Mass Effect: The Forgotten Soul

Chapter Eleven:... And a Very Hard Place

"They lose the day in expectation of the night and the night in fear of the dawn."

Velpia had brought Martin back to the clinic where they had previously visited.  She managed to call Kenith and explained the situation, and relayed them to an Asari scientist working on Omega since the other doctors either refused to look at him or refused due to the clinic's popularity that day.

After explaining Martin's situation, it piqued her curiosity more than anything.  When she arrived at the clinic, she spoke like Martin was just a subject.  She had very cold bedside manners, to say the least.  Several times she compared him to an animal.  Sure, Martin may have felt like a neanderthal at times, but he didn't need to hear it from someone who probably had more PhDs than he would ever see in four lifetimes.  He could only imagine how or why she ended up on Omega.

Velpia stood against the wall by the door, watching the Asari poke and prod Martin for almost an hour before running the scan.  Kenith was assisting Dr. Dantive with blood samples.

She was staring intently at the monitor for some time, trying to get a better look at something in Martin's brain.  The Doctor quickly flagged Velpia over.  "Your Human appears to have a control device implant." She explained plainly.

Velpia looked at the screen to see a small dark blot on Martin's brain.  "Okay, so what is that, and how long until you can get it out?"

Martin quickly looked at the two, "The Human would like some damn input on whether or not he gets cut open!" The Asari put her hand on his chest to push him back on the table.  They both dismissed him as they continued.

The Doctor proceeded with her cold demeanor.  "It's pretty self-explanatory.  The chip allows the user to control or influence the subject in several ways.  Unfortunately for me, it's not that simple to remove.  If I tried to remove the device, it could cause complete memory failure and possibly permanent loss of muscle control.  Your human would be worthless to you."

"The Human has a name..." Martin again protested from the table.  "So what can we do?" Velpia asked.

"We can't jam it without knowing what kind of signal it uses.  The only thing I can recommend is to keep him away from whoever has his leash." She stepped away and pulled out her Omni tool to turn off the scanning device.  "If I find anything else, I'll contact you." She then turned to walk out of the room.

"Did we have to get the damn cold-blooded vampire bitch?" Martin asked while moving the scanner away.

"She's a Veterinarian; what did you expect?" She replied.

Martin stopped for a moment.  "What am I?  A dog?"

He sat up and noticed Velpia seemed aggravated by the Asari's prognosis.

"Nothing is fucking easy around here." She jokingly said.  He got off the table and patted her shoulder in agreement as he walked out of the room.

They walked out of the clinic together, heading back to their room.  They needed the rest of their equipment if they were going to track down Dallas.  Their ride back to their district was quiet.  Martin was still trying to process what Dallas had said.  "So Dallas... What do we know about him? Why would he be after you beside the hole to meet my boss, explanation." She asked calmly.

Martin let out an annoyed sigh, "He was a squad leader in the Militia back home.  When we were betrayed by the government, he was one of the junior NCOs that voted to stay put when the rest Officers and NCOs agreed with me to pull out of the area to petition Congress in person.  He disappeared shortly after.  But he's not acting like he used to; some things changed."