The Reaper server calmed, the invasive code quietening with the computer now dead. Sassy locked the computer in the safe, a frown locked to his face. It wasn't going as planned. The prototype memory read-write device lay in a smoking ruin, burning plastic soiling the air. My gloved hand turned the mangled mess over with a heavy heart, small flames bursting back to life. A white plume masked it from view, my hand chilling. Sassy scowled as he lowered the fire extinguisher to the ground with a clang. The same thought crossed my mind; this didn't bode well. Sassy swung his jaw as he thought, pacing the messy med bay now med-bay come science lab. Another failed experiment, another prototype in flames. It only made Nyryntha all the more important, the equipment had to be in her or everything fell apart.
The problem we battled was Reaper code recognised when Reaper algorithms were using non-Reaper equipment. In retaliation, a protection mechanism, it overloaded the hardware until it shorted out and burned to nothing. Building the read-write device with our own technology had flown out the airlock now, all hope pined on Nyryntha carrying something we could modify. She must carry one, or something similar it order to take mum's memories… right? Unless Nyryntha used a different method which stored her memories elsewhere we couldn't get them. Like, she may have streamed mum's memories from her brain to her Reaper body, no read-write device needed. My heart fluttered at the thought. But after so long, staying positive grew harder. Kala's probability of success hovered around 3% now and dropping. The bubble of the cloning machine yanked on too many heart strings. We had to keep going but… Sassy dumped the ashen wires into the bin. His eyes found me as my disheartened knees tumbled my ass into a chair.
"Well, back to the drawing board," Sassy said, wiping a board clear. My head shook.
"It won't work," I said. "The Reaper code knows, it'll just destroy anything that isn't Reaper related,"
"Then we keep trying," Sassy said, writing notes on the board before scoring parts out or expanding on others. He ignored my sigh. "And here you were, months ago, so full of fight and fire, ready to take on the universe,"
"It was so easy back then. Nothing is going right now though," I muttered. "We've not made any ground to transfer the memories across at all despite months of trying,"
"A little failure and you are throwing in the towel?" Sassy scolded, hand hovering near the pistol. "Do you think anything we have discovered throughout both of our species' history we came easily?"
"It's not that, it's just… so much depends on everything being just right," I said. "We need the protocol that activates the write procedure, but we only have a basic copy of Reaper code, not of the procedure itself. We can't write in Reaper code either, so if we don't write it right, then it'll know something is wrong and erase all of our work. Even when we activate it, it knows it's not Reaper tech and sabotages it. We need to use Reaper tech but by the time we get some, mum's body will be ready and trying to wake up and form memories,"
That was the real danger that hung over my waking thoughts. Once mum's new brain fired, we would have to put it into a coma until the rest of the body formed and the memories transferred over. But then we needed to let her brain send signals through the new nerves to stop them from dying or decaying and let her move when she wakes up. Relearning how to walk, talk, eat… we wanted to minimise that. We had ideas, there were more than enough medical studies for helping people recover while they were in a coma. It was proving to be a painful endeavour, no matter how you looked at it. Everything hinged on getting mum's memories and a Reaper read-write device and getting the pair to cooperate. The protocols we could work with… maybe.
"Don't you worry about Dell's body, it's a minor problem," Sassy said, leaning against the wall as he studied mum's new body. "We have plenty of time," his gaze slid over my downtrodden expression. "How is the brain mapping going?"
"Well, we know where the points of contact originated from, so we know where to plug the device into when we get it but… the read pattern doesn't match the write pattern," I said, frowning at the reconstruction of mum's brain. The read and write processes, according to the Collector Base data, started in different points of the brain. Mum's old brain followed the read pattern, so we knew the other mapping in the data was write. The question now was how long it took for the memories to settle down once they were transferred over and how to wake mum up. Before leaving the Starquake, none of these little problems game to mind, everything had seemed so simple. Now? Neck deep in problems, the issues grew larger with each passing day. Some seemed impossible to climb.
"We won't have much control once we zap the brain," Sassy said. "Just compare the patterns of read and write again and double check those connection points. Use everything in the Collector base data if you must,"
The fine details of the plan proved more difficult to be more difficult than I was expecting. Sassy expected them with his years of experience, but he never explained these things to me when we set off on this crazy plan. Not that I was in any state to listen, being so full of 'fight and fire'. Little things like where the devices had to link up to on the brain, how to trigger the transfer, how to arrange the memories before transfer, how to wake mum up, all the while trying not to fry mum's new brain in the process. So many little things could delay or destroy the whole mission, and we hadn't including Nyryntha in all of this. Capturing her is a logistical nightmare. First, how to pin down a 2km intelligent machine so it couldn't escape. Then mine her databases without a) dying, b) letting her delete the data or c) becoming trapped and indoctrinated. The odds weren't in our favour.
With no hits or places to go, the Normandy wandered, just in case the tiny bots in my system pinged our location to the Saboteurs. They kept the pattern random, making us jump from system to system, staying in others for longer, all to throw the Saboteurs off our scent or trick them into reading a false plan. Shepard itched for some action, but with the major ground missions done – Nyryntha aside – he couldn't do anything but manage protection for us and mum. He whined, but he seemed to enjoy the galaxy run, the planning, picking up supplies in as short a time as possible, all the while preparing for a strike against Nyryntha. And with the retrofit nearly done, he could relax in his quarters without having to trip over people. The ship was quieter these days with less staff running round.
"I know," I sighed. "Is there no way for us to do all of this without Reaper tech?"
"In theory, yes. In terms of practicality and time, no. Our technology is decades away from accomplishing something like this," Sassy said.
"Not true. The Virtual Aliens can swap consciousness with sentient beings. One even took over another body," I said, frown forming.
"Oh? Would you like to tease their technology from the Council and see how well they take it?" Sassy asked, a cold smile forming. My lips pressed together. "Even Spectres have limited access to any data relating to them. Marruns and I have already discussed the possibility, but he can't get access to anything that would be useful for this mission. Besides, your mother's situation isn't quite the same. Her consciousness isn't 'alive' or active in a digital format or digital world. It is stored, in a dormant state, in Reaper based technology. The only sure fire way is to use Reaper tech with Reaper tech," My head slumped. But it snapped up when Marruns stormed in.
"We've got a problem," he said, mandibles pinned.
"How bad?" Sassy asked.
"Bad. The Constellation just jumped beside us. They're demanding contact," Marruns said. My eyes flew to Sassy. His jaw tightened, hands tightening into fists. How… how did the… did they know we were here or was this just a chase up to see if Shepard knew were mum was? We stood, frozen before Marruns snarled and stormed out. We following Marruns up to the CIC. True to his word, the holograms showed the massive dreadnaught closing in on the frigate. EDI also warned about an AI attempting to seize control, but Kala helped overcome Marshal's attempts. Shepard leaned against the galaxy map railing, calling through a radio with his most commanding voice. He glanced down as I stepped beside him. His eyes turned forward again, watching the ships through the cockpit windows in the distance.
"They want us to dock inside. They aren't taking no for an answer," he said.
"SSV Normandy, the admiral and Captain Autillin of the Starquake are demanding you dock with the Constellation," a voice called, tension catching his voice. My stomach knotted. Why was the controller so… my eyes shifted to Shepard, noting the hard line of muscle along his jaw. Before he could speak, my hand grabbed his arm.
"Roger, DSST Constellation. Which dock do you want us at?" I asked. Shepard frowned, fingers flexing as his command vanished from his hands.
"Proceed to Dock Orion," the controller said, a curt response. Something was wrong.
"Copy that, proceeding to Dock Orion," I said. "Joker, dock the ship, we need to deal with this," Shepard's expression caught my eye. His cold gaze threatened to pin me in place. He didn't like his authority tested like this. "Something is wrong with the controller, he is tense," After a second of hesitation, the Normandy slid towards the gaping maw. Shepard's teeth ground, but Sassy rescued me from any retaliation from the commander. Sassy rubbed his chin as he coaxed me away from Shepard. Ideas ran through my mind. What was the problem? Did they know we had mum, how did he learn I was here anyway, did they know we were here? Only one idea seemed to account for the behaviour.
"Could be a trap," Marruns said. Sassy hmmed, scanning the monitors as the interior swallowed us. He considered the idea. Drifting down the dreadnaught, the Starquake sat in dock. My heart thumped harder, a longing swelling in my chest until my rib cage felt too small. Why was the Starquake here, did… did it get caught in the trap too? But it didn't feel like a trap… it felt worse than that. Dockside, Cops leaned against the railing, decked in his armour and waiting just outside the airlock tunnel, waiting for us to dock. There was no sign of Uncle Julian. He pushed himself off the railing, eyes on the airlock as the clamps secured the Normandy. None of the interior cannons turned their sights towards us. Cops disappeared into the tunnel, boarding without permission. Shepard swung his jaw as the turian powered towards us. Cops' mandibles were as tight as his eyes. He raised a finger to Marruns.
"You're an ass, you're an ass, you are in so much trouble when this is done and you, I've not made my mind up yet. We don't have time," Cops said, moving his finger from Marruns to Sassy to me to Shepard. "Close all coms, I don't want Marshal overhearing,"
"Well, nice to see you too-" Sassy said, tone dead.
"Shut the fuck up, we don't have time for chit chat. We are this, this close to losing Shaik!" Cops snapped, barely parted fingers just off Sassy's face. Sassy's eyes narrowed. "Everything hinges on how well you can listen. All of you!" Sassy and Cops stared each other down, ice against fire. Sassy raised his chin.
"EDI, Kala, see that Marshal does not intrude," Sassy said. The AIs acknowledged the order and shut down any external listeners.
"What the hell is going on, Autillin?" Marruns growled.
"Julian knows Dell's dead," he said, a sledgehammer statement. Silence held us. "Before you ask; 4 days ago, we got those scientists you wanted, but Nyryntha came to stop us. Julian, seeing Nyryntha and the Starquake in the same system, feared the worst and came running with his fleet gunning. When he was punching me stupid, he learned Dell wasn't on the Starquake. The only thing keeping him alive right now is the truth bent to hell and back. Now listen well, because he wants to see Dell and one fuckup from any of you and we lose him. The story is Dell survived the STG base mission, the Saboteur did take her into Nyryntha but we got to her in time. Not in time for Nyryntha to screw with Dell and plunge her into unimaginable pain that never eased, no matter what drugs you pumped into her. Desperate to help her, and with us running like headless chickens, Gid took Dell – with you two – to Earth to get help. Nyryntha tried to stop you but failed. After a time, you came up with a plan to bring back Dell as a normal human, reversing what the Collectors did the first time around. Dell was in so much pain she begged you to end it. You used the data from the Collector Base and created a memory disc. Then you copied the memories but the process killed her, putting her out of her pain. You must, and I mean must, keep using 'for now' or 'temporarily' when referring to her death. That is a must. Julian has to believe she'll be back otherwise he's done for. Do I make myself clear?" Cops asked. We nodded, slow and steady. "Repeat it, each of you," he growled.
Cops forced us to repeat the tale, over and over until my tongue dried, until even my memories of the event twisted to his tale. He then asked if we had anything to use for the act, hardware, cables, data, just in case he asked to see proof. Sassy had a plan and enough bits and pieces to act as stand-in so long as they didn't fall under too much scrutiny. But time ran out. Kala sounded the warning; Julian was coming. On a screen, Julian lumbered towards the ship, a team of people around him with datapads, omni-tools and worried faces. Cops grit his teeth, warning us not to give him any shit. He didn't trust Julian's ability to control himself. Sassy shooed me down to the elevator, back to the med bay. He wanted me away so he could assess Julian and take any beatings if it came to that. Kala accessed the cameras of the ship to keep me updated. Back inside the lab, my eyes scanned the messy workstations. Should I clean or-
"Where is she?" Julian's hoarse voice rang in my ear. My heart thumped, eyes on the two pods at the back of the room.
"In the med bay," Sassy said, the elevator opening. The curtains around the cryo-pod whisked shut, the cloning machine pod's opening all the way. No one spoke on the elevator down. My ass landed on the chair, eyes on a blueprint for the read-write device, unable to think of anything else to do. My knees trembled as the med bay doors opened, eyes lifting.
Uncle Julian looked awful. His hair flung in all directions, eyes bagged with residue blood flaking his face. Circuitry burns clung to the corner of his eyes. That sent chills down my spine, reminding me of mum when she was so close to losing her own fight. But his eyes found the cloning tank, his pupils shrinking to the tiny dots. The brilliant glow from the machine was hard to miss. The air held its breath as he stumbled forward, pushing people out of his path, throat working hard to swallow. He raised a hand, trembling, before it touched the glass as if a breath would shatter it. His body shook, taking another step to see mum's partially skin covered face. He fell into the chair beside the pod hard, eyes fixed to the form. His entire frame shook.
"It's like the Saboteur Cell," he wheezed, his other hand on the glass, framing her face between his hands. He clung to the glass, squeezing his eyes shut as he pressed his forehead into the warm glass. "The same colour…" my heart fluttered, studying the green fluid. Uncle Julian shuddered, swallowing with difficulty and rasping for air. "Was… she in pain?" words fumbled on my tongue. What to say? What to say and not make him lose?! My eyes flew to Sassy, swinging his jaw as he searched for the same words. My heart filled my throat. We needed Uncle Julian. We needed him!
"Yeah…" I said. Uncle Julian's tremble worsened. Every muscle in me jerked. "When… when we flipped the switch to read her memories, she smiled at the end. She… she said 'see you soon. Keep out of trouble 'til I get back'," Uncle Julian jolted, electrocuted out of his stupor. He almost leapt up from the chair. His gasping breaths filled the tight air. That was when, in the glass reflection, red tinted tears streamed down his cheeks. A mixture of blood trickled from his nose. My eyes found Cops, unsure if I said the right thing. His hand squeezed my shoulder. My shaking didn't stop until he shuffled part of himself between Uncle Julian and me. My hand found a plate of armour at his hip. Uncle Julian tore his gaze away from the cloning machine, but his eyes weren't glowing, no circuitry lined his face, just tears and blood. A new trickle started out the corner of his mouth.
"Where… is the old…?" he couldn't finish the sentence.
"Behind you," I said. "But I wouldn't. We needed tissue samples for the new body," Julian blinked his tears clear from his eyes, staring at the curtain behind him. A shaking hand parted the curtain enough to see to the cryo-pod. The blanket still covered the glass. Uncle Julian swallowed, withdrawing his hand to let the scene fall away from sight. He rested his elbows on his knees, hands over his face. He sat like that for 10 minutes, rocking in the chair as reality crashed down around him. His arms flopped, his neck able to hold his head up. His hands flopped on limp wrists. He lifted his gaze, but his eyes had hardened. My grip on Cops tightened.
"What do you need?" he asked. His gaze locked onto me. My throat tightened.
"You fleet," I said.
"Done. What else?" he asked. My eyes bugged. Had he lost? Or had he…
"A way to pin down Nyryntha without wiping her drives just in case our copy doesn't work…" I said.
"Speak to Rear Admiral Releeva M'Kackla. She and her tacticians will get to work. Next," he said. My eyes passed over Cops for a second, more than enough time to straighten his back and concern to drop his plates.
"I… may have Reaper nanobots in my system. Kokkonen planted them and Anemoon confirmed there is more to it than the bug we removed," I said. Cops' gaze snapped down, eyes wide. Julian's narrow gaze tightened further.
"Go to the RPAT department, speak to Dr Suquine Alshar and explain the situation. Next," he said.
"We'll get a full list of what we need," Sassy said. Julian frowned, focusing on him. "Those are the immediate things we need to worry about,"
"Fine," he said, standing on shaking knees. His hand rested on the bubbling glass once more. He uttered something under his breath. Val released a slow breath before Julian marched towards the door. The team of doctors and scientists scurried after him. Cops heaved a burdened sigh, patting my shoulder before stepping away. The tense air eased enough to breathe. Cops scrubbed his face.
"Ok, that was… way too tense. Nice one, Gid," he said. A limp smile formed.
"I… didn't think it would work," I said. "I hope it sounded like something mum would say," Cops snorted.
"Oh yeah, it did," he chuckled. He studied me, emerald eyes scanning every inch of me. "You look better than I was expecting," His words jerked my brow, a pout forming.
"I am not completely helpless, thank you very much," he grumbled. Cops chuckled, relieved. He ruffled my hair before turning to Sassy.
"Where are we in terms of getting Dell on her feet?" His voice caught, eyes drifting to the cloning chamber.
"Dell's body needs another few months. A few months we can use to get what we need from Nyryntha," Sassy said. Cops nodded, plates setting in place. He sucked in a deep breath, shoulders squaring. He turned to me, eyes hardening. A cold stone formed in my stomach.
"Get to the RPAT team and get yourself seen to," he said. My mouth opened, brows furrowing. "No arguing. Get your skinny ass down there. That is an order from your legal Guardian. Delern will make sure you get there," he said, turning those sharp eyes on Sassy.
"I will?" Sassy asked, brow raising.
"If you are still a member of the Starquake, then you will. Captain's orders," Cops said. The tension returned, the air electrifying around me as the pair stood off. Sassy straightened his back, raised his chin. Then touched his fingers to his forehead.
"Understood, Captain," he said. "Gideon, let's get you seen to," My mouth opened again to argue. A sharp sting blasted my system from my thigh. My teeth clamped shut, eyes watering, before following the salarian to the door. The Predator slipped into its holster. Cops didn't even complain this time. As the doors closed, Cops lowered himself into the chair by mum, staring into the green fluid. He vanished behind the door. "Well, he seems to have taken to the role well," Sassy said.
"He's been captain over a month now. It's not that surprising," I sighed, shoving my hands into my pockets as the elevator took us up. "I guess… he wanted to make sure I was ok and wanted time with mum,"
"Ah, you picked up on that too?" Sassy grinned. "Wheel forgive, turians are stubborn,"
"Maybe the Shaik Stubbornness has rubbed off on him," I said, walking out into the Constellation. Sassy snorted.
"Great, just what we always wanted; another Shaik," he rumbled. A grin rose, unable to smother it down. Sassy tutted, but kept the pistol at his hip.
The ship hum of unease, concern over the Admiral's state of mind hanging over everyone's head. As we trudged to the research and medical wing, people eyed us as we passed. They seemed to want to ask questions, but were they too afraid of the answers? My jaw swung, fretting. It lay with the scientists to see if Uncle Julian had lost to his Reaper. We could only wait and see. But if he was hanging on, then we have a fighting chance. And with the added help, all these niggling problems wouldn't be a problem… right? My teeth nibbled on my lip. Unless the Saboteurs had penetrated the Constellation, that meant every second mum was here, she was in grave danger. No, get looked at, speak with who I needed to speak with and get out. She wasn't safe here, not with so many people on a single ship.
The labs of the RPAT team surrounded us, the smell of sour chemicals burning my nose. In one room, through the glare of holograms and machinery, Uncle Julian lay on a bed in the middle of the room, cables bundled to near every inch of his body. In the huge room, people sprinted and gathered. They disappeared as we pushed down the hall, deeper into the department. The corridors opened out after a bulkhead into a general gathering room. A series of desks sat in sunken layers in the floor, screens flying as they processed and tracked experiments and God knows what. A pale blue salarian looked up from the holograms, noting our approach. She waited, datapad in hand.
"Hello, we're looking for Dr Suquine Alshar," I said. "My uncle sent me,"
"Does the Admiral need him?" she asked.
"No, I need to see him," I said. She blinked, looking me over. She nodded her head towards a series of benches surrounding a table, plants decorating the corner.
"Wait over there, I will see if he is available," she said. Sassy and I sat down on the hard benches, the yellow flowers wrinkling my nose. We needed to go groundside at some point, too long on a ship could make your go crazy… My hand rubbed my neck, stomach bubbling as we waited. Sassy studied the aliens flowing to and fro. Neither of us wished to speak with Marshal so close. And with Kala still on the Normandy… No, best to keep quiet. A male drell, dark red and amber in colour, burning orange eyes focusing on me, stopped beside us.
"Good afternoon, I apologise for the wait. Admiral Shaik has most of the team's attention. I am Dr Suquine Alshar. How may I be of service?" he asked, datapad clutched in two hands.
"It's alright, Uncle Julian is more important," I said. "I uh… ran into a Saboteur a while ago on Illium. She planted a bug on me, on my neck, but Sassy removed it. But it seemed too simple a fix, and a second Saboteur in the Shadow Brokers seemed to confirm it. I just need to make sure what the hell they put in me,"
"I see. You are right to be wary, it isn't the first time the Saboteurs have put nanobots into people's bloodstreams. Come, let us see what this Saboteur has done to you," he said.
He led us deeper into the facility, passing the entry doorway into Uncle Julian's assessment room. From here, the bustle looked even worse, so thick with people I couldn't see Uncle Julian. But he took us further towards a quieter section of the lab. We ducked inside a small room, no bigger than my bedroom. A lounger sat in the middle, computers and hologram walls on three sides and cables hanging over railings on the machines. Suquine swept an arm out towards the lounger. Sassy leaned against the wall, waiting as Suquine took up some of the cables. He asked to take off the top half of my uniform before lying back in the lounger. He hooked up patches with cables to my chest, back, head and arms. It took everything to lie still, butterflies fluttering like crazy. What had Kokkonen done?
My eyes stayed glued to the drell as he studied multiple screens before him, a dull buzz flowing through my body like static. Muscles twitched, my skin itched in places. My right thigh burned, the muscles scrunching until my eyes stung. Parts of my chest, left arm and lower back soon joined. My non-aching arm smothered my face, pained whimpers escaping. Suquine clicked his tongue, hands dancing over the consoles. Sassy swayed, keen eyes watching the drell. The pain didn't decrease. It only got worse. My free hand grabbed the back of the lounger, teeth gnashed together to stop the surfacing screams. Why was everything burning?! Then it got worse. Suquine picked up a syringe from inside a desk. My eyes popped out of my skull as he prepped it. The pain held me in the lounger, the needle lining up with a vein in my neck. My eyes squeezed shut as the sharp pain joined the burning throughout my body.
"When did you last have RIT?" Suquine asked.
"Two weeks ago," Sassy said. "He's onto once a month since he's been working with Reaper code,"
"Any strange dreams or headaches since?" Suquine asked. My locked jawed head shook. "Then you are doing a finer job of controlling indoctrination exposure than most," he said, turning back to the view the holograms. Once again, his hands flowed over the keys. As the minutes ticked, the pain subsided, little by little. My muscles could relax, and relaxing released another wave of pain. A weak moan escaped, the distracted doctor lowering a hand to pat my head. An attempt to reassure me no doubt.
"Well, this is interesting," he said. "Very interesting… how long have these been in your system?"
"Nearly a month now," Sassy said.
"So there is something," I wheezed. Suquine rubbed his chin.
"The previous nanobots I have dealt with caused either interior damage or started the indoctrinating process. Sometimes they were even explosives. These are curious, but we need to disable them now," he said. A tremor shook me. "First, they are outputting a small pulse that any nearby Reaper related device, servant or Saboteur can pick up. From there, they can track your movements. The more concerning matter is it seems to monitor your brain waves and activity. It appears they are taking your plan to bring the Admiral's sister back seriously if they wish to monitor what you are doing,"
"They… are trying to read my thoughts or something?" I asked.
"Debatable whether that is possible or not, but they are going through your memories and making predictions based on that," Suquine said. "However, I have injected more nanobots to counteract the Reaper ones. They'll disable them, stop them from monitoring you and revealing your location. We'll work on removing them at a later date once we have a full map processed. You must go into the scanner so we can track how many you have in your system and where they are. If they are free floating, our little bots will reveal their location for us. It'll take an hour to complete but we will have a better idea of what we are dealing with. We may even turn this to our advantage… somehow," he said. He freed me from the cables. "Come, this way,"
He led us down the hall to another room 6 rooms away. Inside, a huge block of white metal sat with a hole punching through the middle. It looked like an oversized MRI machine. Suquine withdrew the bed from the machine as Sassy helped attach sensors to my body again. Sassy and Suquine helped me up, lying back on the hard bed as they hooked everything up. The machine hummed, vibrating every part of me. Every nerved danced as the machine swallowed me. The machine was louder in here than outside, and the whole thing vibrated like hell. Within minutes my back ached and the little nanobots in my system trembled until the heat choked me. The hour ticked by, at least they could've put music or a film or something on, but no. A rumble burned in my chest. Boredom hit hard, the bland white, domed roof providing nothing to keep me occupied. And I wasn't allowed to move too much otherwise the machine would have problems reading me. Every muscle pleaded to move, to do something! Anything! The table slipped free, and my body rejoiced. Now maybe we could do something! The team here could analyse my body while I tracked down this Rear Admiral and got the situation down. Wherever the hell this person was at…
The Galaxy Map has been updated for this chapter. Please see profile for link to Archive.
A/N: I apologise for the long breaks between chapters, I am in the middle of getting my older comic pages up to snub. But we only have 1 more cool down chapter before we get into the main event of the book! It's going to be wild!