During the morning, Taylor continued to repair the broken respirators. She managed to save all but one of them which had a melted power distribution board. One of the motor drivers had overheated and the internal safeties had failed to trigger, resulting in several components kicking the bucket in what must have been a spectacular cascade failure. In the end, she used it as a parts donor for the others.
She brought her first batch to the nurses and continued with the dialysis machines. The types of failures were very similar between the two but she started to suspect that the station's power grid was part of the problem. There were too many melted components. She'd need to investigate.
One of the nurses delivered lunch to the workshop. It was, unsurprisingly, more field rations. Mordin had some very sad looking vegetables and meat of dubious origin. Her dextro-friendly meal was a sterilized vegetable stew with noodles and tiny meatballs.
"Genetic samples obtained," Mordin said with a grin. "Salarian, Turian, Batarian highly vulnerable. Asari and Krogan mildly resistant. Human and Vorcha seemingly immune to the virus, only healthy samples gathered."
"That's quite the selection," she eyed the tray full of vials. "I need to remove my helmet for this."
"Of course," Mordin sealed the room with his omni-tool. "High level biosecurity protocols engaged."
Taylor unsealed her helmet and shook her hair free. Each vial was labeled by species and contamination status. She started with the healthy Salarian sample. The blood was red but a darker color than humans. She didn't open the vial, instead she swallowed it whole. Once she closed her mouth on the object, it was absorbed into her extradimensional stomach.
Alright Asteria, do your thing.
"Analysis method, unexpected," Mordin narrowed his eyes.
"Hypothesis, shape changing ability requires analysis of target. Shape changing only part of abilities. Insectile drone other part of abilities. Affinity with technology also part of abilities?" Taylor raised an eyebrow. "Likely. Taylor mentioned technology level of Earth Bet low compared to here. Conclusion, collection of abilities likely broader than previously shown. Likelihood of ability with technology extending to biology, high. Previous advanced knowledge of biology demonstrated."
"Yes, one of my powers has to do with technology," she confirmed. "And it can cover a very broad range of topics including biology."
"Fascinating," Mordin grinned.
"Alright, one down," she smiled. "Let's speed this up a bit."
Instead of processing the samples one at a time, she absorbed all of them in quick succession. Her mental constructs took note of the order and queued up the analysis of each vial once it reached her stomach. Asteria could process all the samples in parallel without much issue and she had the results less than a minute later.
She put her helmet back on and the doctor unsealed the room. With the new data at her disposal, Taylor had a much better picture of how the mysterious virus operated. Her various bio-tinker specializations were happy to provide her with ways to enhance its functionality even further.
"Humans and Vorcha are definitely immune by design," she said with a sigh. "From the looks of it, Krogans are resistant to damn near everything, so the virus has some trouble overcoming their ridiculously aggressive immune system. The triple redundant vital organs also help a lot. Asari … their genome is a whole can of worms in and of itself …"
"Elaborate," Mordin raised an eye ridge.
"They're a bit too perfect. Most of the genome looks to be a product of natural evolution in an environment rich in element zero, their biology is extremely well adapted to its high toxicity, but the segment that encodes biotic development has been artificially reinforced and guarantees that it will be active in all individuals. At least that's what my power thinks and I'm inclined to trust its opinion."
"Interesting hypothesis," the Salarian scratched his shin. "Has been presented in private circles. Never published. Political implications dangerous."
"No shit," she let out a small laugh. "I'll stay quiet on that too, then. Not that it makes much of a difference."
"Back to topic? Asari resistance?"
"Oh, yes. It's mainly because their blood is saturated with element zero which makes it harder for the virus to survive prior to infection. Afterwards, their immune system is as helpless as the others. I think it's possible to create an immune booster for those infected. It won't cure them completely but will significantly slow down the progress of the virus."
"Already considered," Mordin said. "Booster requires adaptation with each patient. Solution inefficient."
"We could produce a counter-virus?" Taylor offered. "One that uses the same techniques as the original but to generate the immune booster."
"Possible. Laboratory not equipped for direct viral synthesis. Would require additional stage. Create bacteria to produce viral payload." She could see the solution taking shape in the Salarian's mind.
She pulled up her omni-tool and started to type the genetic sequences, her power whispering them in her ears.
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Taylor left Mordin to his work. The Salarian doctor had been close enough to the solution that only a little push from her had been required. With that underway and most of her repair work done, she decided to go for a little stroll outside.
The tabletop fabricators in the workshop were limited in what they could produce. Since the area where the parts were built was open to the air, dust and air could get trapped in the structure. It wasn't too large of an issue for solid metal or plastic pieces, the reduction in strength was minimal, but for components that relied on precise structures and multiple materials like electronics … the failure rate was too high.
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She could build her own high precision fabricator given the time, and she planned to do so, but she needed some materials to start with, even tinkers needed at least something to work with. Hence her expedition outside the clinic. With the district in complete disarray, there were bound to be things she could salvage for parts. It was also a good opportunity for her to practice one of her powers away from prying eyes. The third aspect of Archmage was the ability to enchant objects.
When Mordin had learned she was going on a walk, he had given her a second pistol, something called the M-6 Carnifex. The name gave her a small indication as to what it did and the massive craters it left into the planters in a nearby atrium confirmed it. Compared to her fairly light M-4 Shuriken, this wasn't a pistol but a portable cannon, it had the recoil to match at least. She wondered what kind of target needed firepower of that caliber but then, she remembered the several Krogans in armor that had been part of the Blood Pack.
Taylor sent her drones ahead to scout and wandered deeper into the quarantined district. She wanted to avoid fights whenever possible. As much as she was ready to defend herself, with lethal force if necessary, she was hesitant to kill just for the sake of expediency. She knew where that road led.
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Taylor was hidden behind a stack of crates as a group of mercenaries in blue armor passed nearby. Four Batarians, two Turians, and an Asari. She couldn't detect a fight nearby so they were either patrolling or searching for something. From the way they moved around, she assumed it was the former.
"What the hell is Secusius thinking, sending us to patrol here?" She heard the Asari complain. "There's nothing around these parts except some old corpses."
"The Blood Pack have been trying to get around the blockade," one of the Turian said. "Secusius wants to be sure none of them made it through."
"Getting cold feet T'Saro?" One of the Batarians barked with a laugh.
"Watch it Drey," the Asari growled and a bluish hue appeared around her right hand.
"Cut it you two," the Turian raised his voice.
The group continued to bicker as they rounded a corner and disappeared into a hallway. Taylor was tempted to follow them to learn more but she had her own aims. She silently moved around the edge and reached one of the closed shops on the ground floor. The sign above the metal shutters proudly proclaimed: Dirk's Repair Shop.
It was the most promising location she had found so far. The proprietor had locked the doors before leaving but that didn't stop her for very long. One of her beetles equipped with a technopathy power overrode the lock and she let herself into the shop's backroom. The place was cramped, shelves filled with boxes full of electronic components lined every wall and took up most of the space. Half-disassembled devices of all sorts were stacked into large bins.
A messy horseshoe-shaped workbench was positioned in the center. She examined the devices that lay on top. One of them was the same model of fabricator as the one in Mordin's workshop. The next two seemed to be what she was looking for. One was some form of PCB fabricator and the other was to create the components themselves. She wondered why the shop had all those spare parts if it could manufacture everything on site.
The circuit printer had a large rectangular basin with a blue liquid inside. The bottom was a black reflective surface. Upon closer examination, it seemed that the circuit was created by an array of lasers to fuse the omni-gel suspended into layers with the desired traces. The component printer, on the other hand, had a vacuum chamber surrounding the print bed and around a dozen nozzles instead of the three the standard printer had.
With some telekinesis, the two machines disappeared into her storage space alongside several boxes of components she needed to continue her repairs. She skipped the disassembled machines since most of them were only good for scrap, Dirk had done a good job of salvaging everything already. She also took a quick look at the front of the store but nothing was immediately useful to her. Several of the items piqued her curiosity but she had already taken a lot from poor Dirk.
She locked the door behind her and continued her exploration.
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The next thing she found was … looters. Human looters.
Omega truly felt like home. Two men were looting the apartment of a dead Turian whose body was still on the floor. Had he fallen to the plague or to those two?
"There's nothing good here, Dan," one of them complained as she rifled through a dresser. "No credits, no valuables."
"Keep searching Jay," Dan grumbled, "my source assured me this place had some good shit."
"Your source is full of shit," Jay answered.
Since the two thieves had very poor situational awareness, she did not even need to hide her presence as she walked into the apartment and towards the bedroom. Once there, she leaned against a wall and cleared her throat. Her Quarian suit distorted the sound, giving it a much creepier vibe than she had intended.
"Gentlemen," she said.
Dan whirled around and pointed a pistol her way. From the way his hand trembled, he either wasn't used to wielding a weapon or was on some sort of drugs. Or maybe he was scared of the Quarian that had just appeared in the doorway.
"The hell are you?" Dan asked while shaking his gun.
"We got here first so get lost, suit rat," Jay said aggressively. He had his own gun pointed at her, his aim was even worse than Dan.
"Did you kill that Turian?" She asked calmly.
"Nah, the plague took care of him," Dan said.
"You're just stealing from the dead," she pointed out.
"We're just showing some … entrepreneurial spirit," Dan answered. "The plague doesn't affect humans so we might as well cash in."
"Besides, if we don’t, the Blue Suns or the Vorcha will," Jay pointed out. "I'm sure you understand."
"I'm sure it helps you sleep at night," she sighed. "Get the hell out of here," she tilted her head towards the exit, "before I lose my temper."
"It's two against one," Jay said. "You think you can take us?"
Her mental constructs had already configured both Aliena and Eidolon for combat. She called on a speedster power and she moved faster than the two looters could react. One instant, she was in front of them, the next she had her arm around Jay's and the Carnifex aimed at his temple.
"Yes, Jay," she said in his ear, "I can."
"Alright, alright," Dan put his hands up. "Please don't shoot."
"Drop the guns, both of you."
Dan threw his onto the bed and Jay's clattered to the ground.
"Now get the hell out of my sight," she growled and pushed Jay away. Both thieves looked uncertain for a few seconds until she wiggled her gun. They scampered away with their tails between their legs. When her beetle outside the apartment watched them leave, she relaxed.
"What a mess," she sighed. The two guns disappeared into her storage space, no reason to leave weapons lying around for someone to stumble upon. She looked at the dead Turian, there was nothing she could do for him. With a flick of her wrist, white flames engulfed the body and erased it from existence.
"May you rest in peace," she sent off a small prayer for him.
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Several minutes later she found more survivors from the plague. They were barricaded inside another apartment. From what her exploration beetle saw, they weren't armed and looked frightened. It was more likely they had been trapped inside the district when the quarantine was put in place.
She felt compelled to check on them. The quarantine had been going on for some time now and it was possible they would run out of food soon or had already done so. Her beetle released the lock and she walked down the ramp into the apartment.
"Hello, anyone here?" She announced herself. "I work for Doctor Solus at the clinic. I heard there were survivors in the area." A little white lie to smooth things out.
She watched as the two humans whispered to each other, they weren't as quiet as they thought they were. Taylor ventured further in and spotted the couple poorly hidden behind a low bookcase.
"I mean you no harm," she said.
"You're not with the Blue Suns," the man said as peeked from behind his cover.
"I'm not," she confirmed.
"Thank god, I thought those Turians had found us," he visibly relaxed. "The Blue Suns have been killing almost as many people as the plague."
"Why are you hiding from them?" She asked.
"They think the humans are responsible for the plague," the woman said. "We are immune and … it's all the proof that they need."
"They should be looking at those damned Vorcha," the man continued.
"Why didn't you go to the clinic?" She asked, puzzled.
"A doctor with military-grade mechs," the man said, "helping people for free? On Omega? We thought it was a rumor."
"I heard he was taking in refugees," the woman added, "but we thought it was a trap."
"I'm going back there," Taylor said. "I can escort you. I've been using my drones to avoid the Blue Suns."
"You’d do that? For strangers?" The woman seemed touched by her words.