Ubi venenum, ibi evacua (Kelly) (6/?)
anonymous
January 4 2012, 15:30:08 UTC
Kelly's training had slowly seeped into her thoughts, curious if Shepard's pre-military life was unpleasant to the point where she wanted nothing to do with it. It wouldn't have been the first time someone made sure to keep anyone that wanted to get inside their head at arm's length. She had a suspicion that the events of Torfan may have had something to do with it as well.
The analyst in her came to the conclusion that, at face value, Commander Shepard was aggressive and closed off. Probably for good reason, but it still didn't remove the sting from her glare any faster. She wanted to help, but she wasn't given the chance.
A beep from her console got her to turn back and see the same dialogue box that her benefactor had first used to speak with her.
Be patient and tread lightly. Shepard's shell is hard for a reason.
Just as quickly as it appeared, the chat box vanished. How did her benefactor know about this?
*
Zaeed and Mordin's arrival on the Normandy went along without incident, much to Kelly's relief. However, when Archangel, which turned out to be the famous, or infamous depending on whom you asked, Garrus Vakarian, things had taken a nasty turn. Kelly's only indication of what happened was overhearing Garrus yell out a warning to Shepard before hearing his strained voice over the comm.
On a stretcher, Dr. Chakwas and Mordin, along with a nurse, wheeled the critically injured and possibly dying turian into the medical bay.
“You hear me, Vakarian? Don't you dare die on me or else I'll kill you!” Shepard screamed as the large metal doors closed only inches from her face.
Aware that she wouldn't be allowed as they operated, Shepard stood just in front of the closed doors. Slowly, her head dropped and it lightly tapped against the metal as she leaned into the immobile doors. From the other end of the mess hall, Kelly and a few other members of the crew watched silently as their commander, stood still as a statue, helplessly willing the doors to open to be with her friend.
Kelly had overheard the elation in her voice when Shepard had discovered Archangel to be her old squadmate. Now, however, his life was hanging by a thread and their Commander seemed lethargic at the prospect of losing him.
Her courage gathered, Kelly walked to Shepard's side. From her view, Kelly could see Shepard's face scrunched up in and her eyes tightly sealed in frustration.
She's holding it in, Kelly thought, her demeanor neutral, but her heart pained. Shepard was suffering and a part of Kelly wanted to hold her close and tell her all was going to be well. Shepard's earlier conduct aside, the Yeoman hated to see people in pain, especially emotional pain, since a swab of medi-gel couldn't heal these kinds of wounds.
In a tiny voice, Shepard, whispered, “...all my fault...”
Kelly blinked once. “Commander?”
Now with Kelly's presence registered, the glare from earlier returned. The same exhausted and angry woman Kelly saw earlier had returned and Kelly got the hint to leave. However, she said as confidently as she could, “If you want, Commander, I can inform you when the operation's over.”
Shepard's gaze was steady, the implants in her eyes were hard to miss due to the soft red glow, and unwavering in her distrust. However, the weariness overcame her and she nodded before turning back to the elevator.
The yeoman watched the commander shamble into the elevator and sighed when the doors closed.
“Well, it's a start,” she said to no one in particular.
Ubi venenum, ibi evacua (Kelly) (7/?)
anonymous
January 4 2012, 15:32:06 UTC
Crack
Shepard's fist collided with the punching bag.
Crack
Shepard's other fist collided with the punching bag.
Crack
Once more, Shepard struck the bag just as hard as before.
From the walkway above the hangar, Kelly looked on. It wasn't the fact that Shepard used the punching bag which gave Kelly pause, it was the fact she had been there ever since they left Horizon. Stripped down to a pair of cargo shorts and a tank top, Nora Shepard was covered in a sheet of sweat from repeated punches against the bag for the last two hours. Each blow, marked by a beastly grunt, with the occasional break wherein she collapsed to her knees to catch her breath, only to start the process once again.
“She's got a lot of heavy baggage in there,” Kasumi Goto's voice mused beside her, which caused Kelly to squeak and hop aside, startled.
The master thief smiled morosely,”Sorry, didn't know you were preoccupied.”
Kelly caught her breath and waved it off. “No worries. But you are right. Ever since Shepard has come on board, she's thrown herself into defeating the Collectors, but I worry about her.”
Kasumi's smile turned mischievous, “Nothing unprofessional, one hopes.”
The yeoman pouted, “No, nothing like that. I'm supposed to be the ship's counselor. I make sure everyone's mentally sound, because that can make just as much a difference as being physically fit. However, they have to come to me. I don't have the authority to order them into sessions.” She paused a moment. “And even if I did, I wouldn't.”
The smile the changed to astonished and impressed, “Remarkable. You're the first psychologist I've met that actually understands how people get better.”
Kelly's own smile turned sad. “Well, the only person I feel that really needs my help the most won't even give me the time of day, let alone speak with me.”
Kasumi put her hand on Kelly's shoulder and gave it an affectionate squeeze. “My mother, bless her heart, told me once that one moment of unbearable patience can mean ten years of peace. But then again, my mother poisoned my father every morning, promising him the antidote on his swift return home after work, to make sure he wasn't philandering, so, what do I know?”
Kelly tried not to chuckle, “Must have made home life quite interesting.”
Kasumi's smile grew amused, “Like you wouldn't believe, however, that's neither here nor there.”
The laughter died down and both women looked to their commander, still punching the bag.
“Shep ran into a friend from her old squad. It didn't end well.” Kasumi murmured.
“How bad was it?” Kelly ventured, not sure if she should have asked.
“I think Shep broke Miss Williams' nose. I could hear the crack from across the yard.”
Kelly winced at the unwanted mental image of Commander Shepard punching Ashley Williams square in the face, her visage twisted in anger.
The master thief turned back to Shepard and muttered, “If I had to make a guess, Shep's like a geyser. She has a lot of heat built up and she has to control how, where, and when she lets it out or else people she doesn't want to hurt will get hurt. That's how she seemed when she helped me.”
All humor vanished from her face as she continued, “Be careful, Kelly. I don't think she wants to hurt you, but if you don't tread lightly, she will.”
The asian woman vanished as her cloak activated, which left the yeoman to dwell upon her warning.
*
“Ms. Chambers?” a computer aided and heavily accented voiced asked Kelly as she made her way to the barracks for her break.
She turned to see both the Quarian, Tali'Zorah and Office Vakarian standing next to each other.
“Oh, Ms. Tali, Officer Vakarian. What can I do for you?” she asked, surprised that both of them had decided to see her at the same time.
Ubi venenum, ibi evacua (Kelly) (8/?)
anonymous
January 4 2012, 15:33:44 UTC
The turian inclined his head to the gunnery bay, “We need to talk.”
The yeoman had a sneaking suspicion that this had something to do with the commander as they lead her through the door and locked it.
“We know what you're trying to do, Ms. Chambers, but be aware that we won't tolerate Cerberus trying to use anything against her,” the mechanic growled and pointed her finger at Kelly once she knew there was no one eavesdropping on them.
Kelly blinked in confusion, “What?”
Garrus placed a hand on the quarian's shoulder and answered, “What she's trying to say is that while we appreciate you wanting to help Shepard, we've known her long enough to know that Cerberus and a lot of other people often try to 'help' her, but secretly leave a lot of strings attached. We almost didn't find Saren in time because of this.”
Tali shook Garrus's hand off her shoulder and said, “The Council, the Alliance, and now Cerberus. They all want the same thing; to use up Shepard and toss her aside once she's no longer of any use to them.”
Kelly noted the agitation in their voices and nodded, “I know. In fact, I was rooting for Shepard when I got word she became the first human Specter.” She turned to Tali, “Remember the article you wrote about the Reapers not long after the battle of the Citadel? I read that. I read the reports that both of you sent out to the various news sites before the first Normandy was attacked. Shepard was the reason why I joined Cerberus in the first place.”
She made a note not to mention anything about the benefactor that had more or less guided her into Cerberus' good graces.
Garrus' mandibles flexed slowly before continuing, “Knowing full well what they did to the soldiers on Akuze and Admiral Kouhoku?”
The yeoman winced. Those, when she had learned of them, were a definite sore spot amongst Shepard's squad.
“As opposed to what the Alliance and the Council have done once Shepard learned of the Reapers?” she replied evenly.
She could see the quarian's eyes narrow, but Kelly persisted. “I'm not a soldier, nor have I ever pretended to be one. However, seeing Shepard being tossed aside, like you said, by the very people who gave her this responsibility made me realize that the incidents you mentioned or not, Cerberus is the only one that's actively working to fight and prepare for the Reapers. But make no mistake, it's because of Shepard I'm here, not Cerberus.”
Both the Turian and Quarian regarded her quietly for a moment before Garrus said, “If what you say is true, then... I wish you were back on the first Normandy.”
Tali turned to her companion in surprise, “Garrus...”
“She has to know,” Tali turned away as her friend continued, “we knew Shepard for a long year while we were looking for Saren. And during that time, never once did she mention either her youth or Torfan.”
With her arms around her torso as though she were cold, Tali added, “Every time we tried to ask her about it, she would pull away even further. It's a miracle that she still thought of us as friends after all our prying.”
“Shepard always thought about others long before herself,” Garrus reminisced, “we first assumed she was being thoughtful as she helped Tali with her Pilgrimage and me hunting down a psychotic Salarian doctor. However, we both began to notice that whenever she became the subject of conversation, she'd either divert it onto someone else or avoid it altogether. She wouldn't even let us do anything for her.”
Tali answered sadly, “The only person we think ever was able to see Shepard for who she really was, was Liara. But she's not the same person she was two years ago.”
Kelly nodded, downcast. She had heard that Liara T'Soni, once Shepard's only confidant, was no longer the archeologist that Shepard had recruited, but a powerful information broker on Illium, consumed by a need for revenge. The details of their reunion was sparse. She recalled seeing Shepard quite sullen when she returned with Thane Krios and Samara the Justicar. Instead of angry, she seemed emotionally exhausted and went back to her room with not even a glare at the yeoman.
There was something wrong and Kelly Chambers was powerless to do anything to stop it.
Ubi venenum, ibi evacua (Kelly) (9/?)
anonymous
January 4 2012, 15:36:35 UTC
“I knew it... I FUCKING KNEW IT!” Jack snarled, pacing around the mess hall like a caged animal. “That son of a bitch sold us out!”
The crew, like Jack, was feeling uncomfortable with the revelation that the Illusive Man had sent them all into a trap. She was simply more vocal about it.
“You have no proof he sold us out.” Miranda countered evenly. Her arms crossed and an unamused frown on her face. “The Illusive Man has his reasons.”
“Both of you, stop. This isn't getting us...” Shepard tried to interject, but a throbbing in her head kept her volume lower than she would have liked as they continued arguing.
“BULLSHIT REASONS!”
“For the short-sighted,” Miranda countered, not letting up an inch, neither she nor Jack noticing their Commander trying to get a word in edge wise. “What we are fighting here, after all, is larger than you or your petty grievances.”
“Listen, Cheerleader, I didn't join up with you people to get fucked over by Cerberus, again!”
“In case you haven't noticed, if the Collectors and the Reapers are not defeated, all of us are going to be as you so eloquently stated; fucked.”
“Miranda, Jack, plea...”
“Fuck that! If I'm going to go down, I sure as hell not going to wait for them to...”
It was then the throbbing in Shepard's head reached an unbearable threshold. Her biotics flared up and she roared, “ENOUGH!” The resulting wave of kinetic energy sent not only the primary combatants, but everyone in the Mess Hall against the walls.
Everyone looked up to see Shepard breathing heavily, the blue field still remained, but before anyone could ask what brought Shepard's action, they realized something was amiss.
Hunched over and shaking, Shepard held her head as though she were fighting a violent headache. What gave them cause for alarm was seeing glowing orange scars appearing on her hands and traveling down her arms and into her uniform. When the fissures reached her face, Shepard screamed in agony once more, sans the biotic burst, and fell over.
“Commander!” Miranda yelled in shock.
“Shepard!” Garrus and Tali said in horror as they and Miranda quickly picked up their ailing commander and drug her to Dr. Chakwas' office.
With an offered hand, Samara assisted Kelly to her feet as the rest of the crew murmured to themselves as to what exactly happened. The yeoman turned to see the Justicar's pensive demeanor. Samara's gaze spoke as if this was something not unexpected. Kelly couldn't help but be curious as she asked, “Why do you think this happened?”
Samara, catching onto Kelly's train of thought, replied quietly, “Things like this do not occur overnight, Ms. Chambers. When Shepard assisted me to hunt for my quarry, something quite similar to this happened.”
Kelly's eye grew wide. “What? Why didn't anyone say anything?”
Samara locked eyes with her, “Because she herself did not fully understand what happened. If you wish, I will explain another time, but not now.”
Before Kelly could press the issue, the Justicar left and returned to her room.
*
In the med bay, Doctor Chakwas' gaze jumped repeatedly from her omni-tool to the screens at her desk. According to the readings, there was nothing that caused the sudden biotic surge which had made a mess of her mental readings and was evidently tearing her body apart.
It had been several hours since the incident and now everyone was back in their quarters, since there was no indication of when Shepard would regain consciousness.
Shepard, stripped of her uniform and now in a hospital gown, twitched continuously. Her breath came in unsteady gasps and her eyelids fluttered in a similar manner.
Aside her bed, Mordin paced back and forth, a single digit tapping against his mouth. “Biotic burst. Biotics usually require control. Lack of control? Unlikely. Argument of Operative and Jack? Probable.”
Ubi venenum, ibi evacua (Kelly) (10/?)
anonymous
January 4 2012, 15:39:24 UTC
The doctor shook her head and turned to the salarian, “Yes, but this isn't the first time they've come to blows like this. We've all gotten so used to their bickering that it shouldn't have bothered her.”
“Mental degradation due to Lazarus Project operation? Unknown. Shepard mental stability unknown before resurrection.”
As both doctors continued their analysis of their commander's condition, they failed to notice her movements beginning to show consistence as she slowly got off the cot. Shepard, though upright, still twitched with closed eyes as the scars on her face began to glow an even brighter hue of orange. She staggered on one foot to another as Chakwas realized the the bed was empty.
“Commander! What are you doing? You need to lie down!”
Both doctors moved to restrain their commander before another biotic wave pushed them back and off their feet as though they were gently shoved to the ground. This time, the biotic field did not dissipate, however it reflected Shepard's manner; staggered and unstable.
Nora whipped her head to them, her eyes still closed, and snarled in an otherworldly voice, “DO NOT TOUCH ME!”
Both doctors stared in shock as their commander shambled out and to the elevator. Mordin looked to Chakwas, knowing what needed to be done as he stood up and went to head to Miranda's office across the way, wagering a guess that Lawson would still be there.
Once on her feet, Dr. Chakwas looked back to the mess in the lab and amid the cleaning, she turned to the readings on the cot where Shepard slept. Unsure if what she saw was correct or not, she tapped several keys on the console beside it. She had seen these readings before, but where?
As the door opened to reveal a flustered Miranda Lawson, she had a most unpleasant epiphany as to what happened. Before she could speak her fears, she was interrupted by Miranda.
“What happened? Where did Shepard go?” the operative almost shouted.
“Not sure,” Chakwas replied calmly.
“EDI, do you know where the Commander is?”
The holographic display by the door flared to life as EDI responded, “Commander Shepard is currently in her quarters. She has locked herself in and has inexplicably disabled all overrides, scanning, and all communication. I cannot see or hear her and she placed locks on all aforementioned systems that not even I can crack.”
Miranda turned to Chakwas in surprise, “Since when could Shepard outhack an AI?”
It was then the medic decided to lower the boom. “I may have an idea what happened.” She brought Miranda to the panel she had noticed only a moment before.
The scan of Shepard's head was alight with various whips of additional activity.
Miranda frowned, “Wait a minute, brains don't usually carry this much activity unless something is interfering.”
Chakwas shook her head, “Not something, Operative. Someone.”
Ubi venenum, ibi evacua (Kelly) (11/?)
anonymous
January 4 2012, 15:45:21 UTC
Kelly stood outside the door to Shepard's room. She could not stop the shiver. Not just because of the lack of a heat source, but the sheer terror of what she had heard Dr. Chakwas and Miranda said the day before.
There was also that single line on her console, coming from the Commander's station in her room, in the CIC which almost made Kelly's heart stop.
Report to our quarters at once!
'Our quarters'? Many suspicions floated through Kelly's head as she reached up to tap the door. However, before her hand could touch the cold metal, the door opened, even though the hologram above the lock was inoperative.
Except for the blue glow of the empty fish tank and the light from the stars by the window, everything was covered in a blanket of darkness.
A voice, altered by... something, said ominously, “...enter.”
Kelly gathered what little courage she possessed and walked in. The instant she stepped past the threshold of the cabin, the doors slammed shut.
“C... Commander?”
From the other end of the cabin, a sickly orange hue glowed from where Shepard's bed sat. Kelly's eyes focused to see the Commander, clad only in a hospital gown, completely covered in glowing scars. Shepard's eyes opened and they contained an unearthly green glow. Kelly gasped in horror at the sight.
“Kelly Chambers,” the commander said calmly before she stood up, “I need your expertise. Shepard is broken. She must be restored.”
“But wait,” Kelly said,”How can you say that if you're... oh no.” The yeoman could only think of one possible explanation. The Commander had a separate personality. Commander Shepard was a schizophrenic! How could they have missed this? They took every bit of information on her since the day she entered the Alliance Reserves.
“Do not even pretend to think you understand anything, Kelly Chambers,” the scowl on the Commander's face was different than the one Nora first showed her. The former was condescending and arrogant. The latter was hard and untrusting. The manner of speech. The way Shepard now stood.
It was as if she was someone completely different.
Kelly ventured a question. “What do you mean?”
Shepard's scowl grew. “I'm no mere product of your precious Shepard's mental dysfunction. She is broken enough as it is. No, I'm the culmination of an entire civilization which you revere. I am their legacy. I am also all that is keeping Shepard's body from falling apart.”
Kelly's mind searched for any possible explanation until one possibility remained. “The beacon on Eden Prime... you're... Prothean?”
The one using Shepard's body gave Kelly a cruel smile, “Perhaps there is hope for you yet. Since I prefer not to be referred by this broken woman's name, you may as well refer to me as Echo, since it's the closest approximation of what I am.”
Aware that certain questions could make or break the next few minutes, Kelly asked, “Then what are you?”
Echo's frown grew as though she were insulted with such a question, “If I were to degrade myself in terms for something as simple as you to understand, the closest thing would be akin to your EDI.”
Echo inclined her head to side, which Kelly assumed was an order to sit down. The yeoman complied, her own gaze steady with Echo's.
“Now that your curiosity is sated, we must begin. Once Shepard's mind is returned to a sound state, the body will follow. The head of the Lazarus Project was too sure of herself to realize that all the technology is the galaxy means nothing if the mind and spirit of the user is not in working order.”
Kelly's gaze turned to the side, searching for a question that she had prepared long before she came aboard the Normandy.
Ubi venenum, ibi evacua (Kelly) (12/?)
anonymous
January 4 2012, 15:48:46 UTC
“So, you're saying that Shepard still has some trauma associated with her death?”
“While that is not the only thing, you are correct. She wonders if she is even Shepard anymore. She wonders if she is any different than the husks the Reapers construct out of the remnants of your people.”
Kelly balked at the notion. “What? How can she believe that? She's still alive.”
Echo narrowed her eyes, “Have you ever perished and returned from the dead before, Kelly Chambers?”
“Well, no, but...”
“THEN BE SILENT! In case you have not noticed, she has been less than cordial with those around her. She has had little time to come to terms with the fact that her life has been restored by mortal means and now she is once again pressed into service by an organization she hates. This cannot continue as it is. You, Kelly Chambers, must restore her sanity or else all is lost.”
Something did not add up, “wait, if that's the case, why are you so intent on ensuring Shepard's survival? It's not like you have any stake in this.”
Echo's eyes narrowed again, “That is no concern of yours. All that you need to know is that Shepard will be waking up soon. By all means, tell her about me. It will bring a bit of amusement to this poorly written tragedy.”
Kelly was about to ask again when Echo twitched noticeably and muttered, “We will speak again, Kelly Chambers.” It grew to an all out shiver before she tumbled backward onto the bed. Only the sound of Shepard's breathing could be heard in the room as Kelly cautiously moved over to the bed.
“Commander?” she asked quietly, tapping Nora's knee.
“Commander?” she asked again.
This time, Shepard's eyes, this time discolored red by the implants, fluttered open. Her right hand reached up to fight back the painful throbbing in her head as she slowly sat up. Nora blinked twice at the presence of the yeoman in her room and the darkness.
She looked around wildly, before turning to Kelly and asked in a near panic, “Chambers... what... how did you get in here? How did I get in here? What happened?”
Kelly kept her hands clenched when she realized just how bad things had progressed. “If I tell you, will you believe me?”
Nora looked into Kelly's eyes for a long moment. Kelly knew Shepard did not have much reason to trust her, however, current circumstances were... unique.
The Commander nodded as Kelly took a seat on the couch.
With as much detail as she could recall, Kelly recited everything Echo had told her.
Shepard, her mouth agape, stared back at Kelly in shock for a whole minute.
The commander then looked down to the floor, her mind reeled at what she had just been told.
Kelly knew it was her time to go. She turned around and padded towards the door as the lights started to come back on.
“Chambers...” Shepard said quietly, but loud enough for Kelly to hear.
The yeoman turned around to see her Commander look to her, this time without the hardened expression. “Do you think you have time for a session? I... I think I need one.”
Kelly gave her the most reassuring smile she could and said, “Of course, Commander.” She was about to open the door, when she turned back to Nora and stated, “And please, call me Kelly.”
Ubi venenum, ibi evacua (Kelly) (13/?)
anonymous
January 4 2012, 15:51:07 UTC
Kelly stood beside the door to the hallway as Shepard completed her plans for the next few weeks. While it had been difficult to convince Miranda for Nora to step down temporarily for sick leave, they assuaged her fears by the plan to accumulate the needed materials to upgrade the Normandy. Every member of the recruits had plans, contacts, and schematics they could be used to give the frigate additional protection, armaments, and countermeasures the next time they would meet the Collectors.
“While I agree with the plan, Shepard, I still have my doubts,” the Cerberus agent noted. Not just with the acquisition of the materials, but the idea that Kelly would be their only chance at helping Shepard’s problems when they already had an asari justicar on board.
Nora nodded and asked, “I know, but I am putting my trust in you, because at the moment... I don't want to risk this ship and crew anymore than I have to, just because I got some mental problems at the moment. And besides, you'll have Garrus at your side, you'll be fine,” she ended with a cheeky grin.
Miranda's lips thinned and her eyebrows lowered, “That's what I'm afraid of.” She start a reading off the pad Shepard had given her and started walking back to her office before turning to Garrus and requesting his presence within the hour. He nodded his assent and turned to Shepard with Tali right behind him.
From Kelly's viewpoint, as the rest of the crew filtered out, she was unable to hear the conversation between the Commander, the Quarian, and the Turian. However, she could see several indications that the mechanic was worried sick about Shepard to the point where she embraced Nora and muttered something about assistance. Vakarian placed a hand on Shepard's shoulder, said something, to which Nora nodded, and left the conference room.
“Take good care of her,” Garrus said as he passed by the counselor.
She nodded. “I will.”
While the glowing scars had yet to fade, Shepard’s demeanor had improved dramatically. Kelly had noted, even though Shepard still did not trust Cerberus in the least, she had gained Jacob’s and Miranda’s loyalty not long before, which had made this transition a lot smoother.
“You ready?” Shepard asked Kelly once the rest of the crew had vacated the room.
“Yes, Commander,” she replied professionally.
*
As enthusiastic as Shepard was to start sessions with Kelly, the yeoman could not help but notice how awkward the Commander seemed as she paced the room, unsure where to begin.
For ten minutes, they had experienced a series of failed starts and verbal stumbles. The long and awkward pauses got to them both.
“Don’t worry.” Kelly said to ease Nora’s discomfort, “there’s no real established method at where to begin.”
“You sure? I’m always used to standard operating procedure. I’ve never been good at doing something new,” Nora said despondently.
“The reason why is because everyone is different. Your problems are unique to you. It makes you human,” Kelly offered with an encouraging smile.
Tired of pacing, Nora then took another seat at the opposing edge of the couch, which sat right below her desk.
“I know I asked this earlier, but why not start at the beginning?” Kelly offered, “I promised you that this was confidential and no one, I repeat no one, is going to hear this.”
Ubi venenum, ibi evacua (Kelly) (14/?)
anonymous
January 4 2012, 15:53:18 UTC
Nora scuffed her shoulder length dark red hair in frustration, “I know! I know... it’s not you I’m worried about.” She paused for a moment and continued, “it’s the Illusive Man. And not just him. I can’t help but feel that both the Alliance and the Council are keeping tabs on me, somehow.“
Kelly tipped her head. “What makes you feel that?”
Nora’s head drooped, “Horizon. Ash is Alliance all the way and it wouldn’t surprise me at all to find she’s working for both. Just like I did. Makes me scared that they’ll screw her the way they did me. They put me up on a pedestal and look how well it worked out?”
The counselor was confused. “You saved us all? True, the council never believed you, despite all evidence to the contrary, but there are people that still believe you. You still have people that trust you.”
Nora snorted cynically as she glared at the other end of the room, “Yeah, but the malcontents and the misfits are not going to save the galaxy when you’re the only ones that know the dangers are coming first hand.”
Kelly closed her eyes for a moment, gathered her thoughts and said, “For what it’s worth, Commander. I believe you. I always believed you. You’ve beaten the odds before and believe you’ll do it again.”
The hardness of Nora’s eyes broke as she turned to the yeoman. “Even after how horribly I treated you?”
The younger woman nodded and answered, “It’s part of the job. You’ll often meet people that are hard, confrontational, bellicose, and more. And their reasons are valid to a degree. However, more often than not, people that seek help on their own have a better chance at recovery. They’re proactive instead of reactive. That’s always good sign.”
There was a pregnant pause in the room as Commander Shepard considered her words. From what Kelly could deduce, Shepard could have been repeatedly praised for her skills as a soldier. However, commentary about her as a person seemed far more sparse.
Nora shrugged, “If it can help deal with Echo, then I’m all for it. I doubt a scalpel will fix this, since my brain has progressively become more prothean than human in the past few years.”
Kelly giggled, “I wouldn’t worry too much. We’ll get through this and then you can become the same Commander Shepard that saved us all a few years ago once more.”
Nora joined her laughter for a moment before an epiphany stopped the chuckle.
“I think I know where to start now.”
Kelly’s face lit up with relief, “Wonderful.”
With a sigh, Shepard stood up and walked to the window on the other side of the cabin. She placed her hand against the glass and began,
“What I am about to say, I have not told anyone. It shows how much trust I’m putting in you, Kelly.”
Aware of the gravity of the situation, Kelly placed her data pad on her side and leaned forward to listen intently as Shepard turned back to her.
The Commander seemed scared as she stated in a low voice, “I’m not Nora Shepard. The real Nora Shepard died fifteen years ago.”
Ubi venenum, ibi evacua (Kelly) (15/?)
anonymous
January 4 2012, 15:56:43 UTC
Kelly’s mouth hung open in shock. Which caused ‘Nora’ to smirk as she continued, “Surprised? My real name is Ann. Never found out my family name. Didn’t care to find out, either. Just a source of bad memories and disappointments.”
The yeoman struggled to regain her composure as she asked, “Who... who was the real Nora Shepard then? What happened to her?”
The smile vanished from Nora’s face as she answered sadly. “Nora Shepard was the only friend I ever had, growing up in the slums of Old Los Angeles. She was like me; a sand dropping: kids born from crack whores, addicted to Red Sand.” She took a deep breath before she continued, “Unlike me, she was disfigured and crippled when she was born. Almost didn’t make it. Never could figure out how I made it to term perfectly healthy while she ended up looking like... the way she did. Either her mom was beaten or, I’m guessing, she had Proteus Syndrome. Either way, she wasn’t going to last long and both of us knew it. ”
Kelly hung on every word the older woman spoke as she tried to fight back the imagery of the individuals they were and the hardships they no doubt faced.
“Nora... she... you couldn’t find a nicer girl in the whole damn galaxy. She couldn’t feel malice or hate against anyone, even against the Reds.”
“Don’t you dare!” Ann snarled, her teeth bared, ready to bite if needed as Finch and Crumb closed in, being the only thing standing between them and Nora with a stash of food left over from an annexed section the Reds had taken over from the Twelfth Street Blues after a turf war.
“Piss off, Ann!” Finch, despite being smaller and a year younger than the fourteen year old Ann, threatened as he and his toadie closed in.
“If you want to wake up wondering where your balls went, Finch, you’ll clear out! We found this first!” Ann growled, brandishing a broken pipe. She would have swung the bar at Finch’s head had a bloated hand not gently grasped her elbow.
Ann kept her gaze on their assailants, but switched it to Nora, who limped forward with an armful of the food they had found, much to the confusion of all involved.
“Here,” Nora said in a hoarse voice and placed a bag of unspoiled bread and candy in Finch’s hand. Nora tried to smile, but the various tumors that encompassed part of her head, covered by a hood, made it difficult. Regardless, she nodded and walked back behind Ann.
Finch and Crumb looked between the bag and to Nora before the former mumbled, “You got lucky this time, Ann.” With that, they left.
Ann wasn’t sure whether she was merely hungry, frustrated, or angry, but she was ready to scream at Nora for what she did. However, Nora had interrupted her and said gently, “They were hungry, like we were. There’s more than enough.” Once again, Nora Shepard, had lived up to her name. She had diffused the justified anger between two parties and had enabled both of them to avert a potentially violent scuffle.
“I’m sorry, Nora,” Ann mumbled, ashamed as the iron pipe slipped from her grasp to land unceremoniously on the floor.
There was no reproach as the disfigured girl wrapped her only good arm around Ann’s shoulders warmly.
“She sounded very kind,” Kelly said as she fought back the tears that clouded the corners of her eyes.
The older woman nodded as she too fought back the anguish in her eyes. “She was everything I wanted to be in a person. She always saw the big picture and wanted to make sure that things would work out in the long term. She was smart. Made me realize that I had to be smart too, if I wanted to survive. She kept me alive all those years.”
They both knew the inevitable question that would come next. “What happened to her?”
Ubi venenum, ibi evacua (Kelly) (16/?)
anonymous
January 4 2012, 16:04:08 UTC
She closed her eyes and held a hand to her face. “In OLA, there was a small church that saddled several of the gang turfs at one time. The church was practically the only truly neutral place in the city as far as the gangs were concerned, since the workers there didn’t discriminate.” Shepard’s face grew heated as she snarled, “Then some nameless asshole comes along and burns it down for kicks! Nora... Nora was there at the time.”
The yeoman closed her eyes and allowed the Commander a moment to collect herself. For all she knew, they just scratched the surface. Kasumi’s warning came back as she figured it would be best to let this subject go for now.
“How’d you escape from the Reds?”
Shepard took another breath, aware that they had to continue, “Well, once the church got torched, the Reds blamed the Fourteenth Street Bones for it. It was a stupid move, since you need nothing less than Riot Cops to deal with those guys. It turned out to be a mistake, since the resulting turf war made the top Reds realize they needed to expand in other ways if they wanted to survive.”
She shrugged and said, “So, they wanted to use me as a honey trap to blackmail an up and coming senator so they could get the resources they needed to take down the Bones.”
Kelly blinked, “Wow, really?”
‘Shepard’ chuckled bitterly, “Yeah. I think one of the heads of the gang saw it some movie. Must have been one of those pre-holo vid black and white ones. Because it was a stupid plan from the start.”
“I assume it didn’t go well?”
Nora shook her head and snickered darkly, “Me and two other guys were going to set it all up. Too bad they didn’t think I’d gotten tired of their stupid gang wars and would use that chance to get out. And as luck would have it, the Reds that were supposed to keep me in line ended up dying in a car crash. I would have died too had my biotics not manifested. So, I took their credit chits, bribed the cops to say I died, hitch hiked up to Alaska and once I turned eighteen... well, you can figure out the rest.”
The yeoman nodded and said, “You used Nora’s name to register yourself in the Alliance military. Since you had no birth certificate or holo print, they couldn’t verify that were not Nora Shepard.”
Nora sniffed once and leaned against the head of her couch. “Yeah. Turns out that while you can only fake your way through so many of their assessment tests, being a biotic gives you certain advantages.”
The smirk on the older woman’s face faded as she finished, “I wanted to honor Nora. Be the person she never got a chance to be. Granted, I haven’t always succeeded. I still lose my temper every once in a while.”
Kelly gave her an encouraging smile, “I’d say averting a galaxy wide genocide counts for something.”
Nora laughed. “If it stopped them dead in their tracks, then I’d feel better about myself.” Her smile faded ass she shook her head, “The Reapers are still out there. The Council and Alliance still don’t believe me. No one’s getting ready for the invasion and we’re chasing the Collectors.”
Kelly looked to her omni-tool’s time display, noting that time had gone faster than she realized.
“Time’s up?” Nora asked, the exhaustion in her eyes evident.
The yeoman shook her head, “We can keep going if you’d like. Otherwise, we can stop here for today. I got a feeling that this may take a while, so, I believe it’d be best if we took it slow. Give yourself a chance to rest.”
Nora contemplated Kelly’s offer for a moment before she nodded. “Probably would be a good idea if we continued tomorrow. I’ll keep in touch with Miranda and Garrus to make sure the material acquisition goes on as scheduled.”
Kelly stood up slow and offered, “I can get the reports from them if you’d like?”
The commander nodded once. With their time done, Kelly walked up the steps to the door before Nora said, “Kelly?”
“Yes, Commander?”
Shepard’s mouth was open, with the desire to say something in particular. However, she changed her mind and said, “See you at breakfast tomorrow.”
The counselor’s smile returned as the door opened. “Yes, Commander.”
Ubi venenum, ibi evacua (Kelly) (17/?)
anonymous
January 4 2012, 16:12:26 UTC
*
Back at her console, Kelly filled out her reports and kept the details of her sessions with Nora private. Despite the pride she felt at her recommendation by the Illusive Man, their recent escapade with the ‘disabled’ Collector vessel had brought doubts into her mind as to whether or not he would respect the privacy of Shepard’s condition.
How is Shepard?
The chatbox appeared at the upper left corner of her screen again. Her benefactor had contacted her at intermittent intervals, possibly to ensure that their system was not compromised.
Time was short, so, Kelly kept her response to the point, which would keep the confidence Shepard put in her.
Kellygirl: She’s not healed, but she’s getting there.
There was a slight pause before her benefactor answered.
Ubi venenum, ibi evacua (Kelly) (18/?)
anonymous
January 4 2012, 16:17:52 UTC
“This isn’t the best of time for you to come out, Echo,” Kelly admonished the woman in front of her.
As the rest of the Normandy’s squad was out, the Prothean had summoned Kelly to Shepard’s room. At the moment, Shepard was supposed to be asleep, however, Echo had other ideas.
“That is not for you to decide, Kelly Chambers,” the woman who took Shepard’s body in thrall, said, “I have observed your progress, or lack thereof, and I have to say how rather displeased I am with you.”
Now it was Kelly’s turn to frown, “I’m sorry, but the human mind is a far more delicate thing than you realize. You can’t just expect some instant treatment to suddenly change behavior ingrained in someone’s mind after years of first hand experience.” The Prothean had shown to be impatient and condescending, which did little to improve Kelly’s opinion of her.
Echo scoffed, “Of course. You humans and your insistence to coddle will keep you from reaching the same greatness the Protean Empire did.”
Kelly anger reached a threshold as she noted curtly, “And look what happened. The last of your people; twisted and mutated to become nothing more than slaves to the Reapers.”
The yeoman stood her ground as Echo ignited Shepard’s biotics, as though she were to use them to harm Kelly. However, the Prothean, her eyes still locked in anger with Kelly’s, sat down on Shepard’s bed and muttered, “Perhaps you’re not as spineless as I thought you were. However, it’s a good thing that my people are dead, or else your race would have been wiped off the face of the galaxy long ago.”
Kelly’s gaze was broken as she asked, “What do you mean?”
Echo’s scowl returned in force, “How do you think the Prothean Empire was able to grow the way it did? By the Mass Relays and the Citadel alone? You naive, simpleton! We took over the entire mass relay system and ground anything that would offer a hint of resistance into dust!”
The yeoman’s face turned from anger to disgust as Echo continued to rave, “I’ve seen the people of this cycle argue and discuss about how the once great Prothean Empire had vanished, but never once did they ever think to how we came to prominence. How else are empires established? On the bodies of democracies, republics, and more! Imagine the relentless slaughter of every lesser species that dared to tread upon the galaxy the Prothean Empire claimed as their own!”
The redhead kept her anger in check as Echo could feel her discomfort and smirked, “Disappointed? It’s the way things are, little one. The strong crushes and consumes the weak. And the Protheans were strong, thanks to the technology we gained.” The smile vanished and she leaned against the coach and looked to the side in reminiscence. “To think we were once a very spiritual people.”
The Prothean stood up and walked to the wall. “All life is governed by The Law. All civilization is sustained by the letter of The Law. All joy is found in the spirit of The Law. All truth is at the heart of The Law. And only by the spirit of The Law, can we abide by the heart and letter of The Law.”
Kelly was no longer angry, but confused as Echo turned to her, the belligerence gone and replaced with sorrow as she took a glass filled with water and took a drink. “That was the wisdom the gods granted unto the Protheans before they reached the stars. It saved a race, ready to die by its own hand. It was a blessing which brought untold prosperity to our people.”
Ubi venenum, ibi evacua (Kelly) (19/?)
anonymous
January 4 2012, 16:22:28 UTC
Slowly, the anger returned to Echo’s face as her grip on the glass tightened, “Then, we discovered the Mass Relays...”
Kelly could guess where this conversation headed. “The Protheans forgot their gods, I take it?”
Cracks started to appear on the glass in Echo’s grip as the Prothean nodded. “Yes. At first, the advances we discovered from their technology catapulted our own ahead nearly a millennium. Then the Citadel came along and soon, our leaders became convinced that the gods favored us to the point where we spread throughout all the galaxy. They wished to spread ‘The Law’ to the lawless sectors of the galaxy and they did, in rivers overflowing with the blood of lesser species.”
In spite of Echo’s anger, she noticed the glass about to break and placed it on the table. “When the spiritual leaders cried for forbearance, our leaders’ lust for power and dominion had overtaken them and every image and aspect of the The Law was removed. It did not take long for us to completely forget our origins and the gods which spared us from our own foolishness.”
“Then the Reapers came.”
The Prothean nodded, “Then, the Reapers came. We had been played for fools. As the slaughter of our people continued, we cursed the gods and wished to die as our empire crumbled about us. Perhaps it was the last thing they could grant us, as our day of grace had long since passed.”
While Kelly was no active subscriber to any particular belief, she had seen faith assist in the recovery of a few of her patients and was certainly not one to disparage anyone in it.
“So, what was the point of placing yourself in the beacon?” Kelly asked.
Echo slammed her fist on the table, “Revenge! Whatever your precious Shepard was informed of by Vigil on Ilos is only part of the truth. We held no moral imperative to save you petulant children, as you go about throwing fits as to whom has the most money, political influence, or largest military. Your annihilation draws closer and those in power would toss aside the warnings of the only ones that know, simply because she exterminated a nest of festering insects!”
It didn’t take Kelly long to understand what Echo referred to.
“Torfan,” she whispered in understanding.
The order from command had come in. The very same raiders that had attacked Mindoir all those years ago had been repulsed at Elysium two years prior by some unknown lieutenant. Now, they called in Shepard and her group to finish them off.
All her men had known what they faced, however, they felt more apprehension after they had seen Shepard with a particular look in her eye. Every piece of information on Torfan was downloaded to her console and she had become obsessive to ensure that everything was current.
The rumors began to circulate. All they heard was that she was from Alaska. Her biotics, while not as refined as those in the Ascension program, were strong enough to take anyone in a fist fight. The level of obsession she showed to think ahead made her more fearful, since no one could ever figure out where they fit into her plans.
Despite their survival, Shepard’s skill in planning had given her a notoriety. She had brought success, but often at a cost.
And Torfan was the heaviest cost they ever paid.
For every batarian raider that fell, one more of her squad had fallen in turn. However, Shepard had smelled blood. Gone was the tactician, here was the Butcher. In front of her men, she had shot a soldier in the leg who had attempted to desert. Aware of the construction of the buildings the raiders used, she had snuck behind their lines and had left a bloody stain of a batarian’s head from a point blank shot from a hand cannon.
Ubi venenum, ibi evacua (Kelly) (20/?)
anonymous
January 4 2012, 16:25:31 UTC
The air was full of the ozone as both sides continued to expend what little ammunition they had left. The Batarians were still entrenched and their chance to complete the mission grew slimmer. To Shepard’s good fortune, she had found a tank full of neurotoxin the raiders had made use of during their runs and had fed it through the ventilation shafts, effectively flushing the remaining raiders out of their base. Those left behind had drowned in their own juices.
They begged for mercy.
They pleaded for their lives.
When Shepard turned to the remainder of her men, her voice said, “Fire!” her eyes, however, said, “No Survivors.”
“Mission complete...” she muttered and spat out some blood that had seeped into her mouth.
She ordered her men to return to the surface to radio their transport out. She stayed behind because she still saw one batarian still alive. The raider struggled to keep his throat open to get some much needed air as Shepard walked up to him.
Shepard, amid deep breaths, locked eyes with the batarian. The raider tried and failed to spit out something, anything at her.
His last attempt at defiance caused a smile to creep across Shepard’s face as a deep cackle emerged from her throat.
She quickly pulled out her pistol and shot him in the limbs. She knew he didn’t have the strength to scream. She was going to relish this. Just like back in Old Los Angeles.
Her omni-tool flashed on and acquired a reading of the batarian’s heart rate.
The indication showed his heart beat go slower...
...and slower....
...and slower...
…and stop.
For good measure, she raised her pistol and shot him in the head.
Shepard then quivered violently and moaned a deep, sensual exhale. Her rage was exhausted. Another predator dead.
The Butcher of Torfan was satisfied.
Echo smirked, “It’s always disappointing to learn how flawed your heroes can be.”
Ubi venenum, ibi evacua (Kelly) (21/?)
anonymous
January 4 2012, 16:31:35 UTC
Kelly entered the observation deck with due deference to the Justicar within. However, the asari within acknowledged her entry, despite the silence Kelly used to enter.
“How is Shepard?” Samara asked in her usual stoic voice.
“She is getting better, but it’s a slow process,” Kelly said evenly.
“That is good to hear.”
“Now, what was it you said about this event that’s happened before with Nora?”
The soft blue light dimmed from around the Justicar as she stood up and walked to the window.
“Not long before this event occurred, I requested Shepard to assist me in hunting a criminal from asari space. A hedonistic murderer that feels nothing for the suffering she caused. Do you know what an Ardat-Yakshi is?” the asari said as she turned to Kelly.
Kelly tilted her head and said, “Only in rumor. But is it like the succubus from the legends from our homeworld?”
Samara nodded. “I have heard of such human legends and it is an appropriate simile. It hunts particular types of people and uses her charm to lull them into her trap and kills them. I requested Shepard to assist me in hunting one such individual. However, it was amid our conversation did I realize that Shepard had taken a vested interest in this hunt of mine.”
Kelly blinked, “How so?”
“Old wounds are opened when familiar territory is tread. I almost missed it, but I could see an anger, a rage she has always kept hidden when I mentioned how my target hunted. However, I was confident in Shepard to retain the professionalism that would help draw her out.”
“Did you succeed?”
Samara nodded. “From the shadows, I watched her work through the crowds and show the disciplined strength that the Ardat-Yakshi was drawn to. From the club I followed them to her apartment and would hopefully rescue Shepard in time and destroy my target.”
“But it didn’t happen that way, did it?”
The justicar shook her head. “No. It did not.”
On Morinth’s lap, Nora traced her fingers beneath the fronds of the asari’s head. Shepard’s mouth latched on Morinth’s, the lingered taste of the sweet drinks on her tongue. In her lust clouded mind, Shepard knew the danger she courted. She hoped Samara would show up soon, since she knew when the worst was going to happen. With Morinth’s head cradled in her hands, she pulled back from Morinth’s kiss and whispered, “Feels good, doesn’t it?”
“Always,” Morinth hissed, her arms wrapped around Nora’s torso. “Would you do anything for me?”
“Anything,” Shepard said as she claimed Morinth’s mouth again. This time, the survival instinct cleared away the passion and the adrenaline began to flow, ready to spring the trap.
Morinth, then switched their positions so that the asari now leaned over Shepard. The ardat-yakshi, between breaths, moaned, “Tell me you’d die for me...”
Shepard noticed that Morinth’s mouth had not moved. The asari’s eyes had also become the unsettling dark that she had seen in Liara and Shiala. However, when she felt Morinth’s attempting to gain access to all that Shepard was, she closed herself off.
“No.”
Immediately, the meld was broken and the asari quickly put the pieces together and realized she had been played for a fool.
The door burst open and in walked Samara.
Unkind words were exchanged between parent and child.
Their power came to a stalemate.
Both appealed to Shepard and she had made her choice.
The images of Diana, her face streaked with tears at the loss of her only source of joy, caused a scowl of unbridled anger and hate in Shepard’s face as she knocked the Ardat-Yakshi off balance.
As the justicar closed in, Morinth had proved her resourcefulness once more. A canister of Minagen-X3 was right beneath the couch. She had hurled it towards her assailants and with what little biotic strength she had left, crushed it, causing the container to explode.
Minagen-X3, a far more potent and simultaneously lethal version of Red Sand, spread through the room and into Shepard’s lungs. After the first cough, Samara could feel the eezo nodes in Shepard’s body expand with untapped and unstable power.
The analyst in her came to the conclusion that, at face value, Commander Shepard was aggressive and closed off. Probably for good reason, but it still didn't remove the sting from her glare any faster. She wanted to help, but she wasn't given the chance.
A beep from her console got her to turn back and see the same dialogue box that her benefactor had first used to speak with her.
Be patient and tread lightly. Shepard's shell is hard for a reason.
Just as quickly as it appeared, the chat box vanished. How did her benefactor know about this?
*
Zaeed and Mordin's arrival on the Normandy went along without incident, much to Kelly's relief. However, when Archangel, which turned out to be the famous, or infamous depending on whom you asked, Garrus Vakarian, things had taken a nasty turn. Kelly's only indication of what happened was overhearing Garrus yell out a warning to Shepard before hearing his strained voice over the comm.
On a stretcher, Dr. Chakwas and Mordin, along with a nurse, wheeled the critically injured and possibly dying turian into the medical bay.
“You hear me, Vakarian? Don't you dare die on me or else I'll kill you!” Shepard screamed as the large metal doors closed only inches from her face.
Aware that she wouldn't be allowed as they operated, Shepard stood just in front of the closed doors. Slowly, her head dropped and it lightly tapped against the metal as she leaned into the immobile doors. From the other end of the mess hall, Kelly and a few other members of the crew watched silently as their commander, stood still as a statue, helplessly willing the doors to open to be with her friend.
Kelly had overheard the elation in her voice when Shepard had discovered Archangel to be her old squadmate. Now, however, his life was hanging by a thread and their Commander seemed lethargic at the prospect of losing him.
Her courage gathered, Kelly walked to Shepard's side. From her view, Kelly could see Shepard's face scrunched up in and her eyes tightly sealed in frustration.
She's holding it in, Kelly thought, her demeanor neutral, but her heart pained. Shepard was suffering and a part of Kelly wanted to hold her close and tell her all was going to be well. Shepard's earlier conduct aside, the Yeoman hated to see people in pain, especially emotional pain, since a swab of medi-gel couldn't heal these kinds of wounds.
In a tiny voice, Shepard, whispered, “...all my fault...”
Kelly blinked once. “Commander?”
Now with Kelly's presence registered, the glare from earlier returned. The same exhausted and angry woman Kelly saw earlier had returned and Kelly got the hint to leave. However, she said as confidently as she could, “If you want, Commander, I can inform you when the operation's over.”
Shepard's gaze was steady, the implants in her eyes were hard to miss due to the soft red glow, and unwavering in her distrust. However, the weariness overcame her and she nodded before turning back to the elevator.
The yeoman watched the commander shamble into the elevator and sighed when the doors closed.
“Well, it's a start,” she said to no one in particular.
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Shepard's fist collided with the punching bag.
Crack
Shepard's other fist collided with the punching bag.
Crack
Once more, Shepard struck the bag just as hard as before.
From the walkway above the hangar, Kelly looked on. It wasn't the fact that Shepard used the punching bag which gave Kelly pause, it was the fact she had been there ever since they left Horizon. Stripped down to a pair of cargo shorts and a tank top, Nora Shepard was covered in a sheet of sweat from repeated punches against the bag for the last two hours. Each blow, marked by a beastly grunt, with the occasional break wherein she collapsed to her knees to catch her breath, only to start the process once again.
“She's got a lot of heavy baggage in there,” Kasumi Goto's voice mused beside her, which caused Kelly to squeak and hop aside, startled.
The master thief smiled morosely,”Sorry, didn't know you were preoccupied.”
Kelly caught her breath and waved it off. “No worries. But you are right. Ever since Shepard has come on board, she's thrown herself into defeating the Collectors, but I worry about her.”
Kasumi's smile turned mischievous, “Nothing unprofessional, one hopes.”
The yeoman pouted, “No, nothing like that. I'm supposed to be the ship's counselor. I make sure everyone's mentally sound, because that can make just as much a difference as being physically fit. However, they have to come to me. I don't have the authority to order them into sessions.” She paused a moment. “And even if I did, I wouldn't.”
The smile the changed to astonished and impressed, “Remarkable. You're the first psychologist I've met that actually understands how people get better.”
Kelly's own smile turned sad. “Well, the only person I feel that really needs my help the most won't even give me the time of day, let alone speak with me.”
Kasumi put her hand on Kelly's shoulder and gave it an affectionate squeeze. “My mother, bless her heart, told me once that one moment of unbearable patience can mean ten years of peace. But then again, my mother poisoned my father every morning, promising him the antidote on his swift return home after work, to make sure he wasn't philandering, so, what do I know?”
Kelly tried not to chuckle, “Must have made home life quite interesting.”
Kasumi's smile grew amused, “Like you wouldn't believe, however, that's neither here nor there.”
The laughter died down and both women looked to their commander, still punching the bag.
“Shep ran into a friend from her old squad. It didn't end well.” Kasumi murmured.
“How bad was it?” Kelly ventured, not sure if she should have asked.
“I think Shep broke Miss Williams' nose. I could hear the crack from across the yard.”
Kelly winced at the unwanted mental image of Commander Shepard punching Ashley Williams square in the face, her visage twisted in anger.
The master thief turned back to Shepard and muttered, “If I had to make a guess, Shep's like a geyser. She has a lot of heat built up and she has to control how, where, and when she lets it out or else people she doesn't want to hurt will get hurt. That's how she seemed when she helped me.”
All humor vanished from her face as she continued, “Be careful, Kelly. I don't think she wants to hurt you, but if you don't tread lightly, she will.”
The asian woman vanished as her cloak activated, which left the yeoman to dwell upon her warning.
*
“Ms. Chambers?” a computer aided and heavily accented voiced asked Kelly as she made her way to the barracks for her break.
She turned to see both the Quarian, Tali'Zorah and Office Vakarian standing next to each other.
“Oh, Ms. Tali, Officer Vakarian. What can I do for you?” she asked, surprised that both of them had decided to see her at the same time.
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The yeoman had a sneaking suspicion that this had something to do with the commander as they lead her through the door and locked it.
“We know what you're trying to do, Ms. Chambers, but be aware that we won't tolerate Cerberus trying to use anything against her,” the mechanic growled and pointed her finger at Kelly once she knew there was no one eavesdropping on them.
Kelly blinked in confusion, “What?”
Garrus placed a hand on the quarian's shoulder and answered, “What she's trying to say is that while we appreciate you wanting to help Shepard, we've known her long enough to know that Cerberus and a lot of other people often try to 'help' her, but secretly leave a lot of strings attached. We almost didn't find Saren in time because of this.”
Tali shook Garrus's hand off her shoulder and said, “The Council, the Alliance, and now Cerberus. They all want the same thing; to use up Shepard and toss her aside once she's no longer of any use to them.”
Kelly noted the agitation in their voices and nodded, “I know. In fact, I was rooting for Shepard when I got word she became the first human Specter.” She turned to Tali, “Remember the article you wrote about the Reapers not long after the battle of the Citadel? I read that. I read the reports that both of you sent out to the various news sites before the first Normandy was attacked. Shepard was the reason why I joined Cerberus in the first place.”
She made a note not to mention anything about the benefactor that had more or less guided her into Cerberus' good graces.
Garrus' mandibles flexed slowly before continuing, “Knowing full well what they did to the soldiers on Akuze and Admiral Kouhoku?”
The yeoman winced. Those, when she had learned of them, were a definite sore spot amongst Shepard's squad.
“As opposed to what the Alliance and the Council have done once Shepard learned of the Reapers?” she replied evenly.
She could see the quarian's eyes narrow, but Kelly persisted. “I'm not a soldier, nor have I ever pretended to be one. However, seeing Shepard being tossed aside, like you said, by the very people who gave her this responsibility made me realize that the incidents you mentioned or not, Cerberus is the only one that's actively working to fight and prepare for the Reapers. But make no mistake, it's because of Shepard I'm here, not Cerberus.”
Both the Turian and Quarian regarded her quietly for a moment before Garrus said, “If what you say is true, then... I wish you were back on the first Normandy.”
Tali turned to her companion in surprise, “Garrus...”
“She has to know,” Tali turned away as her friend continued, “we knew Shepard for a long year while we were looking for Saren. And during that time, never once did she mention either her youth or Torfan.”
With her arms around her torso as though she were cold, Tali added, “Every time we tried to ask her about it, she would pull away even further. It's a miracle that she still thought of us as friends after all our prying.”
“Shepard always thought about others long before herself,” Garrus reminisced, “we first assumed she was being thoughtful as she helped Tali with her Pilgrimage and me hunting down a psychotic Salarian doctor. However, we both began to notice that whenever she became the subject of conversation, she'd either divert it onto someone else or avoid it altogether. She wouldn't even let us do anything for her.”
Tali answered sadly, “The only person we think ever was able to see Shepard for who she really was, was Liara. But she's not the same person she was two years ago.”
Kelly nodded, downcast. She had heard that Liara T'Soni, once Shepard's only confidant, was no longer the archeologist that Shepard had recruited, but a powerful information broker on Illium, consumed by a need for revenge. The details of their reunion was sparse. She recalled seeing Shepard quite sullen when she returned with Thane Krios and Samara the Justicar. Instead of angry, she seemed emotionally exhausted and went back to her room with not even a glare at the yeoman.
There was something wrong and Kelly Chambers was powerless to do anything to stop it.
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The crew, like Jack, was feeling uncomfortable with the revelation that the Illusive Man had sent them all into a trap. She was simply more vocal about it.
“You have no proof he sold us out.” Miranda countered evenly. Her arms crossed and an unamused frown on her face. “The Illusive Man has his reasons.”
“Both of you, stop. This isn't getting us...” Shepard tried to interject, but a throbbing in her head kept her volume lower than she would have liked as they continued arguing.
“BULLSHIT REASONS!”
“For the short-sighted,” Miranda countered, not letting up an inch, neither she nor Jack noticing their Commander trying to get a word in edge wise. “What we are fighting here, after all, is larger than you or your petty grievances.”
“Listen, Cheerleader, I didn't join up with you people to get fucked over by Cerberus, again!”
“In case you haven't noticed, if the Collectors and the Reapers are not defeated, all of us are going to be as you so eloquently stated; fucked.”
“Miranda, Jack, plea...”
“Fuck that! If I'm going to go down, I sure as hell not going to wait for them to...”
It was then the throbbing in Shepard's head reached an unbearable threshold. Her biotics flared up and she roared, “ENOUGH!” The resulting wave of kinetic energy sent not only the primary combatants, but everyone in the Mess Hall against the walls.
Everyone looked up to see Shepard breathing heavily, the blue field still remained, but before anyone could ask what brought Shepard's action, they realized something was amiss.
Hunched over and shaking, Shepard held her head as though she were fighting a violent headache. What gave them cause for alarm was seeing glowing orange scars appearing on her hands and traveling down her arms and into her uniform. When the fissures reached her face, Shepard screamed in agony once more, sans the biotic burst, and fell over.
“Commander!” Miranda yelled in shock.
“Shepard!” Garrus and Tali said in horror as they and Miranda quickly picked up their ailing commander and drug her to Dr. Chakwas' office.
With an offered hand, Samara assisted Kelly to her feet as the rest of the crew murmured to themselves as to what exactly happened. The yeoman turned to see the Justicar's pensive demeanor. Samara's gaze spoke as if this was something not unexpected. Kelly couldn't help but be curious as she asked, “Why do you think this happened?”
Samara, catching onto Kelly's train of thought, replied quietly, “Things like this do not occur overnight, Ms. Chambers. When Shepard assisted me to hunt for my quarry, something quite similar to this happened.”
Kelly's eye grew wide. “What? Why didn't anyone say anything?”
Samara locked eyes with her, “Because she herself did not fully understand what happened. If you wish, I will explain another time, but not now.”
Before Kelly could press the issue, the Justicar left and returned to her room.
*
In the med bay, Doctor Chakwas' gaze jumped repeatedly from her omni-tool to the screens at her desk. According to the readings, there was nothing that caused the sudden biotic surge which had made a mess of her mental readings and was evidently tearing her body apart.
It had been several hours since the incident and now everyone was back in their quarters, since there was no indication of when Shepard would regain consciousness.
Shepard, stripped of her uniform and now in a hospital gown, twitched continuously. Her breath came in unsteady gasps and her eyelids fluttered in a similar manner.
Aside her bed, Mordin paced back and forth, a single digit tapping against his mouth. “Biotic burst. Biotics usually require control. Lack of control? Unlikely. Argument of Operative and Jack? Probable.”
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“Mental degradation due to Lazarus Project operation? Unknown. Shepard mental stability unknown before resurrection.”
As both doctors continued their analysis of their commander's condition, they failed to notice her movements beginning to show consistence as she slowly got off the cot. Shepard, though upright, still twitched with closed eyes as the scars on her face began to glow an even brighter hue of orange. She staggered on one foot to another as Chakwas realized the the bed was empty.
“Commander! What are you doing? You need to lie down!”
Both doctors moved to restrain their commander before another biotic wave pushed them back and off their feet as though they were gently shoved to the ground. This time, the biotic field did not dissipate, however it reflected Shepard's manner; staggered and unstable.
Nora whipped her head to them, her eyes still closed, and snarled in an otherworldly voice, “DO NOT TOUCH ME!”
Both doctors stared in shock as their commander shambled out and to the elevator. Mordin looked to Chakwas, knowing what needed to be done as he stood up and went to head to Miranda's office across the way, wagering a guess that Lawson would still be there.
Once on her feet, Dr. Chakwas looked back to the mess in the lab and amid the cleaning, she turned to the readings on the cot where Shepard slept. Unsure if what she saw was correct or not, she tapped several keys on the console beside it. She had seen these readings before, but where?
As the door opened to reveal a flustered Miranda Lawson, she had a most unpleasant epiphany as to what happened. Before she could speak her fears, she was interrupted by Miranda.
“What happened? Where did Shepard go?” the operative almost shouted.
“Not sure,” Chakwas replied calmly.
“EDI, do you know where the Commander is?”
The holographic display by the door flared to life as EDI responded, “Commander Shepard is currently in her quarters. She has locked herself in and has inexplicably disabled all overrides, scanning, and all communication. I cannot see or hear her and she placed locks on all aforementioned systems that not even I can crack.”
Miranda turned to Chakwas in surprise, “Since when could Shepard outhack an AI?”
It was then the medic decided to lower the boom. “I may have an idea what happened.” She brought Miranda to the panel she had noticed only a moment before.
The scan of Shepard's head was alight with various whips of additional activity.
Miranda frowned, “Wait a minute, brains don't usually carry this much activity unless something is interfering.”
Chakwas shook her head, “Not something, Operative. Someone.”
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There was also that single line on her console, coming from the Commander's station in her room, in the CIC which almost made Kelly's heart stop.
Report to our quarters at once!
'Our quarters'? Many suspicions floated through Kelly's head as she reached up to tap the door. However, before her hand could touch the cold metal, the door opened, even though the hologram above the lock was inoperative.
Except for the blue glow of the empty fish tank and the light from the stars by the window, everything was covered in a blanket of darkness.
A voice, altered by... something, said ominously, “...enter.”
Kelly gathered what little courage she possessed and walked in. The instant she stepped past the threshold of the cabin, the doors slammed shut.
“C... Commander?”
From the other end of the cabin, a sickly orange hue glowed from where Shepard's bed sat. Kelly's eyes focused to see the Commander, clad only in a hospital gown, completely covered in glowing scars. Shepard's eyes opened and they contained an unearthly green glow. Kelly gasped in horror at the sight.
“Kelly Chambers,” the commander said calmly before she stood up, “I need your expertise. Shepard is broken. She must be restored.”
“But wait,” Kelly said,”How can you say that if you're... oh no.” The yeoman could only think of one possible explanation. The Commander had a separate personality. Commander Shepard was a schizophrenic! How could they have missed this? They took every bit of information on her since the day she entered the Alliance Reserves.
“Do not even pretend to think you understand anything, Kelly Chambers,” the scowl on the Commander's face was different than the one Nora first showed her. The former was condescending and arrogant. The latter was hard and untrusting. The manner of speech. The way Shepard now stood.
It was as if she was someone completely different.
Kelly ventured a question. “What do you mean?”
Shepard's scowl grew. “I'm no mere product of your precious Shepard's mental dysfunction. She is broken enough as it is. No, I'm the culmination of an entire civilization which you revere. I am their legacy. I am also all that is keeping Shepard's body from falling apart.”
Kelly's mind searched for any possible explanation until one possibility remained. “The beacon on Eden Prime... you're... Prothean?”
The one using Shepard's body gave Kelly a cruel smile, “Perhaps there is hope for you yet. Since I prefer not to be referred by this broken woman's name, you may as well refer to me as Echo, since it's the closest approximation of what I am.”
Aware that certain questions could make or break the next few minutes, Kelly asked, “Then what are you?”
Echo's frown grew as though she were insulted with such a question, “If I were to degrade myself in terms for something as simple as you to understand, the closest thing would be akin to your EDI.”
Echo inclined her head to side, which Kelly assumed was an order to sit down. The yeoman complied, her own gaze steady with Echo's.
“Now that your curiosity is sated, we must begin. Once Shepard's mind is returned to a sound state, the body will follow. The head of the Lazarus Project was too sure of herself to realize that all the technology is the galaxy means nothing if the mind and spirit of the user is not in working order.”
Kelly's gaze turned to the side, searching for a question that she had prepared long before she came aboard the Normandy.
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“While that is not the only thing, you are correct. She wonders if she is even Shepard anymore. She wonders if she is any different than the husks the Reapers construct out of the remnants of your people.”
Kelly balked at the notion. “What? How can she believe that? She's still alive.”
Echo narrowed her eyes, “Have you ever perished and returned from the dead before, Kelly Chambers?”
“Well, no, but...”
“THEN BE SILENT! In case you have not noticed, she has been less than cordial with those around her. She has had little time to come to terms with the fact that her life has been restored by mortal means and now she is once again pressed into service by an organization she hates. This cannot continue as it is. You, Kelly Chambers, must restore her sanity or else all is lost.”
Something did not add up, “wait, if that's the case, why are you so intent on ensuring Shepard's survival? It's not like you have any stake in this.”
Echo's eyes narrowed again, “That is no concern of yours. All that you need to know is that Shepard will be waking up soon. By all means, tell her about me. It will bring a bit of amusement to this poorly written tragedy.”
Kelly was about to ask again when Echo twitched noticeably and muttered, “We will speak again, Kelly Chambers.” It grew to an all out shiver before she tumbled backward onto the bed. Only the sound of Shepard's breathing could be heard in the room as Kelly cautiously moved over to the bed.
“Commander?” she asked quietly, tapping Nora's knee.
“Commander?” she asked again.
This time, Shepard's eyes, this time discolored red by the implants, fluttered open. Her right hand reached up to fight back the painful throbbing in her head as she slowly sat up. Nora blinked twice at the presence of the yeoman in her room and the darkness.
She looked around wildly, before turning to Kelly and asked in a near panic, “Chambers... what... how did you get in here? How did I get in here? What happened?”
Kelly kept her hands clenched when she realized just how bad things had progressed. “If I tell you, will you believe me?”
Nora looked into Kelly's eyes for a long moment. Kelly knew Shepard did not have much reason to trust her, however, current circumstances were... unique.
The Commander nodded as Kelly took a seat on the couch.
With as much detail as she could recall, Kelly recited everything Echo had told her.
Shepard, her mouth agape, stared back at Kelly in shock for a whole minute.
The commander then looked down to the floor, her mind reeled at what she had just been told.
Kelly knew it was her time to go. She turned around and padded towards the door as the lights started to come back on.
“Chambers...” Shepard said quietly, but loud enough for Kelly to hear.
The yeoman turned around to see her Commander look to her, this time without the hardened expression. “Do you think you have time for a session? I... I think I need one.”
Kelly gave her the most reassuring smile she could and said, “Of course, Commander.” She was about to open the door, when she turned back to Nora and stated, “And please, call me Kelly.”
The commander gave her a nod, “Thank you, Kelly.”
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“While I agree with the plan, Shepard, I still have my doubts,” the Cerberus agent noted. Not just with the acquisition of the materials, but the idea that Kelly would be their only chance at helping Shepard’s problems when they already had an asari justicar on board.
Nora nodded and asked, “I know, but I am putting my trust in you, because at the moment... I don't want to risk this ship and crew anymore than I have to, just because I got some mental problems at the moment. And besides, you'll have Garrus at your side, you'll be fine,” she ended with a cheeky grin.
Miranda's lips thinned and her eyebrows lowered, “That's what I'm afraid of.” She start a reading off the pad Shepard had given her and started walking back to her office before turning to Garrus and requesting his presence within the hour. He nodded his assent and turned to Shepard with Tali right behind him.
From Kelly's viewpoint, as the rest of the crew filtered out, she was unable to hear the conversation between the Commander, the Quarian, and the Turian. However, she could see several indications that the mechanic was worried sick about Shepard to the point where she embraced Nora and muttered something about assistance. Vakarian placed a hand on Shepard's shoulder, said something, to which Nora nodded, and left the conference room.
“Take good care of her,” Garrus said as he passed by the counselor.
She nodded. “I will.”
While the glowing scars had yet to fade, Shepard’s demeanor had improved dramatically. Kelly had noted, even though Shepard still did not trust Cerberus in the least, she had gained Jacob’s and Miranda’s loyalty not long before, which had made this transition a lot smoother.
“You ready?” Shepard asked Kelly once the rest of the crew had vacated the room.
“Yes, Commander,” she replied professionally.
*
As enthusiastic as Shepard was to start sessions with Kelly, the yeoman could not help but notice how awkward the Commander seemed as she paced the room, unsure where to begin.
For ten minutes, they had experienced a series of failed starts and verbal stumbles. The long and awkward pauses got to them both.
“Don’t worry.” Kelly said to ease Nora’s discomfort, “there’s no real established method at where to begin.”
“You sure? I’m always used to standard operating procedure. I’ve never been good at doing something new,” Nora said despondently.
“The reason why is because everyone is different. Your problems are unique to you. It makes you human,” Kelly offered with an encouraging smile.
Tired of pacing, Nora then took another seat at the opposing edge of the couch, which sat right below her desk.
“I know I asked this earlier, but why not start at the beginning?” Kelly offered, “I promised you that this was confidential and no one, I repeat no one, is going to hear this.”
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Kelly tipped her head. “What makes you feel that?”
Nora’s head drooped, “Horizon. Ash is Alliance all the way and it wouldn’t surprise me at all to find she’s working for both. Just like I did. Makes me scared that they’ll screw her the way they did me. They put me up on a pedestal and look how well it worked out?”
The counselor was confused. “You saved us all? True, the council never believed you, despite all evidence to the contrary, but there are people that still believe you. You still have people that trust you.”
Nora snorted cynically as she glared at the other end of the room, “Yeah, but the malcontents and the misfits are not going to save the galaxy when you’re the only ones that know the dangers are coming first hand.”
Kelly closed her eyes for a moment, gathered her thoughts and said, “For what it’s worth, Commander. I believe you. I always believed you. You’ve beaten the odds before and believe you’ll do it again.”
The hardness of Nora’s eyes broke as she turned to the yeoman. “Even after how horribly I treated you?”
The younger woman nodded and answered, “It’s part of the job. You’ll often meet people that are hard, confrontational, bellicose, and more. And their reasons are valid to a degree. However, more often than not, people that seek help on their own have a better chance at recovery. They’re proactive instead of reactive. That’s always good sign.”
There was a pregnant pause in the room as Commander Shepard considered her words. From what Kelly could deduce, Shepard could have been repeatedly praised for her skills as a soldier. However, commentary about her as a person seemed far more sparse.
Nora shrugged, “If it can help deal with Echo, then I’m all for it. I doubt a scalpel will fix this, since my brain has progressively become more prothean than human in the past few years.”
Kelly giggled, “I wouldn’t worry too much. We’ll get through this and then you can become the same Commander Shepard that saved us all a few years ago once more.”
Nora joined her laughter for a moment before an epiphany stopped the chuckle.
“I think I know where to start now.”
Kelly’s face lit up with relief, “Wonderful.”
With a sigh, Shepard stood up and walked to the window on the other side of the cabin. She placed her hand against the glass and began,
“What I am about to say, I have not told anyone. It shows how much trust I’m putting in you, Kelly.”
Aware of the gravity of the situation, Kelly placed her data pad on her side and leaned forward to listen intently as Shepard turned back to her.
The Commander seemed scared as she stated in a low voice, “I’m not Nora Shepard. The real Nora Shepard died fifteen years ago.”
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The yeoman struggled to regain her composure as she asked, “Who... who was the real Nora Shepard then? What happened to her?”
The smile vanished from Nora’s face as she answered sadly. “Nora Shepard was the only friend I ever had, growing up in the slums of Old Los Angeles. She was like me; a sand dropping: kids born from crack whores, addicted to Red Sand.” She took a deep breath before she continued, “Unlike me, she was disfigured and crippled when she was born. Almost didn’t make it. Never could figure out how I made it to term perfectly healthy while she ended up looking like... the way she did. Either her mom was beaten or, I’m guessing, she had Proteus Syndrome. Either way, she wasn’t going to last long and both of us knew it. ”
Kelly hung on every word the older woman spoke as she tried to fight back the imagery of the individuals they were and the hardships they no doubt faced.
“Nora... she... you couldn’t find a nicer girl in the whole damn galaxy. She couldn’t feel malice or hate against anyone, even against the Reds.”
“Don’t you dare!” Ann snarled, her teeth bared, ready to bite if needed as Finch and Crumb closed in, being the only thing standing between them and Nora with a stash of food left over from an annexed section the Reds had taken over from the Twelfth Street Blues after a turf war.
“Piss off, Ann!” Finch, despite being smaller and a year younger than the fourteen year old Ann, threatened as he and his toadie closed in.
“If you want to wake up wondering where your balls went, Finch, you’ll clear out! We found this first!” Ann growled, brandishing a broken pipe. She would have swung the bar at Finch’s head had a bloated hand not gently grasped her elbow.
Ann kept her gaze on their assailants, but switched it to Nora, who limped forward with an armful of the food they had found, much to the confusion of all involved.
“Here,” Nora said in a hoarse voice and placed a bag of unspoiled bread and candy in Finch’s hand. Nora tried to smile, but the various tumors that encompassed part of her head, covered by a hood, made it difficult. Regardless, she nodded and walked back behind Ann.
Finch and Crumb looked between the bag and to Nora before the former mumbled, “You got lucky this time, Ann.” With that, they left.
Ann wasn’t sure whether she was merely hungry, frustrated, or angry, but she was ready to scream at Nora for what she did. However, Nora had interrupted her and said gently, “They were hungry, like we were. There’s more than enough.” Once again, Nora Shepard, had lived up to her name. She had diffused the justified anger between two parties and had enabled both of them to avert a potentially violent scuffle.
“I’m sorry, Nora,” Ann mumbled, ashamed as the iron pipe slipped from her grasp to land unceremoniously on the floor.
There was no reproach as the disfigured girl wrapped her only good arm around Ann’s shoulders warmly.
“She sounded very kind,” Kelly said as she fought back the tears that clouded the corners of her eyes.
The older woman nodded as she too fought back the anguish in her eyes. “She was everything I wanted to be in a person. She always saw the big picture and wanted to make sure that things would work out in the long term. She was smart. Made me realize that I had to be smart too, if I wanted to survive. She kept me alive all those years.”
They both knew the inevitable question that would come next. “What happened to her?”
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The yeoman closed her eyes and allowed the Commander a moment to collect herself. For all she knew, they just scratched the surface. Kasumi’s warning came back as she figured it would be best to let this subject go for now.
“How’d you escape from the Reds?”
Shepard took another breath, aware that they had to continue, “Well, once the church got torched, the Reds blamed the Fourteenth Street Bones for it. It was a stupid move, since you need nothing less than Riot Cops to deal with those guys. It turned out to be a mistake, since the resulting turf war made the top Reds realize they needed to expand in other ways if they wanted to survive.”
She shrugged and said, “So, they wanted to use me as a honey trap to blackmail an up and coming senator so they could get the resources they needed to take down the Bones.”
Kelly blinked, “Wow, really?”
‘Shepard’ chuckled bitterly, “Yeah. I think one of the heads of the gang saw it some movie. Must have been one of those pre-holo vid black and white ones. Because it was a stupid plan from the start.”
“I assume it didn’t go well?”
Nora shook her head and snickered darkly, “Me and two other guys were going to set it all up. Too bad they didn’t think I’d gotten tired of their stupid gang wars and would use that chance to get out. And as luck would have it, the Reds that were supposed to keep me in line ended up dying in a car crash. I would have died too had my biotics not manifested. So, I took their credit chits, bribed the cops to say I died, hitch hiked up to Alaska and once I turned eighteen... well, you can figure out the rest.”
The yeoman nodded and said, “You used Nora’s name to register yourself in the Alliance military. Since you had no birth certificate or holo print, they couldn’t verify that were not Nora Shepard.”
Nora sniffed once and leaned against the head of her couch. “Yeah. Turns out that while you can only fake your way through so many of their assessment tests, being a biotic gives you certain advantages.”
The smirk on the older woman’s face faded as she finished, “I wanted to honor Nora. Be the person she never got a chance to be. Granted, I haven’t always succeeded. I still lose my temper every once in a while.”
Kelly gave her an encouraging smile, “I’d say averting a galaxy wide genocide counts for something.”
Nora laughed. “If it stopped them dead in their tracks, then I’d feel better about myself.” Her smile faded ass she shook her head, “The Reapers are still out there. The Council and Alliance still don’t believe me. No one’s getting ready for the invasion and we’re chasing the Collectors.”
Kelly looked to her omni-tool’s time display, noting that time had gone faster than she realized.
“Time’s up?” Nora asked, the exhaustion in her eyes evident.
The yeoman shook her head, “We can keep going if you’d like. Otherwise, we can stop here for today. I got a feeling that this may take a while, so, I believe it’d be best if we took it slow. Give yourself a chance to rest.”
Nora contemplated Kelly’s offer for a moment before she nodded. “Probably would be a good idea if we continued tomorrow. I’ll keep in touch with Miranda and Garrus to make sure the material acquisition goes on as scheduled.”
Kelly stood up slow and offered, “I can get the reports from them if you’d like?”
The commander nodded once. With their time done, Kelly walked up the steps to the door before Nora said, “Kelly?”
“Yes, Commander?”
Shepard’s mouth was open, with the desire to say something in particular. However, she changed her mind and said, “See you at breakfast tomorrow.”
The counselor’s smile returned as the door opened. “Yes, Commander.”
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Back at her console, Kelly filled out her reports and kept the details of her sessions with Nora private. Despite the pride she felt at her recommendation by the Illusive Man, their recent escapade with the ‘disabled’ Collector vessel had brought doubts into her mind as to whether or not he would respect the privacy of Shepard’s condition.
How is Shepard?
The chatbox appeared at the upper left corner of her screen again. Her benefactor had contacted her at intermittent intervals, possibly to ensure that their system was not compromised.
Time was short, so, Kelly kept her response to the point, which would keep the confidence Shepard put in her.
Kellygirl: She’s not healed, but she’s getting there.
There was a slight pause before her benefactor answered.
Good. Please be diligent.
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As the rest of the Normandy’s squad was out, the Prothean had summoned Kelly to Shepard’s room. At the moment, Shepard was supposed to be asleep, however, Echo had other ideas.
“That is not for you to decide, Kelly Chambers,” the woman who took Shepard’s body in thrall, said, “I have observed your progress, or lack thereof, and I have to say how rather displeased I am with you.”
Now it was Kelly’s turn to frown, “I’m sorry, but the human mind is a far more delicate thing than you realize. You can’t just expect some instant treatment to suddenly change behavior ingrained in someone’s mind after years of first hand experience.” The Prothean had shown to be impatient and condescending, which did little to improve Kelly’s opinion of her.
Echo scoffed, “Of course. You humans and your insistence to coddle will keep you from reaching the same greatness the Protean Empire did.”
Kelly anger reached a threshold as she noted curtly, “And look what happened. The last of your people; twisted and mutated to become nothing more than slaves to the Reapers.”
The yeoman stood her ground as Echo ignited Shepard’s biotics, as though she were to use them to harm Kelly. However, the Prothean, her eyes still locked in anger with Kelly’s, sat down on Shepard’s bed and muttered, “Perhaps you’re not as spineless as I thought you were. However, it’s a good thing that my people are dead, or else your race would have been wiped off the face of the galaxy long ago.”
Kelly’s gaze was broken as she asked, “What do you mean?”
Echo’s scowl returned in force, “How do you think the Prothean Empire was able to grow the way it did? By the Mass Relays and the Citadel alone? You naive, simpleton! We took over the entire mass relay system and ground anything that would offer a hint of resistance into dust!”
The yeoman’s face turned from anger to disgust as Echo continued to rave, “I’ve seen the people of this cycle argue and discuss about how the once great Prothean Empire had vanished, but never once did they ever think to how we came to prominence. How else are empires established? On the bodies of democracies, republics, and more! Imagine the relentless slaughter of every lesser species that dared to tread upon the galaxy the Prothean Empire claimed as their own!”
The redhead kept her anger in check as Echo could feel her discomfort and smirked, “Disappointed? It’s the way things are, little one. The strong crushes and consumes the weak. And the Protheans were strong, thanks to the technology we gained.” The smile vanished and she leaned against the coach and looked to the side in reminiscence. “To think we were once a very spiritual people.”
The Prothean stood up and walked to the wall. “All life is governed by The Law. All civilization is sustained by the letter of The Law. All joy is found in the spirit of The Law. All truth is at the heart of The Law. And only by the spirit of The Law, can we abide by the heart and letter of The Law.”
Kelly was no longer angry, but confused as Echo turned to her, the belligerence gone and replaced with sorrow as she took a glass filled with water and took a drink. “That was the wisdom the gods granted unto the Protheans before they reached the stars. It saved a race, ready to die by its own hand. It was a blessing which brought untold prosperity to our people.”
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Kelly could guess where this conversation headed. “The Protheans forgot their gods, I take it?”
Cracks started to appear on the glass in Echo’s grip as the Prothean nodded. “Yes. At first, the advances we discovered from their technology catapulted our own ahead nearly a millennium. Then the Citadel came along and soon, our leaders became convinced that the gods favored us to the point where we spread throughout all the galaxy. They wished to spread ‘The Law’ to the lawless sectors of the galaxy and they did, in rivers overflowing with the blood of lesser species.”
In spite of Echo’s anger, she noticed the glass about to break and placed it on the table. “When the spiritual leaders cried for forbearance, our leaders’ lust for power and dominion had overtaken them and every image and aspect of the The Law was removed. It did not take long for us to completely forget our origins and the gods which spared us from our own foolishness.”
“Then the Reapers came.”
The Prothean nodded, “Then, the Reapers came. We had been played for fools. As the slaughter of our people continued, we cursed the gods and wished to die as our empire crumbled about us. Perhaps it was the last thing they could grant us, as our day of grace had long since passed.”
While Kelly was no active subscriber to any particular belief, she had seen faith assist in the recovery of a few of her patients and was certainly not one to disparage anyone in it.
“So, what was the point of placing yourself in the beacon?” Kelly asked.
Echo slammed her fist on the table, “Revenge! Whatever your precious Shepard was informed of by Vigil on Ilos is only part of the truth. We held no moral imperative to save you petulant children, as you go about throwing fits as to whom has the most money, political influence, or largest military. Your annihilation draws closer and those in power would toss aside the warnings of the only ones that know, simply because she exterminated a nest of festering insects!”
It didn’t take Kelly long to understand what Echo referred to.
“Torfan,” she whispered in understanding.
The order from command had come in. The very same raiders that had attacked Mindoir all those years ago had been repulsed at Elysium two years prior by some unknown lieutenant. Now, they called in Shepard and her group to finish them off.
All her men had known what they faced, however, they felt more apprehension after they had seen Shepard with a particular look in her eye. Every piece of information on Torfan was downloaded to her console and she had become obsessive to ensure that everything was current.
The rumors began to circulate. All they heard was that she was from Alaska. Her biotics, while not as refined as those in the Ascension program, were strong enough to take anyone in a fist fight. The level of obsession she showed to think ahead made her more fearful, since no one could ever figure out where they fit into her plans.
Despite their survival, Shepard’s skill in planning had given her a notoriety. She had brought success, but often at a cost.
And Torfan was the heaviest cost they ever paid.
For every batarian raider that fell, one more of her squad had fallen in turn. However, Shepard had smelled blood. Gone was the tactician, here was the Butcher. In front of her men, she had shot a soldier in the leg who had attempted to desert. Aware of the construction of the buildings the raiders used, she had snuck behind their lines and had left a bloody stain of a batarian’s head from a point blank shot from a hand cannon.
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They begged for mercy.
They pleaded for their lives.
When Shepard turned to the remainder of her men, her voice said, “Fire!” her eyes, however, said, “No Survivors.”
“Mission complete...” she muttered and spat out some blood that had seeped into her mouth.
She ordered her men to return to the surface to radio their transport out. She stayed behind because she still saw one batarian still alive. The raider struggled to keep his throat open to get some much needed air as Shepard walked up to him.
Shepard, amid deep breaths, locked eyes with the batarian. The raider tried and failed to spit out something, anything at her.
His last attempt at defiance caused a smile to creep across Shepard’s face as a deep cackle emerged from her throat.
She quickly pulled out her pistol and shot him in the limbs. She knew he didn’t have the strength to scream. She was going to relish this. Just like back in Old Los Angeles.
Her omni-tool flashed on and acquired a reading of the batarian’s heart rate.
The indication showed his heart beat go slower...
...and slower....
...and slower...
…and stop.
For good measure, she raised her pistol and shot him in the head.
Shepard then quivered violently and moaned a deep, sensual exhale. Her rage was exhausted. Another predator dead.
The Butcher of Torfan was satisfied.
Echo smirked, “It’s always disappointing to learn how flawed your heroes can be.”
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“How is Shepard?” Samara asked in her usual stoic voice.
“She is getting better, but it’s a slow process,” Kelly said evenly.
“That is good to hear.”
“Now, what was it you said about this event that’s happened before with Nora?”
The soft blue light dimmed from around the Justicar as she stood up and walked to the window.
“Not long before this event occurred, I requested Shepard to assist me in hunting a criminal from asari space. A hedonistic murderer that feels nothing for the suffering she caused. Do you know what an Ardat-Yakshi is?” the asari said as she turned to Kelly.
Kelly tilted her head and said, “Only in rumor. But is it like the succubus from the legends from our homeworld?”
Samara nodded. “I have heard of such human legends and it is an appropriate simile. It hunts particular types of people and uses her charm to lull them into her trap and kills them. I requested Shepard to assist me in hunting one such individual. However, it was amid our conversation did I realize that Shepard had taken a vested interest in this hunt of mine.”
Kelly blinked, “How so?”
“Old wounds are opened when familiar territory is tread. I almost missed it, but I could see an anger, a rage she has always kept hidden when I mentioned how my target hunted. However, I was confident in Shepard to retain the professionalism that would help draw her out.”
“Did you succeed?”
Samara nodded. “From the shadows, I watched her work through the crowds and show the disciplined strength that the Ardat-Yakshi was drawn to. From the club I followed them to her apartment and would hopefully rescue Shepard in time and destroy my target.”
“But it didn’t happen that way, did it?”
The justicar shook her head. “No. It did not.”
On Morinth’s lap, Nora traced her fingers beneath the fronds of the asari’s head. Shepard’s mouth latched on Morinth’s, the lingered taste of the sweet drinks on her tongue. In her lust clouded mind, Shepard knew the danger she courted. She hoped Samara would show up soon, since she knew when the worst was going to happen. With Morinth’s head cradled in her hands, she pulled back from Morinth’s kiss and whispered, “Feels good, doesn’t it?”
“Always,” Morinth hissed, her arms wrapped around Nora’s torso. “Would you do anything for me?”
“Anything,” Shepard said as she claimed Morinth’s mouth again. This time, the survival instinct cleared away the passion and the adrenaline began to flow, ready to spring the trap.
Morinth, then switched their positions so that the asari now leaned over Shepard. The ardat-yakshi, between breaths, moaned, “Tell me you’d die for me...”
Shepard noticed that Morinth’s mouth had not moved. The asari’s eyes had also become the unsettling dark that she had seen in Liara and Shiala. However, when she felt Morinth’s attempting to gain access to all that Shepard was, she closed herself off.
“No.”
Immediately, the meld was broken and the asari quickly put the pieces together and realized she had been played for a fool.
The door burst open and in walked Samara.
Unkind words were exchanged between parent and child.
Their power came to a stalemate.
Both appealed to Shepard and she had made her choice.
The images of Diana, her face streaked with tears at the loss of her only source of joy, caused a scowl of unbridled anger and hate in Shepard’s face as she knocked the Ardat-Yakshi off balance.
As the justicar closed in, Morinth had proved her resourcefulness once more. A canister of Minagen-X3 was right beneath the couch. She had hurled it towards her assailants and with what little biotic strength she had left, crushed it, causing the container to explode.
Minagen-X3, a far more potent and simultaneously lethal version of Red Sand, spread through the room and into Shepard’s lungs. After the first cough, Samara could feel the eezo nodes in Shepard’s body expand with untapped and unstable power.
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