chapter 21

Once the final piece of Geth salvage was secured inside the transport crate securely, Jason went about tinkering around with a few more of his side projects while everyone else walked around on eggshells or went about their day. Wrex was in the mood to reminisce about the good old days as Jason listened carefully, even though he was in the middle of another combo weapon, though he knew for a fact that it would never get finished before they reached Arcturus, which was in less than an hour.

Since yesterday, he built Jackson his own combat drone that was red and similar to his own Maximus design and presented a working prototype of a Shocker EMP grenade mod that worked perfectly against several spare suits of low grade armor they set up inside the firing range lanes for a test. Tali had taken no less than fifty of them to her own weapons' locker for safe keeping as everyone else seemed to be impressed with the idea of an EMP device in the handy package of a grenade, a guaranteed weapon schematic that the Alliance would pay dearly for.

Speaking of money, Jason had also sat down to get his growing finances in order, making several accounts to store his money as well as doing the usual investing and marketing options that he knew for a fact would yield lots of revenue in a very short while as well as setting him up for success in the future. While they were at Arcturus, he planned on unveiling several of his creations as well, because the Shocker ammo mod was the only thing the Alliance had seen so far as he carefully packed everything else he planned on dragging along to hopefully distract the eggheads long enough for him to pull a Houdini and escape into thin air.

John had told him this morning at breakfast he should report to the medical bay for a preliminary exam before they hit Arcturus and it had gone smoothly, though Jackson was in a fit of giggles after they had left because Jason had done his usual routine of creeping people out when medical implements were nearby a little too well because Dr. Chakwas was helping herself to an early morning drink from her secret stash after they had left, which earned yet another set of high fives and a chuckle once they reached the cargo bay.

On a side note, he was also cleared for active duty because Dr. Chakwas was stunned at the level of progress he had made in the direction of recovery, though he had a feeling telling her that he would be right as rain within twenty-four hours of being injured, the poor woman had enough to deal on her plate.

"If you all look out the starboard side of the ship," Joker's voice could be heard over the intercom, "you will see the marvel of human engineering at its finest and because the star behind it makes it look real pretty."

Jason snorted as he laid the unfinished weapon aside for now and put away his tools while everyone that would be going onto Arcturus, which was the entire ground team and a few members of the off duty crew, gathered around the cargo bay because the Normandy would be landing inside of its very own hanger bay.

"Nervous?" John asked he stepped up next to Jason.

"More than I'd like to admit," Jason answered as he pulled on a jacket and tried to look unimportant as possible, "did the deal go through?"

For an answer, the other man simply turned to look at Tali, who was literally bouncing up and down on her toes so rapidly it was difficult to watch without getting nauseous before he looked back at Jason with a deadpanned look, "You couldn't tell?"

"Right, had a few things on my mind."

"…."

Jason sighed as he pulled the pair of modified pistols out of his jacket and tossed them into his locker, "Fine."

John simply gave him another hard look before Jason unclipped his grenade belt and stowed in inside of his locker as well, giving John a glare in return before crossing his arms and scowling at the floor.

"This is so exciting!" Tali chirped as she cradled an external fifty terabyte hard drive like a newborn child carefully in her arms, "They'll have all of the equipment necessary to run a complete diagnostic on all of the data we've managed to collect!"

Jackson reached over with a massive hand and laid it gently on the top of her head so she would stop bouncing, "Deep breaths Tali, you need to calm down before you hurt yourself."

Tali made a pitiful squeak, "I'm sorry, I can't help it."

"It's alright Tali," Jane smiled as they felt the deck plating beneath their feet bump into something outside of the ship, no doubt the landing sequence, "the Alliance R&D team will be happy to have your expertise on these matters and they will be handing over a copy of all their findings before we leave."

Jackson now had to use his elbow in order to hold her down as Tali all but squealed in joy before she tackled Jason in a crushing bear hug while everyone present simply sniggered at the sight as Jason managed to stay on his feet this time.

"Tali, be careful you might hurt the," Jason felt a blush flush across his cheeks after he made the sudden connection of what he was saying, "data."

It was like everything had frozen in time, though she had managed to pounce him and wrapped her legs around his waist and one arm around his shoulders, she still held onto the hard drive with one hand, protectively tucked into her body as Jason found himself holding her in order to support her weight while carefully adjusting his balance.

(Jane Shepard refuses to confess that even to this day she still gets starry eyed while her husband could be seen nodding his head yes in the background.)

That moment would have lasted forever if it wasn't for the awkward flash on an omni-tool and then another, the culprits were soon discovered to be none other than Jackson and Garrus.

"Just kiss her already," Jackson said as he deactivated his omni-tool, which Jason vowed to hack until he had removed that significant picture, "God, people call me dense."

Jason and Tali separated like the other had been on fire, though Jason found himself cradling the hard drive while Tali's fingers seemed to be fidgeting ten thousand miles an hour as the awkward silence was broken as he stepped closer, "Uh here is your data."

"Oh right," Tali babbled as she gently took it from him and nervously bobbed her head, "thank you Jason."

MUST RESIST SOUNDING CLICHÉ!

"Anytime."

MAN CARD DOWN! MAN CARD DOWN!

John coughed to get everyone's attention as the rear cargo bay door began lowering, "Alright everyone, you know what you have to do, keep your omni-tools handy in case we have to leave in a hurry."

Jason let out a deep huff after Tali followed the half dozen or so Alliance technicians before he felt Jackson step up next to him, "Ready for Hell?"

Jackson opted to crack his neck and shoulders as they began walking forward, towards the gaggle of medical personnel massing at the loading ramp, "I was born ready."

"Shall we take no prisoners?" Jason knew from the panicked look on Jane's face that she had heard him and more importantly saw the evil smile creep across his face.

A cackle that set even Wrex on edge came from the taller twin as everyone cast a wary eye in their direction, "None that will live."

To say the medical staff was nervous when they watched the demonic aura flare up around each person they were to be testing this afternoon was a massive understatement.

"There they go," John said to his wife, "a pair of unknowns into the lion's den with nothing more than their wits and talents at their sides."

"God help the unfortunate who have angered them," Jane finished for him as she sighed, "I really think we should invest in some behavioral counselors for those two, to help them you know?"

John scoffed at that idea, "There is no changing those two, they have looked into the dark abyss and came away touched, and no one can change that."

"Just like us?" John looked down to give his wife a brief kiss.

"Just like us."

XXX

"The data streams appear to be self-replicating lines of code in every single instance," Tali narrated as she found herself in the center of attention by no less than forty people crowded around her new work space, "given the fact that each program is considered a single Geth, it is remarkable how they are capable of existing as single programs."

"Then how do they function without flaw?" A voice popped up from somewhere in the back.

"Geth are an advanced collection of artificial intelligence programs working together towards a common goal, there is no individualism or concept of singular programs in the vast network generated by each platform working in tandem with each other," Tali explained, "the Geth are not so much as robots walking around, but the programming inside each platform are the Geth themselves."

Excitement and surprised muttering could be heard as Tali continued to delicately fine tune the computer mainframe that was dedicated for this very lab, one billion terabyte processor to be exact as she forced herself to not seek out and find the coolant towers that were warming up due to the eight percent CPU influx because this was the most powerful computer she had ever been near. Much less heard of, who could possibly have the resources and technology to dedicate such a massive computer system to only one function, a glance around the room reminded her how lucky it was for a species to have multiple planets and a somewhat relevant relationship with the rest of the galaxy at large before she got back to work.

In fact there was quite a bit of work she do as well as run the diagnostics…

XXX

John Shepard knew there were only a few certain things in life, taxes were due every time you turned around wondering how much was in your banking account, when in doubt something vitally important would always fail, gravity was a universal force that was a law unto itself and karma could always be found stabbing you in the back.

Comfortably nestled behind his favorite rifle peering down the scope at the simulated five thousand yard firing range onboard Arcturus station reminded him to enjoy the little things in life when he wasn't so busy being the first human Spectre or running around after a notorious rouge Spectre that had a penchant for inflicting maximum collateral damage. Then again he would have doubted very much that he would have ever run into the people that currently made up his team if he hadn't joined his wife on this assignment, started out on Eden Prime with the beacon and now it was a race against time to avoid the end of life in the galaxy as he knew it.

A glance at the scoreboard above his head brought a smile to his face before he dropped back down behind the scope and took his shot.

"Damn," Garrus cursed as the overhead scoreboard brought up the final tally, "I lost?"

John chuckled, "What did you expect Garrus? I have broken some of the biggest records in history when I've got a rifle in my hands, you know that."

"Thought I could one up you Shepard," Garrus grumbled as he picked up his rifle, "best out of thirty?"

A glance at his omni-tool later and John smirked, "Alright, you're on."

XXX

Urdnot Wrex was not what anyone would call a patient individual, but when you had a lifespan several centuries older than most species could ever hope to reach, being patient was a useful skill over time. Even now he waited as the bartender happily slid him over a large glass of Krogan grade alcohol before he took a drink and cast his eyes around the room.

So this place was the training center for human warriors, he'd admit to seeing better over his years, but then again there had been a lot worse he had seen as well in his years as he snorted before finishing his drink.

At least these humans had some backbone, though most of them were uneducated pups when it came to dealing with the reality of battle, though his eyes picked out a few battle hardened humans here and there as he left the cantina in search of something interesting to do. He would have remained onboard the ship if he had known it would be this boring, but then again he had thought there would have been something interesting at this miserable station.

XXX

"I just don't know Commander, I think it looks kind of frilly with the ruffles and such," Ashley said."

"Call me Jane," said commander was busy modeling with a monstrosity of a dress at one of the very few clothing stores on this station, "we're off duty anyway."

"Of course Shepard, though I might recommend against the pink," Ashley shuddered, "it looks way to girly."

"Where is your sense of feminism?" Jane said as she carefully hung the garment back on the rack where it belonged as Ashley snorted.

"Back at basic where I learned to be a solider," her reply was met with a searching look that made her uncomfortable, "I have three sisters, so that is more than enough."

"Hhmmm, I think I might need someone else's opinion," Jane asked out loud as she held up two radically different articles of clothing, "what do you think?"

"Well I wouldn't be caught dead in either one and I think Alenko might have better advice than me considering the fact he is gay." Ashley rolled her eyes.

Jane nodded, "It is really obvious isn't it? Though I think your right."

"Of course I am Shepard, gay men are the perfect wingmen and insight into the male mind without having to deal with someone so stupid you want to gouge your eyes out."

"Speaking of Alenko, think it wouldn't bother him if I sent him a message?"

"I wouldn't bother, he's no doubt busy doing something manly in the presence of desperate women without realizing it."

XXX

Alenko flinched for a brief second before he sat back down, "Sorry about that ma'am, thought my omni-tool was going off."

"No sweat," the twenty something blonde attendant said as he sat back down, "not a lot of men come in here so we're excited to have your appointment this afternoon, even though it was a walk-in."

Rather than answer, he simply hummed a response as he placed the slices of fruit back over his eyes and laid back down as he felt the stylists resume their work.

It was nice to be in a spa where he could finally relax.

XXX

"Aw man," Joker whined as he watched Dr. Chakwas reach for another syringe, "why do there have to be so many needles?"

"Jeff, if I didn't know you so well I'd say this was the first time you saw a doctor," she chuckled as she carefully injected him with his weekly supplement shot before patting him on the shoulder, "now run along."

"Seriously?" The look he shot in her direction was enough to cause a smile to slip across her face, "I'd break my shins before I made it ten feet, unless of course you enjoy hearing the sounds of bones breaking doc."

"Of course not, I uphold the highest standard of my medical oaths."

"Then why do you have to use such big needles?"

XXX

"Are you telling me that we can't hack into the Normandy's mainframe remotely?" A male voice spoke from a darkened room before the soft glow of a cigarette could be seen, "when we have the greatest human minds and computer schematics available?"

"That is correct sir," a cultured feminine voice responded as several holographic displays popped up from unknown points of origin, "as you can see, someone placed Theta level encryption keys in every single firewall and connection to the mainframe, going in or out of the Normandy."

A soft glow from the cigarette was able to cast enough light for a brief shape to be seen, though the glowing iris of each eye stood out in stark contrast of the darkness, "This is a surprising development Operative."

"We also have reason to believe that with the increased level of security, transmission and messages are also monitored for further security," a few of the screens vanished as only a handful remained, "it would appear that our spies would be discovered immediately if they attempted to contact their handlers, so to avoid the risk of exposing themselves, the order has been sent to remain dark and await further instructions."

"Good, but this makes our plans that much more difficult," the sound of glass being tapped gently on a harder surface for a few chinks before the sound of someone taking a drink, "have we been able to track down the team of programmers assigned to upgrade the firewalls on the Normandy for our investigation teams to question?"

"That is just it sir, there wasn't any Alliance, Citadel, STG or even a damn C-Sec programing team sent onboard the Normandy, prior to the firewalls being erected," a brief pause as a single screen popped up with a simple time displayed, "in less than seven hours from the time it began to when it was finished, we sent feelers through the networks in order to get some background on each addition to the crew."

"Any with extensive computer programming and hacking talents?" The time display vanished as several dossiers appeared on screen.

"Neither Garrus Vakarian nor Urdnot Wrex have shown the capacity for the level of programming required to make even a Beta level firewall so they were quickly eliminated from this list, as well as Liara T'Soni, her skills range more in archeology and dead languages then software programming." Each of the named dossiers were crossed off before fading away.

"What about the Quarian?" Another faint glow and another sip, "Could she possibly have done this?"

"Tali'Zorah nar Rayya," a pitifully small dossier appeared onscreen, "given her upbringing and current skill set as a highly gifted engineer, taken from a transcript sent from Jane Shepard herself to Admiral Hackett, it would not appear that she has the familiarity with Alliance databases and from what little we managed to gleam from her omni-tool memory banks before the firewalls were placed was nothing more than Charlie level firewalls around personal information."

A sharp exhale could be heard, "So that leaves the human element of the team, could it have been Shepard?"

"Given the years of schooling and training in hacking fields it would appear that John Shepard could potentially have the skill to make a Delta level firewall encryption program for the whole ship if he managed to have twenty-eight hours uninterrupted," a red slash appeared John Shepard's dossier, "Jane Shepard on the other hand, with twice the training and avocational schooling in networking, software diagnostics and electrical engineering could be our possible target given this level of sophistication."

"You do not believe it was her," the remark was compounded by the red slash appearing over the dossier in question before it too faded from view, "what about the others on the team?"

"Lt. Kaidan Alenko is a renowned L2 biotic and has a more advanced level of training with technical skills and programming, however it is nowhere near the level one would need in order to create firewalls of this magnitude so he is not our man." another red slash before the dossier faded from view.

"Chief Gunnery Sergeant Ashley Williams has no official Alliance training to even hack Beta level entry systems, an amazing training record that most women in the Alliance couldn't compare too, but she is not the source of this security," the last dossier flashed red and vanished as well.

For a moment there was only silence as another glow could be seen, the owner of said cigarette comfortably lounging in a chair as the exhale of smoke could be heard.

"That leaves our two mystery guests who have managed to attract our attention," a set of painfully blank files appeared now, "what do we know so far?"

"Prior to any involvement at Eden Prime is nothing more than traces in networks ranging from Omega to the Citadel in the last three years," another screen appeared giving a detailed trail of computer bread crumbs, "as far as we can tell they seemed to have originated somewhere around Argos Rio System with absolutely no background histories, birth certificates or even a damn omni chat profile."

Another screen appeared, this one detailing an Alliance medical review transcript, "One of our chief medical assets forwarded this message to a handler the moment it was verified that it was real and more importantly, not a hoax by the Alliance, immediately after the Eden Prime incident this was sent from a Dr. Karin Chakwas, resident Chief Medical Officer onboard the SSV Normandy pertaining to each one of the new arrivals."

Only one dossier remained, "Jackson Saint, no middle name, if this report is accurate he is far faster, stronger and smarter than the typical person through the use of mind boggling genetic enhancements that make anything we've ever seen so far look like vitamin shots, no biotic aptitude it would seem, but considering the improvements detailed in the medical report he could be the pinnacle of human non-biotic combatant hands down."

"Most of what I am looking at seems to be unfamiliar," a soft clink of glass being set down, "have our medical researchers begun looking into it?"

"Of course sir, however it is estimated to take no less than a year to even duplicate the results and I ran the figures myself, we would be lucky with a thirty percent improvement on future test subjects with the research we have on hand." The disdained tone could easily be heard.

"Give the project alpha clearance status and triple the budget," the dossier faded from view, "see to it that we manage no less than forty percent."

"Duly noted sir," a final dossier appeared on screen, "and that leaves us with the final mystery guest."

"Jason Saint, no middle name and the younger brother of the two, abnormally high biotic aptitude that has been virtually unheard of in human subjects," the amused clucking of a tongue could be heard, "how did this one manage to slip through our fingers I wonder?"

"We even have first-hand accounts on his biotic skill," a video screen popped up as it began to play, "along with half the bloody galaxy it would seem."

The video of the brothers duking it out in a six against one unarmed fight with seasoned asari commandoes and an asari Matriarch known for her skill as the best biotic master in the last one hundred seventeen years, once the video ended with a surprising turn of events of the brothers winning said fight before a second video screen appeared.

"This was the last video sent from the Normandy, from one Jeff Moreau, the pilot onboard, before the firewall was put in place," as the video began to play there was a moment of hesitation in her voice, "it has been proven too be real by no less than fifty separate video corporations and I had it run through our databases just to make sure."

The stunning twenty-three minute video of a Thresher Maw getting taken down in a rather unorthodox manner was played through without pause before the end credits rolled by.

"One of our research stations was terminated shortly afterwards wasn't it?" Another exhale of smoke.

"Correct sir, in fact we verified through official Alliance channels that no survivors were recovered from the incident as well, however the name of our organization has been revealed since that incident." Another Alliance transcript detailing an after action report from John Shepard could be seen, short and to the point.

"Do we have any record of conducting such a project for creating the Saint twins?" It clearly wasn't a question, "Because it would appear that they are hunting us if I am reading the report correctly."

"It would appear that way," once again both dossiers were brought up on screen, "they are most interesting."

"You believe that one of them was the originator of the firewalls?" A soft hum could be heard.

"It is a possibly sir," another screen appeared with the detailed blueprints of some ammunition mod, "this was reported from official Alliance channels, a never before design to incorporate electromagnetic pulse technology to mass accelerator weapons that has shown promising results in further weapon testing and the design was reported to have been made by one Jason Saint, onboard the SSV Normandy."

"Something troubling you Operative?"

"Before the firewalls were activated, we managed to snare a nugget of data from his personal omni-tool and came to a startling conclusion," another screen showed a random presentation of the data, "the same lines of source code could be found from this message that we've discovered in the firewalls, leading us to believe that a Theta level encryption for the entire ship originated from an bloody omni-tool in less than ten hours sir."

The outline of a hand reaching up to scratch at the chin could be seen, "This is very interesting, what else do we have on him?"

"Nothing yet sir, the Normandy is currently docked with the Arcturus station to hand over an abundance of spare Geth parts and to conduct in-depth medical records for the Saint twins as we speak, our spies will be forwarding all relevant data to us once they have it."

"Good, very good," the sound of an extinguishing cigarette could be heard, "have plans been made for subject retrieval?"

"Yes sir, it'll be difficult to say the least, but I am working on it," all the screens vanished as the back wall revealed a glowing star in the background, casting deeper shadows as it did, "any specifications you wish to add sir?"

"John and Jane Shepard are icons for humanity, they are not to be involved in this operation in any way, retrieve the Brody twins without alerting them to give us more time to secure them." The glowing eyes tilted slightly as the person in the chair seemed deep in thought.

"What about the non-humans sir?"

"They are team mates for a mission both Shepard's have deemed them vital for, if they have to be removed in order for the Saint twins to be taken, no so using non-lethal means." Another clink of a glass being set down.

A distinct silhouette paused near the door, "And if they prove to be a nuisance in our recovery efforts?"

Glowing eyes slid over to land on the person they were addressing, "Then see to it that they are dealt with."

The door slid shut with a silent hiss as the occupant of the chair steeped his fingers in front of his face while the panoramic view of burning star seemed to have his attention.

"It looks as though we shall be bringing our prodigal sons home."