Mass Effect: The Forgotten Soul

Chapter Twenty: Dolos

"There is nothing left but the desecration of the soul."

Dallas sat in the office adjacent to the laboratory, overlooking the scans from the device connected to Martin's head. He was frustrated; for the last four hours, the device couldn't connect to the chip inside his head. He wondered if the device was a dud or if the chip had been damaged. Although the discomfort the machine brought Martin pleased him greatly.

It was fortunate that Madz was unable to remove the chip back on Omega. They had learned that the chip would fry itself if removed manually. The supposed data on that chip was considered priceless if the Illusive man was to be believed, although no one knew what data it contained.

Martin stared at the ceiling, restrained on the table. The feeling returned to his body a short time ago. For the last four hours, his mind burned as he resisted the device attached to his skull. He thought about just allowing the machine to do its job so Cerberus would leave him alone or kill him. But his stubborn defiance was a message to Dallas.

He was exhausted and somewhat delirious from the pain he had experienced. Martin tried to rest, preparing for when the next attempt would start. He had to buy time. Hopefully, someone would find him soon. The door to his left opened, and he prepared himself for the coming torture. A figure moved into view and stopped a few feet from the table. Martin looked up at the man now standing over him. He looked familiar yet different. "Williams. Greg, what the hell?" He couldn't believe who was standing over him. Maybe a figure of his imagination?

The man grabbed a chair from the room's wall, slid it over, and sat down while making a pained noise as he sat. "They got you too?" Martin asked. Williams smiled and dropped his head, "Kind of."

"What do you mean, kind of?" Something was off; then again, who had he met from his past were who he thought they were? "It's a long story, but you shouldn't be here," He paused momentarily, "None of us should," Martin replied.

Williams smiled, "Yeah, I guess I know what you mean."

"Greg, you gotta get me out of here; these people are nuts!" Williams' smile faded, and he dropped his head. "I can't do that right now. You wouldn't survive; there are too many people watching."

Williams stood up slowly with another pained noise. That's when he realized just how sickly he looked. "What did they do to you?" He asked as Williams headed to the door. He stopped a few feet from the door and leaned on the table. "They killed me... just stay alive, just a while longer."

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It had been two weeks since Dallas captured Martin and returned him to the Lab on Elysium. Although pleased with Dallas' handling of the situation, Sören was frustrated that he couldn't get the data. All of their attempts had failed, and the Illusive man was annoyed by their progress. It also appeared that someone else was after the data. Dallas had reported several ships stalking the freighter as it returned, not to mention a few break-in attempts on the facility in the last few days.

Sören had sent the device away to be looked over by his engineers two days ago while the scientist watched over Martin under heavy guard. Dallas often paced around the lab like a hyena waiting for its prey to weaken. Waiting for his chance to sink his blade into Martin. Sören forced him away several times. He couldn't trust him enough not to kill him.

Sören stood by a window overlooking the Lab, waiting patiently for the device to return from the engineers. The door to the observation room split open as Dallas entered the room. "I hope you have good news." Soren greeted. Dallas walked to the window by his side and looked down at the Lab's floor. "The device was sabotaged; I've already dealt with the saboteur."