As I watch MacGrath drop towards me, I witness his body become encompassed in his golden-yellow energy. Similar to how biotics have a faint dark blue glow surround them when they use their powers. The more powerful ones basically being a beacon in the night when utilizing a lot of energy to toss something heavy or... well to do just about anything else with it. It occurs to me how brightly MacGrath glows almost every time he uses his powers. Whether you refer to what he uses simply as electricity or lightning makes no difference. The bastard's energy output is so great that I can feel the hairs on my skin stand on end and I can smell the faintest scent of ozone despite him not being that close to me. But he is getting closer, building up more energy and speed as he does.

He misses me by a hair due to my attempted evasion to the left. I have to enhance my speed with dark energy to do so. Plan is to deliver a side kick to his ribs, but he hits the ground with such force that it cracks ever so slightly. Simultaneously, he releases that built up energy in a three hundred and sixty degree radius all at once. I can see it to. It's not just some invisible force, but a ring, or closed circuit, of a golden-yellow arcing energy. Dispersing from a centre point outward, and getting wider as it does.

I feel it slam into me, not even slowed down or hindered in it's effects by my barrier, the amount of force he output with that attack is unbelievable. It tosses me off my feet the minute he hits the ground, and I'm sent through the air, hurtling towards a weight machine a good fifteen to twenty feet away from me. In hindsight, this wasn't the place to do combat drills.

I'm so going to get in deep shit for this room getting wrecked. I don't care though. This is getting interesting.

Thinking quickly I throw up my tech-shield and plow into the machine, knocking it over and subsequently breaking it. The impact changes my orientation, causing me to spin through the air. I use the mass effect field around my body to try and reorient myself, but as I make a rotation, I catch a glimpse of two balls of electricity being lobbed in my direction. Having spent most of my time in cover while MacGrath was fighting the Asari, I've yet to see the full extent of his powers, so I simply lift my shield to protect from the attack. Of course, the assumption is they are going to pelt me and keep me off balance, and possibly shock me. Of course, when they reach me as I land on my ass, sliding backwards, they attach to my shield.

He grins, lifting his hand with his thumb and middle finger pressed together, as if he's going to snap.

"Oh, fu-" I am cut off as he snaps his fingers, causing the explosives attached to my shield to go off.

My shield shatters, the energy disrupted by the electromagnetic aspect of the Conduit's attack. The second aspect of this attack was purely kinetic and sends me further across the ground, and slamming me into a wall. I'm thanking my lucky stars that when I realized what was happening, that I increased the density of my barrier.

"Shit!" MacGrath's gravelly voice is tense and takes a tone of concern. He clearly doesn't realize I'm okay as he races towards me.

Time for some payback.

"Shepard? Shit!" I let my eyes droop, as if falling unconscious, and catch a glimpse of Anderson on the far side of the room with a small proud smile, and his arms crossed. His right index finger is tapping his elbow, which is a tell of his that he's nervous. He knows what I'm capable of and what I can take, but I suppose he can't see my barrier, and doesn't know the full extent of how powerful MacGrath's attacks are.

They are powerful. This feigning defeat tactic is giving me time to recoup my reserves and refocus. I suppose the upside to MacGrath is that he's a wildcard that nobody can anticipate, since nobody today really knows about his existence or his powers. Preparing for him won't be possible for awhile, so long as there are no recordings of any fights he gets in. Thankfully all of Saren's men were killed in the alley, and I hope that he's not been putting on a show for anybody else he's fought since he's reached the Citadel.

Thinking about it as he approaches me, the guy is a warrior. I have to admit that. He has stuck his neck out for people since the minute he got here, and according to Vakarian, he dropped those thugs outside of Chora's Den that were waiting to ambush me. All because they shot some random innocent by mistake and he wanted to heal her. Lucky for her brother he stepped in, because they would have undoubtedly executed him for witnessing his sister's murder.

I don't trust him. All of that is not enough to convince me that he's capable of doing what's necessary to ensure the safety of the galaxy from whatever it is Saren has planned for these unknown threats known as Reapers. I don't trust that he'll have the necessary attitude to get shit done and take orders that could save our lives. I don't trust that he isn't a liability in general, in regards to his powers. I also don't trust that he'll work well with the team.

But I suppose that's what this training is for.

MacGrath reaches me in a pretty short amount of time. Not as if he was that far away, but his speed is as unbelievable as almost everything else he's capable of. It makes me concerned that physically overpowering him, even when using my powers to enhance my physical capabilities, will be difficult, or impossible. I suppose it's time to find out.

The Conduit trainee kneels in front of me, checking my pulse. His skin touching mine causes me to tense up a bit. Both because being touched is a thing for me, but also because his energy and mine mixing together is strange. Tingly. Not completely unpleasant, but not enjoyable.

"Well, she's alive. A quick pulse heal should bring her back to consciousness and undo whatever damage I've done." That's interesting. Vakarian mentioned that MacGrath had healed that woman shot by those mercs outside Chora's den, but he never mentioned how.

I let my eyes slide open slightly to witness what he was doing, and watch as he rubs his hands together, gathering a charge between them. He's... really?

"How does a defibrillator?" I abruptly open my eyes and stare directly into his yellow eyes as I ask my question, which stuns him into complete stillness. He doesn't seem to notice my hand slowly move to his ankle, which allows me the time to enhance my strength and speed as I grab him by the leg.

Quickly standing up I pull up his leg and lift him off the ground. My intention is to send him into the wall again, before trying to make him merge with the floor. I'm not trying to kill him, but Garrus mentioned that MacGrath looked like he was severely injured to the point of near death when fighting those mercs, and healed himself instantly. I want to see how durable he is, and how he heals himself.

"How does a defibrillator he-" Before I can fully swing him into the wall, he throws his hands in a diagonal patter towards me, and I'm hit with this shock-wave that knocks me off balance.

I manage to maintain my grip on his leg, but he uses his other to plant his foot against the wall, and angles himself to aim his hand at me. Anticipating a shot, I lift my arm, attempting to intensify my barrier around it while simultaneously pull him away from the wall and take him off balance. The fact he has any kind of balance in this position is insane, but I still attempt to disrupt his attack. He just smiles at me before I can even get my arm all the way up and in front of his oncoming assau-

"CCCHHHGGGGH!" Scream. Just scream. Hurts... Oh my... GOD!

The current that goes through my body is short lived. My hand seizes up and releases it's grip from his ankle. My concentration is lost, making me lose control of my powers. This causes an unintended discharge of pent up dark energy, which launches MacGrath across the room, and nearly takes out the nearby wall. Thank God it's reinforced. I fall to my knees as I try to regain composure. My heart is beating rapidly from the adrenaline of having my nervous system shorted out twice in a few days, and the fact that I am so pissed off that I fell for that same trick. Didn't help that my muscles are now simultaneously screaming and tingling in both pain and numbness. Like if you sleep on your arm, or have circulation cut off from your leg, and it tingles like it's asleep but it hurts to fucking move it. That's my whole body right now.

And yet, I move to stand up.

"To answer you're question, and yes many have asked me this question before so I know what you're going to say, a defibrillator doesn't heal anything. I maybe creating a charge and placing my hands against your body like a defibrillator, but the process of what the current I send through your body does, is completely different."

"..." I can't speak yet. My tongue and mouth aren't working. I am trying to focus on my abilities, but I think my implants are malfunctioning. That or they are slowing reconnecting to my central nervous system, which is taking a bit longer to reboot than I would like. Oh. There it goes. I can feel my toes again.

This is so annoying.

"Oh don't worry, you don't need to ask follow up questions. I'll just tell you how pulse heal works. Basically, I'm channelling the regenerative aspect of my ability into anybody that I wish to heal. I know, that seems weird. I'm not sure if other Conduits can do the same, since I never saw any of them do so. Not even Kuo considered it. Maybe it's something unique to me. Either way, since I heal faster when I'm draining energy from a power source, I figured one day that if I made myself the power source, and the source being the one with the regenerative ability, maybe I could use that to heal the injured and sick."

"That-hah-hah-is insane." MacGrath chuckles as I struggle to my feet. He offers his hand to me, but I ignore it. My body is finally returning control to me. I can feel my power coursing through my body and purging it of any residual effects. I wonder briefly if the fact that I house and contain dark energy naturally, that his powers have a greater affect on me. I am also curious if it is the same in the reverse.

"It's actually very helpful. The lunacy of such a thing aside."

"Restraining you physically without rubber gloves is going to be impossible." That irritates me to no end. How am I supposed to contain this asshole with non-lethal force should he ever get out of hand?

"Maybe, but I gotta ask. Why in the blue hell didn't you let me stretch? I could have pulled something." His cocky attitude and sarcastic remarks are really starting to annoy me.

"She was testing you, MacGrath. Whole point of this is to get you up to speed." MacGrath rolls his eyes as he turns away from us and begins to clean up the mess we made.

"Right, launching a guy into a wall without warning is great training and definitely good for continued good health."

"Judging from what I've seen, it barely did anything to you." I retort.

"Maybe, but how would you have known for sure."

"I found the brother and sister you saved outside of Chora's Den. Managed to get them to talk." His face falls into one of concern, before slipping into a seething scowl.

"You better not have hurt them."

"Why would I do that?"

"To get what you want. To have control. You're afraid of what will happen if you can't dictate the outcome of any given situation." An itch forms at the front of my mind, right behind my eyes. My chest clenches as tightly as my fists as I opt to swing at MacGrath, but Anderson stops me.

"Shepard. Report on MacGrath's capabilities." The Conduit and I are in a deadlock staring contest. A battle of wills being had that I'm sure Anderson can see.

Was he right? Do I really fear what happens when I don't have control? A loss of home. A loss of love. A loss of camaraderie. If I make the decisions, have control, then my people can survive anything. Whether it be a team or a family. No one has to die but the enemy. And whoever is a threat to that, is the enemy.

God damn him.

"Do I need to repeat myself, Commander?" Anderson's lack of patience rips me from my internal cursing of the Conduit.

"He shows versatility in his abilities. Seems to be able to think on his feet, and adapt to his surroundings. My guess, he was a free runner/urban explorer on Earth. So he can probably fight anywhere. His physical capabilities are substantially greater than your average soldier, even among the N7 with Biotic enhancements. That being said, he lacks any real technique, or skill. His tactical aptitude seems to revolve around the reactionary approach, rather than taking charge of the encounter. Maybe because he's willing to let his opponent live if they can be subdued with non-lethal force, or routed into surrender. I'm not sure how easily I would have beaten him if this was a real fight, given he has mentioned facing well trained individuals before, but I am confident that he won't last long if he gets into a tussle with a larger group of trained individuals, with the necessary skills and biotic abilities to challenge his powers. Just like he mentioned before."

"Understood. MacGrath. I recom-"

"One more thing." I interrupt Anderson, having not finished my assessment. "Something about him seems off."

"We've already establi-" MacGrath tries to cut in but I'm having none of it.

"It's not our mutual dislike of each other. I mean, with everything we've heard about you, you seem... I don't know. I was expecting more. You're powerful, sure... but no more powerful than any given biotic I've seen. And I don't mean the highly skilled and well trained ones. You got lucky with that Asari Commando working for Saren. So what gives? Apparently you were the strongest among the Conduits, or at least one of. Was the baseline for the power of Conduits so low that... no. That can't be it. Empire City and New Marais were destroyed by your kind."

"They were destroyed by-"

"I don't care. I want to know if you're holding back, or we are done." MacGrath growls under his breath, lifting his left hand to scratch the back of his head as his right is placed on his hip. He sighs as his shoulders slump and his arm falls to his side.

"After I got back from New York, I had about a month before an undercover agent for the NSA by the name of Lucy Kuo flew into Empire City on a helicopter and landed on my apartment's rooftop. Telling me I needed to go meet a guy named Dr. Sebastian Wolfe to figure out a way to help cure the plague caused by Ray Field Radiation, and to maybe become more powerful in time for the Beast. She took about two days to find a boat and crew that could take us from Empire to New Marais, where Wolfe was hiding out. Working on his... project. Just as we were about to leave, The Beast arrived." There's a new term I haven't heard.

"What kind of a Beast? Some kind of monster?" MacGrath sighs as he steps over to the wall and leans against it, crossing his arms over his chest. He leans the back of his shaved head against it, and closes his eyes. Yet another heavy topic for him.

"The Beast... the thing Kessler warned me about. I don't know how to explain this without you thinking I'm crazy. Well, actually I do. By being as vague as possible." Cole opens his eyes and turns towards us.

"Whatever. So long as you actually are the only one that made it to the 22nd century." I reply.

"So, the Beast was hell bent on destroying all life, or at least, that's what Kessler had me believe. When he showed up, he threw a fucking statue at me, and we fought. I got some good hits in, but I wasn't ready."

"You lost?" Anderson asks.

"Yeah, pretty badly too. I failed so hard that when he was done with me, I was left drained of most of my power. Everything I had earned was lost. Stripped down to the bare bones of my power. I was actually weaker than I was at the start of that whole mess with the blast."

"So that's why you're this weak? That still doesn't make sense." The dots aren't connecting for me. How did he manage to beat this 'Beast' in 2012 if he was drained of his power?

"Actually, no. When I went to New Marais, I was using these things called blast cores to supercharge my abilities. Strengthen myself. Gain more power. I needed to. Amazingly enough, in the week and a half I had before the Beast managed to reach New Marais, I had gathered enough blast cores to develop power even greater than I had before I was drained by The Beast." This causes Anderson's jaw to almost go slack, but the man has always been good about keeping his composure. I simply can't hide my surprise.

"You gained more power in two weeks, than it took you to achieve in three years?" I'm dumbfounded.

"That's right. Not only did my physical attributes and possible energy output increase exponentially, but the versatility with my powers skyrocketed as well."

"Is that how you learned to create shock grenades?" He shakes his head at my question.

"Good guess on their name, but no. I was able to do that in Empire. Same with the electromagnetic shock wave, or Alpha Blast for short. I used that on you to throw you off balance at the end there, as well as my static thrusters, precision bolt, and Thunder Drop."

"So what do you mean by versatility."

"Well..." MacGrath steps away from the wall, squares himself towards me and looks to his left, lifting his left hand in front of him. Golden-yellow lightning crawls around his arm and hand, as he takes aim, and fires a single bolt at the opposite wall. It leaves a scorch mark in it's wake.

"...we used to call that lightning bolt, but when I started developing new ways of using this ability, my buddy suggested that I change it. I didn't really care, but he wanted to be able to keep track of what I can do. So, he named it Alpha Bolt. Then, I learned how to do this." Keeping his hand in the same position, I can see that the current crawling over his arm shifts slightly. Where each arc of energy was going back and forth in a mostly direct line from his hand to his elbow, it began to cross over each other. Like fighter pilots at some air show. When he fires this time, three bolts of lightning eject from his palm at once, spread out slightly, and then collapse in on each other as they reach the wall, leaving a slightly larger scorch mark.

"Impressive." Anderson whistles.

"Thanks." MacGrath puts his hand down, and faces us once more.

"Zeke called that Pincer Bolt... his naming conventions were... not the best. But, he was passionate about it, so I use the names he gave them." Lifting his hands in the air, MacGrath channels a large amount of energy into his palms, before swinging his arms down, sort of forcing the energy to take shape. From the tip of his fingers to his wrists, a sheathe of Golden-yellow lightning takes the shape of blades over his hands, and extending a good few inches past his fingers. The energy is working in a closed loop, from the 'blade' to his wrists, encompassing them in a light so bright you can barely see his hands. The rest of his arms, and even his legs, have lightning crawling up and down his limbs.

"He called this Gigawatt Blades. I used to only be able to hit one opponent with these things before the energy dispersed from my hands. Couldn't figure out the problem with it for awhile. Since I focused more on ranged combat, I didn't worry about it too much. It wasn't until I went to New York that I mastered it, and now I can use it for almost an entire fight. Maintaining the loop of energy necessary to keep them stable. Of course, after fighting the beast, I resorted to using my Amp instead. I kind a miss it."

"You mentioned an Amp in our first conversation. What was it?" Anderson queries.

"It was like an oversized tuning fork? No wait, dual pronged baton made of metal. Yeah, similar to a cattle prod. Or so some of the comments from the militia in New Marais would have me believe. Zeke was a handy man. More than that, he was actually a genius. He didn't act or sound like it half the time, but he went to the same school I did, and dropped out because he was bored. That's how smart my best friend was. Still and idiot and an asshole some times, but a good man, and a genius... anyway. He rigged the thing during our cruise to New Marais to handle my powers. At first it was prototype that had to be hooked up to a generator to siphon off the excess energy, otherwise it would probably have exploded. After only a few days travel, and some testing, he managed to make the final version. It had tesla coils on each prong, and some conductors at the base near the handle. All I had to do was channel my energy into it, and it would usually cap out at a thousand volts for every strike."

"That sounds... where did he get the materials?" I ask.

"The ship. Scrap metal mostly. I'm telling you, Zeke Jedidiah Dunbar was not normal. The way his mind worked was beyond even me, and I'm pretty smart. The Amp was one of the best creations he ever made, and it worked better than the rest of them as well... he was trying to make up for a mistake he made when Kessler was running around... I miss that nut job." Nostalgia writes itself over MacGrath's face, along with mourning, and grief. There are no snide comments for this. I may be rough around the edges, but I'm not a monster. Despite what some Batarians might say about me.

"We got off track a little. You mentioned becoming more powerful before the event that had you disappear from the 21st century. Where is that power?" Refocusing the conversation, I anticipate the answer. Whatever happened drained him. What I don't understand is how he got to Eden Prime.

"Right... well. Dr. Wolfe had a plan that he kept from everybody but himself. He took the secret to his grave. He created a device. One that would clear Ray Field Radiation from the atmosphere and kill the Beast... I really don't know if I should be telling you any of this." His trepidation is annoying. This information could be useful.

"Just spill it." I order. He frowns at me, but Anderson steps in.

"MacGrath. You said it caused a plague. We are not keen on recreating the devastation that was wrought upon your city in 2009. Nor do we want to have to repeat your efforts to stop it if it were to be recreated. Not a word of this will leave this room. Right, Shepard?" Though I'm somewhat inclined to agree with Anderson, I have no idea what MacGrath is about to say. Regardless, the Captain is clearly giving me an order, and I'm nothing if not a good soldier. Or at the very least, a loyal one to those that have had my back before. So I nod.

"Fine. Wolfe created a device called the Ray Field Inhibitor. He needed me to charge it in order to wipe the plague from Earth, and kill the Beast before it could destroy everything... only things weren't so simple. The Ray Field Radiation was intrinsically connected to Conduit Gene activation and empowerment. The Beast gave off this radiation. Because he was a conduit."

"Who?" I ask, and MacGrath's grim look worsens. He seems to be lost in a memory, but shakes his head, and returns to us.

"John White."

"So that's why the both of you were labelled Bio-Terrorists." MacGrath nods, and I only sigh. "I take it Wolfe didn't tell you the RFI was meant to kill all Conduits. Was that really necessary though?"

"I don't know. I never got a chance to study the device fully. It was in the possession of some other asshole at any given time while I was recharging my powers. I needed to be strong enough to use it. When we finally got it, I had discovered that John was the Beast, and he had given me the ability to sense if somebody was a Conduit or not. The unfortunate truth, is that inactivated Conduits were also dying to the plague. John's powers acted like a Ray Sphere, the alleged bomb I set off in Empire, and activated the Conduit Gene, as well as empowering any Conduit that had already been activated. The real shitty deal about this is that the Ray Sphere John's powers saps all forms of energy from living beings, and concentrates it into conduits. Not all conduits were able to survive the blast, but the strongest of us, became empowered."

"John White was trying to save the Conduits." MacGrath nods at my clarification. "That is... a tough pill to swallow."

"He was not angry, hateful, or malicious. He was barely a beast. He was just a man, who should have died, but pulled himself back together to save the world the only way his powers allowed him to. He... hated it. Asked me for help. I considered it. Only for a moment."

"Seriously?" I take a terse tone, but Anderson shakes his head at me. MacGrath frowned and turned away from us.

"I got strong enough to use the RFI, but it wasn't fully charged. Two other Conduits, Nix, and Lucy Kuo, were with us when I tried firing it off, and we all could feel it. We were dying. Slowly. Zeke stopped it from killing us by using my Amp to smash the RFI out of my hands. He didn't break it fully, but he needed time to repair it. In the mean time, I had a decision to make."

"Jesus Christ." Anderson's stoic demeanour is abandoned in favour for sympathetic revelation. I'm stuck somewhere between disbelief, and being so overwhelmed into numbness, by the notion that MacGrath's only choice was genocide. Some might call me the Butcher of Torfan, but that still pales in comparison to what he had to face.

"John's method was the only one that I knew worked. We could save millions of lives, by sacrificing a billion humans. Cold, mathematical logic dictated that evolution intended for humanity to evolve into Conduits at some point. A violent uptick in the rate that would happen was caused by Kessler's fucking Ray Sphere. Honestly... I wish I could kill Kessler twice. I don't know why he didn't kill John if he knew..." MacGrath seems to catch himself in the middle of some kind of confession, before stopping himself short. I aim to press further, but Anderson cuts in before I can get in a word.

"So what made you choose humanity over the Conduits?" MacGrath growled as he clenched his fists.

"I didn't." Anderson looks quizzical, but I understand.

"He did it for Zeke." I've done plenty of things to ensure the safety of my crew, my fire team, my friends. Not that I have many of those. Things that often get me ostracized, but I understand one thing above all else is I don't want to lose anybody else. If I can help it, I'll stop at nothing to prevent the loss of those I care about. Even if it costs me my life.

"She's right. Mostly. I still had a living brother who I didn't despise, and by the time I was making the decision to fire the RFI, I called my parents, telling them what was really happening, although I left out the genocide bit. I still hadn't made up my mind. My father and I had a heart to heart, and my mother apologized for all the times she made me feel like I wasn't loved. They were proud of me for helping people, like Trish was... They wanted what was best for me... I knew I couldn't live with killing what family I had left so evolution could run it's course. So the choice wasn't between genocide and genocide. It wasn't about cold logical evolutionary reasoning, or a mathematical equation of how many more people I could save. It was what I could live with, and it was about my family, Zeke included. Zeke especially. Still, didn't make my genocide-suicide act any easier to commit to. But I saw it through. Because that's what I was made for. Probably the reason my powers are so diminished now. That or it has something to do with that Prothean beacon."

"That... that is truly awful. I'm so sorry you had to go through that Cole." Anderson's sympathies do little in way of comforting him. I can tell. MacGrath looks to be on the verge of both lashing out at anything around him in rage, or breaking down in sobbing hysterics. He seems to reign it in though.

"Kessler. The world suffered for his mistakes. I hated him for it all. Despite that, who he is, even in the smallest sense, is a part of me now. More than anybody could ever possibly fathom. Now, every time I close my eyes, I see the memories of a million dead men, women and children, as I take their lives. Moments I'll relive forever... I've become something more than human, sure... but also... something less."

xxx

Cole MacGrath has been training with me for the past few days. At the end of our first training session, he dropped his grim dark thoughts on myself and the Captain, and left the training area without another word. Neither of us tried to stop him, because there was nothing to be said. I don't really know how to handle emotional turmoil like that, and Anderson was inclined to let the man mourn his circumstances. I, once again, tried to convince Anderson of getting MacGrath into custody of some kind, but the Captain is adamant that he'll be wasted behind bars or locked in some iso-cube.

I can see his point of view. MacGrath's abilities are too great to be squandered, especially if whatever Saren is up to will bring a larger threat to the galaxy. However, my distrust of his stability as a team player or even as a person, has now been brought into further question. He's depressed. Distracted. Regretful, and hates authority. He said himself he refuses to be an errand boy again, because it definitely reminds him of Kessler, and the shit he put him through. I can understand this. I can even be somewhat empathetic to it, but that doesn't matter anymore. We need people with good heads on their shoulders, and this guy, this time traveller, is not all there. I told him that my sidearm is a Kessler III and he flipped out. Assumed that it was some how related to the First Sons and the man that caused him so much distress and pain, until Dr. Chakwas stepped in for deescalation.

He stormed off afterwards, and now, the fifth day since we've acquired the evidence against Saren, he's somewhere in the wards, fighting crime. Or at least, that's what Garrus told me when I called him. Apparently he's the back up, but MacGrath has been on a tear. I left to go find him, Wrex and Alenko offered to join, but I told them to have the day to themselves, and I'd call them if I needed anything.

So now I'm deep in the wards, alone, and following a trail of thugs belonging to Fist's old crew. Apparently they are under new management after Wrex blasted Fist straight to Hell. Unfortunately for them, they've pissed off the only Conduit left alive. Really wish he would stop exposing his powers out in the open like this.

The trail ends up leading me outside some manufacturing building deep in the industrial district. I can tell that I've finally made progress in finding the bastard by the fact that Garrus is posted up on a roof nearby. I can hear a fire-fight inside the building, along with screaming and angry yells. Every so often, a thug is thrown out the window, and I'm hesitant to assume that he needs any help in there.

"Looks like you've made it." Garrus calls down to me. I hail him on comms to continue the conversation in a quieter manner. Keeping our cover secure.

"What is he doing?"

"Since the matter with Saren has been so idiotically been put on hold by the council, I've decided to work a few of my other open cases with MacGrath. He's helped me find some missing persons, as well as solve a few murders. Some overlapped, unfortunately. This one in particular is a smuggling ring."

"Drugs? Weapons?"

"Well, we thought they were AI codes, so maybe connected to the Geth. Instead, it turns out, they are VI's being made by engrams of real people. Cheap labour costs when the ones being used to model and voice the VI's are slaves from undefended colony worlds." That sets my blood to boiling instantly. Whether he needs my help or not, I'd like to get my hands on these mother-

"NO! PLEASE!" A Turian woman storms out of the building, injured and running for her life. From the darkness within the building all you can see is a golden-yellow glow, get brighter and brighter, before an alpha bolt, as he calls it, ejects itself from the building and hits the Turian square in the back of the head. She crumples to the ground, surprisingly alive, but writhing in pain, and now unintelligible.

"Brutal." I mutter.

"Tell me about it. He's been like this all day. What's gotten into him?"

"My gun shares a name with his mortal enemy. Long dead, but one that's traumatized him for life."

"You're Joking."

"I'd avoid using anything named after Kessler if I was you."

"Alternatively, I could just lie to him when I do."

"Great idea. Pretty sure you, and Chakwas are the only two people he remotely trusts in the 22nd century." We can hear the fighting die down a sort of stillness falls over the area as Garrus and I converse.

"I'm still trying to wrap my head around that whole time traveller thing. More so that he appeared through a Beacon on Eden Prime."

"We all are."

"I mean, if Conduits had extended lifetimes, well above those of humans before you guys discovered Prothean tech, than I wouldn't question it if you found him in some Tomb on Earth. Or hell, even in your own solar system. But Eden Prime? How far from Earth is that planet anyway?"

"Far enough that it doesn't make sense."

"I suppose none of this really does. But that's okay."

"Really? You aren't tearing your cranial crest out trying to figure it out?"

"That would be an overreaction."

"You know I'm referencing a-"

"Colloquialism from Earth? I've heard it before. My point stands."

"You don't seem to care at all that he's an anomaly." I can hear him chuckle through the comms, before sighing.

"Shepard, do you know how many people go missing every year? How many murders? I don't just mean on the Citadel. I mean everywhere. I'm not even talking about mercs fighting military or pirates. I'm talking innocent, non-combatant deaths."

"Not off the top of my head, no. I imagine the number is large."

"Too large. Unacceptable in my books. C-Sec is wrapped in red tape, and every species in this galaxy is bound by the laws of council law, unless you're talking about the Terminus Systems and some of the Atticus Traverse. Spectre's are the only ones that can do something about it. All they have to do is give a shit. Yet, right now, the most famous Spectre, a Turian no less, is committing atrocities himself. Meanwhile, I'm stuck here... but Cole put things into perspective."

"How so?"

"Some people just need help... I'm a Turian. Life for us is service. Military Hierarchy for our government. I've only ever viewed this job as service. But I do care about what happens to people. Enough to break the rules when they need to be broken. But I never thought about it as protecting the little guy. It was bigger picture for me. Like changing the world. Catching scumbags to make them pay for their crimes, whether that be through the courts or a bullet. Cole's focus isn't on them. Did you know Chorban and Jahleed had stolen the tech necessary to scan the Keepers? They started getting paranoid and it almost ended in a bloodbath, but Cole talked them down, and made them promise to fess up to what they had done. I checked yesterday, and they've been fired from their jobs. Both are alive. Currently looking for new sponsors and funding for their research into the Keepers."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"He carried a kid out of a burning building yesterday. He held a father in an embrace when we delivered the news to him about his missing daughter being dead. He spoke with an old lady who witnessed a crime in her apartment block, and cleaned her apartment for her. Her kids haven't visited in some time. Both are soldiers, good chance they are dead. Cole is just trying to lend a hand to a scared child, a grieved widow, or a dying sister. I don't care what you make of him, or what he truly is or where he came from. If he has a genuine heart like that, and we aren't being played, then I'll have his back. No matter what." Vakarian's determined and resolute declaration of loyalty is unexpected. I didn't realize that MacGrath could garner such respect from somebody in such a short time.

Speak of the Demon and he shall make himself known. A few seconds after Garrus declares his loyalty, MacGrath steps from the warehouse with a gaggle of civilians, mixed species, that were definitely forced into labour. In his arms, was a Salarian child. Before I have a chance to stand up, I see a group of people rushing the scene, causing me to lift my weapon for a moment. I flag them as non-combatants, some even running up to the victims of Fist's former associate. People flock around MacGrath, cheering for him. He gives a weak smile, but hands the Salarian child off to a C-Sec officer that I hadn't noticed before. Now I see there are some undercover C-Sec working the case, and they had allowed MacGrath to take the fight to the slavers. They are forming a perimeter, which uniformed officers arriving to take statements and keep order while the crime scene is processed, and all the thugs arrested.

By the time C-Sec has managed to maintain order in the panicking and ecstatic crowd, Garrus had made his way down from the roof and stood next to me. News outlets had arrived, and MacGrath was walking out with Fist's unconscious former associate. I don't really remember his name. The Conduit, dragging the gangster by his leg, bringing him in front of Garrus and myself, scowling the whole time.

"Here's the filth you asked for. Alive. Get what you can from him. If he refuses to talk..." MacGrath turns away and begins leaving the area before he even finishes his sentence.

"...I'll rip it out of him."