CHAPTER 44: Virtual Insanity
2185 CE
The ride itself was pleasant. Smooth too.
We reached Clan Urdnot's spaceport much quicker than I expected.
I wasn't exactly expecting to immediately be summoned to meet up with Wrex, but it also didn't exactly surprise me.
'Did you know about this?' Wrex asked as I came into view.
'Wrex, you're going to have to be more specific. I know about a lot of things.' I chastised.
'Shepard blew up a relay!' Wrex shouted.
'Ah. Right. That.' I realized.
Huh guess we're on a timer now, then.
'You aren't giving this the seriousness it deserves, Krell.' Wrex admonished.
'Shepard will be fine, Wrex.' I reassured him.
'Good. But Shepard isn't the problem here. It's the relay.'
Oh, good. Someone already told him about the Alpha Relay then. I wonder if it was Mordin, or Grunt?
'The relay isn't a problem either. Shepard destroyed it.' I explained.
'That's the problem, Krell.' Wrex explained.
'I thought we agreed the relay was the problem?' I asked, wondering if I could possibly have been mistaken as to how informed Wrex was. Did no one actually tell him? I'm pretty sure he wrote Shepard some emails.
Did no one tell him?
Actually, come to think of it, I don't think Shepard's ever replied to any of my emails to her either...
Grunt and Mordin stopped by after the suicide mission, though. I'm pretty sure Grunt should still be here, actually. He has to know. I'm pretty sure I told him. Or Mordin.
'The relay is the problem! It blew up!' Wrex agreed.
So he does know? That makes this conversation a lot easier then.
'Right. So the problem was solved.' I agreed.
'Krell, how is the problem solved? The relay blew up!' Wrex replied.
'Exactly!' I smiled in agreement.
'Krell.' Wrex stared at me.
'Wrex.' I nodded back, glad we were finally in complete agreement.
'Krell.' Wrex continued staring. He seemed... disappointed?
'Wrex?' I asked.
'Krell...' Wrex replied, exasperated.
'Alright Wrex, what seems to be the problem?' I asked.
'Krell, Shepard blew up a relay.' Wrex explained.
'I know that. We talked about that already. You said there was a problem?' I replied.
'Blowing up the relay is the problem, Krell.' Wrex explained, incorrectly.
'Wrex, the relay was the problem. Blowing it up was the solution.' I clarified, finally on the same page.
'What, were the Reapers going to invade through it?' Wrex asked, sarcastically.
So wait, someone did tell him?
'Is this a prank? Are you pranking me?' I asked confused.
'The Reapers really were going to invade through it?' Wrex asked, surprised.
So he didn't know then, after all?
'Wrex, that's why the relay was a problem.' I explained, as if to a child.
'Damn. I need to go write Shepard to congratulate her for blowing up that relay. She still using the same email? She hasn't gotten back to me on the last letter I sent.'
'When did you send it?' I asked, curious.
'Just after you left Tuchanka.' Wrex admitted.
That was months ago! There was no way Shepard didn't read it. Kelly let her know every time she received a message! Was Shepard just terrible at writing emails? Did she even know you could reply to emails? She had to, right? You couldn't end up a Commander in the Systems Alliance navy if you never replied to your email... could you?
Wait, maybe Wrex was onto something with that wrong email bit.
'When did Shepard blow up the relay?' I asked. I hadn't heard anything about it yet.
'A week ago? Maybe five days? I got the news yesterday. The Tuchankan postal service still has some kinks to work out.' Wrex admitted.
'She's probably back to using her Alliance email then. I think she's back on Earth.'
'On Earth? What's she doing on Earth? Shouldn't she be out there fist fighting Reapers?' Wrex joked.
'I think she's in jail. I wonder if she's sharing a cell with Kaidan?'
'Why the hell is she in jail? What did she do?' Wrex asked, notably not asking why Kaidan was in jail.
'Wrex, she blew up a relay.' I explained.
'Since when is that a problem?' Wrex asked.
'Since about a week ago, I think.' I joked.
'Heh! Good one.' Wrex grinned.
'Anyway, Shepard turned herself and the Normandy in. I think.' I admitted.
'What idiot told her to do that?' Wrex asked, looking at me as if he thought I were that idiot.
'Don't look at me. She'd have come up with the idea on her own, anyway. The Batarians really liked that relay; and the Alliance doesn't have any extradition treaties.' I explained.
'Huh. And Kaidan? Why's he in jail? He help blow up the relay?' Wrex asked.
'I'm actually not sure. He led a slave revolt on a Batarian colony. I don't think the Alliance has any actual laws against that, but he did it over a live vid, and a lot of the survivors ended up relocated to Eden Prime. Maybe Alliance brass just wanted to put him somewhere to punish him for the headache he gave them? He was already in custody before Shepard blew the relay up, so I'm pretty sure they don't think he helped her with that.'
'I remember that! Aratoht! That was a great fight. You were there too! I have your suit recording!' Wrex recalled.
'Yeah, that's why I decided not to head to Earth. Either I'd get arrested too, or I'd have to have an awkward conversation with Kaidan about why he was arrested and I wasn't. Either way I'd lose.'
'I never thought Kaidan had it in him, to be honest. That bit on the stairs...'
I nodded.
'He picked up a girlfriend because of it.' I recalled. The timing fit anyway.
'Good on him! Need anything else?' Wrex asked.
'Actually, yeah... A couple things here and there. Jacob just sent me an email. He's kidnapped some Cerberus scientists or something and needs a place to hide them. I figured we could keep 'em on Tuchanka, or Virmire, maybe. He brought some necessary war material that's really hard to find.' I explain.
'Sure. Just make sure you don't hire them for that university you talked about in your last email. I don't want them teaching Cerberus safety standards to our best and brightest.'
'Huh. Good point. Probably a bad idea to put them on any practical projects too...' I realized.
'Just have 'em lay low. They don't have to do anything.' Wrex advised.
'Yeah, good call.' I agreed.
'Anything else?' Wrex asked.
'I need Grunt.'
'Grunt's my best trained naval officer thanks to Okeer and Joker. How long do you need him for?' Wrex asked, clearly not wanting to give him up.
'A few days. But you probably won't want him back afterwards.' I admitted.
'Why not?' Wrex asked.
'He and this kid I picked up, Charr, are gonna want to get familiar with the new flagship.' I explained. I'd actually grabbed Charr on the way from the landing pad. He was talking to his Asari. She definitely had a name, but I couldn't remember it, and it was probably awkward to ask now...
'The flagship of what, Krell?' Wrex asked.
'Well, the fight against the Reapers, I hope.' I admit.
'Huh. And here I thought that I was the one with the big news.' Wrex replied.
'What news?' I ask.
'Nah. Gonna save it for next time I see you. Supposed to be a secret anyway. Take Grunt with you. You bringing this ship back to Tuchanka?' Wrex asked.
'Probably not a great idea. I don't want to panic the Citadel too much. Might be better to keep it in the Terminus for now. There's a Prothean warfleet massing there. I'm their chief strategist.' I explained.
'Krell.' Wrex stated, as if done with my shit.
'Wrex?' I asked, unclear what had set him off.
'Krell.' Wrex emphasized, telling me to think about what I just said.
Ah. That makes sense!
'It's a recent appointment. I know the commander.' I explained.
'Krell.' Wrex stared at me. Was that not his question?
'It's Javik. Remember we talked about this after Virmire? Where Liara loudly argued about his existence in front of those nice STG guys you couldn't stop staring at?'
'I was just messing with them.' Wrex defended.
'Anyway, the STG told the Hanar in order to get access to the Prothean cipher and the Hanar broke him out. I think the Asari have managed to replace me on their shit list. They're definitely on Javik's.' I explained.
'That Hanar warlord I keep hearing about, he's your old buddy?' Wrex realized.
'Yeah. All according to plan, apparently.' I admitted.
'Krell, you have a terrible poker face.' Wrex insulted.
'It was good enough to fool Javik.' I protested.
'Your Prothean friend managed to get himself kidnapped by Asari. He's clearly not a good judge of character.' Wrex insulted.
He wasn't wrong about Javik's people skills.
'Anyway, as far as Grunt goes, Javik already has Bloodpack under his fist and a ton of ships based off my old designs.' I pointed out.
'Designs made for Krogan.' Wrex realized.
'Might be best to have him shoulder the costs and logistics of the Krogan Navy and just send our candidates there to train and familiarize. He won't say no to more troops, and it fixes a lot of our problems. Especially once Mordin does his thing.' I offered.
'Heh. Two Varren, one missile?' Wrex smirked.
'Exactly. Javik equips and supports our naval forces in the Reaper War. We get valuable experience in actually running a navy.' I agree.
'Sounds good. You can take Grunt.' Wrex allowed.
'Right. We all set for the thing Mordin's doing?' I ask.
'Don't worry about that. I have it all handled. Just focus on the war and this new empire and whatever the hell else you have up your sleeve.' Wrex assured me.
I smiled back. 'Thanks, Wrex.'
'Any time, Krell.'
If Shepard had managed to destroy the Alpha Relay already, that meant that there were only 6 months left till the Reapers arrived. Even with just Javik and Cerberus, things had changed radically from what I remembered.
2186 CE
'So, What exactly are you and your Cerberus... commandos? Bringing us?' I ask curiously as Jacob strolls off the ship.
'They're not commandos. They're scientists.' Jacob counters.
'Isn't Miranda a Cerberus Scientist? The traits that Cerberus seems to value in its scientists tend to have more to do with marksmanship than proper understanding of the scientific method. Or... ethics.' I pointed out.
'These are the good Cerberus scientists.' Jacob failed to convince me.
'You mean, morally? Or in terms of understanding what science is?' I politely ask him to clarify.
'We brought some QEC communicators.' He finally decides to just ignore the argument completely.
'Those are actually useful. And expensive. Where did you even find those?' I ask, somewhat baffled.
'The scientists made them. They're the Scientists who worked on the SR-2, mostly. Some others here and there as well.' Jacob replied.
'Damn it. That's actually really useful. I was gonna hide you guys out of the way and tell you not to touch anything important, but if your scientists can make QEC communicators, that's going to be essential for fighting Reapers.'
'You were going to stick us in do nothing jobs?' Jacob protested.
'Jacob, every single Cerberus science cell I know of has gone rogue and tried to kill Shepard.'
'That's not true! What about the Lazarus project?' Jacob protested.
'You mean the one where the scientist went rogue and commanded a bunch of mechs to murder Shepard when she woke up?' I asked.
'Okay, not that one then. How about the... Huh. No... not them either. My guys haven't tried to murder Shepard though.' Jacob finally decided.
'Yet. Given Cerberus' track record, the word you are looking for is, yet.' I reply dryly.
'That's not fair.' Jacob protested.
'It's almost certainly accurate though. Unfortunately I can't afford to waste your skills. Okay. New Plan. You guys can't stay on Tuchanka anymore. That technical knowhow is too important. You guys are going to Noveria. There's a lab there with some friendly Rachni-'
'Friendly what!?' Jacob interrupted me.
'There's a lab there with some friendly Rachni. I'm pretty sure they communicate using something similar to QEC principles. They should give you a supply of workers with technical know how so that we can make enough QEC nodes to have a workable ship to ship infrastructure. I'll give you a map. Probably need to get you in touch with Parasini too. Damn it. Even when Cerberus brings good news it fucks with me.' I complained.
'We're ex-Cerberus.' Jacob corrected.
'That's... huh. I don't think Shepard's had any murder attempts by ex-Cerberus yet. Anyway. Noveria. I'll send you the map. Wrex'll make sure you get there safe. Parasini will make sure you stay safe. With your help the great Prothean Armada will destroy the Reapers once and for all!'
'The great Prothean what now? Krell, is this a joke? Normally I can tell when you're making a joke but you seemed unreasonably serious right now, and that's making me very worried.' Jacob replied.
I turned my back and walked away.
'Krell? Krell! Stop walking away from me! I know you can hear me!' Jacob shouted at my back as I pretended I couldn't hear him.
'Sorry! I don't speak English! I can't understand you!' I shouted back.
'Krell! You speak English fluently! Everyone knows you do! And even if you didn't you have an omnitool! I know you can understand me!'
'Sorry! Can't talk! I have something to do that's more pressing! Have a nice map!' I reply, sending the map before hopping into the single person Tomkah I'd driven out to meet him in.
Honestly, there was no way to explain Javik that wouldn't make me sound insane anyway. Better to just let Jacob experience him for himself. Or, hopefully, he could ride out the war on Noveria instead. I wouldn't mind either way, as long as I got those QEC nodes.
Author's Notes: Sometimes the important things are the things that are unsaid.
