"Well, that's it!"
Not even five minutes had passed before the door leaf opened and we were able to pass inside. Unfortunately, the doors here were such that the Mako simply wouldn't fit through, so we were left without vehicles, which was somewhat unpleasant.
A quick inspection showed that the main room was clear of enemies, so I allowed myself to relax slightly. But only slightly.
"So, Tali'Zorah, you're the technician. What would you suggest we do first?"
"Well..."
Tali'Zorah shot a quick glance at me.
"I would first head toward the VI core, because if it has so many problems, it'll be easier to squeeze information out of it. And after that, we'll deal with everything else."
"Excellent, then we're going there."
I pointed to one of the signs that promised to lead us to the Core.
Ten minutes and we were there. Tali'Zorah opened the Core room quickly, but then I caught her by the scruff of the neck and pulled her back from the entrance.
"Where are you going?"
"But..."
"First, the armored uncles and aunts will check the room for enemies. Tali'Zorah, don't forget that your primary job in the team is as a technician, not a fighter. So please leave the risk to everyone else."
"Right... we take the risks, and she pokes around in the hardware."
Williams muttered this under her breath, but I heard it.
"Williams!"
Jane Shepard managed to reprimand her before I decided to deal with her.
"Ma'am!"
She even snapped to attention, responding to the command bark of her immediate superior.
"Tell me, my dear, since you permit yourself such remarks, you must be very well-versed in technology?"
"N-no, ma'am..."
"No? Then you must program like a god? And you'll handle the complex's core without any problems?"
"N-no..."
And again she answered with a slight hesitation.
"Then why the fuck are you badmouthing the only specialist who understands this?!"
"I..."
"A whole lot of nothing! If you can't do it, then what the fuck? Or do you think all problems can be solved with explosives? That won't help you with a VI!"
"But why is she... she..."
Ashley Williams was clearly trying to find the words, but she saw that absolutely everyone was looking at her with condemnation.
"Anyway, three extra duties. And you remember our deal? This is already the second warning; a third and you're off the ship."
"Yes."
Ashley Williams was clearly upset, and I was tired of it all, so I gave the order to Rebecca Lee and Chifuyu Orimura, under the cover of the twins, to check the room. Only after they said it was clear inside did I let the embarrassed Tali'Zorah in, who simply didn't know where to put her hands.
"Alright, everyone wait outside. Only Tali'Zorah and I go in."
Liara T'Soni grimaced almost imperceptibly at these words of mine and cast a thoughtful glance at Tali'Zorah, but said nothing.
"I..."
As soon as we were left alone, Tali'Zorah started trying to say something, though she was working very quickly at the same time.
"...thank you. I saw that you also wanted to stand up for me; Jane Shepard just managed to do it first. It means a lot to me."
"Tali'Zorah, you're part of the team and a lovely girl. I simply couldn't help but be outraged by the behavior of one particular lady who's already hanging by a thread in the team. You'd better tell me how much time you'll need to hack this VI, and do it so that after all systems are restored, everyone thinks we were repairing it and no suspicion of a hack arises."
"Well... two or three hours... minimum. That's if we act cautiously, but there's another way."
"And what way is that?"
I looked questioningly at the girl, who was thoughtfully inspecting the room containing the VI core.
"Hack it using a hard scenario, and afterward just reset it to factory settings, deleting all files and logs. But they might try to hold us accountable for the loss of important information."
"Let them try."
I said this with a smirk.
"Here's a list..."
A list of corporations and laboratories whose data interested me arrived on Tali'Zorah's brand-new Omni-tool, which she had been treating with extreme care.
"Extract everything you can according to this list."
"It will be done."
"Will it interfere much if we try to restart the reactor?"
"No... or rather yes, but it's better if you're right next to it and restart it on my command. Then we can write off the data loss and the VI's factory reset to a power surge entirely."
"Excellent. Then you work. I'll leave Liara T'Soni, Chifuyu Orimura, and..."
I thought for a second.
"...let it be Rebecca Lee to watch over you. The three of them can handle your security."
"Thank you, but I can just lock the door."
"You'll lock it, and they'll stay here in the room in case someone comes and tries to hack the door."
"Alright."
Tali'Zorah didn't argue, and soon I had already left the room.
The VI core was secured, and the girls were sent inside.
"Jane, our next objective is the reactor."
"Understood..."
Five minutes of moving through the complex corridors—which turned out to be not that large—and we arrived at the entrance to the section housing the reactor.
"Too bad Tali is working back there..."
Jane said this while looking at the locked door.
"Tali, we have a situation here. The reactor room door is locked..."
"I could come over... but then my work here will stall."
"No, I wanted to ask if you can do anything from the VI core? If not, I'll just blow this door to hell and be done with it."
"One second..."
Actually, it took a bit more than a second—about a few minutes—before Tali spoke again, and this time there was guilt in her voice.
"...I'm sorry, Captain, but I can't do anything from the core. Or rather, I could, but I have to finish with the VI first and take control of it. Until then..."
"Never mind, then. We'll handle it ourselves."
With those words, I gestured for everyone to clear out. I was about to create a small Singularity, but Wrex clapped me on the shoulder.
"Step aside, kid. Let the old-timer show his worth."
Looking at him with surprise, I didn't get in his way. Taking a short run-up and flaring with biotic sparks, he activated the helmet on his armor and performed a Charge, slamming his shoulder into the door. It buckled outward.
"Well... it's sturdier than it looked at first glance."
He stepped back from the door and performed another Charge. The door nearly flew off its hinges. Then he gave it a massive kick, and it crashed to the floor.
"There... take notes, rookies."
"Old-timer..."
A hint of mockery touched Lissi's voice.
"...that's all well and good, but you must have lived in the days before Singularities were invented, right?"
Wrex, who had already managed to open his helmet, gave the girl a disgruntled look.
"And there would have been no need to ruin the armor."
"I didn't ruin anything..."
A note of offense crept into the big lizard's voice. He clearly didn't want to argue with the young Asari, and besides, what she said was essentially true.
"Come on, big guy, Lissi is just teasing a bit..."
Missi punched him lightly on the shoulder.
"...don't be mad at my sister; she's a bit of a dummy sometimes."
"Alright, you can flirt later. But for the record, as the ship's Captain, I bless your relationship."
Allowing myself a drop of sarcasm—which left both Wrex and the twins slightly bewildered—I gave the signal and immediately stepped into the corridor, holding a biotic shield in front of me. However, the corridor itself was safe, and the next door leading to the reactor wasn't locked at all, so...
Opening the door, I caught several shots on the shield.
"Oh, we have a welcoming committee."
A smirk appeared on my lips, and I immediately took a couple of steps forward so Jane in her exoskeleton would have a chance to squeeze into the room.
"Fire at will. But be careful—this is a reactor, after all. If we damage the wrong thing..."
"Boss, if you hold back the heavies, I'll take care of everyone."
Garrus stepped forward slightly and, pulling out his Sniper Rifle, quickly brought it to combat readiness. Almost instantly, the first shot rang out, hitting a Geth that was firing at us with an assault rifle.
A few more shots ended the existence of several Geth platforms, but then a Prime rounded a pillar...
"Shit..."
"Shoot calmly, I'll handle the big guy..."
"We'll handle it."
The twins cut Jane off and immediately created two Singularities on either side of the Prime, literally tearing it in half.
"Oh..."
Wrex was clearly surprised by the girls' capabilities. No, the fact that they were Asari Huntresses made it clear they were strong enough, but tearing a Prime apart like that—that was far beyond standard Biotics.
There were no more unpleasant surprises, so we finished up—or rather, Garrus finished off the Geth—and then we entered the reactor control room.
"Tali, we're in position... my modest knowledge, as well as a large sign saying 'reactor restart required,' suggests that we just need to reboot the reactor. And it's done here by pressing a single button."
"Wait..."
The girl's voice was tense.
"...I'm not finished here yet."
"Now..."
Williams didn't finish her sentence, catching herself quickly, but something told me she wanted to say something unpleasant about Tali and the fact that we had to wait for her.
Casting a quick glance at Jane, I only saw her shaking a fist at her subordinate. I began to think I shouldn't have given in to Jane. It would have been better if Jenkins were with us; that young idiot at least doesn't argue with orders.
"Almost ready... John, there should be a big red button there labeled 'reactor restart.'"
"Yes, there is."
"Do not touch it under any circumstances. That button is currently wired to detonate the reactor."
"What?!"
Everyone near me said it at once, and something told me her words had the same effect on Tali's end.
"Find the button responsible for self-destruct and press that."
"Tali, are you sure?"
Liara's voice came over the general comm channel.
"More than sure. It's not hard to detect that a couple of buttons have been remapped. So if John just presses the button I told him to, everything will be fine."
"Found it..."
I didn't argue with her and prepared to press the button.
"Three, two, one... press it!"
I pressed the button, and the reactor died instantly, as did the lights in the room, so the flashlights on our Armor Suits automatically clicked on. However, the darkness didn't last long, and soon the reactor started up, followed by the lighting.
"Strange, why didn't the emergency lighting kick in?"
Rebecca's voice sounded puzzled.
"The VI had malfunctions; it simply couldn't react to the emergency... Tsk... the VI has rolled back to factory settings; some data is lost. I'd say most of the data."
"Doesn't matter. Main thing is, can we get to the monorail?"
"Yes... but... there's a problem..."
"And what's the problem?"
"Some cockroaches on the roof are messing with the comms. Of course, the comms themselves can't be fixed quickly, but it seems to me it's better to get rid of the cockroaches."
"Now we're fighting cockroaches too?"
"Well... we don't have to..."
Tali wasn't going to tolerate Williams' jabs.
"...it's just that the database I transferred from my old Omni-tool—which I inherited from a very, very successful Quarian scientist—tells me those are Rachni."
"Rachni?!"
Wrex got excited at those words.
"Right, Rachni are a threat. Find out where they're coming from, and we'll destroy them on the roof in the meantime."
"Understood. By the way, I've unlocked the path for you, so it should be easier this time."
"Thanks."
***
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