Sins of the Father, Sins of the Flesh
folder
+M through R › Mass Effect
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
15
Views:
3,755
Reviews:
7
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
1
Category:
+M through R › Mass Effect
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
15
Views:
3,755
Reviews:
7
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
1
Disclaimer:
All Mass Effect intellectual property reserved to Bioware and Electronic Arts; I make no claim to ownership and make no profit from this fiction.
Maps of the World
0745 HOURS
Mordin arrived first, humming cheerfully. He found his seat and began to review yesterday’s information
BETWEEN 0745 HOURS AND 0800 HOURS:
Everyone else filtered in, save Jack, Legion, Kasumi, and Commander Shepard herself. Some looked as if they’d slept well. Some looked as if they hadn’t slept at all. No one appeared to appreciate the doctor’s musical accompaniment.
PRECISELY 0800 HOURS:
Legion entered the room. Kasumi appeared at the table in her seat between Thane and Samara, neither of whom looked perturbed. Tali, however, gave a yelp of surprise, tried to stand up without pushing her chair back, and slammed her right knee painfully into the underside of the table. “Can’t you just walk into a room like everybody else?” she snapped at the little thief.
0805 HOURS:
Jack slouched into the comm room. “Where the fuck is Shepard?” she said. “It’s way too early for this shit.” She made her way to her seat, sat down, and made a show of putting her arms on the table and her head on her arms. “And quit that fucking humming, Solus.”
Mordin paused, then hummed the final four notes of the song. Jack’s head jerked up and she looked at the doctor through slitted eyes. He gave her a narrow smile and said, “Was almost finished anyway.”
Muttering dire threats under her breath, Jack put her head back down.
0807 HOURS:
Shepard entered the comm room, carrying what looked to be a roll of paper under her right arm. She had markers and sticky tape in her left hand, and a very large cup of coffee in her right.
Putting the paper, markers, and sticky tape down in her seat, she took a long swig of the coffee and said “All right, people. I hope you’ve all come up with some good stuff overnight.”
“And good morning to you, sunshine,” said Jack, once again raising her head.
Shepard responded by throwing the roll of sticky tape at Jack, who caught it neatly one-handed. “What the fuck is this?” she said.
“It’s sticky tape, obviously,” Shepard said, taking another long drink of coffee.
“What the hell am I supposed to do with it?”
Shepard unrolled the paper with a flourish. It was perhaps six feet long by three feet wide, covered with photographs and scribbled notes. “You’re supposed to help me put this,” she said, holding the paper, “up on the back wall there. Where everyone can see it.”
Jack got out of her seat and helped Shepard wrangle the sheet of paper up on the wall, using liberal amounts of tape. When they were finished, Jack sat down again, looking warily at Shepard. It was Tali, though, who asked the question that was on everyone’s mind.
“Commander,” she said, in her delicate voice, “what is that?”
“So glad you asked,” said Shepard, taking another drink. “If you’re on a strange planet, what do you need to keep you from getting lost?”
“Uh…a tracking beacon?” said Tali, perplexed.
“Good thought, but no. Keep going.”
“A native guide?” suggested Samara.
“Also good, also no. Try again.”
“A really big gun!” said Zaeed, getting into the spirit of things.
Everyone looked at the old merc. “Let’s try not to get off track here,” said Shepard, “but why would you need a really big gun to keep from getting lost?”
“Dunno,” he said, defensively. “But if you’re on a strange planet, ‘s a good idea to have a really big gun, innit?”
Shepard closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Moving on. The answer, by the way, is a map.”
“Which is what this,” she said, pointing to the paper on the wall behind her, “is.”
The crew traded troubled glances.
She sighed. “No, I have not gone insane overnight. This is a way for me to see—for us all to see—how the pieces fit together. It’s a way to look at the big picture, or as much of it as we have, anyway.”
She put her hands down on the table and leaned over, looking at everyone in turn. “There’s something bigger going on here than two missing people. And when we find out what’s going on, and why, we find them.” Shepard straightened and looked at the map again. “It’s also something we can touch. It won’t disappear when we turn off our datapads and omnitools. Do you know how hard I had to look to find some damn paper on this ship? And after I finally found some, do you know how long this took me to make? Do you know why I put all this effort into doing something I could have had EDI do for me in twelve seconds?”
No one answered.
“Because it’s a way to keep it all straight in our heads and a way to remind us why we need to. Every minute we spend in this room, it reminds us what we’re doing and why we’re doing it.”
She pointed to the very top left corner of the map, where she’d placed a picture of a sweetly smiling Petra T’Loak. “For her,” she said. Then she pointed to the top right corner of the map, occupied by a picture of Garrus Vakarian. “And for him,” she said, her voice gentle and sad.
“Are we ready?” she said.
Heads nodded around the table.
“Let’s do it, then.” She pointed to the center of the map and started to talk.
Mordin arrived first, humming cheerfully. He found his seat and began to review yesterday’s information
BETWEEN 0745 HOURS AND 0800 HOURS:
Everyone else filtered in, save Jack, Legion, Kasumi, and Commander Shepard herself. Some looked as if they’d slept well. Some looked as if they hadn’t slept at all. No one appeared to appreciate the doctor’s musical accompaniment.
PRECISELY 0800 HOURS:
Legion entered the room. Kasumi appeared at the table in her seat between Thane and Samara, neither of whom looked perturbed. Tali, however, gave a yelp of surprise, tried to stand up without pushing her chair back, and slammed her right knee painfully into the underside of the table. “Can’t you just walk into a room like everybody else?” she snapped at the little thief.
0805 HOURS:
Jack slouched into the comm room. “Where the fuck is Shepard?” she said. “It’s way too early for this shit.” She made her way to her seat, sat down, and made a show of putting her arms on the table and her head on her arms. “And quit that fucking humming, Solus.”
Mordin paused, then hummed the final four notes of the song. Jack’s head jerked up and she looked at the doctor through slitted eyes. He gave her a narrow smile and said, “Was almost finished anyway.”
Muttering dire threats under her breath, Jack put her head back down.
0807 HOURS:
Shepard entered the comm room, carrying what looked to be a roll of paper under her right arm. She had markers and sticky tape in her left hand, and a very large cup of coffee in her right.
Putting the paper, markers, and sticky tape down in her seat, she took a long swig of the coffee and said “All right, people. I hope you’ve all come up with some good stuff overnight.”
“And good morning to you, sunshine,” said Jack, once again raising her head.
Shepard responded by throwing the roll of sticky tape at Jack, who caught it neatly one-handed. “What the fuck is this?” she said.
“It’s sticky tape, obviously,” Shepard said, taking another long drink of coffee.
“What the hell am I supposed to do with it?”
Shepard unrolled the paper with a flourish. It was perhaps six feet long by three feet wide, covered with photographs and scribbled notes. “You’re supposed to help me put this,” she said, holding the paper, “up on the back wall there. Where everyone can see it.”
Jack got out of her seat and helped Shepard wrangle the sheet of paper up on the wall, using liberal amounts of tape. When they were finished, Jack sat down again, looking warily at Shepard. It was Tali, though, who asked the question that was on everyone’s mind.
“Commander,” she said, in her delicate voice, “what is that?”
“So glad you asked,” said Shepard, taking another drink. “If you’re on a strange planet, what do you need to keep you from getting lost?”
“Uh…a tracking beacon?” said Tali, perplexed.
“Good thought, but no. Keep going.”
“A native guide?” suggested Samara.
“Also good, also no. Try again.”
“A really big gun!” said Zaeed, getting into the spirit of things.
Everyone looked at the old merc. “Let’s try not to get off track here,” said Shepard, “but why would you need a really big gun to keep from getting lost?”
“Dunno,” he said, defensively. “But if you’re on a strange planet, ‘s a good idea to have a really big gun, innit?”
Shepard closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Moving on. The answer, by the way, is a map.”
“Which is what this,” she said, pointing to the paper on the wall behind her, “is.”
The crew traded troubled glances.
She sighed. “No, I have not gone insane overnight. This is a way for me to see—for us all to see—how the pieces fit together. It’s a way to look at the big picture, or as much of it as we have, anyway.”
She put her hands down on the table and leaned over, looking at everyone in turn. “There’s something bigger going on here than two missing people. And when we find out what’s going on, and why, we find them.” Shepard straightened and looked at the map again. “It’s also something we can touch. It won’t disappear when we turn off our datapads and omnitools. Do you know how hard I had to look to find some damn paper on this ship? And after I finally found some, do you know how long this took me to make? Do you know why I put all this effort into doing something I could have had EDI do for me in twelve seconds?”
No one answered.
“Because it’s a way to keep it all straight in our heads and a way to remind us why we need to. Every minute we spend in this room, it reminds us what we’re doing and why we’re doing it.”
She pointed to the very top left corner of the map, where she’d placed a picture of a sweetly smiling Petra T’Loak. “For her,” she said. Then she pointed to the top right corner of the map, occupied by a picture of Garrus Vakarian. “And for him,” she said, her voice gentle and sad.
“Are we ready?” she said.
Heads nodded around the table.
“Let’s do it, then.” She pointed to the center of the map and started to talk.