64

Illium. The Starry Pearl residential skyscraper

Liara T'Soni's flat.

The tapping of raindrops against the window. That's what I heard when I opened my eyes. Damn, is it really still raining. However, I smelled something that immediately made me smile - meat, chicken, and spices. Yeah, that's a smell that's hard not to smell. The sound of sizzling oil. It was chopped. My favourite.

When I opened my eyes, I could see the holo-watch. It was morning, and I'd come in in the afternoon. Then I woke up in the evening. And then it was a long night. And it rained the whole time? And they say Illium is the jewel of the galaxy. Well, it's time to get up and go to breakfast.

Downstairs, in the kitchen, was Liara, frying chops.

- Good morning, Jane," Liara said, but I didn't go near her to not distract her. And I felt weird.

- It wasn't good. This rain.

- You hate it," Liara said affirmatively.

- I do. Of course, in Cairo, we were happy about it, but it was a torment if it started to rain tropical rain.

- That's what I don't understand. Why did you have tropical rain in the desert?

- Global warming. That says it all. Except, it didn't help green up the area; after the rain, there was usually a sandstorm. That's a lot of fun. Ugh, what the hell is going on? I feel like... I feel like I've done something disgusting... I also feel like I want to blow my brains out...

- Yeah, I know," Liara said calmly, putting the last chops on a plate and sitting across from me. - It's all because of me.

- What do you mean? - I didn't understand, putting down two chops. The side dish was fried potatoes.

- You see, it's because of the Embrace of Eternity. During them, the partners exchange not only memories but also emotions. So now you're feeling what I've been feeling for the past two years," Liara said the last in a sad voice, and a very bad thing came to me.

- Did you... Did you want to kill yourself?

- Actually... I tried... - Liara turned her left arm so I could see three thin tendon scars across the vein.

- Oh my God... And how... How... How did you survive? - I could barely speak.

- I don't know. I'd already passed out, but I woke up in the hospital. They told me they'd received an anonymous call. I never found out who it was, but I know it. Legatus. He's probably watching us right now. Bastard, I'm going back to the Normandy, and I'm going to give him a treat, and I'm going to thank him.

- How long am I gonna feel this way? - I asked because I didn't want to feel strange and ambivalent.

- You're not an Azari. You'll get over it in a few days. But your life in the slums is with me forever," Liara said with undisguised resentment.

- Have you seen my life?

- I've seen everything, Jane. Your whole life," she could hardly be proud of that, then Liara's voice was unhappy.

- Did you go through my head?

- No, Jane. The Azari are not capable of that. You see, during the Embrace, an Azari instantly reads all the memory her partner entrusts to her. You trusted me with everything. I learnt your whole life in an instant, everything you've been through. I even saw and felt your death.

- Is there anything wrong with that? Except that you saw me die, of course," I clarified, but Liara was in no mood for jokes.

- Look, Jane. What you've shown me your whole life is... The ultimate show of trust. Do you really trust me enough to show me your whole life?

- Liara. - I began calmly, I love you. And I trust you completely.

- But I... Don't you blame me for anything? I basically betrayed you," Liara continued.

- Listen to me. You thought I was dead. Hell, I was dead, Liara! Nothing was holding you back. But you-- You still loved me, and you couldn't accept it. I don't care that you found Fearon; I don't care. I-- I know what loneliness is. When you have no one when you have no one to talk to, when... No one to listen to you... I know it. So yes, Liara. I don't blame you for anything. I love you. And I've already realised that you've loved me all along. That's enough for me. It's not like you embraced Eternity with him," I don't know what that sentence sounded like, but definitely not a statement. I saw a lot of things from Liara. Even from that, however, I couldn't learn much. Everything was blurry, like a fog, like trying to see your dream in the middle of the day.

- No," Liara answered briefly. - The Embrace of Eternity is the ultimate expression of love among the Azari. We only do it with lovers. And then only with those with whom the love is mutual. There was nothing of the sort with Feron. Only sex and then-- There was a constant ambivalence. Satisfaction mixed with--

- A sense of betrayal," I finished for her. - I get it. That's exactly what I'm feeling right now.

- Don't worry, it'll pass. You're not an Azari. Although... Don't be surprised if you dream about Feron for a few days. Just ignore it.

- Well, thanks for the warning. Speaking of dreams, I remembered.

- What did you remember? - Liara asked warily.

- It was like I was... At the wreck of the Normandy. The first Normandy. Amidst the wreckage and surrounded by some mercenaries. There was snow everywhere, everyone was looking for something... Do you know anything about it? - I asked, remembering this strange dream.

- Yes. Seven months after the crash, when I already had money, I went to the crash site. I... I wanted to find your body, Jane. I wanted to bury it. There were some signs of battle, dried human blood and a rifle that only Cerberus uses. Then it took us a week to dig it up. But... We didn't find much. Seven dead crewmen, a relatively intact Mako... And your parts, Jane.

- Really? - I was surprised. - What were they?

- Lower jaw, half a right arm and a left foot. And that was it. Then we left, and I gave the remains to the Alliance. They reburied you, and they wouldn't even let me in.

- Gondons," I said briefly, which Liara didn't argue with.

- Dr T'Soni. Merlin Krichtar to see you. Shall I take the call? - suddenly, a glowing drone flew up to us and alerted Liara to the call.

- No, Glyph. Reset the call. And wait to notify me of them.

- Whatever you say, Dr T'Soni," the drone flew away, and I still couldn't resist asking.

- Where did you get this... Glyph?

- I'm an information broker. And in our business, you need secure communication channels, information security and good hacking skills. You also need someone to handle all the information. That's why I got the Glyph. I had him made by a Quarian woman. I helped escape debt slavery. I named him Glyph, after the snake that lived in our house when I was little. He's a good helper, actually. I would have called an ambulance after you passed out if it wasn't for him.

- And then we wouldn't have been able to reconcile," I meant a different part of the reconciliation, but Liara understood.

- I know she did. All right, you eat up, and I'll go pack.

- You're going somewhere? - I asked, confused when Liara was about to leave the kitchen.

- You were going to invite me to Normandy. I'm in," she said and left, and I reached for my fourth chop. They were still really good.

****

Illium. Delta Plant. Legatus

- Comrade Legatus," a Vorka called out, running towards me. I stopped and looked at him as surprised as possible.

- Speak," I said as soon as he came close. I was used to them running up to me like this if I needed to be addressed, and I was the one who was there for them. I didn't much like talking on the radio. Yes, it is convenient, but seeing your interlocutor is still more pleasant.

- We had one situation. A week ago, one of our squads stormed a factory on Zori, which you recently acquired. We destroyed a squad of Blue Lights; the factory and the workers were unharmed. We took seven Blue Light soldiers, and one was on your Red List - well, that was interesting. I made that list almost immediately after Shepard died when we started developing. In it were all the characters who could not be killed in pain of death, but some of them had to be captured and only alive. So I was wondering who they had taken there.

- Who is it?

- Vido Santiago," the vorka answered, and I smiled mentally-it would make Zaid happy.

- Okay, thank you. Prepare him for interrogation," I ordered and went to Zaid.

Zaid was at the firing range. When I approached him, I immediately decided to act.

- Zaid, get ready.

- What do you mean? - The mercenary was surprised and looked at me incomprehensibly.

- A friend of yours is here. Believe me, you'll be glad to see him alive and well.

- What kind of acquaintance could it be that would make me happy? - he asked me, genuinely not understanding what was going on.

- Come on, you'll like it," the mercenary didn't argue and followed me.

We walked in silence. And then we entered the punishment cell. It was a three-by-three-metre room. On the side, there was a table with surgical instruments, kitchen knives, several kinds of scissors, alcohol, matches and a bottle of hydrochloric acid. In the centre was a chair; a man with a bag over his head sat on it. He was only wearing a jumpsuit, which was then put on over his armour. Standard equipment.

- Who's that? - Zaid asked, trying to get a good look at the man, but because of the bag over his head, he couldn't see who it was. I didn't answer anything. Instead, I abruptly pulled the bag off the man, and Zaid immediately freaked out. It was Vido himself, with a gag in his mouth and wild fear in his eyes. But when he met Zaid's gaze, he immediately screamed. I mean, mumbled because you can't scream with a gag. - Where... Where did you get it? - Zaid's voice was so fierce it made me uncomfortable. Vido looked at me and seemed to be begging me to save him, but I didn't give a shit about that piece of shit.

- We bought a factory, and it was overrun by Luminaries. They cleared it out and managed to take the commander alive. I've been digging into your past, so I'm giving you a present. Have fun," I patted Zaid on the shoulder and left the cell. Vido was already shouting and trying to say something. Still, neither Zaid nor I were listening, and a second later, I heard nothing as the soundproof door slammed shut.

Five hours later. Same place

- Legatus," Shepard said hello when I was in the warehouse. I am curious to know how she found me.

- Shepard. How'd it go? - I asked, but Shepard gave me a meaningful look.

- Don't pretend, Legatus. I mean, you followed her. And our reconciliation, I take it, too.

- You figured it out, didn't you? Well, it's a shame, yes. I saw the whole thing. I'm glad you two made up.

- Yeah, we did. Although you could say she had someone else-" Shepard immediately interrupted my excuses so I wouldn't say anything. - Anyway... Thank you for saving Liara. You're the one who called the hospital when she tried to kill herself.

- I did. I've been keeping an eye on everyone except for Tali. I couldn't get bugs on the Migration Fleet. Didn't need to. But I kept a close eye on Liara. Trying to see if she still had feelings for you or not. Believe me, she took your death hard. Harder than most. Garrus has kept himself busy shooting criminals, Tali's busy working for the Fleet, and Rex has started uniting the clans, even though he's always drinking for you. Ashley and Cayden didn't even care about you guys. But Liara... Liara almost lost her mind. Then she went to Azure to get away from it all. But it only made her feel worse. Ultimately, she couldn't take it anymore and slit her wrists. I called an ambulance, which was fast on Illium. After that, she kept herself busy with her work, and then Fearon came along... But she wasn't happy with him either. Yeah, it helped her forget, but not for long... You know, I'm glad you two made up, but honestly, I'm surprised you forgave her so easily.

This may be weird for you, but I love her too much. And yes, I forgave her because she still loves me. Also... I felt how bad she felt. It's because of the Eternity Embrace. So I was able to realise how bad she felt without me. So, yeah, I forgave her. I don't blame her for anything.

- Well, that's good. You should always have something you want to live for," I concluded, and Shepard didn't argue.

- Yeah. That's true. All right, bye.

- See you, Shepherd.

****

Next day. The Normandy conference room

- Okay, everyone's here," Shepard said, looking at everyone gathered in the conference room. Only Zaid was a little late, citing that "the armour was too hard to get the red stains off". It's understandable - seven hours of cutting Vido, and literally. - Legatus," the captain gave me the word.

- Thank you. Our next target and potential team member is Justiciar Samara," an image of the Justiciar appeared from the table for everyone.

- I've heard of her," Liara said. - She was arrested yesterday for trying to leave Illium without the dispatcher's permission. And then it was revealed that she had killed several Eclipse fighters. She's in the holding cell now, but...

- It won't be for long," Garrus said. - Justiciars obey only the Code of their Order, and that Code is above all galactic laws. According to it, an attempt to stop a Justiciar is punishable by death. So Samara will stay there as long as she's not bored. And then she's going to make a break for it. What's she doing on Illium anyway?

- She's looking for her daughter, Morinth. She's Ardath-Yakshi. She's currently holed up in an Eclipse mercenary hideout. We've been paying dispatchers to keep her off the planet for a week now," I explained.

- So we have to find and kill her daughter," Zaid said.

- Not exactly. If we kill Morinth, Samara will thank us. But if we let her out of the detention centre and kill her daughter together, she'll join us. As a thank you, so to speak.

- I guess we'd have to kill cops," Garrus suggested.

- No. The money will help us free Samara. But after that, there will be problems. "Eclipse owns this skyscraper," a hologram of a 200-storey skyscraper appeared in the centre, which was located on an artificial island. - You can only approach it by these two bridges. There's a whole garrison there: six hundred mercenaries, half Azari. One in five armed with a grenade launcher of varying degrees of enemy manpower, ten IMIRs, fifty Bastions and one hundred and fifty LOKIs - yes, that was the kind of arsenal the Eclipse had. But it was interestingly different. Cerberus wasn't exactly having financial difficulties, mostly because of their problems with the stock market. So Cerberus put the Bastions up for sale. And I'll be honest, they were bought up like hotcakes. And Eclipse was one of the most active buyers. Yeah, they were expensive, but they were effective. And even for us, they were a tough enough opponent. Grant and Rex would have come in handy, but we didn't have time. - And they've got 300 FENRIS and three Flyers. They're probably paranoid over there.

- Yeah, that's a problem," said the captain. - All right. Let's free Samara first, and then we'll do something about it. So, me, Liara and Tali go to liberate Samara, and the rest of you decide how to storm this building. All right, we're off," Shepard, Tali, and Liara left the conference room. We're all left to think.