Chapter Text
Miranda’s heels clicked loudly along the halls of Lazurus station as she made her way to the operating room. She loved that sound - it made her feel powerful and certainly had that effect on others. As soon as the clicking of her heels reached their ears, members of her team immediately straightened up and worked harder, not wanting to incur her wrath.
Rounding the corner, she saw Jacob Taylor standing guard outside the medbay. She had to admit, their little tryst had been fun while it lasted, but there was nothing deep there. He was a beautiful man - chiseled like he was made from granite, his dark skin tight and firm. But underneath the pretty face and body, laid a very simple mind. She needed more than the physical to keep her interests piqued. Luckily, he seemed to acknowledge their lack of connection and accept it with no issues. They nodded to each other as she passed through the doors.
Wilson stood over the body, studying the readouts with a confused look on his face. God, he annoyed her. He was always whining and complaining that this couldn’t be done or that couldn’t be done, or that he was due more money for his services. She was this close to throwing him out of the airlock. If it wasn’t for his medical prowess, she probably would have done so already.
“Alright, Wilson, I’m here. What’s the issue now,” she said in an exasperated tone.
“Take a look at this,” he grumbled, handing her the readouts. Her brow furrowed.
“This can’t be right,” she said.
“But it is. She’s developed eezo nodules all throughout her nervous system. We should have known this was a risk,” he whined.
“Can you tell how these will affect her?” Miranda asked through clenched teeth. They were so close. They couldn’t afford to be railroaded by this now.
“From what we can tell, there looks to be no signs that it will develop into anything dangerous for the subject. Whether or not it could constitute biotic abilities is another question entirely.” Miranda rubbed her forehead. The Illusive Man wanted her exactly as she was before - anything different and this could be considered a failure.
“Can we remove the nodules?” she asked.
“We can… but that would add a great deal of time to the project. It has to be done carefully so we don’t undo all the progress we’ve made rebuilding her nervous system,” Wilson said.
“Alright, let me talk to the Illusive Man before we make any decisions,” Miranda said, resigned.
“You’re actually going to talk to him about it?” Wilson gaped at her.
“What would you have me do, hide it from him? You know that’s not possible,” she said. She took a steadying breath. The best way to arm herself against whatever the Illusive Man would say about this situation was to have as much information as possible. She began combing through the reports of the day on their progress. Everything looked solid. Except…
“Wilson, your numbers are off. She needs a higher anesthesia dose!” Miranda whirled on him.
“No, she doesn’t,” he rolled his eyes at her. “We’re wasting that medication, she’s not even close to that level of cognition yet.”
“There,” Miranda pointed to the screens above the table. “On the monitor, something’s wrong!”
As if on cue, the body on the table began to stir. Wilson’s face dropped.
“She’s reacting to outside stimuli. Showing an awareness of her surroundings,” Miranda watched in horror as the woman on the table groaned, her breath spiking. The woman’s eyes flashed open, though unfocused, looking around in a panic. “My God. She’s waking up!”
“Damn it, Wilson! She’s not ready yet, give her the sedative!” she ordered. Wilson moved quickly to the console while Miranda rushed to the bedside. “Shepard, don’t try to move,” she said as soothingly as possible. Shepard reached a shaking hand up towards Miranda, fear clouding her scarred face. “Just lie still, try to stay calm.” Miranda held on to her hand which Shepard gripped like a vice. Damn, she’s fucking strong.
“Heart rate still climbing, brain activity is off the charts. Stats pushing into the red zone. It’s not working” Wilson said in a panic. Miranda pulled her hand out of Shepard’s grasp and rushed to the console. If they didn’t get her under control now, Shepard would go into cardiac arrest.
“Another dose - now!” she demanded. Wilson hit the button. In mere seconds, the red on the holoscreens started to fade - the charts fell back into an acceptable range.
“Stats falling back into normal range,” Wilson huffed. Miranda stepped back to Shepard’s side and watched as her breathing calmed and her eyes slowly fluttered shut. “That was too close, we almost lost her.”
“I told you your estimates were off,” she snapped at him. “Run the numbers again!” Miranda had to leave the room or she would rip his head off herself. Grabbing a few datapads, she stormed out, the door sliding shut behind her.
“Everything ok in there?” Jacob’s smokey voice asked over her shoulder.
“We almost lost Shepard because Wilson is an incompetent fool,” she spat. “Keep your eye on him, Jacob. This isn’t the first time he’s screwed up.”
“Give him a break, Miranda. Bringing a dead person back to life isn’t exactly easy. There’s bound to be mistakes here and there,” he said placatingly.
“Wilson is too smart for the mistakes he’s been making. Just do it,” she snapped. “Please,” she added a little more softly.
“Yes, ma’am,” he smiled at her. She nodded and marched down the hallway to the comm room. Normally a meeting with the Illusive Man took forever to set up. But with how important Project Lazurus was, Miranda was given permission to contact him at the drop of a hat. Taking a steadying breath, she stepped onto the holopad.
“Miranda,” the Illusive Man greeted her before taking a drag off of his cigarette. “How are things progressing?”
“Shepard is developing well,” she said, trying to twist the most recent mishap in a positive light. “She regained consciousness just moments ago. She’s safely back under now.”
“I don’t pretend to have medical expertise, but I don’t believe her being awake right now is a good thing,” he deadpanned at her.
“No, you’re right. However, I think we can take this as a sign that she is progressing faster than we had originally anticipated,” she explained. The Illusive Man said nothing, just continued to stare at her while he took a long drag off of his cigarette. “Also, we discovered something else. Shepard has developed eezo nodules all along her nervous system.”
“I see,” he said stoically.
“I know we want her exactly as she was - but I think we may see this as an opportunity. From everything we have done, her personality should be intact. That will not change,” she said with conviction. “However, if we want Shepard to be the supersoldier we are planning, would biotics not be useful? She has a monumental task in front of her. She should have every weapon at her disposal possible.”
“I was actually considering that very thing,” he said as he took a sip of bourbon. “I recently received a report that another colony was attacked and has gone dark.” Miranda cursed internally. She knew bringing Shepard back was going to take time - a lot of time. But the longer it took, the more human lives were lost. “Since Shepard has already developed these nodules, I don’t think there is any point in trying to stop any biotic abilities from forming. In fact, I think we should foster these abilities.”
“I’m… glad you’re so amenable, sir,” Miranda said, surprise coloring her tone.
“I want you and Jacob to go meet with someone on my behalf- a leading member of the Andromeda Initiative. He has been developing a certain implant that I think we can use to make Shepard the most formidable soldier in the galaxy.”
“I thought the Andromeda Initiative didn’t get off the ground. They’re actually doing it?” she breathed in surprise.
“They are. If they want to run from the threats that face this galaxy, that’s their prerogative,” he said. “But they have technology that could be very useful to us. We have not been able to infiltrate the Initiative beyond basic information, so we must take this opportunity and use it to our advantage.”
“Who are we meeting?” she asked.
“His name is Alec Ryder. He’s an old colleague of Shepard’s. His sympathy for her may push him to make the right decision and share his technology with us.”
“We’ll leave immediately. If we’re going to put an implant in, we’ll have to do it soon,” she said.
“Very good. And Miranda,” he took a long pull from his cigarette. “Don’t fail.”
-----
To say Alec Ryder was skeptical would be an understatement. He had received the mysterious invitation and was now waiting at Apollo’s Cafe on the Citadel. The Initiative was in its final stages before they launched in a few months. He had precious little time to spare. But Shepard’s warnings about what was coming kept ringing in his ears. If he could do something to help protect the Milky Way before he left it, he damn well would.
“Alec Ryder?” a thick, aussie accent caught his attention. The voice belonged to a stunning brunette with ice blue eyes. She was in a skin tight body suit that left very little to the imagination. On her flank, stood a stiff, well built soldier. Her guard, maybe? He wasn’t sure.
Alec- there are no logs on the female, but the male is named Jacob Taylor. Former Alliance, Corsair Strike Team. SAM explained on their private channel. Alec nodded, both to SAM and to the humans in front of him.
“You’re looking at him,” Alec confirmed as he gestured to the seats in front of him.
“Thank you for taking the time to meet with us,” the woman smiled, though the smile didn’t reach her eyes. She and Taylor took their seats. “My name is Miranda Lawson and this is my associate, Jacob Taylor.”
“Ok. Now that the pleasantries are out of the way, why don’t you come out with what it is you think I can do for you,” he said. To her credit, Miranda didn’t seem put off by his gruff approach.
“Our employer is aware of the work you have been doing with the Simulated Adaptive Matrix,” Alec stilled.
It seems we have been found out. I wonder to what extent. Alec was wondering the same thing.
“He feels it would aid us greatly in a project we have been undertaking. A project that pertains to the safety of all humans in the galaxy,” Miranda said seriously.
“And just who is your employer?” Alec asked. Both of the operatives in front of him exchanged a look. “Ok, let me get this straight. You found out about my work, contacted me because you want to use it, but you don’t seem to want to tell me who you work for, and I’m guessing you don’t want to tell me what your project is. If that’s how this meeting is going to go, I can tell you right now, I’m putting my beer on your tab, and I’m leaving,” he said as he made to stand up.
“We’ll tell you. But I must ask first that you listen to everything before you make a decision. Agreed?” Miranda stared him down. She had guts, he had to give her that.
I would do it, Alec. I would like to figure out how much they know about us. Alec nodded once again, to both Miranda and SAM.
“We are members of the human group Cerberus,” Miranda explained. “Have you heard of us?”
Alec had heard. Even though he had been dishonorably discharged years ago, he still had enough friends in high enough places that Shepard’s report on their activities in the terminus systems hit his inbox.
This is very worrisome, Alec.
“I’ve heard you're a pro-human splinter group that has a terrorist designation by the Council,” he snarked.
“And I’ve heard you’re a mad scientist who took AI research too far,” she swiped right back at him.
“Touche,” he said.
“Our branch of Cerberus has one focus and one focus only. You’ve no doubt heard of the multiple attacks on human colonies in the Terminus Systems,” Miranda said.
“Unfortunately,” Alec acknowledged. It felt like every week there was another report on the strange disappearances of entire human colonies. More signs that it was time to get the hell out of the Milky Way.
“We believe the threat has something to do with the Reapers.”
Alec’s blood ran cold. He had been on the Citadel when Sovereign attacked. Luckily, Sara and Scott were off with the Initiative at the time. No matter how much the Council tries to sweep it under the rug, he knew what he saw.
“We are going to find those responsible and stop them,” Miranda said with such conviction Alec couldn’t help but believe her.
“A little noble for a terrorist organization, but I’ll bite. How do you plan to do that?” he asked. “The only person who believed in the Reapers at all is dead. Anyone else who talks about it is silenced by the Council or declared a lunatic and ignored.”
“Shepard isn’t dead.”
“Excuse me?” Alec couldn’t believe what he had just heard. “Shepard’s ship was destroyed. She got spaced. Her crew confirmed that she died.”
“Let me rephrase, Shepard isn’t dead anymore,” Miranda said dramatically.
Alec, I am not detecting any physiological traces that she is lying.
“How?” was all he could get out.
“We are rebuilding her from the ground up. She is the one person people will follow, the one being in this galaxy that could get anyone to listen about the Reapers. She led the force that took one of them down. If we have any chance of defeating the Reaper threat, we need her.”
“How can I be sure you’re not bullshitting me just to get your hands on SAM?” he said. Miranda nodded and tapped a few buttons on her omnitool. A file on all the most recent technical readouts hit his omnitool.
Analyzing… Though the technology is much more advanced than has ever been attempted, it is all logically sound. Based on these readouts, they have achieved their goals.
Another file pinged on his omnitool and he pulled it up. It was a vid. Miranda and some other unknown tech moved around a prone, female figure on a table in some sterile setting. The woman was heavily scarred, but there was no denying it - it was Jane Shepard. Shepard began to breath heavily and reached up towards Miranda who held her hand gently trying to calm her. The two eventually got Shepard back under to whatever state of unconsciousness they needed her to be.
I am detecting no trace of alteration to this vid.
Alec felt sick. This was against every law of nature. Couldn’t they let the poor woman rest? She didn’t even ask for this. And now these bastards wanted to take his work, take SAM and plant it in her brain without her consent. He had to think about this.
He knew Jane Shepard. He knew her pretty damn well. If she was back, as it appeared she was, and she heard about the disappearing colonies, he knew Shepard would do whatever she could to stop it. And if SAM could help with that… ugh.
“I need a minute,” Alec said, excusing himself and walking over to the railing to look over the view on the Presidium.
What are your thoughts, Alec?
“I’m torn, honestly. If Shepard is really back, she will fight. There’s no denying that. But she didn’t ask for this. And they want to take you and shove you in her brain.”
I understand. This is quite the dilemma. May I also say, I am not entirely trusting of this Cerberus organization. Allowing them to get a hold of a SAM node makes me nervous as to what they might do.
“Any suggestions? I already feel some level of guilt at running away from this galaxy when I know what’s coming. If I can leave them at least a little more prepared to fight, I want to.”
Calculating… Perhaps there is a compromise.
“I’m listening.”
If I understand you correctly, the crux of the matter is two-fold: Shepard’s bodily autonomy and the nefarious nature of Cerberus. Is that accurate?
“Yes. I’m already sort of disgusted they dragged her back to life, but it looks like it’s too late for that one,” he grunted.
If you agree to give a SAM node and implant to Cerberus to use on Commander Shepard, we could potentially lock it down until such a time that Shepard herself decides she wants to make use of it. And also lock it to her DNA so it will not be functional without her.
“Interesting. I don’t know if they would go for that, though,” Alec thought.
If they do not, that is their loss.
Alec smirked. He thought back to the tough, scrappy young woman who fought her way up through N-school at lighting speed. Her death had hit him hard. Harder than he thought it would. He wanted to give her, give the Milky Way every chance. He turned back to the operatives, sitting patiently at the table and walked over.
“Ok. I will give you a SAM node and implant for Shepard. However, I have some restrictions…