Kacey tentatively followed Jacob through the door, which lead to yet another dark hallway. The lights flickered as both soldiers walked briskly down the hall, guns raised and poised. Exercising a large amount of caution, they opened the door and entered a room so dark that Kacey could barely see. The room glowed an eerie red as they walked in, only to be ambushed by three mechs.
Both Kacey and Jacob ducked behind the glass railing and began shooting the robots. It took several minutes but eventually they managed to destroy the robots, just as a few more entered the room.
"Damn it, Wilson!" Jacob said, blowing off one of the mechs heads, "This room is crawling with mechs!"
"The whole station is crawling with mechs!" Shouted Wilson through the comms, "I'm doing the best I can!"
"Yeah, well whatever your doing isn't working." Kacey replied, finishing off the final robot.
"Clearly, whoever hacked those mechs, made sure that they couldn't be stopped." Jacob mused.
The pair turned the corner, only to find more mechs standing in the way. Kacey remained behind cover, clutching her sore rib as yet another sharp pain crawled its way up her body. She continued to fire her gun at the mechs, trying her best to conserve bullets while Jacob used his biotics to lift the mechs off the ground, making it somewhat easier to destroy the mechs. Once the last mech was destroyed, Jacob got back in contact with Wilson.
"Wilson? Find us another route out of here." Jacob said, adding "Preferably one that doesn't lead straight into a group of mechs!"
Kacey scoffed, but stopped once she heard Wilson's panicked voice over the comms.
"Oh God! They found me! Help!"
Despite the pain she was in, Kacey darted towards the next door as Jacob followed.
"Wilson? Where are you?"
"Server room B! Hurry! They're out of control!"
Kacey and Jacob entered a now well-lit hall as they made their way to Wilson.
"Up those stairs, Shepard!" Jacob called as Kacey ran up the stairs, followed by Jacob.
"Oh God! I'm hit!" Wilson's panicked screams could be heard through the comms, "They shot me!"
Once at the top of the stairs, Kacey noticed the scorch marks embedded in the walls, confirming that the mechs had been there. She then also found another laptop and began to play the recording on it.
"Physical reconstruction of subject is complete," Miranda's voice rang out of the laptop, "but we still need to evaluate all mental and neurological functions. Our orders were made clear: make Commander Shepard who she was before the explosion-the same mind, the same morals, the same personality. If we alter her identity in any way, if she's somehow not the women she used to be, the Lazarus Project would have failed. I refuse to let that happen."
"So let me get this straight," Kaidan said, "The entire point of the project was just to revive you. Not to clone you. Not to brainwash you. Just to bring the real you back from the dead."
"Yeah, basically," Kacey mused, "I didn't understand why they bothered with it in the first place. We destroyed their bases. We killed their soldiers. It just didn't add up."
"It's Cerberus, I don't think anything adds up." Kaidan replied.
The recording ended there. Kacey didn't know what to think. So, their intentions weren't that malicious, but she still felt like something was off about the whole situation. Following Jacob's lead, she opened the door at the top of the stairs, where they heard Wilson's voice.
"Jacob! Shepard! Down here!"
Both turned to face Wilson, who was lying on the ground with his leg bleeding out. The bald, thirty-something-year-old man looked at Jacob with slight relief as the soldier began to tend to his leg.
"Bastards shot me in the leg." Wilson said, as Kacey approached.
"I remember you." Kacey replied, "You were there when I first regained consciousness."
"Yeah that was me." Wilson grunted. He hissed in pain as Jacob examined the wound, "How about we talk about this later after we've fix my leg?"
"Sure," Kacey responded.
"Shepard, there should be some medi-gel by that first aid station on the wall."
Kacey nodded as she went and grabbed the last of the medi-gel in the first aid station. Once Jacob applied it, Wilson stood up, still limping a bit.
"Thanks Shepard," Wilson said, "Never thought you'd save my life. Guess that makes us even now."
"You're welcome," Kacey simply replied.
"I thought maybe I could shut down the security mechs but whoever did this fried the whole system. Completely irreversible."
"We didn't ask what you were doing." Jacob replied, his tone firm, "Why do you even have security clearance? You were in the bio wing."
Kacey looked at Wilson, sceptical. Why would some doctor have security clearance? Her suspicions grew at Wilson's response.
"Weren't you listening? I came here to try and fix this. Besides I was shot! How do you explain that?"
Kacey scoffed, "Hey I don't trust any of you yet. You're all strangers to me. How about we go someplace safe and then we'll find out who's fault it is."
"Alright Shepard," Jacob agreed, "but first we need to find Miranda. We can't leave her behind."
"Oh forget about Miranda!" Wilson scoffed, "She was in D wing. The mechs were all over that sector. There's no way she survived."
"A bunch of mechs won't drop Miranda," Jacob replied defensively, "She's alive."
"Then, where is she? Why haven't we heard from her?"
"Because of communication interference?" Kacey suggested.
"Not likely." Wilson deflected, "There are only two possible explanations: either she's dead...or she's a traitor!"
"Then why did she wake me up and warn me about the attack?" Kacey replied.
"Okay, maybe she's not a traitor," Wilson quickly doubled down, "but that doesn't change the facts. We're here, she's not. We need to save ourselves!"
'Someone's clearly not a fan of Miranda," Kacey thought.
"The shuttle bay is only a few-" Wilson was cut off by several mechs running through the door.
All three went into cover until Wilson used Overload to blow up several barrels, destroying the mechs in the process.
"Come on! Let's get out of here!" Wilson said.
Kacey's suspicions continued to grow as she walked ahead only to be stopped by Jacob.
"Okay we took them down, but this is getting tense."
"No kidding," Kacey replied.
"Shepard, if I tell you who we work for, will you trust me?"
Before Kacey could respond, Wilson stepped in.
"This really isn't the time."
"We won't make it if she's expecting a shot in the back," Jacob replied, turning back to Kacey, "look the Lazarus Project, the program that rebuilt you...its funded and controlled by Cerberus."
"So, he just told you the truth?" Kaidan asked.
"Yes," Kacey replied, "believe it or not, Jacob isn't a bad person. He just...ended up on the wrong side of the tracks. If he were to return to the Alliance, I would happily have him on this ship with us. Besides, I think you two would get along great."
She nudged Kaidan as she said that last part with a smile.
"Hmm. Maybe. But did they really think you wouldn't know it was Cerberus that revived you?"
"I told them outright. I already knew..."
"I know," Kacey replied, crossing her arms, "I wiped out a few of their bases as a Spectre. Not to mention, I recognised the insignia that's all over this place and on your uniform. So my question is, why bother saving me?"
"That answer is well above my pay grade." Jacob answered, "but the Alliance declared you dead. They gave up. Cerberus spent a fortune to bring you back."
Kacey scoffed, only for Jacob to walk towards her.
"Look, I'd be suspicious too. But right now, we need to work together. I thought you deserved to know what's what."
"We didn't give up on you!" Kaidan said, slightly angry.
"I know you didn't," Kacey replied, "and I know that the rest didn't either. Garrus and Tail told me in person. So did you and Joker."
"Yeah, I suppose," Kaidan replied.
"In that case, thanks." Kacey replied.
Jacob nodded before continuing, "Once we're off this station, I'll take you to the Illusive Man. He'll explain everything, I promise."
"The Illusive Man? Is he in charge of Cerberus?"
"Yeah," Wilson answered, "That's not his real name, of course. Nobody knows who he really is."
"It was a code name the Alliance used for him. It kinda stuck." Jacob clarified.
"Fine." Kacey replied, "He'd better have answers."
"After all that time and money he had invested in you, I think he'll answer all your questions." Jacob said.
Kacey walked ahead, entering the following room filled with more dead bodies before turning and going downstairs. Her mind was racing. Nothing made sense. Why would a terrorist organisation revive a dead Alliance solider who repeatedly disrupted their operations and killed many of their troops? Nothing seemed to add up in Kacey's mind, as the blaring alarm began to grate on her ears. Once she opened the door to the shuttle bay, several blasts from several mechs narrowly passed her as she dived into cover. Wilson remained on the main floor while Kacey and Jacob went upstairs towards the loading dock to clear out the mechs. After clearing out one room, Kacey found yet another laptop, with yet another recording of Miranda.
"Test subject has been recovered, but the damage is far worse than we initially feared. In addition to the expected burns and internal injuries from the explosion, subject has suffered extensive cellular breakdown due to being exposed in a vacuum and sub-zero temperatures. Despite the extent of these physical conditions, Wilson assures me that the subject is still salvageable. The Lazarus Project will proceed as planned."
Kacey quickly ran back out, only to see Jacob take down the last mech and Wilson ushering them to the docking bay.
"C'mon through here," Wilson said, "we're almost at the-"
He trailed off as the door opened to reveal Miranda, who looked directly at Wilson with fury in her eyes.
"Miranda! But you were..."
He didn't get a chance to finish as Miranda immediately shot Wilson in the neck, killing him outright.
"Dead?" Miranda said, as Wilson's body dropped to the ground.
"She just shot him?" Kaidan asked in disbelief.
"I don't know if you noticed," Kacey continued, "but Cerberus doesn't exactly treat its members well."
"Unless it's you."
"Or you're useful to the Illusive Man."
Kacey instinctively raised her gun and pointed it at Miranda. Jacob quickly ran over to Miranda.
"What the hell are you doing?" Jacob asked as he looked at Wilson's dead body.
"My job." Miranda replied bluntly, "Wilson betrayed us all."
"I knew he was lying," Kacey said, lowering her gun, "I had feeling Wilson was just looking for a chance to shoot me in the back."
"Good instincts," Miranda replied, "Some people are far too trusting to ever see that coming. Come on, let's go grab this shuttle and get out of here. My boss wants to speak to you."
"You mean the Illusive Man?" Kacey said, adding, "I know you work for Cerberus."
Miranda sighed, looking at Jacob, "Ah Jacob, I should've know your conscience would get the better of you."
"It's not his fault," Kacey said, "I recognised your insignia in the first room I went into."
"Very perceptive, aren't you?"
"Yep."
"And besides," Jacob added, "lying to the Commander isn't the best way to get her to join our cause."
"So they did want you to join them," Kaidan said.
"Yeah they did," Kacey replied, "I had no interest to. I only worked with them to stop the Collectors."
"I'm sure."
Kacey scoffed. As if I'm joining Cerberus. She thought.
"Well, since we're getting everything out into the open, is there anything else you want to know before we go, Commander?
"Pretty convenient that you show up just as we're leaving. Where were you during the attack?" Kacey questioned.
"Besides saving your life?" Miranda answered, "Wilson figured out I was helping you, and he sent an army of mechs to take me out. I got here as soon as I could. Probably a little too soon, if you ask Wilson."
"Okay, and where exactly are we going?"
"Another Cerberus facility. The Illusive Man is waiting for you there."
"And what if I refuse?" Kacey asked, "I'm not sure if I can trust you."
"This is the only shuttle off this station. You want to stay here and rot with the robots be my guest."
"And one more thing," Said Kacey, "You're the Lazarus Project's director aren't you?"
"That's right. I've put two years into this project - into you."
"Why? What does Cerberus want with me?"
"I couldn't tell you." Miranda simply replied, "Maybe you should ask the Illusive Man when you meet him. He poured virtually unlimited resources into Lazarus. Obviously he has some kind of plan for you."
"Okay let's go," Kacey said, "I've had enough of this station to last a lifetime."
"Or in your case two," Miranda replied teasingly, "Come on."
Kacey quietly followed Jacob and Miranda into the shuttle, which quickly took of without so much as a backward glance. Kacey could feel her head turn into mush as she tried to process what had just happened to her. Two years of her life-gone. Everyone believed she was dead. Her squad. Her friends. They all believed she was dead. That she died that day on the Normandy. She just couldn't process it. Her mind was quick to drift to one member of the team specifically that had been left behind.
Kaidan.
She could feel a pit form in her stomach as she thought about how this affected him. He would be in bits, torn apart. She was tempted to punch the wall of the shuttle but figured that wouldn't be wise. She didn't want to die a second time. She just wanted to return to the Citadel. To the Alliance...
To Kaidan.
"So, despite being told all that," said Kaidan, "you were worried about me?!"
Kacey nodded before continuing, "I knew that you had been through a lot. And that I promised you I would be fine. That I would escape. But I didn't, I just...I don't know...I just couldn't imagine what it was like for you."
"It's okay Commander, you're here now."
Her line of thought was interrupted by Miranda, who caught Kacey's attention with a simple snap of her fingers.
"Before you meet with the Illusive Man, we need to ask questions to evaluate your condition," Miranda said informatively.
"Come on, Miranda," Jacob replied shaking his head, "Shepard just took down those mechs without any help. That should be good enough for you."
"It's been two years since the attack," Miranda reminded Jacob, "The Illusive Man needs to know that Shepard's personality and memories is still intact. Just ask the questions."
"This is a waste of time," Kacey replied, not on a good mood, "I feel fine, aside from the sharp pain in my ribs."
'Relax, we'll get a doctor to examine you once we arrive." Miranda replied, "The sooner we start, the sooner it's done. Start with personal history."
"Okay," Jacob sighed, "records show you were a spacer kid. Usually living on one ship or another. You were enlisted and won a medal fighting batarians during the Skyllain Blitz. Do your remember that?"
"Yeah I do." Kacey replied, "No way I was going to let those slaver bastards send me running."
"However you want to put it, it was damn impressive," Jacob replied, "I had friends who were there. Satisfied, Miranda?"
"Almost." Miranda replied vaguely, "Let's try something more recent."
"Like what?" Kacey asked.
"Virmire, where you destroyed Saren's cloning facility. You had leave one of your squadmates to die in the blast."
"Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams was killed in action. It was your call. Why did you leave her behind?"
Kacey sighed, "I left a friend to die that day and I didn't do it causally. But I had to save as many people as I could. Ash gave her life for the rest of the team. Without her, I couldn't of stopped Saren. She died a hero."
"I understand, Commander" Jacob replied, "and I won't judge your decision. Everybody at Cerberus knew that cloning facility needed to be destroyed."
"Shepard, think back to the Citadel, after the Council was saved on the Destiny Ascension, and you killed Saren. What happened next?"
"With the Council saved by the Alliance, they offered their gratitude by allowing humanity to join the Council. I recommended Ambassador Udina to represent humanity."
"Yes Councillor Udina has done a adequate job of looking out for human interests."
"I don't think he's done enough for humanity," Jacob mused, "but I guess that's politics for you.
"Well, your memory seems solid," Miranda mused, "but there really are more tests we should-"
"Come on, Miranda," Jacob interrupted, "Enough with the questions. The Commander's memories are there, and I can vouch for Shepard's combat skills personally."
"I suppose you're right," Miranda sighed, giving in, "We'll have to hope that the Illusive Man accepts our little field trip as evidence enough."
"He better," Kacey grumbled as the shuttle prepared to dock at the Cerberus facility. Once they arrived, both Miranda and Jacob headed to different computer terminals.
"The Illusive Man is waiting for you in the next room, Commander." Said Miranda, as she continued to write up her report.
Kacey walked down the hall and down some stairs until she entered a dark room with a single glowing platform.
"What the hell?" Kacey muttered as she stepped onto the platform.
Once she had, an orange biometric scan began to coat her. This caught her off guard as she looked all over until she saw a hologram of what she believed was the Illusive Man himself. The Illusive Man sat on his chair, smoking a cigarette, his synthetic eyes looking directly at Kacey. Something about him, about those creepy eyes, reminded her of Sovereign. She couldn't nail it down.
"Commander Kacey Shepard," he said, blowing out the last of the smoke as he put his cigarette out.
"It's Commander Shepard to you," Kacey replied, keeping her composure, "I thought we'd be meeting face to face."
"A necessary precaution. Not unusual for people who know what you and I know," he replied matter-of-factly.
"You don't know me." Kacey replied, her tone hostile, "You might be the reason I'm still alive, but that doesn't mean I trust you."
"You need to put your personal feelings aside." the Illusive Man replied. Kacey only scoffed in response.
"Humanity is up against the greatest threat of our brief existence," the Illusive Man continued.
"The Reapers," Kacey replied, arms crossed.
"Good to see your memories are still intact. How are you feeling?" He asked.
"I noticed a few...upgrades," Kacey answered, "I hope you didn't replace anything really important."
"We tried to keep you as intact as possible." the Illusive Man answered, "We need Shepard-just as you were when you defeated Sovereign."
"What exactly are the Reapers doing that made you decide to bring me back?"
The Illusive Man stood up and walked towards Kacey. "We're at war. Nobody wants to admit it, but humanity is under attack. While you've been sleeping, entire colonies have been disappearing. Human colonies. We believe it's someone working with the Reapers. Just like Saren and the geth aided Sovereign. You've seen it yourself. You've bested all of them. That's just one reason we chose you."
"If this is a threat against humanity, you need to mobilise the Alliance." Kacey responded.
"The Alliance is overwhelmed by the responsibility you gave them. They're too busy building relations to put resources into verifying the Reaper threat. Blaming the abductions on mercs and pirates is easier. And more convenient."
Kacey wasn't buying it. She didn't believe a word the Illusive Man said.
"If what you say is true...if the Reapers are behind this...I'd consider helping you." She replied vaguely.
"I'd be disappointed if you accepted any of this without seeing it for yourself," the Illusive Man replied turning around, "I have a shuttle ready to take you to Freedom's Progress, the latest colony to be abducted. Miranda and Jacob will brief you."
"And what? I'm supposed to trust them?" Kacey replied, "Miranda killed Wilson in cold blood. Jacob is just a gun for hire. You expect me to trust them?"
"Wilson was one of my best agents. But he was a traitor," the Illusive man answered, sitting down on his chair, "Miranda did exactly what I expected of her. And she saved your life in more ways than one. Jacob is a solider, one of the best. He's never fully trusted me, but he's always been honest about it. You'll be just fine with them...for now."
"So, is this a volunteer job or am I being volunteered?"
"You always have a choice, Shepard. If you don't find the evidence we're looking for, we can part ways. But first, go to Freedom's Progress. Find any clues you can. Who's abducting the colonies? Do they have any connection to the Reapers? I brought you back. It's up to you to do the rest."
And just like that, the conversation was over, leaving Kacey conflicted.