68 – Priority: Thessia (2)

After Samael informed Veronica of their destiny, he went around, talking with the others. He would admit, that the addition of Grunt, Kasumi, Keiji, and Thane was out of his expectations. He planned to have them close to him, but it was in the future, not now.

After all, there's still a lot of time until the Reapers attacked.

Regardless, he welcomed new things and was sure things would work out. He also wanted to get closer to them, as the introduction only lasted a few minutes at most.

So, he went looking for Grunt right away. The Krogan needed guidance more than the others. He, after all, had been born less than a month ago.

Before doing that, he called RR and EDI using his Omni tool. Sure, he could talk to them through the device, but their android bodies were close, and soon enough, they were face to face.

'' What do you need?'' RR asked.

EDI mostly stayed out of it but was listening intensely.

'' Tell the newcomers about the Reapers and what we are doing here. We recruited them but didn't explain everything. Please.''

Miranda only recruited them, and as the Reapers were still only known by the governments and a very few selected individuals, very few people were in the loop.

'' No problem.'' RR didn't mind that nor did EDI.

'' Oh, I'll tell Grunt right now, so you only need to tell the other three.'' Samael said before the AI's left.

Both nodded and went away, to do their task.

Samael also left, and after asking around where Grunt was, headed to the hangar, where the M.A.K.O was parked. The hangar was also one of Wrex's favorite places to stay.

' I guess this is a Krogan thing, as they usually stay in this place.'

Arriving at the hangar, Samael saw the young Krogan. He was handling a few guns, mainly shotguns.

Samael had a strange expression on his face, ' Is this a crime?... Nah, he's a Krogan.'

'' Grunt! How are you holding up?''

Grunt looked at Samael with respect in his eyes, '' Captain! All is good.'' He then said, '' I must say, the people in our clan are amazing, RR and EDI being one of the best.''

' The AI's must have taught the young Krogan the hierarchy of the crew... poor fella.'

'' Remember that you're part of that too. Don't undersell your value.''

'' Don't worry, I know what I'm capable of.'' A dangerous look flashed across Grunt's face, '' So, how troublesome is this enemy we will face in the future?''

'' I reckon Okeer taught you everything about the galaxy while you're in cryosleep?''

Grunt nodded, '' Yes. For the last week or so, he did his best to put me up to date with things. The Rachini war, the Genopaghe, the First Contact war. I'm aware of all of those and many more.''

Samael expected nothing less of Okeer. That old Krogan was meticulous, after all, '' So, has he told you about the Reapers?''

Grunt paused and thought about it for a moment, '' ... He did mention it. But it was brief and more like a story than anything concrete...'' The Krogan paused. The implication of what Samael was saying dawned on him, '' Are you saying?''

Samael nodded, '' Yes, the Reapers are real and are coming for us this time. We will face them in a few years.''

Grunt froze for a moment before laughing out loud, '' HAHAHA, amazing! I can wait a few years to fight those machines!''

Samael patted the Krogan's shoulder, '' I'm glad you have this energy.''

They talked some more, with Samael doing his best to guide the young Krogan with what he said.

After a few minutes, Samael left, satisfied with the conversation. He was going to ensure that Grunt stayed on the right (?) path.

Soon after he left the Hangar, Samael arrived at Thane's quarters. By now, RR and EDI must have informed the Drell about the Reapers. 

KNOCK KNOCK

A few seconds later, a voice said, '' Enter.''

Samael obliged and inside the room, Thane was in a lotus position, meditating, facing the vast space outside of his widows. But from what Samael could see, the Drell wasn't calm.

' Who would be, after hearing that they were going to be attacked?'

After a few seconds of silence, Samael asked, '' Mind if I sit down too?''

'' Please.'' Thane said that and made space for Samael to sit beside him.

'' Thank you.'' Samael also sat in a lotus position and decided to mediate too. Thane was a complicated man, and the way to get closer to him was to let him open up by himself, without pushing too much.

But, as soon as Samael started to meditate, his mind reacted strangely.

' ... What is this?'

Samael could now meditate a lot easier, his mind clearing up and his thoughts becoming more organized.

' Could it be one of the side effects Mordin and I rationalized?'

FLASHBACK

This was the day when both finished their version of the Chimera Serum.

'' Samael, this version of the Serum is complete, BUT we could better it with the addition of others DNA. Do you really want to take it now?'' Mordin asked his human companion.

Samael nodded, '' Friend, with only those 2 DNA, there might be some side effect we don't know of. Imagine if we put another DNA in the mix... This would only get complicated.''

Truth be told, he regretted not grabbing Javik's DNA before, because he would definitely want the Prothean DNA, but now it was too late to go after the Prothean. This version of the Serum was enough.

'' Care to explain the possible side effect we would have of this new version?'' Samael asked Mordin once more, just to confirm.

Mordin nodded and went through all the notes. '' First, the purpose of the Asari DNA is to combat the side effect of the Krogan DNA. By our calculations, it is possible. But, it might give birth to others, not so severe.''

The Side Effects of the Krogan DNA were mentioned before, things like increased aggression, etc.

'' Second, those new side effects might include better cognition, increased mental ability, the possibility of gaining biotic abilities, among many other things, yes. But, again, we can't know for sure. You might gain all of those, or none at all.''

'' To be honest, I just want the Side Effect of the Krogan DNA to be gone. If I gain anything more out of it, I take it.'' Samael then looked at Mordin and patted the Salarian on the shoulder, '' Congratulations, my friend. You just made history with this.''

With the Chimera Serum being done, weak species could fight back. Of course, if the person who took it survives the dose.

'' Thank you.'' Mordin passed the vial to Samael and said, '' Are you sure about this? It's not tested and there might be -''

'' Mordin. Thanks for the concern, but I'll do this... ''

END OF FLASHBACK

' So, this might be the increased mental capabilities Mordin mentioned.' Samael had learned a lot from the Asari in past cycles, meditation was one of those things.

But, as he was just a human before, the effects were almost nothing. Now, things were different. 

Samael was lost in his own meditation, not noticing the time passing. He basked in that feeling, letting things pass through his mind.

By the time he came out of this state, he noticed Thane looked at him with a strange gaze.

'' Sorry friend. I lost myself in it.'' Samael was really sorry. This was a first for him too. He never meditated so well before, even in past cycles.

'' Don't need to say sorry. It was a learning experience for me too.'' Thane got up and used a few things in his quarters to make a drink of some kind, '' It was the first time I saw a human meditating so deeply. It was inspiring.''

The Drell then passed a cup to Samael. '' Thank you.''

The duo drank in silence, until Samael said, '' How are you holding up, after learning about the Reapesr?''

''Nothing much changed, to be honest.'' Thane took a sip of his drink, '' I now just have the conviction to resolve my problems.''

The Drell looked at Samael, '' Captain, I know we just met but, can you help me?''

'' Just say what you need.'' Samael was sure it was going to be about the Drell's son.

Thane looked grateful, '' I have a son, Kolyat.'' A small smile appeared on his face, ''He's young, full of energy, you should see it.''

But, he soon returned to a cold face, '' I wasn't very much present in his life, thanks to my job, and after I lost my half, I distanced myself even more, losing sight of my son. That is my only regret.''

'' Of course, I help him with money so that he could live a good life, but...''

'' You feel it isn't enough.''

'' Precisely.'' Thane looked at Samael, '' That's why I ask your help. Take Kolyat under LD, teach him to become the better version of himself.''

'' Why don't you do that?''

Thane looked at his hand. It was a normal one, but his eyes saw it filled with the blood of the people he killed, '' I fear I don't have that privilege.''

Samael said nothing more, finished his drink, and said, '' I'll do my best to ensure Kolyat's future.''

'' Thank you, captain. Here's his actual location.'' Thane used his Omni tool and passed the location.

'' See you soon, Thane.''

Samael then left the room, leaving Thane behind. The Drell put the cups away, cleaned the room, and returned to meditating.

--

'' RR, send LD personnel to pick up Thane's son and bring him to Earth. Ensure he has the better accommodations and things here.'' Samael instructed RR.

'' Samael, don't you think the Drell should raise him, rather than us?'' As RR lived in Samael's omni tool too, she listened to all his conversations, the one with Thane included, so she inquired. Her emotional spectrum was large, so she didn't mind asking that.

Samael nodded, '' I think so too, and I plan on relaying that to him. But, for now, this is the best we could do.''

RR said nothing more, '' I'll do as you say.''

Samael sighed. He looked at the clock and noticed that 5 hours passed since they left Earth. He had talked with Grunt for an hour and Thane for about 2. So he had meditated for at least 2 hours.

' I should check that more in the future. But for now, let's talk with Kasumi and Keiji.'

Samael made his way toward the location of the couple. They shared a room, so when he arrived there, he knocked on the door.

'' One second.'' Kasumi opened the door a few seconds later, her face showing a little bit of anxiety. '' Hello, captain.''

'' Hello, Kasumi. Do you mind if I enter?''

'' This...'' Kasumi hestiate a bit before sighing, '' Please do.''

Entering the room, Samael noticed the place was a mess already, with a few broken things. ' They must have lost their temper a bit.'

People react in a different way when reading about their impending doom, so this was nothing new to Samael, so he didn't mind.

Keiji was in the middle of cleaning things when he noted Samael, '' Captain.''

'' Keije. I came to check on you both... but I see you guys had already handled it.'' Samael said with a small smile.

Kasumi looked a little embarrassed, '' Sorry about the broken things. It's just that-''

'' You don't need to say that, and don't worry about the broken things.'' Samael helped both to clean up. '' People react in a variety of ways when learning about the Reapesr.''

Kasumi and Keije shudrred a bit. The thief asked after some time, '' Can we win?''

Samael paused. He had listened to that a lot of times and he would answer the same, '' We can, if we unite all the galaxy.''

Kasumi could see the resolution on Samael's face and calmed down a bit. Still, the pressure she was feeling wasn't going away that easily.

Samael noticed that, and said, '' Don't worry, we still have time to prepare for them. In fact, I still have a failsafe that you might like.'' He passed both a file on Projetc Andromeda.

He knew it was very soon, but knew this was going to be enough to calm Kasumi and Keiji.

Sure enough, when both finished reading it, they calmed down. Kasumi hesitated a bit before saying, '' Do we have a place on this?''

Samael nodded, '' Eveyr LD agent has a place if they want. So, don't worry too much about it, just follow me and do your best to stay alive.''

'' That we can do.''

After some more banter between them, Samael left the room.

He then went to his quarters and made a call to Tevos, to inform her that he was going to Thessia. Soon after, the Asari answered.

'' Samael, what do I owe the pleasure?''

'' Long time no see, Tevos. I'm calling to inform I'm going to Thessia as we speak, to honour our deal. Do you think you could go there too?''

There's a small pause in the call, but Tevos said, '' I'll be there. Do you mind if I call some others Matrichars? This is, after all, a nice learning experience for us.''

The Prothean Beacon/server in the Asari homeworld is something very valuable to the race, as it allowed them to be at the top of the galaxy thanks to the limited contents. If they learned everything, they would evolve even more.

'' Do as you please.''

'' See you soon then.''

'' Bye.''

The call then ended, and Samael sighed. Things were going normal, and he would resolve a lot of things on this trip, like wiping the Illisuve Man personally, finishing the deal with Tevos, and checking his mind, among other things.

But, he knew there was still a lot to be done, so he couldn't rest. So, he would meditate. And, that feeling he had when he did so a few hours ago with Thane was nice.

Samael sat in a lotus position and meditated. Soon, he lost himself in the new feeling, with the timing passing very fast.