The Hybrid | Book 1 | Garrus Vakarian | Mass Effect ✔

The Hybrid: Chapter Ninteen

Nothing could prepare Commander Shepard for what she would find out in just moments. As she and Garrus stand there waiting for their dead friend to come out of hiding, their best friend and comrade was being dissected like he was nothing. Thane was suffering while Shepard was distracted by the past and unanswered questions. She worried about Thane, just as she worried about the universe. Garrus stood beside her, his gun in hand, his finger on the trigger. Just a year ago, they were standing in his very spot where all this had happened. Doctor Heart had shown his face and they killed him with ease. They thought that the mission was completed; they thought that the nightmare of selling organs on the black market was over. It was just several months earlier that they found out that everything they knew was a lie. They were now facing something big. It was an evil way of preserving the galaxy but it was something Shepard felt needed to happen. With the information she had about the Reapers, it was inevitable to miss out on a project like this. She had been thinking long and hard about it, never mentioning anything to Garrus. She could lay it all to rest, stop pushing for something this big to stop. With the hybrids, they could make more advanced aliens. They could help stop the Reapers and build anew again. As they waited for Kaiden to arrive (who she knew was a hybrid by now or someone back from the dead like she was), she turned her attention to Garrus, taking in a heavy sigh.

"We have to let this happen."

"What?" Garrus asked, dumbfounded that she would say something like this. He wondered if she was ill or if being sleep deprived had finally gotten to her. Shepard looked down, wondering if her choice was the right one. She should think about the galaxy. Governments were already joining this force. The Alliance was agreeing with this. What are they going to do to stop it? Kill the doctor again? It seems to her that Cerberus has his clutches on this project, no matter what, they couldn't stop him. If she did, she would stop the galaxy from expanding. She didn't want to admit that she was wrong about her motives in the beginning. She was terrified of what Garrus was going to tell her. She had to stand for what was right in a situation like this. Shepard looked back up to Garrus with tears streaming down her face. She didn't want to make this decision. The crap they went through, the mental damage she had to endure, it was all for nothing. Garrus, instead of saying anything, put his weapon in his holster and pulled the Commander in close.

"We will make it," Garrus whispered.

"I want to save everyone," Shepard whispered. She knew that she couldn't, and it killed her. It was killing her that she didn't know where Thane was and how he was probably being tortured by the doctor. She was starting to lose her sanity. Everything was coming to a close, the Reapers were getting closer, and the Hybrids were being made probably in a part of the universe that she has never been to. If this doctor was smart enough, he would have left the galaxy to perform these cruel experiments. There was another solar system outside of the Milky Way that has been researched for years. If he did leave the solar system, there was no stopping him. There was no way they could get Thane back. He was dead and that thought killed Shepard.

"You've made it." Kaiden's voice came out of nowhere causing Shepard to quickly grab her pistol from her hip and point it at the man. He had his hands raised in surrender as if it would stop Shepard from killing him. Garrus had his weapon pointed at Shepard's ex. There were several things Garrus wanted to do to him. He wasn't one for torture but after hearing what he had done to not only the Alliance but what he had done to the woman he loved, he wouldn't mind slowly killing Kaiden again.

Kaiden chuckled, "It's nice isn't it?"

Shepard nor Garrus said anything, Shepard was too sick in her stomach to utter a word to the man.

"To be alive again? Come on Shepard, you have to admit, it's the most refreshing experience-"

"Where is Thane, Kaiden?"