The Firefly (Mass Effect Andromeda)

Chapter 7

Harry's summons to the Hyperion had sounded urgent, Scott thought, almost running to the cryobay. If it involved Sara, he would shove anyone far out of his way to get there faster. "Harry, what's happening with Sara?" He asked, striding in. His twin lay, not in a cryopod, but on a bed, which seemed progress. He could hear the machines monitoring her vital signs, but Sara wasn't moving. Her eyes remained closed.

"Well," Harry said, staring down at a datapad, "We got her out of the pod. I don't want to get your hopes up but SAM managed to, uh, 'find' her, you might say." Scott strode around him, taking a seat beside his twin.

"I don't follow."

"Well she's still in a coma, but she also has an implant like yours. And SAM managed to access it." Harry explained. "He's made contact."

"That's incredible." Scott breathed, gently taking Sara's hand. "She's okay?"

"Vitals are steady," Harry glanced at his data again, "But I'm letting SAM take the lead on this one."

SAM piped in, "Though in a coma, Sara's mental processes remain intact."

"So is she okay?" Scott asked again.

"You can ask her yourself. A moment while I establish a link with her implant." Suddenly Sara jerked. "Proceed."

"Sara?" Scott called out cautiously, "Can you hear me?"

"Is that you, Scott?" He heard his sister's voice so clearly in his mind, watched her facial muscles twitch. "I don't understand. What's happening?"

"There was a problem with your stasis pod. You're in a coma, on the Hyperion. Do you understand?"

"Wow, really. How are we talking?" They talked a little and then Sara asked the question he had been dreading, "Is dad okay?"

"I'm not sure how to say this but...he's dead, Sara."

"What?"

"There was an accident."

"What do you mean, accident? What...? Dad..." Her voice trailed off, devastated. So when Sara asked him about the golden worlds, Scott lied. He couldn't hurt her anymore, not when she was helpless like this. He stroked her cheek gently as the connection died. He missed her more than anyone.

"Thanks Harry." Scott said, rising. He hesitated. "You're friends with Olivia Taylor, right? The girl from the news."

"The one you shouted at?" Harry looked amused, "I've known her since she was tiny. I feel like a surrogate parent with Laura and her sister Nina in cryo and Martin..." He broke off.

"How is he?" Scott asked.

"The same." Harry said heavily. "Liv is here, you know. She's checking some pods for me." He raised an eyebrow. Scott sighed heavily and walked in the direction Harry had nodded. The rows of pods, still filled with thousands of people weighed heavily on him. All of these people, still waiting, with no idea that their lives were being put on hold in view of the crisis.

That was when he spotted her, halfway up a ladder, leaning over precariously to a pod. She was pretty, he thought absently, her Initiative uniform a little baggy on her thin frame, red hair in a ponytail. Her face was the image of concentration. "I'm nearly done, Harry. It was just an anomaly." She turned when he didn't respond. "You're not Harry." Olivia said.