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Part 38

Jenkins

I awoke slowly and with a strong and sudden urge to vomit. This was my second forced sleep from anesthesia in what had to be less than twenty-four hours, and even if the stuff they used in the future of Mass Effect was miles better than my old life, it still took a toll on my body.

I opened my eyes and blinked a few times to reorient myself. My left eye, the organic one, took a moment to clear and focus on the ceiling above me. The other eye was already crystal clear in its clarity.

“Well, that’s disorienting,” I spoke aloud and just observed the ceiling as best I could.

The eye I had gotten was a top-of-the-line Kassa Fabrications model. It wasn’t what I had expected when I was pitched a robotic eye. The most impressive part of the device isn’t the eye itself but instead how it interfaced. Given the explosion had destroyed most of my eyelid, Chakwas later removed the eye itself leaving me with an empty socket. The doctors laid a synthetic material, similar in texture to the skin inside of the eye socket. This sleeve was what attached to my optic nerve, and it even came with the benefit of giving me a new eyelid so I could blink.

The robotic eye itself sat inside of this sleeve and transmitted its data through contact with the surface itself. This had the benefit of not having to worry about eventual issues with the eye itself since it's easily replaced in the event of damage or a better model becoming available. I had several options when it came to the appearance of the eye, but in the end, I went with a simple metallic black and an LED iris. The LED can be disabled of course, in case I need to be stealthy and something like a glowing eyeball might interfere with that.

I was surprised that the eye didn’t feel physically uncomfortable, but I also couldn’t tell any difference in quality to my vision. However, as I moved my focus to different parts of the ceiling I realized quickly there was a noticeable issue. There was no delay in adjusting focus in the robotic eye, didn’t matter the difference in distances I was focusing on, the visual quality was always perfect, while my organic eye would take the smallest moment to adjust. The difference was small, but noticeable once I realized it was there.

“Oh, that’s really disorienting.”

“I can imagine it is, yes.” The voice cut through my thoughts on the new eye. It wasn’t that I had expected to be alone of course. I imagined a doctor would be around somewhere, and I doubted Tali would go far from the hospital room. The problem I had was that I recognized the voice, and it wasn’t Tali.

“Councilor! What are you doing here?” I focused my eyes on the woman sitting in a chair on the side of my room. The Asari Councilor Tevos. She was wearing a simple white dress with black stylings and one that sat loosely on her frame. It was more casual than what she had worn at the hearing I had last seen her in, but was still professional in its appearance.

“Well, we had been informed one of Shepard’s team had been injured and needed the kind of medical aid usually reserved for our Spectre’s and Spectre associates. I simply wanted to get a report of the incident. Of course, we have one from your commander, but I was interested in hearing it from your mouth directly.” She spoke softly, her voice was gentle and curious but her eyes watched me with an intensity that left me on edge. I was comfortable in saying I didn’t trust this in the least.

“Right. Where’s Tali? She was supposed to be waiting for me to wake up.” I dodged her leading statement with my own question, while I scanned my surroundings. There was no sign of my omni-tool, which was probably for the best. I had given it to Tali and as long as she still had it that was better than letting a councilor get to look over it. I doubted they would take Beta’s existence well at all.

“Tali? Ah, the Quarian I assume. She is fine, simply waiting outside since I requested the opportunity to speak to you alone.” She gave the same smile as before, one that kept me on edge. It was hard not to feel as though I was unprepared currently. The woman in front of me was one of the most powerful and influential people in the galaxy.

“Yeah, you keep saying that.” I kept it short, I wanted to be careful with what I said here. People like the Councilors were a whole different kind of dangerous than those I’ve dealt with before, in this life or the last.

“So, please tell me in your own words. What happened on Feros?” She was still seated in the chair at the edge of the room, she was leaning back looking comfortable as though this was some sort of standard questioning. I’m not stupid, however, and it was clear this was anything but standard.

“Why are you even looking for my perspective at all? With all respect Councilor I’m just a grunt. One who got himself blown up. In honesty, most of the stuff towards the end of the mission is a blur.” Just because I’m not stupid doesn’t mean I can’t play it that way.

The Councilor smiled at my words, although looking at her I could see it didn’t reach her eyes. I was surprised by the sudden clarity and focus and realized that my eye zoomed in slightly to take more of details of her facial movements in. That was a weird feeling, but actually pretty useful. The Councilor stood from where she was and walked slowly along the wall of the room. It put her closer to the bed I was lying in without walking directly towards it, and without turning to look at me she spoke.

“Yes, just a grunt. That is exactly what every piece of information in your files said about you. Enthusiastic. Eager to prove himself. Reckless. Frankly, I would have expected someone with those traits to have died on a mission like this already.” She wasn’t looking at me as she spoke. There was a moment of nervousness as I realized she had been looking into my files, but I buried it. It wasn’t that strange. I was traveling with a Spectre, of course she looked into my files.

“Well I did almost die, so I suppose you’re right about that.” I chuckle lightly trying to release the tension I felt in the room. Tevos didn’t laugh.

“That of course is looking over your entire military career in the alliance. Six years from the age of twenty one, two years on Kaver station with little action before being transferred to different smaller stations. A total of twelve active engagements, with no outstanding commendations for your performance.” She said it as a matter of fact, all without looking at me. I let her talk since it was clear she was taking this somewhere.

“However, if we ignore your entire career and focus on just the last six months we get a very different picture. Just after you were recruited alongside Kaidan Alenko by Captain Anderson. Suddenly, the reckless and combat-focused grunt was dedicating himself to technology, designing software and even small hardware upgrades to the tools most have refused to alter due to their proliferation throughout the galaxy.” I was suddenly much more nervous about where this conversation was going. She looked at me for a moment, her eyes with a blazing intensity as she took every detail of me in.

“...” I kept my face straight. I sincerely doubted she was done talking and I wasn’t going to try and come up with excuses when I didn’t even know what she was getting at.

“It’s quite fascinating. The enthusiastic and reckless soldier was suddenly a dedicated and focused engineer. You know we showed your omni-tool upgrade to Valern and our research department with the Spectre’s. Their professional recommendation is we hire whoever programmed and designed this. While the outcome isn’t anything groundbreaking when they learned the work was done by a soldier with minimal training aboard spacecraft in his off time, they practically demanded we find a way to recruit him.” Again she paused to judge my reaction, and I just kept the same poker face, trying to figure out what she was getting at. She continued after a moment.

“Anderson was polite enough to inform us that you were offered a position in research and development within the Alliance as well, and yet you turned it down. Insisting your place was serving with Anderson doing combat missions. Easily chalked up to your enthusiasm and recklessness as noted earlier, except according to all reports, those traits have mostly disappeared at this point. Rather peculiar don’t you think?” She turned and smiled at me, another one that failed to reach her eyes. I could see what she was pushing at.

I had decided to be more direct in trying to get involved, and it brought attention to myself. People aren’t stupid, sudden shifts in character happen but there are almost always causes. As far as their concerned my shift six months ago is noticeable enough to confuse someone looking for it, and someone looking for an explanation why would be hard-pressed to find one. However, I wasn’t panicking just yet. Someone like Anderson or Shepard questioning things would be more concerning since they knew enough to not accept an incomplete answer. However, Tevos and all of the Councilors were different. They loved looking for answers that fit in their existing worldview, as every reaction they’ve had to the Reapers made evident.

“Okay. Yeah, you phrase it like that and I’m sure it looks odd. Sounds odd to me too. But I want to point out that you're currently talking to me in a hospital where I had to get a new eye since I lost the original blowing myself up. So I would argue I’m still plenty reckless.” The Councilor didn’t flinch, but my response had her full attention and she sat in a closer chair as she leaned forward to look at me.

“And if I’m assuming you’re actual question is why I ‘suddenly’ switched focus after Anderson picked me up, it’s because of Anderson. I had one of the most decorated soldiers of humanity personally request my place on his team, so forgive me for having a moment of insecurity and thinking that a stupid grunt wasn’t good enough for what was being asked of him. I tried leaning into the only skill I had learned outside of shooting stuff because standing beside a biotic like Kaidan and a Captain like Anderson it was clear I wasn’t even that good at shooting.” I made the air quotes around the words suddenly and rolled my eyes as I finished. It was a half-truth. Yes, my focus in engineering had been to prepare and begin planning to survive my upcoming death, I wasn’t lying saying I felt insecure beside actual soldiers after waking up here. I felt I was more used behind a desk than in front of it.

Tevos watched me for a moment as she took in my answer. She eventually hung her head and sighed.

“I figured as much. Our interrogation with Shiala revealed much. She corroborated your team's report about these Reapers being a recurring threat, without any actual evidence to support such a thing. I want to trust one of my people’s Commando’s statements on the matter, but given she admitted to having fallen for Saren’s influence and words it doesn’t paint a good picture of the reliability of her testimony. Her other claims only lead me to believe she is suffering a severe instability from exposure to this Thorian.” She spoke as though she was exhausted, and for the first time, I felt like I was looking at an actual person, not a politician.

“Other claims?” I couldn’t help my curiosity, what else had Shiala said that made her look bad? She seemed fairly professional from what I had seen. Maybe a bit shaken from her experience with the Thorian but that was all.

“She waited to speak to me privately. The interrogation had cleared her of any wrongdoing since following Saren and being betrayed by him isn’t a crime, and she was cooperative in telling us what she knew. Even if what she ‘knew’ was very little and the story was likely a ploy by Saren to cover his true goals. No, when in private she claimed that she had glimpsed your mind when attached to the Thorian. That you were blessed by Athame and a seer.” She looked ahead at me, and the only thing that kept me from panicking was the small grin on her face as she said it. It was clear she didn’t believe it either.

“A seer? Yeah, she had mentioned that when we spoke, but the title didn’t mean anything to me. We have some quacks who call themselves seers on earth but believe me when I say they are the last people you should take seriously. Although it would be nice if I was. Maybe then you’d take me seriously when I tell you the Reapers are a real threat.” I was getting a dangerous idea. Very dangerous.

I wasn’t sure if Tevos was the sort of person who could be trusted. The Council was, without question, basically useless until the Reapers were already attacking the galaxy. Even then they basically did fuck all during the actual war, constantly asking for favors before even bothering to help fight in an organized attack. Selfishness as they worried about their worlds and personal security before trying to save the actual galaxy.

However, the Council was still the most powerful authority in the galaxy, and getting them, even one of them, to believe in the Reaper threat any bit earlier would be huge. Although it was clear to me she wouldn’t believe a word I said if I claimed to know the future, it didn’t mean I couldn’t push the agenda forward.

“Corporal, I understand you believe fully in such a threat, but the Council’s stance remains unchanged. There is no evidence of any such threat having existed, or currently existing.” She sighed as she leaned back in the seat, clearly annoyed at my pushing, but I wasn’t going to back down that easy.

“Ah yes, of course. An explanation arrives for the disappearance of the Protheans, but because the only evidence you have to back it up is the testimony of someone who has absolutely no reason to lie to you and a former Spectre who has done nothing but claim the same story as well it’s probably nothing.” I shook my head the annoyance in my tone rising. They were ridiculous in how frequently they would reject information that landed directly in their face.

“Watch your tone young man. I may have come to meet you here off the record but I am still a Councilor. You will watch your disrespect.” I could see a small hint of anger rising in her tone. Seems she wasn’t challenged very often. Being the oldest Councilor likely had the benefit that you didn’t have your values challenged very often. Shame that I didn’t give a shit.

“And when the Reapers arrive and Thessia burns you’ll be wishing I had been more disrespectful!” I raised my voice, making my point as apparent as possible, reputation be damned. For the first time, I watch as the Councilor visibly flinches.

“What did you just say?” Her tone was quiet, the anger before replaced by a silent calm. I couldn’t tell any longer what she was feeling, it was as though she had suddenly erected a wall that hid her emotions.

I suddenly felt like I might have crossed a line. A very dangerous line. But I couldn’t back down, she needed to question the safety she thought she had. That was the largest reason the Council was so arrogant, they believed themselves untouchable by anything, much less the unlikely threat of Reapers right up until their worlds were under siege.

“I said that when Thessia burns you will have wished I had been more disrespectful. That I had found a way to make you listen. Because the fact of the matter is, Councilor, it doesn’t matter what you or the rest of the Council believe. The Reapers are real, and they are coming. Sooner rather than later. And when they arrive they won’t give a shit that you didn’t believe they were real. Thessia, Palaven, Ser’kesh. Earth. They will all burn under the onslaught of an enemy that sees us as nothing more than pests. The Exterminator doesn’t care if the roach believes in them or not.” I am calm as I speak. My voice even as I make every syllable as clear as possible. Either I was about to be in a lot of trouble, and would get one hell of an I told you so in three years, or I had done something that had the potential to save billions of lives.

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“...” The councilor was silent as she watched me, her hands clenched tightly as she stared at me with a face that betrayed no emotion.

“...” I matched her gaze. I was used to getting in shit at this point. It made no difference to me what kind of trouble I got in. Things had to go differently and if that meant I got in trouble or took more gambles then so be it. Some things I wanted to go the same but the Council’s refusal to accept the threat, even privately, was not one of them.

“And what would you have us do Corporal?” Her voice was tense and tight, but the question was genuine. Or at least I believed it was genuine. I stopped being able to read her once I mentioned Thessia.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean even if we assumed the Reapers were real, what would you have us do? If we announce the information publicly, the panic would be galactic-wide. If we start preparing for military action on the scale you suggest without an explanation the result will be the same. What would you do Corporal? In our position with a galaxy to run, we cannot treat every obscure threat as a world-ending concern.” Her tone was even, and she watched me closely as she spoke. It was a valid point, but the problem wasn’t that they didn’t publicly believe in Reapers, it was that they didn’t believe in them privately either.

“Privately just believing the threat is real is a start. Publicly I’d remove the limit on dreadnoughts able to be built. Call it a preparatory act in case the Geth decide to push out of the Terminus systems.”

Dreadnoughts, the largest caliber of ship in the galaxy. A Kilometer in length at least and packing enough firepower to devastate entire moons, they were the pinnacle of military might. As such there were limits to how many the different races could build. The Turians had 37, the Asari 21, the Salarians 16, and the Alliance were soon to have 7. That number would only increase by a few ships for each race by the time the Reapers arrived. Each Reaper was at least the size of a dreadnought, with several of them dwarfing even the largest dreadnoughts the galaxy had. They were the only ships that could compete with Reapers on a semi-even playing field, and if we wanted to have a chance to even the playing field we would need more. Lots more.

“You are as naive as I expected. Such a motion could not be passed. The Terminus races would see it as a threat, and it could encourage a preemptive response from the Geth.” She waved a hand immediately dismissing my words. I wish I could say I was surprised. I wasn’t.

“Then do nothing. Call me naive but frankly, I’ve stopped giving a shit whether or not you are going to believe me or prepare for this threat. At some point, you will have no choice but to accept the Reapers are real. Until then I’m going to keep sticking with the one person who’s actually trying to do something about all this.” She was silent at my words, watching me closely, her expression as unreadable as ever. I didn’t seem to be in trouble, but I doubt I was ever going to be popular with the Council.

“Now if that was all you wanted to talk with me about I would appreciate it if you left. I need to get back to my ship. There’s still work to do.” I maintained eye contact with her, not dropping my gaze or looking away. She kept my gaze for a moment before standing and making her way to the door. She turned back at the last moment.

“Be careful Corporal. There are few as patient with disrespect as I am, and you do not have the authority for the kinds of outbursts you make. You will find yourself in trouble before long, or worse.” It was all she said as she left, the door opening and sliding shut behind her. I could feel myself breathe a sigh of relief as she left the room finally. I probably crossed a line there but fuck it, someone needed to say it to the Councilors straight. Too many will try to beat around the bush in dealing with them. I didn’t have the patience or time for political bullshit.

It was only a minute or so after the Councilor left that the door opened once more, and a familiar enviro-suit entered. Tali was holding a bag that had my Alliance fatigues in one hand, and my omni-tool in the other.

“Jenkins, are you okay? The Councilor arrived and asked me to wait outside. I didn’t want to but…” She trailed off as she finished, looking back to where the Councilor had walked for a moment.

“Don’t worry about it Tali, I wouldn’t expect you to challenge a Councilor on it. Thanks for waiting nearby.” She perked up at my words, handing me the bag of clothes. My omni-tool flickered to life, immediately projecting Beta’s hologram once more.

“Hello, Corporal. I see the procedure was a success. I can already locate the ability to link myself and the omni-tool with your eye. It has many features that could be considered useful.” Beta’s voice crackled to life, quick to get directly to the point. I wasn’t surprised he wanted to link with the eye, and I was curious myself to see what he could do with it and if I could modify it further myself. But there was one thing I was more curious about.

“Of course Beta, we can look into that, but I was actually hoping to get a summary of how it looked.” I hadn’t had the chance to see my face yet. I didn’t even know how bad the burns were, since I had been wearing bandages since I had been injured. It was my first time without them. The doctors of course offered skin grafts to help with the burns, but those took additional time to get and time to heal correctly. Time I didn’t have. Leaving the burns as is allowed me to be mission-ready even sooner.

“...”

“...”

Both Beta and Tali were silent in response to my question, as Tali looked away and Beta simply flickered his hologram in place.

“Man, it’s that bad huh? Shit, well it’s a good thing I was already ugly or I would have been worried.”

“What! No, it’s not that bad it’s just… the burn was larger than I expected I suppose. And with the black eye with the glow… It’s kind of. Well. Intimidating.” I get the feeling Tali wasn’t going to say intimidating to start with, but that was not a line of questioning I felt like pushing on.

“Ah, intimidating is good. I can work with intimidating.” I smile lightly as I say that, feeling the skin on the right side of my face tighten slightly. It felt different, which was another weird feeling.

“Here, you can see.” Tali grabbed a mirror off of a nearby table and held it up for me to look at. And for the first time since my injury, I got a glimpse of my face.

My hair which was normally in a crew cut had been buzzed completely short. The burn was large, larger than I expected. It covered nearly a third of my face, stopping on the outside of my nose, and moving down across my face reaching the corner of my lips. It carried down, only stopping along the jawline itself, where the line of my helmet had remained intact. It carried up my face and stopped near my hairline above the right eye. My eyebrow was scorched completely off and I had a solid feeling it wouldn’t be growing back. The burn carried on the side of my face, stopping in a flat line just before where my ear was, once again marking the line where my helmet had stayed intact.

The eye itself was the same size as my other thank god, and the skin around the socket itself including the eyelids wasn’t real skin, instead being this matte gray synthetic material. The eye was a metallic black, with a small sheen likely from it being brand new. And in the center of the eye was the iris, visibly glowing orange like my omni-tool. I had to admit it was disconcerting to see the scale of the damage, but it could have been worse. I survived, and it was only half my face that got fucked up.

“Well damn. That explosion did a number on me.” I touched the skin around the eye, the burned flesh feeling numb to the touch, while the synth skin that made up the eye socket had an artificial touch sensation that felt out of place with the rest of the numb skin around it.

“Well, you survived. That’s what matters. Besides you could look worse.” Tali spoke softly trying to cheer me up at least.

“Indeed. Appearances are superficial, and a more rough intimidating look can be advantageous given your previously unassuming self.” Beta’s voice was clinical as always, and I shared a look at Tali who started chuckling slightly.

“I can’t believe the robot just called me boring-looking.” Tali began to laugh properly as I said that quietly, feigning insult. Beta, for his credit, simply deactivated his hologram, not wanting to deal with the supposed consequences of his words.

It was only when Tali and I stopped laughing that we took a moment to breathe. Stress had a way of making things that weren’t that funny much more entertaining.

“Well, I should let you get changed. I’ll send a message to Shepard as well letting her know you woke up and we are getting ready to head out.” She gave me a nod as she spoke, stretching lightly before beginning to type on her omni-tool.

“Yeah, probably about that time. Man, I hope I don’t face backlash for the Councilor though. That probably could have gone better.” Tali stopped typing for a moment and looked at me closely.

“Things didn’t go well with the Councilor?” She seemed confused.

“Well no. I gave her shit for not believing in the Reapers and told her the consequences for not believing would be extreme. I wasn’t exactly polite.” Tali looked thoughtful for a moment.

“Well that’s odd, I could have sworn she was smiling as she left. She looked happy enough with that encounter. Must have been her professional resting face or something.” Tali was more thinking to herself as she spoke before she finished typing up the message. I instead processed her words.

The Councilor was happy with our conversation. That didn’t make sense, she was annoyed with how I spoke. She must have been putting on that mask I saw at the end. She was a politician that was hundreds of years old. I should expect her to be able to hide her true feelings.

But I still couldn’t shake the feeling I had missed something. Something important.

----------------------------------------

Shiala

Shiala was waiting in Councilor Tevos’ office. The room was private and was where Shiala had been brought after she was interrogated for the better part of an hour by the Council’s agents. She did what she knew was right, told them the details of what had happened, and warned them of the reality of the Reapers. They didn’t believe her of course, and Sparatus even accused her of still working for Saren, and continuing to attempt to mislead them. Tevos stood to her defense however, and made it clear that while she didn’t believe in the threat of the Reapers, Saren telling that version of events to subordinates made more sense.

Even if it wasn’t the actual case, it at least got the Turian off of her back, which she was thankful for. She was a soldier and a professional, but ever since the Thorian, she felt doubts and insecurities keep popping up. What good was she if she couldn’t do even a portion of her job correctly? She failed to protect the Matriarch, she failed to rescue herself in time of need, and she failed to provide the only aid she could to the one person actively trying to stop Saren. Lots of failures lately.

She resisted the urge to fidget, despite her doubts she still had to act professionally. Put on the appearance. Any moment the Councilor would return and she would know whether she had gone mad from her imprisonment, or what she had seen was true.

She wasn’t sure how long she waited. There was a clock on the wall somewhere behind her, but she refused to check it, it would only serve to increase her anxiety having her check and recheck it constantly. Nonetheless, after what felt like close to thirty minutes, she heard the door open and then close behind her. She didn’t bother turning to look, waiting instead for Tevos to cross the room.

The Councilor moved across the room rather quickly, before seating herself in the chair at her desk. She pulled out a tablet and was quick to tap across the screen several times, not speaking to Shiala directly. Shiala tried to wait patiently but after five minutes of protracted silence, she had to know.

“So? Were you able to confirm? Is he blessed?” Shiala’s question went unanswered for another minute as Tevos typed away before she sighed and set the Tablet down.

“Confirmed? No, something like this isn’t easily confirmed Shiala. We haven’t seen someone truly blessed by the goddess for three millennia, back when our ancestors were led to the Citadel. The odds that not only a blessed has appeared, but that they are human? Confirming such a thing would cause waves through our society; Shiala you know this.” Shiala did know all this already, but her question was if he was blessed, and to that Tevos did not give a straight answer.

“I showed you what I saw in a meld, the man possesses knowledge that shouldn’t be possible.” Shiala needed to be believed and needed the Councilor to agree that man was special. She needed a reason for why she failed where he had succeeded.

“You know as well as I do sharing memories with a meld is not considered valid evidence. Memories are shaped by our perceptions, your interpretation of what you saw is certainly concerning, but it could simply be you misinterpreting memories from a forced meld. One you weren’t even in control of.” Tevos spoke plainly, and Shiala could feel her frustration going. She knows what she saw. She wasn’t crazy. How he acted when he confronted her made it clear there was more to this. But she knew better than to argue with Tevos. The woman wasn’t a Matriarch yet, but she had over six hundred years of life experience and would be likely to make the transition soon. She was someone to be respected.

“That said, my conversation with the man was enlightening.” Shiala perked up, she wouldn’t say something like that if there wasn’t something she had found. She waited for Tevos to continue.

“He is much more careful with his words and actions than I expected. When he chooses to be blunt and direct he is rather brash and could be misinterpreted as thoughtless, but he is much more than that. He knows better than most I have met when to talk and when to listen. He chooses what to say carefully and when he ‘acts out’ it is with a goal in mind. He is far more socially intelligent than his files give him credit for. He would make a rather talented politician if he could learn to reign himself in a little.” Tevos was giving more praise than Shiala expected, but everything she said matched what she had seen herself.

“More than that he spoke with a confidence I hadn’t expected.” Tevos trailed off for a moment, before pulling out her tablet to type a bit more. Shiala couldn’t wait for her to finish.

“Confidence about what?” Tevos took a second, before setting the tablet back down.

“About the Reapers. He is certain they exist. Not just a belief, he states it as though it is a fact of the universe. He either possesses irrefutable evidence he refuses to share, which is unlikely given his goal seemed to be to convince me of the threat. If that’s not the case then he possesses evidence he cannot share. Either from a source that can't be revealed or one that won’t be.” Tevos sighed as she spoke, looking more concerned than Shiala had ever seen.

“Is that a bad thing Councilor? What difference does it make if the source can't or won't be shared?” Tevos looked Shiala in the eyes for a moment, seemingly evaluating the situation before she straightened her posture.

“There are two options I find the most likely Shiala. The first, and the one I am currently leaning towards is that the man is an agent of the Shadow Broker, a powerful one at that. It would explain the level of information he has as well as the discrepancy in his files towards his behaviour. If that is the case it means the man is much more dangerous than we expected, but it would mean his information has the chance to be wrong or biased. Even the Shadow Broker is not absolute.” Shiala hadn’t considered that, but it would be more likely than a non-biotic human being blessed by the Goddess. But that was only one of two options.

“The other option?”

“The other option is that you are correct. The man is somehow blessed by the Goddess Athame and knows the future. If this were the case it would make him a much more important ally to have. However...” Tevos trailed off, turning her chair around to stare out the window at the nebula that lit up the Citadel.

“I pray for all our sakes he is not blessed.” Her words were quiet, barely a whisper. For the first time Shiala had ever seen, the woman seemed worried.

“Why?” What had she seen or heard from her that could shake a woman as powerful as the Councilor?

“Because he spoke of the Reapers razing Thessia.” Shiala was stunned by the words.

“... Fuck.”

“...” The Councilor has no response. The weight of those words uttered by a seer. It would be enough to shake the most resolute of matriarchs.

“What do we do?” Shiala needed a mission. And objective. She couldn’t work with the absolute lack of options she suddenly felt she had. The man’s words echoed in her ears. There is no fate, only the choices we make.

“I am going to see about convincing the other Councilors to raise the limit on dreadnoughts. Not just for the Council races but all of them. We need as many ships capable of fighting a threat that wipes out empires to the last living creatures. You, however, will be doing more important work.” Shiala felt a moment of relief, of relaxation as she realized that there was something for her to do. Something she could actually do.

“Yes, Councilor. What is it?” Tevos smiled lightly, before tapping the tablet a few times and sending a file over to the woman. Shiala read the file and felt a bittersweet smile rise on her face. No fate, the Corporal had said. She would be seeing if that was true. She was not going to settle for being a one-note appearance in his story. She was an Asari Commando, and she was more than some colony aid.