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Episode 43-Marauders

They stayed on Therum for a few days. Throughout that time, they conducted a lot of research as well as taking care of a few other things. At times, the Salarian Special Tasks Group would ask the girls for help against the Marauders, in which they would comply without hesitation. They have helped out tremendously with keeping Therum safe against the Marauders. This was also a tremendous aid in the research towards the magical energy. The girls had also been given some time to help their powers grow, if only bit by bit.

One day, everyone met back within the laboratory where they were looking over some vital data.
Garrus: “Huh, we’ve only been here for a few days and already, the girls are showing signs of improvement.”
Mordin: “Hm, indeed, adding the vitamin supplements to their diet really has shown some promising results. Their magical energy production has improved and their attacks are showing signs of becoming more potent and effective.”
Kirahhe: “Yes, from what I have heard, they seemed to have struggled a bit in the beginning, but this? Their fights against the Marauders have been phenomenal. They really are quite a spectacle.”
Ashley: “Yeah, they are.”
Garrus: “So, Liara, how’s the research going? Did you find out anything interesting from those Intel Crystals?”
Liara: “I have. I managed to find a few Intel Crystals that have intel regarding these special powers. Apparently, it is possible for Fayelons to utilize special powers just like the ones that Flare has developed. The abilities of healing, sensing out magical energy, perceiving visions of the past, any Fayelon can use them. It would, however, take a good amount of time to develop them when undergoing special training of deep concentration of their own magical energy, much like what Flare has done.”
Ashley: “So, they all can do it.”
Garrus: “And here I thought only the Pyromancers are able to utilize these techniques.”
Liara shook her head.
Liara: “No…it may…seem that way but that is because only the pyromancers were able to undergo this special training. It was neglected by everyone else.”
Kelly: “So, only the pyromancers have learned how to use them.”
Miranda: “That’s…unbelievable.”
Liara: “And we have learned that not just any magical being, but those with any special powers can learn these techniques, including biotics.”
Kelly: “Hm, yes, I remember reading the data about that. I’ve even come in contact with Grissom Academy and they have shared the data that they have collected regarding that. It was…incredible.”
Tali: “All Fayelons are able to learn these powers, and yet, only the pyromancers actually put forth the effort to discover them as well as practice them.”
Garrus: “With abilities like that, you’d think their education system would encourage that kind of training. Any ideas on why it hasn’t been enforced?”
Liara: “I’ve asked the same question, but…the crystal…went silent. It was…almost as though…it didn’t know the answer to that question, either.”
Garrus: “Hmm…that is…very suspicious.”
Jacob: “Heh, add a new one to the list.”
Liara: “It doesn’t end there, unfortunately. Shortly after I asked the question, I could…sense something.”
Ashley: “What do you mean by that?”
Liara: “I don’t know how to explain it but…it felt as though…I was developing a great deal of fear…almost like…I had to get out…I don’t know why, but…it wasn’t the only time that I’ve felt something that strange when looking into one of those crystals.”
Mordin: “Hm, indeed. You mentioned something about being forced out of one of them.”
Liara: “Yes, I still remember that so well. But this other crystal? It’s almost like…I don’t know any other way to describe it but…I felt something that was similar to hearing a terrifying voice that said “Get out!”. It’s probably the best way to describe that feeling.”
Everyone standing nearby stared at her with concerned looks on their faces. Mordin and Garrus exchanged concerned and suspicious glances with each other, as though they were thinking the same thoughts.
Garrus: “Anyone else experienced something like this when sorting through those crystals?”
Jacob: “Hmm…I do remember…one of the crystals…contained something that looked like…an empty void. It was almost like…it was creating the illusion that there was nothing contained in it, but I knew that wasn’t the case.”
Miranda: “With that being the case, it seems as though something got to those crystals.”
Tali: “But what exactly? Did anyone know that those crystals were in the possession of those girls?”
Liara: “No, I don’t think it’s anything that simple.”
Garrus: “Maybe not, but something very strange is going on, to put it lightly.”
Tali: “Could Dark forces have already tampered with the crystals?”
Mordin: “Most likely. Although, get the feeling that not all of them have been affected. Some of the intel have been accessible. May need to analyze the crystals to find out if anything tampered with them.”
Garrus: “Well, whatever the case may be, we’ll need to find out all we can, regardless of how difficult this will be.”
Ashley: “I agree. This isn’t something that will be discovered right away. With what we’ve been dealing with, we’ll need to take care of this piece by piece.”
Kelly: “I’ll do whatever I can to help.”
Ashley: “Any help is greatly appreciated.”
Liara: “Now then, there are some things that need to be dealt with.”
Ashley: “Of course, I need to report back with the admiral and the prime minister. They need an update on the latest attacks regarding the Marauders.”
Kirrahe: “My attention is also needed. I have much to report to them.”
Kelly: “Meanwhile, the rest of us will join in on looking into the girls. I’ve been excited about giving them each a psych eval. I was so glad to have been informed of what these girls have been through.”
Miranda: “We were happy to provide what we could.”
Garrus: “You guys go on ahead, there are still a few things that need to be looked after here.”
Ashley: “Understood. Let’s go.”
Most of the group walked off while Garrus and Mordin still stayed behind to examine the holographic images. Ashley and Kirahhe walked off together. A few of the women stood around. They looked back towards Garrus and Mordin who were still examining the images. Mordin was pointing at different images, almost as though he was talking about the images while Garrus stood by, nodding his head a few times. The women continued staring at them.
Kelly: “Wow, those 2 seem to be interacting with each other more than usual.”
Liara: “Yes, they have. They’ve been working with each other in handling the girls. Garrus had been the main caretaker while Mordin had done a lot of research on them. The constant interactions have been very important with the kind of work that they’ve been doing.”
Miranda: “Not only that, but…they seem to share a common interest in doing what they can to help out girls. I guess you can say…they have developed a bond from this.”
Kelly: “I never thought I would actually see this.”
Miranda: “Neither did we, then again, we never thought that magical girls would be arriving within our galaxy. At this rate, nothing would surprise me.”
Mordin: “And so, as you can see, there has been much promise with the supplements, our latest attempt at a temporary solution. Definitely signs of improvements.”
Garrus: “Yeah, I can see that. It seems their bodies’ production of magical energy has increased a bit more, not to mention that it’s had a phenomenal improvement to their health as you said. They may even have plenty to try and repair a good amount of those damages.”
Mordin: “Yes, it may seem that way, indeed shows potential in healing them as well as helped to improve their magical development and dissuading growth redundancy. Their prowess has improved. Unfortunately, the signs of improvement end there. It will be a matter of time before the redundancy returns and the girls’ physiology and prowess relapses.”
Garrus: “That’s…a difficult pill to swallow. So, it looks like this won’t be a genuine solution for long.”
Mordin: “No, not unless we figure out the correct way for them to use their powers. Good news is this will buy us a little more time before the damages truly become detrimental.”
Garrus: “Hmm, if only there was some way to figure this out. I just…I’m not a magical being, myself. So, I have no idea how magical powers would even work. I just….”
Garrus took a deep breath.
Garrus: “I wish there was more I could do for them. I’ve spent some time venting to Jane about…what I can do to help them. I just…feel so helpless.”
Mordin, seeming concerned, consoled Garrus.
Mordin: “It is alright. We are doing the best we can. We are helping, this is enough. We will find the solution. We will keep searching, we can’t give up. I never will.”
Garrus: “Yeah, you’re right. We’ll figure it out sooner or later. I did hear from Joker and EDI that they’re searching for some strange magical reading. They seemed tight-lipped about what it was exactly. Perhaps that will provide the solution that we’re looking for.”
Mordin: “Yes, must hold on to hope. We are all helping.”
Garrus looked up at Mordin and smiled. Mordin did the same.
Mordin: “So, the girls have been…wondering something, with you as their father, they’ve inquired when Jane is to become their mother.”
Garrus was startled by this.
Garrus: “Hey! We haven’t even gotten that far!! She’s still too busy for anything that serious!!”
Mordin: “Only joking. The girls seem to have had that same kind of demeanor when they asked. Still, they’re quite pleased with your intimate relationship with Commander Shepard’s cousin.”
Garrus: “Heh, typical teenagers. Even when they’re not interested in any relationships themselves, they still seem to have some kind of interest in watching others going through these kinds of things.”
Mordin: “Star seemed mused about this, as did Splash. Aera would sometimes tend to let out her usual snark on occasion. Flare and Jewel, on the other hand, wouldn’t jest about this as much but would join in a few times on the fun, mainly because they just enjoy conversing with each other. All 5 of them truly are a unique group of friends.”
Garrus seemed kind of touched to hear this.
Garrus: “Yeah, they are. I’ve never seen anyone else with bonds as strong as theirs.”
A little time afterwards, a few of the women met up with a number of the crew members, Traynor, Samara, Jane, Tali and Kasumi who were with the girls, with Liara joining in.
Liara: “Hello, how are you doing?”
Each of the girls responded differently at the same time.
Star: “We’re good.”
Jewel: “So, what’s been going on?”
Liara: “Well, we’ve been looking over a number of things lately. It’s…a work in progress.”
Flare: “Yes, that appears to be the case.”
Kelly: “So, what’s been going on with you girls?”
Splash: “Um…not much. It’s just…”
Jewel: “We’ve been worried about you guys. You all seemed to be…serious.”
The women remained silent for a time.
Miranda: “Well…it’s going well. We were impressed with the latest progress with helping you girls out.”
Liara: “From what we were able to see, your energy production within your bodies have improved.”
Aera: “Yeah, we have noticed that. After Mordin asked us to take those…what were they called? Supplements?”
Jewel: “Yeah, it was incredible. Those supplements really did a number on us.”
Splash: “I know, it’s almost like he manufactured a miracle for us!”
Aera: “I highly doubt it’s a miracle, though.”
Kasumi: “But it has been the best that we have seen so far.”
Samara: “Indeed, it has been the most energetic that you have ever been.”
Jewel: “But it’s far from being an absolute solution.”
Samara: “That is…also true.”
Tali: “But it does show to be incredibly helpful once we’re able to fix the underlying issue of you carrying out your powers correctly.”
Samantha: “Yeah, exactly, it gives us something to look forward to.”
Aera: “Well, from what we heard from EDI, we have something else to look forward to.”
Flare: “That is true, hopefully, it will be…”
The girls remained silent for a time as they sulked.
Jewel: "Well, we can only hope. We have to find…before…”
The crew members seemed confused from the vagueness.
FemShep: “So, is there anything that needs to be looked into?”
Liara: “Well…there is the issue regarding the Intel Crystals.”
Samantha: “Oh, right! You mentioned something about looking into the possibility of Fayelons having special powers like Flare!! How did that go?”
Liara: “I’ve managed to find out a lot, but…I am still left with a few unanswered questions. It turns out that any Fayelon can learn these powers and utilize them, but only the pyromancers have learned how to use them.”
FemShep: “Hm, so any Fayelon can learn them, not just the pyromancers.”
Star: “You know, the funniest thing? Everyone spoke about it as though only the pyromancers can learn them.”
Jewel: “Yeah. It was never really said, but really said, but it was implied.”
Kasumi: "Well, did you ask if any Fayelon could learn those powers?”
Jewel: “We have tried, but we were never given any straight answers. All we were told was that the pyromancers have learned how to use them. And that’s it.”
The women were confused by this.
Kasumi: “That’s it? Just the pyromancers have learned how to use them?”
Jewel: "Yeah, that’s it. We’ve asked many times, but all we get are the pyromancers know how to use them. They would never say anything else. It’s like…they didn’t want to answer our question.”
All of the women gave each other concerned looks.
FemShep: “That is…very suspicious.”
Star: “So, we spent some time finding out for ourselves, and well…”
Aera: “We did find out that we can, but we needed to do more of the special training that Flare underwent.”
Liara: "That is…plausible…”
Miranda: "And we do know that anyone with special abilities is able to utilize a few of your special powers.”
Liara: “Well, the biotics anyway.”
Samara: “But it is awfully suspicious that those of your kind are refusing to look into this.”
Liara: “Hmm…well, it does add to the suspicion given what I have found out, especially from one of the Intel Crystals that has mentioned about any Fayelon being able to learn these abilities. It seemed as though it’s an important skill that should be taught, but when I asked why this didn’t happen, it went silent.”
They were shocked to hear about this.
Miranda: "Really? Is that…huh! That’s is…”
Kasumi: “And we all know that’s not the first strange experience regarding those crystals.”
Kelly: "What sort of strange instances were involved in these crystals?”
Tali: “Well, for one thing, there have been instances of some of us being forced out of some of the crystals by some unknown force.”
Kelly: “Really? Any ideas on why that is?”
Miranda: “No, all we know is that there’s something that’s keeping us from gaining access to any intel within those crystals. We don’t know what it is or why, but I get the feeling that whatever this force is, there’s some important intel that someone doesn’t want us to know about.”
Everyone sat by to think for a bit.
FemShep: “Well, whatever it may be, I’m guessing that we’ll need to find those answers all on our own.”
Liara: “Yes, it may seem that way.”
Kelly: "Well, I’m always here if you need me.”
FemShep: “We really appreciate that, Chambers.”
Miranda: “Yes, we’ll need all the help we can get.”
Everyone became silent for a brief moment. Jane, however, stood back up.
FemShep: “I’ll go check up on Garrus and see how he’s doing.”
She walked out.
Star: “So, what else is going on?”
Liara: “Well, aside from the research we’re doing, we’re also currently looking into the situation at hand regarding the Marauders as being dealt with by the Salarian Special Tasks Group.”
Flare: “And how is that going?”
Miranda: “Best we can tell, things seem to be going smoothly. The Salarian Special Tasks Group is dealing with it quite well, especially since you girls have helped a few times.”
Kelly: “Also, the special weapons and equipment upgrades created by Mordin have helped out tremendously.”
Liara: “Yes, we can’t thank him enough.”
Kelly: “I suppose…we also owe thanks for whatever magical force saved his life.”
Tali: “Maybe…but…we don’t know who or what did.”
Everyone in the room seemed to be contemplating this thought. The girls, however, seemed concerned for them. Flare also looked as though she was lost in thought regarding this.
Flare: “Hmm…”
Back outside the lab, Jane walked up to and stood beside Garrus as he and Mordin were looking into some of the holographic images before them.
FemShep: “So…how does it look?”
Garrus: “See for yourself. I think you can tell just by looking at them.”
She stared at them for a brief moment.
FemShep: “Huh, so, that’s how things look.”
Garrus: “Yep, incredible, isn’t it? They surpassed even Mordin’s best expectations.”
FemShep: “Yes, I can tell. From the looks of it, the girls are going to be OK.”
Garrus: “Maybe, but not for long. Unless we can fix the major issue with their powers, this will be temporary at best.”
Mordin: “But it does show promise in the long run. Considering we will eventually solve any major issues; this will become very beneficial.”
FemShep: “You hear that, Garrus? It’s a sign of hope. We will continue to help them. They will get through all of this, thanks to us.”
Garrus: “Yeah…they can’t do this without us. We really are in this fight together.”
Jane rested her head on Garrus’ shoulder, looking content. Mordin placed his hand on Garrus’ other shoulder. Garrus looked at Mordin, who had a content smile on his face. Garrus seemed touched by this, he looked over towards Jane who continued to contently rest her head on his shoulder. She allowed this to continue for a little while longer.
Just then, they were interrupted by an alarm.
FemShep: “What?”
Garrus: “What’s going on?”
They then noticed Kirahhe rush toward them.
Kirahhe: “Emergency! The Marauders are on the move! They’re making their way towards the populace.”
The girls, having been nearby, heard this as well.
Jewel: “Let’s go!”
All 5 of them rushed out immediately. They were soon followed by most of the crew members. Jane, Garrus and Mordin stood by for a bit as they watched them leave.
Garrus: “Come on, let’s go see how bad it is.”
They left with the rest of the group.
They arrived directly outside a populated district of the area. There, they noticed as many of the Marauders were making their way towards it.
Kirahhe: “We must do something. If the Marauders make their way into that town, they’ll…”
Jewel: “Say no more, Major. We understand. You ready, girls?”
The other girls nodded once with serious looks on their faces. They stand beside each other, preparing themselves.
Jewel, Flare, Star, Aera, Splash: “Metamorphose!”
They transformed almost instantly. From there, Jewel let out a barrage of her jewelry magic which formed in front of the Marauders, blocking their way from the entrance to the populated area. They were taken by surprise for a moment, they then turned their heads behind them to see the girls charging at them, each one unleashing their individual powers. The fight began.
At that time, everyone else stood back for a bit as they watched.
Kirahhe: “The girls can’t win this fight alone. We have to do what we can to help them out.”
Ashley: “Understood.”
Liara stood by, charging up her biotics.
Liara: “Let’s give them everything we’ve got.”
She along with Miranda and Jacob rushed into the battle, with the other 2 also already having charged their biotics. Liara, touching the collar of her attire, activated a device in which different parts of her clothes lit up. From this, she summoned her biotic powers which also reacted to the device from her clothes. Miranda and Jacob, having taken notice of this, looked towards each other, nodded their heads once then gave a gentle tap on the spots on their clothes where the Cerberus emblems used to have been, with their outfits having the same reaction as Liara’s clothes. With the full blast of their biotics, the monsters were brought down easily. At that time, the rest of the crew members were using tech and weapons enhanced by magical energy. Kirahhe seemed pleased by this.
Kirahhe: “Outstanding, professor! Your magic-infused weapons and tech are really giving us an edge against these horrid dark monsters.”
Mordin: “Of course, couldn’t be happier to help.”
Garrus: “Glad we can count on you, professor. The girls also seem quite pleased.”
FemShep: “They sure do!”
Kirahhe: “Alright, enough praises for now. We have a battle to win.”
Mordin: “Yes! Agreed! Praises must come later.”
FemShep: “That wouldn’t be a problem!”
The fight continued on with the girls and the crew members fighting off the monsters with the best of their abilities. The Marauders continued to come at them. It seemed like a long battle but the group was holding their own. This time, the crew members were indeed not standing around, watching the fight; they were part of it and they’ve never felt any better about it.
Miranda: “Heh! Bout time we’ve joined the fight! I was getting sick and tired of standing around watching while feeling helpless to do anything!”
Liara: “I know, it feels so good to be able to at least do something about these monsters!”
Star: “You guys aren’t doing half bad! I’m so happy that we’re receiving so much extra help during this fight!”
Kirrahe: “We’ll need all the help we can get to keep this place safe from these Marauders!”
Jewel: “I know what you mean, Major. It’s amazing you guys were able to handle this fight so well on your own.”
Kirrahe: “Well…we had some help. The professor sent us some of his prototype upgrades while we were waiting for your arrival here, actually, much longer before that.”
Jewel: “Is that so? He needed someone to test out his new gadgets, huh?”
Kirrahe: “Well…that…and the fact that we can’t handle these monsters without them. He said to us that it was about time this magic-infused tech could be ready for combat. As for the test-runs? Well…no better place than during these vicious fights.”
Aera: “Huh, makes sense.”
Star: “Hey, doctor??? Have you yet to distribute your new tech to other militants across the galaxy?”
Mordin: “Several have requested such, was more than willing to provide. Couldn’t care less about me having them sent out for test runs.”
Aera: “I can’t even think which is more unfortunate; that you’re willing to risk lives testing out your new tech or the circumstances called for you to hand these out as such!”
Jewel: “I don’t think it would have mattered either way. You know that none of these non-magical beings have the prowess to handle dark beings. You know how powerless they are against our dark enemies.”
Aera let out a short grunt.
Aera: “Can’t argue with that!”
FemShep: “You girls also look like you’re handling yourselves so much better!”
Splash: “We are! Those…uh…supplements…I think they’re called, have helped us out quite a bit. I feel so much more energized! It’s incredible!”
Star: “Yes! I know! Another miracle thanks to the good doctor!”
Garrus: “Can’t call it a miracle just yet, Star. This is just another temporary solution!”
Mordin: “He’s right! Though it shows promise in helping to heal your deficiency, it will remain as such until we can fix the problems with how you utilize your powers.”
Star: “I know, but still, this the most that we’ve ever improved so far. We’re definitely holding on to this later.”
Mordin: ”Hm, agreed.”
Liara: “Let’s hope we’ll be able to find that solution before too long, but until then…”
Miranda: “We’re already helping a tremendous amount. Let’s keep at this.”
Aera: “Man! This fight just keeps going on forever!”
Splash: “Good thing there’s more of you guys to help us!”
Flare: “Still, it does very little to put a stop to this onslaught.”
Star: “Well then, what can we do?”
Jewel, as she continued on fighting, pondered through all of it.
Jewel: “This…will take some serious strategizing.”
Just then, Jewel had a strange feeling.
Jewel: “Hmmm….something doesn’t feel right.”
Aera: “What do you mean, Jewel?”
Jewel: “Can you not sense it, Aera? There’s a slight shift in the dark energy.”
Aera: “Hmm…yeah, something…doesn’t feel right…”
Flare: “I sense it, too. It’s troubling.”
Splash: “Ugh! I feel so weird.”
Star: “Yeah, I don’t feel something is right, either.”
Liara: “I can feel it, too. The dark energy…it’s…unusual.”
Miranda: “What could this mean? Have you sensed anything like this before?”
Jewel: “We have sensed an unusual aura from darkness. It’s when it would shift from place to place. This is how we were able to sense when it would approach us from whichever realm we were in. But this time feels…different, like the darkness is shifting away from us a little.”
Liara: “What could this mean?”
Jewel: “I…don’t know.”
Garrus: “Let’s assess the situation before we start jumping into any rash decisions.”
Jewel: “Hmmm…where is this…?”
Jewel became surprised by something, then looked over towards the entrance to the populated area where several of the Marauders were rushing into.
Jewel: “Oh, no!!! The populace!!”
Jewel rushed over towards them as fast as could.
Garrus: “Jewel! Wait!!”
He rushed after her.
FemShep: “Garrus!”
Jane was about to run after her but was stopped when Mordin grabbed her by her shoulder.
Mordin: “No! Too dangerous!!”
FemShep: “But…what about…?”
Mordin looked back towards where they ran off towards.
Mordin: “Given the circumstances, there is…not much we can do…”
Jane had a slight startled look on her face, then looked towards the same direction, worried.
At that time, Jewel was rushing through the settlement as fast as she could. She made strides to ward off the Marauders with her magical crystals. A few times, she would notice people nearby with the Marauders approaching them. She rushed over towards them.
As they were approaching, a large crystal formed in between them, halting the Marauders’ advances. The people looked towards her.
Jewel: “Go! Get away from here!”
With a brief pause, the people turned the other way and ran off. From there, the Marauders went for Jewel, who readied herself for their attack.
At that time, Garrus was also fighting through, trying to find Jewel.
Garrus: “Jewel!! Where are you!?!”
Using his equipment and his skills, he was able to fight off any Marauder that approached him.
Garrus: “Jewel!!”
Meanwhile, Jewel was fighting off against the monsters on her end. Trying her best with her crystal magic and skill. However, the fight was wearing her down. Regardless, she kept fighting. Her endurance lasted her a pretty long time. After a long, endearing fight, Jewel was exhausted, nearly on her knees. However, the Marauders just keep coming. She stood by, panting from the exhaustion.
Jewel: “Damn it! I can’t keep this up. How much longer can…”
Garrus: “Jewel!!”
Jewel: “Garrus?”
Before long, Garrus was seen rushing over. He was able to spot Jewel. He had a worried look on his face. However, it didn’t take him long to notice the Marauders standing around him. From there, Jewel developed a startled and terrified look on her face. Garrus soon realized the situation that he was in. Jewel, using the last of her strength, stood back up and tried to approach him, holding her arm in her other hand by her elbow. But it was no use, she wouldn’t be able to reach him fast enough to save him from the surrounding Marauders and they both knew it. She then developed a devastated and saddened look on her face.
Jewel: “I’m sorry…”
From there, she held out both of her hands. Garrus was lifted off of the ground, surrounded by a rose-colored aura. He looked around at the shroud around him. He then looked at Jewel, who had a saddened look on her face as she was still holding her hands out. He then developed a look of devastation but was also a look that indicated that he understood she was doing what needed to be done. Focusing her powers more, a bright flash occurred from that very area where she was focusing them.
Much time later, the rest of the group arrived. There, they were surrounded by the aftermath of another fight.
Liara: “Oh, no, what happened here?”
At that moment, Star spotted something that caught her attention almost immediately.
Star: “Guys! Look!!”
They rushed over in that direction. There, they spotted Jewel on her hands and knees, sobbing uncontrollably. A few of her friends went up to her and tended to her. They stood down at her for a while. Liara then had a look around and spotted something that startled her, causing her to gasp.
Liara: “Oh, no!”
The others looked towards that direction and saw what she was looking at. They were also startled by what they saw: it was Garrus, encased in a large, rose-colored crystal. They stared at it with devastated looks on their faces.
Ashley: “Oh, my god!”
FemShep: “No…!”
The other girls looked at it as well.
Splash: “Oh…no…”
Aera: “This…this isn’t good…”
Flare: “This can’t be…anything but this…!!!”
Jane kept staring at it, then looked towards Jewel who was still sobbing uncontrollably. A look of sadness appeared on her face, it was one in which she was very much sad for her.
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Episode 44-Encased

Much time later, the Normandy, having already left Therum, was flying through space. Jewel stood within a cargo bay, standing in front of the crystal that Garrus was encased in. She seemed sad and worried.

Jewel: “Garrus...”
The crew members and the girls were nearby.
Miranda: “Jewel...”
Kasumi: “Poor girl...”
Liara: “How did...how could this...how could this have happened?”
FemShep: “I can’t believe this...why did this happen?”
Ashley: “I don’t know, but...this must be really painful for her...”
FemShep: “I know...I’m just so sorry for her...”
Liara looked out towards Jewel, still standing in front of the crystal. She walked up to them and stood beside Jewel.
Liara: “Is he...is he at least...he’s...not dead, is he?”
Jewel: “No...I would never do that...”
Ashley: “So, you were able to encase him in that crystal. but this didn’t kill him?”
Mordin: “No, just the opposite.”
Mordin went on his Omni-tool.
Mordin: “Scans indicate all vitals have been stabilized. They’re slowed to a steady halt.”
FemShep: “Are you saying he’s in a state of cryo stasis?”
Mordin: “Not exactly. Brainwaves indicate that of a dream-like state. In other words, he is being kept in a deep sleep.”
Jane seemed a bit relieved.
FemShep: “At least I know he’s still alive in there.”
Mordin: “Yes, however, he will be kept as such as long as he is contained inside that crystal.”
Tali: “So, all that needs to be done is to break him out of there, right?”
Kasumi: “Well, that sounds easy enough.”
Miranda: “Only Jewel is able to do that.”
Everyone looked at Jewel, she was staring at the floor, a bit tense.
Jewel: “I can’t...”
Ashley: “What?”
Miranda: “Why not?”
Jewel: “I’m afraid...it really isn’t that simple...”
Ashley: “What do you mean?”
Her face became even more tense, then she held her hand out towards one of the practice bots that they had within the cargo bay, encasing it in a crystal as well, she then went on to shatter the crystal. However, it also shatters the bot into many pieces. The crew members in the room became startled, Mordin rushed over towards the main part of the bot and took a good look at it. He was able to see that what was done on it was a near 100% fatality rate.
Mordin: “This...isn’t good...”
Jewel: “I could never figure out how to break someone out of a crystal without killing them.”
Star: “It’s always been like that. She could never utilize this power on anyone, not like this.”
FemShep: “Because basically, when she does this, any one of them is as good as dead.”
Mordin: “Unless they remain in the crystal. Which, understandably, is far from being desirable.”
FemShep: “But it’s what needs to be done...for now.”
Liara: “Were you ever taught how to use such skills to its fullest potential?”
Ashley: “I don’t think she was. No one in your community wanted you to be a Gemma Kinetic, am I right?”
Jewel stood by for a bit with a tense look on her face.
Jewel: “Yes...where I come from, anyone who’s Gemma Kinetic power is as low as mine, they are seen as nowhere near good enough to become a Gemma Kinetic. So many of them were forced to allow this energy to fade away permanently, therefore, making us into nothing more than just plain Geomancers. If not, we are subjected to ongoing torment until we are “put in our place” as being just Geomancers.”
Liara: “You underwent that torment, didn’t you?”
Jewel: “Yes, but no matter how much my mentors and peers have put me down, I was always determined to become a Gemma Kinetic. My mentors would refuse to teach me and my peers would treat me as though I was misbehaving. In their eyes, I had no business of being a Gemma Kinetic. My parents supported me greatly and felt that the system was so badly screwed up to enforce such an unnecessary limitation. The Disciples of Order were also supportive and have so many times reprimanded any self-righteous imbecile who would even dare to make that rule. It was never a policy, but that didn’t stop them from trying.”
Aera: “It’s all true. Ever since Jewel was younger...and I’ve known Jewel for a long time, I’ve seen how she was always looked down on and treated so horribly by so many of those Gemma Kinetic mentors. They would go so far as to defy the Disciples of Order and refuse to teach her, they never wanted her as a student. She was so badly neglected of so many vital lessons on how to utilize those powers. So much of what she knows was mainly self-taught.”
She turned her head slightly towards one of her hands and stared at her palm. She then clenched the same fist.
Jewel: “The Disciples of Order had to step up and help with my teachings, it got so bad. They usually don’t, but given how terrible the system had been, they had no other choice. After everyone else’s attempt to prevent me from becoming a Gemma Kinetic, they decided to set up a strict system in which anyone who wants to become a Gemma Kinetic must accept them without prejudice. All those with that power who defy this would be forbidden from becoming a Gemma Kinetic. Those that don’t have it would have their regular abilities suppressed severely.”
Star: “For us, having our powers severely suppressed is like forcing you non-magical beings to live your lives on your hands and knees, crawling everywhere.”
Ashley: “Heh, I’m betting that having to watch everyone be forced to either accept people like Jewel into becoming Gemma Kinetics or have them become pretty much your equivalent of being handicapped was so satisfying.”
Miranda: “Sounds like such tormentous dilemma.”
Kasumi: “I know I would have loved to see that, too.”
A petite smile on her face.
Jewel: “So many of them had to comply with gritted teeth. It felt so good, especially when my sessions would come to a close and the head of the mentoring system had to declare me as a genuine Gemma Kinetic. He was also forced to say things such as how I was a true representation of how Gemma Kinetics should be, under the direct command of the Disciples of Order, of course.”
Aera: “I remember that day. During celebration ceremony that they held, pretty much everyone there who hated her just for being a Gemma Kinetic had to attend, which was most of the people of that society, had hold back all of their insults and watched the ceremony with looks that could commit mass murder. It was also done under the Disciples’ orders.”
Splash: “We were told that all of it was a punishment emitted by the Disciples for going against the wishes of the Divine Source. Aera always mentioned that it was a fitting punishment for them.”
Aera: “And I still stand by that. To see them all applaud after she was granted her title was so glorious, they hated the idea of congratulating her. Just the thought of it was like some kind of blasphemy and violation of their stupid, narrow-minded beliefs, even if they knew very well that said beliefs went against the wishes of the Divine Source.”
Liara: “That’s…terrible.”
FemShep: “I can’t believe you went through so much abuse.”
Jewel: “Because of that, I’m a lot far behind many other students in the vital lessons, so special exceptions had to be made for me in order to qualify me as a full-fledged Gemma Kinetic through having learned just the basics.”
Mordin stood around and pondered for a bit.
Ashley: “All this just because your Gemma Kinetic energy level was not considered high enough by anyone from your community for you to even be taught how to utilize that power?”
Miranda: “How horrible...”
FemShep: “Jewel, we are so sorry you had to go through that...”
Jewel: “Well, regardless, I won’t rest until I figure out a way to break him out alive.”
FemShep: “Jewel...”
Liara: “Perhaps there is something we can do to help.”
Jewel: “No! I have to do this myself! I’m the one responsible for this, I have to make up for this mistake!”
Liara: “Jewel, please, none of us are blaming you for this. We know that you were placed in a difficult situation and that it had caused you to make this difficult decision. You don’t need to push yourself so hard. You don’t need to “atone” if that’s what you think.”
Jewel: “I have to at least try. I’m the only one who can do this...I just...I have to...”
Liara: “Jewel...”
Miranda: “We understand, Jewel. But...”
Ashley: “We should at least help with figuring out what can be done.”
Mordin: “Agreed. It may help with cutting down how much time he will need to stay in there.”
Jewel: “Do whatever you can, but I don’t think it will help much.”
Liara: “It’s better than just standing around doing nothing.”
Mordin nodded.
Jewel: “If you say so...”
Everyone stood by for a bit, then, a little at a time, they left the room, leaving Jewel to stand by and continue to stare up at Garrus.
A little afterwards, a few of the crew members met up with a few other crew members. Kelly was also there with them.
Kelly: “Hey, how is...Jewel doing?”
Ashley: “She....she’s....having a hard time with this.”
Kelly: “Is that so?”
Jacob: “Hm, that is to be expected.”
Liara: “I wanted to thank you for coming with us, Kelly.”
Kelly: “Thank you for allowing me to come. I’ve wanted to have a real first-hand experience with those magical girls. Also...I wanted to see what I can do to help out...”
Miranda: “Well...we appreciate it.”
Wrex: “How is that turian doing inside that rock? I can’t imagine it would be comfortable in there.”
Liara: “We were able to determine that it keeps him in a stasis of sorts, he is currently in a deep sleep. I highly doubt he feels any sort of discomfort, but...”
Thane: “It’ll be a while before Jewel is able to crack open that crystal and release him from it.”
Liara: “Yes...she...she doesn’t know...how to shatter that crystal without killing him, so she’ll try all she can to figure it out. Until then...”
Kasumi: “It’s most likely that she’ll stay in that cargo bay with him until she can.”
Jacob: “I would imagine her determination. It’s not hard to understand why she would feel that way.”
Thane: “Indeed, she must feel so guilt-ridden to even consider doing that to him, not that any of us are blaming her.”
Liara: “No, of course not, given the circumstances that they were involved in, it was the only way that she could protect him from those monsters.”
Jacob: “Yeah, we know. Not to mention that she has developed such a strong bond with him. To be able to do that to someone that you’ve become so close to...”
Ashley: “Yeah...it’s eating her alive.”
Miranda: “To be put on the spot like that, no one should ever have to be forced into such a difficult situation, much less someone as young as her.”
Liara: “Well, I’m willing to do what I can to help her out. I’ll go consult the Intel Crystals and find out any way we can to help her through this.”
Liara walked off.
Ashley: “I’ll make a call to the Admiral. He’ll need to hear about this.”
Jacob: “Good idea, Jewel might need the moral support from him as well.”
Ashley nodded and walked off as well.
Kelly: “So...what will you do?”
Miranda: “I’m...I’m going to make a call to Grissom Academy to inform Jack and Ms. Sanders about this.”
Kelly: “You’re...actually talking to Jack? But...I thought you guys hated each other.”
Miranda: “We do, but not to an extent, not anymore. We agreed to behave cordially for the girls. Also, she would throw a hissy fit if I ever left her in the dark about all that has happened so far.”
Grunt: “Heh, sounds like her, alright.”
Kelly: “I’ll...go with you. I would like to see how Jack has been doing as Grissom Academy’s new instructor.”
Miranda: “Sure, I would think that Jack would like to hear from you after all this time.”
Miranda and Kelly walked off together.
At that time, Ashley was in QEC reporting to the admiral and the prime minister what has happened.
Hackett: “I see...so that’s what had happened.”
Ashley: “Yeah, we all feel for Jewel.”
Hackett: “As do I. To be put in such a difficult situation like that, I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy, much less an adolescent.”
Prime Minister: “Any reports regarding Officer Vakarian and his condition?”
Ashley: “We were able to confirm that he is still very much alive. The crystal preserves his life force. He has currently been put in a deep sleep. But until Jewel figures out how to shatter the crystal without killing him, he will remain in there for the time being.”
Hackett: “Understood. Tell Jewel that we all feel for her and that she is not at fault for her decision.”
Ashley: “Yeah, I will.”
Hackett: “Keep us posted and let us know of any changes.”
Ashley: “Will do, although something tells me that you won’t hear from us for a very long time.”
Hackett: “Noted. Take all the time you need. We’re in no rush. Hackett out.”
The holographic images were turned off and Ashley was left alone with her thoughts.
Meanwhile, in the cockpit, Joker and EDI were continuing to pilot the ship just like they’ve always had. Within very little time, Joker was looking towards EDI who was focused on her task.
Joker: “So...things seem to be...in quite a...dispiriting mood lately.”
EDI: “Yes, given what has happened, I would imagine.”
Joker: “It’s kind of sad, it feels like we’re already mourning Garrus but at the same time, we all know that he’s not actually dead so...there’s a lot of mixed feelings going around.”
EDI: “Yes, I, especially, am concerned for Jewel.”
Joker: “I’m also worried about her. I don’t blame her for what she did. If anything, I am sad for her. She must be the one hurting a lot more than anyone else.”
EDI: “Yes, I would imagine so. She has yet to exit the cargo bay where we are currently storing away the crystal that she encased him in. She has been trying to figure out how to break him out of that crystal almost nonstop eversince. I don’t want her to work herself too hard.”
Joker: “None of us do. But we all know that she has so many reasons to be motivated into trying for as long and as hard as she had been.”
EDI: “For the time being, I think it would do us some good to focus on other things as well, such as searching for the source of those mysterious readings that we have talked about.”
Joker: “Oh, yeah, that, that thing that you promised the girls to not tell anyone about, especially not me.”
EDI: “Yes, the sooner we find it, the sooner that I will be able to disclose what they have talked about during that private conversation.”
Joker: “Yeah, I understand. Also, it might be an important find regarding their powers or anything else related to them. Maybe whatever is out there, it could be another Fayelon.”
EDI: “Hmm...I am also hoping for that as well.”
Meanwhile, Liara was back in her office. She was working on her console. She was then approached by Glyph.
Glyph: “All of the data regarding the Intel Crystals have been organized and is being processed as we speak, Dr. T’Soni.”
Liara: “Thank you, Glyph. That is greatly appreciative. This has indeed been a tremendous help.”
At that time, she then heard the door to her office open nearby. She looked over and spotted Mordin entering.
Liara: “Oh, hello, Mordin”
Mordin: “Hello, Dr. T’Soni. Was just checking up on how your progress is going.”
Liara: “Yes, well...I have been looking into the Intel Crystal to try and find any information regarding how Gemme Kinetics are taught to use their abilities.”
He looked over to a table to find a few piles of crystals on the table stacked in particular ways.
Mordin: “Hm, so it seems. Perhaps you could share your findings with me.”
Liara: “Yes...of course!”
She stopped working on the console and walked over towards the crystals.
Liara: “I have been sorting through the crystals and...I didn’t find exactly what I was looking for, but...I did find out some unusual things regarding them. As you can see, I have sorted each of the crystals based on those findings.”
Mordin: “Care to elaborate, Dr. T’Soni?”
Liara: “Certainly.”
She went on her Omni-tool.
Liara: “I’ve looked into each crystal and, well...do you remember when I mentioned the strange occurrences regarding some information being closed off from us?”
Mordin: “Hm, yes, did remember much about that. You mentioned some instances where you were, um...forced out of them, for a lack of better term.”
Liara: “Correct, as well as another instance where I had received some intel from one but after asking a particular question, the crystal, itself, just...well...it felt as though something was chasing me out.”
Mordin: “Of course, you have mentioned that when we were still on Therum a while back.”
Liara: “Yes, I have, it slipped my mind for a bit, but when I was sorting through the crystals, I...began to experience those phenomena again. It is strange that they would display such characteristics.”
Mordin: “Indeed. Any ideas as to why this is happening?”
Liara: “Not entirely, but I have looked into the crystals, sorting through the ones that have caused those phenomena as opposed to ones that we would have full access to and I made a few startling discoveries.”
Mordin: “Care to elaborate?”
Liara: “Actually, I would like for you to scan these crystals and verify that for yourself. You may find the discovery to be very startling.”
Mordin did just that with his Omni-tool, scanning each pile of crystals one by one. He then checked his Omni-tool for the result with which he was very startled to see.
Mordin: “Unbelievable. Each of these crystals consist of unusual readings.”
Liara: “Exactly. I get the feeling that...someone may have tampered with these crystals somehow. I don’t know exactly what it is, but I get the feeling that someone didn’t want any of the information contained within them to be accessible.”
Mordin: “Hmm...scans also indicate that not all of the crystals are like this.”
Liara: “No, that should have been apparent. However, there is a unique pattern to this.”
Mordin: “How so?”
Liara: “When I evaluated the crystals and collected the intel from them, the ones that were unaffected contained basic information regarding Fayelons, their culture and their powers, basically novice lessons on how to utilize each of the different powers.”
Mordin: “Hmm...basic Fayelon information left untampered. No way that could have been a coincidence.”
Liara: “I didn’t think so, either. It seems that the crystals that have been tampered with contain more vital information, such as probably more advanced lessons on how to utilize their powers. I believe the Gemma Kinetic abilities are among them, even the basics of those powers are shut out. As you can see in the pile on the far end over here to my right, these are the ones that are inaccessible. But the ones in the middle are what I would consider to be partially tampered.”
Mordin: “Partially tampered. What do you mean by that?”
Liara: “As I have told you, I was able to receive some information from one of the crystals but upon asking a specific question, the crystal just went silent and then I felt a presence that felt like something was shouting at me to “get out”. I have mentioned that being the best way to describe that experience.”
Mordin: “I see, so some of the intel from these crystals are accessible and some are blocked off.”
Liara: “Yes, that is correct.”
Mordin pondered for a bit.
Liara: “I asked you to come here because since you have been analyzing the magical energy, I would believe that you would be able to discover what has happened with these crystals. I’m sure you already came up with a theory regarding this, if I’m not mistaken.”
Mordin: “No, not at all. Already have a hypothesis, but will need to look into this. Thank you for asking me to come. This is very important information to look into.”
Liara: “You’re welcome. I needed you to look into this. I’m afraid to say that we’re no closer to helping Jewel figuring out how to safely shatter that massive crystal without killing Garrus. I genuinely believe that any information involving any teachings of the Gemma Kinetic powers are among those that are blocked out.”
Mordin: “Yes, would not have my doubts, not one bit.”
Mordin walked out of the room. Liara stood by for a bit, lamenting over what she went over with him.
Within the past few days, the Normandy continued to travel through space. Throughout that time, Jewel remained in the cargo bay, doing all she could to try and find a way to shatter the crystal and free Garrus. She had practiced many times with the test bots that were within the room. She tried everything she could think of. Being that she was relentless, she had made over 100s of attempts, all of them obviously ending in failures. When she would feel tired, she would sleep within one of the beds within the room. Several times, the crew members or one of her friends would arrive in the room to give her food. She would not eat them right away but she was encouraged by whoever brought her food that she needed to eat to keep her strength up. Never once did she walk outside. She had tried constantly with some attempts being a little bit better than others. Still, it did very little to warrant any confidence or even bring her close to where she needed to be. No doubt that everyone on the ship worried about her.
During one attempt, in which she would try to shatter the crystal by its exterior before getting close to the bot she was practicing on, she seemed hopeful. However, as she reached the bot and broke it out, her confidence shattered almost similarly to the crystal that she did break. The fatality rate on the bot was still too high. From there, she became frustrated as she pounded on the wall with both of her fists.
Jewel: “Damn it!”
She continued to pound on the wall as she shouted.
Jewel: “Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!”
She stopped with her fists resting on the wall.
Jewel: “Why can't I get this right?? What am I missing?”
Her fists then slid down the wall as she fell on her knees. She kneeled there; tears began pouring down her cheeks.
Jewel: “Why...? Why...? I should know this by now...but...”
She paused as the tears kept flowing.
Jewel: “Damn them! Damn them all! How dare they…!!!”
She then began to sob.
Jewel: “All that time...I have been so dedicated, it was my dream to become a Gemma Kinetic...but it didn’t matter one bit...I would never be seen as a true Gemma Kinetic in their eyes. All of them...everyone back at home...they didn’t even bother...to teach me properly...to them, I’m just a...just a...”
She remained still for a bit before she got back up, she walked up towards Garrus, looking up at him as he continued to sleep within the crystal. Her tears then poured out again. She slammed herself on the crystal and cried on it.
Jewel: “I’m sorry...I’m so sorry...I can’t get you out of there...all because...I was never...I could never be...I’m not a real Gemma Kinetic to everyone that was supposed to...to teach me properly...to help me...I...wish I was so much better, but I’m not! I wish I was seen as truly worthy, I wish they could have seen me as so much more…but….I can’t...!! I just...can’t...do it...!!!”
She cried on the crystal for a good amount of time. Just then, the crystal started to glow. She then took notice of this as she was engulfed in a bright light.
Before she knew, she was within a strange realm, a shroud that was the same color as the crystal.
Jewel: “Huh?”
Her voice echoed as she spoke.
Jewel: “What...what is...this...how...where...am I...?”
She spent a good bit of time looking around. Before she knew it, someone was behind her. She turned around and noticed that it was Garrus. He was just standing there, staring at her with a slight melancholy demeaner. She seemed startled to see him then startled bursting into tears.
Jewel: “Garrus!!”
She ran to him then placed her arms around him and embraced him.
Jewel: “I’m sorry...!! I’m so sorry!!! This is all my fault!! I’m so sorry!!!”
She spent a good bit crying. He didn’t display any change in emotions. He then placed his hands on her wrists and gently pulled her off and held her close by.
Garrus: “No, Jewel, this isn’t your fault. I’m the one to blame for this. I was worried, so focused on trying to find you, wanting to help you, that I completely overlooked my own wellbeing. I should be apologizing to you.”
Jewel: “Garrus...”
He then placed his hand on her cheek.
Garrus: “I’m so sorry to put you through this. You must be in so much pain. I didn't mean to put you through that.”
Jewel: “I...I’ve been trying so hard...to find a way to break you out of this crystal...but...I can’t do it...”
Garrus: “I...I figured as much...”
Jewel: “Garrus, I…wish…I could...I so badly want to...”
Garrus: “I know. Believe me, I want out of this crystal, too. But I’m willing to wait as long as I can.”
Jewel: “I...I don’t know if I can do it...I’ve tried so many ways, but...I can’t...I...I’m not...savvy enough...I could never...I was never taught properly...”
Garrus: “Jewel, don’t be so hard on yourself. You’re a skillful Gemma Kinetic, if anyone can figure this out, you can. You’re the most determined young girl I have ever known. You will figure this out.”
Jewel: “But...how...most of what I know...I’ve learned on my own...my mentors, they...they never taught me to...”
He placed his hand on her shoulder.
Garrus: “You’re already proving to be dedicated to your power. I have seen you try so hard. And damn all those who refuse to see you as such. What you lack in confidence, you've made up for with being courageous and that has always been part of what makes you so strong.”
Jewel: “Do you...do you...really think I can do this...?”
Garrus: “I know you can. You will find a way. Just take your time. Don’t try to rush it. I believe the answers will come to you, you just...need to look for it.”
A petite smile appeared on her face.
Jewel: “Garrus...”
Garrus: “I think you’ve spent enough time here. You’ll need to be out there if you hope to find the answers you’re looking for. Don’t worry about me, as long as I’m in here, I will be safe. Just remember: I believe in you.”
Jewel smiled with the twinkle in her eyes shifting from side to side. She gave him one last close embrace as he did the same with her.
Jewel: “Thank you, Garrus...I will keep trying.”
They held onto each other for a good amount of time.
Jewel, back in the cargo bay, came out of her trance-like state. She seemed startled as she came out of it.
Jewel: “Oh!! I...I’m back here...huh...”
She then looked behind her to see a few of the crew members plus her friends right there.
Jewel: “Oh…! When did you guys get here?”
Liara: “We’ve been...standing here for a good amount of time.”
Ashley: “What just happened?”
Jewel looked back up towards Garrus.
Jewel: “I...I don’t know...I think...I think I was...transported…inside the crystal, somehow.”
Mordin was seen on his Omni-tool.
Mordin: “Hmm...fascinating. Will need to look into this later.”
Jewel: “What are you guys doing here?”
FemShep: “We wanted to tell you that we’re on our way back to the Citadel.”
Jewel: “The Citadel? But...why?”
Ashley: “There are a few things that we need to take care of.”
Thane: “Flare mentioned wanting to evaluate something back at the Huerta Memorial Hospital and she asked me to go with her.”
Flare: “There’s something there that I need to look into. It involved what happened to Thane the day that he...would have died.”
Thane: “I have also reached out to my son, Kolyat, to join us. It would be a good time to introduce him to one of the magical girls.”
Jewel: “What will the rest of you guys be doing?”
Ashley: “We were asked by Bailey to look into a few things with him. The other girls agreed to come with us.”
Star: “We came here because we wanted to bring you out as well.”
Jewel: “What!?! No!! I can’t leave!!”
Aera: “Why not? You’ve been in here since we returned from Therum. You’ve never left this room.”
Jewel: “I...I can’t leave...I don’t want to...”
Aera: “Listen, you need to come out with us. It’s not like anything will happen to Garrus if you’re not here.”
Jewel: “That’s not the point!! I...I...”
Splash: “We get it!! You don’t want to leave him. We totally understand.”
Jewel: “I...I...”
Aera walked up to her and grabbed her by her arm.
Aera: “It will do you some good to step out for a bit. It’s not healthy just staying cooped up in this place.”
Jewel: “But...”
FemShep: “Aera’s right. Besides, I’m sure Garrus would want you to step outside for a bit, to not worry about him so much.”
Jewel seemed a little startled, then looked back up towards Garrus.
Jewel: “I...you’re right. He would say that...I think he kind of did.”
Tali: “If you’re worried about Garrus being alone, don’t. He won’t be.”
Mordin: “Hm, indeed, some of us decided to remain here on the Normandy. He will never be alone.”
Jewel: “Umm...oh...OK. So, when will we be arriving at the Citadel?”
Ashley: “In just a few minutes. We’ve just passed through a Mass Relay and have set course for the Citadel right now.”
Jewel: “OK, I’ll be right there.”
Star: “We’ll see you outside, Jewel.”
The girls and the crew members walked out. Jewel was about to follow after them. She then stopped and turned around to look back towards Garrus.
Jewel: “Don’t worry, Garrus. I’ll come back. Hopefully by then, I’d have already figured out how to free you.”
She turned back around and left the room.
Sometime later, the Normandy returned to the Citadel. The ship docked and a few of the crew members Liara, Ashley and Thane along with Jane stepped out with the girls.
Flare: “Thane and I will be making our way over to the hospital. I will see you guys again after I am finished.”
She walked off with Thane.
Ashley: “Come on, Bailey is waiting for us.”
They walked off.
Soon enough, they met with Bailey again.
Bailey: “Well, hello there, ladies.”
Liara: “Hello, Bailey. It is good to see you again.”
Bailey nodded, he then looked over to Jewel who was sulking. He approached her and tended to her. Jane had taken notice of this a bit.
Bailey: “Hey there, young lady. How are you doing?”
Jewel: “Umm...OK...I guess...”
Bailey: “I heard about what happened. Don’t worry, everything will work out, you just have to have faith.”
Jewel continued to sulk.
Bailey: “Listen, Garrus is as tough as they come. It’ll take a lot more than being frozen inside a crystal to do him in. I know he believes in you and so do I.”
She looked at him and stared at him as he kept a reassured look on his face.
Jewel: “Yeah...I...guess I...”
Bailey: “Let’s take your mind off of your troubles for a bit. I need some of you to look into some things for me; I would really appreciate the extra set of eyes.”
Aera: “What do you mean by that, exactly?”
Splash: “Um...I’m not sure if you noticed, but Flare isn’t with us right now.”
Bailey: “Yes, I’ve already been briefed on that. She needed to take care of other matters regarding her special powers.”
Splash: “Oh! Well...I guess that worked out well.”
Star: “So, what is it you would like for us to help you out with?”
Bailey: “Well as I have already implied, it doesn’t involve any heavy lifting with you girls, powers or otherwise.”
Star: “No heavy lifting, we figured as much.”
Aera: “Huh, that’s a real shame. I could already hear Garrus adamantly telling everyone that he would prefer to not have us work so hard.”
Bailey: “Yes, yes, I know how protective he can be towards you girls, but let’s put that out of our minds for a bit. I would like each of you to look into a few important things.”
Ashley: “Lead the way if you please.”
They walked off with him. Jane approached Jewel and walked close to her.
FemShep: “Hey, you hanging in there?”
Jewel: “Umm...”
FemShep: “It’s OK. Please, don’t worry so much. It’ll be fine.”
Jewel: “I...hope so...”
FemShep: “You heard what Bailey told you, you’ve got to have faith. Believe in yourself. I’m sure Garrus has told you the same thing.”
Startled, she looked up at Jane.
Jewel: “Huh? But...how...?”
FemShep: “We’ll talk more about that later. Right now, we have something else that we need to focus on. OK?”
Jewel: “Yeah...OK...”
A very petite smile appeared on her face. Jane smiled as well.
After spending some time walking, they find themselves within another section. There, they were greatly startled by what they saw. The entire section was a wreck; debris everywhere, several holes in the walls and other areas, collapsed and inaccessible shops. It was a warzone.
Aera: “What...is this!?!”
Bailey: “This is one of the sections of the Citadel that has yet to be repaired from the Reaper War. Several days back, there were tons more debris but they were all cleared out.”
Aera: "The Reaper War!?! You mean...like the one that took place a year ago!?!”
Bailey: “That’s the one. It has taken a long time to clear out and repair so much within the Citadel. There are still places that are a mess. Some places are still out of commission, perhaps even permanently.”
Star: “This is...shocking!!!”
Jewel: “How many people have died here!?!”
Bailey: “The number of casualties were pretty high, although...they were much less than expected. However, the Citadel was like a safe haven during the war. But things took an unexpected turn when this station played a massive role in eradicating the Reapers.”
Star: “What!?! But...how!?!”
Liara: “It was used as a crucial mechanism to power a device we built to use against the Reapers called the Crucible.”
Splash: “Wow....that is...amazing...”
Ashley: “But in the long run, it damaged the Citadel, including its many wards.”
FemShep: “There are still some places that are is disarray, some beyond repair as Bailey has mentioned.”
Bailey: “However, I don’t think you’ve been introduced to a very important factor to the Citadel.”
Jewel: “Huh?”
He turned his gaze over to a particular direction beside them where they looked over to see several strange looking creatures known as Keepers.
Jewel: “What are...those things?”
Bailey: “They’re Keepers. They’ve been running the Citadel for many eons, longer than any of us have been alive. They run constant maintenance on this station.”
Star: “Constant maintenance? You mean they never stop?”
Bailey: “Nope, not even a little. They’re pretty much built to continue maintenance on the station; fixing something, maintaining functionalities of a lot of important machinery, repairing cosmetic damage.”
Jewel: “Wow, that’s...amazing. How are they able to do all of this?”
Liara: “It was believed once that the Protheans built the Keepers, however, we discovered that’s not the case.”
Star: “What do you mean?”
Aera: “Don’t tell me, they’ve had some involvement with the Reapers, right?”
FemShep: “More or less.”
Ashley: “Not many of us know where they came from but it was discovered that they could have been built or indoctrinated to aid the Reapers in their genocide.”
Splash: “How so? Is this Citadel also involved with those Reapers?”
Liara: “Yes, none of us knew this, but this space station is also a Mass Relay.”
Jewel: “What!?!”
Ashley: “And an incredibly powerful one. It could transport the Reapers who have remained hidden within Dark Space into our galaxy.”
Star: “Unbelievable!!!”
FemShep: “My cousin did all he could to help prepare the galaxy for the upcoming invasion. To say we weren’t prepared was an understatement. I did help out in some ways, however.”
Jewel: “Hmmm...”
Star: “So, with all the Reapers destroyed, these Keepers are pretty much nothing more than perpetual maintenance workers, right?”
Ashley: “Pretty much.”
Liara: “They have been working nonstop, trying to repair the station from the aftermath. It’s been an ongoing process.”
Aera: “Really? One year and there’s still more work to do?”
Star: “That must have been some terrible war.”
Bailey: “There are still repairs from damages during the Battle of the Citadel, back when we were dealing with Saren and Sovereign. It’s been 3 and a half years since that battle and there are still places from that fight that are beyond repair, such as Chora’s Den. Good riddance to that place.”
Ashley: “Yeah, absolutely. I never liked that bar.”
For a good amount of time, they watched the Keepers make repairs left and right on the different areas of the sector. The girls seemed amazed at the constant workings of these strange creatures. They’ve watched the Keepers put up walls, patch up holes, made some phenomenal repairs and reassembling of the different shops and such. Bit by bit, the area was looking good as new.
Jewel: “I don’t believe it. These guys are incredible.”
Bailey: “Heh, I have seen these Keepers commit to such miracle work in ways that no one could ever undergo. Even the salarians are stumped by them.”
Star: “Really? Even the salarians struggle to figure them out? I find that to be quite shocking.”
Bailey: “They are truly a mystery.”
Jewel continued watching, she seemed a little awestruck and impressed. They continued watching them for at least an hour, having moved on from one area to another. Just then, Bailey noticed something that took him by surprise.
Bailey: “Oh, no.”
He rushed over towards what he had just noticed with everyone else following behind.
They came across a huge pile of metallic beams.
Bailey: “Oh, that’s just great! What collapsed this time?”
Jewel: “Um, what are these?”
Bailey: “Metallic beams. They’re vital parts of holding together an important structure.”
FemShep: “This isn’t good.”
Jewel: “Hmm...maybe we should help out.”
She held her hands out, ready to use her Gemma Kinetic powers.
Bailey: “No! Wait! This is a delicate situation. This needs to be handled with extreme care.”
Jewel: “But...what can be done about this?”
Bailey: “This mess is the least of our concerns, but if something isn’t done now, it could mean a huge disaster is not too far behind.”
He went on his Omni-tool.
Bailey: “I’ll call forth a team that will deal with this ASAP. In the meantime, the Keepers should be able to handle this.”
She stood by, a little confused, she then looked over and noticed the Keepers arriving. They went to work pulling the metal beams carefully one by one.
Bailey: “That’s right. This needs to be handled with the utmost care. Nice and slow. They’ll need to take their time with this. Easy now. That’s right. Gentle. There needs to be no rush in this, otherwise it could prove disastrous.”
Jewel continued watching the Keepers carefully remove each beam. She stared at them for a bit.
Jewel: “Gentle...”
Her eyes then widened and she let out a slow gasp as though she realized something. She then ran off as fast as she could almost immediately.
Liara: “Jewel!!”
Jewel made it back on to the Normandy through the main entrance and rushed through. At that time, Mordin was just leaving his lab, looking at a data-pad when he noticed Jewel darting near where he stood.
Mordin: “Hm? Jewel?”
She made her way to the elevator. Before long, the rest of the group that she was with arrived back on the ship.
Star: “Mordin!! Did you just see Jewel run through here!?!”
Mordin: “Yes, she just got on the elevator. Care to tell me why she’s in such a rush?”
Splash: “We don’t know! We were watching those Keepers rebuild and repair stuff and then she just ran off without telling us anything!!”
Mordin: “Hmm...what could this mean?”
Jewel, having arrived within the docking bay, stood before another practice mech. She then encased it within another large crystal. From there, Jewel held up her index finger and slowly ran it down the crystal. From this, the crystal shattered slowly. She remained meticulous with this procedure. Soon enough, she was able to break it out of the crystal, causing it to fall on her. She caught it and grabbed it by its shoulders. She took one good look at it and her eyes widened with excitement. She then placed it down on the floor and ran off. The entire group, joined by Mordin, arrived a moment too late as she rushed right past them. Mordin went up to the mech, picked it up and took one look at it. The rest of the group approached him and stood nearby.
Star: “What is it? What do you see?”
He looked at the torso which displayed a fatality rate of 5%. From this, he smiled.
Mordin: “She...has done it.”
Back in the cargo bay, Jewel stood before the massive crystal that Garrus was still encased in. She stared at it for a bit with a determined look on her face. She took a deep breath and let it out. Then she lifted her finger and raised it towards the top front of the crystal.
Jewel: “Alright. Gentle, go slow, take your time, don’t rush.”
From there, the crystal began to slowly shatter from the top. She moved her finger down, slowly guiding the dismantling process. Little by little, it broke into pieces with Jewel carefully guiding her finger downwards. She kept at this until Garrus was able to completely emerge from it. With this, he fell forward while letting out a grunt. Jewel was able to catch him and break his fall, but she was nearly knocked over. It was still for a bit. Jewel held on to him closely without knowing how to react. Then, there was a slight movement from him, which surprised her. He placed his hands on her shoulder and lifted himself off of her a bit to where they were able to look at each other. A content smile appeared on his face.
Garrus: “I knew you could do it.”
From there, Jewel became emotional as tears of joy were pouring down her cheeks and the 2 of them were able to embrace. They held onto each other for a good amount.
Jewel: “I was so worried. I’m so glad it’s finally over.”
They pulled themselves off of each other and stood up, but they held onto each other’s hands.
Jewel: “Come on, let’s go let everyone know you’re finally back.”
Garrus: “Yeah, I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time.”
They made their way out of the room together.
Just outside, several of the crew members plus the other girls were waiting in anticipation. At that moment, Jewel was able to step out with Garrus beside her. After seeing them, the group was overjoyed.
Liara: “Garrus!!”
Garrus: “Hello, everyone. Miss me?”
Tali seemed much more emotional as she rushed over to Garrus, grabbing on to him and embracing him close.
Tali: “We’re so relieved! You don’t know how glad we are to see you.”
Garrus: “Yeah, I couldn’t be happier.”
Tali pulled away from him. Ashley and Jane then approached him.
FemShep: “Come on, let’s get you to the medical bay. We’ll need to have you evaluated.”
Garrus: “That sounds like a good idea.”
The crew members walked off while the girls stood behind.
Splash: “You did it, Jewel!! You actually did it!!”
Jewel: “Yeah, I didn’t think I could, but...I didn’t give up. Garrus didn’t give up on me, either.”
Flare: “Hm, indeed. It is such a relief that you were able to emancipate him.”
Star: “Phew!! Close one! I know I wouldn’t want to lose our favorite turian.”
Aera: “Oh, for sure.”
Jewel: “Hm.”
They then began to walk off.
Aera: “So, since you’ve managed to free him from the crystal, that means that you’ll be able to do the same with her.”
Jewel: “Huh, actually, you may be right about that. I have worried about whether or not she was as good as dead, but now that I know I’m capable of freeing anyone from my crystals safely, well...that’s assuming we’re able to find her at all.”
Aera: “Heh, let’s hope we’re able to find her before he does.”
Jewel: “Yes, let’s make sure of that.”
Splash: “But EDI agreed that she would be able to help us in finding her.”
Flare: “Hm, indeed. Let us hope that she is truly able to.”
Jewel: “Yeah, let’s hope...for all of our sakes.”
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Episode 45-Surfacing

Sometime later at the medical bay, Mordin was already on his Omni-tool.

Mordin: “Hmm…interesting. There seem to be very little to no negative effects to your health.”
Garrus was seen sitting on one of the medical beds. Mordin standing by one side near the exit and Tali standing on the other side. Jane is seen standing in front of him. Liara stood a little behind her to the side.
Mordin: “But I have to say, did pick up on…something unusual. Might need to look into this for a bit.”
Garrus: “Well, do whatever you can. We shouldn’t overlook anything, regardless of how insignificant it may seem. We may never know if there could be any long-term or detrimental effects.”
Mordin: “Of course, can’t be too careful, still much we don’t understand.”
FemShep: “So, how do you feel?”
Garrus: “Well…I don’t feel…any worse…I don’t exactly feel better either. If anything, I felt like I just woke up from a long nap, a deep, long nap that in no way could possibly be interrupted.”
FemShep: “That must have been one hell of a nap.”
Garrus: “Oh, you have no idea.”
Tali: “What was it like, being inside that crystal?”
Garrus: “It was…strange. I felt like I was in an ongoing dream and one that I knew I wouldn’t be able wake up from. Not on my own, at least.”
Liara: “Not until Jewel was able to…”
Garrus: “Yeah…I know…”
Garrus dropped head and sulked a bit.
Garrus: “Throughout that entire time, I had one thought running through my mind.”
FemShep: “I would imagine. You were thinking about Jewel, weren’t you?”
Garrus: “Yes…I…I just…I felt so horrible having to put her through that. The look on her face…”
He recalled that horrible moment just before Jewel encased him inside that crystal.
Garrus: “I knew right then and there that she had to do something and it was…something that she really didn’t want to do. But it was either that or…”
Garrus paused as he sulked.
FemShep: “In that position she was in, either choice she made…could have killed you…”
Garrus: “Yeah…it could have…but…what she did…it had to be better than being ripped apart by those monsters…even if…there was a chance…that I could not survive.”
Mordin: “Understandable. Probable death always better than certain death but never a preferable choice.”
Liara: “Throughout that time you were in that crystal, she never gave up, even when her know-how on her own powers was so insufficient.”
FemShep: “That’s right, she did tell us…that her mentors refused to teach her how to use her Gemma Kinetic powers. What she had been through was no doubt abuse.”
Liara: “She mentioned that the conditions of her mistreatment and her mentors’ negligence as well as refusing to teach her resulted in the Disciples of Order allowing her to squeak by with just learning the basics. She is severely behind in her lessons because her mentors considered her to be underqualified to learn those powers.”
Tali: “I think less than underqualified would better fit the description. Bosh‘tets. They’re the ones to blame for all of this, not her.”
Garrus: “I agree, Tali. I’m well aware that she had been mistreated in her past. The look of pain on her face; it tells me everything that I need to know.”
Liara: “But she’s a strong girl. Even through all of the torment and abuse, she continued to fight for her dream. She wanted to become a Gemma Kinetic. I don’t know much about the qualifications of becoming one, but it seems that anyone with the power can learn it.”
FemShep: “But so many back at her home wanted to downgrade those qualifications by whatever level and intensity of the power and forcing those with both too low for their standards to just give up on that power. Not Jewel. They made certain to dissuade her from learning the power, much less becoming a Gemma Kinetic.”
Garrus: “Even if they resorted to child abuse. Damn them!”
FemShep: ”Those people are, without a doubt, a very special kind of scummy. It would be right to put the blame on them for this, not Jewel.”
Tali: “Oh, I agree. I never met them, but they already seem like such loathsome people.”
Liara: “At least she is not there with them. They can’t hurt her anymore.”
Mordin: “But we are here. We will help her, as well as the others.”
Garrus looked at Mordin with a content look on his face.
Garrus: “You’ve done so much for them already, doctor. I think they’ve improved a lot when you came into this. I couldn’t thank you enough.”
Mordin: “Of course. WE make a good team. Do not forget, we are all in this together…for them.”
Garrus seemed touched by this, he looked around and saw Jane, Liara and Tali with reassured smiles on their faces. He was quite pleased.
Garrus: “Can we…watch more of those Pretty Cure shows?”
Tali: “What? You…actually want to watch more of those shows? But…I thought you would still not be interested.”
Garrus: “I know, it’s just…after being inside that crystal for so long, I…kind of missed even that.”
Mordin: “Hm, this is indeed unexpected, but sure, we can.”
Tali: “Absolutely? Shall we get going?”
From there, Garrus dropped down from the bed then walked out of the med bay with Tali and Mordin. Jane and Liara stood by for a bit, they both seemed perplexed.
Meanwhile on the bridge, the girls stood by with Joker and EDI. All 5 of them stood out into space with Joker and EDI focusing on their respective consoles. Jewel seemed concerned about something as she stared out the window. Joker looked back towards her.
Joker: “So…Jewel. You made it through quite an ordeal.”
Jewel continued staring out the window without batting an eye. Joker seemed worried about her.
Joker: “Hey, listen. There’s no need to feel so down. We knew you could do it. Also, don’t feel so bad. We understand what you…well…you had to make a difficult decision.”
Jewel: “I know…I just wish…I didn’t…”
Joker seemed despondent to see her like this. EDI, working on her console for a bit, looked back towards them.
EDI: “This…wasn’t the first time that you’ve had to make this kind of decision.”
Jewel looked towards EDI with a slight reaction.
EDI: “Throughout all this time that you drifted through space, you’ve had to make so many tough choices, with one heartwrenching dilemma after another everywhere you went.”
Jewel dropped her head a bit as she sulked.
Jewel: “Yes….”
Both Joker and EDI were concerned, they exchanged a brief glance with each other then looked back at her.
Jewel: “I’m going to be honest….this…this also wasn’t the first time that I…I..nearly…killed someone.”
Joker was a little surprised by this.
EDI: “You mentioned something like this during your private conversation with your friends.”
Jewel: “Yes…”
Joker: “EDI mentioned something about you girls having a private chat with each other. She wouldn’t tell me what it was about, but I did hear a bit of vague details.”
EDI: “I have kept my promise, but I had to mention some things to Jeff.”
Joker: “She did say that she needed my help with finding…whatever it is that you girls had been looking for.”
Splash: “I only hope that we’re able to find…”
She paused for a bit.
Flare: “Whatever it is that we’re looking for, we can’t say anything, in the possibility that he could…”
Joker: “He? Meaning your vigilante?”
Flare: “Yes…”
Star: “We’re too scared to say anything about it, so we really appreciate you helping us find…um…”
EDI: “We understand. The sooner we find it, the sooner you can tell the rest of us about what it is you’re too scared to talk about.”
Jewel: “Yes…”
Aera: “If he so much as receives even the slightest hint of where this is before we do, well….”
Star: “If luck would have it, he wouldn’t be able to reach it considering that it’s so well contained.”
Splash: “Oh, right! That is true!!”
Joker: “Contained? What do you mean?”
Splash: “Umm…I…”
Aera: “Just focus on trying to find it and we’ll let you know what it is.”
Joker: “Alright….if you say so…”
Joker and EDI went back to focusing on their consoles. Jewel, a bit tense and nervous, clenched her hands together.
Jewel: “Please…be out there…somewhere…within this realm…I really hope that…he doesn’t find you…before we do…”
Both Joker and EDI focused on their consoles with a great deal of concern.
Meanwhile with the Recreation Room, Garrus was watching more of the Pretty Cures with Mordin and Tali.
Garrus: “Heh, I can not believe how much I’ve missed watching this.”
Tali: “That must have been some experience inside that crystal.”
Garrus: “It was definitely an experience of its own. Nothing else could possibly be similar to it. Can’t say I enjoyed it, but…it must have been really hard…”
Tali: “I know… it must have been so painful for her.”
Garrus: “Yeah…I could see it on her face, she was so devastated. I knew then and there that she was going through a dilemma that…she really didn’t want to do.”
Garrus was looking back at that moment when it happened.
Garrus: “The poor girl. She looked as though…she was about to kill me, or something dangerously similar to that. I shouldn’t have put her through that.”
Tali: “You cared about her. Even though what you did was reckless, you wanted to be there to help her.”
Garrus: “But I was not in the best position to do anything.”
Mordin: “Hm, very typical of you. We’re all aware that you tend to have a knack for getting yourself into tight spots. Haven’t really changed much.”
Garrus: “Oh and it’s not like you’re any better.”
Mordin: “Maybe not, but perhaps…a little more cautious.”
Tali: “For what it’s worth, you’re both troublemakers in different ways.”
Both Garrus and Mordin look at Tali with looks of discontent.
Garrus: “Hey!”
Tali: “Well, it’s true. Neither of you can deny that, especially judging by your past actions.”
Garrus and Mordin both exchanged looks with each other for a bit.
Garrus: “I hate it when she’s right.”
Mordin: “Yes, she makes a valid point. We have racked up a number of…unfortunate incidents. Could never deny that most of them have been…self-inflicted.”
Tali: “Glad to see you guys agree on something.”
Both guys gave her an irritated look.
Tali: “What? You guys just admitted that what I’m saying is the truth.”
Garrus: “Yeah, but neither of us asked you to rub it in our faces.”
Tali: “Sorry, couldn’t resist.”
Mordin: “Perhaps we should just…watch the rest of the show in peace, OK?”
Tali: “Yeah, OK. Fine.”
Garrus: “Good, thanks.”
They went back to watching their show. For a few minutes they remained silent all the way to the end of the show. A little while afterwards, Mordin’s Omni-tool went off. He went on to check on it. As he was looking into it, he suddenly seemed enthralled, a bit surprised by what he was seeing. Both Garrus and Tali looked towards him, they seemed to be concerned for him.
Garrus: “Mordin? You OK?”
Mordin: “Yes, um…there’s…something that I need to look into…”
He stood up and walked out of the room. Garrus and Tali watched as he left the room. They then looked towards each other, both seeming concerned.
Sometime later, Garrus was back in Commander Shepard’s quarters. He was sitting back on the chair that was next to the bed that the commander was still laying on.
FemShep: “I’d figured you’d be back here again.”
Garrus looked up to see Jane.
Garrus: “Jane? I…what brings you here?”
FemShep: “I just wanted to check on how you’re doing. You’re feeling OK, right?”
Garrus: “Yeah, I am. Nothing out of the ordinary. I don’t feel…strange or…weary or anything. I’m still in good health. Being encased in that crystal really didn’t do much to affect me negatively.”
FemShep: “That’s good.”
She walked up to him and sat above him, nearly on top of him.
Garrus: “Jane…there were some things that I was thinking about.”
FemShep: “Like what?”
Garrus: “Well…for one thing…throughout the entire time that I was in that crystal, I was always thinking about one person. I was thinking about…her. About how much she has struggled. It’s the only thing that I could think about.”
FemShep: “Of course…you are special that way. You’ve always cared about those girls, especially Jewel. It’s very clear that you have developed a very close bond with her.”
Garrus: “I have to wonder something. Is…what I’m doing…is it even good enough?”
He looked back up towards Shepard.
Garrus: “Sometimes…I wonder…if I could even continue doing this…without your cousin’s help?”
FemShep: “My cousin?”
Garrus: “Yeah…he always…seemed to know…what to do in any difficult situation…I would give anything to have him back here with us to help us out. Am I…am I really handling this…the best that I can…is there so much more that I could do?”
FemShep: “I think you’re doing just fine. You have truly helped those girls in so many ways that no one else could, that no one else wanted to. They’ve been mistreated, so many within their realm have been so negligent of them. They have said it themselves, they have grown so much since they’ve been under our care, your care. You are a phenomenal caretaker.”
Garrus sulked a bit.
Garrus: “Jane…”
She sunk a little closer towards him.
FemShep: “Garrus, do you remember the first time that we met?”
Garrus: “Yes…I do…it was almost like…we have met before…I remember it so clear…”
FemShep: “Yes, it seemed like such a mystery back then, but when we found out that we developed a link because of those prothean beacons, it made sense. I got to know you a bit through that connection…you had already developed such a close bond with my cousin, I almost felt that same bond. But then…I saw so much more.”
Garrus: “Jane…around that time, I just felt like…I was…nothing more than an extension of your cousin, but you helped to remind me that I am my own person, not just an extension of someone else, especially your cousin.”
FemShep: “That’s because you are. My cousin…has had you as part of his squad, part of this crew not because you’re an extension of him, but because you are special. You’re a special part of him, an important person in his life. He trusts you as a comrade and a friend.”
Garrus: “Yeah, and you have reminded me of that so many times. Jane, when I’m with you, I really do feel like…I am my own person, not just someone who’s part of such a phenomenal crew.”
FemShep: “And that is why I love you. Everything about you really is special. Also, the way you stood up and helped out those girls, that really is who you are and I couldn’t ask for anything more than that.”
Garrus: “Jane…thank you…for making me feel like…I truly am someone who is special.”
FemShep: “You don’t need to thank me for that. You’re the one who has done that on your own. I just make sure that you remember that, at least.”
Garrus: “You know what? You’re special, too. At least…to me, you are…”
Jane leaned in a little more.
Femshep: “I know…”
They stayed like this for a little while longer.
A little while afterwards, Garrus arrived back at the lab. There he saw Mordin, but he also noticed that Thane was there with him, staring at a few holographic images.
Garrus: “What?”
He walked over and stood beside Thane.
Garrus: “Thane! I didn’t expect to see you here!”
Thane: “The doctor asked me to be here. He wanted me to look over the final results with him.”
Garrus: “But why you, specifically?”
Mordin: “Because the data that I finished analyzing involves him as well.”
Garrus: “That data, you mean the one we discussed earlier right? What does this have to do with him?”
Mordin used his Omni-tool.
Mordin: “The data that was collected has brought up some interesting results.”
The hologram before them displayed a few images.
Mordin: “As you can see, that crystal, which did not show any negative effects to your health, did have some effects to your physiology. As you can see here…”
They looked up at the images before them.
Mordin: “It seems that the crystal had some…rejuvenating effects to you.”
Garrus: “What? What do you mean?”
Thane: “He’s saying the crystal that you were encased in had some physical restorations to you in some way. It healed you a little bit.”
Garrus: “How…is that possible?”
Mordin: “No idea, still needs further analysis.”
Garrus: “But what does this have to do with Thane?”
Mordin: “You do remember back on Therum when we discussed many of the miraculous survivors consisting of residual traces of Light aura, myself included?”
Garrus: “Yeah, I remember, but…hold on, I think I understand what you’re getting at, but can you run it by me so that I can be sure of it?”
Mordin: “Certainly.”
He worked on the console, bringing up a few images of them.
Mordin: “The analyzations have brought up some incredible findings, which brought me back to what we were going over regarding the data collected then, have found that all those consisting of these readings have undergone some…unusual changes. Though too small to be recognized by mere sight, a deep, molecular scan was able to pick up on these changes.”
Garrus: “Are you saying that…the miraculous survivors…they’ve gone through some sort of unnoticeable rejuvenation?”
Mordin: “Yes, was able to find out about it, with a little help from you being sealed inside that crystal. However, was able to find that all those with said residual aura consists of these readings. Thane has also been confirmed to contain these readings…as well as…myself.”
Thane: “So…I also contain this…residual aura.”
Mordin: “Yes…there is no doubt…these forms of magical energy have rejuvenated us in some way, not just the Light energy.”
Garrus: “Un…believable. Could this be…what caused Thane’s Kepral Syndrome to revert to its earlier stages?”
Mordin: “Believe so. No other known possibility. Also, have identified readings similar to the Light magical energy that seemed to have penetrated his disease. An indication of this energy having affected it in some way. No other way of seeing this; this energy has indeed reversed the severity of the disease to its earlier stages.”
Thane: “So…it IS this…magic that’s caused my disease to have reverted to its earlier stages. Regardless, I still have the disease. It will only return to the later stages within another few years, then it will kill me.”
Garrus: “But there is still a chance to find a way to prevent that. Your disease could be better managed and you can be kept alive much longer than expected.”
Thane: “Maybe, but…it is also possible that my own death has been delayed.”
Garrus and Mordin stared at him for a bit.
Thane: “I…there’s…something else that don’t understand…why…why am I still here? Why am I still alive? I should have…I should have been dead by now, and yet…I’m still here…”
Garrus: “Hmm…when we were speaking to Emily Wong, another of the miraculous survivors, she mentioned that she only remembered saying to herself that she “wanted to return, wanted to go back”.”
Mordin: “Hm, yes, of course, after returning from that visit, you have discussed with me and that she probably meant that she wanted to return to life.”
Garrus: “Return to life? That almost sounded like she was hanging on the edge of death and was given the chance to return from that, almost like…someone or something was giving her back her life. Can I ask you guys something? Did either of you remember thinking that after you woke from your comas?”
Mordin and Thane remained silent for a bit as they thought.
Thane: “Hmm…now that you mention it…yes…I do remember…something like that…I feel that…I have been given the chance to return from being dead…and I took it. As to why? I don’t remember that reason or even anything else involved with thinking or talking about it. I just remember…a small hint…a feeling…that I could and for some reason…I took it.”
Mordin: “Hmm…yes…also remember that…was willing to accept my fate, was willing to embrace death, but…something…can’t remember what…gave me a second chance. Can’t remember why, but…have also made that decision to return from death.”
Garrus: “I see…this is still hard for me to completely understand but…it’s sounding more and more like magic is very much heavily involved with all of this.”
Mordin: “Indeed and willing to find the answers as to how. Feel as though…I owe my life…to whatever force chose to bring me back…prevented my death. The least I can do…for it…and for all that I have wronged in this galaxy. A new chance at life…more than willing to pay it back in full.”
All 3 of them stayed silent in contemplation. Just then, a chime went off.
Garrus: “Huh? What was that?”
Mordin then went on his Omni-tool and checked on it.
Mordin: “Hm, it seems as though the results for those scans from the Intel Crystals have been finalized.”
Garrus: “Intel Crystals?”
Mordin: “Dr. T’Soni mentioned to me that some of those crystals may consist of something that have been blocking out intel that are contained within them. She asked me to do a thorough scan of each of them to find out what could be the cause of this. The results are finally in.”
He then uploaded the data from his Omni-tool onto the main console. The images of the Intel Crystals were displayed before them. They stood and stared at them in stunned silence for a bit.
Garrus: “This…this…can’t…be…”
Thane: “Is that…could this be…”
Mordin: “Hm, as I have feared. Will need to bring Dr. T’Soni in here to look into this.”
Much time later, Liara entered the lab.
Liara: “I came as soon as you called. You needed me to look into something?”
Mordin: “Yes. The results of the scans on those Intel Crystals have been verified.”
She walked up to the table on the side near the door and looked up at the holographic images.
Liara: “What…no…this…that means…”
Mordin: “It is…as…I have feared…it seems that…some of these crystals…have been infused with Dark energy…”
Liara: “This…would…clarify…so much…”
Thane: “Apparently so…it really isn’t a wonder why some of those crystals are inaccessible.”
Liara: ”But…hold on, there’s something strange about all of this.”
Garrus: “What is it?”
Liara: “From what the scans have revealed, it seems that while some of the crystals are left void of this Dark energy, others are not so much. But…I don’t see…any traces of them…being partially tampered.”
Mordin: “Hm, yes, from what is displayed here, that appears to be the case. It seems that none of them have been partially tampered with, contrary to what we had thought. They were either completely tampered with or left alone.”
Liara: “But…how can this be? I was able to have access to some of the data within one of the crystals, I was certain that it was partially tampered with.”
Mordin: “As did I; it made sense at the time, but…”
Garrus: ”If what we see here is true, then that wouldn’t be the case. All of the crystals that have been tampered with are just that. Nothing less.”
Mordin: “Indeed.”
Liara: “But…if some of the data from one of the crystals I was able to gain access to was truly tampered with completely, then…how was I able to gain access to some of the intel?”
Mordin: “Hmm…indeed another mystery.”
Garrus: “And they just keep piling up.”
Mordin: “Hmmmm….do have a theory, but…will need to look into something before I can confirm it.”
Thane: “I guess you won’t be telling us what your theory is.”
Mordin: “No, not yet, there is still much that needs to be looked into before I would have the chance to reveal my findings. If what I theorized is true, then…this could set us back.”
Garrus: “Heh, no kidding, just when we thought we had the upper hand against this Dark force…”
Liara: “There is one other question regarding this: who or what tampered with those crystals?”
Everyone paused for a bit, stunned.
Thane: “That…is a good question.”
Mordin: “Indeed. Would have had to be someone that would have some way gained access to them.”
Thane: “Perhaps…it was the vigilante that did it.”
Garrus: “I don’t know about that. He didn’t have a clue that the girls had those crystals in their possession, so I don’t think it could have been him.”
Thane: “But…then who…?”
Everyone stood around, silent as they seemed confused.
Mordin: “Best possibility…another necromancer…”
Garrus: “What?”
Thane: “You…can’t be serious…”
Mordin: “Perhaps, perhaps not, but something or someone needed to have close access to those crystals as well as an advanced savvy understanding of how to utilize such power.”
Thane: “That is…a good point.”
Garrus: “Still, there is so much that we don’t understand about these magical forces.”
Mordin: “Yes, indeed, most likely, nothing could truly be considered impossible, given our own comprehension of this still lacking much structure. So far, we’ve only understood the basics. There may be more to it.”
Liara: “I believe so, too. At this rate, I will believe just about anything.”
They stood around, silent for a bit yet again. But suddenly, they heard someone enter the room. They look over to see Miranda standing in the doorway.
Miranda: “Guys! There are monsters attacking Omega! I just received a call from Aria! She needs us there now!!”
Liara: “What!?!”
Garrus: “There’s no time to lose! We have to head over there now!”
Miranda: “Joker is already setting a course back to Omega. We should be there within a matter of minutes.”
Garrus: “Alright, let’s head out now.”
Miranda left as Liara, Thane, Garrus and Mordin followed her out.
They arrived at the cockpit, Joker and EDI were piloting the ship as always. Jane stood by them and so did the girls.
Garrus: “We were just informed on what’s happening on Omega.”
Joker: “Yeah, I’m plotting a course for there right now. We’ll be there in no time.”
Garrus: “That’s good to hear.”
Flare: “I only hope that they’re able to hang in there until we arrive.”
Star: “Let’s hope this rust bucket can get us there within breakneck speed. You know we can fly faster there.”
Garrus: “No, we will get you there. No flying off.”
Star: “Yeah, yeah, we know.”
Aera: “It has been a while since we’ve seen some real action.”
Splash: “I know, he has been awfully quiet lately.”
Jewel: “Hmm…something about this just doesn’t seem right.”
Star: “You think that he’s been having a hard time with controlling that dark force?”
Jewel: “He shouldn’t even have the power to control it in the first place. Something definitely feels off.”
Liara: “Well, whatever the case may be, we will figure it out, one way or another.”
Jewel: “Yeah, I know.”
Joker: “We are just about to reach Omega.”
Garrus: “Good, we’ll head out as soon as we dock.”
FemShep: “Let’s hope you girls can handle yourselves in a fight after the long respite we had to take.”
Jewel: “Are you kidding me? I’ve been itching for another fight for a long time.”
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Episode 46-Discerns

Moments later, they arrived at Omega. As soon as the Normandy docked, the girls rushed out with several crew members. They managed to stop at an open area where Aria and a few of her subordinates stood out at the massive skyway before them.

Jewel: “Aria! We managed to get here as fast as we could.”
Aria: “Glad to see you girls again. We have an emergency.”
She then looked back out towards the skyway.
Aria: “As you can see…”
They looked out with her and were startled at what they were seeing. There were indeed many dark monsters attacking the nearby cars.
Liara: “Oh, no! It’s worse than we had thought.”
Star: “Oh! This is terrible.”
Jewel: “Well then, I guess there’s no question on what needs to be done.”
Garrus: “Go get em.”
Jewel nodded once. She and her friends stood beside each other.
Jewel: “Let’s get to it, girls. Metamorphose!”
From there, they transformed again. They leaped over the bars and with their wings reappearing on their backs, they flew off towards the chaos. Everyone else stood by and watched this take place.
They flew towards the monsters as fast as they could and began their assault, unleashing each of their elemental attacks. The monsters then turned their attention towards the girls.
Flare: “There are too many for us to deal with at this rate.”
Aera: “You’ve got a plan, Jewel?”
Jewel: “Ummm…oh! I’ve got it! We’ll take em on one group at a time. Divide and conquer. Keep them away from the civilians and keep their attention towards us.”
Aera: “And then what? We won’t be able to fight off these monsters forever.”
Jewel: “No, we won’t. We need to make sure that everyone is out of the way. Then, we’ll unleash another devastating attack to eradicate them all.”
Flare: “Ah, I see. So, we need to buy as much time as we can so that everyone’s out of harm’s way.”
Jewel: “Exactly. We’ll need to work fast. We can only maintain so much of our own energy in only a short amount of time before we run low again.”
Star: “Then, let’s conserve as much of our own energy as we can.”
Splash: “Alright! Let’s do it!”
They flew off in different directions, with each of the monsters branching off in different groups and chased after them.
Back from the land way, the crew members stood and watched as well as Aria and her loyal subordinates.
Garrus: “What are they doing?”
Aria: “Hm, it seems they’re taking on a tactical maneuver.”
Tali: “This ought to be fun to watch.”
Kasumi: "Too bad I forgot to bring popcorn to this viewing.”
Jacob: “They’re strategic prowess has never been a concern.”
Miranda: “Impressive, they are clever.”
Liara: “But this isn’t going to be enough.”
FemShep: “Maybe not. Hmm…I wonder what they’re up to.”
The girls lured away the different groups of monsters away from the denizens. With too many cars in harm’s way, the girls needed to work as fast as they could. With each group that they managed to successfully lure away, more and more cars were able to leave the vicinity, unleashing each of their attacks in different ways without harming anyone. Jewel was able to utilize her Gemma Kinetic abilities to coat each of the monsters that were still clinging on to some of the cars in crystal, which caused them to let go and allow the cars to flee the scene. She then cracked and shattered the crystals that were coated on them, causing a massive amount of damage. However, one of the monsters took her by surprise and lashed out on her, knocking her back.
The crew members, plus Aria, were stunned by this.
Liara: “Oh, no!”
FemShep: “Jewel!”
Jewel was able to recover from the shock, she then materialized a massive gem, with which she used to bounce back into action. She unleashed a barrage of her own jewelry on them as she flew back into the action.
On Flare’s end, she was unleashing bursts of flames, from slashes to simple flares and projectiles. She then unleashed a massive blast of her own fire. From this, she was able to fly through the current to unleash a surprise attack and struck when she was close enough.
Splash was utilizing her streams of water and ice attacks on her group. She then looked down to notice a massive monster slashing away at a massive vehicle. A serious look appeared on her face. She closed her eyes and encased herself in her own ice, allowing herself to fall towards the monster. As her ice made a direct impact on the monster, she opened her eyes and shattered the massive ice that she was in. She used the shards, turning them into water and used more devastating water attacks.
Aera flew away from her hoard with the use of her wind powers. She then noticed something and was about to fly into it. The hoard flew in but she was nowhere in sight. She was seen descending down with the hoard noticing that they had been tricked. She unleashed a devastating blast of her wind powers. She had a proud look on her face as she did this.
Star was shooting out lasers from her hands, with her hands changing positions, blasting at each of the monsters. She went on to conjure small orbs of Light and tossed them out. The orbs expanded into powerful bursts, causing a huge amount of damage. From this, she placed her hands on her hips with a conceited smile on her face.
The fight progressed on like this for an extensive period of time. Eventually, all the cars were able to clear out.
Jewel: “Good, all clear. Now’s our chance. Let’s bring our powers together and get rid of these things.”
From there, the girls came together. They conjured up their powers and began to mix them together.
Everyone else still on the land way still watched as this was taking place.
Aria: “What…what are they doing?”
Mordin: “A very special kind of magical ability in which they combine their powers for a more devastating attack. This process best identified as Convergence.”
Aria: “Convergence? This ought to be interesting.”
Tali: “Shush! This is the best part!”
The girls were able to combine their powers and unleashed a massive shockwave consisting of each of their elemental powers, completely obliterating the monsters around them.
Miranda: “Un…believable!!”
Liara: “Whoa!! That’s…incredible…!!”
Mordin: “Hmm…their powers are progressing a lot more than expected.”
Garrus: “What did you have placed in those supplements, professor?”
Mordin: “Hmm…none that I…perceived to have their magical energy increase by an astonishing amount. May need to look into this. Hmm….could also have been….(sniff)…yes, could most likely have been that…”
After the battle was over, the girls returned to the land way and reverted to their dormant forms. They seemed quite pleased with the fight.
FemShep: “Great job once again, girls.”
Splash: “Thanks! That was sooo much fun!!”
Kasumi: “That was some excellent rebound you did back there, Jewel.”
Jewel: “That trick can be a little hard to carry out, but I’ve had so much practice with it. It felt good to finally be able to master it.”
Aria: “Well, I admit, I am quite impressed with your powers.”
Jewel: “Think nothing of it. It…really was no big deal.”
Aria: “Maybe not to you, but to the rest of us? Well…”
Aera: “We get it, you’ve never seen anything like us. Our powers are like nothing you would have within this realm. Yeah, we get that a lot. It really is nothing special.”
Aria: “Hm, it seems to be that you girls are hardly full of yourselves.”
Flare: “We’re guardians. It is our job. Modesty doesn’t come so hard for us.”
Star: “But we take pride in what we do. We enjoy helping others.”
Aria: “I see. Well, there is nothing wrong with taking pride in what you enjoy doing.”
Splash: “Of course!”
Aera: “Damn straight!”
Jewel: “Now then, if there is anything else that we need to take care of, let us know. Other than that, we have other things that we need to focus on.”
Aria: “Wait, before you go, I have something else in mind.”
Jewel: “And what would that be?”
Aria: “Well, since you have done an excellent job with helping out, I would like to repay you.”
Jewel: “What do you mean?”
Aria: “Allow me to fill you in on something. After you girls left Omega during your previous visit, I have reached out to a few researchers who have been very interested in looking into your powers and magical abilities. We have a few things that we would like to give you in exchange.”
Star: “And what would that be?”
Aria: “Our assistance, of course. Word is that you needed some extra help with your powers as well as looking into this Dark entity that has plagued our galaxy, not including since your arrival.”
Jewel: “What!?! What do you mean!?!”
Aria: “Before I go into details regarding that, I would like for all of you to come with me. There is a place here where a handful of our selected researchers have been looking into this matter and it might interest you.”
Jewel: “Umm…is that so…?”
Jewel looked towards Garrus, knowing that he would have a say in this.
Garrus: “Hmm…if this would benefit the girls, I guess we can look into this matter. But I’d prefer to see all of this with my own eyes, just to ensure their safety.”
Aria: “Of course, I expect nothing less than your concerns; they will always be warranted. I promise that I will never do anything to harm or endanger them. You definitely have my word.”
Garrus: “I’ll hold you to it.”
He walked off along with the group who were led away by a few of Aria’s subordinates.
Aria: “But of course, I know better than to mess with them, especially with you as their father figure, Archangel.”
She walked after them.
Within much time, they arrived at another section of Omega. They found themselves making their way towards a facility of sorts.
Jewel: “What…what is this place?”
Mordin seemed a little startled by this.
Mordin: “This place…it’s…recognizable.”
Aria: “It should be; it’s similar to where you set up your clinic.”
Mordin: “Ah, yes, of course, even has the same feel to it, but…no…could it…be?”
Maelon: “I’m sure I already know what you’re thinking.”
They looked over and noticed Maelon walking in.
Maelon: “And you’re right. It is…exactly what you think.”
Mordin: “Maelon! I thought…you were…so…it IS true…”
Maelon: “Hello, professor. I didn’t think I’d see you again, especially with what happened on Tuchanka.”
Liara: “I…don’t believe it. So, you ARE here on Omega.”
Star: “Who is this guy?”
FemShep: “Girls, this is Maelon, he’s a former student of Mordin’s as well as a former member of the Salarian Special Tasks Group.”
Maelon: “You girls must be the, uh, magical girls I’ve heard so much about. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”
Mordin: “Maelon, this is Jewel, Flare, Star, Aera and Splash. And yes, they are the magical girls that you have heard so much about.”
Aria: “It seems that everyone in the galaxy pretty much knows about these girls. I expect that you treat them with the utmost respect. Am I clear?”
Maelon: “Of course, crystal clear. I would never show any form of insolence, especially after all that you’ve done for me. Also, I would have treated them with respect either way.”
Aria: “I’m glad to hear that.”
Garrus: “Not as glad as I am.”
Aera: “So, then, you’re a former apprentice of Mordin. I’m guessing you’re also a researcher.”
Maelon: “I’m a geneticist, so yes, I am. I have been looking into so much of the data regarding a lot of this magical energy that’s been going around and such.”
Splash: “So, what kind of research have you been working on?”
Maelon: “Well, I have been receiving intel from a lot of the medical departments that have been shared by the professor. I have to say, you girls have such fascinating physiology. From what I was able to gather, it appears that your intake of food definitely dissolves everything into pure energy, so pretty much everything you eat is always used up and never wasted.”
Mordin: “Yes, indeed. It seems that they could never produce any bodily waste of any kind.”
Maelon: “Yes, this is true. I never thought I would meet such a species.”
Splash: “Bodily…waste? What is that?”
Garrus: “Uh! We’ll, um, talk about that some other time. Right now, I’m interested in what kind of research you’ve been working on.”
Maelon: “Yes, of course. Please, follow me.”
Maelon turned around and walked off. Everyone else followed.
They continued through the place a bit more. Along the way, they saw many people, most of them researchers, looking into monitors, holographic images, working on machines, even their Omni-tools.
Maelon: “As you can see, we have been very busy with so much of the research that has been pouring in. I, myself, took personal interest in looking over the girls’ physiology, as I could not trust anyone else with this data.”
Jewel: “So, what else have you been looking into?”
Maelon: “Well, I did hear about your previous visit here on Omega. There have been some strange occurrences that have baffled a lot of us, such as what happened to those vorcha. You know what I mean, right?”
Aera: “Oh, you mean like that time when the Dark energy possessed those vorcha and transformed them? That…was terrifying to watch.”
Jacob: “And I thought the vorcha were ugly before.”
Maelon: “Yes, so I decided to look further into this Dark energy and its capabilities, such as forging those horrid monsters that attack everyone.”
Flare: “Oh, yes, there is that.”
Tali: “What are those monsters, anyway? I’ve never seen creatures like those before?”
Jewel: “Um…we have…or…at least…what they…actually…look like…”
Garrus: “What do you mean?”
Maelon: “Those creatures? They’re from other galaxies, aren’t they?”
Jewel: “Yes…I never thought…that…”
Liara: “Jewel…do you…know these creatures…?”
Jewel: “I…I think so…but…no, it couldn’t be…”
Miranda: “Is there something the matter?”
Jewel: “I…think…I think we need to have this looked into.”
From there, she held out her palms and from within them, a large pile of small pieces of jewelry were materialized. Everyone watched this in amazement.
Maelon: “What….are those…crystals…?”
Jewel: “Memory Crystals. They contain bits and fragments of memories. My…memories.”
Kasumi: “Memories…of what exactly?”
Jewel: “The time we spent drifting from one realm to another. I’ve recorded every single moment we’ve spent within each realm. You can have them.”
She had all of the crystals placed on a nearby table.
Maelon: “You’re simply just going to give them to me?”
Jewel: “Yes, they may help with your research.”
Maelon: “Huh, really?”
Liara: “For the time being, I’ve been creating a computer system that can extract data from crystals. I’m currently trying them on the Intel Crystals back on the ship.”
Maelon: “Alright, see to it that you lend me that system whenever you can.”
Liara: “Yes, I will get on that. I’m currently making one for Dr. Solus so that he can have the data whenever he needs it.”
Mordin: “We’ve been working on this together.”
Maelon: “Thank you, anything you give me will be helpful in the long run.”
Splash: “Wait. You’ve been recording memories of our journey across the universe?”
Aera: “All Gemma Kinetics do this, Splash. They like to forge crystals to contain all of their memories and experiences of every place they visit.”
Splash: “Oh, right, of course. I…heh, heh…forgot.”
Aera let out an exasperated sigh.
Aera: “Memories and fantasies are 2 separate things, you know.”
Aria: “What’s that got to do with anything?”
Aera: “Nevermind, I’ll tell you about it later.”
Aria: “Hm, I would consider it.”
Garrus: “Now then, is there anything else that needs to be done?”
Maelon: “Yes, of course, it regards the miraculous survivors.”
Mordin: “Ah, yes, the miraculous survivors. Would assume that you’re looking into this matter as well.”
Maelon: “Of course, we have been exchanging intel from the other clinics throughout the entire galaxy, compiling all that we know and bringing them all together.”
He went on his Omni-tool.
Maelon: “The data that we’ve been receiving has been quite astonishing.”
Miranda: “Anything that we don’t know about?”
Maelon: “Well…we’ve had a few of our own…findings. In fact, several of those miraculous survivors have been brought here to our clinic for close examination as well as looking after them of course.”
Liara: “So, what have you been able to find out?”
Maelon: “Hmm…come this way, please.”
They followed him further into the clinic. He brought them into another chamber of the clinic.
Maelon: “As you can see, we’ve been tending to more and more mysterious cases.”
They looked out as many of the volunteer staff had tended to many people lying down on stretchers, some of them were delirious from just waking up, others were still unconscious. Maelon was already on his Omni-tool.
Maelon: “We’ve had thorough scans of each of them. Among the data we’ve compiled together, we should be able to have large readings regarding this Light magical energy.”
Liara: “We’ve…also taken notice of this.”
Mordin: “You were able to find that readings on this energy were focused on a few areas of their bodies, correct?”
Maelon: “Yes, many of these areas consist of fatal wounds that were somehow healed by this energy. Some have called it a miracle; others have thought of it as an abomination.”
Flare: “What are your thoughts on this, Maelon?”
Maelon: “My thoughts? Well…if a greater force is involved in this, then we have no right to call it an abomination. I believe that this may be the work of God.”
Everyone in the room became startled by this.
Star: “But…can you…is it…”
Flare: “There is no doubt in my mind that such handiwork is that of the Divine Source, our goddess, however…”
Jewel: “The Divine Source is OUR god…what we Fayelons worship…what does this mean?”
Maelon: “It means that there is a very strong connection between what’s been going on in our galaxy and your Divine Source, your goddess.”
Jewel: “But…why…is this…happening…?”
Aera: “What happened here…that’s causing all of this…?”
Everyone stared at the girls for a brief moment, concerned for them.
Maelon: “There is no doubt that something has happened here, something in which your goddess may have a reason to get involved. All of the data we have collected so far, they’re providing us with vital clues that are leading us to this.”
Mordin: “Hmm…yes, indeed.”
Maelon: “Which is actually what we need to discuss. We have also been compiling the collective data regarding this residual Dark energy, it seems that most of the readings could be found within the far corners of the galaxy, reaching out from many ends of it.”
Miranda: “I’m afraid I don’t follow.”
Maelon then looked over towards a large, hologram projector. He used his Omni-tool to display a massive image of the entire galaxy.
Maelon: “From the data we have collected, we have found that the residual traces seem to stretch out throughout the many edges of the galaxy.”
From the images, some images of dark hazes are shown from different ends of the galaxy, forming large, dark splotches.
Jacob: “This residual energy, they’re shown to be outside our galaxy?”
Maelon: “From what I can tell, yes. No strong traces of them within our galaxy, or rather anything as potent as these readings.”
Garrus: “But what does this mean?”
Maelon: “We’re not sure yet, but one thing is certain: something has definitely happened in our galaxy involving Dark magic.”
Splash: “Say, could these…Reapers be involved in this?”
Maelon: “There is no way to confirm that, but…I believe that they may have something to do with this as well.”
Miranda: “What…happened here…?”
Garrus continued staring at the holographic image of the galaxy.
Maelon: “Oh, I almost forgot, there is one other thing that I’ve been meaning to mention.”
Jewel: “What is it?”
Maelon went back on his Omni-tool again.
Maelon: “I just picked up on the data that was found on Therum. It was shared amongst everyone else, the data involving the residual traces of a Light magical aura that surrounds most of the miraculous survivors. At the moment, the data is currently being used to see if we’re able to seek out more of those miraculous survivors. A good number of those that we have here on Omega were all thanks to that data.”
Mordin: “Ah, yes, excellent work, Maelon.”
Maelon: “Thanks, although, you’re to thank for all of this. It was you that made that discovery after all.”
Mordin: “Yes, but thanks in no small part to our girls of course.”
Star: “We just do what we can.”
Maelon: “A lot of the data that has come back from that reveals some astonishing discoveries throughout the entire galaxy. Survivors from fleets that were destroyed, all coming back with these readings.”
Liara: “That’s…a lot to take in.”
Maelon: “There will be many more as time goes on. This is an unbelievable breakthrough of cosmic proportions.”
Aria: “All of this is nothing short of a miracle. Nothing else. I believe we have your goddess to thank for all of this, girls.”
Jewel: “Yeah…but…there are still so many unanswered questions and mysteries about this…”
FemShep: “We know and…there is still so much to look into.”
Liara: “But look at it this way, girls. We’re finding the answers little by little. We will be able to see the whole truth.”
Jewel: “I hope so…”
Kasumi: "So, anything else you have for us?”
Maelon: “Of course, I have been reaching out to some of these research teams while exchanging information with them. One such place being members of Grissom Academy.”
Star: “Really? You’ve been reaching out to Grissom Academy?”
Maelon: “Yes, one of their own just stopped by, said something about having been here before, so she seemed like someone ideal to stop by here.”
Aera: “Someone who’s been here before…? You don’t mean…?”
Star: “Jack?”
Jack: “Yeah, me.”
They looked over and noticed Jack walking in.
Splash: “Oh, hello, Jack!”
Jack: “Hey, it’s good to see you girls again. How have you been?”
Jewel: “We’ve…been better…”
Jack: “I…I figured as much…I heard about what happened.”
Jewel: “Oh…”
Jack then looked over towards Garrus.
Jack: “Garrus, you look like you’re doing well. How are you after having been frozen inside that large crystal?”
Garrus: “Not great, but not terrible, either. I just hope that I never have to go through something like that again.”
Jewel sulked, Jack looked over towards her, she then walked up to her and bent down a little, placing her hand behind Jewel’s shoulder from behind her head.
Jack: “Hey, it’s OK. Don’t be so hard on yourself. I think you handled it a lot better than most of us would.”
She looked up at Jack with a somewhat startled look on her face.
Jewel: “Really?”
Jack: “Yeah, of course. You really hung in there and you got through it. I’m actually impressed. Ms. Sanders said the same thing. It wasn’t an easy ordeal, but you did it. You’re as tough as they come. We’re all proud of you.”
Jewel seemed touched.
Jewel: “Jack…”
Jack removed her hand and stood back up.
Jack: “Now then, there are some things that I need to discuss with just a few of you guys. If you would just come here for a sec, I’d appreciate it. Tali, Jacob, Miranda.”
Miranda: “Um, sure, I guess we could go over a few things with you.”
Jack: “Save the smarmy comments, cheerleader. This doesn’t concern you.”
Miranda: “Of course not, this would concern the girls more than any of us.”
Jack: “Damn right it does.”
Kasumi: "This should be interesting.”
Tali, Kasumi, Jacob and Miranda walked off with Jack. The girls, curious about this, walked off with them. At that moment, the rest of the group heard a chime go off. They went back over towards the hologram projector to check out.
Liara: “What is that noise?”
Maelon: “Hmm…it seems that more data has been sent in. I’ll need to take a look at it.”
They walked over to the main projector. They looked at the images displayed before them. From the projector, there were several images of the Milky Way galaxy, but they seemed to display different images of the residual Dark energy. One image displayed more of the splotches, another displayed more and more of the energy, so much so that it appeared the splotches were brought together. Another displayed more of the Dark energy to which it appeared to have been covering the entire galaxy. Another appeared to have the Dark energy forming a barrier around the entire galaxy with only a few holes.
Maelon: “What…? What is…how is this…?”
Liara: “What…is all of this…?”
Mordin: “Hmm…could all of these…come from…different groups?”
Maelon: “Apparently…from what is displayed here… there have been…a disagreement at one point. One group had received a reading that displayed the galaxy with just residual traces of the splotches that I showed you before. However, another group received readings of more traces of this residual energy. I heard that the different groups debated about this for a time. When I heard about this, I asked for each of their analyses.”
Garrus: “You received this just now?”
Maelon: “Yes. I can understand why the different groups were confused about this. But…what does this all mean? This doesn’t seem to make any sense.”
Mordin stood by, pondered about this.
Garrus: “Any theories, professor?”
Mordin: “Do have something in mind. No way to make any sense of this, at least not with our current equipment.”
FemShep: “What do you have in mind?”
Mordin: “You remember that device I mentioned back when we were on Feros, right?”
Liara: “You mean…?”
Mordin: “Yes, might help with making sense of this.”
FemShep: “Flare did mention something about sensing residual traces of magical energy. She said that she could extract images of events from the past. She states that they’re “memories from the Divine Source”. This could be the same principle as well.”
Mordin: “Yes, also believe that. The answers to what happened here are right in front of us, we just need to bring these together in order to see the entire picture.”
Liara: “I…don’t believe it. I feel that this is possible, but with so much to look into and so much that we have seen and learned…it seems so much to take in.”
Mordin: “Indeed, truly exciting, don’t you think?”
Garrus: “Well, it does make me feel anxious. I’m also itching to find out what the hell happened here.”
FemShep: “We all are.”
Soon enough, the others walk back to them. When they looked back, they all seemed concerned. As a matter of fact, they almost looked enraged. The girls had also returned to them, they seemed worried, almost saddened.
Liara: “Is there something the matter?”
Jacob: “Jack just showed us the results of the last few Endurance Tests that she had witnessed, back at Grissom Academy and at Feros.”
Miranda: “A lot of the research students at the academy have been looking very diligently into the data. What they discovered, well…”
Tali: “It was far worse than we had imagined.”
Liara: “What’s wrong? Is it…really bad?”
Jack: “That wouldn’t even come close.”
Garrus: “Show me the data. I want to see this right now.”
Jack: “You don’t need to tell me twice.”
Jack, having held onto a datapad, handed it over to Garrus. He looked into the data on it.
Kasumi: “Apparently from what we were told, one of the students noticed something strange when looking over the results of those Endurance Tests and had some concerns about it. So they conducted an experiment on it.”
Tali: “This was the result of that experiment. That student had every right to be concerned.”
For a while, he was silent. However, there was a clear sign of anger from him.
Garrus: “You can’t be serious! Is all of this really true?”
Jack: “Yeah, it’s as bad as it looks. I don’t even need to tell you what any of this means.”
He looked up at her, he had a clear sign of anger on his face. He looked back at the others. He walked up to Mordin and handed over the datapad. Mordin took it from him and looked into it. Jane and Liara, standing on both sides of him, looked at the datapad from over his shoulders. They looked at it for a bit before a surprised look appeared on their faces, and they weren’t those of being pleasantly surprised.
Liara: “No…this…this can’t be…”
Garrus: “What do you think, professor?”
Mordin looked at the datapad a bit before looking back at Garrus.
Mordin: “This data…shows clear signs of…if what is mentioned here…the physical labor they underwent while training at their academy shows undisputable signs of…extensive physical exertion during their time at the academy.”
Garrus: “The girls did mention something about these Endurance Tests not being the hardest they’ve ever pushed themselves. If this is how much they exhausted themselves during those tests, then…”
Mordin: “Yes, this is…a clear sign that they have been pushed too hard by their mentors. This is blatant evidence that proves deliberate sabotage.”
Garrus: “And THEY knew it. There’s no argument here. They knew exactly what they were doing…to these girls.”
Everyone stood by, shocked, surprised. Even Aria had shown to be enraged by this.
Much time later, the crew members were making it back to the Normandy. Aria and her henchmen were seeing them on their way.
Liara: “Thank you for providing us with this help.”
Aria: “It is the least I can do. I wish there was more I could provide, but…this is all I can do on such short notice.”
Jewel: “At least you’re putting forth the effort. You’ve been so much nicer to us than our mentors back at home.”
Garrus: “Yeah, and that goes without saying.”
Aria: “Of course, I may not exactly be the most likable person in the galaxy, but even I would never mistreat an adolescent, much less one that everyone in the galaxy depends on to protect us from these Dark forces.”
Aera: “I reeeeeally hope your hospitality of us isn’t conditional.”
Aria: “Don’t worry about that. I like you girls, so treating you with the utmost respect really is not an issue for me. I’ve always fancied myself as a people-person and I would especially frown upon mistreating children. It is beneath me, much like a lot of the scum we have here on Omega.”
Garrus: “You’ve clearly done a fantastic job with clearing out so much of that here.”
Aria: “Hmph! I usually wouldn’t take any sarcasm into consideration but I’ll let it slide.”
Garrus had a look of discontent on his face for her remark.
Aria: “Come back anytime. You are always welcome here. I’ll make sure no one makes any trouble for any of you.”
Aera: “I’ll hold you to that.”
Splash: “Thank you again, Miss Aria. You are really nice.”
The crew members and the girls made their way back to the Normandy.
Aera: “Naive as always, huh, Splash?”
Splash: “Hey! Don’t say that!”
Star: “Well it is safe to say that she’s more likable than most of the people back at home.”
Aera: “Heh! Can’t argue with that.”
Flare: “Hmm….I am concerned by something. If it’s alright with any of you, I would also like to look into a lot of the data that we have received.”
Mordin: “Certainly, Flare. All of you are more than welcome to that. However, would also like some help with a few things while we’re at it.”
Star: “Of course, doctor!! I’m always happy to help out however I can!!”
Aria: “Good luck, you guys. You’re…going to need it in the long run.”
There were clear signs of concern on her face.
As soon as they made it back on the ship, they met up with Ashley and Kelly.
Kelly: “Hey, guys, how did everything go?”
Garrus: “Not too bad. The girls handled the threat, just like they usually do.”
Kelly: “That’s good to hear.”
Garrus: “Yeah, that’s just about as good as it got.”
Ashley: “What’s wrong? You don’t look pleased.”
Mordin: “We met back with a former apprentice of mine, Maelon. He seems to have been doing some research regarding this magical energy.”
Kelly: “Wow, that’s…amazing. It’s good to hear he’s doing well, especially with after…what he was doing on Tuchanka.”
Mordin: “Yes, indeed, he has…reformed…good thing Shepard stopped me from killing him.”
Kelly: “Yeah, I’ll say.”
Garrus: “I’m afraid there are other matters that we need to discuss. We received some data back from Jack.”
Ashley: “What? Jack was there?”
Garrus: “Yeah, the research students back at the academy had been looking into the results of the previous Endurance Tests they underwent. The results…well…”
Mordin: “Can’t say they are good. Not so much about them, but…”
Garrus: “From what we saw, they revealed clear evidence of ongoing academic abuse towards the girls.”
Ashley and Kelly were shocked by this. They didn’t have anything else to say after this.
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