Harvey ducked into the alleyway. The bitch who'd been stalking him had finally fallen behind, and she would probably lose his trail here. He breathed a little sigh of relief as he leaned against a stained metal wall. He then began picking his way quietly down the refuse-strewn corridor. Harold kept glancing behind him to made sure she wasn't following. And during one of those backwards glances something hit him hard in the head.

He managed to roll with the punch. As he did so, he caught a glimpse of his assailant. It was a muscular, dark-skinned man with merciless eyes. Harvey had a dagger in a sheath up his sleeve, and with a quick twist the blade slid into his waiting hand. He stabbed forward, aiming for the neck.

The big man ducked his head to the side and almost casually batted Harold's arm away. He punched again at Harvey's head, and this time Harvey wasn't able to roll with it.

When Harvey came to, he was trussed up like a turkey and staring into a pair of ice-blue eyes. It was the woman who had been stalking him. Harvey could feel the point of a knife pressing against his skin, just below his right eye.

"What the hell-" he began.

"Shut up," said the woman. Her voice was emotionless. "You will answer my questions. If you do not answer, I will take your eye. If you still do not answer, then I will take your toes one at a time. After that will be your fingers, followed by your manhood. I will leave your other eye until the very last, so that you can watch while I remove things from you. Do you doubt that I will do this?"

Harvey stared in fright up at that icy sapphire gaze. "No, I don't."

"You were passing Cerberus secrets to others. Who was your contact?"

"I wasn't-" Harvey felt the point of the knife slide almost painlessly into the skin below his eye. "A guy on the docks! His name is Jake, big guy with a scar on his neck! I hand him the data, he tells me where to pick up the payment! That's all I know!"

The knife point stopped moving. "Good. I have forwarded details of your extracurricular activities to The Illusive Man. I'm sure he will take appropriate measures."

Harvey felt a stab of hot fear in his guts. "Lady, you can't do that!"

"It's done." She cut a few strategic cords holding him. "You should be able to wriggle free in a few minutes. After that, I suggest that you run. For all the good that it will do you."

Harvey could only watch helplessly as the man and woman walked back out of the alleyway.

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

"Was that really necessary, Miranda?" asked Jacob. "Telling Cerberus about Harvey, I mean." They were on a shuttle that Miranda had 'acquired'. Jake had spilled his guts - fortunately in a metaphorical sense. Now they were flying to their next target. Jacob was going over their weapon inventory yet again. He was hoping to pick up a few more 'substantial' items at their next stop.

They had found at least one of the the leaks on the Cerberus side, and now they had to determine the identity of whomever was receiving the data. The most likely recipient was the Shadow Broker, but they had to make sure.

"Why care about Harvey? He works for Cerberus. And he is a traitor." Miranda flew the shuttle with absolute concentration, her face set in an expressionless mask.

"So are we."

"That's different," snapped Miranda. "We have sound reasons for our actions. Harvey is an opportunist. His betrayal is only motivated by coin."

Jacob noted her fingers whitening as she gripped the controls harder. "You can talk to me, Miranda. I know that...being reminded of what we've done is hard for you. It's hard for both of us."

"I'm fine." Then she seemed to deflate a little. "Sorry, Jacob. I shouldn't be angry with you. And I didn't tell Cerberus about Harvey just to be vindictive. We need to sow dissension within Cerberus as we go. It's better if they're chasing each other instead of the Normandy."

He smiled. "That makes sense. You always were the smarter one." Jacob stretched back in his chair. "But not necessarily the prettier one."

She laughed. "Well, I may not have your abs, Mr. Taylor, but I do all right regardless."

Jacob placed a hand on her shoulder. Miranda tilted her head to the side and pressed her cheek against his hand. "I couldn't do this without you," she said in a low voice. "Thank you for coming with me."

"It was the only thing I could do," he replied, and gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. She lifted her head and looked at him. There was a teasing little glimmer in her eyes that he had come to know and treasure.

"You know, this shuttle does have an autopilot," she said. "Let's use it."

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They'd turned the rear passenger compartment of the shuttle into an impromptu sleeping area. The bed-sheets were now thrashed and rumpled, and Jacob lay on his side and luxuriated in the feel of Miranda's bare body spooning against his front.

"I want you to do me a favor, Jacob." Miranda's voice was back to its usual tight control.

He kissed the back of her neck. "Anything. Well, almost anything. I ain't going near Jack anytime soon."

She didn't laugh. "Just promise me you'll live."

"What does that mean? We're both making it out of this."

Miranda snuggled back against him. "And then we live happily ever after?"

"Maybe. At least we can try."

"I don't deserve that."

"Miranda, look at me." At first Jacob thought she would ignore him, but then she finally wormed herself around to stare into his eyes. He gently stroked the back of her head. "You can't change what happened. We both thought we were doing the right thing. If you think you don't deserve a happy life, then just remember...you brought Shepard back. That wasn't Cerberus or The Illusive Man. That was you. If you hadn't been there, Project Lazarus would have failed."

Miranda looked down and tucked her head into his shoulder. "I was just doing as ordered. And so what? One more man is now alive. Does that excuse everything else I've done?"

He hugged her to him. "You don't believe that bullshit, babe. You've seen Shepard in action. If anyone can do something about the Reapers, it's him."

She said nothing, but Jacob could feel a slight dampness on his chest from her tears.

Finally he broke the silence. "I'll make that promise to you. On one condition."

"What's that?"

"You promise me something in return. Don't become a death seeker, Miranda. Getting yourself killed won't make amends."

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"So then I sez, 'Jessie and I beg to differ', and this idiot thief looks around like he's expecting to see somebody else. Of course, all he does see is me lookin' like I'm sitting against a tree and havin' a nap. Shitheel thought he had the drop on me. The idiot actually drops his gun a bit and asks me 'Who's Jessie?' and that's when I shot 'im. Had Jessie under my blanket the whole time. Couldn't aim with her sights, naturally, I just had to aim blind and hope I hit center-mass."

Zaeed laughed and continued. "Of course, I missed where I was aimin'. Damn luckiest shot I ever made. I was aimin' high, as it turns out. Bullet went up right between the eyes and plowed out a big chunk of his skull. And he looks at me and sez 'I can't believe you shot me', and then falls over dead."

The mercenary laughed louder this time. "It was like he thought it was rude or something."

Thane smiled. While he had hoped that Kasumi's lounge would be unoccupied at this hour, it looked like Zaeed was starting early. Perhaps the mercenary had much the same problem as he did. Namely, how to combat boredom while the Normandy was in transit. Zaeed was resorting to drinking, of course. And Thane was working on Garrus' little assignment. He had a holographic display laid out on the table in front of him while Zaeed sat on the sofa across from him.

He actually liked having Zaeed talk. Oddly, it helped him 'un-focus' and try to see patterns in the files that he might otherwise miss.

"What are you lookin' at, anyway?" asked Zaeed.

Thane moved a few files around on the display before replying. "We have a significant amount of data on Cerberus research activities, but much of it is still encrypted. Garrus asked me to have a look and see if I could find anything significant."

Zaeed grunted. "Hmm. Mind if I have a look?"

Thane gestured to his display. "Not at all. These are the files that I found to be the oddest. They concern places or areas of research that should not be of interest to Cerberus, and yet they have significant files."

Zaeed plonked himself down next to Thane and looked it over. "Buncha gobbeldygook for most of the text. That the encrypted part?" The drell nodded, and Zaeed chuckled. "Guess it's down to lookin' at pictures, then."

Thane paged over to the next set of files.

Zaeed scratched his head. "Something's off here."

"Indeed?" The drell looked over the new set. There was a few pictures scattered throughout the text. Here and there, a word would be in plaintext. "What do you see?"

The mercenary looked frustrated. "Dunno. Something about what I was just talking about...oh, I see it." He pointed at a picture of a desert planet. The southern half of the world was marked with a giant gash that spanned much of surface. The canyon was easily visible from orbit. "That picture. It looks like that thief's head after I shot 'im."

"A glancing shot from a bullet," mused Thane. He touched the picture and the file expanded to fill the display. "This is Klendagon. That feature is known as The Great Rift Valley."

"Real original name, eh?" laughed Zaeed. "So it's a canyon of some sort?"

"Yes...I found it curious that Cerberus had a large encrypted file about a common geological feature. The only remarkable thing about this canyon is its size."

Zaeed took another look at it. "It looks funny, don't it?"

Thane leaned forward. "How so?"

"I've hefted a rucksack through my fair share of canyons, right? The terrain around this one looks off. I can't explain it."

"Nor can I. But I think I see what you are driving at. I am not a geologist, but the ground around the Rift looks piled up more than it should be."

"I ain't a scientist, but I know the next best thing," said Zaeed. "So let's ask 'er. Hey EDI, you got this Cerberus file on Klendagon?"

"I do, Zaeed. Let me call it up into memory."

"This big rifty thing. Is that normal?"

"Standby, please. It appears there is some controversy in xeno-geology circles regarding the true origin of The Great Rift. It does not show the common features of a canyon formed via erosion, and Klendagon has no plate tectonic activity which could otherwise form such a feature."

Zaeed looked at the picture again. "It really does look like a bullet wound."

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

Garrus was facing a real quandary. On the one hand, it felt very nice to have Kasumi's soft and naked form wrapped around his torso. Even her gentle snoring was pleasant to listen to. But on the other hand, his left arm was trapped under her and slowly going numb. Plus he really needed to pee. His deliberations were interrupted by EDI's soft voice.

"Garrus? My apologies for intruding, but I think we have something. I am notifying Shepard as well. I am putting together a meeting of senior staff in the conference room."

"You have something? Oh, the Cerberus data. Hang on, I'll be there in a bit." Garrus bent his head down and nuzzled the top of Kasumi's head. "I'm sorry to wake you, babe. But duty calls."

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

EDI's display above the conference room table showed the Great Rift of Klendagon. Shepard and the other senior staff stood clustered around the table. "Klendagon's atmosphere does cause some minor wind erosion, which has allowed dating of the Great Rift. It is approximately 37 million years old, and it is not a naturally occurring feature. Once we had those two pieces of data, I was able to mostly decrypt the Cerberus file on the Great Rift. They have performed extensive studies on it, and have discovered its true nature."

"So what is it?" asked Shepard.

"It's a bullet wound," replied EDI. "The bullet, in this case, was a mass driver round of truly incredible power. Whomever fired it scored a glancing blow on Klendagon's crust."

"Why shoot at a planet, though?" asked Garrus. "And why did they miss?"

EDI's display began zooming out. Now there was a red line laid along the Great Rift. As the display kept expanding, the red line kept tracing back along towards the origin of the 'bullet'. "I believe that this was simply coincidence. The planet could not have been the primary target. Whatever they were firing at was powerful enough to require such extreme firepower."

"Could a Reaper have been the target?" asked Mordin.

The display began expanding very rapidly now. Various star systems were coming into view, and the red line kept extending. "I believe so. Certainly it seems Cerberus did as well. I have performed an analysis which takes into account star motions over the last 37 million years, and concluded that the origin of the round was the Thorne system in the Hawking Eta cluster."

Shepard leaned forward to get a better look. "Did Cerberus perform the same analysis?"

"They did, Shepard. Among the files we obtained, I found several related to the brown dwarf Mnemosyne in the Thorne system. Since I now know much of what they discussed, my latest decryption has been mostly successful for those files. Cerberus has found the Reaper which was disabled by that mass driver round."

"Disabled?" said Donnelly incredulously. "It didn't kill the beastie?"

"No, Marcus. The Reaper is in orbit in the high atmosphere of Mnemosyne, and its mass effect drive is still active. Otherwise it would have long ago sunk into the core of the brown dwarf."

"Damn." The engineer shook his head. "They are tough bastards, for sure."

Shepard crossed his arms. "What has Cerberus done about this discovery? No wait, let me guess...they've sent in a science team to strip the thing bare."

"Indeed, Shepard. A large team was sent in about six months ago, led by one Dr. Chandana."

The Commander rubbed his forehead. "Great. Do you have any files which indicate that they took precautions against Indoctrination? Using rotating teams, that sort of thing?"

"None at all. Only the one team was sent. Perhaps that was to maintain secrecy."

Donnelly cleared his throat nervously. "Um, how long does Indoctrination take?"

"We're not sure," replied Garrus. "Saren took at least a year, but that was because Sovereign was proceeding slowly. The end result of Indoctrination is a mindless slave, and Sovereign wanted to keep Saren's mind intact for as long as possible."

"So it is possible that the Cerberus team could all be Indoctrinated by now," said Dr. Chakwas. "However, it's apparent that the Reapers' higher brain functions are dead, otherwise it would have left Mnemosyne long ago. If Indoctrination requires that higher functionality, then it might be safe. I wouldn't bet my life on it though."

This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

"EDI," asked Garrus, "are there any reports from the science team? Anything to indicate that they found our 'IFF beacon'?"

"I have a few communications from Dr. Chandana that showed they were able to map out some of the Reaper's navigational systems. One of the components they removed appears to function much like the proposed 'IFF beacon'. They still have it on site, as far as I know."

Shepard nodded. "Good. Now we finally have something to do. I want a meeting of the ground team in one hour. We keep it simple - we smash in, grab the IFF, and run. If the beacon's not there, then at least we can find out where it was sent to."

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

At the moment, it didn't look like any 'smashing in' would be necessary. Joker couldn't detect any emissions from the Cerberus research team, and broadcasting 'prepare to be boarded' messages on standard Cerberus frequencies had caused no response. The horizon of the brown dwarf curved in a huge arc below the cockpit windows, and in the display over Joker's seat the disabled Reaper's position was highlighted.

"So what now?" asked Joker.

Shepard was now fully armored and belted into the copilot's seat. "We go in, I guess."

Joker nodded and opened the ship-wide channel. "All right folks, we're heading towards the Re...the target. Everybody needs to be strapped in. I'm showing wind speeds gusting up to 500 kph in the upper atmosphere. The gas is pretty thin, but it will still be enough to give us a little chop."

The arc of Mnemosyne began to expand and flatten as the Normandy dropped lower. A thin vibration began to run through the fabric of the ship. Shepard could feel it in his seat as the vibration got worse. The sharp delineation between planet and space now began to fuzz out; they were in the very outer layers of the brown dwarf's atmosphere.

The shaking got worse. Shepard had a hard time focusing on the overhead display, which now showed the wreck in more detail. They were still several hundred kilometers away. The light through the cockpit windows took on an amber tone that reminded Shepard of sunset.

Shepard could now feel his teeth rattling together in his head. "You call this a little chop?" he asked half-seriously.

"No problem, Commander," replied Joker. "I got this."

The wireframe image of the wreck continued to get more detailed in the overhead display. In the center was the large, vaguely squid-like shape which Shepard remembered from his encounters with Sovereign. He could also see a large hole in one side of the Reaper's main body. That was probably the entrance wound for the mass driver round that had taken out the monstrosity. On the opposite side of the Reaper's body was what looked like a huge bite taken out of its side. That was the exit wound. Around the main body was a small constellation of smaller chunks of debris, all of them held exactly in place.

There was also something small and symmetrical parked next to the Reaper, something that was not debris. "I think I see the science team's ship," said Shepard.

"That's not them," replied Joker. "It's not transmitting any IFF, and our LADAR paints that silhouette as geth."

"Shit." This was a complication that Shepard didn't need. "I guess we know why the Cerberus team didn't respond to us." The derelict Reaper was now visible in the forward windows. At their angle of approach, it looked like a giant black hand reaching for the ship.

And then the shaking stopped. The Normandy flew serenely through some of the outer debris which surrounded the wreck.

"What just happened?" asked Shepard.

"The Reaper's mass effect fields are still active," replied Joker. "We just passed inside their envelope. Eye of the hurricane, right?"

Shepard opened the comm. "Ground team, report to the airlock. There are probably geth inside the Reaper, so this will be more of a fight and less of a simple smash-and-grab. Change your weapon loadouts accordingly."

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

"Don't be careful, Jack."

She gave Donnelly a raised eyebrow in response. "The fuck?"

"Well, lass, I thought I'd try a wee bit of reverse psychology. When I tell ye to be careful, ye tell me to get bent and then go off and get intae fistfights with giant beetle beasties."

Jack gave a snort. "You are such a doofus. Come here." She grabbed the back of Donnelly's head and pulled him down for an open-mouthed kiss that made his head swim. She broke away and gently rubbed the back of his head. "How about you? Are you doing okay?" she asked as her big brown eyes searched his.

Donnelly had deliberately avoided looking at any of the external visual feeds since they had begun approaching the derelict Reaper. The last thing he needed was to be reminded of the nightmares he'd suffered since the Battle of the Citadel. "I'm fine, Jack. You just...look, just get in and get out, okay? I'll keep the motor running for ye."

Jack smiled and pressed her forehead against his. Then she picked up her helmet and strolled out of Engineering.

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

The neck of the Normandy was very crowded right now as the ground team queued up to leave. Thanks to a little bit of fancy maneuvering on Joker's part, the Normandy managed to attach itself to the airlock which Cerberus had installed on the outer portion of the wreck.

Shepard felt a little bit of a thrill when he saw what Mordin was carrying. "Doctor, is that what I think it is?"

The salarian nodded, and handed the weapon over to him. Shepard ran a hand lovingly over its smooth exterior; the gun looked half-melted. The Commander had lusted after one of these Collector particle-beam weapons since seeing them in action on Horizon.

"Installed energy meter in back," said Mordin. "Also modified to accept standard high-energy cells. Thorough analysis shows that this is actually Prothean weapon, not of Reaper origin. Should be no danger of Indoctrination."

Shepard smiled. "Thanks, Mordin. I'm sure it will come in handy." He looked at the assembled team. "Right, everyone. We're forming two teams. The A-team will be me, Garrus, Jack, and Grunt. B-team will be Thane, Samara, Zaeed, and Kasumi. From EDI's files, it looks like there is one long pressurized corridor that the Cerberus team has set up into the derelict. A-team will take point, while B-team will fortify in place just inside the airlock. I don't want the geth getting in behind us and cutting us off. I also want everyone in both teams to be on constant alert, understand? Report everything you see, no matter how small or stupid. Especially if you encounter anything like odd voices or whispers."

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

The main airlock into the wreck was clean and sterile-looking. Beyond that was a large foyer which was clearly set up as the main storage area for the Cerberus team. There was no blood or evidence of firing; if the geth had wiped out the scientists, it must have happened deeper into the structure. Shepard found a log from the project head, Dr. Chandana.

Opening the video log showed a lean man with a craggy face and dark olive skin. He spoke in a precise, clipped tone. "The airlock has been installed at the far end of the holed section. We have begun pressurization for shirtsleeves work. The crew is edgy. I reassure them it's mere nerves. A superstitious reaction to what this hulk represents - the corpse of a vast, ancient life form." The man leaned closer to the camera. "Privately, I can't deny the atmosphere. The angles of the walls seem to press down on you. I find myself clenching my teeth."

There was a little silence after it ended. "That's just nerves, right?" asked Zaeed. "There's no way this thing could still be active after so long."

Shepard felt his jaw tighten. "We can't assume anything. We split up here. B-team, you've got our backs. If we get cut off, you push forward from here to relieve us. Zaeed, you're in charge of B-team. Call in every ten minutes, and report immediately if you see or hear anything strange. Move out, people." The four members of the A-team moved towards the main door into the rest of the Reaper, while the other team began to set up firing positions.

The next corridor was still the prefabricated pressurized walls that the science team had set up. If Shepard didn't know better, he could have sworn that he was in some random space station and not inside a cybernetic monstrosity that predated his own species. They found another log from a Cerberus scientist.

"We finished cataloging specimens A203 to B016. No evidence of active nanotechnology noted. Dr. Chandana believes they would have decayed over the last 37 million years. There's not enough data to support his claim. He asserts that the truth is 'patently obvious'. I am...concerned. Chandana has been staring at the samples for hours. He says he's 'listening' to them."

"Shit," said Shepard.

"That's bad, I take it?" asked Jack.

Garrus rolled his shoulder. His face was neutral, but he was clearly as worried as Shepard. "Saren had a facility set up on Vermire to study Indoctrination. We found a few of his...test subjects before they were too far gone. They described it as a voice whispering in your head."

"Too much talk," said Grunt. "We should keep moving forward, and see if there is anything to smash."

"You said it, buddy," added Jack.

Before they could move on, a huge rumble ran through the deck below them.

Joker's voice broke into the main comm channel. "Normandy to shore party!"

"What just happened?" asked Shepard.

The pilot sounded more than a little frantic. "The Reaper put up kinetic barriers all along its outside hull. I don't think we can get through to you from our airlock."

Shepard glanced back the way they came. He felt a little bit of sweat on his forehead. "Is this just an automated reaction, or is this god-damn thing waking up?"

EDI's voice was cool and calm. It helped Shepard get a little of his composure back. "I believe this is an automated response. The Normandy is much larger than the geth ship, and I postulate that we were large enough to trigger this defense. I am detecting no evidence of systems-wide activation. The Reaper still appears quite dead."

Shepard blew out a breath. "Okay, so we'll have to take down the barriers from inside here. Any idea where the controls would be?"

EDI paused as she thought. "At the moment of activation, I detected a heat spike in what is likely the wreck's mass effect core. Sending the coordinates now. Be advised, this core is also what is maintaining the Reapers' altitude."

The Commander rolled his eyes. "Of course. So when we do take the barriers down to escape, the wreck falls into the core of the brown dwarf."

Joker sounded just as pissed off as Shepard. "And then everyone dies. Yeah, got it."

Shepard smiled, even though he knew Joker couldn't see it. "If any helmsman can pull this off before we reach crush depth, it's you. We'll make a sweep for survivors and recover what data or tech that we can. B-team, stand by. If the barriers go down, you run your asses for the Normandy. Don't wait for us, understand?"

"Oh, we'll be running, don't you worry," replied Zaeed. "This place is giving me the fuckin' shivers already."

At the end of the corridor, the door opened...and then they walked out into the Reaper proper.

Shepard felt a little bit of constriction in his chest as he looked up. They stood in a huge, cavernous space that stretched off to the right and left. The Cerberus team had set up walkways and stairs over and through the vast alien architecture. Overhead stretched huge tubes the size of subway trains. They were colored dark gray and covered with odd twisting hieroglyphics. A dim blue light suffused the scene, accented here and there by the bright orange lights which Cerberus had placed.

Jack was the first one to speak. "It was one thing to see it out of the window. But now that we're inside it...it's true. All of it. The Reapers are real." Shepard glanced over and saw her eyes were huge behind her visor. He could hear her breath getting faster.

"Jack," he said softly. She locked eyes with him as he continued. "You know what else is true? We killed one."

The manic look in her eyes faded. "Right, Boss. Damn right. It's just a big machine, and machines can be smashed."

Shepard laughed. "So I've heard. Come on, let's move."

There was another log, this one even more disturbing. It was the scientist from the previous log talking with another researcher.

"You're married?" said the scientist. "You never mentioned that."

The other researcher laughed. "Yeah, she's a firecracker. Katy has always had anger management issues. When my brother got married, the best man tried to hit on her. She kicked him down the church steps."

The scientist looked confused. "What? Katy's my wife! I must have told you the story."

"No, I know my wife. That day was the only time I saw her wear stockings."

"Yeah, the kind with the seam up the back. That's what I remember too..."

The second man shook his head. "What the hell is this? How can we remember the same thing? I thought your wife was Doreen."

"No, Doreen was Phil's wife...wasn't she? But she had that way of tilting her head and tucking back her hair."

"Tucking her hair behind her ear," replied the researcher. "Yeah. She knew that gesture always got my blood going. But...no, my wife is Katy!-"

The video mercifully ended at that point.

Now Grunt was the first one to speak. "It reminds me of the tank," said the krogan. They all looked at him in surprise. "Okeer's voice was strong when he imprinted me. Even now, his voice whispers to me. It is sometimes difficult to separate my memories from his. It helps that I am young. I can only imagine how hard it would be if I had an entire lifetime of my own memories to keep separated."

Shepard blinked. "That's...that's very astute, Grunt. I wonder if this is some facet of Indoctrination."

"Or something worse," replied Garrus. "Maybe-"

The turian was cut off by a low wailing moan from a lower platform off to their right.

"HUSKS!" yelled Jack. Without waiting for any order, she began throwing shockwaves down the stairs.

There were indeed husks pulling themselves over the edges of the platform. Once upright, they began running at the four of them with that odd, hunched-over gait. Long hours of training now paid off as they all assumed their roles. Grunt and Shepard moved forward to blunt any attacks with guns and fists, while Garrus picked off the ones running towards the fray. Jack broke up clumps of them with shockwaves and the occasional shotgun blast if they got too close.

After a bit, the attacks faded away. They regarded the glowing blue corpses spread about on the platform. "Well," said Shepard. "I guess we know what happened to the science team."

"Was this due to the Reaper, or did the geth do this?" asked Garrus.

Shepard shrugged. "It doesn't matter at this point. EDI, can you read us?"

"Yes, Shepard."

"Are we still heading towards the drive core?"

"Affirmative. You should also be approaching the area where they recovered the Reaper's 'IFF beacon'."

"B-team, how are you doing?"

"All quiet here, Shepard," replied Zaeed. "No voices or strange stuff."

"Good. A-team, move out."

The next few platforms didn't have any surprises, but then as they came up the stairs to the next platform a couple of husks began to totter out from around the corner and towards them. Shepard didn't even have time to get his rifle up before they had their heads removed by a single shot to each of them. The shots came from deeper within the Reaper.

They automatically dropped to the deck when the shots were fired. Garrus was the first to rise and take a peek around the next corner. "I couldn't see the shooter," he said. "A survivor from the science team, maybe?"

Shepard pushed himself up. "If so, then we need to be careful. We can't assume that they're friendly. They may be Indoctrinated and not yet realize it."

They ducked and weaved around the corner into the next space. This was a huge platform that overlooked another vast tunnel that led deeper into the Reaper. Before they could properly begin to search the place, they were attacked again. The initial wave of husks was not a big deal at first. There were plenty of crates and tanks to hide behind. But during the firefight there was another taller nightmare shape that emerged from a nearby alcove.

"Scion," said Shepard through gritted teeth. "Garrus, focus on that."

The turian complied, and the tall shape rocked as the sniper put a round right into the thing's bulbous head. They had to dodge the shockwave that the scion sent out in response, and Grunt wound up isolated and surrounded by husks.

The krogan's head was split in a huge grin as he began to lay into his attackers with his stony fists. A husk clambered up his back and tried to bite down through his headplate. Shepard cursed and went into overdrive. The entire world seemed to slow, as if everyone was moving through molasses. He calmed his breath and set up his shots. The first went through the head of the husk on top of Grunt. He sent the next five shots through each attacker around the krogan, then he snapped back into normal speed.

The husks on top of and around Grunt formed a frozen tableau for one moment, and then all of them dropped dead. The krogan nodded at Shepard. "Battlemaster, it is a pleasure to see you in action."

Shepard resisted the urge to roll his eyes, then dove for cover as another shockwave from the scion ripped past him. Jack was able to stagger the thing with a biotic blast of her own, and then Garrus dropped it with one final shot through its head.

They breathed for a bit as the adrenaline wore off. "Sound off," snapped Shepard. "Is anyone hurt? Grunt, get your ass over here and let me look at you."

"I am fine, Battlemaster," said Grunt as he stomped over.

"Your notions of 'fine' can be a little skewed, my friend," replied Shepard. He gave the huge alien a quick once-over. "But yeah, this time you seem to be okay."

Jack, in the meantime, began searching the platform. "Another video log here, dudes," she said. "I'm feeling pretty creeped out by now, so I'm not gonna be the first one to play it."

"Why Jack," said Garrus as he walked towards her with a turian grin. "I'm amazed. You seem to be actually mortal after all."

"Bite me, bird-boy," replied Jack with a answering grin.

They both looked at the OSD that Jack had found. "Oh, just play it," said Shepard.

It turned out to be one of the scientists they'd seen previously. The man's eyes were sunken and haunted. He spoke in a hoarse whisper, and occasionally looked behind him as if expecting to be attacked at any moment. "Chandana said the ship was dead. We trusted him. He was right. But even a dead god can dream. A god - a real god - is a verb. Not some old man with magic powers. It's a force. It warps reality by just being there." The scientist dropped his head and shook it, as if to try to remove some kind of irritation.

"It doesn't have to want to," he continued. "It doesn't have to think about it. It just does. That's what Chandana didn't get. Not until it was too late. The god's mind is gone, but IT still dreams. IT knows now. IT'S tuned in on our dream. If I close my eyes I can feel IT. I can feel every one of us."

He looked back up at the camera. "Who is my wife?" he whispered. "Is it Katy, or is it Doreen? Katy did that thing with her hair...no, that was Doreen. Or was it Doreen who kicked the best man down the stairs..." He paused, and a thin rivulet of blood began to run out of his nose. "I can't remember right," he whimpered, and then his eyes rolled back in his head. His head snapped forward and into the camera, bouncing back off of it. There was a small drop of blood on the lens and a large bleeding gash on the man's forehead. The man then began hammering his head forward repeatedly into the camera, and the screen became more and more coated with blood and tissue with each blow. Shepard finally reached forward and shut off the video.

"Shepard, look here," said Grunt from the end of the platform. The Commander took a moment to compose himself before walking over to the krogan. Grunt pointed. "What is that?". In the space beyond the platform were six huge spikes, each of which impaled a human form. This was all too familiar to Shepard.

"These are what we call dragon's teeth," he said to Grunt. "The geth used them on Eden Prime." He looked around and saw that everything around them had been moved to face the spikes. Shepard gestured at the platform. "Do you see how the room is arranged? They treated this thing like some kind of altar."

Garrus looked around and nodded. "It does look like that, but why would they want this to happen?"

"You heard the logs," replied the Commander. "They were seeing things. Hearing things. They were being Indoctrinated."

One of the side passages off of the platform led to another airlock. "EDI, where does this lead?" asked Shepard.

"There is a gangway beyond this passage. It leads along the side of the Reaper, and is the most direct path to the mass drive core."

"Got it. Okay, everybody suited up?" After a chorus of 'ayes', Shepard opened the inner door.

"Equalizing pressure," said a synthetic voice. "Please exercise caution. Safety is a Cerberus priority. This facility has had...five...days since its last accident."

Beyond the airlock was a large space flooded with amber light. One whole side was simply not there, and they could look right out into the roiling brown clouds of Mnemosyne. Shepard went in first with his rifle up. "Check corners and the edges of the floor. They like to crawl up from there."

The team had made it only a few meters along the gangway when Shepard felt a thump behind him. He threw himself to the side as a husk barreled forward into the space where he'd just been. Shepard felt a little panic as he rolled and came up on one knee. Where the hell had that husk come from? He switched into overdrive again and aimed at the husk. As time slowed down, he could see two other husks also attacking the team from behind.

Before he could shoot, he saw the husk's head fly apart and back in a slow and graceful arc of blood and cybernetics. He shifted his aim to one of the others, only to see his new target's head also begin to come apart in slow motion. The third husk's head followed suit right after.

Whoever the shooter was, they were just as fast as Shepard. He rolled again as he switched back into normal time, then spun around and aimed his rifle back towards where the shots had come from. Framed in the orange light from outside was-

"Can't be," murmured Garrus.

It was a geth.

The machine had the same sloping head and single glaring eye which Shepard had seen all too much of during the chase after Saren. Its limbs were the same sinuous biomechanical musculature as other geth. This particular specimen had a gaping hole through one side of its torso. The oddest thing about it was the red-and-gray piece of armor strapped to its right shoulder. Shepard stared in amazement. That looked like a part of his old armor, from the original Normandy.

The geth lowered the rifle in its hands. Its big bright eye stared at Shepard for a moment as little flaps twitched and raised around its hood. After a brief moment, it nodded its head as if in respect.

"Shepard-Commander." The geth's voice had an electronic twang that stretched out certain vowels. It casually slung its rifle back over its shoulder and trotted off out of sight.

They all stared after it in amazement for several seconds.

"What the fuck, over?" yelled Jack.