The Firefly (Mass Effect Andromeda)

Chapter 38

There was something about Eos that always filled Olivia with hope. Perhaps it was the relatively prosperous and peaceful societies that had sprang up since Scott had reset the vault. There was always a lingering Kett presence, but despite the fact that she'd almost died there, she enjoyed her time in the sun.

Her mother and Nina were there to greet them as they disembarked, hugging her tightly. Though they called one another and emailed, they hadn't seen one another in person since before she had been hurt. "Hey, sweetheart." She looked her up and down. "You look better than I expected."

"I'm feeling much better." Olivia told her.

"Your father wasn't sure if his presence would be welcome." Laura Taylor said in her usual blunt way. "So he stayed behind."

"I guess I'll see him." Liv said uncomfortably. She and her mother fell into step behind the others, who were staying in Prodromos overnight before they headed out.

"He feels awful, you do know that? And I do believe that if he'd ever had an inkling of that woman's evil, he would have stayed away."

"That's all well and good, mum. But the fact is, he did carry on with her, and she used me because of that." Olivia said crisply. "I'll see him, I'll be nice, but I won't forget."

Nina and her mother conveniently disappeared as she entered the dwelling place. Her dad was sitting, immersed in his work. Olivia sighed, trying to steel herself. She couldn't hate him. She wasn't the type to hate anything really.

She was still jumpy, still looking over her shoulder constantly in fear and realising no one was there. She shook at loud noises, and zoned out sometimes, lost in terrible, painful memories. At least when she had been under Kendra's control, the pain had been dulled a little.

"Firefly!" Her father shot out of his seat as he spotted her. "I mean...Olivia." He wanted to hug her. She could see that. But he held back, fearful, awkward, a gulf of spilled secrets between them.

"Hi, dad." She said softly.

"You look well." His eyes roved over her face. "All things considered. Have you been keeping up your physiotherapy? Are you well-supplied with painkillers? How's the scarring?"

"Step out of doctor mode, Dad." She smiled wryly.

"I'm glad you're feeling better." His eyes were serious. "I was so scared."

"I know." She replied simply. "I'm not better. I'm not sure if I can ever be the same person. But I'm a lot closer to that than I was."

"I'm so sorry, Olivia." His voice cracked and it broke her heart. "So sorry."

"I know." She closed the distance between them. "It'll take time, but I do love you."

"And I you." Tears rolled down his cheeks. He coughed, wiping his eyes, "So you're off to explore the ruins?" He asked in a more normal voice.

"More like just protect them." Olivia sighed. "They keep getting shot, the current researchers. They need me to try and shut the machines down."

They headed out from Prodromos the next morning, Olivia, her sister and her friends, including Sara Ryder, who was positively gleeful to be off world. "This is amazing." She kept repeating.  They set up a camp outside of the ruins.

Within minutes Remnant machines began taking shots from inside, Nina and Vee hurrying forwards with the other soldiers to take them down. The entrance was littered with machine parts. Apparently they just kept on being created, one of the scientists told her. 

"You can shut them down though, right?"

"I can try." Olivia said, a little apprehensively.

Laser beams bounced around them as she and Sara were hustled down through the glowing blue lights of the Remnant ruins. Nina lurked at her side, firing almost constantly, twitching at every noise.

"Would you relax? There are like ten soldiers surrounding me and Sara."

"I swear, Liv, I can't let anything else happen to you." Nina said abruptly. "I think I will go off the deep end if it does. So if you're going to roam around being shot at, I am going to be hanging over you keeping you safe." 

She and Sara both stopped at nearby consoles, placing their palms over them. "So I just sort of focus?" Sara said. 

"SAM will do the heavy lifting for you." Olivia said. "Don't worry."

The consoles glowed beneath their palms, and just like that all the nearby machines dropped. Olivia's head ached, pain shooting behind her eyes. Her surgical scar throbbed. 

She blinked away the tiredness. "Onto the next one..." She sighed. At least she was helping.

Hey readers! I'll be back to regular updates again now as work is calming down again. Thanks for reading this book!