19

"Frigate 'Normandy-SR1'

— So, everyone's assembled? — Shepard began. The entire crew, except for Liara, had already gathered in the briefing room. — Well then, let's start.

— We're in a tight spot, — Rex was the first to speak, and everyone immediately looked at him. — What? Tell me I'm wrong.

— It's not that we're arguing, — Shepard replied, and everyone turned to her, — Yes, exactly. We're in a tight spot. Not a deep one, but still. We don't know where to find this geth, what he's planning to do, and what it even is. However, there's another problem - Saren and the Sovereign. And that, in my opinion, is a much scarier problem than a friendly, moreover, polite geth. Believe it or not, but… Something terrible is coming... Powerful, — Shepard took a short pause. — The Protheans perished trying to withstand it, and they were much more powerful than us. But, there's one 'but' that distinguishes us from them - we know what's going to happen. The Protheans were taken by surprise, and that's why they lost. We know about the Reapers.

— Yes, but the Council doesn't want to listen to us. They deny the very fact of the existence of these Reapers, — Garrus began.

— So it is. However, we know that without Saren and the Conduit, the Reapers will not return. So we do the following. We no longer pursue the geth, now we pursue Saren. As far as we know, reports of geths have been received from Feros and Noveria. What do we choose? — everyone thought. There's no difference whether you fly there or there. Where Saren is - unknown. Where the Sovereign is - unknown. But you have to choose. — Okay, — Shepard continued, as everyone was thinking. — We're going to Terra Nova. We'll rest there for a couple of days, then fly to Feros. Joker?

— Already plotting the course, ma'am, — Joker's voice replied from a speaker in the ceiling.

— Good. Everyone's dismissed, — Shepard said and everyone went about their business. She herself decided to visit Liara, who was still in the infirmary.

Entering the infirmary, Shepard only saw Liara with a bunch of datapads on the bedside table, and one of them was in her hands. She didn't notice the captain's arrival.

— Hey, Liara. Hi, — Jane began, attracting attention.

— Oh, Shepard. How did the briefing go? — Liara asked, distracted from looking at the datapad."

— It went fine. We're heading to Terra Nova. We'll rest there, and then we'll fly to Feros.

— Are we going to look for Saren? What about the geth? — Liara was surprised. — You have orders from the Alliance and the Council.

— Let them take a hike, — Jane snapped. — These degenerates don't want to believe in what's coming. But I do. So we'll have to stop Saren. And besides, I now owe this geth, — she said a bit guiltily.

— You owe him? — Liara was surprised.

— Yes. He saved you. If it weren't for him... — Jane didn't even want to think about what could have happened if the geth hadn't saved Liara. She understood what would have happened, but she didn't want to think about it. Liara was here, now, next to her, and that was the most important thing.

— Yes... — the asari admitted a little guiltily. — I should have run better.

— You ran well on Therum, — Shepard joked, trying to lighten the gloomy atmosphere.

— Yes, but we didn't run on ice and snow there, — Liara started to defend herself.

— But there was a volcano there, — Jane didn't give up. — Well, never mind. How are you doing in general?

— I'm fine. Chakwas gave me painkillers, fitted two prostheses. I'll be back on duty in a week, — Liara said with a smile.

— Oh... Then you won't be able to see Terra Nova. They say it's beautiful there.

— Well, in a week I can return to duty. But I'll be able to walk in three days, though I'll limp.

— Hmm, that's not a problem. It takes exactly three days to fly to Terra Nova, so you won't be stuck here.

— I wasn't planning to. It's interesting to talk to Chakwas, but... Still, lying here is too much.

— You're an archaeologist. You're used to it, — Jane decided to argue.

— But I could walk there, — Liara didn't give up.

— Well, that's also true, — Shepard agreed, and suddenly remembered something. — By the way, I almost forgot. When we... Then... In short, when you were telling me about the cases with the beacons, you started to tell about a krogan. What did you want to tell me?

— Oh, yes, exactly. I forgot. Now, — Liara immediately started rummaging through the datapads on the bedside table and finally found the right one. — Here. It was in my mother's records. Asari intelligence was able to hack some of the GOR data and found out something. Some krogan on Omega by the nickname Patriarch began to shout right and left about some "iron demons, burning planets and devouring reason". True, it didn't last long, the local hostess quickly set him straight, but…

— What's the "but"? — Shepard was very intrigued.

— He didn't go crazy. And moreover, it was three hundred years ago, which means he's still alive. Maybe he can help us?

— Hmm, going to Omega. The prospect isn't one of the best... — Jane said ironically.

— But there's no other one. Maybe he'll tell us where he found the beacon.

— Why do we need that at all? — Shepard suddenly asked.

— I've just been thinking... Maybe the beacon just didn't have time to transmit the information to you because it broke down? Think about it. Saren is not a Prothean either, but he used the beacon. It's likely that the beacon can't handle it if a non-Prothean uses it. It held up for Saren, but for you... You caused an overload. Maybe if we find another functioning beacon, we could get more information... — Liara began to speculate.

— And shake my brain up again in the process, — that made Liara stop.

— Oh... sorry, — she said guiltily.

— It's okay. Just... you know, it's very... unpleasant. You don't only see the death of entire planets, but you feel all of it. You feel your homeland, your home, your people being scorched from the skies by some iron beasts. How you try to fight, but understand how pointless, how futile it is! How you try to protect your loved ones, your people, but constantly only see death and in the end, you have no hope! No hope for survival!

— Hey, hey, Jane, calm down, — said Liara as gently as she could, taking Jane's face in her hands and turning it so that she was looking into Liara's eyes. — Jane. We will prevent all of this. We have hope. Do you hear me?

— Yes, — was all Shepard could say. Liara's eyes had a calming effect on her, and now Jane didn't even know what this was. — Sorry, I... Eh, it's hard to explain...

— You don't have to. I understand. Though what I saw when I looked at those visions doesn't compare at all. Just pictures, and you... Hmm, you really felt... everything?

— Yes. It felt like it was happening to me. You know it's not you, but the sensations... No, no, NO, it wasn't me... Damn!!! Mmm... Damn, it wasn't me... — Liara saw how bad Jane was, but she didn't know how to help her. So she couldn't think of anything better than to just kiss her. Jane didn't understand what was happening at first, but when she did, she didn't resist. This was what she was missing. She never had someone who loved her. For her, people were always divided into three types: those she didn't know; those who wanted something from her; and those who wanted her. Then, in the military, a fourth type appeared — those who wanted to kill her. However, there was never anyone who loved her. She had no parents, and in the slums, there were only instincts. There was no room for love there. But now there was Liara. Jane knew that Liara loved her too. She felt it. Right here and now...

— Captain? — A voice suddenly rang out, and Shepard reluctantly pulled away from Liara, turned in her chair and immediately locked eyes with Ashley.

— Sergeant Williams? Did you need something? — Shepard asked formally, and Ashley got the hint.

— Not at all, ma'am. May I go? — She recited, standing at attention.

— You're dismissed, — Jane said, and Ashley left the med bay in a march. — Well, now everyone will know.

— Are you... uncomfortable about that? — Liara decided to ask.

— Of course not! — Shepard firmly stated, then added. — I just wanted to have some secret. I've never had secrets, and now... Eh, never mind. Good luck with your research. Maybe you'll find something else, — Jane said, then stood up and headed for the exit.

— Yes. I'll try. And also, Jane... — Liara stopped her, and Shepard immediately turned around. — I love you.

— And I love you. Goodnight, — Jane said and headed towards Joker. For some reason, sitting in the co-pilot's seat, looking at space, listening to stories, and doing nothing was very pleasant.

Dreadnought "Light of Keelah"

— Comrade Legate, can you come to the seventh deck? You will be met near the monorail. It's important, — they informed me over the intercom. I decided to have them call me "comrade" and inform me about everything over the intercom. It was nice. And I like the name, there's a reason I chose it. I wonder what they found now?

When the rocketeer brought me where I needed to be, I saw a strange sight. Standing at the threshold of the room was a prime, who I had appointed my chief advisor. Well, or his platform. There was no light in the room, and scanning showed that there had been a fire.

— What happened? — I asked the prime.

— We've opened the AI core compartment. Or rather, what's left of it, — reported the chief advisor.

— Left? What happened to it? — It's interesting, after all, the Quarians used AI on their ships. Strange to hear it now.

— When the geth tried to take over the ship, the AI sided with the Creators. However, we were able to cut off its connection to the anti-boarding system. Then the geth activated the self-destruction procedure of the core.

— And what does that entail?

— Burn the core with superheated plasma, — the prime calmly replied, and I was quietly blown away. Indeed, why bother with computer viruses or injecting nanites directly into the core? Just burn it, and that's the end of it.

— Smart, — I agreed. — Alright, what about the beacon?

— There's a problem. During decryption, some kind of security system in the beacon itself was triggered, and now the data is blocked. We tried to hack the lock, but the hack didn't progress beyond seventy percent.

— I see. And why is that?

— Presumably, it's a defense against synthetics. To hack the system, you need a hacker of any organic race. However, you need a specialized hacker. Specialization — hacking and decryption of Prothean data.

— Okay, and where can we find such a hacker?

— There's one specialist. Mila T`Rinil. Asari. Three hundred and seven years old. Residence — Terra Nova.

— I see. Well then, we'll go there. Alright, you stay here, and I'll take five shock troops. We'll take weapons, and tell them to put on the light armor of the Quarians. We'll hide in plain sight, so to speak. You find the right planet. Build a factory there and start producing platforms for shock troops, rocketeers, scouts, and primes in a 6:3:2:1 ratio. Create as many as there are programs that have switched to our side. Equip the factory with a climate control system, and about 10 rooms, so you can accommodate organics there. I'll bring furniture from Terra Nova. We also need a cartographer. And a hangar for the frigate. Also, make several rooms that can be converted into laboratories. The rest is at your discretion.

— What's the deadline? — the prime asked, and I couldn't think of anything more appropriate.

— The sooner, the better.

— Accepted.

— Alright. It's time to get ready. Time to fly to Terra Nova.

With those words, we parted. I had to prepare. I'm not worried about myself, but for the others who are going with me... Yes, we'll have to work hard here.