Ch.7 - To Feros

-Normandy Mess Hall

A small trio of crew members was talking about recent ship gossip and events.

One was a calm man with short brown hair, blue eyes, mid-to-late 30's, well muscle, but pale skinned from having served under artificial light too long.

The second was a woman with shoulder length brown hair tied, brown eyes, tanned skin, late 20's and sporting a scowl on her face.

And the last was the most excited, a young man in his early-to-mid 20's with short blond hair, green eyes and a fit but skinny frame.

"So last night, that was… damn." One of the male crew members, Carlton Tucks I believe, said with some awe.

"Yeah. Who knew a person could get into that kind of slugfest against a krogan?" One Marcus Greico put out to everyone.

"That's because they can't. What that Neo did, isn't human." Their third member, Addison Chase, whispered harshly.

"What's with the edge? The guy was badass back there. Made me want to really take working out more seriously. I mean, I have you seen his body?" Carlton replied with admiration.

"I don't care how buff he is! It's just not natural." Addison shot back with an edge.

"What's the big deal? Gene editing's been around for decades and it's not like bionics are a new concept either. He probably got a good bit of both to keep up." Marcus calmly rationalize.

"The big deal is that it still wouldn't be enough! There's gotta be something more to it. I mean, we picked him up at a Cerberus facility right? Who's to know if those bastards fucked with him." The woman said with clear suspicions.

"I think you're blowing this out of proportion." Marcus responded with an eye-roll. "The guy is a bit awkward, but he's nice enough. Helps out around the ship, the ground team and those who recruited him, which include's the Commander, said he's fine, and I feel pretty good for having someone like him aboard."

"Even the Flight Lieutenant's fine with him and he's paranoid as all hell." Carlton added to help make his case.

"Fine! But if that…thing flips on us, I'm throwing you in front of him." A begrudging Addison finally said as she backed down in front of her two crew mates.

It didn't take long for them to leave after putting away they plates, utensils, and trays.

"So…how are you doing?" The carefully treading voice of Tali asked as she sat down at my table.

Her body was fidgeting, I felt worry from her. How…kind of her. Yes kind. Nice. Tali is a nice young woman.

"I am well, Tali. None of my injuries took more than a few minutes to recover from and Dr. Chakwas has cleared me." I answered her query with a small smile.

"Um, that's not what i, I mean, I wasn't talking about that Neo. I meant, are you ok? Hearing what the crew is saying? Doesn't it hurt?" She cautiously and nervously asked.

"I do not believe so." I answered honestly after a moments thought. "I know I am different. Those differences will bring discomfort with some due to them being unknown, hence considered dangerous. I do not hold their ignorance of my circumstances, nor their reactions due to it, against them. I have also long since prepared myself for how others would view me, but I would rather they know my abilities instead of concealing them and it resulting in someone's death."

"That's… really impressive Neo." Tali replied with a slightly envious tone.

"Is it? I did not know." I said to her with a slight shrug as I consumed the Alliance provisions granted to me.

"You've never been bothered by what someone said about you?" My Quarian…friend, I like how that sounds, asked.

"I do not believe so." I answered honestly.

I am not even sure what qualifies as harmful language. Something new to add to my list. My lessons did not cover much in terms of conversations, only orders.

"Lucky." Tali murmured under her breath.

"Why is this a 'lucky' thing Tali?" I asked out of curiosity.

"Wait you heard me say that?! I am so sorry! I didn't mean anything by it!" My friend hurriedly apologized.

"Tali, calm yourself. I take no offense. I merely wish to understand why my lack of sensitivity to the words of others would be considered good or lucky." I softly explained.

It has come to my attention that Tali is easily flustered and seems to lack some degree of self-confidence in general. She tends to blow minor missteps or mishaps out of proportion and exhibits elevated stress levels when she makes mistakes. I hope I can assist her with what I've since researched.

"Oh." She responded in realization as she stiffened and seemed to grow a bit warmer at her face before placing both hands on her helmet. "Keelah."

"Worry not. How about we work out those last few bugs out of my Omni-tool and we take it out for some testing after implanting it?" I suggested as those journals mentioned individuals breaking out of negative emotions when they are focused on pleasant activities.

Tali finds technology and…tinkering very pleasant.

"It's almost done?!" She replied with clear excitement before standing up and grabbing my arm. "Let's go! I really want to see what you can do with it!"

"Of course. Let me put away what I've used and we can go." I said to her with a warm smile as she failed to push me to move faster in her excitement.

For some reason, flashes of those Looney Toons cartoons Joker introduced me to went through my mind as Tali's much smaller body attempted to displace my own.

One…trip down the elevator later, myself and a very excited Tali, began working on our systems to finish debugging different parts.

"Ah Ha! Finished!" Exclaimed the Quarian before she quickly typed a few more things. "Sent it over."

"Thank you. I've finished on my end as well. Now I just need to assimilate these fixed codes and there. One complete Omni-tool." I announced as I finally held the finished product.

"Well, now we have to do the less nice part and actually get it in you." Tali said with some discomfort as she thought about the part where the tool needs to be connected to my biological system.

"It will be fine Tali. It was made for me." I attempted to reassure her with the truth.

And if it becomes a problem, I am certain the Omni-tool can be removed and then i can let my natural abilities heal any traces of it afterwards.

"I still don't like it." She said with a minute grumble, but this is because she does not wish to see me harmed.

"If you are uncomfortable with this next part, you can await my return from Dr. Chakwas'. It is only a minor procedure for an accomplished woman such as she." I responded in understanding.

"No way!" Tali replied rather quickly and decisively.

This must be some of those 'female traits' again.

To do something they clearly aren't comfortable with or were told they did not have to do after being suggested a proper alternative to said discomfortable act.

"If you want. And then we can begin testing all our programs." I acquiesced with a nod as I did want to challenge a female with a 'made up mind'.

At least this seemed to work again to improve her mood, even with the clear waves of worry she was emitting.

Another usage of the lift, which I am debating simply requesting permission to improve, and I find myself with an already warned Doctor.

She has known since we began working on my Omni-tool about the minor procedure necessary for its use. Thus she has had everything ready for some time and simply needed a quick 'heads up' to prepare.

"Are you sure you want to do this Neo? Taking it out would be significantly more painful than putting it in, should such a thing become necessary." Dr. Chakwas warned one last time.

"I am sure Doctor. I wish to be able to help as best I can on the mission. This Omni-tool is a large part of that." I answered her with certainty.

"*Sigh* Very well. Lay down so I can anesthetize you properly." She said with a nod.

"I would prefer to use my natural ability to numb my pain Doctor. I am quite certain I have built a resistance to any anesthesia available at the moment. And even if I didn't, it might be useful in the future to have something which could do work on me." I replied seriously.

"Very well. But I'm strapping you down. I have no desire to deal with any thrashing. Voluntary or otherwise." Dr. Chakwas firmly said, which I fully agreed with.

With that, I focused on myself. My brain. My body. And ordered it to shut down my right arm.

This is essentially an anti-torture ability.

Combined with my adaptability, rendering any drugs anyone utilizes rather ineffective, I could withstand months of abuse.

Unless I am disposed of or something is done which goes past even my body's capabilities.

Regardless. After doing so, I shut off my mind for the estimated time it will take to complete the operation, with 15 minutes added just in case. Slipping away to let the doctor do her work.

One hour and 15 minutes later, I awaken, finding myself on ones of the medical beds with a rapidly fading scar from the procedure and my arm feeling different.

"A success I take it." I stated without any hint of surprise.

"Yes. I would normally suggest a week of recuperation before doing anything with that hand, but you, you will be fine in another half hour at most." Dr. Chakwas said with a knowing smirk.

"Thank you Doctor." I honestly say.

"Don't thank me Neo. Doctors usually take out radioactive materials from a patient's body." She sarcastically replied.

"Nevertheless, thank you. This shall be of great assistance." I say to possibly placate her.

"Yes yes. Go along and play with your new toy." Dr. Chakwas lazily dismissed me.

With a simple nod, I exited the med bay to find Tali on her own Omni-tool as she sat in the nearby mess hall.

For some reason, something inside of me was telling me to message her using my newly implanted device instead of simply greeting her.

With a mental command, the orange light construct appeared around my hand, allowing me to quickly type out a message and send it to Tali.

I see her receive a notification and opening it, then quickly looking over to me as I waved.

The Quarian girl almost sprinted over in her excited state to finally be able to test everything.

"Let's go! I can't wait anymore!" She said as she grabbed my arm and I let her drag me to the elevator.

We quickly made our way to Tali's own 'program testing area', a simple empty area with deployable shielding and some cheap and easy to fix targets laying around.

"So what do you want to try first?" Tali energetically asked.

"The basics. [Overload]." I answered as I readied my program.

She quickly imputed a few commands in her own Omni-tool, bringing over an old security mech over to stand before us.

This unit, affectionately named Dim by Tali, has been broken and fixed on numerous occasions as we worked on Tali's programs. It is dented, with its white paint having faded, been scratched off or rusted over, with quite a few missing functions and completely harmless due to no longer even having aiming modules.

"Ready when you are." Tali said as she distanced herself a bit.

[Overload]

With a single command, I sent a basic electromagnetic pulse from my arm, which hit the mech and caused it to collapse as smoke began coming out of its body.

"I would suggest closing off the shield Tali." I advised as more smoke came out of the mech.

"Right." She replied, quickly imputing a few commands before the shield deployed further to seal the mech in as fire came out of it.

Just in time for it to then explode.

"Do you think this was because of its state before I used [Overload] on it or because my program was too powerful for its level?" I asked as we both began quickly analyzing things and typing away on our Omni-tools.

Just because I did not have mine available, it did not mean I did not know how to expertly use it.

"Maybe a bit of both, but more from you. I think we should have some scanners on you during our next tests to see if it being inside you affects the program used." Tali answered after some thought.

"Possible. There might have also been a synergetic effect due to the uncommon materials used to make it as well. We should also check the diagnostics for Dim, just in case it was simply some faulty wiring which reacted negatively to my [Overload]." I suggested as I finished crunching numbers.

"I'll check while you set up the next target and the scanners?" She offered with a look my way.

With a quick nod, we began to work.

It was rather pleasant to spend a few hours. Testing my programs and building up the correct muscle memory for each one.

Currently we had [Overload], [Cryo Blast], [Incinerate], [Tech Armor], a slew of hacking, decryption and electronics programs, and various other minor ones.

It would still take some time to familiarize myself with the more advanced systems in the galaxy, but with Tali's suggestions and the Commander's Spectre access, I would make rapid progress until I could…'find' those cutting edge ones out of the reach of normal procedures.

But for now, my classification officially changed from [Soldier] to [Infiltrator], the same as Garrus. He is still a more experienced one, but things will even out soon enough.

I have actually been able to gain some experience during the last week.

The Commander's altruism allowed for many opportunities to find one's self in combat scenarios.

A few pirate crews, slavers, gang members, mercenaries, even a Thresher Maw like the others had warned me about. But all of it helped me hone myself.

Every moment of battle allowed me to adapt to the chaos which exists on the battlefield.

Keeping track of targets and bullets, explosions, security systems and also various other things which always seem to try and kill us, using my senses as to not limit myself to eyesight, understanding my body and equipment, teamwork, learning from other squad members and experiencing combat on various planets.

I was building…trust in others on the battlefield. Understanding their skills and habits as we clashed against the 'scum of the galaxy', to know they have 'my back' in difficult or hectic situations. Even Dr. T'Soni, as much as she avoids me, will assist me when necessary.

And I between 'jumps' and flight time, I trained, studied and learnt everything I could to further refine myself. The relativity of time giving us more 'Free Time' within the ship as opposed to how long the jumps 'really take'.

All for it to culminate into our arrival at the planet of Ferros. Located in Theseus system and said system within the Attican Cluster, near the edge of Alliance controlled space.

The planet was a world of ruins. More specifically Prothean ruins.

Habitable by human standards, but the ruined Prothean megatropolis, covering 2/3 of the planet, renders it unwelcoming to colonization efforts. Little open and fertile ground for farming thanks to destroyed buildings and debris littering so much of it, suitable water sources are limited to the poles and already tapped into by Prothean Aqueducts, and even if one decided to simply refurbish the towering remains of a once mighty civilization, it is unknown how stable each is and how much or little it could take for everything to crumble.

This is why I was surprised when I learnt of Zhu's Hope, a colony founded by ExoGeni, the interstellar company specialising in planetary exploration and colonisation.

The main colony is the home for the many scientist and employees working within the ruined Megatropolis, built on top of one of the towering skyscrapers, with Zhu's Hope also having an the outpost and port for the entire colony further out. The main bulk of settlers live closer to the main Exogeni work zone however.

What is odd about Zhu's Hope is the fact that ExoGeni funded and created the colony even with all the challenges and likeliness of failure.

Even odder are the reported scientists stationed there.

I was currently hacking my way through their systems to find out more while paying attention to our briefing.

"So, before getting a bit sidetracked with some business and the introduction of Neo, we received a report that stated Geth sightings on Feros." The Commander explained with a clear voice. "Beyond that, we haven't heard anything from the colony there, but we'll find out soon enough when we land."

"What is a human colony doing on Feros? I've been there during my studies, there is little to find anymore." Liara asked as she raised the exact question I found myself pondering.

"I don't know. ExoGeni is the one who founded it, meaning it's pretty much a privately run colony. Beyond the fact that it has gone dark now and that they had research teams there, all we know now is that Geth were sighted and likely not in a peaceful way." Shepard answered with a sigh as I felt a flash of guilt from her.

'Does she believe herself somehow responsible for the actions of the Geth? How odd. I should discuss this with her at another time.' I briefly thought as I continued my work with limited success.

"Hmm. We're either going to need the Mako or find some landing zones if we need to get anywhere other than the settlement." Commented Garrus as he looked over the data we currently had on the colony's set up.

"I've already prepared it, but we can't be sure the Geth didn't set up any kind of anti-air canons or jamming tech, so we probably won't be able to land anywhere else. If we can even land at the port." Lt. Alenko said, earning a nod from the Commander.

"We'll work with what we've got." She said with confidence.

"I hate fighting in ruins." Grumbled Wrex to my side, in a voice low enough that I am likely the only one to hear it.

"So who's on point with you Commander?" Ashley asked with interest.

"I'll go out with Garrus and Kaiden to scope the place out first. If things are hot then everyone's helping clear the place and if it's not then I want to secure it. We can't have our evac point taken." Shepard answered firmly as she looked for any dissent, finding none.

But it would appear my tampering with my Omni-tool had caught her attention.

"Neo? Were you listening?" She asked with minute annoyance.

Understandable. I appear rude for not paying full attention even if my body and mind allow focus on multiple tasks at once.

"Yes Commander. I was simply trying to understand the reasons behind why so many ExoGeni Scientists are present on a colony. More so on one Dr. T'Soni has pointed out to be without any points of interest." I answered as I linked myself to the holographic projectors in the room. "Especially xeno-biologists."

The image of the various scientists and doctors I found stationed on Feros was displayed for all present to see.

"How did you get this?" Shepard asked with a slight edge.

It was not directed to me, but more to the possibilities this information brings.

"I am hacking through ExoGeni's systems to find more, but the scientists are a matter of public record as colonists. I simply referenced their histories and research to find their specialties. But the matter which eludes me is the 'why?' Why are there so many xeno-biologists on a human only colony, on a planet with no truly alien life forms and without any public projects in the field?" I answered with great suspicions on the happenings on this planet.

I do not trust scientists who conceal themselves or their projects.

"That is weird." Admitted Lt. Alenko as he looked through the data.

"Maybe they found some Prothean remains?" Suggested Dr. T'Soni in an unsure tone.

"This might explain the reason why Sarren and the Geth attacked this colony." Garrus threw out as he mostly guessed. "I mean, he attacked Eden Prime for the beacon, so maybe ExoGeni found something they kept off the books that he found out about."

"Maybe. Good find Neo." The Commanders answered thoughtfully. "But try not to hack into big ass corporations like that too often."

"Understood Commander." I replied with a nod as I temporarily stopped working my way into their systems.

Every link I could find to Feros was closely guarded or kept strictly in closed servers. I would need to link to the ones on site or in the corporation itself to find what I needed at the moment.

"Alright then. This means we keep an eye out for anything suspicious and, if we can't find anything, we add a trip to ExoGeni's main base of operation on the planet for more information." Shepard said with finality. "Dismissed."

With that we all split up to prepare for the relatively inevitable combat we are flying too.

I find it odd, but I do not dislike how much experience I am gaining.

Testing myself against Geth units will be useful.

But for now I am equipping myself with various shock grenades and anti-synthetic tools and systems. Better be prepared than in need.

_______________________________________

EXTRA AUTHOR NOTES:

Hello all.

Still kinda feeling the Mass Effect right now, so here's another quick little chapter.

For some who might think things are going quickly, well it's good to know that Neo showed up after the recruitment of Liara, thus skipping Eden Prime, Citadel stuff and her rescue.

I'm also going with Time being affected while in Mass Effect jumps, meaning more time passes in ship than it does off of it. So they have rest time during jumps and fight various groups while picking ressources and helping some people/complete side missions along the way.

I then chose Feros before Noveria because I can just make so Benezia shows up later instead of everything happening at the same time.

Neo is going to be an [Infiltrator] for the next bit while he gets a proper grip on his biotics and works on his amp, but I am debating if I should even let him have one or use his insane healing and adaption to make him all natural as he becomes a very powerful biotic. But until then he's gonna be a sort of half-way point between Wrex and Garrus. Skilled, strong, a bitch to take down, but can also hack you.

And lastly, Tali is a good girl.

Hope you enjoyed.