The Bureau of Multiverse Affairs

Chapter 24 Congratulations and Farewells (Final)

A flat plain of whiteness greeted him. There seemed to be light all around, but it was impossible to tell where it was coming from.
Shepard blinked, confused. What was going on? The last thing he remembered was a great rushing of air and light as the Intelligence's sphere had been destroyed. It had claimed that if it died, they too would perish with it. Was this the afterlife?

He felt a faint sensation of movement and looked down to see a three-fingered gloved hand on his chest. Turning his head he saw Tali lying beside him, slowly stirring.
"Tali?" he whispered.
The Quarian raised her head and looked at him, eyes wide behind her mask.
"Shepard...?" she said, sounding as confused as he felt, "What... where... are we... are we..."
Her voice trailed off, as if afraid of the answer.

"No," Shepard replied firmly, hoping it would comfort her, "No, I don't think we're dead."
She threw her arms around him, letting out a deep shuddering breath. Shepard drew his arms around her as well, feeling tears at the edge of his eyes.
Now sitting up, he began to take in their surroundings. They were lying on the floor of a large circular room, its surfaces made of something white and glowing. Around them were the rest of the team, all currently in the process of waking up.

"Ooh..." grumbled Garrus as he sat up beside Shepard, looking around in astonishment.
"Eh?" grunted Xena, rubbing her eyes, "What's going on?"
"Your guess is as good as mine," Booker replied.
"Ah," said the Doctor, already getting to his feet and adjusting his absurdly long scarf, "I think I know where we are."
"Where?" asked Sarah, who was lying beside a befuddled-looking Benton.

"This is the room we first met in," said Sherlock, who was currently kneeling over the slowly waking forms of Watson and Lestrade.
"It can't be," said Elizabeth, "There was a table."
"Indeed, there was a table."
"'Was' being the key word here of course."

The team whipped around to see the people who had just spoken, suddenly feeling wide awake. Against the furthest wall stood Robert and Rosalind Lutece, both wearing their customary tan suits.
"You two!" Booker exclaimed, sounding both angry and relieved. "Where the hell have you been!?"
"Keeping an eye on you of course," Rosalind replied.

"Something you did not make easy," stated Robert, wagging his finger.
"Oh don't give us that crap!" Lestrade snapped furiously. "You haven't contacted us once since we escaped Columbia! You didn't even think to tell us that the real enemy was some giant space brain? Or that we're fictional characters?"

"There are some things even we did not know," Rosalind answered sternly, "Besides, you handled yourself well when the time came."
"Yeah, never mind we could have been killed!" Booker shouted.
"We had every confidence in your abilities," replied Robert.

Shepard huffed, his own patience wearing thin.
"You still could have told us something," he said, attempting to keep a civil tongue in his head.
"Things are rarely that simple," Rosalind replied.
Shepard sighed.
"Why not?" said Tali, her voice filled with an anger that was rarely heard. "We fought our way across three different universes for you. You could have been honest with us at least."
"If we had been honest things might not have turned out so well," Robert answered.

"Well? Well!" Xena spluttered, "We almost died!"
"But you didn't," countered Rosalind, "And you successfully thwarted the Intelligence's plans at its most critical moment. And by destroying the portal, you allowed us to undo the damage that the Intelligence's forces had done across the multiverse."
"For that, you have more than earned our sincere congratulations," said Robert, gently clapping his hands.
"Is that it?" Gabrielle said, looking very annoyed.

"Not at all," Rosalind replied. "Your actions also allowed us to access the Intelligence's pocket universe and save you and your friends before it collapsed."
"Wait a minute," Sarah cut in at that moment, looking around the room, "Where are the others? Amanda, Captain Sullivan, Professor Dyer."
Shepard noticed for the first time that they were indeed missing the other team members.

"Where are they?" he demanded, taking a step toward the Lutece twins.
"Your friends are safe," Robert replied reassuringly.
He slipped a small device from his pocket and pressed a button, causing a screen to flicker into existence in midair. As it solidified an image appeared, showing Amanda Ripley stumbling down an octagon-shaped corridor.