The Firefly (Mass Effect Andromeda)

Chapter 47

It took another day for Scott to be properly steady on his feet. They had no way to get him home however. He was helpless without SAM, while Olivia's implant could likely pull her back to Eos. Evra seemed sure that he could get Yoval to show them the way back to the console, and Olivia and Scott were confident they would be able to fight their way through.

"This place is insane." Scott laughed. He and Olivia were busy starting to pack up some gear. "I mean the power it must take to freeze time like this?"

"That's what drew everyone in." Olivia agreed.

"That power source is enough to keep the entire Nexus going for generations." Scott pointed out. "It would mean a great deal less worry for everyone."

"If we removed the power source, this place would collapse. It would kill everyone in here, remove them from existence. Evra, Yoval, even Kendra."

"How did she even get here?" Scott shook his head.

"She had other prototypes of the Firefly implant." Olivia grimaced. "She must have used one of them on herself. Stupidly dangerous but the woman is a genius. It obviously worked."

"Not well enough." Scott raised an eyebrow. "It obviously hurt her."

"I asked Evra to sedate her." Olivia told him. "Until we decide what to do with her."

"We can't bring her back with us." Scott frowned. "We don't even know if we can get me back, let alone her when she's unconscious. And we can't trust her to be conscious and come along. That woman is evil." His voice was uncharacteristically wrathful.

"I know." Olivia hesitated. "But we can't just leave her here?"

"Liv, she experimented on you. She brainwashed you and sent you off to be tortured." He brushed hair from her face. "You may be able to look past that, but I certainly can't." He looked so angry, she thought pensively.

"It's not like I've forgiven her." Olivia retorted. "But we can't leave her as Evra's responsibility."

"I spoke to him." Scott told her. "I explained who she is, what a threat she is. He's willing to keep her imprisoned here. It's the perfect solution." His expression clouded again. "Though I'd much rather have killed her."

"We're not going to turn into murderers because of her." Olivia put a hand on his arm.

"I know." He replied, ruffling her hair. "I'm more worried about that Yoval person. I mean I've not even seen her yet."

"Evra thinks he can keep her calm." Olivia sighed. "Although she did come at me with a sword earlier."

"She did what?" Scott asked, horrified.

"I got away." Olivia smiled. "But it's kind of crazy."

"We don't know them!" She heard Yoval's creaky voice. "I won't help them. They're here to hurt us."

"No." Evra replied vehemently. "Olivia is a good person. She deserves to go home. She's not going to hurt us."

Yoval hissed as she spotted Olivia lurking in the doorway, but Evra restrained her. Olivia crossed her arms over her chest. Her hand was just touching her gun. Scott was resting again. He tired easily at the moment.

"I don't intend to hurt you." Olivia said. "I never did. But just keep on threatening me, and we'll see." She rubbed her temples.

"Easy there, you two." Evra stepped into the middle, sending her a warning glance.

"Fine." Olivia shrugged. "If she doesn't try to hurt me, I won't try to hurt you."

They armed up, and made their way back. Yoval kept singing, strange songs and sometimes just notes without words, a haunting melody that made Olivia's skin crawl. As they crisscrossed through passages, she saw the pods again. Scott tripped over a tendril and she caught him, helping him up. "Sorry." He muttered.

"That's okay." She grinned. "Makes a change for me to be propping you up."

"It's not a good one." He grumbled.

"Be quiet, children!" Yoval hissed at them.

Despite the distant screeching sound of creaking metal, they made it through the endless maze, crashing into the familiar room.

Hey lovely readers! It's been a while! I've been very busy getting married and then going straight back into work before I go on honeymoon, but I'm going to try and start updating this story again. Apologies for the short chapter, I'll update again soon <3