Chapter 19 Rebirth

Sitting around a table Shepard, Ashley, and Kaiden sat watching the people go by. From the perspective of anyone nearby, they remained silent. Insides their minds, it was a different scene entirely.

'absorbed an Asari booger... I officially have the worst job.', spoke Ashley.

'Could be worse. Granted I have no idea how, but I am sure there are worse things.', spoke Shepard.

'Helpful', came the sarcastic thought of Kaiden.

It remained quiet after that before Shepard smirked.

'So is anyone going to ask why I'm female today?', thought Shepard.

'No.', came the simultaneous voices of Kaiden and Ashley in stereo.

Shepard sighed as she brushed her bangs out of her eyes and leaned back in her chair.

'So... What is on the agenda today?', thought Kaiden.

'I collected enough Asari samples to last us a life time, or twenty seconds considering the whole absorbing and analyzing DNA thing.', thought Ashley.

'The Geth are doing their thing, sending it back home. Honestly other than collecting Asari samples, there isn't much left to do.', thought Kaiden.

'Wonderful. Why are we here again? Do we just collect Asari spit and snot all day, because that sounds uneventful when a hundred other evolved are doing just that as we think.', thought Shepard.

'Heard that.', thought some random evolved about fifty meters away none of the group cared to acknowledge and thus was promptly ignored.

After a few more seconds of silence Ashley's head hit the table as she groaned from sheer boredom. After staying like that for a moment she sat back up and crossed her arms. After about half a minute she looked to Shepard.

'You already know the answer, we all do. So why ask in the first place?', spoke Kaiden to Ashley.

Ashley ignored Kaiden, and just sighed in boredom before she threw caution to the wind.

'So Shep, want to enlighten us on why you are a girl today?'

Shepard only smiled.

Saleon walked across the room as he watched over a dozen tanks filled with parts of the Varren, each one growing from different parts. In the tank closest to him, a fully developed head and partially developed torso breathed helplessly as it wined in pain. In another tank, a Varren who had yet to develop a digestive system attempted to chew at the straps holding it down.

The growth rate was amazing really. After only five days even the smallest piece of one of these beasts grew into a fully developed clone. Various patterns emerged among the slowly growing beasts.

Saleon looked to the original three specimens. Each were unique. The female called Specimen One was the largest of he bunch. What made it unique from the others was the cranium had expanded to allow a larger brain to develop. All pieces taken from her all showed this same unique mutation.

The largest of the males, Specimen Two, was larger than the average Varren, though smaller than the female. Its most unique mutation was how it fed. It would literally vomit digestive chemicals on its food, before physically expelling its stomach out of its mouth to suck up the fluids. Like the female, any pieces taken from him had this same ability.

The third and final subject was the smallest, and most dangerous of the pack. Specimen Three possessed a drastic mutation that only showed when threatened. It possessed pores between its scales that, when angered or frightened, expelled an odorless and colorless neurotoxin that caused a series of nasty side effects for Salarians. No pieces that were taken from him were allowed to grow. As a result, he was kept alive in a tank with its own air filtration system that collected the neurotoxin for further study.

That was what fascinated Saleon the most, how drastically different each Varren was from each other. Six of Specimen 1 and five of Specimen 2 were in the process of growing. While one, called Specimen 6 was something else entirely. Saleon attempted to splice the traits of Specimen 1 into an instance of Specimen 2. The result grew fast, however despite the rate of growth, issues arose in this new subject. The pitiful example of a beast that grew in the Specimen 6 tank was a Varren in the absolute loosest sense of the word. It was to be expected, it was created on a whim, an act of spontaneous curiosity that resulted in this thing.

The lump of flesh vaguely resembled a Varren, though it was little more that a Varren shaped tumor with deformed organs, most noteworthy was a digestive system that grew very wrong, as the now external stomach was growing on top of where the spine should be. Most fascinating of all however, the specimen was somewhat alive. It had a fully developed brain that showed activity, and the eyes did respond to light and movement, if somewhat sluggishly.

It was set to be killed by the end of the day, but Saleon was much more interested in how such a strange deformity could arise, and how it could remain alive. He could confirm that all specimens, even Specimen 6, were free of the Blacklight virus, so it was not that. However Saleon suspected that this issue arose from how the cultivated cells behaved. Once the virus was extracted, should the cells survive, then they would be stuck in whatever form they had been in when the virus was extracted. The problem was, there was no real way to get the exact cells Saleon required, as they shifted near constantly, and it was difficult to tell what the cells would do in the first place as even cells that were visually similar produced vastly different results. It was as if it were attempting to throw off his research. Considering what Blacklight was he expected exactly that.

Still, once he found which Varren developed perfectly, and how to safely splice traits from each into a singular specimen, then the secondary testing could begin. Saleon looked forward to that very much. As he mused Saleon looked to the cameras around the labs and gave off a sigh.

Saleon did not like authority, they always imposed too many rules and regulations for him to follow that just did not sit well with him. Oddly enough it was one of the highest forms of authority, the Salarian STG, who gave him almost no rules so long as he got results. An acceptable enough limitation, though the bugs in his room were not called for. He deactivated them, but he assumed that they were dummy bugs anyway, with the real ones being much better hidden.

Didn't matter to him either way. Let them watch. Saleon knew damn well where these experiments were leading to. History repeats itself again and again, this was no different. He may have been a sociopath, but a fool Saleon was not. Eventually Blacklight would prove much too difficult to control, and what progress he did come up with would eventually fail, as all new things did.

As smart as the STG was, they seemed to forget the cardinal rule of all scientific progress. For every success, failure was right around the corner. It would probably cost many of them there lives, maybe even his own, but the chance he was given was much too good to pass up. And who knows, sometimes in failure, amazing things can happen. Like history repeating itself, only this time it would not be a second Blacklight outbreak, but something else. Something built by his own hands and engineered by him.

"I suppose that would make me a god.", mused Saleon softly to himself.

Mordin shut down his omni tool as he finished reading the latest 'tests' Saleon had done. He felt sick, even as he sent the information back to Blacklight. The pictures that were included showed what could only be described as monsters. The one called Specimen 6 however was the worst thing Mordin had ever laid his eyes on. The scans taken from the creatures brain made it even worse. They matched that of a Varren, one who was in an excruciating amount of pain.

He blinked to himself as he tried to get the images out of his head. He sat alone in his home staring blankly out the window, to the waterfalls and forests of Sur'kesh. Looking at the beauty of his home planet, he couldn't help but wonder how it could produce such an abomination as Saleon.

Worse he could not imagine how his uncle, a man who shared his blood, could allow such terrible things to happen. Mordin knew that eventually, the secondary testing would start, and with it the process would be tested on sapient species. All would be those few individuals the STG kept locked away. The ones who slipped through the cracks. The poor among the stars. Those who would not be missed.

Mordin knew he had to do something, but at the moment, it was a delicate time. Saleon had yet to send in any information on his omni tool to the STG computers, instead sending in information through the on site computers, while downloading that information secretly onto his omnitool. That made the program limited at the moment. But eventually, It would find a way to spread into the STG computers. From there all of its secrets would be his to know.

It only had to remain undetected long enough to infect the systems well enough. Mordin was not worried however. He had prepared for such an event. So what if it would take longer for the program to fulfill its task. So long as he had patience, it would happen eventually.

Mordin hoped Blacklight knew what to do with the information. Secondary testing could not be allowed. At the rate of progress, Mordin expected it to happen soon, within the next few months. Even if it cost him his life, he would not allow any to fall to a madman's experiments.

Mordin opened his omni tool as he looked once again at the simple text given to him by Shepard. With conviction he recited the oath once more.

"...If I faithfully observe this oath, may I thrive and prosper in my fortune and profession, and live in the estimation of posterity; or on breach thereof, may the reverse be my fate.", spoke Mordin.

Room of flesh, the colors of are... wild. Food grows from the floor. Bite chew swallow. Bite chew swallow. The colors are changing. Still a rainbow of songs, but there is more blues of joy. The sour yellow note is no more, or is it muted. Bite chew swallow. Bite chew swallow. Where am I... The thoughts of mother do not make things clear as they once did. The walls, they care for me. They feed me, they sing colors other than the sour yellow or the oily black.

There is nowhere to go. Only the food that grows from the floor. Bite chew swallow. Bite chew swallow... Is this meat, fruit, or something else? It has a taste unlike anything I have ever tasted when I gorged on my hatch site, where food was stale and scarce. Bite chew swallow. Bite chew swallow.

I can grow here, I can become the queen I was meant to be, but will the walls allow me to, is there enough space for the swarm, for the songs of millions. Bite chew swallow. Bite chew swallow. The food is filling, the tendrils are kind and soft. They mean me no harm...Right.

Can I speak to them, or must I change into the mother of the hive. Bite chew swallow. Bite chew swallow. Bite chew... She's back. The bipedal one in the cloak. The one who brought me here. She speaks in gibberish. I cannot understand what she says, but it is soothing. She has provided me a nest, but is it her nest. She grows from the walls, just like the food I eat. The sounds surrounding her are the greens and blues of peace and joy. They blend in well to the other songs very well, almost as well as our songs.

She speaks again in that tongue of sounds I cannot understand before patting the crest that covers my head, then she melts into the floor. It is the same as before when she last visited. I have grown used to it in this short time. She means no harm, I am safe. Bite chew swallow. Bite chew swallow. Yes, I feel it, the start of the cocoon to the next stage. This biped means well. The Rachni will return, and this time we will be free of the song of oily shadows and the yellow notes, as we were meant to be.

Shisk looked on as the area around him took shape. The rudimentary buildings would provide some protection, and the channels of fresh water were much appreciated. A large wall round this small village would provide much protection. It was more than any clan Shisk knew of ever had. Now his small clan of six was by no means a force to be reckoned with, but with Blacklight's help it could be.

"So, what do you think?", asked Chakwas.

"Big.", said Shisk.

"I would think so, more room to grow will be needed.", said Chakwas.

Shisk sniffed loudly.

"You will see soon enough, first thing however you will need is an advantage, and I admit, I m excited by this one. Before we start however, do not be afraid by what is about to happen. I promise it will not kill you.", said Chakwas.

Shisk tensed at the words even as he tried to do as Chakwas said. He did not get far as he watched her dissolve into a mass of tendrils that began to wrap themselves around him. He panicked and flailed, but it did little. Thankfully the ordeal was short lived as Shisk looked to see he was now wearing... Armor?

His entire body was covered in a thick bone like material that was remarkably flexible. His eyes could see colors he could not name, and he could still feel the world around him, almost as if this armor were some second skin.

"What do you think?", came the voice of Chakwas directly in Shisk's ear.

"Wat is dis?", asked Shisk as he looked curiously at his hands.

"Your advantage. Each of you will have a partner, who will function as a suit for you to wear. Using nerve fibers we can interact with each other on much deeper level. You will remain Vorcha, but so long as you wear us you will have the powers of Blacklight, though control remains ours. If you for example decide to do something we do not approve of, we will stop you. Otherwise we are yours to command. So I will ask again partner, what do you think?", asked Chakwas.

"I like, I like a lot."

"Then try it out. Could be fun?"

Shisk folded his hand into a fist, and watched as the biomass shifted. The hand became a ball covered in bone like spikes. As soon as it fully formed Shisk struck one of the long thorns of the vines, and watched it snap and fly off far beyond his vision. He leapt forward towards another thorn and felt the shifting around his arm. He sliced through the thorn with a long blade. Shisk clicked his teeth as he held his palm out and focus.

The Blade reformed into the armor, and he watched as small veins grew from the biomass over the armor. Each vein carried no fluid, rather they were filled with electro-generative cells. He watched as lightning danced across his arm. Phosphorescent proteins formed in his palm and using the UV of the very sun a plasma channel was created and Shisk fired a bolt of lightning from his very hand.

He watched as his hand shifted to resemble a Krogan's, then a Turian's. He sniffed loudly before he clicked his teeth together.

"Useful.", he said out loud.

"Very.", agreed Chakwas.

"Powerful."

"Indeed."

"...Dangerous."

"Yes, you now are. More than you know.", said Chakwas.

"Is Vorcha ready for dis kinda power? ", asked Shisk.

"Is anyone?"

Shisk only sniffed.

The cure was a group of under-prepared lightweights. They fought against Blacklight without knowing what they were getting in to. I know full well what Blacklight is capable of. I've seen it. I watched as sons and daughters, fathers and mothers fell to that mutation and cancer that festers beyond Relay 314. Now they seek to infect the whole Galaxy.

The attack on the Citadel was most telling of Blacklight's true motive. From the moment we encountered them, they have brought nothing but pain, death, and strife. They consume the spirits of those they absorb into themselves, and add them to their collective mass of hunger.

No more, I can take no more of the political maneuverings, the 'peace' that Blacklight claims to seek, yet proves anything but at each and every corner. I can not take the men and women who fell at Shanxi, who were taken from friends and families to become but puppets.

The Cure did much wrong, but at least they realized the danger Blacklight possessed. We will take their name as our own. I will lead, alongside my brother we will hunt for a way to destroy Blacklight and rid the galaxy of this genetic mistake. The safety of all sapient life may depend on it. I will kill them all, or my name is not Desolas Arterius