth to shout for him to stop, but there was no time to articulate the words. Suddenly there was a thunderous whomp and Legion emitted another loud burst of chatter.
When she looked, their whole frame was encased in a periwinkle cocoon. Kaidan was some five meters away, his raised left arm nearly wholly encased in a flickering biotic flame. "Commander, feel free to tell him that my stasis will stop whatever he tries. I will also stop whatever the AI might make Legion do. I will give Legion the time they need." He announced coolly, eyes locked on the Prothean.
Legion emitted another burst of chatter, this time it was lower in frequency and volume, shifted by the artificially increased air density around their frame.
Shepard had never been more grateful to Kaidan than she was right then. She turned to the Prothean, the most immediate threat in the room. He had a weapon that she knew nothing about. She would assume it worked and fired something that a stasis field or Legion's own shields could not stop. Two steps closed the distance between them. She clapped her left hand on the rifle's muzzle, and shoved it down with all the strength her exoframe accorded her.
The prothean turned on her, fury igniting in his gold stare as a green flame flickered across his body.
Shepard felt the hair on the back of her neck rise, but she placed her other hand on Dex even as she held his glare, "I will not allow you to harm Legion!" Then she turned to the computers, the AI's avatar was still on the monitor. "And you! Legion will not be your tool! If you value your survival, let them go, because if you do not, I will find your quantum core and atomize it!"
Seemingly in response Legion emitted another burst of chatter.
The mistake Shepard made weighed heavily on her mind. She should have told Legion to lock down their communication gear the moment she suspected they were dealing with an AI.
"How long can your underling maintain his stasis?" The AI asked, smug and arrogant.
"As long as it takes for Legion to kick you out!" She replied as she glared at the computers. Even then, she knew it was a good question. How long before Kaidan pushed himself too far?
Legion emitted another burst of chatter, followed by a loud electric whine. There was a loud pop and then a series of clicks and chirps. Shepard looked over her shoulder. The geth's sensor suite flickered. Their iris wound open as wide as it could go before narrowing down again, only to widen again. They went on to repeat the cycle, seemingly unable to stop.
The Prothean's gun moved to rise again, but Shepard pushed it back down.
"Shepard if-" Nihlus started.
Legion emitted another burst of chatter, choked off by another loud electric whine and another pop. Then there was silence. Slowly their iris wound down to its normal configuration. Their posture slouched as much as Kaidan's stasis allowed them, and they emitted a quiet burst of stuttering chatter which sounded somehow very despondent. "Shepard-Commander, intrusion attempt successfully terminated."
Shepard hesitated. Could the AI read the geth's memory to know how Legion addressed her? Would it think to try and fake Legion's mannerisms? Ideally she should test Legion in some manner, but how to do so without the AI interfering? Standing there, raking her brain and coming up with nothing while the seconds ticked, was doing no good. "Kaidan, let them go."
"As you wish," he replied and lowered his arm.
The stasis around the platform dissipated like the morning mist. Legion's hand instantly dropped away from their weapon. "We offer our gratitude, Luitenant-Alenko. You prevented this platform from acting against our intent."
"Yea, well... it was either that, or someone shoots you. The Commander would not have forgiven any of us for that," Kaidan replied, sounding sheepish.
Legion showed no outward reaction to that admission, not even an emotive plate twitch. "Shepard-Commander, this platform has sustained damage. Until repairs are made, we will be limited to vocal communication only."
Shepard sighed and moved away from Javik. Legion seemed to be alright, but they probably had to fry something, because the AI would not let them shut down the equipment normally. Still, that was preferable to losing Legion completely. "It's over, you will never use my friend against me," she announced for the benefit of those who did not speak English or have a translator.
The Prothean gave her a flat look, "That thing will betray you when you least expect it."
Shepard spared him what she hoped was her most withering stare.
The Prothean held it without blinking, even as he tucked his weapon behind his back.
Shepard blinked and looked away. She needed a moment to think. What was she going to do with that damned AI? Her earlier threat had been a bluff, she could not get away with destroying it, no matter how sorely tempted she was, or how much the machine might deserve it. Moreover she had stopped it from actually doing anything that warranted lethal force. After that, she has to weigh the consequences.
She would not find allies on the Council or in the Alliance if she had to explain destroying it. She would err on the side of assuming this AI being a priceless Prothean artifact would even convince the Council to stay their hand. Ultimately though, despite being mad, bad, and dangerous to know, this AI was still sapient. She could not consider Legion to be sapient on the one hand, only to deny this AI the same privilege.
"Shepard, are you feeling alright?" Nihlus asked, rumbling into her ear.
The warm rumble of his voice brought her back into the moment. "Yes, I'm fine." When she turned, she saw that Javik was now at the computers, looking at the chamber's status readouts. Pity lanced through her. He was going to discover the truth in the most brutal way possible. She turned to Kaidan and caught his gaze, "I think we can call the others back in now."
"On it," he replied and turned on his heels and started on his way toward the chamber entrance.
Shepard glanced at Legion. The geth had pulled back to stand by the gantries. They seemed to have gone into a trance, unmoving gaze locked on the honeycomb frame immediately in front of them. The only sign of activity were the lights on their frame, which flickered and twinkled in the gloom. Their sensor suite iris was open wide, and dimmed.
"They will be fine, Shepard," Nihlus rumbled.
Shepard shook her head, "We will need to discuss some things, Nihlus," she stated bluntly. There was much to discuss, starting with his overprotective behavior, and ending with the fact that he had considered shooting Legion. That latter one bothered her far more than the former.
"How long has it been, human?" The prothean asked.
Shepard turned her head and blinked, Javik had not even looked away from the screens as he asked that. "I cannot be certain, but I would say around fifty thousand years. Liara could probably give you a more precise timeframe."
"Are all the other chambers…" he trailed off, seemingly wary of completing the question.
Shepard's pity only mounted, not that she would ever admit to it. Few people liked to be on the receiving end of that sentiment. "I am sorry, but you are the only survivor here."
He slammed his fist into the console, but then his hand flattened and he hung his head low.
Shepard did not say anything. These first expressions of grief were always a deeply private thing. She would let him process at his own pace.
"You are the only one who can speak and read our language?" Javik asked.
He was talking, that was a good sign, right? "Yes, I was taught… via contact." As far as she could tell, the Protheans had no cultural taboos surrounding that unique ability of theirs, but it still felt weird to talk about it.
He straightened and half-turned to look at her, "Your accent is atrocious."
Shepard laughed ruefully, was it really that bad? "He mentioned that too."
"Where is… he?" The Prothean asked.
The faint pause in there was probably the only hint of trepidation he would display right then. It betrayed his façade, made it abundantly clear that there was more to him than arrogance. "Unfortunately… he passed away. He was exposed to the neurotoxin, and teaching me the language was his final act. As to how we met… I cannot discuss it here and now." She figured she owed him at least that much, even if that explanation was at best merely scratching at the tip of the iceberg.
Javik stared at her now, all four eyes seemed to glow in the reflected light of the computer monitors. Next thing she knew, he turned and closed the distance between them. Before Shepard could even open her mouth to protest, he grabbed her upper arm.
"Shepard!"
She heard Nihlus, but he was already distant, as if her body had disconnected from its senses. Suddenly she could see the ark's entry chamber around her, lit up clear as daylight. She heard Javik order the security personnel to mind the regulations and confiscate anything and everything that could be used to contact the outside.
Suddenly there was a flash and the scene changed. Now she was in the entry chamber which was no longer empty. There was a crowd of very nervous civilians, all of them Protheans, whispering last-minute words of comfort to each-other before they were shown their designated stasis pods. Clustered around the room were more security staff in full armor that looked similar to Javik's. None of them were moving much, and the look in their eyes was hardly friendly, there was only tension.
Another flash, and Shepard found herself in the administrative center, brilliantly lit and busy. Here there was even more security, watching over other workers in plainer laboratory-wear who were working on the various consoles. The security was still stone-faced, but the administrative staff looked harried and exhausted. Their worry seemed to hover over the room like a miasma.
Another flash, she caught a brief shot of what appeared to be their current stasis chamber. The lighting was already lowered, and there were about five empty stasis pods at the side, waiting for the last occupants. Javik had been making the rounds, to ensure that everything that should have been secured, had been secured. She could feel his nervousness and trepidation clearly.
Then it was like someone flicked a switch, the atmosphere changed entirely. Suddenly she was lying on her back, looking at the dark underside of a pod's sealed doors. The pod itself swayed ever so slightly as it moved, as if gripped by the gantry's claws. The air inside already felt cold, and the vents underneath hissed with freezing air. The system was going through what sounded like the final safety checklist before initiating stasis. Suddenly the swaying stopped, the pod began to grind across the surface as it was slipped into its bay.
The AI's voice came through on some internal speaker, clear as day, but its words offered no comfort or assurances that everything would be taken care of. The system began a countdown of ten seconds when the AI gleefully announced its plan to pull the plug on all the pods. She heard Javik shout, his panic, then the rage, and suddenly the pod was filled with a bright green glow.
The scene blinked out of existence suddenly, and Shepard's true senses were once again dominant. She became aware that Nihlus' arm was wrapped around her waist, pulling her into his side, and Javik's grip on her arm was gone.
Javik stared up at Nihlus with fury in his eyes, a snarl on his face, and the hand which had been on her arm a few moments ago was flickering with a green biotic flame. "You dare much, Turian," He hissed, in perfect, if accented English.
Shepard blinked in surprise. Her mind was still foggy, as if she was coming out of stasis herself.
"Be glad I did not shoot you, Prothean," Nihlus hisses back. His tone reverberating with a barely-restrained fury.
"Nihlus, he does not have a translator. So unless whatever brief contact you had taught him your language, he can't understand you." Shepard stated the obvious, for once a good thing. It would stop the fight before it got started, and without stepping on Nihlus' toes particularly hard. He was already temperamental today, she did not want to see how bad he could get.
Javik sneered, Nihlus bristled, but neither said anything more. Shepard sighed, and it was then that she noticed that the Spectre's arm had not budged from around her waist. She reached down and pulled his hand off. "Thank you for your concern, but it is unnecessary," she said, even as she squeezed his hand, partly to show her gratitude, but also as a warning.
Nihlus turned to stare down at her.
Shepard was glad that she could not see his expression right then, because seeing betrayal in his eyes would destroy her resolve. She was aware that he was acting out of good intentions, but he was also going too far and it was starting to wear on her patience.
The moment was broken when Shepard heard multiple approaching footsteps. When she turned her head, she saw Kaidan leading Liara and the civilians toward them. The archeologist walked at the lieutenant's side, but the civilians stayed well back of them. Even in the dark, it was impossible to miss the wary looks they sent toward Legion. Shepard got one more reason to resent the AI. She would not be surprised if the civilians would now see the geth only as a potential danger.
"Is… everything alright here?" Liara asked.
"Everything is under control." Shepard replied automatically. "Legion shut down their communication gear. Now the AI can't make them do anything." She would call that an attempt at damage control.
"That's good to hear," Sophia murmured, but she sounded less than convinced.
"So… what now?" Liara asked calmly.
Shepard shook her head, "That's up to Javik, not me, and while there are… some other things I need to look into, I can't discuss that," That was not a total lie, but it was a particularly flimsy half-truth. If she was to be honest, she would have had to admit that she had not thought that far. The odds of finding a survivor had been too low for her to consider a course of action in any serious detail. Furthermore, right then she could not help but wonder, just what had Javik seen during their brief contact?
"You know about the other ark colonies. I want to be there when you find them," Javik stated in a tone that admitted no argument or discussion.
Shepard sighed, that was a partial answer to her question. She was not even surprised that he went back to using his native language. She glanced over her shoulder at him, "That's something I will consider later. For now I need to decide what I will do about the facility's AI."
"Destroy it," Javik stated bluntly and in English.
"You can't!" Liara protested instantly.
"The language barrier is still in place, Doctor T'Soni." Shepard stated. Liara would put the rest together on her own. She turned to Javik, "I heard what the AI told you before you went into stasis. Did it really… do that?"
"Yes! It betrayed everyone." Javik replied blandly.
Shepard had seen the green flash in the vision's final moments. Given that his biotics were green-tinted, it was safe to bet that he tried to use them in the pod. It clearly had not worked as he would have intended, but he still survived, so that was something. Furthermore, it explained how the crack through the pod's data port happened. Either through blind luck or full intent, Javik had managed to stop the pod from linking up with the system, rendering the AI unable to shut down the pod's life support.
After that, the question became, why would an AI choose to do something like that in the first place? She highly doubted it was taught to be a genocidal maniac and then installed into the facility. It must have concealed its true intentions, but where did those intentions come from? It must have been either corrupted or damaged, but how?
"Destroying it is justice, Commander. Nothing good will come from its continued existence," Javik finished.
Shepard bristled. She did not like his commanding tone. Sure, she would agree that the AI presented a clear hazard, and that anyone working in its vicinity would have be warned against it. Furthermore, the work would have to be done without any synthetic assistance, lest it use a VI like it tried to use Legion. But fact remained that she could not destroy it. The Council would want to confiscate the hardware, but the Alliance would fight them for it by right to discovery credit. This would end up in a bitter custody fight. It was better they have at it, because she did not want to unite them in scorn by destroying the AI preemptively. Shepard closed her eyes. Just thinking about all that made a thrum of pain blossom behind her eyes, though it could also be because of the telepathic contact.
She sighed, she could not see how she could avoid necessary disclosure. "I have responsibilities, and I can't just… destroy the AI. Nor can I allow you to do it, though I do understand why you want to. Understand that this is above me. I'm an Alliance officer and an operative for the galactic Council. My superiors won't be pleased if I tell them that I let you destroy such a valuable find. Now if I were to admit that I helped you do it... well... my sense of self-preservation is functional." To say the least. "And quite frankly, I need answers from it. It is not the first Prothean AI I've had the misfortune to encounter," She finished flatly, switching languages in mid-stride, to keep the civilians ignorant. Furthermore she doubted Javik had read deeply enough to know about Harbinger and Nazara, so that would do as bait.
"Is your sense of self-preservation functioning?" Javik asked. "Your decision to protect that thing-" he flicked a finger in Legion's direction, "hints otherwise."
Shepard caught his gaze and held it, smirking all the while, "Hmm, the way I see it, if my sense of self-preservation was somehow defective… I wouldn't be standing here, discussing it with you, now would I? And there is certainly no lack of those who assume they can put the White Death into a grave." Now she let her tone dip, "That's not the sort of mistake I let any of them live to regret." She smiled at Javik, but it was brief, and gone by the time she turned to face the civilians.
"Had your fun, Shepard?" Nihlus asked, his voice laced with amusement.
"Yep, now shall we return to the important matters at hand?" She made a show of affecting good cheer. "I think we're done here. Now that we know that we're dealing with an AI with a rather unfortunate penchant for violence… this officially passes beyond the scope of my mission. I'm afraid we're going to have to impose on everyone who witnessed this, for the time being."
"Oh?" Sophia asked, sounding squeaky and wary all at once.
"What can we do?" Carl followed, markedly more hesitant, though perhaps less unnerved.
Shepard ideally would have asked Sunstone to provide physical security for the site, for a few days, but this being an abandoned mine that had always relied on padlocks and chains, added manpower would raise more questions than was conductive for site security. "I need to get back to the Normandy to submit my reports. It will take a day or two for any organized response from my superiors, so in the interim I request that no one here discuss the exact contents of this facility. Let's just say we do not want to draw the wrong sort of attention." At that point, that list started with Harbinger and Nazara, and then ran the gamut of opportunists.
"More of those robots," one of the men in the back breathed.
His fellow elbowed him in the side.
"We can do that," Denis said, louder and sharper than strictly necessary.
"Definitely," Carl nodded.
Sophia crossed her arms as she stared back at Shepard. "So that's… it?" She asked, blandly. "Somehow I expected more."
Shepard raised an eyebrow, "What more do you want, Miss Waters?"
"I'd say we got plenty enough. I've worked with the Commander only a short time, but the things I've seen… are enough," Liara said calmly, seemingly weighing every word.
Shepard grinned, and inclined her head at the archeologist in a sort of thanks, mostly for her knowing not to give anyone more details than needed.
"And what you have seen, Doctor, is the least of it. Normally we are called to deal with terrorists and save millions of lives," Nihlus rumbled, amused.
"Considering all of our past experiences… this was a bit of a milk-run for us," Kaidan added.
Sophia seemed to open her mouth to say something, but then closed it.
Shepard deemed that was enough said, so she turned and made her way toward Legion. The geth was still seemingly locked up in their own head-space, emotive plates immobile, and even the iris had not moved in a while. It made her wonder just how much damage they sustained, but she would not ask. "Legion, we're going to move," she stated.
For a long second there was no response, but then the geth's sensor suite light narrowed down to its normal configuration, and they turned to her. "Shepard-Commander, we are ready to proceed."
Shepard nodded, so they were not as oblivious as it might have appeared. The damage could not be so severe if the geth could still come out of their trance so readily. At least that was the thought she would cling to.
There was one other concern creeping up on the back of her mind, accommodations. She had not made up her mind about whether or not she would accept Javik's request right then, but he was an opportunity, the things he might know could be helpful. However until proven otherwise, she could only assume that Javik was the last living Prothean. He was fifty thousand years displaced from everything he knew. The culture bomb he was in for might form a mushroom cloud. Then, as far as the galaxy was concerned, he did not exist. That is, he had no identity and no connections. That made him singularly vulnerable, the unscrupulous would readily overlook his basic rights too.
Shepard would not let that happen. Or worse, perpetuate it herself. On top she suspected that Javik would be less than amused if he learned of the turn of her thoughts. Wanting to help him was the right thing to do, but somehow she doubted it would be easy. She really should have thought about these things sooner. One more thing for the alarmingly enormous pile of things she needed to consider.
The return trip to the surface took two hours. Shepard was not surprised that Javik refused to take her word that he was the only survivor. He insisted on looking at the system reports himself. On the side note, Shepard learned that the Protheans had never fully trusted their AIs to begin with. Javik had committed multiple overrides to his memory, designed to force the AI to compliance. It seemed like whatever drove the thing to commit murder had definitely not been an accident, not when the AI's makers seemed to have anticipated the most obvious problems.
This only made Shepard wonder more. Why did the AI decide to kill everyone? Had someone still managed to get around all the security precautions? That thought was disconcerting. A true AI was a very complex system, making it hard to tamper with it in a manner that would not be detected. Ergo whoever had tampered with it, indeed knew what they were doing. That raised even more questions that Shepard would have to ask Javik, once they were away from the civilians.
Then, in the middle of that final walk, left to her own devices, Shepard had time to ponder the ramifications. Had there been an AI on Mars? Few people knew what the cache included, and fewer had access to the facility directly. All Shepard knew was that it was a research station of some kind, with a vast database. The computers had degraded over fifty thousand years, but enough remained to jump-start humanity to the stars. However, now she wondered. Just what else was on those computers? Who might know? Was it relevant to her own investigation?
Her final pet theory almost made her break step. She knew that the Normandy was mostly Turian tech, however there was a component based on something found on Mars. Just what was that component? That part had been glossed over in the data she had gotten from Admiral Hackett. Was that information so classified that it was above her pay-grade? Was it worth pursuing? Would whatever it was be relevant here? Should she even ask?
Shepard stayed in her musings all the way to the front entrance, ruminating on the many questions swirling in her head. The AI tried to keep them locked in, but fortunately even that effort was stymied by Javik's many memorized command codes. All the while it became abundantly clear that the Prothean's temper fuse had been lit. He slowly became more snappish and brusque, eventually refusing to speak English altogether. Shepard could understand his mounting frustrations, but she did not care for the arrogance.
Once they were out in the mine, Shepard forced all her questions and concerns to the back burner. Out here, where the floor was covered in trip hazards, it would not do for her attention to wander. When they finally emerged out into the open air the sky looked slightly lighter, but due to the planet's slow rotation it was still hours before dawn.
What surprised Shepard was that the crowd of civilians had grown from the last time she had seen them. What more, they had moved closer to the mine's entrance, where they could ambush anyone coming out. Shepard's initial hopes of whisking Javik away before he was seen had effectively ignited. Then her eyes landed on the black vehicle just inside the yard's entrance gate. A side glance told her that the two belonging to Sophia's party were still at the parking lot, so this vehicle was new.
When she turned back to the crowd she readily spotted the corporates. Sophia's assistant was still there, and standing next to him was a middle-aged man in crisp black suit. Another type who opted for the funeral chic. She would assume that he was Sophia's boss.
"The corporates are multiplying." Nihlus stated blandly.
"Like insects," Shepard replied, matching his tone.
"I think this is where I should step in. Public relations may not be my primary area of expertise, but-" Liara trailed off, doubt in her voice.
Shepard smiled, "You are probably better at it than me, Doctor. I would appreciate your assistance." That was just the honest truth, Shepard simply did not care to perform the corporate ego tango right then.
"Alright," Liara replied.
"Commander, if you do not want to talk to them, tell them no. The niceties are pointless and do not flatter you," Javik stated blandly from the back.
"Oh I know," Shepard laughed. It was quite possibly a horrible sign that she was laughing at that, but such was life. She would have loved to tell the corporates to take a hike, in so many words, and if that did not take, give them a rendition of Saren's withering stare as reinforcement. Unfortunately, she was too short and human, effectively too familiar for the corporates to feel appropriately intimidated. "Alas, nothing is so simple."
"What was that?" Nihlus asked.
Shepard blinked, looked up and met her partner's gaze. "Oh, Javik offered me some sage advice, which I wish I could employ. Ideally with a modicum of your esteemed mentor's unique abilities when it comes to navigating… conflicting corporate interests," she said, intentionally keeping her tone perfectly light and amicable.
Nihlus rumbled, low in his throat, biting back his full laughter, "You are selling yourself short, Shepard." Then his grin turned outright predatory, "You know that I have your back."
Shepard patted his forearm in silent thanks. She wanted to tell him that flattery would get him nowhere, but she could not disguise it. It would not do to clue the civilians that there was something hidden in their exchanges, nor appear to be flirting, so it would have to be left unsaid. Instead she turned toward Liara, "Doctor T'Soni, I leave this matter in your capable hands. I need to discuss certain concerns with Javik."
"Y- Yes, of course." Liara tripped over her words.
Shepard turned toward the shuttle, and having caught Javik's gaze, motioned for him to follow her. However she was none too surprised to hear two sets of footsteps crunching on the gravel behind her. She used the silent walk toward the Kodiak to take off her helmet and set her hair back in a semblance of order. After hours cooped up, the breeze filtering through the surrounding forest's canopy felt good on her face.
The Kodiak reacted to their proximity and opened its door. Shepard ducked in as soon as it was wide enough, set her helmet down on the closest seat, and went straight for the supply compartments. She grabbed a bottle of water, opened it, and chugged the contents greedily, hoping idly that her attempt to stall for a few last seconds was not patently obvious. Once the bottle was empty, she set it down on the same seat as her helmet, and turned to Javik.
It was then that she realized that he was far away. His eyes roamed over the shuttle's interior as if he was seeing something that she could not, and there was a sneer on his face. Nihlus hovered by the door, his helmet in his hands. Shepard blinked and decided to let the moment of distraction go. "Javik, I'm afraid there is a complication with you joining us. My ship was designed for a crew of around twenty-five. Accommodations are at a premium, and we need a compromise."
The Prothean turned to her, his gold eyes practically glowing in the diffused overhead lighting. "I'm a soldier, I'm used to sharing an environment with others, and I've served on board a ship before," Javik started. "The only stipulation I have is that I will not sleep in a high-traffic area."
Shepard crossed her arms over her chest and hummed. That automatically put Wrex' old alcove in the shuttle bay as a no-go zone. The traffic through that area of the ship was not conductive to any sort of privacy. Hot-bunking with the rest of the crew was also out, right along with the temporary space Liara occupied in the lounge. She also would not ask Nihlus and Garrus to become roommates. That would be a disaster waiting to happen. So what were the other options? The cargo bay sprang to mind. Tali's workshop could be moved into Wrex' old alcove instead. Surely Tali could do her tinkering down there.
"He can have my cabin." Nihlus announced, drawing attention to himself.
Shepard raised an eyebrow. That sounded an awful lot like charity. Something that was very unusual coming from Nihlus of all people.
"With a caveat," he went on, voice dipping low.
Shepard gave him the blankest stare she could muster. Did he honestly think that he was going to surprise her with that? She would give him credit for the theatrical dramatic pause, but she had seen the script, so the effect was diminished.
"It could work if you and I share the loft." His tone sobered at that. "We are soldiers, so neither of us should be squeamish about sharing a sleeping space, and before you think about it, there are no obvious security concerns either, there is nothing I know that you do not," Nihlus finished.
Shepard nodded slowly. She would put an asterisk at the end of that final clause, because she sincerely doubted she knew absolutely everything Nihlus was privy to. However, he was right about one thing. Both of them were full Spectres, so there would be a security concern there. If there was something that Nihlus did not want her to see, he would have to make sure not to leave it lying around.
In fact, that sort of arrangement would have to go both ways. She had access to Alliance information that the brass would not want Nihlus to see. She would need to start using biometric lock-outs to keep things under wraps. Even though Shepard trusted everyone on her crew to be on her side, the brass would not. She did not need to give people an actual leg to stand on while accusing her of being a security breach.
Past that, Nihlus was also right to say that they were both soldiers. A private cabin was an officer's luxury, something relatively new to her. Shepard was not so spoiled that she could not give it up. Really the only times she was up there was for sleep and showers. Also, if she considered the OD as an extension of her space, then her allotted space seemed disproportionally large compared to the rest of the crew.
Javik was looking between them with narrowed eyes. Shepard could not begin figuring out whether that look was disdain, suspicion, or a mix of both.
"Sure, that's a potential solution," Shepard said. She might have even considered it before she spotted the one fatal flaw. "There is just one problem, the one bed. Before you even mention the couches, I thought of that. They're fine for sitting, but I don't think they're fine for sleeping. Thanks for the offer, but I have an alternative idea. We'll relocate Tali's workshop down to Wrex's old alcove in the shuttle bay, which will free up some of the space in the cargo bay." With that said she turned to Javik, "It's not exactly an untraveled area of the ship, but it's not as bad as the shuttle bay."
"It will be… acceptable," Javik said.
Shepard did not miss the way he all but choked out the word 'acceptable'.
"It will certainly be preferable to a space the turian used to inhabit," Javik finished blandly.
Nihlus bristled, "My cabin is the second biggest on the ship!"
Javik ignored him.
Shepard spared Nihlus a look which she hoped conveyed the order for him to back down. Then she turned back to Javik, "I understand a telepath would not want to be too close to another individual, but what is the problem with the spaces they used to inhabit?" She made a mental memo to put a rush on supplying Javik an omni-tool and universal translator. The language barrier was bothersome. Sure he could only understand English, so it would not be talking to him in his own language, but at least she would not have to continue playing translator.
Javik sneered, "What you call telepathy is limited to reading the thoughts of others directly. It's a parlor trick, something the Asari do. My ability is vastly superior to that. Understand this, all living beings leave traces of their thoughts, emotions, and experiences on every object they touch. The traces grow stronger with prolonged contact. The stronger they become, the more information they contain, and the longer they linger. You primitives cannot read them, but I can."
Shepard froze, Nabu had said something about reading her through her gun. At the time she had not considered the exact implications of that. Now she realized that she had been operating under a stunning and possibly dangerous misunderstanding of the true nature of the ability. If Javik was not exaggerating, she had to wonder, was there a way to keep something from him? "You're… psychometric."
"That term is more appropriate, yes." Javik replied, still sounding unimpressed. "I thought that since you were taught my language through that method, you understood it."
Shepard had to concede that point. She had not thought everything through. "I suppose it makes sense why a space that was previously inhabited by a single individual might be… uncomfortable." Was that even the term to use? She could not hope to have a frame of reference here. Some people pretended to have something like that, but none of them were genuine articles from which to derive a frame of reference.
Javik made a sound that was almost snort-like. "I suppose that is the limit of your intellect, human."
Shepard rolled her eyes, as far as insults went, that one was weak. Truly she had been on the receiving end of better effort from worse people. "Well, I think I know what to do to make things work. I think I will go ahead and contact the Normandy. Joker can explain the move to Tali and the enlisted. They'll help Tali move what needs moving." She turned and made her way into the cockpit without even waiting for a reply.
"Oh and Commander-" Javik called after her.
Shepard looked back and raised an eyebrow.
Javik smiled. "The answer to your unspoken question is no. Such knowledge allowed us to dominate the lesser species of our time."
Shepard did not care for his tone right then. She hated that smile even more, it was too toothy, verging on sadistic. It was not an expression of happiness.
Nihlus emitted a low rasping sound, not quite a hiss and definitely not a growl.
Shepard gave Javik a bland stare. If he wanted to play such power games, she would privately admit that she was disconcerted, but she could also give as well as she received. "Sure, I can see how that happened, but let's be real for a moment," here she affected the air of nonchalance, "eventually someone did figure out how to do away with that advantage, and here we are." With that said she turned away. She was not sorry about that statement of the obvious, low blow or not. She could even appreciate the brilliance of the strategy. If hiding something from a Prothean was near-impossible, then neutralizing that ability became an imperative.
The cockpit door opened, and she stepped through without hesitation. She had to admit that saying such things was unusually bratty of her, but she found it hard not to reach right then. The implications of her newfound understanding were unsettling enough on their own, but Javik's abrasive attitude was not helping it. She was certain that if he insisted on maintaining that attitude the entire time they worked together, even her patience would eventually run out.
It took two hours for Liara to settle everything with the corporates. Shepard spent half of that time in the Kodiak, negotiating the logistical nightmare that was settling someone else on the Normandy. With Kaidan away, the task of relaying her orders and supervising everything fell onto Joker's shoulders. He thought he was subtle, but she could hear his distaste across the communicator just fine. Shepard suspected that he would find some way to make her rue things in time, and in a manner she could not discipline him for, but she trusted him not to go too far. After that she even had a conversation with Tali regarding Legion's damage, to apprise the girl. What surprised Shepard was that Tali actually sounded worried from beginning to end.
After all those things were squared away, Shepard got to see Liara in her natural element. Once again Liara displayed that despite her timid undertones and nigh-aristocratic decorum, she was hardly a pushover, and would happily serve humble pie to anyone who thought they could get one over her. She wielded Council expectations and even an affected hauteur like a knife, up to and including an eerily calm reminder that failure to comply ran the risk of censure from both Alliance Colonial Affairs and the Council. Shepard happily enhanced the effect by mentioning that she would have her report to her superiors, emphasis on plural, finished in a few hours.
Thus when the expanded team boarded the Kodiak, Liara looked exceedingly pleased with herself, and Shepard was trying her best not to be caught smiling. She got a visceral pleasure from watching the corporates realize their cause was moot. When the detail dust settled, it was decided that Liara would remain on Eden Prime to supervise the work, moving into a room in one of Blackrock's small hotels in the meantime. As it was, Shepard knew that Colonial Affairs would take some time to organize things, so the Normandy was staying ground-side for at least a Terran Coordinated day or two. It worked for Shepard as Legion sustained damage and Kaidan was putting up a valiant, but ultimately transparent effort to look like he was not in pain. To say nothing of the painful thrumming in her head from another episode of mind-linking without her expressed permission.
Javik was gunning to be the cause of all her headaches, literal and metaphorical. As far as she was concerned he was cooperating in name only. She did not need his ability to know that he was displeased with what was going on around him, as he displayed his disdain like a badge of honor. However, she could not pretend that she did not understand where his feelings were coming from. The alienation alone would do it, but couple it with culture shock and the realization that he was the last of his kind? She supposed if she found herself in his shoes, she would be cranky too. In light of that, she knew better than to explode on him. She would have to exercise her sniper's patience, give him time to settle in, and hope it did something to ameliorate the attitude.
When the Kodiak slid into the Normandy's shuttle bay, Shepard could not miss the crowd gathered, waiting for their return. All the enlisted were there, some as security, but all hardly subtle about their curiosity. Doctor Chakwas stood by the lockers, a datapad in her hands. Shepard grinned, Javik was going to be positively thrilled with what was coming for him. Though Doctor Chakwas was going to have her hands full, not only because he was cranky, but also because of just how little was known about Protheans.
Shepard also did not miss Tali, who was still fiddling with the contents of her workshop, which had already been moved into Wrex's old alcove in the back corner of the shuttle bay. It was quite the addition to the space's ambience. In fact, there was something inherently macabre about seeing the remainder of the heretic platforms strung up in netting along the walls. With half of their external plating missing and some components pulled out they looked just a few hooks short of resembling animal carcasses in a butcher's walk-in freezer.
Shepard was in the Kodiak's aft compartment even before Nihlus had fully powered down the thrusters. She was the first one to step out, just in case trouble arose, but fortunately, there was none. The enlisted put on their best efforts not to look like they were openly gawping. After some brief introductions Shepard sent Javik and Kaidan up with the doctor. Kaidan would keep an eye on things in the immediate sense. Shepard did not anticipate much trouble from Javik. During their flight, she had watched him make an effort to stay as distant as possible from Legion, and his expression was sour, but he did not make any snarky comments to Kaidan and Liara. She would take that as a good sign.
As for herself right then, she was honestly surprised that her own headache, when weighed on the scales with what she felt after her concussion and the brush-in with Nabu, it seemed mild. She already had her evening plan laid out. She would sneak an over-the-counter painkiller, after she got out of her gear, had a shower, and begged Matthews for something to eat. After that, she needed to notify Admiral Hackett of the developments. Fortunately she would not have to notify the Council, as during their flight Nihlus agreed to take that duty off her hands.
When she mentioned it worked for her if the Council thought that he was still calling the shots, he laughed and announced that she should not count on that. After how he had strong-armed Sparatus, no one would ever believe that he was actually in charge of anything ever again. The Council would sooner think she ordered him to make the report because she could not be bothered. Shepard sighed, she really should have known that was coming, but she could hope right?
It took her three hours to work through that entire routine. Fortunately Admiral Hackett did not hold her for very long after she told him that she had a new teammate. Admittedly, she figured that she had caught him simply unable to say anything once she laid out the details. She did not even need to mention her concerns, the admiral knew that people would not be happy with her whisking the survivor away, and it would be a while before some bothered to remember that he was also a sentient being. Hackett charged her with keeping the abuses to non-existent levels while the channels worked through their impulses.
Shepard's main concern was the fact that as far as the galactic society was concerned, Javik had no recognized citizenship status anywhere. In that sense he was in the same boat as Legion. With no official identity, she could not exactly put him on the payroll either, as coming to him with a contract seemed somehow predatory right then. In all likelihood, with the delightful technicality of him having been on Eden Prime all along, he would soon receive asylum from the Alliance. However, until that paperwork came through, she would just have to deal with her own discomfort.
Once Shepard returned to the OD, she sat in front of her terminal and booted it up to get started on her incident notes. However twenty minutes passed with her largely staring at monitor, with no notes put in. She could not concentrate, the air in the OD felt heavy. As if she was still in full EVA gear. It did wonders to keep her headache from going away. There was also the heaping helping of concerns and problems which did well to prevent her from relaxing enough to get something done. She sighed, shut down the terminal, grabbed one of the pads, and pushed off from the desk.
From there she went down to the shuttle bay, grabbed a tarp from the pile of supplies, and proceeded down the ramp onto the beach. The sun was just rising over the horizon, just a quarter of the disk peeking over the water. There was also a calm breeze and the temperature was pleasantly cool. Most importantly they were well away from civilization, so the only sounds there were the lapping waves and the chirping of whatever native fauna was awake this early.
Shepard walked a few hundred meters away from the Normandy's landing struts before she tossed the folded tarp down on the stones and eased herself down, one knee raised, to enjoy the fresh air while she jotted down preliminary notes.
The lapping of the water against the beach rocks was just the right sort of calming. Soon enough she was not only able to focus, but outright breezed through jotting down her notes, despite needing to type with one hand, which was kind of awkward and definitely slower. Somewhere in the midst of all that her headache mostly dissipated. There was only an occasional pressure pang, and she only needed to close her eyes and inhale deeply to suppress it once again. It was during one of these brief moments of rest that she heard a set of approaching footsteps on the beach rocks.
"Shepard, there you are," Nihlus stated, his tone warm and rumbling. "Are you alright?"
She opened her eyes and looked up. Nihlus stood less than two meters away, clad in one of his tunic outfits, but there was a sidearm at his side. She grinned, "I'm fine. Just taking in the fresh air, while there is fresh air to take in. All those hours in a full EVA suit, when in theory we should have been able to breathe in there… not fun. I can't decide what gave me a headache, Javik, or the stale air, but whichever it was… fresh air is working for it." She was babbling a little more than usual, but that was fine. She was more relaxed now than she had been in days. Besides, the only one to see her was Nihlus.
Nihlus chuckled, "Well, I am glad you are feeling better… but your headache is what I wanted to ask about."
Shepard looked up and gave him a blank stare. Was Nihlus' overprotective streak reasserting itself? Well, she really should have known that he would not let it go, not when said streak had reached unprecedented new heights. "Alright, but if we're going to talk, sit down please, the tarp is big enough… mostly." Shepard said as she shifted to one side, leaving him about half a meter of material on her right. As Nihlus eased his tall frame onto the tarp, she brought up her other leg, placed her datapad in her lap, and wrapped her arms around her knees.
"You never went to Chakwas," Nihlus stated as he finally settled down.
"I'm fine. The headache is mild this time. I took a standard blanket painkiller, and the worst I have now is pressure. As I said, the fresh air is working on it," Shepard replied, staring out over the water. With her notes finished, she really should have gone back and then right on to bed. Admiral Hackett had given her leave of forty-eight hours to finish her report. "I think it has to do with what was exchanged. Javik learned English, but he did not give me anything. I think that's the key difference." It would do as a running theory.
Nihlus hummed, "Something is still bothering you."
"Well, you're right, there's stuff bothering me," Shepard replied. Most of it had to do with the insanity that her life had become. However, if she was at all honest, there was one part that she could address and now was a good time and place for it. She did not want to reprimand Nihlus anywhere near anyone who could overhear them. "Some of it is kind of your fault."
"My fault?" Nihlus repeated.
He sounded vaguely amused, she would take it as a good sign. "Your overprotective tendencies are… amplifying. Don't lie to me, you would have shot Legion had that AI taken control of them, never-mind making one errant move you didn't like." She turned her head to peer back at him over her shoulder.
Nihlus' mandibles drew up against his jaw, which was all the confession Shepard needed.
"Talk to me, what's causing that? I've always taken risks, I took a crazy risk the day we met, and yet this ferocity is… new," She went on, lowering her tone. She really did not want to come off as too harsh right then.
Nihlus' gaze slid down to the beach rocks.
Shepard watched his mandibles as they started to tick against his jaw. Agitation? Frustration? Right then she could not be sure exactly what it was, only that there was something.
"I was willing to… I know you would not have approved, but the thought that the AI would-"
Shepard let him speak. She knew that saying such things was never easy. Nihlus in particular had the prickly sort of pride that complicated these sorts of conversations further. Right then, she would not be surprised if given a choice he would have volunteered to walk on hot coals rather than talk about this. "No one ever does anything without some logic. I'm not going to ask you for an explanation… I only ask that you reflect on it." She suspected that Nihlus had a private reason, and prying would be hypocritical of her.
Nihlus rumbled inarticulately.
Shepard turned back to the water. "Just so you know… I'm not so dainty that I can't handle one mad AI thinking it can use my teammate against me. I could've overloaded Legion's antenna at any time. It would've damaged them more… but that thing wouldn't be using them." This AI had tried to remote-control Legion's platform, which required an uninterrupted control signal. The whole idea was only as viable as the communication equipment. "In that instance, I think I had things under control." Shepard finished as she turned back to the water. "Besides, those Prothean AIs are such one-trick-ponies. I wouldn't be surprised if Legion started shutting down their comm gear pro forma from now on." Legion was wily, they would not fall for the same trick twice.
Nihlus let out a long sigh, breaking the silence that had settled between them. "Is it so bad that I worry for you?"
"You don't have to. I can handle myself." Shepard replied automatically.
"I know, but I will still protect you with whatever it takes," Nihlus whispered.
Shepard froze, his voice was right over her ear, and she had neither heard nor felt him move at all. She opened her mouth, but whatever she could have said, died on her tongue when she felt both his hands land on her shoulders.
"Maybe you are right, maybe I went too far today. There is logic behind everything people do. This too," he fell silent there, but his fingers started kneading her shoulders.
Shepard stared out over the water, content to let him speak his fill. She suspected that this was his way of apologizing. Nihlus would not be caught dead saying the words, but he was not above becoming oddly affectionate when he realized he had been wrong. "Will you explain said logic?" She asked quietly. Just what had gotten him so worked up this time?
"It is stupid, and I told myself that many times."
"If it's bothering you, it isn't stupid," Shepard replied automatically as she looked over her shoulder at him.
His hand near her chin stilled, but the other continued to knead at her shoulder, and his eyes never strayed away from the water. "Gruesome sights normally do not bother me, but that-" He sounded airy and distant.
The heat from his hands began to sink in, creating a contrast with the cooler surrounding. Shepard had to suppress her sudden irrational urge to lean back into him and soak in what would probably feel like hugging a heated blanket. Except it would not be a blanket, it would be a complicated, conflicted turian who sounded like he was on the verge of baring his metaphorical soul to her. She probably should not interrupt that with her inane selfishness.
"Seeing the clone," Nihlus whispered, seemingly to the wind. "I guess it affected me more than I thought it did."
Shepard blinked slowly. There was no misunderstanding those words. "That isn't stupid." She replied. "That will never be stupid." The thoughts circled through her head. He was so affected by the death of the clone? "Thank you for explaining…" It felt like it needed to be said. All the while, she found herself nearly-speechless. What could she say to an admission like that? "I understand where it all came from," That felt like a good place to start. She had been there herself. They had even pinned a medal to her chest for such an overreaction.
Nihlus rumbled, warm, low, and rolling in the back of his throat. "I am… sorry."
Shepard unwound her arms from around her knees and leaned back until she felt his keel bone against her spine. His hands slid down her arms and his fingers encircled her wrists. She had to suppress and compartmentalize her body's reaction to the enveloping heat. This was not about her, it was about him. She was being pathetic right then. With words failing, this was the only way she could think of to prove that she was there, alright, and she understood him. Just on the off chance that it might ease his worries even a little. She could give him that much.
A few seconds ticked by, and she felt his chest vibrate against her back as he practically coiled around her, tightening his grip on her mid-section. Shepard was perfectly happy to let him get it out of his system. In a few hours he would feel better and they would pretend this moment had never happened.
Author Notes: A bit of an exposition-heavy episode, I know, but lots of important things that needed lining up. That final scene took way too long to write. Nihlus is being himself again, he's allergic to saying the word 'sorry'.
General Notes:
Nothing here…
Chapter Notes:
Javik and Shepard's Friction – I feel like I need to say it. My Shepard is far too private an individual to be entirely okay with Javik's innate ability to read her like a book. After that, I contemplated the implication of said ability. It would have naturally shaped Prothean daily life and their definition of "personal boundaries". That's to say, his concept of them is different from everyone else's. This early friction was bound to happen.