Shepard and Liara smiled at each other in relief once the freighter door slid shut. She settled a sleeping Athena's cradle down securely among the cargo against the bulkhead before moving to the cockpit of the third vehicle they'd commissioned so far in their flight from Council space. Her eyes went over every detail in the requisition to ensure things were in place. Once she was satisfied she slipped into the worn pilot's chair to get them going on the last and longest stint to Omega.
"That went really, really well," Came Shepard's rough, frog-like voice from behind her. "This new incog tech is outstanding."
Liara pulled back the deep cowl of her cloak, lips curled into a crooked smile at the sound and turned her head to look once more upon her lover… as a Drell. The disguise had been perfect for her new dimensions and the dark color of her skin made the illusory textures, shades and contours generated by the device seem more real. "You can take that off now, I think," she chuckled.
"Alright, but I'm hanging onto this for the next time I need to slip the press," she agreed in a low, mischievous tone before removing her sunshades. In a moment she'd picked at the edge of her face to peel away a thin, iridescent plastic layer, revealing the more familiar matte black surface of her skin. "Was strange how people just.. avoided looking at me altogether," she said in her normal Shepard voice.
Liara shrugged and turned to finish her pre-flight. "They've served the Hanar for so long I suspect that is simply the way everyone sees them. As servants." The thought reminded her that she needed to check in on Feron, the only Shadow Broker in current rotation. "Would you mind," she began, turning her head to catch the last of the dark hued leather sliding off Shepard's shoulders.
"Mind what?" Jordan asked, turning to meet her gaze. She was still wearing Liara's own shirt she'd fled in, the hole in the shoulder widening over time to reveal more of the darkness beneath.
"Sorry," she murmured guiltily, "Would you mind flying while I check in?"
"'Course," came the response, and Liara quickly changed seats under her searching gaze. When Shepard settled she reached out with a hand to cover hers, squeezing it gently in reassurance before clicking the key for engine startup.
Liara activated the new Omni on her arm, replete with a new web identity, and began to authenticate the various accounts she'd need for communication. One by one her feeds came to life and with them, current events. Her eyes widened at what she found. A sidelong glance at her bondmate found her looking back with curiosity.
"Much is happening," she said pensively, "It feels as if we've been out of contact for weeks instead of a day or two."
"Yeah? Fill me in," Shepard prompted.
"Alright. First… there are reports of widespread violence on the Citadel."
Shepard hummed with a nod. "What's the Council saying?"
"The Council," she said with a pointed look, "Has been dissolved."
That got Shepard's full attention.
"Esheel has taken control and ordered the arrest of Sparatus and Tevos, but," Liara added, scrolling through the data. "My contacts are reporting that C-Sec seems to have split into factions, for and against. Council fleets, including the Alliance, have been called in to quell the fighting."
"So Shaw sided with Esheel?"
"Councilor Shaw, if you recall, is brand new and already has conflicts with Sparatus. She may not understand what's happening but instead sees it as an opportunity to expand her influence."
Shepard hissed, but thumbed her lower lip in thought. "Wonder how Bailey's doing. Maybe I should reach out."
"And say what?" she countered gently. When they shared a knowing look she offered, "I'll see what I can find out. If we are able to assist, we will."
The Spectre clenched her jaw but nodded in agreement. "What else?"
She lifted her arm to bring the display into view and exhaled while browsing. "The Salarian Union has called for a no-confidence vote in light of evidence that the Linron clan has aided and abetted their Dalatress in violation of the law."
Shepard reclined in her chair and nodded grimly. "Seems I owe Kirrahe a drink."
"Or ten," Liara replied with a huff. "Even if Esheel solidifies her power base, it seems likely that clan Narra will have her replaced."
"Eventually," Shepard breathed, then quietly asked, "Do they have Linron in custody?"
Liara did some searching, but after a few moments shook her head.
"Dammit!" Shepard swore with vigor, fist slamming against the armrest. "She was half-dead! Where the hell could she have gone?"
The display was unusually colorful, despite Liara sharing her distaste for the woman. She supposed it must be a lingering reaction to what had happened to Shepard on Sur'Kesh.
"I'll put out inquiries," she said in a calming tone before starting a list of items to-do. Their freighter approached the Fortis System relay and Shepard queued them without fanfare while she worked; though Liara could feel her stewing all the while.
"What about Tuchanka?" she asked in a clipped voice.
Liara cross-referenced her feeds for any information on the subject, then tilted her head. "Records indicate that some sort of Salarian delegation entered the DMZ 3 days ago, but there's nothing about purpose or results as yet. Oh..." she remarked, "That's troubling."
She didn't wait for Shepard to ask. "There's some kind of standoff on the Krogan planet, Tyr. The Alliance has gathered a substantial defense to counter 'an alarming buildup of Krogan military forces in the region'."
Her eyes flickered left to catch a reaction, but Shepard only stared quietly ahead.
"This isn't your fault, you know that," she said to break a suddenly tense silence.
The words seem to snap Shepard awake and she turned to give her a wan smile. "No, uh, I know. I'll call everyone and get the latest now that we've got a little downtime."
As if in response, Shepard piloted the craft into the Relay tunnel and the stars blended and merged into a very familiar pattern. Once done, she continued to stare into the twisting, twirling lights.
"Would you like to talk about it?" Liara asked.
"About what?" the woman replied quickly.
"What happened on Sur'Kesh?"
Shepard's eyes darted to her before staring back out into the abyss. "I told you what happened back at the house."
The avoidance was a clear sign that something was bothering her and they'd done this dance often enough that Liara knew the next steps by heart. She smiled and softened her voice to dampen what she had to say. "You gave me a perfectly stated incident report," she said. "I'd like to know how it made you feel."
The Spectre's brow furrowed in irritation and she squeezed the bridge of her nose between two fingers before sighing deeply. "I don't know where to start," she admitted.
"You said you were nearly killed," she prompted.
"Okay," she replied with resignation and a lift of her head to look at her. "There's quite a bit to unpack. I guess I was… genuinely surprised. I think.. I think I've been through so much that the idea of me actually being in any kind of danger was... a surprise."
Liara said nothing, letting her work through the confusion at her own pace.
Shepard adjusted her seat, turning it toward her to continue. "And then there's the fact that the trap Linron set was created entirely for me and only me. I... can't get my head around the fact that she's been gone this long and all she could think about was the idea that I'd be the one to come after her. I don't know why that bothers me so much."
Liara nodded and folded her hands on her lap.
"Then there's the fact that the trap actually worked ," she said. "I never even once considered that weakness. Everyone with these prosthetics probably has it and… I can only imagine the weapons that will be developed and how…" She pulled the overlong fingers of one hand into a fist. "How awful it was to experience. I mean, could the EMP from a single tactical nuke in the atmosphere take all of us out?"
"And if it did," she continued quickly, gesturing to herself with a top to bottom motion of her hands, "Is this going to happen to everyone or just me? I honestly don't know which one is worse!" Her eyes were wide now, with real fear. "Is what everyone's saying true? Is this the fucking Reapers all over again?"
She raised a couple of fair points that Liara hadn't considered and she made a mental note of them for later. "You are not a Reaper," Liara said matter-of-factly, and heard Athena wake and begin to cry at the raised voices. "And we will find the answers, together."
Shepard sat straight as a rod, her body fairly humming with adrenaline. She seemed to recognize it and took deep breaths until she could relax in her seat again. "Sorry," she said self-consciously.
She rose and fetched their daughter, returning to put all the tenderness she could into her gaze. "No need. Is there more?"
After a pause, she chuckled ruefully. "Well, there's the part where we're on the run because of this whole thing and so is Tali and Garrus and their whole innocent family," she mused. "Oh, and I guess I eat metal now, so there's that, too." Shepard wove her fingers together between her knees and shook her head miserably. "I just really need to figure out what's going on."
"We're on the way to Miranda's and I have plenty of time to do some research of my own," she replied, offering Athena to her to calm. "In the meantime, why don't you see what you can find out about the Convergence's plans?"
Jordan looked both eager for a distraction and crestfallen at the weight of it, but nodded slowly and looked into Athena's eyes as she wailed. "Shhh, shhh, it's okay. I've got you, honey." Her lithe black arms lifted their child into an embrace, then to Liara she said, "I think I'll go lay down with her. I have no idea how long this'll take."
Liara kissed her gently, but the barrier Shepard had previously erected to a meld was still in place. She watched her bondmate move to the back of the freighter, and frowned.
Shepard swore inwardly as she retreated to the back of the ship. Her hands clasped the wriggling child who clung to her just as hard, crying. Athena's grip around her neck was desperate and while she knew what she had to do, every fiber in her being railed against it in a similar fashion.
It was the memories, you see; the Citadel, the Illusive Man, the decomposing bodies. It was the Brakenbah, Charles Saracino and the pain . More than anything else though, it was her failures… a litany she'd continue to struggle with until she could think no more and now one besides; the shame at what her anger had wrought on Linron so strong she couldn't reveal it to the one she loved most in the world. But she wouldn't be able to hide all that awfulness from her own daughter. What would the knowledge of those experiences do to a young child? A baby?
Sure, Athena might not pull it through the share, wouldn't understand it if she did, but while there was much Jordan didn't understand about the Sharing, one thing she did know and that was the Convergence was incapable of forgetting. The knowledge would be there in her mind, forever.
Shepard easily pulled one of the cots free of its stack with her free hand, set it down and with an extension of a balanced foot spread it out for use on a bare spot on the floor. She first sat and then laid back upon it, pulling Athena to rest on her chest so she could gently stroke her crest to calm her. She could feel her through the Share, glowing like an ember next to her own beating heart; and told herself there was nothing to fear from this. Not this time.
Her own heart pounded and an old familiar stress pulled at the muscles in her neck and shoulders. She'd have to be quick like she was with Saracino; get what she needed and get out as quickly as she could. Shepard embraced that stream of adrenaline and used it to focus. Fast, fast, fast , she said in a familiar litany, then reached out to the Share and plunged herself headlong into it with a grimace.
The sensations of her body fell away and her awareness expanded infinitely, just as it had on the Citadel all those years ago. All the cringing and clenching she'd done on entry faded quickly upon the feeling of vast space there, even though it was occupied by someone equally as frightened. It was like peering at another planet through a telescope, distant but beautiful. Shepard relaxed and while she couldn't actually see the transfer of information begin, she could feel it like the subtle warmth of sunshine in winter.
She took a moment to consider how radically things might change between them right now, but with the cold calculus required to save lives she extended her own thoughts and questions about the Convergence in a quest for brevity.
All her plans were interrupted, however, when she heard the words, "Hello, Father."
Later, when she had time to reflect, it was obvious that she hadn't actually heard it at all. It was just data like any transfer she'd experienced since her infection; but it was articulate and direct, which immediately struck Shepard as impossible. Athena was days old. Days .
For a whole flustered second she dismissed half a dozen ways someone not her daughter could have gotten into the Share. She even considered that someone had spoken inside the freighter, next to her on the cot; but being addressed as Father left zero room for misinterpretation, so she responded with her own tentative, "Hello."
"Angry?" Athena asked.
The question took her aback. "No, baby. I'm not angry," she said gently. "I'm sorry I woke you up."
"Okay," was the simple reply.
"How are you?" Shepard asked, curious about just how far this 'conversation' could be taken.
"Hungry," Athena said, and Shepard couldn't help but feel overwhelming jubilation. They were talking. They were actually talking ! She'd so envied the connection that Liara had with her daughter through the meld and marvelled at the possibilities; but had to stop herself from wandering too long down that primrose path. There wasn't time.
"I'll take care of that very soon," she promised, and then directed her thoughts to Aethyta, the architect of this miracle curse. Shepard saw images of the Matriarch's face hovering close, heard the woman's deep voice making sounds in the Asari language. It was all from Athena's perspective, but there was nothing about the Convergence that she could find. Did that mean Aethyta had left nothing behind after all?
"What is that woman's name?" she asked, focusing on that last image. "Do you know her?"
"Aethyta," her daughter replied.
"Did Aethyta tell you about the Convergence?"
There was no reply, so Shepard assumed she didn't understand the question. Maybe there was really nothing here to see. She wasn't sure whether or not that made her feel better, but she'd have time to think about it after leaving the Share… and avoid exposing her daughter to unnecessary trauma. Just as she was about to depart, one last question came to mind.
"Do you know your Mother's name?" Shepard asked.
This question she had no difficulty with. "Liara," she answered.
"Good. Do you know my name?"
"Shepard," came the quick reply.
Shepard felt a swelling of pride at that. It made her wonder if all Asari children had this knowledge so young but were simply unable to communicate it physically.
"That's right," she sounded out, but something nagged at her in the response. She'd insisted everyone call her Shepard for a long long time; until after the war. As far as she'd come, she didn't want that to be the only name her one and only daughter knew her by.
"I have two names," she explained simply. "My second name is Shepard, but my first name is Jordan. Can you remember two names for me?"
"Yes," Athena replied.
"Jordan Shepard," she said, emphasizing the order of the words. She'd been about to ask her to repeat it back, but the dim warmth of Athena's being brightened into a stark whiteness and data began to flow.
Lots of data ; and it was being pushed at her, not requested, meaning she felt it mentally batter her like a firehose. Shepard wondered at the cause and considered retreating from the share but after a moment's struggle found she was handling it. Unlike the analogy, there wasn't a drop spilled. She was actually taking it all in and while she could only consciously process bits at a time, which individually made no sense, she did have a general grasp of topic. The Convergence's history, struggles, members, the cure; they were all parts of a larger whole, filling her mind like it was a molten steel mold that would create something real and solid when it cooled. It flowed warm and tepid at the same time, swirls of decisions and thoughts and… purpose. She felt it grow in seconds as it only could have over weeks and months, like a timelapse of a seed parting the soil and spreading its leaves to the sun; saw the initial need to escape the foreign prison of their minds become a growing surefootedness followed by the confidence of stubborn solidarity.
As angry as she was at Aethyta she hoped the Asari was right about what she might find. She needed answers, but then she'd get justice for what'd been done and what it might do to her daughter.
Liara had an ear cocked for sounds from the back of the small ship. Athena's crying had stilled and if she turned to look, the pair's calm sprawl could have been mistaken for slumber. She took a moment to fix the image in her mind; their tiny child splayed on Shepard's chest, chubby arms wide and her face tucked into the woman's neck. It would have been perfect had her bondmate's appearance not been so foreign.
The Asari had mated with dozens of species that she knew about and probably more that had been lost to history. It wasn't about the species or what they looked like, after all, but the being. The person. There were often moments though, especially when she was distracted, that her mind fell back into an expectation of what she'd see when she looked at her lover, only to be struck by the difference. Liara would be strong for Shepard until they could figure out the hows and whys of her sudden change, but there was no question that she missed the old her.
She returned her gaze to the small single display of her Omni, already lamenting her multi-monitors for their boost in data organization. She'd already confirmed the warrants for both her and her beloved; they weren't a surprise despite the ferocity with which they were being carried out. Everything they'd worked for together had been negated by a single netmail from Dalatress Linron to Councilor Esheel; but the assertions contained within it concerned her.
Shepard was the head of a vast conspiracy to take over political control in the galaxy for unknown purposes, it said. Given the very real threat of indoctrination and how it hamstrung the Protheans during the last cycle, she believed that Shepard had succumbed to it at the end of the war and was biding time to create another opportunity for the Reapers to attack. Their 'proof' came via scans taken by Linron's personal physician, in attendance during Shepard's transformation; which were being likened to video evidence during the battle of the Citadel, when Saren had first committed suicide only to resurrect into another form to continue the fight. The rest of the document named those with whom Shepard had great influence as co-conspirators. It claimed that they too had been indoctrinated; by whom/what/when wasn't explored but most of the names were members of the Convergence by her reckoning.
On the whole, it was a terrifying supposition designed to goad the survivors of the Reaper holocaust into action. Nevermind that the Reapers had all been destroyed. Nevermind that the galaxy had learned to repair and repurpose the very tools used to direct the galactic races into the Reapers' aeons-old trap. Nevermind that none of the key medical data on Shepard had been provided. Those factoids didn't fit the story and had been neatly excluded. Linron was the hero in this galling narrative. She'd hidden from the injustices heaped upon her during the war (also conveniently Shepard's fault) so that she could pursue the galaxy's true enemy and save them all from the next insidious Reaper plot. Shepard… wasn't Shepard anymore, so there was no moral quandary about stopping her by any means necessary.
The communique went on to say that Linron was travelling to Tuchanka to try and broker a lasting peace between their peoples. She would take the heap of blame for past actions upon herself and accept their judgement. Liara swore silently, though she couldn't deny the intellect behind such a move. The infernal woman was trying to turn herself into the Shepard the galaxy previously revered and for now... the gambit appeared to be working.
The last few days represented a massive shift in galactic power to the Salarian's favor. The Alliance, not knowing what was true from false, would move to protect themselves first and Liara immediately identified a keystone named Human Councilor Endra Shaw. Her support was bouying Esheel on the Citadel currently, so something would need to be done about her posthaste. Linron might be out of her hands for the moment, but the attending physician in the report would also be a fountain of useful information and Liara updated her list of tasks accordingly.
She expected any investigation into the sort of physiological changes Shepard was experiencing to be a laborious one and was surprised to see the sheer number of reports ranging all over the galaxy. She scrolled through picture after picture of the documented deformities with a morbid curiosity. Not all of them appeared monstrous, but plenty did, and her blood selfishly chilled at the possibilities. This wasn't a looming threat, it was already a reality; and from what she could see the authorities simply didn't know how to handle it. Many of the spontaneous mutations occurred after some violent or life threatening event, which rang similar to Shepard's own description; and that sort of happenstance likely resulted in an encounter with law enforcement if not the public as a whole. Panic often ensued. The more law-abiding of them were detained or arrested. Those that weren't or were fearful fled, creating havoc in their own communities where they were being ridiculed at best or harassed at worst. The Turian government was already asking for any affected to turn themselves in for 'observation'.
She'd need a lot more data for confirmation but it seemed entirely plausible that these changes were happening to those who'd had the same sort of artificial replacement implants Shepard possessed. Studies were being performed and conclusions drawn, but the one person who should be leading them and controlling the discussion, the one person who might actually have answers was still mysteriously, stubbornly silent.
There were protocols for indirect communication between the trio of Shadow Brokers, designed to protect the network. Miranda and Feron both were careful not to reveal their ever-changing locations, and Liara'd changed idents now, but breaking those protocols to call the Icarus directly would leave a trail, however tenuous. Her own recent outing only increased that risk, but the importance of the matter made her consider it nonetheless. There were billions of people who may soon be suffering and time was of the essence.
For a moment frustration overwhelmed her and squeezed her eyes shut while clenching the fingers of her left hand into a fist. Feron and Miranda were good people, a rare counterbalance to the overreach of governments at large and she and Shepard were only days away from the Icarus. Those days could matter greatly for the affected, but there was simply too much else at stake. She and Shepard could wait, though she'd feel anxiety for her and for every other person who might encounter these mutations until their arrival.
With a quick inhalation and a shake of her head to clear those thoughts, she reached out to Feron. It wasn't fair for him to be handling the weight of the whole network alone and she now had the time to catch up. Several very productive hours flew by until her stomach reminded her to eat and she got up to prepare something. Shepard and Athena hadn't moved from where they lay, so she paced to their side and knelt before gently stroking her daughter's back and her wife's tawny hair. They stirred to life in moments, Shepard's eyes quickly finding hers.
"Everything alright?" she asked in a sleepy contralto and Liara nodded with a smile.
"You've been out for quite awhile," Liara informed her. "Making progress?"
Shepard grinned from ear to ear and glanced down at the baby on her chest before looking at her once more. "Yeah, we have. Honey, I can talk to her."
"Talk?" she asked with a lifted brow.
"Yeah!" she shout/whispered excitedly. "It's nothing complex of course, but… she knows our names already! Is that normal? For Asari? Humans don't pick up on that stuff until a lot later and even then it's just 'Mom' and 'Dad'."
The question took her aback, but she quickly smiled again. "I don't think that's ever been explored, but I suppose it's possible through the meld," she said. "That's wonderful to hear. Was she able to help you find what you need? We should probably eat something but if you like I can let you keep going."
"Oh, you're right," Shepard agreed and slowly sat up. "Here," she said, handing Athena into her waiting arms, where the little one yawned expressively. "We're still sharing, but there's… a lot left. I'll fix dinner?"
Liara nodded, Shepard stood, and she replaced her on the now warm cot to watch while she rummaged for the meal packs.
"So you can share while doing something else?" she asked after a moment.
"Yeah," Shepard said while reading the descriptions on the side of each packet. "It's different this time. It's like… a download you set while you watch a vid." Her slim, dark face turned then to ask, "Pork or Chicken?"
Liara doubtfully smirked at the quality of the meal awaiting them. "Chicken," she replied neutrally before parting her shirt to breastfeed. She cradled her daughter tenderly until she latched, then turned her attention back to Shepard.
"It's not just you," she intoned and when Shepard stilled at the words, her back turned, she added, "It's happening all over." She watched her nod quietly and set the self-cooking meals onto the top of a broad cargo box.
"Do they seem… okay otherwise?" she asked mutedly.
"They're not a genocidal army yet, if that's what you mean." she joked. "They're fugitives and outcasts if they're not already incarcerated or hospitalized."
Shepard turned to lean back against the bulkhead, folding her arms and bracing one foot behind her against the wall. "That's a step up, I guess. Until somebody makes the connection between them and me."
Liara nodded, "Which will happen."
"Jesus," she huffed. "There's gotta be something we can do."
"Nothing that won't make things worse," she warned. "If anyone so much as suspects your involvement, the fear that they might be influenced by the Reapers will seem much more real."
"I'm.." Shepard pointed a finger at her, pursed her lips, then dropped it. "I'm getting tired of being told I can't do anything. Hell, they'll probably think they're indoctrinated even if I stay out of it."
Liara conceded the point with an arched brow. "What do you propose?"
"Their only defense is organization," she mused. "These people have seen the worst the galaxy could throw at them and survived. They need to band together so that when they talk to their local governments it's on equal footing. They're citizens, just like everyone else. Not Reapers, not monsters ."
"Groups of organized people who feel threatened don't always negotiate," she pointed out.
"Not if they feel ostracized, no."
Liara's eyes narrowed. "How would you.." she began before tilting her head, "Shepard, you can't ."
"Why not?" she exclaimed with arms wide. "How else am I supposed to refute the charges against me? I need a platform, Liara. Maybe this is it."
"The fact that it looks like you're building your own private army doesn't exactly damage the accusations being levied," she countered. "These people might also very well blame you for what's happened to them! Haven't they been through enough?"
Shepard pushed herself away from the bulkhead, face screwed in anger, and paced toward the cockpit and back before taking a deep breath. "I'm open to suggestions," she said tight-lipped before a pair of chimes indicated their food was ready.
A flash of something in Linron's report struck her just then, though she banished the thought immediately to focus on the now. Her face dropped to consider their daughter, near falling asleep as she drank, and she stroked her crest while Shepard brought over their meal packs and sat beside her on the cot.
"It's not a terrible idea," Liara sounded out calmly, "But the figurehead is an issue. As for your response to the charges… we can figure that out separately. We aren't toothless." Her wording seemed to calm Shepard a bit even while she ravaged her pork plate, so she continued. "Their leader needs to be one of them so no outside manipulation can be inferred."
"No," Shepard spat between bites, "They need help yesterday. You can't find someone and get them up to speed on this short notice; not someone that's both trustworthy and capable."
Liara reached for her plate and balanced it on her free knee to eat. "Having a perfect leader spring forth from nowhere will seem contrived and manufactured, too," she said before taking her first bite and trying hard not to make a face at the texture. "I think it's more important they know they aren't alone and that something needs to be done, first and foremost. If we nudge them in a direction later..."
Jordan chewed thoughtfully for a second before scraping the plate with her fork. Her green eyes flickered up to meet hers before she said, "Okay, so we just give them the ability to communicate for now. Some way that can't be shut down."
Liara was mid-nod before Shepard interjected. "Listen, I'm sorry. I'm just frustrated. I feel…" She chuckled then. "'Useless as a hind tit' is what my Dad used to say."
Liara didn't grasp the adage but certainly knew what 'useless' meant. She reached out with a hand to grasp hers understandingly. "This means a lot to you and with good reason. If you want to take the lead on this I have several tools that can help."
"Yeah, that'd be good," Shepard replied, though the words seemed preoccupied. Her eyes unfocused for a moment, staring over Liara's shoulder before sharpening.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Nothing. Aethyta left a message for me. She's waiting for us on Omega."
Liara's jaw clenched, but she took another bite before responding. "Well, at least it's on the way."