Аннотация: Meeting with the Council. Report to Sparatus.
Chapter 33.1 Return to the Citadel
The Kratos engine had not even had time to stop and shut down when an incoming call came to the Nihlus omny-tool.
"Let me guess... Advisor Sparatus?"
I asked lazily, watching Nihlus unfold the holographic interface.
"Amazing, isn't it?" he grunted, accepting the signal.
A rectangular video window appeared above my left forearm, from which the familiar face of my dear boss looked at us, full of inspiration and anticipation, burning in his penetrating gray-green eyes. Sparatus looked closely at our faces, fixing his heavy gaze on the frozen Saren, nodded slightly and briefly informed:
"I'll be waiting for you in the office." Sparatus looked at my face, seemed to appreciate the expression, and added: "Everyone." and one more clarification to completely cut off the escape routes: "Four!"
And he passed out.
"That's how it always is." I muttered. "He called, puzzled, and hung up. And sit there, thinking, whether he's going to praise, or make fun of me, I don't know why."
"I don't think we've ever been fucked, as you say." Garrus chuckled. "Even for what we did in the markets."
"Everything happens for the first time." I remarked philosophically, stretching. "But did you see his face?"
"Full of anticipation." Nihlus muttered, Garrus just nodded in agreement, and Saren, as always, remained silent.
"Exactly!" I grumbled. "Sparatus is waiting for our return like a holiday, honestly... And I don't want to disappoint him."
"Would he have any reason to be disappointed?" Garrus asked.
"No."
"Then what's the problem?"
"Yes, his attention sometimes bothers me." I honestly admitted. "Okay, then. "Let's not keep him waiting." After thinking about it, I added: "Whatever you want, I think I'll follow Saren's example."
The blue eyes blinked in surprise.
"I'll put on my armor! And by the way... Saren."
I took the instrumentron bracelet off my arm and tossed it to Saren. He caught it, cocked his head questioningly.
"It belongs to you. You'll give it to Sparatus yourself." I shrugged my shoulders. "After all, YOU're the one who collected all the information stored here."
Saren nodded slowly, and gratitude flashed in his blue eyes. Since that conversation in the infirmary, we have not heard a single word from him, spoken voluntarily, and not as an answer to a question. In Nihlus's memory, Saren was completely different: sarcastic, sharp-tongued, who never missed an opportunity to take a ride on his beloved colleagues and neighbors in the galaxy with his characteristic harsh humor and ruthlessness. Right now... A shadow of the past stood behind Nihlus.
Shaking my head, I silently left the control room. The heavy gaze was felt all over my body: thoughtful, intent, attentive. Think, Saren, think. Let's see what conclusions you come to.
It didn't take long to pack, and about eight minutes later, the five of us were standing in the Kratos' airlock, waiting for the disinfection procedure to finish. Lady Benezia decided to keep us company. Our group looked quite colorful: an elegant Asari in a flowing snow-white dress, I in light armor and three tall Turians in full armor and with weapons, moreover, two - Nihlus and Saren - in heavy black armor, and Garrus - in blue-black, medium.
An aircar sent by Sparatus took us to the Council Tower, where the councilors' offices were located. The silent driver dropped us off at the very door and immediately disappeared, and we, followed by looks of varying degrees of surprise, entered the elevator. While this slow torture device crawled to the right floor, raping our brains with another mournful music, we were silent, preoccupied with our thoughts. Saren seemed to have completely withdrawn into himself, and the rustle of the opening doors made him flinch slightly, blinking a little absently. However, he pulled himself together almost instantly, and he entered the adviser's office with an impassive face and icy eyes, completely devoid of emotion.
The Citadel Council was waiting for us in the office in full force. I won't say that I was particularly surprised, but Saren visibly tensed up. As usual, Nihlus started the conversation:
"The Council. The task is completed."
"We see it." Sparatus replied with barely noticeable irony. "The Spectr of Saren Arterius."
Saren silently came forward, bowed his head respectfully.
"Report." a calm and authoritative order.
A short pause... and Saren, in a hoarse, low, vibrating voice, with sparse, chopped phrases, calmly and dispassionately began a kind of confession. He spoke without embellishment and notes, telling exactly how he found an ancient ship answering to the name Sovereign, starting with an investigation on Sidon. He spoke only the facts, as if he were retelling a chronicle. No emotions. No assumptions or unnecessary descriptions. Date, event, result. Without explanation, without trying to justify himself or describe his attitude. He ended up returning to Vermaer without even mentioning our meeting. Simply:
"I returned to Vermaer. That's all, Advice."
The councillors exchanged glances.
"What happened after that?"
"I woke up in the infirmary aboard the Kratos." a calm, emotionless response.
"Irene's spectr." Sparatus' heavy gaze shifted to me. "Report."
I shrugged my shoulders.
"The way to Vermaer and how we got into the lab should be omitted, I suppose?"
Sparatus nodded curtly.
"At the time of arrival on Vermaire, the Saren Arterius Spectr was under the full control of the Sovereign. The personality was suppressed. We managed to capture him without a fight. We left Vermaer on the Kratos. We managed to take off control on the way." I shrugged my shoulders. "That's it."
I could tell from Sparatus's eyes that we were going to be mentally raped as soon as everyone else left his office.
"How did you manage to take control?" Councilor Valern asked.
I met Sparatus' gaze. He nodded slightly.
"Saren broke it himself as soon as Sovereign left Vermire. At a distance, the power of suggestion decreases, and a reasonable person with a strong will is able to free himself. I removed all the effects of suggestion and a huge layer of hidden bookmarks on the mind."
Seeing the incomprehension on the Salarian's face, I explained:
"I can work with consciousness to a certain extent, but it takes a lot of effort and a lot of time. That's why the flight from Vermaer to the Citadel took so long."
"Is there a chance of repeated monitoring?" Valern asked.
"The Reaper can capture ANY sentient, regardless of whether it was previously controlled or not." I shrugged my shoulders. "The Saren Spectr is as vulnerable as any other."
"And you?"
"And I'm able to protect my mind on my own." I snapped.
Valern thought for a moment, staring intently at Saren's blank face, but still nodded slowly.
"The spectrum of Saren Arterius. Based on the information provided, the Council did not find anything in your actions that would go beyond the emergency powers of an operative of the Special Tactical Intelligence Corps performing a First-rank assignment. All charges brought against you have been found to be groundless and dismissed."
On this high note, the meeting was declared closed. Valern sailed majestically out of the room, and Tevos, catching Benezia's extremely expressive gaze, motioned for her to follow her. Sparatus waited patiently until his colleagues had left and the door had closed behind them, and then turned his gaze full of sarcasm and savory anticipation to the visibly nervous Saren.
"Saren, I'll expect a full report on your actions in three days."
In response, a silent nod.
"Irene. And now I want to hear a proper report. With the details. What happened on Vermaire?"
I can see in our eyes that they won't get off us until they suck out all the useful information. Well... Okay. It's time to share nightmares and poison Sparatus' good mood.
"You can omit the details of the intrusion into the protected object." The advisor added graciously after a short pause. "Start by meeting Saren directly."
"Maybe... is it easier for me to show you this?" I asked.
"Are you able to hold the "Embrace of Eternity"?" Sparatus was surprised.
"No. It's just a projection of memories directly into the mind. Without distortion from my emotions. If you want to review any moment again, just rewind it mentally. As a video file."
Sparatus hesitated for a short time, and I received a nod of approval. I caught his eye, making a mental connection, and pushed a cast of memories through the channel, carefully watching them unfold. Of course, I didn't show everything, but I provided the opportunity to feel the full terrifying power of Sovereign, the pressure of his aura, his voice and, most importantly, Saren's condition at the time of the conversation in all its glory. My conversation with Saren got special attention. And its conclusion, which Sparatus watched three times. And he admired the glowing blue lights of the physiognomy for two minutes, after which he completely independently curtailed the induced memory.
He figured it out quickly.
The advisor stared at Saren's impassive face in silence for a while, while a mental storm raged. Emotions replaced one another as he realized what he had seen: anger and rage, tinged with guilt and anger, an understanding of his own powerlessness and ... relief that Saren was still alive.
"An interesting way to report." Sparatus literally growled. "Is this how I can get almost any of your memories?"
I nodded.
"That's fine. Saren, explain to me why you didn't report your suspicions about the essence of the Sovereign?"
"I couldn't," he replied calmly, with a barely perceptible shudder.
The gray-green eyes narrowed dangerously. Saren took the omny-tool off his hand, walked over and put the bracelet on the table.
"This is all the information I've been able to gather about Reapers and the mechanics of indoctrination."
"What is indocrination?"
And here, the Spectr suddenly shifted: a flashback flash of memories suddenly triggered a reminiscential collapse. Saren opened his mouth to reply, but no sound came out. The question he asked pulled a chain of associations, pulling out from the depths of his memory what he was trying to forget, catching and stirring up the emotional sphere. His mind was drowned in a rolling wave of memories, which appeared in his agonized consciousness in sharp flashes, full of pain and despair. Over and over again. The same chain of memories: his own face glowing with azure lights, Husk, Sovereign, the face of a man on Shansi, disfigured by indoctrination, the Monolith of Ark, Desolas lying unconscious, on whose cheekbones the first azure glimmers appeared, his own words "Goodbye, brother", a colossal explosion of orbital bombardment falling on the gray slabs of the Nihlus spaceport with his chest open and his voice full of disbelief and surprise, "Saren?", again - his own face in the mirror, the realization of what he had created, the touch of icy metal to the skin under his jaw, the shot... the unbearable weight of strict control, the voice of the Sovereign in his head, the understanding of his own powerlessness and virtually servile position. The mind was slowly but surely slipping into a closed loop leading to destabilization and disintegration.
"Holy shit!" it only took me a couple of moments to realize what was happening. A short mental blow sent his mind into a frenzy of sleep. Saren collapsed without a sound into the arms of Nihlus, who barely managed to catch him. Sparatus watched our actions in complete shock, but did not say a word until Nihlus and Garrus had arranged the unconscious Saren in a chair.
"What! Now! What happened?!" Sparatus barked clearly, clearly, literally spitting out the words, literally blazing with incomprehension, concern and slowly rising cold rage.
I met a hard, demanding gaze. Now he won't understand innuendos and attempts to soften words.
"Saren's mind is unstable right now." I replied dully. "After what Sovereign did to him and the deliberate breaking of control... there are still consequences. A reminiscential collapse is one of them."
"Why is there such a reaction to the word "indoctrination"?"
"Indocrination is the process of subjugation by a Reaper. It's not just mental control. The changes affect the body as well. Huskies are an example of crudely indoctrinated sentients with a completely destroyed personality and an altered body. Saren fell under the highest form of indoctrination, when the Reaper slowly changes the mindset and distorts the worldview of the victim. After the personality is suppressed and loses critical thinking, the last stage of submission begins - the physical transformation of the body with the help of nanites. After that, indocrination cannot be slowed down or stopped.
"What was Saren's condition?"
"The body changes have already become visible visually." I met the counselor's gray-green eyes and sent him a vision: Saren, motionless in the air in the infirmary with his armor removed before removing the Geth implants and nanites of the Reaper. "He was well aware of his position. Indocrination cannot be reversed. Saren chose the only possible way out in his situation."
"Suicide." Sparatus rasped.
I nodded.
"From his point of view, suicide is a logical and justified step. He was removing the threat from his side."
Sparatus nodded slowly, understanding and accepting the actions of his Spectr. He did not object to this decision... except that he saw with his own eyes how his protege almost blew his brains out. The direct transmission of memories is impressive like nothing else. From Sparatus' point of view, it was Saren who thanked him. And it was with him that he said goodbye before putting a gun to his head and pulling the trigger in front of his very eyes. And Sparatus saw the body sagging, covered in blue blood.
The adviser digested the vivid flash of memories, unclenched his fingers convulsively clenched on the edge of the table, and said softly:
"You've managed to reverse the indoctrination."
"Not quite... We didn't convert her. We just removed everything superfluous from the body. Unfortunately, the thing that did this was in my possession in one copy, and that is a one-time item.
Interestingly, Sparatus didn't even ask what kind of thing it was or where I got it from. I just took it for granted, without focusing my attention on it. It's kind of weird... But his next words were quite expected and logical:
"I want to see it."
He wants to, so I'll show him. I formed an image and pushed it to Sparatus. With all the details. Saren before the trial, and Saren after. Or rather, his mutilated body on a bed in the infirmary with a full list of injuries.
"Another decade, and there would have been no one to save. Indoctrination would become global."
To say that Sparatus was impressed is an understatement! I even had to shut down the storm of emotions that stirred up the mental plane.
"How damaged is his mind?"
"Everything is not as bad as it could be: the mind is completely clean, the personality is preserved. Such an intervention, of course, does not remain without consequences, and it will take time for a final recovery. The usual post-traumatic syndrome that manifests itself in such breakdowns due to the specifics of the injury. Nothing irreversible happened."
"As I understand it, this is not all bad news?" The counselor asked dully.
"Saren managed to buy some time: the Reaper released him to deal with the long-running experiment. We have a month, maybe two, until Sovereign starts looking for him."
Sparatus took a long, hard look at the unconscious Spectre and said softly:
"I understand your position. You have ten days until the formation of the Mnemosyne expedition is completed. The information was confirmed, and the probes found the downed Reaper. Starting point: Siglar orbit. If you still want to participate, you should arrive at the assembly point before the start of the expeditionary force."
"We will."
"I want to receive a report before departure. And I really hope to see one of my best Spectres in good health."
"I'll do my best." I promised him sincerely.
Sparatus nodded graciously, indicating that the conversation was over.
To bring Saren to his senses, I had to use direct mental influence and dim the brightness of the memories in order to avoid a relapse. He woke up quickly: his blue eyes opened, narrowed slightly when Saren realized the situation he was in.
"The report is over." Sparatus said calmly, intently watching the cautiously rising Spectrum. "Dismissed."
Saren nodded curtly and followed us out, followed by the adviser's heavy gaze.