Dust drifted past the window, the latest storm passing with little more than a whimper. The orange hue gave way to a burning orange wasteland, dead as far as they eye could see. The setting sun stained everything in blood. A series of pops burst through the air, rarely a more powerful bang echoed down the ship. A frown flitted across my lips, staring at the screen before me. With the Normandy now back on course to return to Earth, Nyryntha abated, it left Kala to do the rest of the work. Marshal offered to help, but Kala declined. Judging from the specific byte pattern from her emotions, she felt stung by her replacement. Even though she tried to hide it from me, a new skill she learned, the raw log file didn't lie. Maybe that's why she hid that from me too. A ding pulled my attention up, snapping awake as another series of still images flashed by the screen.
"She was 9," Uncle Julian said, a faint quiver to his voice. "That happened after the holiday to Paris,"
"Understood," Kala responded, the images vanishing.
"Still can't believe she remembered that," Uncle Julian said, heaving a heavy breath.
"Are you ok?" I asked, frowning at the man. His eyes didn't glow, but emotions wrecked him. His hair sat in a frazzled mess, bags drawing under his eyes. He knew we were close, so close to flipping the switch. It made him anxious but what could he do? We had to do this. We just had a few memories Kala couldn't map. Most of them were childhood memories, so we needed Uncle Julian to walk us through them. The latest one had something to do with an ice cream, but Uncle Julian wasn't parting with why. On the other side of me, Cops sat, watching with sad eyes. He was just as bad as Uncle Julian, but because both cared for mum, I couldn't say anything to make them stop whining. Well, not until mum woke up. Another series of memories floated past the screen. This one was more recent, stars blinked past the window of a ship. Cops chuckled.
"That was when she and Mat'al drank a little too much before we reached Earth. Dell wanted to take her mind off the mission. Found the pair of them borderline comatose," he said. "It took her mind off the mission though," Julian snorted.
"She never drank until she met the damn salarian," he rumbled.
"Oh let her enjoy herself," Cops scolded. "What are you, her father?" Uncle Julian growled, hackles shaking.
"Stop it," I said. "Jesus, you are both as bad as each other," I muttered. Kala's emoticon grinned. "Is there much else, Kala?"
"A few more, once this is complete, I can then arrange the memories. The memory drive's processes have them in a specific manner to avoid corruption and to prevent others from stealing any information they need or doing what we were doing now. "However, I have a… moral dilemma," she said. Uncle Julian frowned.
"Moral dilemma from an AI?" he asked. He ignored my heated glare.
"Gideon has taught me well," Kala said, a hint of a scowl in her tone. "I have recovered memories the Reapers removed, including the process of her becoming of a Saboteur and of her capture. The footage is unpleasant," she said. "My dilemma is whether to include these memories or to keep them removed from her mental health's sake," Uncle Julian and Cops glanced towards each other over my head. Uncle Julian sucked in a deep breath.
"Don't put them in. If it's half as bad as I think it is, it will kill her," he said. "I don't even want to see it,"
"Archive them if you can, just in case. Dell doesn't need them but we might," Cops said. Uncle Julian made a sound in his throat, but he agreed. Kala returned to work, arranging and teasing everything apart.
In the weeks between Nyryntha's capture and now, the Constellation crew carved the area to their needs. Barriers and snipers stood between the outside world and Nyryntha, reducing the risk of nearby civilians from falling prey to any husks that escaped the net. And the husks came in swarms. Thousands of them would stream out from Reaper, rushing towards our defences. Between the bullets, the mines and the mounted cannons, they didn't get close in large numbers. Well, not until the alien husks ran out. The muscular beasts rushed for the chains, seeking to free the Reaper from her holds. While the husks, built like trees, hit hard, even they couldn't save themselves from an artillery round. Nyryntha herself tried to break the chains numerous times, but we destroyed the lower parts of her legs and therefore her weapons. She also had a hole neat the base of her body were we took out the cannons mounted there. Whether she still had the boosters to escape, well, we weren't chancing it. But why keep Nyryntha at all? We had what we wanted, she couldn't provide us with anything else other than some intel on their armour and weapons. No one dared enter the Reaper. While the Reavers were rare – thanks to the rarity of drell themselves – they hid themselves well. Anyone within range was in danger. We didn't dare storm her yet no one dared destroy her. Uncle Julian remained tight lipped about why.
The whole crew, all 15'000 of us, sat with anxiety growing. Each passing day was another day when the Saboteurs could strike, another day when they would come to either Nyryntha or for mum. We didn't have much to go on, nothing our scouts saw suggested they were building an army to take us on but still, we fretted. Mum's life was at stake. They kept Uncle Julian confined in the Starquake, to stop him giving away our defences and plans to Palalrian. If a fight broke out, his job would be to stay here and protect mum. Speaking of which, her body was ready. My hands tightened, remembering how loud my heart thumped when we drained the tank and whisked her to a nearby bed to put her into an induced coma. Once under, they moved her to the Starquake, freeing the Normandy of its charge. She was in the med bay now, under constant guard by the Starquake crew. She looked so peaceful, her skin unmarred from scars. It'd be a while before her hair grew out again, just touching the tops of her shoulders but Cops said she'd get over it. Eventually.
"Shaik," a voice summoned. Uncle Julian and I spun around, spotting Drutus in the doorway. A smile flicked across the older turian's face. "Forgive me, Mini Shaik,"
"I'm almost as tall as Uncle Julian," I seethed.
"Not yet," Uncle Julian said. He grabbed the back of my uniform and pulled me to my feet. He shoved me towards the turian. "Enjoy,"
"You're too kind," I rumbled, stalking towards the door. "Kala, keeping running through everything," I said.
"Shall do," she said. Her visor slipped out of my pocket, the band telescoping out and locking in place before slipping it onto my brow. Kala's visor sprung to life. Drutus saluted to Uncle Julian and Cops before leading me from the room. He clicked his mandibles once away from the small Isolation Lab room.
"How close are we getting?" Drutus asked. My shoulders shrugged.
"Kala seems to think she'll have everything done before we head to bed. Saere and Sassy are getting the operation room prepped. They sound like they're planning on doing it tomorrow morning,"
"Good, the sooner, the better. We cannot move the fleet until we destroy Nyryntha but we can't destroy her without the order. We've thinned her husks a fair bit though. They don't come through is the same numbers now. A small blessing. The Council has delivered a batch of ammunition, weapons, tech and parts to tide us over. Hopefully we won't need to use them," he said.
"We should just destroy Nyryntha and get back on the move," I said.
"True. Although I wonder if the admiral is doing this on purpose, luring the Innot out of hiding, not to mention the other krogan Saboteur," he said. My teeth nibbled on my lip. I… didn't think about that. But… Uncle Julian wouldn't put mum is that much danger, not without good reason.
"So, what did you want to see me about?" I asked.
"We need to plan our next move. With the admiral out of action, we need to form contingency plans," he said.
"Why bring me and not Cops?" I asked. Drutus smiled.
"Now who said you would help with the actual planning?" he said. A frown fixed to my face. "No, we need to walk you through your duties. Your job with your mother takes priority, but once the memory transfer is complete, your role switches. Delern said he wants you with the sniper teams. He will be joining you as your mentor however as he is also on the rifle, you need a spotter. We're going to meet him now," he said.
"Kala isn't my spotter?" I said, frowning.
"And if a Tech Incap Saboteur sneaks up behind you?" he asked, grin rising. A flush stained my cheeks. "Kala can help, but preparation is better than nothing. And you must prepare yourself to be less dependent on her and more dependent on you. A good soldier can get the job done when all the technology and equipment around them fails. A good soldier has strong instincts and sharp skills. Relying on an AI, illegal in Council Space I might add, doesn't keep your skills sharp or your instincts. You sit there and wait for her go. That isn't the sign of good soldier. What if she becomes corrupted, what of her hardware fails, what if she miscalculates?" he said. My eyes dropped to the ground. "You'll be fine. Your spotter is young, so we are not abandoning you with a cranky old git,"
"But I was stuck with a cranky old git for months," I said. A click echoed down the hall. Every hair standing to attention. In a second, my back pressed into Drutus, keeping the turian between me and whatever marched up behind me. Drutus laughed as a pop rang out, my yelp joining it. My hand grabbed my shin, hopping on one foot. "Why did you spread your legs?!" I snapped.
"I believe this is when you young ones go 'that's what she said'," he chuckled, continuing down the hall as Sassy's frozen stare forced me beside him. He slipped into the war room after leaving the Intel Department. He smirked at my glare. "Come now, you know better,"
"I didn't know he was in the Intel Department!" I snapped, hobbling. He laughed more as he led me out of the Starquake airlock.
Tuchanka's heat smashed into my face, sweat breaking out in seconds. The air danced with voices and activity, clanging of metal and the pops of guns. Ships whistled overhead flew overhead, the hum of hovering shuttles and fighters electrifying the air. The dock split into three sections to reduce the risk of fire spreading and destroying ships. Not even a strong wind would stretch flames out towards the neighbouring ship. The circular dock took up a huge swath of ground, away from the Reaper, docking at least 9 frigates at any one time. The curved roof blocked the worst of the rays away from the metal floor, otherwise our boots would melt. A shimmering shield kept the dust storms off the ships' skin and engines and protected us from the dust storms. The dock sat about 2 stories off the ground, to allow dust to flow below the docks and prevent building a barrier of sand, bogging us down. Drutus marched down the steps, walking under the colourful tarps to give shaded walkways between the docks, the temporary living areas and the active field.
We followed the tarps towards a mound, towering rock pillars surrounding us now a kilometre away from the docks. The portable travellators helped, cutting the walk time in half. The mass effect fields kept us from the blinding dust storms, but even now I could see dust building against the walls like creeping hands. A few more months and dust would bury the walkways, domed roof or not. We rounded the hill, the battlefield sprawling out ahead of us. Nyryntha lay pinned to the ground, the remnants of her legs chained down and dust building in every crevice. A robotic roar quivered the air, a common event whenever she detected me in sight. It alerted everyone in the area I had arrived. She got the one finger salute, knowing full well she saw it when another air shattering roar trembled, continuing to follow the turian towards a heavy metal elevator, hoisting people and equipment upwards to the top of a rock ridge. A cannon stood on the one side of an arch connecting two pillars. We stepped on, keeping to the shade as the elevator ground like a grumpy bear. On top of the rock, the wind whipped, still recovering from the passing storm. We ducked behind an earthen windbreak, weaving around the people until Drutus found who he needed.
"Wilcerous!" he called. My heart quivered. Wilcerous? As in-
"Admiral, sir!" a turian called, jogging over. A steel grey turian stopped before Drutus, saluting with straight back and square shoulders. His blue eyes were bright, fighting to suppress a smile as off-white markings stained his face. This wasn't-
"Wilcerous, this is your sniper, keep him alive please. The last thing your father needs is the boy's mother screaming at him," Drutus said. The turian perked, turning down to me. "Shaik, this is Zyverion Wilcerous, Satrino Wilcerous' son. The Turian Hierarchy are loaning him with some members to help us out here. A favour from the Primarch. Wilcerous, this is Gideon 'Pigmy Maw' Shaik,"
"Fuck you, I'm not a pigmy! I'm taller than mum!" I snapped. Drutus laughed, Zyverion gawked.
"We'll have to wait and see about that," he chuckled.
"This is… Endellion Shaik's son?" Zyverion asked. Drutus nodded.
"He is. Be nice, Gid's a bit rash," Drutus smirked. "Zyverion is looking for some ground experience before he moves onto dreadnaught piloting. He'll be acting as spotter since he's more experienced,"
"Should… I get the Daemon?" I asked.
"It's already here," he said, nodding his head towards a gun rack. The white sniper shone in the setting sun. "Wilcerous, don't even try shooting his gun, it won't fire. You'll need to carry two spares and your main. His gun weighs isn't much lighter than your main and spare together,"
"Understood, sir," he said. Drutus nodded.
"Good. Now play nice. Shaik, we'll call you back when we're ready. Right now you need to get used to the environment and get to know your spotter. Gentlemen," he said.
Zyverion saluted, Drutus laughing at my grumble as he turned and strode back towards the elevator. My attention returned to the Daemon, weaving through the people to hoist if off the rack. The heavy weight strained my shoulders, but it was a welcome strain. Zyverion blinked as I returned, finding an empty sniping spot to sit down. A rough canvas shield took the low sun and wind off my head. The turian lowered himself down beside me. Silence stretched, turning the air sour.
"So uh… your… dad sure is something," I said, breaking the silence. Zyverion laughed, looking to lighten the atmosphere.
"He's a grumpy old git, we know that. He mentioned he had an adventure with you, something about stealing a ship and taking it for a joyride?" he asked.
"I didn't steal it!" I snapped. Zyverion laughed more. "I was saving it," I seethed, the turian grinned at my scowl. "The only thing I know about you is you visited mum when she was in hospital once,"
"Oh yeah, after she came back from Dekuuna. She looked terrible but lively at least… uh… sorry," he said, flushing at the word choice.
"Don't worry, she'll be on her feet soon," I said. My eyes dropped, staring at the smooth paint on the Daemon. "If luck is on our side…"
"She'll be fine, she sounds like a stubborn woman," he said.
"You have no idea," I said, a smile growing. The Daemon popped out, smooth as ever. "Drutus said something about… piloting dreadnaughts?" I asked. Zyverion grinned.
"I got out of flight school 2 years ago, top of my class. I want to fly to bigger ships, but it'll take a few years to build up the experience. They're going to put me on cruisers next year though," he said.
"Mum's going to send me to flight school when I'm old enough. She already lets me pilot shuttles. I flew the Starquake a few times too," I said. "Maybe I could ask Uncle Julian to let me fly the Constellation,"
"That megalith of a ship up there?" Zyverion asked, pointing towards the sky. My head bobbed. "Spirits, its huge… you think you'd be able to pilot it?"
"Sure. I just need mum back because there is no way he'd let me anywhere near the cockpit let alone the controls without her pulling the strings," I said, laughing. Zyverion chuckled, staring out over the plains.
We sat there in the setting sun for another hour, Zyverion walking me through his time in flight school. It only stoked the fire in my chest, eager to reach the controls of another ship. The sun vanished over the horizon, the only warmth now escaped from the rocks below us. Zyverion was 13 years my senior, still in his mid-20s. Maybe that's why they put us together, we'd have more to talk about, easier to be with each other. The night shift crew came in, shoving us away from our perch. The Daemon slipped onto my back, Zyverion carrying three snipers. Part of me wished I was older and stronger, able to carry more. Zyverion didn't say a word, he even seemed content to carry the weight. Away from the wind swept rock top, the bustle of people during the shift change pressed close until a niggle of fear spiked, afraid of becoming crushed in a stampede. Zyverion's tall frame forced people out of the way as we pressed back towards the ships. Before we parted, we shared omni-tool details. He marched towards the living quarters, the blocks of buildings hiding behind a towering rock ridge to protect them from the dust storms.
Back in the Starquake the shift change here felt familiar. Muscle memory led me through the swell of people, the crew weaving around me with ease. My eyes flickered towards the war room, noticing Sassy, Diri, Flash, Saria, Releeva and a handful of other admiral ranked crew still inside. Cops and Uncle Julian must still be in the lab. But when I arrived at the lab, the room was empty, everything shut down. My brow furrowed, confused. At this time of night, the lab was quiet, most of the lights switched off. Uncle Julian would be on the ship somewhere. Cops wasn't on the bridge… was it dinner time for the crew? My feet rushed back up the hall, wishing for progress on whether everything was ready. The lights in the med bay were on. The guards, Zael and Kai, glanced down as I poked my head through the door. In the far corner, Uncle Julian leaned into a chair, eyes half closed. Beside him, the steady beep of the life support machine beside him. The blanket and his body blocked mum's head from view, but the rushing from the breathing machines settled my heart. But Uncle Julian looked peaceful, for once, and was falling asleep for the first time in 3 days. Best leave him be. Kai nodded as he watched me jump into the elevator to head to the crew deck.
Despite the warm meal, my stomach couldn't settle. Months of work, endless tears and broken hearts depended on what happened tomorrow. The half-eaten plate glared up at me, taunting me, tempting me. But it stayed on the plate. Someone patted my shoulder as they passed me, snapping me awake. Lani flicked his gaze between the plate and me, a brow raised. My head flopped onto the table, saved from smashing into the mashed food by a fast acting Lani shoving the plate away. He sighed, heaving me to my feet. He shooed me towards elevator and to bed. My head shook, hands running through my hair. Inside my room, the dust cleaned soon after returning to the Starquake. Kala's mech waited, her head lifting and tail wagging. She sprang to her feet when my body collapsed on the bed, moaning. When she verified I was well – or well enough – she settled down, nudging the duvet over me and slipping off the visor.
My sleep was restless, unable to find any position comfortable, eager for morning. Kala watched me, fretting every time my eyes popped open or I turned. My eyes kept flicking to the clock, waiting, always waiting. My eyes closed, heaving a heavy breath. Everything depended on this… everything. A hand touched my shoulder, stirring me. My eyes fluttered, bewildered before looking over my shoulder. Cops smiled, but everything looked taut.
"We're getting ready to do the memory transfer," he said. Confusion furrowed my brow, looking to the clock. It blinked 8:00am. My heart crashed against my chest, shooting up in bed. Cops caught me, stopping me from falling out of bed. When did I fall asleep?! "Steady there Gid, we've got plenty of time. Saere and the surgery team are getting Dell prepped just now. We can't do anything until they get the memory read-write device in place,"
"So… w-what do we do?" I asked.
"Go downstairs, try to eat something and go through the final checks," Cops said.
"I don't think I can eat…" I said.
"Tough," Cops grinned. "If you're not in the kitchen in half an hour, I'm hunting you down and dragging you there,"
"Cops!" I whined. He laughed, pushing himself to his feet.
After he left, Kala pushed me towards the bathroom to have a shower, to do anything to distract me. Nerves ate at every inch of me, even the water tingled my skin. 15 minutes and Kala followed me down the hall, already going through the data to check the data for the 143rd time. She jumped up and pushed the button for the kitchen deck, earning a glare from me. The mech raised its head, her emoticon scowling. When the elevator doors parted, she shoved me out by force. Dammit, she knew me too well. Before I could dash for the engineering tunnels, Diri snapped me in a headlock, dragging me into the kitchen. She laughed at my wail.
"Not escaping that easy!" she smirked. She dumped me into a chair, sitting opposite Cops. Uncle Julian sat beside him, his plate still full. He glowered at the female drell sitting opposite him before snatching another bite from the plate. Well, at least we had another thing in common.
"How long until the initial operation is done?" Uncle Julian asked.
"Soon," Cops said, keeping his words vague. "She'll be fine, Julian," Uncle Julian snorted, a harsh rush of air escaping. Dira put a plate before me, oatmeal from the better batch of rations the Council sent.
"The faster you eat, the faster you can go through the final checks," she said.
"Don't eat too fast, not with those nerves," Cops said with a frown. "We don't need him throwing it up,"
"How the hell can you eat?" I asked, downtrodden as a spoonful clamped against the roof of my mouth.
"Because I'm a) used to it and b) confident this will work. You've worked too hard for it to fail. You delved into Nyryntha alone and came out in one piece after all,"
"Nyryntha should be in pieces," I muttered.
"She will," Uncle Julian said. "She will," My brows knotted together, but with Uncle Julian anxious as he was, there was no point in arguing.
The porridge didn't sit well when they let me escape, rushing towards the labs at a fast walk. Kala trotted by my side, running through the final check checklist. We had to double check the connections, the memory arrangement, the Reaper code, the process checklist, the biometric control units, the emergency stop code… God. My hands buried into my eyes, sucking in great breaths as the bustle of the lab surrounded me. We ducked inside an isolation room, Sassy already here and going through the motions. My hands took the datapad from his outstretched hand, running through the 2'435 items on the list. The checks assigned for me were software based, Sassy hadn't touched them. My brows dropped, jaw setting before sitting at the desk and running through the checklist. The hours ticked, the list expansive and tedious. Kala ran through her version of the checklist, double checking 30 years' worth of memories and comparing them to the old memory drive Sassy salvaged. Sassy checked the hardware, ensuring nothing would overload or misbehave.
Four hours after starting, the message from surgery came through. Mum was ready. My hands quivered on the keyboard, staring at the checklist. We had run through it twice now. At this point, Sassy didn't want to do more checks, fearing that checking it further would make us see problems that didn't exist. With reluctance, we slid the equipment onto a hover carrier. Sassy had disinfected the equipment that would be near mum, sealing them in white wrappers to keep them clean before we coaxed it through the door. The memory drive, the computer to speak with the Reaper Server and the code to activate the memory transfer and buckets loads of circuits and wires. A crowd gathered along the corridor to the med bay, a swarm waiting behind the door. Diri, Flash, Shual and Utren kept the crowd away from the med bay door, giving us a clear path. Sassy took point, marching onwards with hard eyes. Kala and I walked behind the carrier, anxiety riding high. We slid into the med bay, the silence hanging like a guillotine. The short stay med bay lay empty, the 8 beds sending shudders up my spine as we marched towards the operating room behind it. No doubt people would be in the escape pod tunnel to listen for any sign of success of failure.
Kala waited outside the room, leaving Sassy and I enter with the equipment. The room stank of disinfectant, a rush of people around the main table. A space at the head kept clear, but a green material formed a dome over the head. No one at her feet would see what was going on up there. Sassy moved towards to the sinks in the corner, the surgery crew grabbing a gown and gloves once he washed his hands and arms. Unsure where to go, the carrier stayed with me against the wall, too afraid to approach with my uncleaned hands. Sassy walked over to Saere at mum's head, looking at what they had. He nodded, eyes turning to me.
"Gid, do not cross the yellow line," he said, pointing out the yellow box surrounding the operating table. "Wheel the equipment to the yellow line but don't let it cross it and get the software ready,"
With tentative care, the carrier slide into place, the nurses easing the equipment out of their wrappers for Sassy to take. He connected everything in place. Bodies hid mum from view, so I had no idea how they went around connecting everything to her brain. The Reaper computer booted, my hands dancing over the keys. The RPAT team gave me training on how Reaper code worked, verifying and clarifying my own experiments with it. Everyone in the room now had received RIT before entering, monitored by at least 10 other people from both the Starquake and Constellation. We were taking no chances here. The computer was ready, Sassy finished the last of the connections and he went through the final checks. He leaned back, traces of blood on his gloves. My eyes found Cops and Uncle Julian standing in the far corner. Uncle Julian wrung his hands, bouncing on his heels. A flicker of Reaper blue light would flash in his pupils before fading. Cops stood beside him, pistol at hip. My heart thundered, looking around. Other people carried live ammo, armed in pistols too, ready to fire if it failed. My hands tensed over the keys.
"Alright Gid, everything ready?" Sassy asked.
"Y-Yeah," I said.
"Good. Hit it," he said.
A slow breath eased tension from my fingers, freeing them to type. Uncle Julian raised a hand to his mouth, gnawing on his nails. Cops' whole body tensed. The silence hung heavy, crushing me worse than any Dekuuna gravity could. The command line typed, my eyes scanning and scanning it again to make sure it was right. With a nod of my head, my hand touched the enter key. The screen before blurred, text and numbers rushing past. No eye could read it. Kala could. She kept track of it, keeping me up to date it processed the data from the memory drive. The cables connecting machine to flesh erupted into light, Reaper blue staining everything. My heart stopped, the medical staff yelping as mum's body twitched and fitted. Cops grabbed Uncle Julian, holding him in place. The medical staff ran to their machines, looking at the readings. On my screen, a series of short messages blinked. DETECTING SABOTEUR SIGNAL…SIGNAL DETECTED. MEMORY WRITE PROCESS #15863AN-D3A VERIFIED. MEMORY ENCODING VERIFIED. MEMORY DRIVE VERIFICATION CODE CONFIRMED. WRITE PROCEDURE: 0%
The percentage ticked up, each agonising percentile worsening my heart rate until I wondered if I was taking a heart attack. Mum's body continued to fit, the medical staff restraining her only as much as necessary to keep her head still and her body on the table. Sassy wouldn't be able to leave the yellow box, if anything went wrong, it fell on me. At 45% the fitting stopped, but something else was happening, the medical staff making hushed snaps to each other. The write process then paused, which tightened my gut until a new message flashed on screen. 'VERIFYING MEMORY AGGREGATION'. Once that process finished, another 5 minute process, the fitting began and the rest of the memories transferred. This happened another 2 times. At 70% and 95%. The last 1% took an hour in an already 2 and a half hour process. It ticked over to 100%, staying there for 10 more minutes before another verification process kicked in. New messages sprung up.
MEMORY TRANSFER COMPLETE. MEMORY AGGREGATION COMPLETE. PREPARING FOR KICKSTART PROCEDURE. VERIFYING REAPER SIGNAL… ERROR, REAPER SIGNAL NOT FOUND. VERIFYING REAPER WRITE COMMANDS…..WARNING, SABOTEUR TERTIARY CODE LINKED TO ALTERATION LOG FILE 58726-A5F. MEMORY HOST FAILS SABOTEUR VERIFICATION. TERMINATING HOST.
"Cut it!" I screeched, omni-blade flashing in my hand. Everyone leapt at my voice, not no one could raise their voice before the blade sliced through the cable connecting mum and the computer. Mum's body jerked once before falling still.
"What the fuck happened?!" Uncle Julian roared, eyes alight.
"It's ok, it's ok!" I heaved. Cops held Uncle Julian, Cops' arms hooked under Uncle Julian's shoulders. The man heaved through heavy breaths, circuitry twisting over his face "E-Everything finished but the code went to look for additional signals to verify mum was a Saboteur. The RPAT team said the code might look for this, so they ran through everything they had on mum and gave us some code to put into the read-write device to fool the code. It worked to initiate the process, but I think it went to look for a second or third one, one we didn't have. It realised mum wasn't a Saboteur and started the process to destroy her," I said, eyes on the screen. A warning message flashed. DESTRUCTION PROTOCOL INTERRUPTED. WARNING, WARNING, ALL SABOTEURS; CODE V3-45ADFRH-LA. "There's no broadcast devices on this thing are there?" I asked.
"None. Why?" Sassy asked.
"No reason," I said, glancing to Uncle Julian before closing the computer down. The Reaper server fought. Unlike last time, it refused to abate. Sassy frowned as he lined a pistol against the computer. The bang jolted me, the computer smashing into pieces. "It… wanted to do a kickstart process before it realised she wasn't a Saboteur,"
"That'll be something to get her brain working," Saere said. A nurse delivered a syringe. "The write device gives the brain a jolt to kickstart the brain waves and get the memories settled. We can't do that, not safely anyway. We need to do it with drugs," she bent down, the syringe disappearing from sight. "It will be slower but we can control it better. It should work in the next few minutes,"
"In the meantime, Gideon, take the equipment back to the lab," Sassy said, disconnecting the parts he disinfected and curling them back into their plastic wrapping.
"When… will we know if it worked?" I asked.
"We'll find out once this chemical gets to work," Saere said. "Then we keep our fingers crossed we did enough," My hands tightened into fists, swallowing with difficulty before hauling the carrier out of the room. Kala jumped back to my side, leaning into my quivering legs. A shuddered breath escaped. The carrier followed me out of the med bay. After nearly 3 hours, the crew in the hall had only grown. Distraught faces stared at me as the door opened.
"We... heard the admiral…" Mari said.
"I-It's ok. W-We fooled the Reaper code long enough for the memory write to complete. It found out a bit too late. U-Uncle Julian just freaked out over nothing," I said. A half-truth.
"So… we're still green?" Savanor asked. My head nodded. A heavy sigh escaped the crew. A hum filled the air, a more positive hum while they let me pass back towards the labs. With the equipment abandoned in the isolation room, Kala and I quickened our pace towards the med bay again. Back in the operating room, the air held me, tense once more.
"W-Well?" I asked. Uncle Julian's jaw nearly broke under the strain. Saere's expression hid behind a mask. She leaned back, eyes on the screens around her.
"Her brain is igniting like a firework. I've not seen this level of brain activity until we hit that chip on her neck after Earth," she said. "I… don't know if this good or bad. All I can suggest right now is wait for this to settle down, remove the write device, replace the skull fragments and wait and see," My heart fluttered. Great, more waiting. God, I was so sick and tired of waiting. But just as my heart settled, a warning blared through the ship. All eyes wheeled around demanding an explanation. My eyes fell on Uncle Julian. Did Palalrian see the message? Or relay the message onwards? My chest tightened, a cold dread filling me.
A/N: The releases are going to be slowing down again. Work is being a pain so I might not be able to squeeze out edits and new chapters for a while. I'm going to be focusing the new chapters until the book is done but it'll still take time. Sorry! Work is being a right pain.