Whole, Part 2 (a Mass Effect fanfiction)

You Have What You Need

As they entered the corridor, Shepard's comm link pinged. It was Hackett. "Incursion team, are you still with us? We're limiting fire as best we can!"

"Admiral, we're in deep, and the Prothean VI will be in the safest part of the station. Don't hold back. Hit them with everything you've got."

"Damn it, Shepard, this isn't Elysium! I don't need a hero!"

"I'll be fine," she assured him. "Just take Cerberus down. Please."

"Understood, Commander."

The transmission cut out, and Shepard turned to the others. "I just gave the fleet permission to unleash hell. We'd better pick up the pace. EDI, how close are we?"

"Not much farther now, Shepard."

EDI led them up a set of ramps and ladders to a central room high at the top of the facility, hacking the door. It slid open and Shepard stepped inside, unable to restrain a gasp of wonder. The room was made entirely of glass, and all around them was the glory of the stars ... and the night lit up with the colors of battle, ships colliding out there within their view. The sight reminded her of the importance of their mission.

Unfortunately, the room was also empty, other than some computers and a chair. No Illusive Man, no Kai Leng.

As she crossed the floor, Shepard found herself standing in a circle set in the center. The Illusive Man's holographic projection center, she presumed. Without more than a moment's hesitation, she crossed it, going to the chair and beginning to survey the monitors and keyboards in front of her. "We need to locate the Prothean VI," she said over her shoulder to EDI, who went to another bank of monitors and began tapping away at a keyboard there. Between them, they would find it. Shepard was sure of that.

Kaidan covered them from the doorway. He didn't seem as willing to trust the fragile glass to hold him as Shepard and EDI were.

Then, from behind her, she heard the voice she had been expecting. The Illusive Man. "You're in my chair," he said.

She was up immediately, turning and aiming her weapon, but it was only another hologram. "This chair's about the only damn thing you have left. Cerberus is finished."

"On the contrary—we have achieved everything I ever imagined." Over her shoulder, he caught sight of EDI and amended, "Almost everything."

"Yeah, we all saw what you accomplished on Sanctuary," Shepard said, her voice hard. "But it's not the same as controlling a Reaper."

"A significant hurdle," he agreed. "But thanks to the Prothean VI, I have what it takes to make it a reality."

Something was off about the statement. He didn't seem as confident as usual. Shepard felt a sudden chill down her spine, but she ignored it. "You have the Catalyst?"

"Yes."

"What is it, then? How will it help you control the Reapers?"

She thought he hesitated. "You'll have to ask the VI yourself. I'm done helping you."

"When did you start?"

"You think because I'm willing to use the enemy's tactics, that they're no longer my enemy? Everything, Shepard. Everything I've done has been to uplift humanity. Not only above all other species in the galaxy, but above the Reapers!"

"Come on. If you're willing to go that far, then give me the Catalyst. With the Crucible, we can end this!"

"It's not that simple."

"It is! It is just that simple. We're fighting each other while the Reapers occupy Earth. It's time to stop."

He shook his head. "Your idealism is ... admirable, Shepard. But in the end, our goals are simply too disparate. I believe destroying the Reapers would be the worst mistake we could ever make. And nothing you can say will ever convince me otherwise."

She was disappointed—for a moment there, she'd thought he might listen. "I've given you every chance to listen to reason. Now Cerberus is done—and so are you."

Her words didn't shake him a bit. "Once again, you fail to recognize the truth. Cerberus isn't just an organization or the people behind it. Cerberus is an idea. That idea is not so easily destoyed."

"It's an idea whose time has ended, long ago," Kaidan said loudly from behind the hologram.

The Illusive Man ignored him. "Besides," he went on, "I've already acquired what you're looking for."

Shepard looked over her shoulder. "EDI?"

"I've almost got it."

"EDI," the Illusive Man said thoughtfully. "I'm surprised at you, working so hard to bring about the Reapers' destruction. You could have destroyed Eva's body. Instead, you chose to control it."

"It was necessary," EDI said briefly.

The Illusive Man nodded. "My point exactly."

EDI stopped typing suddenly. "I've got it."

The Prothean VI shimmered into existence in the center of the room. "Online. Security breach detected."

Shepard stepped toward it. "I need to know what the Catalyst is." As she did so, she thought the lights dimmed. It seemed very dark in the room suddenly, and very cold.

From the Prothean VI came the last thing she had expected to hear, although probably she should have. "The darkness cannot be breached."

"What?" Kaidan asked.

But Shepard and EDI exchanged looks. It made so much sense, suddenly. Hidden in the depths of the ocean on a forgotten planet for countless cycles, Leviathan was the Catalyst. Leviathan was the key to the Crucible, to the destruction of the Reapers.

"What did it say?" the Illusive Man demanded. "What does that mean?"

Shepard turned to him, the light dawning at last. "You don't know what it is! You let me attack and destroy your base because you knew I was the only one who could understand the VI, and you wanted me to lead you to it. Well, I won't. And you'll die, wherever you are, without ever knowing."

"Don't underestimate me, Shepard!"

"I don't. But you've underestimated me, time and again. This was the last time." She stepped over to the hologram circle. "Good-bye." And she tromped firmly on the button that would end the transmission.

The Illusive Man was gone.

The Prothean VI turned to her. "You have what you need?"

"Yes."

"Then my task is done." It appeared to hesitate. "Be wary," it said, and then it, too was gone.