Dead Space: Zenith

Isaac stumbled and limped as he made his way to the machine. Blood dripped from his wounded temple, giving a faint gleam in the green oscillating light beaming on him. Carver stumbled as he carried Isaac over his shoulder, and the two exchanged looks as they both came closer to the machine and to the codex.

"So this is it huh? We use that Codex?"

"Yeah" Isaac replied

"We die here? Now?"

"And earth... gets a tomorrow."

Without another word, Isaac laid his hands on the codex and twisted it counterclockwise. It emitted that familiar droning call as it moved, sounding in a great thump as it reached it zenith. The resulting shockwave blasted both Carver and Isaac away several feet. Carver held on to a broken outer ridge of the machine before the resulting turbulence, brought on the by the machine finishing off the great monster within they were imprisoned, sucked him into the air and out of view. Isaac soon followed suit. As he tumbled through the icy, debris ridden air, he pulled out his picture of Ellie and looked at it longingly for one last time before closing his eyes and accepting his fate.

As Issac began his descent however, he sensed something wasn't right. He reopened his eyes only to be met with blinding green light. It was the machine no doubt, but what was it doing? What was happening? His fall seemed to be slowing, yet that stirring, queasy feeling one gets in their gut during a free fall seemed to be steepening. The green gave way to white as the light intensified, and even with his hands covering his face, he could not block it out. It seemed to be seeping past his fingers like thick grease enveloping them. He retracted his hands only to see a similar phenomenon enclosing his whole being. immediate fright gave way to mental and physical paralysis, lasting but for a few frenzied moments before oblivion set in.

The oblivion was not blackness however. It was not sleep. Isaac's consciousness was very much awake, but could find no trace of his body. Had he died? Isaac thought to himself. He pondered for a while, taking in the momentousness of what he thought was death. So this is it, he thought. It's all over. Everything's over. It's done. There was an odd mixture of peace and unsettling swirling in his consciousness. The troubles of the world had finally left him but now what? What happens now? Was he just consciousness floating through the cosmos forever? Was he ever going to see anyone ever again or feel another's embrace or hear another's voice? All at once the thought horrified him, and the very postulation of never experiencing any stimulus ever again was an oddly maddening proposition. Isaac's fear swelled exponentially. At this point he did not even know how long he had been like this. He hadn't eve realized that his perception of time had completely gone. There was no landmark for him to look to. No changing world/worlds to testify to the steady march of time. The absence of his senses made it impossible to tell whether he had been here a few seconds or several centuries.

No sooner did he realize this when he started coming to. Slowly but surely, dark blotches began to permeate the unending whiteout. Small points of reference became discernible features, and slowly but surely the environment around Isaac came to life. He was glad he had finally regained his cognition, but even then he was dismayed at the fact that he still could not move. The whiteout was gone but all was still hazy. Only dull outlines persisted for the longest time. Isaac began to grow more and more anxious. The longer he lay here, the more likely he was to find he was entertaining company. Years of paranoia about neromorphs and Earthgov and unitologists had instilled such wariness into his mind like solder. He first regained the feeling in his extremities, then his limbs, and eventually his whole body. Shuffling himself up felt absolutely herculean, and he fell to his knees as he attempted to stand upright. His vision remained blurry, but he could start to make out the scene around him. The smell and glow of numerous fires burning metal, rubber, paint and plastic, cool and crisp air, and ample sunlight. There was no snow blanketing the place, nor the sting of an Icy wind on his bare face. Wherever this was, it most likely wasn't Tau Volantis.

As his vision began to clear fully, such a postulation proved efficacious. There were green trees and beautiful waves ahead of him. The foam on the seashore frothed up as continuous gentle waves made their way ashore. Palm fronds bristled gently in a cool breeze. In stark contrast to the paradisaical scene was a scattering of ship debris. Some unitologist, most Sovereign Colony warships. Their remains shared the landscape with the wildlife and scenery in an ugly, burning mess. Isaac began to wonder if it maybe still was Tau Volantis. After all, the machine's purpose was to freeze the planet and prevent the Moon from consuming any further before delivering some sort of esoteric coup de grace. Maybe he's been asleep for longer than he thought. Maybe this is what the planet looked like before. Maybe it was back to some supposed exotic original state.

Whatever the case, the past seemed less and less important than the present as Isaac remembered his current circumstances. He had no idea where Ellie or Carver were, or if they were even alive. Isaac frantically tapped his comms, calling out for them. "Carver? Carver?! Carver, come in! C'mon man, you gotta talk to me! Carver? CARVER!!" No answer. Just static. Isaac began to worry. He opened up RIGlink and found that Carver's RIG was no longer in sync with his. No way to tell if he flat-lined. Worse yet, Ellie's RIG was no where to be seen. Maybe she just shocked out, or perhaps she did so just as the Brother Moon was waking up. Futile as he knew it was, Isaac tapped into his comms again trying to make contact. "Ellie? Ellie are you there? *shit* Ellie, do you hear me?! ELLIE?! DAMMIT!!"

Isaac cursed under his breath. He was alone. He had no idea where he was or how he got there or how long he had been there. There was some solace cooling down his red-hot, frustrated temperament: there wasn't a single necromorph corpse in sight, and the Brethren moons were certainly (or at least hopefully) out of the picture. This gave way to some more worrisome questions, such as why exactly there was no trace of necromorph infestation, but Isaac buried them under an emerging sense of urgency. There were several things he needed at the moment more than circumstantial information: Food, Water, sleep, and rescue. Food wasn't too hard to find. All around him for at least a few miles lay the ruins of the Sovereign colonies fleet and Danik's Unitologist outfit  Centuries old SC rations were out of the question, but Danik and his zealots certainly didn't come to kill Isaac and his friends starving. Sure enough, after a short hike to a smoldering Unitologist shipwreck, Isaac found what victuals he needed. He noticed that though the vessel was destroyed, it seemed relatively intact for having hit the planet on re-entry. He examined the wreck closer, noticing that there was little damage on the re-entry plating. Further examining the destruction around him, he noticed no trails of upturned flora and topsoil in the wake of any of the vessels. None of the wrecks had even left a wake. It struck Isaac odd, even a little paranoid. Once again, Isaac ignored his underlying fears and buried them under what he deemed to be more pressing matters.

Sleep could wait until he knew where he was, or where he could make contact with someone friendly. He rummaged through a ruined unitology ship's trashed helm in search of the comms equipment. Ship's power was completely shot, but it wasn't anything Isaac couldn't fix. He went astern to find the ship's power core was quite intact. Far too intact for a normal re-entry crash. Isaac had to suppress the maddening implications borne by this discovery, once again burying the ominous past and future to better preserve his present. Getting the ship's power back on was a pain, but nothing he hadn't done before, be it in his normal line of work, or in his horrific escapades of the past several years. A little re-wiring here, some replacing of easily broken, hard to find components fished out of other ships there, and viola. One functional zealot ship coming right up. Of course, it was by no means flight worthy, but at least it had power, and that meant Isaac could start broadcasting. Isaac wasted no time. The unitologists had only so many contacts. They had kept their militant arm pretty well concealed before they launched their first attack about a month before the incident on Earth's moon, and having everyone on your contact list would probably not be very prudent. Isaac uploaded his names from his RIG onto the Ship's mainframe. Without hesitation, he sent out a  distress beacon. Using the ship's nav computers, he pinpointed his location and sent it as part of the broadcast. Now all he had to do was wait.

Now, what could he do while he waited? this place looked pretty remote, but not hostile. It was much more alive than any other place he had been to. Far more alive than the Earth he called home and far more convincing than the simulated skies and filtered pools he had seen in what few resorts and hotels he was able to bring Nicole and later Ellie to. It was quite a shame that all this destruction and shipwreck and fire and smoke was ruining an otherwise perfect shoreline. Isaac decided he might as well set up shop, sync his RIG with the ship to receive any answers to his distress call, and try to relax. He was exhausted, but a lingering paranoia kept him awake. He strode away from the smoking heaps of ruined ships, hiking a bit up the coast until they were out of sight. He took in the magnificent vistas before him: sheer black, igneous cliffs overhanging white sand and perfectly blue water, lush and lively jungles adorning their tops. Fauna seemed to be in abundance: he could see all sorts of seabirds and wading birds flying through the air and fishing through the tide pools, wherein swam a plethora of small fish and crustaceans. Isaac shooed some of the birds away to get a better look at them They looked nothing like anything he had seen in a containment unit on earth, or or those grainy old videologs of extinct earth life. The very fact that this planet was so wonderfully alive made Isaac wonder. Was this the old Tau Volantis blooming back to life? Just how long would it really take? Certainly too long for one to safely fall into and wake up from a coma. Or was it? Was he in "paradise" or some other afterlife that some religionists, unitologist or otherwise, blabbered on about?

Eventually Isaac let his frantic mind slow down. He waded around in the surf, staying dry with his suit and picking up the various little creatures that swam around the shallows. He observed the birds wading next to him and flying above him. Some appeared more reptilian than avian, but this did not detract from their beauty. They were arrayed in all sorts of vibrant, lively colors, flashing them as they flapped their wings, changed expression, or shooed a curious Isaac away with a defensive pose and a hiss. Isaac didn't feel threatened so much as he felt amazed and somewhat amused. He had never actually interacted with any kind of real, living animal before. He had never seen bodies of water this clean looking before, nor did he ever see such blue skies (smoke from the wreckage notwithstanding) in his nearly fifty years of living. It was all doing a very good job at hushing his fears and apprehensions regarding his circumstances, and soon enough all his paranoid theories and postulations were, at least for the moment, put to rest. Stepping back onto the shore for a bit, he found some shade under a shore tree and sat down, enjoying the weather. Everything seemed serene for once. Even before his most recent and harrowing adventure with the markers, his life was calm but not serene: hopelessness and poverty and filth adorned Earth's moon. Here, there was peace, tranquility, and perhaps even a chance of obtaining rest. Realizing this he almost involuntarily lay all the way down, his back resting in a bowl caused by the tree's ample root system. It was no soft bed, but it was so much better than what he had been through these past three days. With that in mind, Isaac found it surprisingly easy to find sleep
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>Personal log: Day two.

>Still no response to the beacon. I don't understand. Thing's running on every frequency. I've gotta REALLY be out in the middle of bum nowhere for no one to hear me Maybe I really am too far out. Maybe someone's already on their way. Who knows. Someone's gotta pick me up sooner or later. This place isn't too bad to tell the honest truth. Place is beautiful. It almost makes me not want to get rescued. People see all this and they'll strip it to the ground. Maybe just me and Ellie can be here. Fat chance. Gotta check that wishful thinking. Wonder what everyone is doing. Are they looking for me? Is anyone looking for me? Might as well cool it here and find out

>Day three

>Did some tinkering around with some of the vessels strewn around the beach. None are spaceworthy and the most intact one is going to take a long ass time to fix. All by myself, it'll probably take a few years, three at least. I REALLY hope someone gets to me before I have to do that. Least it'll give me something to do. Place is practically my own personal junkyard. Parts everywhere, Shame it's such an ugly mess.

>Went out into the jungle behind the wreckage today. Crazy stuff around here. Bugs the size of my forearm crawling on me and crap. Gross. Some big ol' monkey looking things came at me in a rush. Gotta be sure to not enter their territory.They stopped a few yards away, but I would've been pulp if I got any closer. The flora's pretty crazy too. So much of it glows. Blue seems predominant. Not sure why. Probably some chemical in the soil or something. Either way some of it looks awesome. Might as well decorate while I'm here, right? Never been much of a gardener, but hey, it's a little nicer being surrounded by glowing blue plants rather than piles of space junk. I mean not that space junk is anything new to me, but it's nice to have a little change of scenery.

>Day six

>Re-did the beacon to make sure it was broadcasting alright. Everything looks fine. Why the hell hasn't anyone shown up yet? Crap, I must be REALLY far out there. Guess that figures. No one's ever seen anything like this in real life and we'd be rushing here in a hurry if it was ever revealed. By the time I got here the skies would be grey.

>I'm starting to think If I'm gonna get rescued, it's gonna take a while. Weeks. Maybe months. God forbid years.

>Day ten.

>Unitologist rations are about a quarter of the way through. Had to start experimenting with local fauna and flora. Dangerous game. Threw up twice today on bad berries. Blues and reds are no good. Greens are tart as crap, but they'll do. The only real expeditionary equipment I can find has been on the SC ships. It's all primitive and half of it went to rotting or rusted crap long before I found it, let alone after the crash. I've found some that claim to be able to break apart potential foodstuffs and discern edibility. It's old and broke but I think I can fix it Some of those fish look good

>day seventeen

>Two days of the runs does a man no good. Never laying a finger on those green berries again. Water evaporation rig is working great. Got lots of water to drink and lots of salt to use for... whatever it is I can use salt for. Starting to officially feel like a castaway, albeit a very comfortable castaway. That is, unless some crappy fruit give me double headed dragon. never ever again. Some of the fish tastes absolutely delicious. I was worried when I saw I took a huge hit on supplies after the first few bouts of barfing, but I think I'll be alright. Even if I never touch it again, It'll last at least another six years. Chances are i probably won't. Some of this native stuff is freaking delicious.

>day twenty-eight

>This wild ride just might be at an end, or at least I hope it will. Heard some static over the comms receiver. Lasted a good five minutes. Probably shat half a brick house in that time. No clear voices, just static. All I know is that it was received by some outside source. It wasn't the system going awry. It wasn't another one of those damn monkeys playing around on the ship. Someone out there actually heard me. Had to get ready. they could be here by tomorrow if they intend to pick me up. Dusted off and repaired the suit as best I could and put it back on. My days of board-washing secondhand clothes from the SC and the unitologists over an old comms array heat-sink are over. Shame. Think Ellie might like some of it. She's always picked at the fact that I like to wear baggy stuff. Some of this stuff's tight. I really look forward to seeing her again.

>be seeing you soon, Ellie

>END LOG
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Isaac wandered around the wilds just outside of his camp, observing the wildlife he was back in his suit, newly built plasma cutter at his hip. His helmet was down and his eyes closed as he took in the scenery for presumably the last time. "I might actually miss this place" he said to himself as he ventured further into the wilds. He knew this place in particular. It was a place he resorted to when he got too stressed or when thoughts of home or a new life made him anxious. A little handmade sign crafted by Isaac pointed to it reading "Take a load off." A series of cascading waterfalls sung along the rocks above and into a fairly large pool below, surrounded by flowing blue and teal flora. The rock that the cascade ended in hung over the pool considerably, and there was enough dry land behind it for Isaac to set up shop: A fridge powered by some solar arrays he hung up in the trees, a TV loaded with some pirated re-runs of his favorite shows, a tunnel that led underground into a "shooting range" set up with a single chair and table, loaded with some spare ammo. Downrange were some very large leaves Isaac used as targets, strung up by vines adorning the rocks. Light poured in from a large open fissure in the cave ceiling. A rope ladder was hung on it from without, leading to an even more spacious enclave than the first. The brook that supplied the cascade flowed through a large stony creek that wound throughout a garden lush with life. The jungle canopy was open, forming a large aerial perimeter around the garden. Flowers bloomed and birds and other exotic animals wandered and flew about. Several large stones dotted the garden, the very largest dividing the creek around it and sitting in the middle of the garden. It was formed of several layers of rock, with obvious bands of black volcanic rock making intermittent appearances. It was worn, partly by nature and partly by Isaac, to resemble steps. Isaac would often resort to these steps and sit down, overlooking the garden form all directions at the top, using what time he had to relax and meditate. Right now, Isaac had at least one more time to sit atop here in this tranquil setting and gather his thoughts. Rescue is likely on the way. Now what to do? Nothing left of the Marker threat - melting necromorphic remains rotted inside the hulls of the SC ships, decaying into topsoil without a marker signal. Earthgov and Unitology were most likely no more. The mess he was in with his apartment and shabby life had been left completely behind. There were some possession he'd miss, but not too greatly, As far as he was concerned, that life had passed away. Now to rebuild. Just where would he start? He had his engineering degree still. It certainly would not be impossible to find good work as long as it wasn't on the Moon. Ellie was no longer a stranger. For once, Isaac's outlook on life looked quite positive.

Then, Isaac heard commotion coming from his camp. Men shouting, ship engines whirring, and wildlife stirring.

As Isaac approached he could hear them more clearly. Their tone of voice did not sound like a rescue team. He heard no mentions of his name, knowing that he broadcasted it in his distress signal. All he heard were calls of "SEARCH THE CAMPS! SEARCH THE RUBBLE! FIND ANYTHING? IS THERE ANYONE HERE? ANY SURVIVORS?" melded with what sounded like the bolts of several firearms being locked into battery. That didn't sound good. Sure they were looking for survivors. Didn't mean they intended to let them survive any longer. Isaac swore between gritted teeth, activated his helmet and loaded his plasma cutter. He crouched behind a bush and watched them there. They were a ways off, making it hard to make out details, but sure enough, there they were, searching around the wreckage with rifles in hand. Some had theirs slung over their shoulder or entrusted to a comrade as he went to rummage around the half-destroyed hulks. He could see some of them scurrying off to a medium sized ship to drop off their loot. Well how nice. Armed and sticky fingered. Isaac was partly afraid of how an armed conflict would fall quickly to his demise and partly angry at the small horde of armed thieves taking all of those things that had kept him alive so long. So many parts he had lined up to fix the uni ship, so much food, and so many weapons were being toted away by armed guard into that ship. The way Isaac saw it there were three courses of action to take. One: rush in guns blazing and get shot to death; two, hide until they're done pillaging and let them take away every lifeline he's so carefully constructed to keep himself afloat; or three, sneak on board the ship and get (secretly) rescued before exacting a more planned, deliberate revenge.

He had made easier choices than this, but not many.

He crept closer and closer to the camp, avoiding and hiding from what he perceived to be pursuers. As he got closer to them, he started to notice some details that didn't seem quite right: none of their faces were visible, all hidden behind some sort of opaque visor, some with hoods covering them. They all seemed to display tall, slender figures with oddly bent knees. Isaac's head started to reel a bit. Who were these people? There was no marker insignia to be seen, so they couldn't have been unitologist. They couldn't have been EarthGov. Hoods and masks didn't seem to be the usual fare for E-Gov uniforms. As he approached their main ship (There was a shuttle parked adjacent to it), he got to take a closer look at one of them in particular. This one was likely female, judging by her more supple, perhaps even lithe figure. She held her rifle over her shoulder, hip slanted with the other hand planted firmly thereon. She shifted somewhat to make herself more comfortable, as it seems this was her post and guard duty was seldom an entertaining experience, evidenced by her occasional sigh. Isaac eyed her firearm. It was like no gun he had ever seen before. It was large and angular with a fixed stock and red, grey, and black paint. The receiver looked bisected in front where a barrel and what looked almost like a long stroke gas piston came out of the top and bottom partitions respectively. Isaac's eyes stopped cold when they traced the weapon back to the hand that held it. Three fingers?! He looked down past her oddly angled knees and saw that her feet had two toes shaped into a form fitting boot. She turned somewhat, but didn't notice him, giving him a chance to see one of their visors up close. He couldn't make out many features under the opaque visor save for two ominously glowing eyes.

Isaac retreated back into his cover of beach flora. His eyes began to widen and a cold sweat started to form atop his brow. What the hell was happening? Who were these people? Were they even human? The notion of sapient life existing elsewhere other than earth was a bit shocking, though perhaps not a new concept to Isaac, given his experience with the Markers and the former inhabitants of Tau Volantis. Still though, the prospect of being in contact with aliens was frightening enough to paralyze Isaac, even if but for just a moment. Attempting to regain his composure, he turned his attention back to the guard. Apparently she wasn't the grunt he thought she was, as another one of them came up to her and addressed her as "Lieutenant." Interesting. Looks like she wasn't on guard so much as she was supervising. As Isaac eavesdropped on them only more feverish questions began to whirl around in his head.

"Lieutenant Verei, we think this guy's still here. Found some audio-playback logs with a scruffy-looking human on the screen. Looks like he's been stranded here for a while."

"He seem like he wants to fight?"

"No ma'am"

"Well tell everyone to put a holster on it like I said or he's gonna think we're out for blood. Any other traces of him?"

"Freshest thing is a plate of some native fish he didn't finish over by his water filter."

"Well, just have everyone chill for a minute. Yeah this place is loaded with stuff that'll help the fleet, but it can wait until we actually ind this guy. Look, I'll take you and  Sgt Zarau and we'll go looking for him, Tell everyone else to head back onboard."

"Isn't that against Admiral Xen's or-"

"Oh just do it. the tech can wait until later."

Isaac was intrigued but nonetheless cautious. So they knew he was here and they were out to find him. Interesting no one said "rescued." Still though, they didn't want to look like a threat to him. Whether that was a gesture of friendliness or of deception he knew not. Isaac approached the alien woman, tiptoeing and hiding behind crates of his own tech these creatures had scrounged up. He finally got so close he could practically reach out and touch her. His curiosity, fueled on by a mix of fear and bewilderment, soon found itself overshadowed by another observation: she was standing next to an open hatch. There was his ticket in. slipping quietly behind her, he almost had a heart attack as she turned around, thinking she would see him. Luckily she only turned halfway, walking toward her new search party as the rest of the crew made their way back to the ship. That still wasn't good. They were heading right for the open drop-down hatch Isaac was standing by and they would see him any second. Isaac quickly sneaked inside. The hatch led into what looked like an atrium, leading into three main partitions :Straight ahead lead into the cargo bay, while the one on the left led to crews quarters, logistics, and captain's quarters. both side passageways led back up into the cockpit. Isaac had no interest in anywhere he couldn't easily hide. He chose the cargo bay, almost forgetting what the returning aliens were doing with his tech. It was better than the crew quarters or helm, however. Rushing inside, he found an empty crate to hide in. It was grated on one side, allowing him to observe the aliens coming into the bay quickly behind him. He dimmed the lights on his helmet and RIG to avoid detection as they stacked their newfound treasures around the bay and made small talk among themselves.

"Dude, look at half of this crap. You ever seen a suit like this?" said one as he puled out an old arctic survival suit from a crate.

"I know right? Where do you think it all came from? I've never seen the humans dress in anything like this before."

"Yeah, and I've never seen them pilot ships like these."

"And did you notice some were a little older?" piped up another with an armful of what looked like a random assortment of junk from one of the SC vessels. "I mean, I got this stuff out of the really big one over near the back. Dude, like, paint was chipped off and the air tasted like dirt. It feels like no one's been in these ships for a very long time."

"There's a couple with those twisty marks on the sides that seem way newer though."

"Think we might not be the only ones who've stumbled across this place."

Suddenly the first one got a call, and his arm was soon enveloped in some sort of orange holographic light. "Yeah? You found what? Oh shhhhh... dude are you serious? Wait hold on.. Okay.. yes ma'am we'll be right there." the holographic display disappeared, the alien activated his weapon and made a rush for the door calling his comrades. "Guys, we gotta head back out and make sure they get back safely we're getting out of here NOW."

"What for?"

"They found human remains in those older ships."

"Oh boy..." Isaac whispered to himself. When he checked the ships for necromorphic infestation, all he found were moldering piles of sludge and traces of skeletal remains. There was nothing on board those ships capable of hurting anyone anymore, but he could understand an ignorant observer's horror at finding such a scene. As the others scurried out, Isaac saw a brief opportunity to check out his surroundings and snoop around. He was no longer bent on petty revenge so much as he was driven by curiosity sprinkled with caution. He slipped out of his crate and snuck into the other parts of the ship. He started with the engine room, examining the alien vessel's means of propulsion. He was unable to identify most of it, though by context he could tell which stuffing tubes, if dismantled, would do the most damage. He could also tell, to his confusion, that the ship had no shockdrive. How did it reach him? As if Isaac didn't already have enough questions raging in his head, even more were starting to run loose in his crowded psyche. Leaving the engine room for a bit, he wandered into the crews quarters and eventually to the helm. The controls weren't too horribly different. He recognized a joystick and several panels indicating the status of several different systems. Most of what he was looking at however, was completely foreign. He looked out the helm into the ocean, trying to gather some of his thoughts one more time. All his plans of reconstructing his life were, at least for the moment, on hold until he could get a grip on just what in the world was happening. Aliens? "What the humans usually pilot"? Admirals?

Isaac put both hands on the helmsman's console, staring straight ahead, forgetting just how long he had spent out of hiding. Suddenly, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end as he saw a shadow behind him raising a weapon behind his head and priming the bolt.

"Hands up. Now."

There really was nothing he could do but raise his arms in submission. She wasn't close enough to her to turn around and grab the muzzle of her weapon, and more of her subordinates were stacking up behind her, rifles shouldered and trained on him. he turned around slowly and deliberately, prepared to take a pistol whip on the head or gut. Such a blow never came, but the lieutenant was no less stern. "Were you the one who sent out that distress signal?"

"yeah, that was me."

"Anyone else with you?"

"no."

"Care to explain all these ships?"

"yeah..."

"And the human bodies inside?"

"yeah..."

"And the.. hey hold on now.." the female said, kind of perplexed at Isaac's behavior. he wasn't as afraid as he was before. Now he was face to face with the alien leader, and her extraterrestrial grandeur had completely overshadowed his caution and replaced it with wonder and fascination. She slowly lowered her weapon, though she didn't holster it, as she had no idea what to expect out of the armor clad, armed man in front of her who now seemed to be walking closer to her with no apparent hostility.

"Are you.." Isaac stammered "Are you human?"

"Uh... no sir." She replied. "You couldn't see that?"

"No, I... how did..." Isaac's mind fumbled over itself trying to make out what he should say next. He's face to face with an alien. She's got a gun to his face, but she's not confrontational or at least inflammatory. "What.. what are you?" he said, halting his advance for just a moment.

"Quarian. What did you think I was?"

"I... how long has there been others?"

Now the lieutenant's head was starting to spin with questions. Just who was this guy? Was he crazy? Had he been here too long? What was with those ships and why were none spaceworthy? Yet more, why were some seemingly centuries old wile some others looked brand new? How come none of them left some sort of wake on re-entry? Did they even re-enter? Worst of all, what was with that bone-laden sludge she saw in those old ships? What was that creepy scrawl drawn all over the partitions? She figured that those questions could wait for another time. Right now, there were a few more pressing things to attend to.

"...What is your name?"

"Isaac Clarke... Yours?"

"I'm Lieutenant Nezala Verei of the Migrant Fleet Marines." she replied. "Do you have any intent of harming personnel or property here?"

"No."

"What's the story behind your little junkyard?"

"A very long one."

"How did you get here?"

"I'm still not sure yet."

The picture was vague. Nezala didn't have much to work with. He appeared to not have much more information than she did on the situation. She holstered her weapon and signaled her subordinates to do likewise. Just as she was wondering what else she should say, the engineer approached her again. His Helmet disassembled in a loud hiss that got everyone's weapons back into the pockets of their shoulders. It disassembled like clockwork, piling down into compartments at the front and back of his suit. Nezala flinched at first, then paid full attention to the haggard, sunken eyed man in front of her. His grey, tired eyes were wide with wonder and curiosity.

"So you're not human..."

"Yeah, I kinda thought that had been established"

"Well it's a first to me... I mean....." Isaac cut himself short, getting even closer to her, making her a bit uncomfortable. her hand hesitated around her shoulder as Isaac reached out to her. "You..."

He touched her visor tracing around her helmet and the red hood that adorned it. He looked deep into her ominous glowing eyes, not noticing the perplexed expression they bore. He examined her suit from head to toe with his eyes, and with his hands he continued to probe her suit, holding up her arm and feeling the armor panels on her forearm. He traced her wrist out to her three-gingered hand, opening his palm. She opened hers almost as if on auto-pilot, placing her palm against his. Her hand was smaller, and the feeling of only three fingers rather than five against his was very odd. Nonetheless, he clasped his fingers around her hand, and she reluctantly followed suit. He moved his thumb up and down, stroking the outer edge of her first finger. He let go a little and re-clasped her hand so that his fingers were on the back and his thumb on her palm, rotating and feeling her upper palm and her fingers. Nezala felt an odd mix of confusion, discomfort, and some odd, vague romanticism as he continued to examine her. At first she felt s tinge of danger, but that melted away as soon as she caught hold of his inquisitive, tired, harmless eyes. Her discomfort was fueled more and more by the strangely romantic aspect, rather than being quenched by it. Sure he had some grey hair around his temples, and dark circles under his eyes, but he was still quite frankly handsome, and his continued probing sent shivers down her spine that she wasn't sure she enjoyed or not. For a moment she had no idea where or how to stop him. Once one of his hands planted themselves on her pelvic girdle however, she had had enough. "okaaaaayyyyy..." she said, gingerly swiping his wandering hands away. "'Nuff of that."

Isaac's self-consciousness snapped back into him upon hearing some of the crewmembers snicker in amusement. "Right.." he said, retreating from her a bit. "..where do we go from here?"

"Excellent question...." Nezala replied. "hmm...Alright, tell you what. is there anything here you'll be missing? Anything you need to 'pack' per se?"

"Not much. Just a few of my tools an weapons. Are we heading out?"

"Yeah" said Nezala, leading him to the hatch, signalling two others to follow. "We'll help you get everything you need. Make sure you bring some of your own rations too. In case you didn't know, our chirality is dextro-amino You can't eat the same foods as us."

"Alright. And after that?"

"We're off to the migrant fleet."
_____________________________________

Isaac sat Idly in the cargo bay, which remained empty on Nezala's orders. Nezala had promised a little interview to help her understand just what was going on. Isaac had waited no longer than five minutes before she was entering the room, ready to hear whatever crazy tale he had to relate. "So tell me, Isaac..." she said as she took her seat on a fold up chair set up across from Isaac's in the middle of the room. "Let's start off with some of the basics. Where are you from? Sol system native? Somewhere out in the Terminus Colonies?"

"I've never heard of any of those places."

"...Sol is where Earth is found."

"Then I'm from there."

"You seem like you've never heard of my race before. You don't know about the quarians?"

"No one gave me any heads up on anyone else being here." Isaac said with a chuckle. he wasn't sure if he was dreaming or not. "You're literally the first living alien I've met."

"'Living', huh? So you've seen dead members of other races."

"just one. Don't even know their name. Natives of Tau Volantis."

"The planet you ere on was Jettan, a hanar colony..."

"I suppose."

Nezala began to realize that there might be infinitely more to this man's story than she thought. Before she could formulate questions based on her thoughts, Isaac interrupted "Mind if I ask you a few things?"

Realizing that she might get more of a bearing on the story by hearing his side of things, she conceded. "Shoot."

"Are you affiliate in any way with Unitology?"

"I have no idea what that is."

"Thought not. Are you familiar with EarthGov and its subsidiaries?"

"I thought Earth was governed by the Alliance..."

"Interesting. Okay then, lastly, have you been involved in any kind of Marker related phenomena?"

"I think I know where you're getting at."

"I thought so too." Isaac said, getting up form his seat. "Something's gone really wack here... all we did was use the Machine..."

A little red flag popped up in Nezala's mind. "Machine, huh?" she said as she got up and stood behind Isaac. "Something tell me that's where this story gets interesting."

"It is" replied Isaac. "Sure you wanna hear it?"

"Does it have something to do with those ships and the dead guys inside them?"

"It has everything to do with that... and a lot more."

"Let's hear it."

Isaac took a deep breath, and with some hesitation and reluctance, he coughed up his story as succinctly as he could. He started with the Ishimura, making sure not to waste too much time on that horrible memory. many of the scars had already been dealt with, but it still hurt a little to talk about. He went over what markers did, and how it affected him. They had been walking as they spoke, and they had stopped at some porthole just outside of cargo. Isaac could see Nezala's white eyes reflecting off the porthole glass, widening every now and then as he divulged the details. He began to tell her of his nightmare on the sprawl, beginning with the hideous tortures he endured under EarthGov's research staff in attempts to pull the marker codes from his mind. Their aim was to make one, and they succeeded. A breach ended up destroying the project and the entire surrounding civilian populace, as well as Isaac's sanity. He then moved on to Tau Volantis; what he and a few others hoped would be the key to stopping the markers once and for all. He told her about the inhabitants of Tau Volantis and their half-successful attempt. Norton's betrayal, Danik's plot, and the eventual final defeat of the brother moon all wove together to close his story.

Nezala wasn't sure what to think. Either this man was absolutely insane or something really crazy did happen. Chances are if it did, it didn't happen anywhere the Council or admiralty board were aware of. The worst part was that evidence seemed to lean in favor of Isaac's story being completely true. The ships were there, the human sludge was there, the marker scrawl was there, everything. "It would probably be much better if he was just delusional" Nezala thought. She had heard about heroes like Commander Shepard and Tali Zorah coming across things no one would believe and changing the fate of the galaxy, but she never imagined herself in shoes that big herself. If this raggedy human was telling the truth, who knows what the next chapter in galactic history would look like. He mentioned traveling to outer reaches of the universe without aid of relays. All those shipwrecks could mean a treasure trove of tech no one had ever dreamed of. On the more ominous side of things was the possibility of those "Markers" hitting the galactic community. If what Isaac said about them was true, the Geth would be the least of everyone's problems. He only gave a bare-bones description, but it was enough to garner enough fear in Nezala for her to ask if it was all gone.

"Pretty sure that mess is over." Isaac replied with some resolution in his voice. "That's over. Only thing I really care about now is getting my life back in order. Find Ellie, find employment, find somewhere people won't bother us too much."

"hmmm... I dunno about that. If that's what you really want I can't stop you but you have to realize if your story is true-"

"If my story is true, 'then' what?" Isaac replied with just a slight hint of germinating anger in his voice. For once in his life, all Isaac wanted was some peace and quiet. That's all he wanted. He didn't suspect this quarian to be of any objection, but if she was...

"Look, what I'm saying is that I won't blow your cover. If you want to live a quiet life, I understand. You sound like you've paid your dues already. Just be aware that you could really help us all out."

"Who's 'us'?" Isaac asked.

"Good question. I think it's time you got caught up"

Nezala then gave her own synopsis of her specie's progress and the story or the galaxy in general She told of the citadel and the first races who inhabited it. She then told about how the Asari, Salarians and Turians being the first to re-colonize it. She related to him the reasons why her kind no longer had a place there because of a technological mishap with a sentient AI known as the Geth. She explained eezo and the relays to him, much to his fascination and bewilderment. After explaining these to Isaac, she then told him of how he could be a great help to both her race and the whole galaxy with the tech he had. He could theoretically show them how it all works. He could live a life of luxury and fame beyond his wildest dreams if he contracted the right people to reproduce his technology. Isaac however, was disinterested. "Look, that sounds great and all, but to be frank I don't think you guys need my help. Just go and reverse engineer what you found at my camp."

"Isaac, I don't want to sound like I'm shoving this down your throat, but there's a lot of suffering you can end and a lot of wonderful new places you can take us if You'd be willing."

"Hate to sound selfish, but I really just want to be left alone."

"Like I said, I won't try to break your cover, but do you think something like this is going to stay secret forever, Isaac? Even if everyone on this crew keeps a vow to never speak your name or mention this place again, don't you think it would be possible for someone else to find your junkyard?"

"Yeah, so? they'll find the junkyard, not me."

"They'll find your logs."

"Excuse me..."

"You left your logs in the junkyard, Isaac." Nezala replied. "Someone's gonna find you one of these days/"

"Well what the hell?!?! We gotta get back there! Can't we just turn this thing around?!"

"Wish we could, but we can't. We're getting ready to dock with the fleet." Isaac looked out of the porthole, and sure enough there was a massive plethora of ships floating all around them. He could feel the ship jarring a bit, suggesting that docking was already underway. "We need fuel anyway. We came here on less than a quarter tank. Look, we can hide you for a while before the fleet sends others to recover the wreckage. It'll be tight because like I told you we're pretty strapped for resources and the admirals will be sending follow up and recovery teams as soon as we unload. I can help you, but I have to let you know how I feel. You need to think about how this can-"

"Help our fleet immeasurably. Thank you Lieutenant." replied a cool, silky voice from behind them.

"Yes, admiral Xen."

"Come, come now Nezala. Don't think you can slip one out on me. Some people around here actually care for the future of the migrant fleet, if you don't mind. Now as for you, Mister Clarke, I expect to see you in the plaza court. As a member of teh admiralty board, I have already called a session to interview you. Is that understood?"

________________________

"You didn't tell me I left my logs..." grumbled Isaac as he and Nezala made their way to the plaza, walking through tight corridors full or curious gawkers and onlookers.

"You didn't mention them! All you said you wanted to take was your weapons and tools!"

"it wouldn't have hurt to ask..."

"Maybe the smell of that nasty ass fish in your shack has got me delirious, but I think it's a couple hours too late for that! And why does it matter anyways? Xen caught me trying to cut you a break (and she busts my ass for it, thank you very much), and that would have happened regardless of whether or not you had your precious glorified diary!"

As much as Isaac would have wanted to retort, he knew he couldn't. Nezala was right. No amount of resentment toward her fiery snark could change it. Isaac immediately relented and exchanged a look with Nezala that let her know that he was done throwing his temper tantrum. All sorts of wonderfully colorful words and thoughts boiled like tar in his fuming head. Now after ridding himself of a mind-bending menace of several years, with all the crazed fanatics and government agents that went with it, he had yet another mountain to climb. Yet another rat race that would end up in more grey hair and bags under the eyes. Finding positives to counteract the negatives was a hard task, to say the least.

As they got closer to the plaza, some positive thoughts came to him. This most likely wouldn't involve any gunfire, explosions, or gore of any kind. The worst he would deal with was government bureaucracies, lobbyists, and middlemen. Though that was enough to redden his eyes a bit, it was no cause to load a plasma cutter. On top of that, the two biggest human nuisances in his life, unitology and EarthGov, were no more. The quarians seemed to be a mixed bag, but any annoyance borne from their actions was more the product of desperation rather than deliberation. Future cooperation with them didn't seem too far-fetched an option On top of that, Isaac couldn't help but notice some of the denizens of the fleet sitting together in impoverished huddles, children clinging to their mothers and fathers, who rationed out food carefully to their offspring and sometimes to aged parents. Individuals sat on rugs in the corners formed by the bulkheads, surrounded by what meager possessions they had. Isaac was no sap but he certainly wasn't a monster either. Now he knew what Nezala meant when she said the place was tight on resoures. It only took so much observation to see that there wasn't a whole lot to go around. Maybe helping these people out wasn't such a bad idea. For just a few moments, Isaac's boiling temperament had simmered down, cooled somewhat by a nearly sarcastic optimism, mixed with some unexpected compassion.

Of course, all that heat came flooding back as they entered the plaza and were greeted by none other than Admiral Daro'Xen. "You're late Mister Clarke." She hissed. "Now, as we've already waited here for twenty minutes, I don't suppose you'd be ready to address us?"

One of the others at the pulpit, presumably another of the "admirals", spoke up. "We're still waiting on-"

"If he can't be punctual, that's his problem." Xen replied.

Isaac's patience was wearing thin, and as he exchanged looks with Nezala again, he could tell she was a little agitated too. "Admiral?" he said, barely hiding the inpatient venom in his voice.

"Yes, Mister Clarke?"

"Who are we waiting on? Another admiral?"

"No, the admiralty board has been assembled." Replied a cooler voice from the pulpit, a male this time. We gave Tali'Zorah, a member of his crew, some heads up on the situation. He's interested in seeing you too. I'm sure he'll-"

"Be here right now." replied a voice from Isaac's left. In walked what appeared to be another human, accompanied by another quarian and a massive beast in grey and blue with massive shoulders and an equally massive shotgun in its hands. "Glad to meet you, Isaac. Name's Commander Shepard. Sorry I'm late. Think we're ready to start, Admiral Gerrel?"

"I believe we are." replied Han'Gerrel. "Since this is an interview with an outsider, we won't be opening with the usual tradition, but we do welcome you, Isaac Clarke. We've been informed that you've been stranded on Jettan for nearly a month. Based on our interviews over the past two days with Lieutenant Verei and her team, the circumstances that brought you there were very extraordinary. Whereever you came from, the technology you brought in is groundbreaking - Our scientists are still attempting to understand half of it. These two items of concern, The circumstances surrounding your arrival and the potential your technology has to revolutionize the galaxy, are what we intend to address today. Are you prepared to answer questions at this time, Mr Clarke?"

"Yes Admiral." Isaac said with resignation. All he wanted to do was be done for a while. He realized that he'd have to play a part in the fate of billions again, but for just once, he could use a break. Enough of the talking and the interrogating and the grating personalities. If he had to help others so be it. Why where people wasting his time with talk when he could just get a blowtorch in his hands, get to work, and be done with it? Isaac's attitude was poor and small and petty and he knew it, but why shouldn't he be? At least in his mind, this poutiness was justified by all the incredulous circumstances he had endured recently. Those plans for a normal life he had so cherished and looked forward to were officially dashed to irretrievable pieces. Just a few more minutes, Isaac thought to himself. Just a few more minutes of this crap. Just gotta soldier on through it. Maybe, just maybe this will end. Maybe he would finally have a chance to be happy. A chance to actually live his life.

"First, your anecdotal account of your arrival. We'd be tempted to call you lunatic if the ship graveyard planetside didn't furnish enough evidence that you're not from anywhere our this Admiralty board is aware of, or anywhere the Council is aware of, in all frankness. Do you affirm this?"

"I do."

"Lieutenant Verei told us that you claim to have used a 'machine' to travel here is that correct?" Asked another seemingly English-accented Admiral in a white and salmon suit.

"Somewhat" replied Isaac. "It was intended for a different purpose and my race didn't build it. Me and some others found it. We used it and it succeeded in what we needed it to do. Looks like it did more than what we initially anticipated."

"What was it designed to do?" asked Admiral Xen.

Isaac hesitated, but like in his conversation with Nezala, he opted to be brief. "I assume Nezala told you about the necromorphs and the Markers."

"Somewhat, yes."

"The machine was designed to freeze the planet and stop convergence before killing the end product. Were you informed of the brethren moons?"

"Lieutenant Verei informed us of that, yes..." Replied Admirall Raan with some worry in her voice. "You're saying the machine killed it? Do you know how?"

"Yes and no. None of us knew how it worked. It was built millennia before we ever reached the planet."

"Interesting." Replied Admiral Xen. "Were you able to find or recover the machine after your being marooned on Jettan?"

"I haven't seen a sign of it." Isaac replied. The thought suddenly crossed his mind that he never put too much effort into finding it, but if the quarians found it, what difference would it make? Its job was done. There was nothing else it was good for.

"Noted." said admiral Gerral. "Commander Shepard, do you have anything you'd like to add"

"I do" replied the commander. "You say 'we.' How many were with you? did any of them make it?"

The engineer was more than a little shook thinking about that question "did any of them make it?" He thought for a moment, then ave his response, trying to hide what fear and anxiousness he felt for Carver and Ellie. "We started out with six and ended up with three by the time we hit the machine. I don't know what's become of the other two."

Some of the admirals' took on a contemplative look, scrutinizing the enigmatic figure before them. Just how much of the truth was he telling? What was he leaving out? What did he mean he didn't know what became of his company? It all sounded like there was a lot more he could be telling them. The bones in those older ships were especially brow-raising. Shepard could sense trepidation in Isaac's speech. The Illusive Man had been very quick on the draw with this one. Most everyone he told him about had an extensive dossier to look at. Isaac was a completely new piece of the puzzle. He had only been around long enough for the Migrant fleet to find him. New spread around the Galaxy fast, and he wasn't surprised the Illusive Man was as far ahead as he was. Still though, why send him to meet the engineer so quickly? Why not wait until the quarians gave further report? It didn't seem like a winning gamble at the moment with Isaac. Shepard could tell he didn't want to be here, or anywhere but home to be honest. That made the Illusive man's missive to recruit him all the more impractical. Shepard had to play his cards right with this one. What did Isaac want most, and how could Shepard give it to him?

"Hmm... admirals, I think this discussion can go somewhere much more productive. We were about to discuss his technology next, correct?"

"Thatis correct..." Xen replied with arms folded.

"I think that can wait until later. I'm guessing Isaac doesn't know every single nook and cranny of those ships, would I be right, Isaac?"

"You would be." Isaac was starting to like this guy already. By no means did he genuinely trust him, but he seemed a lot more invested in Isaac's interests than most others in the room.

"Good. Let's save it for a more intensive setting where any and all talk will be about the tech. I don't imagine the Alliance or the Council will be opposed to getting in on this too."

"And Cerberus?" replied a more indignant Admiral Xen.

"They can take a backseat." Shepard retorted. He knew Cerberus and the Migrant fleet were not on the best of terms. It would be best to avoid conflict. "Suffice it to say it may be more productive to talk tech in a time and place where we can focus on it. What do you think, Isaac?"

"Sounds good to me."

"Admirals?"

All of them knew what card Shepard was playing. The only difference between them was how they interpreted it. Raan and Gerrel both were weary of Xen's ambitiousness, and saw Isaac's plight. They were more than willing to relent for a while and let the human catch his breath. Korris was more suspicious, thinking Shepard was just as enigmatic and untrustworthy as Isaac, perhaps planning to feed Cerberus all the tech first to some unknown, sinister end. Xen did not see any treachery so much as she saw meddling and perhaps even personal insult. A new disdain of Shepard and Isaac filled her. To her, this was nothing more than an at of defiance. Worse yet, she was too late to stop Raan voicing her consent on the board's behalf. Korris complied in suspicious silence and Gerrel enthusiastically forwarded the motion. However, he raised an objection. "I see it prudent to save technical matters for another time, but what haev we to do now?"

"I think that question would be better asked Isaac." Nezala replied, piping up after a prolonged silence.

"Sounds good." Shepard replied. "So tell us Isaac, what do you plan to do now?"

"What, with the meeting?"

"No, with yourself. We gotta know if you're willing to cooperate with us - any of us. We wanna know what you plan on doing so we can set our plans accordingly. First off, do you plan on teaching us about your tech?"

"Guess so..." Isaac said with some realization and resignation. he just realized what Shepard had done. He had scratched Isaac's back, now he expected him to scratch his. Maybe not right now though. None of Shepard's own chips were on the table. Just the pot of "Isaac spoon-feeds CEC manuals to everybody." Still though, Isaac anticipated some sort of catch, and he knew he was already caught on it. With that in mind, he put his own chips down first. "I don't want trouble. I don't want notoriety. I just want to have a normal life again. I haven't had one years. First the necromorphs, then EarthGoc, then the Brethren Moons, and now I'm stuck in God knows where talking with God knows who."

"So after you've given us some help, you plan on disappearing."

"And never being found." Isaac replied resolutely.

"Well, I know several ways you can do the latter if you're willing to help me out. Think we can meet up after this?"

"Sure..." There it was. There's his catch. Of course he wouldn't save Isaac's hide for nothing.

That was the last straw for Admiral Xen. This conniving commander just plans to waltz on out of here with the possible extra-dimensional contact? That just wasn't going to happen. "Excuse me, commander!" She said. "I don't assume correctly when I say that you're planning on running off with Mister Clarke before he intends to show us his stockpile?!"

"No, that's not what I plan to do." Shepard replied Matter-of-Factly. "We haven't even set a day for him to do that. Whether he helps me out or not, he most likely won't be leaving until the tech deal is over, and that in and of itself might take some time."

"Emissaries from the council are already knocking on our door." Admiral Korris said. "They'll be here within the week. We can RSVP certain other groups friendly to the Flotilla and have them in attendance as well in that amount of time."

Isaac decided it was high time to assert himself and set his own schedule. "I'll need at least four days gathering and fixing things up for the presentation. I'll need to prepare certain pieces I'm familiar with. Most of what you saw in that junkyard was made centuries before I was thought of, so there's only so much I can show you, but I'll do what I can."

"Are you at least somewhat familiar with the basic premise of how those things work?" asked Admiral Xen, attempting to assert her mastery over the situation. "Surely your generation's technology finds its roots in some of that rubble.

"Like I said, I'll show you what I can. Relax. I'll need a ride to and from the planet and at least five assistants to help me gather things and organize them" replied Isaac, maintaining the upper ground. "is that doable?"

"More than doable, Mister Clarke." Raan said soothingly. "We'll make sure you have what you need. You'll have a list of at least 5 names and their respective credentials before tomorrow."

"Make it four." Nezala spoke up.

"You're signing up, huh?"

"Yes."

"Well okay, why a-"

"Let's just say I may need to talk to you about a few things."

"like-"

Isaac's probing was replied to with a very piercing stare from Nezala. No words needed. Obviously they were words he needed to hear later. He looked back to the pulpit to see the admirals staring quizzically save for Xen, whose silver eyes seemed to be staring hostility and suspicion at Nezala.

"Okay then." Isaac said, relenting and backing away from the subject altogether. "If that'll be all, I think we might be done here. Does anyone have anything else to add? Any questions?"

'We're still good to talk?" asked Shepard.

"Yeah, we're good. Admirals?"

"I think we've gotten done what we intended to do." Concluded Admiral Raan calmly. "Simple and straightforward. Mr Clarke, we will Immediately begin searching out names. You will have them in eighteen hours at most." Xen's infuriation was silent but palpable. Gerrel was content but curious about just what Isaac and his tech could do, mostly for what value his contributions would have against the Geth. Korris remained aloof, but alert. To him this whole business was strange and even a bit superfluous. Still, he would not deny his people much needed help, even if it came in such a mysterious and secretive form.
________________________________________
"Alright, you got me." Isaac said as he and Nezala exited the plaza with Shepard and his squad. "What do you need?"

"It's nothing I need, Isaac." Shepard replied sternly. "It's something humanity needs. Me and my team have been working on this for a few months now and-"

"Hold on, lemme stop you right there." Isaac said, immediately catching on to what Shepard was trying to do, and it was worse than he thought. "You're trying to recruit me into something aren't you?!"

Without a way to weasel himself out, Shepard took the direct approach. "I guess you can say that, yeah."

"Oh I'm sorry" Isaac said, laughing both angrily and sarcastically. "This conversation's over-"

"Not if you wanna stay out of the public eye, it's not."

"What do you mean?"

His quarian companion piped up. "Let's keep it brief. We need help fighting a secret war against a shadowy menace that's been kidnapping humans across the galaxy."

"Which same threat is planning to eliminate all life in the galaxy" said Shepard. :o one believes us but a select few in teh government. We need all the help we can get and that includes you. Trust us, there's not any headlines with our fa-"

"I don't think they told you my story, Shepard." Isaac said sternly, his facetious smile broadening out into a tooth-gritting glare as he began to walk back and away. "I don't care if you're fighting killer freaking teddy bears, I'm not spending the rest of my life fighting."

Shepard saw a critical flaw in Isaac's argument. "Who said anything about you fighting?"

"What?"

"He's saying that if you wanna wimp out and laze around on the ship, you can." said the large, menacing creature accompanying Shepard.

"Yes, thank you Grunt..." Shepard replied with chagrin. "Look, I'm not trying to turn you into a soldier. What I am saying is that we're onto something that could mean the difference between life and death for billions. We need your help. From what the admiralty board has told us from preliminary reports, you've got stuff in that junkyard that can revolutionize our world. We heard of something called a 'shockdrive' in their reports. According to written descriptions found in your camp, that technology allows one to travel without use of a relay. We could use that. The whole galaxy can use that."

"What, so you want me to personally install this stuff for you?"

"We have an engineering team for that." Shepard replied. "The thing is, we have several friends in high places that you won't be able to get to yourself, including the Council."

"And so you want to be my ticket to the country club, huh?"

"If that's the way you wanna put it yeah."

Isaac was getting suspicious. This paramilitary guy has been pandering to him and siding with him this whole time without really putting his own chips on the table. Only thing he really seemed to want to do was take Isaac where he need to go to get things set in motion with the tech. He did still admit to "recruiting" him, however. Perhaps he just wanted the cred of having Isaac on board. This wan't going to be an easy decision to make. "I'll have to think about it..."

"Well, you've got over a week. We'll see you after your presentation. Think that'll be enough time?"

"Yeah.. yeah, it should be enough time."

"Good to hear. and hey...."

"What"?

"I think you could use this." Shepard then tossed some sort of odd device at Isaac. It was small and metallic and looked like it could be strapped around the wrist.

"What is this?" asked Isaac

"Omni-tool." Shepard replied. "We use them to communicate, wage cybernetic warfare, browse the extranet, you name it."

"My RIG can do that..."

"Well, until it can communicate with everyone else around here, I advise you use that. Be seeing you Isaac. We'll keep you posted." Shepard said as he and his team walked off tot eh docking bays.

"See ya..."
_________________________
>Month 2, day three

>Went planetside to start salvage. Making a list of all the stuff i wanna present wasn't too hard, or at least it wasn't all that difficult to prioritize. Shockdrives come first. Everyone threw a fit when i told them what it did. I seriously don't know how they haven't found it out yet. I'm still trying to wrap my head around this whole crazy episode myself, and with every passing day, the likelihood of it all being a dream drips away more and more. At this point, I've kinda put that whole mess in the backseat. Thinking about how and why I'm here is getting me nowhere. time to start living for the moment.

>Found three working shockdrives from the unitologist vessels. Spare stasis and kinesis modules weren't especially hard to find. Some on-board small arms have been collected, and I think those guns we ripped off one of their gunships may just be in good enough shape to be worthwhile. Everyone says it's through, but I think a few well-spent hours will have this thing ready to go, or at least ready to show by the end of the week.

>Month 2, day four

>Had the quarian crew gather up the stuff on the list. Marked out locations, gave them descriptions and sent them on their way. Kinda gives me some time to work on the gun. Danik spared so expense here. Stuff's military grade. Migrant marines saw me working on it and were especially interested. Started asking about what soldiers use in my "dimension" or whatever I'm supposed to be from. Couldn't find any SWS rifles in Danik's stash. Was afraid it would be a waste of time, but I decided to have a little fun and craft some stuff up. Had enough materials to craft up a few mining tools. They weren't very impressed until they saw the contact beam at work. These guys are kinda odd. Every one of these people is in some way knowledgeable about tech. They're all so fascinated by what I've got here. I've had some time to set my work aside (like maybe thirty minute or an hour at best) and just explore the place. Apparently, the Rayya is one of many of these ships where this whole race lives. Nezala's story is really starting t come to life. It's really starting to dawn on me that these people, though not human, really are just people. I mean, the suits and the glowy eyes still kinda weird me out, and the fact that there's aliens not trying to rip me apart is still kind of a big deal, but, deep down, I actually feel kind of at home with them. Maybe it's the cramped space and the technophilia, but hey, I won't complain.

>Month 2, day five

>Usual load of work until my freaking arms fall off today. Starting to set things up for final presentation. Tomorrow's the last day to prepare. The guys found some old RIGs in the SC ships. Unusually good condition. Seemed to have belonged to some sort of spec ops unit.

>Had a little talk with Nezala during down time. She's still kinda taking heat from brass, probably because  of Xen. God, what a little shrew. Suddenly, her CO has been denying her leave, her monthly pay disappeared because somehow their system magically went haywire, all sorts of crap. Can't say it's all been sunshine and roses for me either. Head's been killing me. I appreciate the space they've given me to work in, but it's not as well-ventilated as I would have liked. I mean, holy crap, even CEC would be embarrassed. We just kinda talked for a minute. Both of us were kinda stuck and not sure where we we're going next. I still don't know if I'm rolling with this Shepard guy yet, but Nezala says he's good people. At least someone's vouching for him. Nezala's been thinking of resigning. Apparently this wasn't the first time she's been pissed with her superiors. From what she tells me, they sound a lot like some of the assholes I worked with in the CEC. No actual experience, grandfathered in by someone who had connections, and generally shit. Problem was that she didn't know where else to go. She really didn't have anyone outside the fleet. Kinda funny how that goes. All I got right now is Shepard, if anything. I miss Ellie. I miss John. I really hope they're here too, somewhere.

>Month 2, day six

>Deadline's a few hours away. I'm tired as hell. I'm surrounded by a bunch of beat up crap that's taken forever to fix. It's a wonder I can even record anything I'm so out of breath. Stasis modules, gravity tether tech, RIGs, Shockdrives. Pile that on top of all the odd looks and constant questions I've been getting from everybody. Council reps came earlier today and started grilling me. Had some scientists with them who apparently studied Jettan top to bottom to find any anomaly. Listened to their useless report telling me they still don't know how I got here. based on electromagnetic readings, they suspect some sort or singularity event. Whatever. I've stopped caring. I just want to go home, or even have a home to go to, dammit. I think I've made up my mind. Shepard might be the best route as long as I don't have to fight. If i can help people without everyone crawling all over me, then hell yeah, let's do it. Kinda sick of stewing here wondering what my next step will be. He showed up today. Came with the quarian chick and some new freak-show. Couldn't see his face behind his helmet, but boy was he a smartass. Maybe I'm just being too touchy. Guy didn't mean any hostility, I'm sure. I just can't wait until this is all over.

>Council members spoke to me a little more over hologram. Kinda drowned out everything they said. Just more "pleased to meet you" and other shirt and tie drivel. Getting pretty sick of it. They just look and sound like every thick-skulled politician I've ever heard. Only guy that seemed worth a damn was that Anderson guy. he was a lot less fake than the others were. Tempted to say that's because he's human, bu to be fair, I haven't had much contact with aliens outside of the quarians here on the fleet. Apparently he's in good with Shepard. That's good news. If this is who I'm rolling with, looks like I made the right decision. I hope.

>END LOG
___________


Isaac's tired eyes slowly opened, greeted by hazy light emanating from the porthole above his head. as he arose, he looked out to see a myriad of ships swarming all around the already formidable flotilla. He eyed their design, their engine placement, porthole placement, aerodynamics, and overall condition as they went to and fro, seeking clearance to dock or somewhere they could safely Idle, as the Migrant Fleet's docking bays had been almost completely loaded by the time Isaac awoke. There was his audience. All these and billions more would soon have their eyes on him as he presented his motley collection. Today was focused entirely on him - the interdimensional contact who could probably start a new age for each and every one of them.

No pressure.

Suddenly, Isaac got a call on his omni-tool. "WAKE UP, PRINCESS, PARTY'S GETTING STARTED!" called a familiar, sarcastic voice. "Done with your beauty nap?"

"Love you too, honey..."

"Oh, quit being so touchy." Nezala replied with some friendly sass in her voice. "We got about two hours before it drops. Time you got anything else ready that needs to be. crew's all set for you here at your workstation. You ready?'

"Ready as I'll ever be..." said Isaac, his voice straining as he stretched out of nine hours of hard-earned sleep. Given the show didn't start until 0900, he saw an opportunity to sleep in he hadn't had in years. 'tell them I'll be there in a minute."

Isaac stepped into his workplace, a cordoned off section of the Rayya's armory, accompanied by two guards who kept guard at the door upon Isaac's entry. Nezala was there to greet him. "Dude, You were dead as a rock! That was like the third time I called!" she said, stifling a light chuckle.

"Oh, I wish." Isaac replied facetiously. "Ok, we've got an hour and a half until we have to be in that plaza. We need to make sure everything is properly stowed away for transport. Vaalen, you and your team will take charge of that. Think you can handle it?"

"You got it." replied another quaria, signalling his team to start to work on Isaac's hardware.

"Alright. Nezala, how's security holding up?"

Nezala called her subordinates over her omni-tool. Each one of them confirmed the same news: almost all passageways were crowded, surprisingly with more outsiders than quarians. place was in an uproar, but a manageable uproar. Some minor altercations between outsiders and quarians, but nothing too major. Upon hearing each of their reports, Isaac could only be glad that they were taking military-only passageways. "We'll survive, at least for a few more days." said Nezala.

"Alright, then let's get ready to roll. Shepard gonna be in attendance?"

"Tali contacted us late last night." replied a marine over by Isaac's workbench. "They docked just last night."

"Thanks, Kal. I'll tell him my decision's final." Isaac said as he opened his omni-tool's messaging function, referencing his reply to the commander the previous day. His initial acceptance of Shepard's offer was shaky and somewhat unsure, but this time around, he was sure of himself. A night of meditating on the decision tipped him in favor of the enigmatic commander. By the time morning came, the decision was much easier to make. As he typed, he re-assured his availability right after the first session, offering an interview aboard the Normandy.

Nezala signaled Isaac to come closer. Isaac understood the cue for more private conversation and complied. 'Think you're ready for this, Isaac?"

"Ah, I'll be fine. huge crowds notwithstanding." Isaac replied. "i mean, I'll be honest, this kind of stuff is well within my ballpark. I just have to imagine I'm training another greenie on using the mining tools before he loses an arm and tries blaming me for it before being sent to bio-prosthetics. I mean, granted it's a lot more people, but really, all this stuff's pretty easy for me."

"Well yeah, I figured after you spent ten hours straight crafting stuff a few days back. You just look a little nervous, I mean, you've been shuffling as you talk. You just seem kinda fidgety."

"Do I now..." Isaac replied, unaware of his body language. "It's showing that bad?"

"Not especially, but I couldn't help but notice. What's wrong?"

"Nothing's really wrong. I guess. I mean, so much of my life has been messed up and turned upside down. I don't know what to really make of this..."

"I think I know what you can make out of it."

"What?"

Nezala strode forward and gave Isaac a hard, affirmative slap on the shoulder, holding it and saying "I think you've got a chance to start over."

"Yeah... maybe I do..."

Isaac stood a good distance behind the plaza stage, pulpits removed and floor extended to accommodate his displays. He was well hidden behind guards and staff attendant to him and his metallic menagerie, but not for much longer. Admiral Shala'Raan's welcoming address was coming to a close, and Isaac knew he would be taking center stage soon. What would he say? He hadn't prepared any fanciful speech or flowery oration. All he knew to say regarded to the weapons and modules and other gadgets that for the moment, drew most of the photographic attention. Isaac heard the admiral utter his name, and the cold sweat on his brow was no dryer for it. He heard her give a brief introduction before she invited him to the main stand, set up just a little ahead of the main stage.

"It will now be my pleasure to introduce Mr Clarke himself. Mr Clarke, would you come up to the stand, please?"

"Here we go" Isaac muttered to himself as he took the pulpit. There was no applause so much as there was an uneasy quietness. the plaza was full to brimming, and screens showing the faces of audiences everywhere around the galaxy adorned the walls. Reporters and freelancers all focused their attention on him. A sickening eeriness bore over the entire plaza, as everyone began to speak in hushed tones, the journalists' voice being the only ones really standing out. The situation made Isaac sick. Public speaking was not his forte, but he had to say something.

"Hello everyone." he said. "My name is Isaac Clarke. As Admiral Raan told you, I'm not really from here. Scientists from around the galaxy are working on that puzzle as we speak. Right now though, I can shed some light on some questions i'm sure you all have. I've been informed the star date here is 2185. I was born on June 5th, 2465. The technology I am about to show to you will demonstrate this well enough, but I'm getting ahead of myself. You've probably heard rumors of what my life has been like. I assure you, if I were to tell you the whole thing, I'd lose half of you. All you need to know and all I need to say for now is that I am not much different from most of you. before I came here I had a job that i went to every day to make myself a living, I had a life. It wasn't very glamorous, but that's the way it goes for most of us." Isaac almost cracked a chuckle. What life has he had in five years? What normalcy has he enjoyed? Continuing, he said "In any case, I'm not here to go on about my personal story. I'm here to show you some of the things we use were I'm from. So, without further ado, let's get started."

Isaac, synchronized his omni-tool with the intercom system and began his presentation. "Now, let's start with what I think is the most important thing here. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is called a shockdrive." he said as he walked over and pointed to a strange blue cylindrical device about half his size. "I'm afraid we are unable to use it at the moment, as it's not currently compatible with your technology, but I'll give a brief overview of what it does. Now, I've been told you guys can't go very far unless you use something called a 'mass relay', is that correct?"

the crowd gave a mixed response. Some answered Isaac's question in the affirmative. Most others were starting to realize what Isaac was implying. The continual conversation got noticeably louder as time passed, stopping short as Isaac raised a single hand. He continued to address them. "From what I'm told, those relays work by opening a condensed channel of space for the craft the travel through using some sort of element called 'eezo' to induce the proper mass/grvitational fluctuations. I personally haven't gotten a chance to tinker around with it, but it sounds interesting. Well, long story short, this Shockpoint Drive right here can do the same thing all on its own. No eezo, no relying on outside equipment, nothing.

Almost immediately, the crowd started to forget that all questions were to saved for the end of the session. Some tried to bumrush the stage. Others tried calling Isaac a liar. most however, simply shouted frenzied questions at Isaac. this was exactly what he was afraid of. various journalists and reporters tried getting up front to get a question in, and many others behind them recorded the ordeal via omni-tool, offering hyped, frenzied commentary to share with their loved ones back home. Luckily for Isaac, there was a way to control the din now roaring in the plaza. he turned up the volume on his mic to almost deafening, and without warning raised his voice to almost shouting "ALL QUESTIONS ARE TO BE SAVED FOR AFTER THE PRESENTATION." People covered their ears, cringing as Isaac's voice thundered throughout the whole ship. The influx of inquiry ceased almost immediately. "Thank you." Isaac said curtly. "Now, if I may continue, I might as well drop some info that might answer some of your questions right off the bat. A Shockpoint drive is dependent on what coordinates are available within its log." The engineer then opened up the shockpoint computer. it notified him of installment readiness and warned him of various other sundry functions and malfunctions before he opened the coordinate list. "This shockpoint drive, if installed, would be able to take us to... let's see here... it has some coordinates set for several points in Andromeda space, three in Crab, several others in other galaxies..." The audience began to murmur loudly again. Some once again accused Isaac of lying. Others were simply astonished and sounded their amazement to others around them. yet more continued to record and provide commentary. The conversation was again cut short by Isaac, who sensed another upheaval. "Now, from what I hear, there are no relays outside of this galaxy. If the right coordinates are set, this machine can take a vessel literally anywhere."

Meanwhile Shepard and his squad were watching from a balcony in the plaza, on the partition to Isaac's left. As the crowd around them continued to converse and whisper among themselves, Shepard got a call from the Illusive man. "Hello Shepard. I assume you've been paying attention to Isaac's claims."

"I have been." Shepard replied with well concealed venom in his voice. He had come to know exactly what to expect from the Illusive man's missives. "Seems pretty interesting..."

"'Interesting' is one way to put it." the Illusive man replied

"Relax, he already said yes just last night. We'll be talking with him on the Normandy just after the Q&A."

"Now that's interesting. You haven't informed me of that development, Shepard."

"I was going to once we actually got a chance to talk to him again." Shepard said with some mild aggravation. He was already tired of the Illusive Man's interruption and micromanaging. He had already learned to distrust him. Now his ambition was even more thinly veiled than usual, and it was quickly getting on Shepard's nerves. "The session will be done in about two more hours. we'll contact you in four."

"Good to hear." replied the illusive man before hanging up.

"Lemme guess, is that our Cerberus buttbuddy?" Jack quipped, leaning against the guardrail.

"Yeah, just more crap about harassing Clarke." Shepard muttered. "I'm really starting to get annoyed with all his errand boy rhetoric. I swear if he tries any stupid shit with this guy once we have him on board..."

"Keelah Shepard, I don't remember you having a potty mouth..." Tali said coyly.

"Hey, if you're up to kicking some Cerberus ass, I'm all for it." said Jack.

"Let's not get too ahead of ourselves." Shepard replied. "We need them for now, but we're still gonna need a little severance plan to keep on the down-low. I think Isaac can help us with that."

"How so?" asked Jack.

"He's got a couple tricks up his sleeve the galaxy's never seen before. We've already got first dibs on him. If we can prove we have his interests in mind we can be sure that the only ones who get their hands on him are those who need to. Council-subsidized shipbuilders, Alliance and Council Space military, Migrant Fleet, etc. Just not Cerberus. We'll have to play real slick with that, But we've got enough at our disposal to make sure we slip this one by. The crucial junction is getting in contact with the right people at the right time when we want to cut off."

"Why them?" Tali asked. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not opposed to the Flotilla getting jacked up with Shockdrives, but it sounds like a lot to pull off under the radar before the Illusive man finds out we're dealing under their table. That and the fact that those bosh'tets in the council probably won't be able to keep their mouths shut. That is, if they don't take a million years to decide whether or not the Galaxy is ready to see some actual progress."

"They're watching this just like we are, Tali. They'll be on our Doorstep soon enough. While I'll do what I can to make sure Isaac enjoys some privacy, that doesn't always deter leakers and other journalists if you catch my drift."

"I don't know how much he'll trust you if he knows that's what you're up to..." Jack replied

"Not if I counsel with him on it." said Shepard. "He already knows we plan to share the tech and meet with some high-ups to do it. All I really need to do is have some one-on one talk with him about what we plan to do. He strikes me as the kind of guy who wouldn't really trust the Illusive man either. From what we already know about his backstory, he's had a hard time with big, secretive, clandestine organizations."

"What makes you think he'll view the Council as any different?" asked Tali.

"They're big and clandestine, but not as secretive. Just incompetent."

"This guy's hiding something..." Jack said quietly as she watched Isaac continue his presentation.

"What?"

"I know that tone of voice. He's hiding something." Jack said, now paying keen attention to the engineer as he explained the workings of a shockpoint drive blueprint to his audience.

"What, do you think he's hiding something about the tech?" Tali asked.

"No." jack responded. "It's hard to pick up unless you've been in the pen for a while. You hear it when someone's trying to slip one over you, or when someone's trying to lie about what they did so they don't get jumped in the showers. Shepard, whatever you know about his story, I guarantee you don't know everything."

"I was sure of that from the beginning, Jack." said Shepard. "But he's been bothered to death about it. If we're gonna be asking questions, i suggest it'll have to wait."

"I'm telling you Shepard, he's hiding something." Jack replied with concentrated scrutiny resounding in her voice, her brow furrowing as she continued to watch Isaac from the balcony. "Something huge."

"Hate to be off-topic, but I think I'd like some time to talk to him too..." Tali added. "Maybe a little personal tutorial on how to work this stuff. He's only going over the basics right now and I can understand all of it, but it's not enough to, I dunno, maybe make on of my own and/or install one on the Normandy?"

"Quit hyperventilating, Tali." Shepard quipped. "You'll get a chance once he's settled in. Give him at least a week before asking for a tutorial."

"Sure that's what she's excited about?" Jack said, smiling. "Guy's got an ass that won't quit, just look at that thing..."

"Oh KEELAH, Jack. Cut that out..."

"Come on, don't tell me you don't notice that! Thing looks like it's made of grani-DUDE look, you can see it shift as he moves..."

"Jack, STOP..."

"Don't pretend you're not looking too-"

"Tighten it up everyone." Shepard scolded. "Less ogling, more listening."

"Shepard, you gotta realize, I'm not a nerd like Tali. I don't understand a damn thing this guy is saying."

"Hey what's wrong with being a nerd?!"

"AHEM" Shepard interjected. The two immediately desisted and returned their attention back to Isaac's presentation.

".... bet you won't take a picture of it."

"JACK..."

"Sorry."
________________________

Isaac sat in the briefing room, waiting patiently for his interview with Shepard. It had been only half an hour after the first session ended and he had several precious hours to enjoy before the charade started again. Luckily, it wasn't long before Shepard entered the room. "Good to have you here Isaac." Shepard said with a hand proffered. Isaac stood and took it, returning his salutation.

"Good to be here." Isaac replied. They both came to the holo-display in the middle of the room. there, a hologram of the galaxy appeared, with several points circled and highlighted.

"Alright, let's get to the point. "Shepard said. "I told you a little about our mission already; about how the collectors have been carrying out mass abductions outside of council space in the Terminus systems."

"That you did." said Isaac, remembering the previous night's concordance. "How are we gonna stop them? What progress have we made?"

"Professor Solus over in the tech lab has been invaluable. he's given us provision to deter what are called "Seeker swarms"- devices used by the collectors to put captives in stasis, letting us engage collectors without interference." Footage played from the Horizon mission alongside the galaxy map. Isaac watched intently as Shepard continued. "Our next step is to find a way to get into the Omega 4 relay. only the collectors can use it. No one who has ever used it has ever come back. We suspect that wherever it leads to is where we will find their base of operations. We need to get in there and stop them." A point on the map was outlined and magnified, showing Isaac a red, ominous gyroscopic structure.

"No one but the collectors, huh?" Isaac replied with a hand to the chin of his helmet. 'Well, it all depends on how fast we retrofit this thing with a shockdrive. if we have the right coordinates, we could shock out right to it."

"We've been thinking of that.' Shepard replied. "Right now things are kind of up in the air. We suspect the Collectors use some sort of Identify Friend-Foe protocol to navigate the relay safely. Right now, we don't know how we'll find one. As for the shockdrive option, we've got a lot of technical ifs that the engineering team has to work with once the tech is in their hands."

"Hey, I can help them with that. Give us two weeks to look at the specs together. I'll get to know the Normandy and eezo tech more intimately. that way I'll know what hurdles to avoid when harmonizing it with tech that does teh same thing without the same key component."

"Sounds good, but I think you'll need longer than two weeks." Shepard said. "Besides, our folks over on the Cerberus end are working on finding a way we can get out mitts on an IFF. Still though, I certainly don't object to you working on that, especially given you said you don't want to be in combat. By the way, has stance changed at all?"

Isaac let out a stifled chuckle. "Yeah, no, that's still the same."

"Alright then.' Shepard said, concealing some disappointment and suspicion. he couldn't help but notice Isaac sill had that odd pistol still strapped to his waist. "Not a soldier, huh?" Shepard though. Then what's with the armor? What's with the gun? Maybe jack really was onto something.

"But hey" Isaac continued. "I'm more than willing to start to work on the retrofitting project, if that's what you want me to do unless there's something else. What's our next step?"

"That'll wait until the whole of these presentations, but yeah, you can go ahead and start on that once we're out of here. before you leave, though, I think you should spend some time acclimating yourself to the Normandy. get to know the crew, the ship, all that good stuff. I'd suggest meeting up with Mordin and the engineering team first to get caught up on the mission and the Normandy. Got any questions for me?"

Isaac paused for a moment. He certainly had questions, but he wasn't sure as to what he should and shouldn't ask. Knowing that prying into the life of someone as enigmatic (or at least as seemingly enigmatic) as Shepard would be a dangerous game, Isaac took a safer approach, hoping to be able to gauge Shepard's character more indirectly than directly from the response. "What should I know?"

Shepard was intrigued at Isaac's response. 'Well for one thing, I've technically been on this goose chase for a few years now. A little more than two years ago, me and my team were part of the Alliance Military."

"Who are the Alliance?"

'conglomeration of Earth governments formed a while back. Anyways, i was with them when we came across something big. The relays were not built by us. Most suspected an ancient race known as the protheans did it. Turns out they didn't. The reapers did."

"And who are the reapers?"

"They're what wiped out the protheans. They're massive, sentient, robotic beings with unprecedented destructive power." knowing his word would sound incredulous to Isaac, he had some footage of Sovereign's attack on the citadel play in the holo-display. Isaac watched, somewhat impressed and equally disturbed at the raw display of power he was witnessing, even if only secondhand. "this is a recording of one attacking a place called the Citadel. We'll probably be heading there soon after you're officially part of the team."

"...how come only you are in on this..."

"No one believes us. they believe that sovereign was a geth warship. Long story behind them too. Advanced AI the Quarians made them few centuries back and went rogue. Only person in the council who vouches our viewpoint is Anderson. I was told you got to speak with him a little?"

"I did. only actual person in that whole council. So anyways, where do these 'collectors' come in?"

"They come in about a year after me and my crew first get tangled into this. we destroyed that reaper and tried to lobby our point to the council but they never took us seriously. We're on patrol one day, and we find ourselves under attack. It was the collectors. They destroyed the original Normandy, and i was lost in the process, crazy as that sounds."

"Wait, what?"

"Isaac, the only reason I'm wearing Cerberus colors is because they revived me. They've apparently gotten in on this too. Basically they're a 'human supremacist' group. They found me and brought em back over the course of two years. You can ask our XO about that project."

"Alright."

"Anyways, I've been working with Cerberus and we've found that these collectors are working for the reapers. They've kidnapped entire colonies and we still don't know why."

"Alright then.. I think I've got a good picture of what's going on.

"Good then." Shepard said, walking to the other side of the room ready to exit. "Anything else you feel like sharing with me?" Isaac was trying to hide his wariness of the fact that Shepard had said so much about the situation and yet so little about himself.

Shepard paused for a moment, detecting Isaac's suspicion. "I'll tell you this much." he replied, walking back to the console. "Just keep this between you and me but..." Shepard paused again and addressed a new character. "EDI..."

"Yes, Shepard?" replied a voice now coming from some sort of odd, round hologram at the corner of the room.

"Keep this one hush hush."

"The Illusive man has ordered periodical surveillance. However, I can delay the next period for another hour, which starts in five minutes. Cerberus has uploaded an update packet into my hardware. That will give me plenty of time and reason to delay the surveillance approval dialogue"

"Sounds good."

"Logging you out, Shepard."

"That an AI?" Isaac asked. "Never seen one that knew how to play dirty."

"EDI's got some tricks up her sleeve, even though she's Cerberus hardware. Anyways Isaac, these guys, Cerberus... I don't like working with them. They're shifty, they've got a shady dossier, and their head has kinda been using me like a puppet. He says he's in it to stop the collectors and the reapers, But i think he's got something else in mind too. I've been thinking of jumping ship to the Alliance."

"How will we do that?"

"That's where you come in. We plan on heading over to the Council in a few days. We've already reserved an appointment. We'll have them subsidize companies to reproduce your tech. Really though, that's kind of our front. We'll use that time to correlate with them and the Alliance on joining them. They've already told us to sever from Cerberus several times. In the meantime, we can tell the Illusive Man (he's the head of Cerberus and that's the only alias he has) we were getting your tech in production with the council. To pass that off you will need to be in correlation with them as much as me, Sharing insights and giving them whatever information they need to produce and/or retrofit." Isaac suddenly saw all Shepard's chips on the table. So this was his play. He could hear Shepard's voice get more intense as he spoke. "Isaac, you have to understand, you're the key factor in a lot of this. I'm sorry to put you through it, but you have to know there's a lot of shady crap going on and you're the only one who can help me clear it out."

Isaac slowly and silently resigned to fate. Deep down, he knew trouble would always find him at this point he had no choice but to accept it. "i see... okay I'll do what I can, this might get sloppy, but I have a feeling you're used to that kind of thing."

"That I am." Shepard replied. "By the way, is there anything I need to know about you?"

Isaac could see Shepard's tactic. He didn't want this to become some sort of war of wills, at least not anymore. After hearing Shepard's endgame a spark of trust had begun to ignite in him. He knew that if Shepard was going to reciprocate that trust, he too would have to open himself up to scrutiny. Still though, he knew it would take a while for him to really explain everything. Knowing this, but not wanting to make himself appear suspicious, he replied. "There's actually a lot you probably should know. Still though, i think that can wait until after the next session. For now, I think i'd like to get acclimated to the Normandy. Would that be okay?"

At first, Shepard thought Isaac was on some sort of defensive. he was worried at exactly how much it would take to pry him out of his shell. however, he could not help but detect something in Isaac's tone. Something compliant, perhaps even co operational. He seemed no longer to be the harsh, hostile hermit holed up in his psyche that he initially seemed to be. 'Alright we can do that." he replied. "Be seeing you then."

"You got it."

With a friendly handshake and farewell, Shepard left the room to attend to other duties. Isaac stayed in the room for just a moment, gathering his thoughts. It was just beginning to occur to him that the chance to start over that Nezala spoke of was coming to fruition. With the end of that conversation came what was, in Isaac's mind, an official and irreversible resetting of his life. It would by no means undo the damage his previous life had accrued. It would by no means guarantee him an end to the madness and chaos that had so engulfed him in recent years. In fact, this was simply another iteration of that madness. No markers or necromorphs, but plenty of bureaucrats, hostile alien life, all burdening him the same way. So much now depended on him, just as before. The stakes had similar gravity, even  though the names had been changed.  Isaac cringed a bit, but by now frustration and selfishness had given way, or perhaps better said, resigned to, a recurring sense of duty. The same sense of duty that accompanied him on Tau Volantis, where also he felt cheated from his own happiness by horrid, repetitive circumstance. He fought the murmuring voices within him, and at once, put them under his boot. It was time to move on.

Time to get started.

Isaac exited the briefing room and found himself back in the Combat Information Center, as the captions on the walls made evident. It was right then that Isaac froze and realized that he had absolutely no Idea where to go next.  That wasn't made much better by the fact that a good number of the hands working the consoles around the deck were now looking at him. Some awkwardly staring, others attempting to be stealthy by looking ever so slightly around a monitor or over their shoulder. Luckily for Isaac, they weren't the only ones aware of his cluelessness.

“Hello, Mr. Clarke.” said a familiar, synthetic sounding voice. “it would appear to me that you're lost.”

“Oh, it's you again.” replied Isaac. “Yeah, uh.... that's pretty much where I'm at.... what can I call you?”

“EDI. Short for 'Enhanced Defense Intelligence.' is there anywhere in particular you're looking to go?”

"Shepard suggested I look up a 'Doctor Solus' to get caught up. He also recommended that I go and meet his engineering team.”

"Very well. You may find Doctor Solus in the tech lab, which is directly across the compartment from your location. To your left you will find the elevator, which will take you to the various decks on the ship. Deck Three is engineering."

"Okay. Thanks for the help."

"One more thing that may help; The ship you are on does not share the same sterility protocols with the Migrant Fleet. You may de-activate your helmet at any time."

"Oh... thanks" Isaac said, attempting to mask his embarrassment at further demonstrating empty-headedness. The eyes of the crew, having mostly returned to their work, once again fixated themselves on the engineer as a loud hiss shrieked form his now disassembling helmet, echoing within the room. metal plate latched over and under plate as the helmet stowed itself away.

"That was cool..." piped up an unidentified voice from within the room.

With that, Isaac entered the tech lab, finding another alien. He was working at a console, overviewing mission information and other such data. Isaac wasn't quite sure what to make of it. it was thing and gangling, wearing a mostly white vestment with some sort of odd collar-like apparatus behind its head. Its eyes were large, set into a thin, horned head. One of those horns had been broken. before Isaac could speak, it turned to him and addressed him in a somewhat nasally, but calm voice. "Ah, the newcomer. yes, very pleased to meet you." leaving the work at his console, he approached the engineer with a warm, but professional smile. "Doctor Mordin Solus, at your service."

Isaac wasn't exactly sure how to respond. The presentation had more than a fair share of unseen alien life among its host, but all were at least partially covered with massks that were meant to preserve the sterility of the Rayya. Isaac simply returned the salutation, trying hard to stifle his curiosity and bewilderment. "Good to meet you too. Shepard, uh, he told me to go ahead and meet with you over..."

"Mission details? Collectors? Reapers? The Normandy? have much information, yes. Willing to help any time. Workload very heavy, but ability to render help is nonetheless unhindered, albeit short-lived. Can sense that you are nervous somewhat. Perhaps, have not met a Salarian before? Quite likely, based on current data regarding-"

"Okay, slow down, man." Isaac said, his voice echoing his confusion mingled with some amusement at the doctor's erratic speech and behavior. "Ease off on the caffeine. Shepard just said you would be a good person to talk to if i wanted to know more about this timeline. Do you have a minute?"

"Certainly!" Mordin replied enthusiastically. "have been personally excited to meet you. Watched your presentation aboard the Rayya. Further work on collector countermeasures obstructed attendance. Quite aggravating yes. Will ask questions later. anything in particular you wish to discuss?"

Isaac had at least a million questions about this plane he felt needed answered. First things first though. "Tell me, how does this 'eezo' stuff work? I've been told it affects mass and gravity and other things."

"That it does." Mordin replied, opening his omni tool and writing down Isaac's queries. "Anything else?"

"Shepard and I have been messing around with the idea of installing a Shockdrive on the ship. I need to know a little more about how spacefaring vessels work around here."

"Ah, now that sounds interesting. Information  on subject is directly linked to previous inquiry. Will do what i can to answer. Any other items of concern?"

Isaac could only think of one more. "tell me what you can about the collectors."

"Absolutely. Come. Will show you all known data."

Mordin then proceeded to tell Isaac all he knew about those subjects and more. Because of Isaac's pre-existing knowledge, Mordin had some opportunity to go more into detail. Isaac, though exasperated by Mordin's natural frenzied salarian speech, was thoroughly impressed with his knowledge and the ability he had to dispense and explain it. Eezo in and of itself was easy to explain. The difficult thing to explain simply was how technology and organic life alike utilized it. Mordin was surprised as how easily Isaac absorbed this new knowledge. As soon as he would show him the math behind precision jumps, Isaac was already making conjecture on how one may do so without relay assistance. Granted, all his theories had been discredited already by merit of previous failed experiments conducted by numerous races over many years, but the fact that he could so quickly come up with such things impressed the salarian scientist. The two discussed general technical information regarding eezo-based propulsion and transport. Although it was all new and strange to Isaac, it wasn't as hard a concept to grasp as he thought. Eezo, as far as he could tell, was more or less a crutch used by denizens of this dimension to induce time-space manipulation. His world had managed to do so without its aid. To him, it was like learning to ride with training wheels after learning to ride without them, only his plane never had training wheels. Still though, as the two discussed the subject, it became clear to both that there was something in common between the two: a knack for mathematics and science that was driven both by curiosity and utility. Their conversation slowly started to become more personal than technical as this connection deepened.

"You really think we can pull it off in three weeks?"

"Certainly."

"You know I still haven't haven't gotten super deep into shockdrive technology. That presentation covered only the basics."

"Do not think I can keep up with your pace, Mr Clarke?" Mordin replied jestfully.

"Oh, we're gonna be like that now?!" Isaac replied, returning the Doctor's mirth. "Tell you what, I'll personally teach you and give you everything you need to build one, and we'll see if you can get it up and running within a week."

'If it is possible to trade you duties of upgrading the ship through resource intake and budgeting Cerberus funds, can guarantee you we will be shocking out in five days!"

"I challenge you four!"

"Three!"

"TWO!"

"Oh NOW you give me a challenge!" Mordin was thoroughly enjoying the engineer's company. All throughout his tenure as a Medical practitioner, spy, government operative, and geneticist, he had never enjoyed much jovial or exciting company, save fora  few friend he had known during his assignment to alter the genophage. Shepard was a good man, and a leader whom he could trust: wise as a serpent, but unwavering and honest. However, Shepard, like Mordin, was far too preoccupied by his work to engage in any conversation. Granted the fact that his work had being postponed for these full two hours was making him anxious, said anxiety dissolved under Isaac's insubordinate, headstrong demeanor.

"You being for real?!" Isaac retorted.

"Ah, I wish..." Mordin replied, sobering somewhat from the first episode of jovial bravado he had enjoyed in years. "Don't believe you know enough about my work or the ship to switch places. Time is already of the essence. Still, can and will provide assistance in final installation, as upgrading the ship is my responsibility once given clearance by the Commander. You and the engineering team will be the ones implementing these changes."

"Oh, so you'll crack the whip and sip lemonade?" Isaac asked jokingly.

"Now now, you've pushed me far enough today!" Mordin warned, jest returning to his tone as he returned to his work. "Still, have much work to do. So much data. Regret that we could not cover all concerns. Will talk later?"

"You bet."

Isaac left the tech lab refreshed and with a better outlook on this new experience than he had previously. He could only hope the rest of Shepard's crew were like this. Entering the elevator, he selected deck four - Engineering. Exiting the elevator, he found himself in scenery that seemed to contrast the other places he had seen on the ship. At least in the tech labs and the CIC, everythign seemed so pristine and low drag. The ships he was used to serving on were dingy and dusty and sometimes cankering with rust. A mining ship was a vessel of function, not form. Money would be wasted on prettying up a ship meant to lift and sort through megatons of dirt. Truly a miner was no aristocrat. Isaac was used to musty air, the smell of metal and sparks and burnt hardware. The Normandy had so far lacked these, and as a result had become somewhat of a bizarre experience for him. Even here, the air was devoid of the familiar scent and soot. Still though there was no gleaming bulkheads or any manner of ornamentation. Only stuffing tubes and piping lined the partitions, making Isaac feel at least somewhat more familiar. As he walked the passageway to his left, he heard a somewhat familiar voice.

"Ah, there you are! I've been meaning to talk to you."

Isaac turned to his left to see someone familiar. "Oh, Hey! I remember you. You're on engineering?"

"Well, of course!" Tali replied. "In fact I'm the head of the engineering team here on the Normandy. I've actually been meaning to meet with you."

"Great minds think alike, I guess." Isaac replied as they walked into the engine room. "So, I imagine Shepard's given you a heads up about what we plan on doing?"

"YES!" Tali said with more enthusiasm than Isaac was prepared for, making him jolt back a little. "I'll have to show you my notes from your presentation! I don't think I have enough info to make one myself, but that's why you're here, right?"

"Uh-"

"Oh wait, I have to get them first..." Tali said, scrambling through her omni-tool. "Let's see... yeah, I got all of your equations written down. I understand the basic principles, It's just going to take some finagling to build a local reference frame engine, seeing as how no one's ever made a component like that before. Negative energy density facilitator drives don't seem so hard though. Keelah, I don't know how no one's thought if it before! I even started construction on a prototype, but after reviewing the notes I had forgotten that several components needed to be completed first such as the exotic mass engine, the-"

"Whoa whoa whoa, easy there!" Isaac said, gently shaking the quarian out of her excited frenzy. "First off, you've got around fourteen to fifty other things I didn't give in the presentation to be able to build any one of those components, let alone the ones you didn't go over. Second, I'd be more than glad to show you the ropes, but just relax for a minute."

"Okay..." tali said, slowly managing to contain herself.

"Just take a deep breath..." Isaac said jokingly

"okay Isaac, I get it-"

"IN *inhale*, and ou-OOF!" Isaac almost broke out laughing after his speech was interrupted by Tali delivering a playful punch to his left shoulder.

"You. Are such. A Bosh'tet." Tali said giggling and shaking her head.

"Hey now, break it up you two!" Said a distinctively Scottish voice from around the corner.

"This the new guy?" added a female companion who joined the Scot in the room. "Nice! I didn't think you wee actually gonna come aboard!"

"Bah, he's just here to appreciate my handiwork." the Scotsman quipped. "Hey Clarke, you checked the new FBA Arrays, yet? Good wrok on the new coupling is I do say so myself-"

"Is he drunk or something?" Isaac replied with snarky wit dripping from his voice.

"Oh my God, Ken. Knock it off..." added the other crewmember.

"Ah, you ain't even seen me on the pure, laddie." Ken replied with typical Scots bravado. "No but seriously now, it's our pleasure to welcome you to the engineering deck, Mr Clarke. Name's Kenneth Donnely. Oh, and this here banshee is Gab-*HRRNG*!"

Ken was interrupted by his companion's playful punch to his gut. Isaac couldn't help but comment. "Gotta watch it around the women here..."

"Damn right you do." replied Ken's companion with a smile. "Gabriella Daniels. You can call me Gabby"

Isaac returned her token. "Isaac Clarke. Nice to meet you guys. You all the engineering team here."

"That we are." Tali responded. "You guys know what we're about to do?"

"No, what?" replied Gabby. "WAIT, holy crap, since he's here, that doesn't mean we're going to-"

"Oh yes it does!" Tali replied.

"Ay, you've got to be pulling our leg!" Ken piped up.

Isaac could see quite clearly where this was going. "Uh, Tali-"

"We're building a shockdrive!"

Needless to say, such a proposition among such an avid bunch of engineers yielded predictable results. Excited responses echoed throughout deck four. Jack grimaced as she lay on her cot, trying to drown out the din. Covering her ears, she swore under her breath, bemoaning her predicament. Grunt simply continued checking his shotgun, shaking his head in annoyance. Isaac had the worst of it by far. He almost felt like some sort of babysitter trying to calm a group of ravenous six year-olds who had been promised candy. "Okay, okay, guys guys GUYS! HOLD UP!" Isaac hollered. "We've got a long ways to go before we can even start that. I've still gotta finish up the presentation, then me and Shepard have to talk things over with his superiors. THEN we have to make sure we have to fabrication capabilities, and THEN we can get started."

Before he had even finished, his reply was met with chagrin. "Ah come on!" Tali whined. "There's gotta be somewhere we can start before you leave, right? I mean, you've got to have schematics laying around. We can at least look at those while you're gone and get  a better hold of the technology, can't we?"

"Sorry to say it, but I left all the schematics I had back on the Rayya." Isaac said in reply. "But hey, don't sweat it. I guarantee you I'll be back aboard after the pre-"

Isaac was cut off by a deafening blast and a shockwave that sent everyone to the floor. Os-board sirens quickly ensued.

"What the hell just happened?!" Isaac exclaimed.

EDI was quick to reply. "i have been conducting reconnaissance on the ships surrounding the Migrant Fleet. We are under attack by an unknown assailant. They have been using stealth functions to avoid identification. According to their vessel's profiles and insignia, they appear to be Batarian slavers. They have fired a shot at the docking bay and have severed our connection to the Rayya"

"Batarians?!" asked Tali. "What are they doing here?! They should know after the last time they tried raiding the migrant fleet that an attack like this is suicide!"

"I detect several vessels and more incoming out of FTL travel. Mr Clarke, Commander Shepard asks you to come to the CIC at once."

Isaac wasted no time. Exiting the elevator, he rushed into the CIC. The scene was no more or less than Isaac imagined a frenzied war room to be. Cerberus staff were relaying information ata feverish pace, transmitting whatever intelligence they had just received and suggesting courses of action. People were scurrying to and fro to fix damaged systems and sparking apparatuses around the room. Apparently, the Normandy had taken some minor hull damage from the shot, but the concussion that resulted did some light, but noteworthy internal damage. Isaac found the commander up at the helm. "Isaac, there you are! We've got some bad news..."

"Yeah, I figured that. What the hell's going on?!"

"EDI told you about the Slavers. They just sent a transmission. They want you and you only. They're threatening to destroy the Normandy and raid the Rayya."

"What makes them think they can pull it off?" Isaac said as he saw the pilot get the ship under control, overriding the docking malfunctions. "Isn't this huge fleet armed?"

"They've got an advantage with all these others here." the pilot replied. "They can use everyone as meat shields while they continue popping shots at us." True to his word, another loud shockwave ensued, once again robbing standing crewmembers of their footing unless they moored themselves to nearby stuffing tube or consoles.

Isaac's brow furrowed as he activated his helmet. "They want me huh? Well I'll tell you what, they'll get what they want..."

"Isaac, what are you doing?!" Shepard asked as the engineer made his way to the airlock. "Are you crazy? You have no idea what you're up against! They've got at least six cruisers and a ton of small fighters running all over the place! You're not gonna la-"

"Oh, I know I'm crazy." Isaac retorted. "EDI, when the airlock is shut, I need you to open the second door and let me out."

"That is not a suggestible course of action."

'Tough luck. I'm not good at taking suggestions."

"Isaac, no! What are you even planning on doing?! there's no way you'll ma-"

Without responding to Shepard, Isaac entered the airlock. 'EDI, open the doors."

"I re-iterate, that would not be a recommendable course of action. Mr Clarke, this is a very bad Idea."

"Stick around. I'm full of bad Ideas."

Without another word, EDI unlocked the airlock doors. Isaac pressed the green holo-panel on its surface and was immediately shot out of the Normandy.

The whole CIC went silent for but a moment. Everyone was somewhat dumbfounded at what had just happened. It all transpired so fast. Clarke had cut off all arguments against his decision in a matter of seconds. No one knew what had just become of him or what he was even planning on doing. That is, until Joker spoke up from the helm. "Uh guys... I might just be wrong on this but, this guy's batshit insane. Look..."

Shepard came to the helm, looking out of the cockpit windshields. His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when he saw what he assumed (correctly) to be Isaac Clarke. By the time Joker had the ship under control, it was stalling idle facing about thirty degrees astern and port-side of the Rayya. Some of the batarian vessels could be seen darting around the visitor's ships. Right in the middle of the fray, however, was a little man, white-blue streaking behind him, heading right for the largest cruisers flying ahead. Shepard could hardly believe his eyes. Just what was this guy up to?

Meanwhile, Isaac scoped out the batarian's ships, looking for a way into one of the cruisers. The largest of them was behind all, taking cover from the fleet's retaliatory fire behind some civilian ships. Upon striking the bystanding vessel, the fleet ceased fire immediately, frustratingly waiting for the ship to pass out of cover again. "That one." Isaac said to himself as he darted to one of the ship's many airlocks. This one was amidships, presumably an emergency exit or secondary cargo/personnel loading bay. Isaac was not familiar with the vessels of this age and dimension, but he knew enough about ship design, civilian and military, to have at least an idea as to where he should board. He pointed his heels at the hull, activating his thrusters to slow his descent. He landed on the hull just outside of the hatch, skidding somewhat before his grav-boots fully engaged. Without delay, he looked for away to enter. The ship's electronics were not hard to fish out, as Isaac spotted what looked like a fuse-box or control panel of some sort. Most likely an emergency entrance bypass. Isaac opened it. he was unfamiliar with most of the layout, but as he examined it further, he was relieved to find that although so much was different about this plane, the electronics bore striking semblance. using his omni-tool he examined what this thing would do upon activation. Delving into the simple programming behind it he found an alarm protocol. Luckily, these batarians hadn't seemed to expect any kind of boarding during combat, as it seemed formatted to activate only upon docking. Still it wouldn't hurt to de-activate it. How strange, Isaac thought, that a ship wouldn't be programmed to expect these kinds of tactics. Within seconds, Isaac had the first airlock door open, clambering inside.

The door shut behind him, and the lights went dim. Isaac looked for any further ways to secure his entrance before opening the airlock doors. He had arrived and entered undetected, but that did not mean that he was safe from a few guards behind the door who would certainly sound the alarm if they spotted him. Isaac looked around for anything that might play to his advantage. Not much was to be found in the airlock, but Isaac's eye was sharper than most. He spotted what he assumed to be the same wiring hub that led to the outer control panel, and immediately went to work. Once again, he intercepted what data was being ran through the channels via omni-tool, and found that his assumptions were right. The control panel was wired into a much bigger system, and was adjoined back into it at this juncture. From there Isaac could disable multiple functions. It was here that Isaac realized that not only had he disable the door's security protocols, but the entire ship's alarm system. Isaac also found where he could hack into the surveillance feeds and CCTV's throughout the ship. He knew that upon doing so that he would garner some unwanted publicity. All security feeds going black would definitely get the sentry's attention, and several guards would be deployed to patrol the ship. This was no problem however. Isaac knew that although ships here were different, their ventilation systems could only differ so much. They had to be traversible, else they would be rendered unserviceable. Seeing that he couldn't enter the vents from the airlock (the grates were too small and quite secure to ensure any accidents wouldn't happen), he checked surveillance one more time before shutting it down to ensure his exit was safe before de-activating the system and making his exit.

No one in sight, at least not yet. Isaac saw the shadows of two guards about to round the corner on the passageway to his right. He stole into the corridor right ahead of him, where he could spot several ventilation grates. Clambering on some unknown cargo, he hastened to unfasten the grate before his adversaries caught him. before he could get in however, they had come into view. Before they could turn to find Isaac sneaking around, he hid behind the cargo, grate still in hand. Dread quickly flooded his mind as they turned into the corridor and immediately noticed the open ventilation grate.

"The hell..." said one of them in a low, growling voice. "Hey, I think he might be in the vents!"

His companion immediately acted on that warning. He contacted his superiors, where or whomever they were. "Hey, whoever's been messing around with the camera feeds just got into the ventilation system! We're over here near cargo and found a displaced vent grate."

Isaac overheard their conversation from his hunched position. "Well, good news and bad news. Good news is that no one's been hearing any crawling around above them, so you may have just caught this guy if it really is him. Bad news is that whatever he did, it screwed up our systems really bad. detection functions in the vents have gone black. You're just gonna have to watch the vents as you pass."

"Great" Isaac thought to himself as the batarians walked away, shouting threats at a perceived listener. There went his plans to go vent crawling. All he knew now was that he was somewhere amidships, trying to make his way to the helm. How would he get there undetected now? Sneaking as quietly as he could in his bulky suit, he swore under his breath, wondering what he had just gotten himself into, simultaneously thinking of a way to get into the cockpit. Suddenly, two more guards appeared to his right. He nearly jumped out of his suit upon seeing them, that is, until he realized they were totally oblivious to him. Apparently, the order to check the grates had already been dissimulated. Their weapons were nervously pointed to the vents and away from Isaac. Isaac made a split second decision, as they would notice him as soon as they turned to their left. He pulled out his cutter and in two shots and just as many seconds, two batarians lay beheaded in the passageway.

The noise was loud, but a plasma cutter was quieter than a normal firearm, and thus wasn't loud enough to put the whole ship on alert as far as Isaac was aware. Nonetheless, Isaac heard voices wondering what they had just heard. Isaac was quickly beginning to realize that this wasn't going to be much of a stealth mission. He rushed into the passageway to his left, running full speed toward the helm, no longer caring about detection. If he got to the helm fast enough, he could accomplish what he had designed quite quickly. He heard others behind him who had taken notice of his thundering metallic footsteps, some ordering him to halt, others firing to no effect, hitting the walls behind him long after he had passed. His cutter in hand, he dropped two more guards rounding a corner. Apparently, the ship's alarm system had come back online, and red lights and sirens had now been activated, blaring defiantly in Isaac's ears and eyes. Finally, he made it to the helm. Shooting the pilot and locking the door behind him, he took a moment to examine the alien creature. it had four black, lifeless eyes set on a round face. The teeth were sharp and more plentiful than a human's. Isaac pulled its corpse from the helmsman's seat, taking it for himself. He could hear the others pounding at the door, swearing and talking frantically among themselves, attempting to conjure up a way to open the door. Isaac only had a few minutes at most before they would find a way to open it. he looked at the control panels lining the helm. One in particular monitored life support. He examined it, flipping through numerous functions before finding the one he wanted. an option glared at him in blinking white and red, asking him if he wanted to purge life support aboard the ship. Isaac selected to except the helm before hitting "confirm". Within seconds, Isaac could hear the pounding and yelling no more, free now to use the cruiser at his leisure.

"Hey Shepard, guess what?" Isaac said over omni-tool.

"Isaac, you crazy bastard! What the hell did you just do?!"

"You know that one big cruiser hiding behind those ships astern to the Rayya?"

"Yeah, We've been weaving around trying to get a clear shot at it-"

"I just boarded it and purged life support. I'm looking at their IFF tone programming right now. Have EDI upload the Normandy's to me and I'll re-program theirs to it so that we won't risk friendly fire. Do you have a visual?"

Shepard looked at the ladar panel near joker to see that cruiser was now moving. EDI had transmitted the IFF tone to Isaac, and within less than a minute, that cruiser was now transmitting it. A few shots from the Migrant Fleet hit its shields, overloading them before immediately ceasing fire upon receiving the IFF tone. Shepard ordered a tap on Isaac's communication from the ship. he over heard Isaac telling the quarians practically the same thing he had been told himself. Soon enough, the Commander once again found himself at Isaac's audience.

"Shepard, come on now. there's no need for wire tapping here. just giving the Fleet a heads up. Now gimme a minute, all these fighters should be a piece of cake once I hack into their controls from here. most of them seem to have deployed form this ship. You're gonna have to work on those cruisers while I do that though. Sound good?"

Shepard was flabbergasted. Just how much of this man's past has been hidden? how much did he really know? What were his real capabilities? Shepard responded to Isaac before spacing completely off. "Sounds good to me. We'll work on the cruisers. I'l make sure the Fleet stays out of it so friendly fire won't ensue."

"Roger that!"

Isaac began to work on the fighters. Turns out the fleet had been doing some damage while he was sneaking around. six out of fifteen small fighters had been shot down. Now for Isaac to take care of the rest. He looked at each one of them on their status panel on the helm, just above the empty co-pilot's seat. it required clearance code to access any of their systems, implying that someone in charge of the mission would be the only one capable of interfering with the fighter's controls. Luckily, it was easy enough to hack through, and son enough, all the fighters found themselves at Isaac's mercy. Switching over to the co-pilot's seat, he remotely commandeered one of them, using the co-pilot's joystick to fly it. The distressed pilot, unaware of what had happened since he deployed, began screaming at Isaac to stop, frantically asking him what he was doing. Isaac muted him before opening fire on the other fighters. One by one, they fell, burning up and breaking apart at Isaac's unsuspected fire. he downed two of them before the rest caught on and began to fire at the commandeered ship. One took Isaac by surprise, coming up at him from below and bisecting his fighter with deadly accurate fire, blackening Isaac's screen. No matter. Seven more fighters to choose from. Isaac assumed the controls of another hapless fighter before turning it against its friends.

Meanwhile, Shepard had wasted no time engaging the cruisers. Two of four had already fallen to the Normandy's mighty guns, having been alarmed and dumbfounded by the seeming unresponsiveness of the one Isaac had hijacked. In their confusion, they had neglected the Normandy. The remaining two attempted to flee as Shepard pursued them.

"Alright, Isaac! we're almost done here, how's it going on your end?"

"Doing just fine...." Isaac replied as he downed another fighter. At this point, his aim had greatly improved, and only four fighters remained, his puppet included. Their mutual hopes of ending the fight fast came to an abrupt end, however, as five more cruisers came in to reinforce. "... okay, nevermind then."

"I see it." Shepard replied. "Alright, we're gonna have to lure them away from all these ships, the Fleet's going to have to get involved. We can't take on these many ships at once." the cruisers had begun to open fire as they came in from Shepard's starboard. Most shots missed, but the hull groaned in protest as several shots struck home.

"Or can we?" Isaac replied as he finished off the last few fighters. He noticed the Normandy taking Evasive action as the cruisers continued to fire. As he watched, he noticed they were all sticking together in a tight formation, at least for the moment. Big mistake. now was Isaac's chance to enact the insane, near suicidal plan that was materializing in his head. "Tell you what, keep evading their shots, but don't weave in and out of the other ships. Stay in their sights so that they stick together. I have an idea."

"You'd better know what you're doing, Isaac..." Shepard replied as EDI notified him of their paltry remaining shield strength.

Relinquishing the co-pilot's seat, Isaac took the helm up once more, driving himself straight for the enemy formation.

In the meantime, the Admirals and several other major captains and leaders aboard the Migrant fleet watched in awe and Horror as the skirmish continued to unfold. Among the audience were some prominent Council officials, taking note of Isaac's actions and wondering what the outcome would be and what course of action they should take with him. They had been ready to entreat him and Shepard to an interview aboard the Citadel regarding dissimulation of technological advancements. Now they weren't sure what they were going to do regarding this enigmatic and now seemingly insane man. Nezala was among the guard placed nearby to ensure the bridge aboard the Rayya was safe. She couldn't help but watch as the ladar's holo-panel depicted a now one-manned cruiser shooting straight for an unsuspecting enemy formation. As far as the batarians knew, the cruiser had regained control and was now joining the chase in trying to subdue the Normandy. Not sure if it was a good time, she decided to call Isaac.

"Isaac, what the hell are you doing?!"

"Uh, Nezala, this isn't the best time-"Isaac replied as he began to converge on the enemy formation.

"Your trajectory is telling us that you're not gonna be able to converge on them in time before crashing! What are you doing?!"

"Just trust me, Nezala. I've got it under control."

"You obviously don't! You're going to crash into them in forty seconds!" Nezala was not the only one who noticed Isaac's seemingly suicidal trajectory. The entire bridge was starting to go into an uproar. Efforts were made to try and remotely assume control of the ship, but to no avail. The admirals and council officials started to panic. The best chance they had at fully understanding all this newfound technology was seconds away from being vaporized.

Shepard was just beginning to notice Isaac's course of action. he too called Isaac, protesting his actions. "Isaac! Isaac what the hell are you thinking?! You've got no time left, you have to get out of that ship NOW!"

All the while, Clarke was simply taking it all in stride. Without even addressing his worrisome audience which now included the leaders at the Rayya's bridge (who had just succeeded in establishing communication through hacking into the ship's intercom), Isaac set the course on auto-pilot, blatantly ignoring his new allies and the automated voice warning him of imminent impact. At this point the batarians were beginning to catch on to what was happening, but evasive maneuvers were swiftly becoming impossible. They had let Isaac slip from their attention far too long. Isaac exited the helm and made his way to the airlock.

"Here come the fireworks..."

He pressed the green panel on the second airlock door and found himself careening out of the ship's airlock. Aiming himself away from the impending blast, his heels and back exploded in white light as he flew at dizzying speed away from the enemy formation. All eyes watched in awe a mere ten seconds later as his abandoned cruiser plowed into the other batarian ships. Spectators form nearby ships shielded their eyes as the massive explosion engulfed all of the enemy's ships in fire and shrapnel. the first three on the near side were completely obliterated, and the resultant combustion of their ruin lit up the dark space around them for miles. The other two ships were torn apart in various places as large chunks of the other ships went straight through them. the fourth ship suffered bisection as the ship next to it blew apart, the shock alone being enough to sever it. The fifth ship suffered catastrophic damage from its starboard side as the compounded remains of the formation flew into its side. About twenty minutes had elapsed since the first shot was fired by the batarians. No one in their outfit was left to tell the tale by the end of the skirmish.

Everyone on the Normandy was quiet for a few moments, as was the occupancy of the entirety of the Migrant fleet and of the the surrounding ships. Just twenty minute and an entire flight of slavers had been obliterated, with all the destruction hinging on the mad plans of some supposed extradimensional newcomer. All the high ups continued pondering their future interactions with the blue-visored man. He was definitely far more dangerous than they had anticipated if he was capable of dealing this much damage single-handed. It definitely warranted a much more conservative approach in their proposed dealing with him. The fact that he had joined forces with the famous Commander Shepard threw another wrench in anyone's plans to subjugate or swindle the engineer. Meanwhile, Shepard and his crew anxiously awaited Isaac's return. It took a tense two minutes for him to find his way back to the Normandy. As he stepped back into the airlock doors, he was greeted by the commander.

"Well, you sure as hell know how to make bad ideas work."

"Sure do..." Isaac was a bit too exhausted to carry on too much conversation. At this point he just needed some rest and time to gather his thoughts. Presentation times more than likely had to be postponed or reset entirely. As he walked to the elevator, almost everyone on the CIC had their eyes on the weary man in armor. Most all bore the same expression of raised brows and deadpan stares borne either out of fear, respect, or awe. Isaac simply didn't really care enough to return any of them. Before stepping into the elevator, he addressed the commander. "Hey, tell the guys over at the Migrant fleet we gotta postpone everything for just a bit."

"That might already be taken care of." replied a feminine voice from behind him. She stood at a console in front of a large holographic map of the galaxy, wearing standard Cerberus garb. "I've just gotten a joint message from the admiralty board and the Council representatives. The Admirals have come to a decision that your presentations can no longer be on board the fleet. They've been having too many logistical problems and altercations between outsiders and quarians. In the meantime, the Council has offered to have you aboard the Presidium over at the Citadel to continues your demo."

"Yeah, that's nice." Isaac said dismissively. "Tell them I'll call them back in a bit."

"How long will, 'a bit' be?" Shepard asked. "I've was thinking we should talk, Isaac"

"About what?"

"I think you know what." Shepard replied sternly. Suddenly it come back to Isaac's remembrance. ;Everything he had withheld on their first encounter was coming back to bite him even harder, now that he had demonstrated just what he could do.

"Ah, that..." Isaac stammered. "Alright... alright, we can talk about that real quick."

Suspense and suspicion started to show through Shepard's furrowed, stern countenance, unbeknownst to Isaac as he turned and walked into the briefing room. His initial thoughts as to what this man could be hiding had been blown out of the water. They were disingenuous at the very best compared to what he had seen. Clarke had to be some sort of commando or freedom fighter or dangerous fugitive of some sort. No way he was the ordinary man he proclaimed himself to be. Shepard momentarily halted his assumptions, waiting to hear the answers to his questions as he too stepped into the room with Isaac.

The Commander entered the room to find Isaac leaning against the holo-table with his hands on the surface, looking down as his mask came off to reveal a sullen face, rife with anxiety as to what he would say. "You look nervous. Shepard said as the doors shut behind him.

"That's one way of putting it." Isaac replied. "I just don't know where I want to start."

Shepard crossed his arms as Isaac spoke. "Anything you're not that excited to tell me?"

"I'm not that excited to tell you just about any of it, I'll be honest..."

"Anything illicit?"

"No, nothing like that... Look, it's not that I have anything to hide..." Isaac replied, detecting Shepard's suspicion. "It's just one of those things that isn't very easy to talk about."

Shepard leaned over the table near Isaac, partly a a gesture of having warmed up a little and partly a gesture signifying an increase in attention paid. "Isaac. All I know is some secondhand stuff that lieutenant told me. Now, I've had my fair share of rough scrapes myself, so don't think I'll be weak-stomached. Just trust me Isaac. You can tell me everything. I need to hear it."

"... Alright then."

With some reluctance, Isaac gave Shepard a full accounting of his recent history. As he went over his past he went into deeper detail than he did with Nezala. He chronicled his difficulties with his family and his engineering career, citing and explaining Unitology and how it costed him a higher education. He went on ahead to his encounters aboard the Ishimura, telling him about the necromorph infestation and his plight to save the one he loved, only to find not only that she had died beforehand, but that the very force that by connection caused her death was now implanted in his head, giving him occasion to explain the Marker phenomenon to Shepard. The commander's interest had been piqued, albeit with a sense of eerie dread. he couldn't help but ask Isaac more about the menace that had so utterly ruined Isaac's life. "Nezala only gave Tali and i a brief description. Sounds a lot more dangerous than what we heard."

"That's quite an understatement" Isaac said soberly.

"now, are you sure that didn't make its way over here too."

"I'm pretty sure it's all gone." Isaac said with some apprehension. "The circumstances that lead me here have a lot to do with that."

"Continue then."

Isaac then related his tenure under EarthGov custody and informed Shepard of their intentions on doing marker research. Shepard found parallels were not hard to draw when Isaac went over EarthGov's ruthlessness, secrecy, impatience, vain ambition and corruption. As Isaac continued to chronicle his episode on the Sprawl, Shepard could notice that the subjects seemed to shift more and more from the factual to the personal. As he continued his narration, the story became less about the necromorphs and more about Nicole, the one he had tried to save aboard the Ishimura. His objective seemed to shift from trying to stop the marker, to trying to save Ellie. Then, Isaac's personal struggle came to life before Shepard's eyes as he went over, in excruciating detail, his hallucinations of Nicole, and how everything came to a mind-breaking crescendo when he was forced into a battle for control over his psyche against the marker.

Shepard felt newfound concern for Isaac's mental stability as his tale carried on. Every turn of the way seemed far more than most could take without breaking down completely. The commander weighed the possibility of some fabrication in Isaac's story, seeing as how he seemed to sane to have really gone through these things. Then again, one had to consider his reluctance to tell such a life story. there were also subtle hints at authenticity such as changes in voice tone, nervous body language, and narrative shift. Either this was all real, or Isaac was a very good actor. Shepard continued to tread carefully with the engineer's words in his mind as the story continued, now being taken to a planet called Tau Volantis, where EarthGov had supposedly found away to stop the markers. Isaac's party, who had baited him into participating by using Ellie as bait, had been almost all eliminated save for him, a man by the name of John Carver, and Ellie. Isaac got into further detail regarding the alien race of Tau Volantis and their attempt to stop a convergence event - the assimilation of infected biomess into a wretched, planetoid-sized abomination known as a brother moon. Isaac had some footage he could spare from his RIG's recorder, and as Shepard watched, he became somewhat unnerved. The probability of falsehood on Isaac's part was very quickly declining. Shepard asked one final question before Isaac finished. 'So, were you able to use the codex and stop it?"

"Yeah.. yeah we stopped it. It's just that I'm not sure what happened next. I told you about the machine. I'm pretty sure it got me here somehow. none of us really knew how it worked, only that it could stop everything."

A prolonged silence ensued before Shepard asked another question. "So, you're sure it didn't follow you here?"

Isaac's lips tucked and his eyes narrowed in nervous determination. "It's all gone."

"Alright... I could tell you were kind of uncomfortable telling me this-"

"Nah, it's alright." Isaac said, hoping to cut Shepard off before any cheesy condolences could be made. There were many sentiments he could appreciate, but pity was not one of them. "You know what you need to know."

Shepard wasn't sure just how true that statement was. The footage was interesting, but by all means disturbing. He was glad that it wasn't a storm headed for the galaxy's shore anytime soon. The Reapers and their collector puppets were enough to deal with for now. What Shepard was glad to know was just how capable Isaac was. Any man who could take on this much at one time was a force to be reckoned with. Therein however, lay the rub: that much stress and trauma surely has to have taken a heavy toll by now. Before realizing this, Shepard was tempted to offer Isaac a combat position on the team, but that pipe dream was cut short when Shepard remembered his empathy and prudence. No wonder Isaac had been so evasive and reclusive earlier. Still though, there was no rest for the wicked. Shepard was no stranger to violence and terror, and though Isaac had certainly been putting up with it longer and in some cases more intensely, he was by means exempt from this new mess he found himself in. Shepard resolved therefore to take it slow with his newfound ally before inviting him to participate in an operation. With that in mind, Shepard closed their interview for the time being. "Thank you for telling me this, Isaac."

"Yeah..."

"Oh, by the way I forgot to mention, the council's been wanting to meet with you." Shepard said, opening his omni-tool to see that he had been sent several new messages. "They've already set a time for you to be there at the presidium to talk about re-starting the demonstrations and subsidizing fabrications companies to repro your tech."

"When were they thinking of doing that?"

"They want us there in three days to the dot. Should be enough time for you to gather all you stuff from the Rayya. I'll make sure we've got room in the cargo bay. I'll get everyone underway in about two hours."

"Good stuff... What should I do till then?"

"Well, seeing as how you're gonna be calling the Normandy home for a while, I don't think it would be half a bad idea to get to know her a little better."

"Sounds good."

Shepard was almost out of the door when he turned around to give Isaac one more piece if advice. "Oh, and Isaac?"

"Yeah?"

"Try and relax a little."

"... Doesn't sound too bad either."

"Be seeing you, Isaac."

"See you, man."

Isaac didn't linger in the briefing room in meditation as he had before. He already knew what decision he had made. The only thing on his mind was the fact that he finally had some time to breathe. Some time to rest. Getting to know the crew seemed kind of trite, but to be honest, there was no need to be arbitrarily reclusive. Isaac decided that perhaps the his time would be best used in getting to know the Normandy and her occupants. Exiting the briefing room once more, Isaac decided to head below again, riding the elevator to deck three. As he entered crew's quarters, a voice from his left, calling at him. The source was sitting down at one of the tables in what appeared to be a mess hall of some sort.

"Well, look who it is."

He turned around to see another of Shepard's squadmates. Remembering his voice, but not his odd, alien, seemingly bandaged face, Isaac returned the salutation with some hesitance. "Oh, hey. I think I remember you."

"Yeah, Shepard brought me to the flotilla to come and meet you while we discussed further prospects. I remember you blowing us off pretty easy. Heard you've changed you mind."

"That I did." Isaac admitted. "What did you say your name was?"

"Garrus Vakarian." the turian replied as he stood up and made his way back to the main battery console. "What brings you to this neck of the woods?"

Isaac followed him as he replied. "I'm no sap for meet-and-greets, but it doesn't hurt to get to know the people you're working with."

"Will that be all?" Garrus said facetiously as he began work on the gunnery console.

Isaac could see this one was by no means the touchy-feely type. Neither was Isaac for that matter, though it was always nice to have people who had his back, which in all honesty, were not many in Isaac's case. In the meantime, he did have some curiosity still lingering in him. "No necessarily." he replied. "if anything, I just want more opinions than one. Shepard and Solus filled me in on what the mission's all about, but it I thought it wouldn't hurt to ask around, see what others can tell me."

"Curiouser and curiouser, huh?" garrus quipped as he turned from his work. "Well, if you want to get my angle on it, lemme give you some background. This isn't mine and Shepard's first rodeo. Did he tell you about what happened two years ago?"

"Yeah"

'Well, I was with him for that. All of it. After he got spaced, I tried doing something similar; gather a group of crazies like me who wanted to see some good happen in the galaxy. Long story short, it didn't do well in the end. Me and the bastard who betrayed us are all that's left."

"Damn.. sorry about that man."

"Ah, you don't have to be. Anyways, Shepard found me picking off mercs by my lonesome and now we're all back together again. I'll tell you this much about him from what I've learned over the years with him, he's sharp as all hell, but you shouldn't have any reason to distrust him. kind of a goody two shoes sometimes, though."

"is he now?"

Isaac couldn't help but notice some sobriety drowning out the dry wit in Garrus' voice. "Yeah. I told you about that traitor. Not too long ago, I got a hint that he was still out there. I asked Shepard for a little assistance with the hunt, hoping he'd help me take this bastard down. At first, that seemed to be exactly what we were going to do. After a fun little goose chase, we found him. I was literally a second away from taking the shot when Shepard intentionally got in the way, letting him escape. I'll be honest, I almost wanted to throttle him, but my better judgement got a hold on me first. We kind of had a heart-to-heart about it afterwards, and we both agreed that it wasn't really the right thing to do. Can't say I agree 100 percent. That son of a bitch turned us in and got everyone killed..." Garrus could notice resentment building up in him again. He immediately recognized it, paused, and resolved to let it go. Pettiness and rancor were below him. He continued. "Still though... I can't say Shepard is totally wrong, either."

"No, he's not." Isaac replied. "Kind of a noble mindset for him to have. I know I've been betrayed more than a few times to forgive someone like that right off the bat."

"See, that's what I'm talking about. I think the reason he's been able to do this is because of what kind of person he is. He's crafty, but he'll never use that craft against anyone innocent. He looks beyond himself. That, I think, may be the hardest lesson he's taught me."

Isaac wasn't sure that was what he had seen yet, but with Shepard's concern and passion in mind, the enigmatic manipulator he imagined him to be soon vanished. "He sounds like a pretty good guy>"

"he is." said Garrus. "And he'll pull this off. I can guarantee you that.Now, uh, I don't mean to brush you off or anything, but I'll have to get back to work. This gun needs calibrating."

"Alright. See you soon, Garrus."

"You too."

It had only been moments since Isaac had left Garrus alone and gone to the elevator when he opened the doors when he was suddenly greeted by a familiar pair of bright, white eyes. He jumped back a bit in surprise. Tali was likewise excited, albeit not by surprise, but by anticipation. "Isaac, you crazy bosh'tet!" She said, grabbing him and pulling him into the elevator. "Oh my gosh, ken and Gabby are going to be so psyched to see you!"

"Uh, Tali..."

"Keelah, how did you even pull half of that craziness off?!" Tali exclaimed as she confirmed the command to go to deck four. "Do you seriously have rocket propulsion on that suit?!"

"Well, yeah, I-"

"You have GOT to show me how to customize my suit like that!"

"Yeah, well-"

"It's no big trouble. I think we have the proper fabrication capacity. "

"hey, that's great, why don't we-"

"OH! OH! OH! And you HAVE to show us the stasis tech too! We've been playing around with some of the-"

"Tali!!" Isaac said, raising his voice somewhat. "relax!"

"okay... okay sorry about that-"

"Deep breaths now..."

"Isaac.." Tali said, putting a hand to her mask, laughing quietly. "You don't want to get punched again..."

"In *inhale*, out *exhale*"

"Isaac!!"

"okay, one more ti-OOWWW!"

Tali grabbed him by the collar and repeatedly smacked him upside the head, both of them now laughing at full volume, not aware that the hatch had opened.

"Ay, I see we've caught you two at an inopportune moment." Ken said with a smug grin on his face. "Tali, I was willing to cut you some slack for thsoe pictures but-"

"Keelah Ken, will you cut it ou-WAIT, WHAT?!"

"Tali, what pictures..."

"Oh, it's nothing." Gabby said, pushing Ken to the side and nearly sending him to the deck. "We've got more important stuff to talk about, Isaac."

"No, seriously, what pictures-"

"I'm with Gabby here, it's not that important." Tali said, cutting Isaac off.

Ken got up form his stumble just in time for Gabby to try and keep him down. "Oh just a couple flattering shots of-"

"SHUSH!" Gabby said, laughing while she attempted to stifle his immaturity. Tali joined in on the dogpile, covering Ken's mouth and putting him in a headlock.

"uh, guys?" Isaac piped up from his corner in the elevator, wierded out by the display of "Team Spirit" he had just sat through. "Didn't you want to talk to me about something?"

"Oh, right." Gabby said, letting go of Ken, tali following suit, letting the beleaguered Scot tumble to the floor. "Ken, pick yourself up. let's head to the cave."
__________________________

The Illusive man downed another shot of bourbon before replacing his cigarette. "Shepard, you know better than to try and overstep me. I don't like how you've been sneaking around with council officials, not telling me what you and Clarke are up to."

"No one's sneaking anything." Shepard retorted. "I already told you we were planning on getting Isaac in touch with the Council to get his stuff on a production line. Funds will be re-directed to the mission and to the Lazarus Cell, you get my word on any further developments and we all live happily ever after. What are you so worried about?"

"I'll be frank, Shepard." replied the Illusive man as he took another drag of the cigarette. "I don't like it when people start getting quiet. I also don't like it when something this revolutionary is right in our hands and the first thing we do is hand it over to a bunch of incompetent bureaucrats."

"Isaac already plans to get a Shockdrive installed on the Normandy within the next two months."

"Well, that's just fine and good, but what about the rest of us?!" The Illusive man was starting to grow impatient with Shepard's seeming defiance.

"We have to play smart with that. we get greedy with it and the council won't be so approving. They most likely wouldn't even let us in the door! they've already gotten on my case for the Cerberus affiliation. Don't you think being self-serving would just make things worse?" Shepard concealed his nervousness very well with wit and reason, but nevertheless, he could now see that time was quickly running out. His relationship with the Cerberus leader was tenuous and shady enough to begin with. Now that Shepard was actually planning to split, the Illusive man was becoming more anxious and controlling. If there was any time he would suspect Shepard to defect, it would be now, and that did not bode well for the Commander. he realized that he had to get this done quickly and quietly. Cerberus was a hornet's nest he did not want to disturb until he knew he was a a safe enough distance. it was getting that distance that would prove difficult.

"A shrewd observation, Shepard." the Illusive man begrudgingly admitted. "But you have to realize they won't do much. You know their bias. You know their political scheming. They'll sell it all for a quick buck, but they won't actually utilize it to stop teh reaper threat. In the meantime, we could get a lot more done in less time by ourselves."

"I think I can apply enough pressure to make sure they comply, and if they won't, we can always just sneak it behind their back and urge them to implement it on whichever shipbuilding industries we find most important. That way, if the reapers do hit before we're ready, we can get everyone out of harms way without using relays, making it so that the Reapers can't use them against us by shutting one down."

"I'd rather go on the offensive than the defensive, Shepard. If we have our hands on it first, we could do some serious damage. Damage that, if if the council gets first dibs on the tech, will not be done. I'm telling you, they won't focus on anything important"

Shepard was starting to get impatient with the Illusive man's bargaining. "There's nothing I can do to reverse the situation now. We're already set to see them in three days. Like I said, I can wile them into getting their butts in gear. They're idiots yes, but they're the kind of Idiot who's easily suckered in to what you need them to do. Just ask Aria T'Loak. She's got the Asari counselor in her pocket and all it took was enough muscle and money. We have both."

"I just hope you know what you're doing Shepard. You're dismissed."

Shepard exited the briefing room exasperated and nervous. He knew his plan had to be enacted quick or the Illusive Man would catch on if he hadn't already. He was now in a race against the clock, only he had no idea what the read on the face. The only safe thing to assume was that time was quite close to running out. He had to act fast. "Kelly." he said, calling for the yeoman.

"Yes, Commander?"

"Wherever Isaac is, call for him. I'm got something important to talk about with him."

"Yes sir. I'll admit though. I don't know how he'll feel about two interviews in just as many hours."

"I'm aware of that. I wouldn't have him brought in if this wasn't something very pressing. Go ahead and have him meet me in the briefing room."

"Aye sir."
__________

"You wanted to talk? I see that we're docking, is there somewhere you wanted to go?"

"Actually yes." Shepard replied as the hatch closed behind him. "Did I ever tell you about my divorce?"

Isaac swallowed his question before it escaped his throat, noticing Shepard's deadpan expression and piercing glare. "I think you touched up on it a little bit last time, yeah. Does anyone else know you're splitting up?"

"They'll know eventually. I don't want her getting word. She's crazy as hell and she'll be on me like ink when she finds out. She's still unaware I'm planning on taking the ring off, but she's been suspicious of me lately, especially after our last fight."

"You tell the other girl yet?"

"Who, Allie? No, not yet. Think you can be my wingman?"

"What do you need me to do?"

"The wife sees me talking to her, she'll throw a fit. I think she's starting to catch on that I'm ready to break it off. I think you're gonna have to ask Allie out for me."

"Any reason for her to believe me?"

"Well, we're heading to her friend's house. She's kind of been egging me on to do this anyway, so we can trust her> I'll tell her to send Allie a message when you talk to her. That way, she'll know you're for real when you tell her."

"Okay. Anything else?"

Shepard's gaze intensified. "Just be careful. No one needs to hear about this but you and me right now, okay?"

"Alright. Just a little nervous you'd tell me this a few days before. You'd think it would be better to tell me a little closer to when you were planning on doing it."

"Normally yeah, but I've gotta make sure all the right people know in time after you. I've got a whole lot more on my plate too."

"Fair enough."

"Good. You take care of yourself, Isaac."

"You too."
_________________________________

>Month 2, day eight

>Kinda unnerving what Shepard's entrusted me with. I've been the subject of some pretty big secrets, but I've never personally taken part in them, especially at this level. I make one slip up and we could all be dead should Cerberus hear it. I can see why Shepard wants to cut ties. These guys are shady as all hell. maybe not the crew members per se, but the organization itself. Knowing that I'm being watched is only a little less creep when i remember that they can't hack into my hardware, so this journal entry should be safe.

>It's funny. For the past few years, I've been wading up to my waist in danger and conspiracy. The main difference now is that it's not so much about shooting so much as it is about plotting and secrecy. This is a whole new gauntlet for me, and I'm not sure how well I'm gonna run it. I really hope Shepard knows what he's doing.

>Started hauling my junk our of the Rayya today. A lot of the same guys I met and worked with while I was working on the presentation were there to help, Nezala included. Had a good talk with her after we hauled the heavy stuff into the Normandy (Shockdrive, uni guns, and some of the crap I had brought in from the SC ships. She's already got her resignation message ready. Good for her. Sooner she can get out of that crap, the better. She's even been planning on leaving the fleet. Most quarians stay, seeing as how most of their kind is there and family ties are usually pretty close. hers aren't as close, unfortunately, and with her leaving the marines, there's really nothing left for her here. I'd be tempted to ask her to come aboard the Normandy, but that's Shepard's call anyway. She said she didn't know where she's gonna go. I wish I knew what to tell her. She mentioned some hole called "Omega" where she has some connections. I hope things go over well for her.

>Month 2, day nine

>Got more of my crap out of the Rayya. Had some parting words with the Admirals. Raun, Korris, and Gerrel were all pretty cordial about the whole thing, giving me thanks for my time and all that good jazz. Xen barely gave me the time of day. Figures. That little shrew can choke on a high hard one. Most everything is out. Tomorrow's most likely going to be spent getting everything organized properly on  the Normandy. Tali and the gang were pretty excited to see me back. I've barely had enough time to catch my breath, let alone start a tech geek sowing circle. They all went nuts when i whipped out stasis and kinesis. Tali swore to me that she'll have both on her wrist by the end of the week. Poor girl. The fact that I brought in one of those old SC soldier rigs probably didn't help her. I swear, she's trying to turn her biosuit into a RIG. I wish her luck.

>Month 2, day ten.

>We cast off for the Citadel later on tonight. Didn't much to do today but twiddle my thumbs and wait. Me and Shepard are still good on our little secret, though we're not the only ones anymore. We basically had a little conference with his squad and we had to do it in my work-space aboard the rayya to avoid any snooping in on Cerberus' part. Shepard had to be especially wary with those two cerberus reps, Miranda and Jacob. Apparently he talked to them about it a little beforehand. Jacob seems to be a good man and he's in this for the right reasons. Don't know what else to make of him though. Miranda seemed pretty distraught. I was able to snoop in a little bit on their conversation (He gave me the access key that would let me crawl around in the vents). Apparently he saved her little sister from her dad a while back, and he found some garbage that put the Illusive man behind it. Figures. Anyway, she was really conflicted about leaving Cerberus and ever threatened to snitch. I wasn't wrong about Shepard knowing how to work his way around things, though. He was able to convince her, but not before a very heated exchange. It's all very interesting. Everyone in the squad knows basically what's going to happen. Tonight, Shepard's already got the Council aware of it and that's the easy part. The hard part is where I come in, to save Shepard's skin and hit up the Alliance for him. I asked him what he's going to do with the crew. He said the council will take care of it, and that any one who wants to stay can stay. I sure hope Ken and Gabby stay. I dunno about anyone else here, but I think I click with those dorks (and Tali) the most. It's gonna be really interesting to watch this all play out.

>END LOG
___________________________

Isaac gazed all around at the shining walls and pristine gleam of the Presidium. Having lived in cramped space and practical squalor most of his adult life, Isaac found it hard to adjust to the cleanliness, luster, and sterility that the upper wards of the Citadel so exuberantly displayed. As he and Shepard entered the hatch leading to their destination, they saw a man dressed in pompous colors, arrayed in an otherwise modest garment. Upon their entrance, he straightway turned his attention from the holographic figures before him to them.

"How many times do i have to tell you, he'll- Shepard!" Councilor Anderson said. "It's good to see you again!"

"You too, Councilor." Shepard replied, shaking him warmly by the hand and pointing him to Isaac. "You've got a visitor."

"I think we've spoken before." Isaac said, accepting Anderson's proffered hand. "Nice to see you in person."

"You too, Mr Clarke."

Another voice to Isaac's right caught his attention. "Mr Clarke."

"Ah that's right." Isaac said, addressing the other councilors. "Pleasure to see you again." he was lying somewhat, but there were worse people to be interfacing with.

The Asari councilor spoke up first. "Feelings mutual, Mr Clarke. As you know, you are here as a result of the Armstrong Nebula slaver attack on the Migrant Fleet. We are here to discuss the immediate future of your presentation."

"We are also eager to discuss the application of what has already been brought forth." added the salarian councilor. "Commander Shepard has informed us that you would be willing to help us adapt your 'Shockpoint Drive' to the galactic shipbuilding industry, among other things you have in store."

The turian councilor spoke up next. "And as for you, Shepard, we wanted to know the status of your current relationship with Cerberus. After our last meeting, we've been quite eager to know how close you are to severing it."

"We can get to that later" the Commander replied. "Right now, we can focus on more pressing matters, like Isaac's tech. I assume a venue has been picked out for the demonstration?"

"Taken care of." replied the Asari. "We've already scheduled it to begin in two weeks at the Cultural Hall, right here in the Presidium. That should not only give you time to register citizenship, acclimate to galactic life, and perhaps enjoy a break from your recent activities."

"Yes, I was going to mention that." the turian added. "You seem to be more than the every-man you proclaimed yourself to be. Don't read us wrong we are still very much interested in what you have to share with us, but we are somewhat concerned about your background."

The Salarian councilor spoke up next. "We have heard fragmented reports from the Migrant Fleet about you having been some sort of special forces operator where you were from, but that's just one piece of the puzzle, and right now none of them fit together. We've heard reports of you having been a commando, a vigilante, a penal soldier, a hacker, a dangerous felon, a government agent, and more."

"so with that said, we are somewhat interested in who you were before you came here." the Asari added. "We don't wish to seem imposing, but we do need to know who we're working with."

Isaac exchanged a brief look with Shepard, and in that moment he knew he could be trusted with Isaac's secrets. He had no need to worry about any Machiavellian violations of privacy or trust from the commander. As he turned back to the councilors, he decided to placate them with a bogus answer. "I was a government agent, yes. Technical Specialist. If there was anything that could be hacked, destroyed, or snooped into, I was your guy." Isaac had to hide his amusement. Technically, he did work with Norton and Carver. He was telling the truth after all, right?

Unfortunately, Isaac's poker face was not as good as he had thought. "There is no need for sarcastic jests, Mr Clarke." The Turian replied in arrogant venom. "Remember where you are and whom you address. We're not asking for a long story, but we do ask that you give us the truth concisely and accurately, is that clear?"

"Yes sir." Isaac said soberly before quickly reciting his history. he wasn't as intimate in detail as he had been with Shepard, but he told them enough for them to trust him, namely his profession and a brief history of his life before his escapades with the markers came into play. He briefly covered the events that led him to the reality in which he was now entrapped, telling them about Tau Volantis and showing them some footage to back himself up. Each of them bore varying degrees of curiosity, shock, amazement, and horror on their countenances as they observed Clarke's necromorphic foes. He concluded with the brother moons and the machine, showing them some slightly corrupted footage of that fateful, final conflict.

"That was.. interesting..." commented the Asari.

"Yes, quite..." added Anderson. "It's a good thing that hasn't followed you here."

"You're telling me." Isaac replied. "There is something almost just as dangerous out there though." Shepard could smell disaster lying up ahead. He knew exactly what Isaac was going to say before he eve said it. Trying to subtly get Isaac's attention with a stern look and a clearing of his throat, Shepard cringed as his ploy failed and Isaac spilled the beans. "We have the reapers to worry about."

"Ah, Shepard..." said the Turian councilor. "You've sold Mr Clarke on your little conspiracy theory?"

The commander began to regret forgetting to inform Isaac of the Council's stand on the reapers. Before he could start damage control, Isaac once again demonstrated his lack of tact. "What do you mean, 'conspiracy theory'?! Hasn't anyone noticed all the crap happening in the Terminus systems?"

"The terminus is out of our jurisdiction" replied the Salarian. "We have no right to meddle in their affairs."

"Well, someone's gotta be keeping track! For crying out loud, Councilor Anderson, aren't you humanity's representative on this council? Don't these colonists fall under your jurisdiction?"

"Not once they leave council space, I'm not." Anderson replied with some irritation, both at the fact that his fellow council members were being so hard headed, and that Isaac had blundered into this mess with as much grace as a varren in a butcher shop. If there was any way to get the council convinced of the reaper threat, it wouldn't be this way. If anything, this would just harden them to the idea. the prospect of getting any traction in the uphill battle to win over the council had been seemingly dashed by the wet, muddy aftermath of the storm that was Isaac Clarke.

Soon enough, however, both Anderson ad Shepard started to realize that Isaac may not have been as much of a bumbler as they thought. Or at least, a more persuasive bumbler than they had given him credit for. Just when it seemed the council was about to shut him out, Isaac re-opened the footage of the brethren moons, brow furrowed, voice reduced to a subtle, low growl. "Take another good look at this." Isaac said sternly as the council once again set their eyes on the horrible, bloody spectacle of tendrils and teeth. "Tell me whether or not you would believe me if I told you that was coming."

The entire council went silent for just a moment before the Salarian Councilor spoke up. "Well.... without any footage, we would be more hard-pressed to believe you, I suppose."

"Alright. Why?"

"Mr Clarke-"

"I mean, what if I told you that we heard reports of the geth in Turian colonial space. Would you at least investigate?"

"Of course we would!" replied the Turian in palpable defiance.

"What if I didn't have any footage?"

The Asari tried her best to pacify the increasingly impudent engineer. 'Mr Clarke, we understand your point, but-"

"But what?!" replied Isaac in indignation.

"The geth are a credible threat!" the Salarian replied impatiently. "An investigation of a credible report of geth activity would be worth it because we know the geth are a threat! They've harassed expeditions through the Perseus veil multiple times and have attacked several times within council space! We actually know they're out there and hostile. The Reapers are a mythological pipe dream, Mister Clarke! There's no evidence that they're out there, at least nothing worth our time investigating. So mister Clarke, unless you and Shepard have irrefutable proof that these beings actually exist and are a legitimate threat, I'm afraid we cannot take your doomsday warnings seriously!"

"Oh, and what the hell was Sovereign then?!" Isaac said as he pulled up some saved footage of Sovereign's attack over his omni-tool. "This was on the extranet and there's tons of videos like it with differing viewpoints. It can't be old news to you. I've been told you think that thing was a geth warship. Why? isn't it obvious that the geth have never fielded anything like that before?"

The Turian councilor was quickly losing his patience. "Mr Clarke, the geth engineer their own technology periodically. Every now and then, Council space forces clash against them to find some new tactic or weapon being utilized, so if I may be so bold, I ask you stop pursuing this myth which so far has had nothing to show for itself!"

Then, Isaac hatched an idea. "You want proof huh? Shepard, was there any footage recovered from your operation on Horizon?" Shepard knew he couldn't explain why it was a bad idea to do so. Yes, there was footage from before, during, and after Shepard's operation gathered from colonial surveillance, and EDI had it in her databanks. The problem was that if Shepard pulled it up from EDI's archives to his omni-tool, there was a good chance that Cerberus would learn about it very fast. The result of them trying to pry apart the details would not end well. Shepard wondered what he could do to placate Isaac and maintain confidentiality. Vainly he tried to clear his throat and get Isaac's attention. Isaac asked him again for the Horizon footage. "C'mon, Shepard. We've got to show them."

Shepard simply replied in a tone he oped would be stern enough to get Isaac to understand that secrecy was still key. "Isaac, we can't do that."

"Why not?" Asked the Asari councilor. "If you do have proof that the reapers are in fact a real threat, why don't you show us?

"Alright, I'll do it." Isaac said begrudgingly as he accessed EDI's archives from his Omni-tool.

Shepard cringed somewhat at Isaac's lack of subtlety and interpersonal wit. How could he not see the consequences of what he's doing? How could he be so defiant and uncouth around dignitaries like this? Shepard was by no means gentle with those who needed extra persuasion, but he knew how to flatter and respect rank and prestige when necessary. Isaac didn't seem to be as respectful, and it showed in the irritated expressions bore by the councilors. Each of them were quite off-put by Isaac's brash behavior, and though their long-instilled habits of personal restraint and formality were for holding fast for the moment, it would not take much more provocation from this haggard engineer to set one of them off. Soon enough however, their collective visage changed to surprise and some humiliation as Isaac pulled up the surveillance feeds. They saw the collectors abducting the colonists and loading them in strange brown and orange pods, hauling them off to a massive ship sitting just outside the colony. As Anderson saw his fellow councilors silently change their attitude, he couldn't help but feel somewhat relieved, if not a little stressed, at Isaac's relatively non-diplomatic approach to persuasion. "Well, there you have it." Anderson said. "The collectors really are up to something big."

"And with that, you going to have to see it as it is." Isaac said, not relenting from his aggressive conversational approach. "These guys are working with the reapers to some unknown end. We're working on a way to get through the Omega 4 Relay, or at least know where it leads so that if we can't find or reverse engineer a proper IFF, we can retrofit ourselves with shockpoint technology so we can just shock out to it."

To Isaac's disgust, the council members persisted in their stubborn laziness. They didn't pay much attention his hand tapping something as they spoke, the Asari leading them out. "Mr Clarke, we now realize the collectors may be an actual threat, but as you now know, we cannot expand our influence beyond our own space. To involve ourselves, either directly through the alliance, or through any investigative force would be scandalous on our part. The people in the Terminus colonies left Council space for a reason."

The Turian continued. "As a result, we cannot look any further into the reaper myth nor dedicate any significant amount of time or resources to this. Until either a connection is made with these abductions to the reapers, or the collectors start hitting council space, we will remain uninvolved."

A hostile scowl crept onto Isaac brow as they continued to speak. His eyes went back and forth from them to the work he was doing on his Omni-tool. When his RIG display came up however, they paused and were about to ask him what he was doing until he spoke up. "Alright then." he said. "I see what's up."

"What would that be, Mr Clarke?" the Salarian coyly asked.

Shepard was determined to make sure Isaac didn't burn his bridge to the Council "Alright look, I already alerted all of you as to what I've planned to do. You know we're gonna need your help, and with my Spectre status I can sneak in and out of the Terminus no problem. We've already discussed one important item of business, and I'm glad we've gotten it taken care of. Isaac's tech will be a huge boon both to galactic economy and Space travel. Now as for future cooperation, all we've come to ask is for needed resources and assistance, whatever that may entail, or whatever process we have to follow. The bottom line is, we want to know if you're willing to give us a hand. Can we obtain help with the investigation or not?"

Shepard's submissive response softened the councilors' hearts enough for them to become somewhat more receptive. The Salarian spoke first. "If you do indeed proceed with what you have previously informed us, we can definitely administer funding to your investigation, albeit most will have to be out of alliance coffers. They have been trying to win favor from these colonists, am I correct councilor Anderson?"

"We have been." Anderson replied. "I'd be glad to help fund this project. I may need some financial assistance, however. This may end up being a very large undertaking, should things escalate."

"Further funding may have to wait, Councilor Anderson."replied the Asari. "Until further threats emerge, we will only be able to give the Alliance limited financial support. Should things escalate however, we will be able to provide further logistical and military support."

"Speaking of which" the Turian added, "Commander, you did inform us of further cooperative goals. We'll be more than glad to discuss your terms come our next session."

"Sounds good to me." the commander replied, trying to hide his oddly combined relief and anxiety. He knew now that he was only a hair away from agitating Cerberus to retaliatory action. It was anyone's guess as to how long until the shady, corrupt group caught on completely, now that Shepard's initial plan to correlate with the Alliance using Isaac as a proxy had been dashed by both Clarke's insubordination and the Council's own forgetfulness. Now he had to do it himself, and he could only hide his secret correspondence for so long. Cerberus knew where to get information. From here on in, Shepard had to act quick to avoid both retaliatory measures and hindrances to the mission. There was still a lot left to do. Maybe it was too early to cut Cerberus off. Shepard needed all the help he could get, and Cerberus' vast financial resources added to their lack of red tape made things much easier. Still though, this communication with the council was probably the only real chance he had. Any other scheduled interactions with someone who had labelled the organization "an avowed enemy of the Council" with agendas left unspecified would warrant suspicion and immediate retribution. he had been stuck in a trap since the beginning, and his gamble with the engineer had not payed off as he would have hoped, at least not in this venue. He was far too brash and impulsive to be of any use in diplomatic situations. The council had not been that smart either. What part of "confidential" did they not understand? How could they be so empty headed. these and a million more frustrations whirled around in Shepard's head as the meeting came to a close.

"Very well." the Asari concluded. "Because of intermittent duties, we will have to continue our meeting in a few hours.Shepard, we look forward to further cooperation with you and your team. Mr Clarke, we thank you for your scientific contributions, and await further elucidation from you on the subject." With that, all three holograms disappeared.

After a warm but apparently temporary farewell between Shepard and Anderson, the Commander pulled Isaac over outside of the room. "Isaac, I think we have to talk."

Isaac knew right away what Shepard wanted to talk about. 'Alright, look." he said. "I know i got a little carried away in there..."

"'A little' is being generous, Isaac."

"okay, okay, I get it. I was way too rough with those guys, but-"

"But nothing, Isaac." Shepard scolded. "Don't try to weasel your way out of this. If anything, I can either help you out with this, or you can rest assured you're gonna see more crap like this happen and we'll all be worse for it. Isaac, you have GOT to learn how to speak with a silver tongue. That's the kind of environment you're in right now. You have to learn to play smart."

Isaac was not very fond of adult scolding sessions, but he had no choice but to swallow his pride and listen as the commander continued to grill him for his carelessness. Being more solution than dwell-on-the-problem oriented, he attempted to coax a conclusion out of Shepard. "Then what do you want me to do next? We both know that you'll be corresponding with Anderson and that the Council wants to talk more tech stuff with me."

Shepard could easily detect Isaac's ploy, but he quickly decided that it wasn't something worth pursuing before answering him. "For one thing, I would suggest being more polite. I guess part of it's my fault for not being thorough when i told you about them. As you clearly just saw, they're hard headed, pessimistic, and fearful."

"Oh, I've got some other choice adjectives." Isaac grumbled. "You sure you didn't forget 'lazy', 'short-sighted', or 'arbitrary'?"

"Though I'm tempted to agree with you Isaac, it's a lot more complicated than that. Just think about it. They've got the lives of trillions in their hands. To protect those trillions from something as big as this would take a mobilization of men and materials the galaxy has never seen before. it would mean they'd be under an unknown time crunch to get those trillions prepared until the reapers come  As much as it pisses me off, I can't totally blame them for being so skeptical, even if that skepticism isn't passive."

"Alright, so excuse their BS, but be gentle about it. Anything else?"

"They're easily impressed. An outright apology will come across as brown nosing, so an impressive display of what you've got in the showcase ought to woo them back in your favor. Now don't kill yourself by giving them the whole presentation, but try implying what your stuff can do to 'make the galaxy a better place.'" Shepard said, rubbing the fingers and thumb on his right hand together. "Sell it to them. Make yourself a worthwhile investment. You may the only one with e thorough understanding of the tech, but if they get it and examine it for a few years, I imagine they might be able to replicate it."

"Problem is we don't have that time."

"And neither do they" Shepard said, repeating his miserly gesture. "The sooner they can fill the treasury with more pork spending, the better. Make sure you're as much a part of the equation as the tech is."

Isaac nodded affirmatively. "Okay, I think I should be able to handle it. Anything else you want to tell me about them? About the Alliance?"

'I'm going to have to talk with Anderson myself." Shepard replied. 'no offense but I think the original 'Wingman plan' has to be scrapped."

"I screwed up that bad, huh?

'Well, taking data straight off the Normandy's archives was pretty much the snapped twig in the night to Cerberus' ears. They'll be on us really soon, and the sooner we can get this whole transition process figured out with the alliance the better."

Isaac hadn't even realized what the ramifications of his previous actions entailed. Humiliation was quickly overshadowed fear in Isaac's mind as he asked himself how he could be so incompetent. "I'll be more careful then." he said meekly

"Good. Now, let's head back to the Normandy real quick. I'll need to gather some things before talking to Anderson. You in the meantime can go do what you want for the next few hours as long as you take someone with you should you go ashore. Pretty sure Tali and the rest of the engineering crew wouldn't mind heading out with you."

'Yeah, those dorks would probably start burning up in outside air." Isaac chortled. "Not that that's a bad thing. We've got a little project we've been wanting to do that we've put on hold."

"Sure you'll have enough time to really do anything? We've only got half the day." Shepard said, reading a five minute old message from his omni tool indicating the time left until the next set of interviews.

"Holy crap, that's more than enough time." Isaac replied. "I think with all four of us working it'll take us nine hours, tops."

Shepard continued as they began to walk back towards the taxi station. "You sure you don't want to grab any food? Any sleep?"

"Sleep is for the weak> 'Isaac said jokingly, invoking faux machismo in his voice. "We've got bigger fish to fry."

"Like what?"

"Oh now that'll be a surprise."
______________

'Oh children..." Isaac said as he entered the engineering deck. 'Daddy's home..."

"Oh, I don't think anyone's calling you daddy anytime soon old boy." Ken quipped. "You even old enough to be a dad?"

Isaac greeted the jesting mechanic with a comeback. "Old enough to be yours."

Tali and Gabby heard the engineer's voice and ran up out of the engine room with an old SC RIG the group had been tinkering around with earlier. Tali spoke up first. "Isaac, you're here!" Tali spoke up. "How'd it go?"

"The council's a bunch of idiot and I'll be kissing their asses to make up for my bad behavior in a few hours."

"Not the diplomatic type, are we?" Ken replied.

"Oh no, I have little tolerance for crap like that. Especially after the CEC. I don't think I've ever met a group of people with their heads so fantastically far up their asses in my life. And I've seen a whole lot of people with their head in their ass. Like, I could be a head-in-ass judge in a head-in-ass contest."

"'Uh- oh lad, you've got a wee spot of chin showing, that's points off.'"

"Holy crap, Kenneth..."

"'Ah, good form, good form, I could hula hoop with this one...'"

"Hear hear." Tali replied, trying to stem her laughter and ingnore ken's immaturity. "I was around when Shepard first tried to warn them. Some things never change."

"Damn straight..." Isaac replied as Gabby once again subdued her companion with physical force. 'So... you guys ready?"

"For what?" Gabby asked.

Isaac used his kinesis module to pick up an old SC Spec ops RIG hanging on a railing near the spare room where Grunt was stationed. "Who wants to see how nasty we can make this suit in ten hours?"

They all paused for a moment before Gabby spoke up. "Tali, what was on our schedule for today?"

"Calibration on the new FBA arrays, plasma vent maintenance, and a few errands involving new hardware upgrades on the consoles." Tali replied as she scrolled through her omni-tool

"In other words, 'bupkis that can be accounted for later?'" Ken replied.

"Sounds just about right." Tali said, closing her itinerary and clasping her hands together mischievously. "Where do we start."

Isaac pulled up some data from his RIG. "Alright, see all this?" Isaac said as he pointed out all the needed major components and procedures. "Think we can handle all that?"

The three all briefly skimmed the information before Gabby gave their reply. "Oh that's way possible." she said as Isaac passed the information to their omni-tools.

"Alright then!" Isaac replied. "Ken, you go get us all set up. I want tools, fabrication equipment, workbenches, the whole nine yards. Check your list to make sure everyone's station is set up properly. in the meantime, everyone powwow up with me, and we'll review all the data so no one's running blind. I'll make sure you get caught up, Ken. Gabby, I need you on parts duty. I've given you the specs. You're gonna be sorting out the pieces while we work together on putting the puzzle together. Make sure anything you give to us is ready for use. Cut down, break apart, add to, or polish up anything that'll need finagling before we put it together. Tali, you'll focus on the Jacket parts. There's gonna be a lot of new kit in it that you haven't worked with before but I have confidence in you. If you need any help with something like stasis or the RIG spine, give me a holler. Ken, once your're done, you'll be working on the pants Don't worry about the propulsion and grav-lock features, I'll take care of those myself and all the armor going on this thing. We all ready?"

With a near simultaneous outburst, all three replied at once.

"HELL yes!"
"Let's do it!"
"Oh, you're damn right we're ready!"

"Alright then, let's go!"