User blog:Xx Nik xX/Blood Ties

Thellos shifts in her sleep, waking ever so slightly. She hears a voice she seemed to recognize. Her eyes flutter open, and she finds herself in the medbay on the Normandy. She sits up and looks around. The silver haired doctor from before comes to her side.

"You shouldn't be moving yet," spoke the doctor. "I'm doctor Karin Chakwas. You've been under my care for about twenty-two hours. How are you feeling?"

"I feel like I got hit by an old MAC truck," Thellos replied.

"So tell me Thellos, what happened exactly?"

"How do you know my name?"

"When Ashley brought you in, she told me your name. She seemed quite worried."

"Ashley? Worried? About me? Sure. I don't see us get along very well at all."

"And why is that? Did something happen between you?"

Thellos looked at the doctor. "I've seen how see looks at me. Like see would rather be set on fire then work with me. She doesn't trust me, and has no reason not to." Thellos shifted on the table, crossing her legs and slouching over herself. She then felt around her neck, searching for Katsuya. Her fingers brushed her bare throat. She then looked behind her to find the three and a half foot albino milk snake coiled on her pillow. She reached a hand out and gently stroked the snakes scales. Katsuya raised her head and flicked her tongue out in Thellos' direction. "Has she been here the whole time?"

"Hissed at whoever came near you. Had to be careful while running tests. All the results read normal, though you have a very similar brain wave output to the commander, but that's about the strangest thing I saw. What happened to you?"

"I don't... I don't know... I just... had this wave of pain come over me. I thought... something was wrong with Marri..."

"Marri?" questioned Chakwas

"Commander Shepard." Thellos corrected.

"What did you think was wrong with her?"

"I just felt like something was wrong. Like something in her shifted on a universal scale. Wait," Thellos looked around the bay. "Where is Commander Shepard? How long was I out again?"

"She's fine now. Most likely giving her story to the Council. And you were down for twenty-two hours. Besides looking a little pale, everything reads normal."

"So we're at the Citadel already? Oh wow... I need to speak with Anderson. Can you tell me where he is?"

"I believe he is with Ambassador Udina on the Presidium." started Chakwas. "Though you really should rest some more."

"I just "rested" for twenty-two hours. I need to speak with the Captain." With that, Thellos hopped off the table and scooped up Katsuya, placing her back around her neck. She made sure she steady before taking a few steps. Feeling balanced, Thellos proceeded out of the medbay. She walked with a brisk pace, finding her way to the ships main exit. She was about to open the door when she heard the Normandy VI welcome someone aboard on the other side of the door. Thellos took a step back, not wanting to be in the way. When the door opened it revealed Kaiden Alenko and a tall male Turian.

"Who are you?" fell out of her mouth before she even had time to think about her words. The Turian looked at Thellos and cocked his head to the side. He opened his mouth to speak when Kaiden started talking.

"This Garrus Vakarian. He's a new crewmate... Though honestly... nevermind that was kind of rude..." trailed off Kaiden.

"What were you gonna say? I can take it," spoke Thellos. Garrus looked between the two. Kaiden shook his head and left the two of them alone. Garrus extended his hand.

"I know I was already introduced, but I'm Garrus Vakarian."

"I'm Thellos Shepard."

"So you are related to the Commader. I thought as much. You look very similar to her. Just longer hair and no freckles. And now that i really look at you, your nose is a little smaller." Thellos brought her hand to her nose and looked up at Garrus. "Sorry. I don't mean to insult you."

"No, it's just I... I dunno," she said with a slight giggle. "Well I really have to go and speak with Captain Anderson. I don't really know if I'll see you again, so I'm gonna say goodbye."

"Why? Aren't you apart the crew?"

"No. I was on Eden Prime when Mahariel landed. I helped get to the beacon, but I don't belong here. That's why I need to go talk with Anderson."

With that she gave a slight wave and left. Thellos quickly located a Rapid Transit console and called a car. After a short ride, she arrived on the Presidium floor. She walked up the steps to Embassy offices. She found Undina's and entered the office to find the Ambassador, the Captain, Mahariel, Ashley, a Quarian, and a Krogan.

"You can't just go around recruiting new members without offical-" Undina stopped mid-sentence, sending a glare at Thellos.

"Excuse me," Thellos said, turning on her heel to leave.

"Shepard!" called Udina.

"Yes?" answered both Mahariel and Thellos at the same time.

"Not you! The clone!"Undina nearly shouted at Mahariel while pointing at Thellos. Thellos walked further into the room, nearing the Krogan.

"Can I help you sir?" questioned Thellos.

"You can tell me what you were doing on Eden Prime!" Udina was livid, voice volume so high, that shouting no longer covered it.

"Udina, I already told you what she said. You know why she was there. You looked into yourself," Anderson said, trying to calm the sudden situation. Udina let out a huff, and turned his back on the room. The Krogan grunted and Ashley was staring at Thellos like she had spouted a second head. 'What?' mouthed Thellos at Ashley. She just continued to stare. Thellos let out a breath and shook her head. Mahariel looked back at Thellos and Ashley, eyes narrowing.

"I suppose you could be of some use, Clone," muttered Udina. Thellos felt her eyes widen and tilted her head to the left.

"What did you call me?" asked Thellos, voice somewhat strained. Mahariel reached a hand out to Thellos, trying to calm her before anything could really happen.

"I called you what you are. A clone."

"I have a name!" shouted Thellos. She moved passed the Krogan and Ashley. Moved passed Mahariel and Anderson. She stood directly in front of Udina. "I have a name."

"Of course you do, but you're an experiment. You're not even truly human," said Udina smugly.

Thellos sank back slightly. Everyone in the room had gone completely silent. Thellos then clenched her jaw and swung on the Ambassador. Her fist connected with the right side of Udina's face. His head snapped to the side and he threw his arms out to catch himself.

"Since I'm not truly human, you have no authority over me. Fuck this. I'm going shopping." Thellos stormed from the room. As soon as the door closed behind, Thellos cradled her hand. She sucked in a breath and walked away, headed towards the wards.

~\(=^-^=)/~

Thellos was sitting at the bar in Flux when Captain Anderson and Mahariel walked up to her. Thellos rolled her eyes and turned from the two of them.

"You here to arrest me?" she questioned.

"Actually, we're here to recruit you," said Anderson.

"We want you to join our crew. We want you on the Normandy," spoke Mahariel. Thellos looked back and forth between the both of them, looking for the lie in the words. Her faced softened.

"You're serious?" Thellos asked with a small voice. Mahariel and Anderson both shook there heads yes. A small tear welled up in Thellos' right eye. "Really? Oh that's spectacular! Thank you so much!" Thellos threw herself at the two of them, embracing them in a strong hug. Anderson cleared his throat and Mahariel made a strained face. Thellos let go of the both of them. "Sorry. I'm just super excited."

"Well we need to get out of here and head back up to the Presidium to deliver some data to the Council about the Geth," said Anderson. "We'll explain it all on the way." With that, the three of them left Flux, Thellos toying with the new omnitool she had bought. Anderson and Mahariel explained all that had transpired since they had arrived at the Citadel. The recruitment of Garrus, Wrex, and Tali. The fact that Marri had wiped out a small gang affiliated with the Shadow Broker and even what Tali's data entailed. Thellos was fascinated with all the information and started a log on her omnitool. She decided to keep detailed logs of everything that was going down, feeling that someday it would all come into question. Now of course she hadn't been there for much of it, but she would try to fill in the gaps later.

Once the three of them arrived at the tower, Ashley and Wrex, were waiting with Udina, who happened to have a beautiful blue a purple bruise developing over his cheekbone. Thellos gave him a sinister smile, and he winced in reaction. Ashley smirked slightly, but then went back to looking like someone pissed in her coffee. The lot of them went up the steps and delivered the geth data, finally exposing Saren for the traitorous bastard that he was. But that wasn't enough for Udina. He demanded that the council send a fleet after him. Even Thellos knew that that might mean war between council space and the terminus systems. When one of the council members pointed that out, Thellos couldn't help but smile. Then the unheard of happened. Mahariel was named the first human Spectre in history. The six of them shuffled off to the side and Udina went into a miniature speech about all the things that Marri was going to need. Thellos couldn't help but look on in approval as her genetic sister glowed with pride. Udina and Anderson then left the group, heading out to take care of acquiring all that would be needed to pursue Saren. Thellos then looked at Mahariel.

"So we need to go shopping," Thellos said simply. Ashley rolled her eyes and Wrex grunted.

"Why?" questioned Mahariel.

"For new equipment. I've seen what all of you are wearing, and it's not gonna live up to snuff," Thellos answered.

"And with what money are we going to get this new gear? I mean I have a few thousand credits to outfit maybe a few of us, but not the whole ground team." said Mahariel with a sigh. Thellos grinned.

"These last five years have not been spent with me sitting on my ass. I have a few million credits saved up," spoke Thellos. Marri's eyes bugged and Ashley's jaw dropped. Wrex seemed indifferent about the whole thing, grunting slightly. "Now I'm not saying I can pay for everything, it would be better to actually acquire funding for it. As for weapons and armor, I can put out for that. But things like omnitools, bio-amps, weapon and armor upgrades... I can't swing that. I've been saving so much for a reason." The three of them just kinda stood there staring at her. "What?"

"What exactly have you been doing for the past five years?" questioned Ashley, eyes burning into Thellos.

"Honestly? I take a lot security set up jobs. People are willing to put out a lot of credits to secure there things," answered Thellos. Mahariel nodded, knowing full well what some people will do to keep there stuff safe. Ashley, on the other hand, didn't believe anything. Knowing that Thellos was some weird clone thing of the commander... She couldn't believe that Commander Shepard would call that thing a sister, let a lone human. Ashley didn't trust Thellos at all.

Wrex looked at the three humans. The darker skinned one, Ashley, was not a friendly one. He could tell that she was not trusting of anything she would deem unnatural and alien, meaning the haired red head, and all of the new crew members. He would keeping an eye on her, and a laser point, too. He liked the way the short haired red head worked. She would get the job done, one way or another. She seemed tough, but that caring part of her that he saw might get in the way one day. The other red head, Thellos, was unknown to him for the moment, but clones usually come with trouble. Or so he has learned in his line of work.

Mahariel hailed the Normandy, requesting that Tali, Garrus and Kaiden meet them on the Presidium near the financial district. When everyone was together, Thellos noticed a little spark between Kaiden and Marri. The seven of them first went to the Emporium. There they found found armor for Thellos, Wrex, and Garrus. A light Collosus, a medium Crisis, and a light Phantom respectively. They then moved down to the wards, starting in C-sec. There they headed down to the requisitions office and picked up new guns for everyone. Thellos chose a Karpov pistol. Marri got a new HMWP pistol. Wrex picked up a shotgun, the HMWSG. Garrus had the Volkov sniper rifle. Tali the Sokolov shotgun. Ashley grabbed the Kovalyov assault rifle. Kaiden managed to snag the Razor pistol. Once everyone had a gun they liked, the group headed to the upper wards, where they found Ashley and Kaiden armor. A medium Mercenary fit Ashley perfectly, while a light Predator L armor fit Kaiden like a glove. With just Tali needing some new armor, seeing as Marri deemed her Collosus fit for duty, they made there way to the lower wards and finally found some decent Quarian light armor, another Collosus to be exact.

With the group outfitted for war, they headed back to the boat. When they arrived at the dock, Udina and Anderson were there. Undina started talking again, and Thellos instantly stopped listening, but then she heard that Anderson was stepping down. She looked from Udina to Anderson. Anderson was shaking his head and described the Normandy, saying that she is the perfect ship for a Spectre. Then the two of them starting talking about where to start in the mission to find Saren, while everyone just kinda stared, dumbstruck. Mahariel was the only one able to respond and ask question. Thellos on the other hand was so surprised that she kinda faded out, picking up on only key elements of the conversation like, Feros, Noveria, and Liara T'soni. The group finally boarded the ship and Thellos heard Mahariel telling Joker to set course to Artemis Tau cluster.

~\(=^-^=)/~

Thellos had settled on a bunk in the crew quarters. She had changed the common grey green top of her scientist uniform to a more vibrant lime green that made her eyes pop. She headed down to the cargo bay and placed her new armor and weapon in one of the lockers. As she was making her back to the elevator, she spotted Mahariel coming up the ramp from Engineering. She looked up and spotted Thellos as she headed into the elevator. Thellos waved her to hold it. The two of them stood in the elevator enveloped in an awkward silence.

"We need to talk," spoke Mahariel.

"I know," replied Thellos. The elevator stopped.

"Come to my quarters," Mahariel said in a slight authoritative tone. Thellos nodded. The two of them made the short trek to Captain Andersons old quarters, now belonging to Mahariel. Marri had done some slight remodeling. There was a bed in the back of the room with a long couch under the window beside it. There was a desk in the front room with a two chairs facing out toward the window to the left of the room. Mahariel motioned to one of the chairs while she went to the back room. Thellos heard the clunk of boots hitting the floor and figure that Mahariel was finally changing out of her armor.

"So why wait so long before taking off your armor?" called Thellos.

"I was a bit busy checking on the new crew. With a Krogan and Turian on board... well you never be too careful."

"I get that."

"So when I woke up in the medbay, you were on the bed next to mine. What happened?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure. I just had this real serious head pain and kinda knocked out," Thellos answered deciding to leave out the parts about her knowing that something was wrong, especially knowing that nothing was wrong per se, but that Marri had had strange dreams, visions even.

"Interesting..." She knows I'm lying... thought Thellos.

"Yeah... I'm kinda thinking that it might actually have something to do with you..."

"How so?"

"Well... I am... you know... you... In a sense. I'm thinking that when something cellular happens to you, it might happen... to me, too. But delayed and way down played."

"Interesting theory... We should probably have Chakwas run some tests on us. I know that my cellular print is on file."

"Mine is, too. Then again my everything is on file. And yeah that would probably be a good idea."

"Probably."

"So what happened with the beacon?"

"You were there."

"I know, but... I mean after. What exactly did you see?"

"I'm not really sure... Death, destruction. The Reapers."

"Oh... That's not much to go on."

"What about you? You see anything? Since you think we're connected on a cellular level?"

"No... Just a lot of pain."

"Hm... So tell me about the training you recieved," said Mahariel coming around the corner of the back room. She was wearing short, black spandex shorts, and navy blue tank top. The tank top had a darker blue border across the breasts. She suddenly looked normal. Not like THE Commander Shepard, but more like Mahariel Shepard. She looked small and fragile, except for the few scars that modern medicine couldn't heal. Aside from one small scar under her right eye, she was perfect. A dash of freckles across the nose. Dark green eyes. Full lips. The very definition of beauty.

Thellos shook her head, letting her hair cascade in front of her face and body. She the waves of gentle curls with both hands and them to the sides of her face. Her bright green eyes peered out at her sister. She stared openly into her face, semi focused on her nose. Mahariel's nose was of average size. Thellos pressed her fingers gently to her own face. She felt her nose, her cheekbones, her lips, chin, brow. She really was clone. There were subtle differences between the two, making it just enough to be believable when others were told they were siblings.

"My training? It was the same as yours. Three years of seven levels of hell. Beyond long days, ridiculous fighting conditions. Though really for me I guess it was four years..."

"Four years?"

"Yeah. When I first woke up, I was detained and questioned for about a month. After that, as I now know, I was kept under observation for a year. Then I was offered the training. According to Anderson, higher ups wanted to see how my scores would compare to yours. I apparently did well enough, because I was awarded the N7. Anderson said a few thought to have me join the Marines, but others said no. So again, I was left to my own devices." Mahariel looked at Thellos. Saw the slight anger that masked her face.

"How does that make you feel?"

"Pissed. I feel like all I am to the whole damn universe is an experiment. I didn't ask for this. Before five years ago I was quite literally, nothing! And for the first four years... I'm questioned, kept under observation, and tested. Yes I had side jobs that made me feel human enough, and I even earned a couple mil. But it's like the old saying, 'Money doesn't buy happiness,' but here we are. I'm rich and I'm bored."

"Then why not a mansion on Earth or a nice place on the Presidium. Why work with colonies like Eden Prime?"

"Like I said I was bored. Plus I told you earlier that I was saving for something special. Plus comfort after I get it."

"What are you saving for, if you don't mind?"

"I do mind. We might be 'genetic' sisters, but we know nothing about each other after that. I don't expect you to tell your darkest secrets right off the bat, so don't think you'll get mine."

"Oh, touchy... Sorry. How about we get to know each other. What do you first remember?"

"Hm... Well... Okay. It's a dream. I dreamed about a man who rescued me from a three headed dog."

"What?"

"Cerberus."

"Again. What?"

"According to ancient mythology, there was a three headed dread hound that guarded the gates to the underworld. That hound was called Cerberus. I am Cerberus experiment. A man woke me waking dream. Freed me from the conscious slumber that I had been in for I don't know how long. But the man I dreamed of was the man who brought breath into my lungs. He saved me. That's my first memory."

"Wow... That's an intense memory. So where exactly did you go when you released from military custody?"

"London. When I wasn't doing the training, I had a flat in the city. Then when the training was done, I got the contract for Eden Prime. And now here we are."

"Here we are..."

"What about you. Do... do we have family?"

"No. It's just us. If my... our, parents are out there, they don't care. I've been in the news vids enough for them to know that I'm alive and well, and there has never been any form of contact."

"Oh... Sorry to hear that.."

"It's ok. Anything else you want to know?"

"In all honesty, anything I really wanted to know, I looked up on the extranet. I never looked into your family, though. Felt it was a breach of privacy..."

"And looking into the rest wasn't?"

"Sorry. I was curious about the woman... about the woman I had come from..."

"Commander?" sounded Joker's voice over the intercom. Both girls jumped slightly.

"Yes, Joker?" answered Mahariel.

"If you could come up on deck, that would be great," he responded. Mahariel looked over at Thellos, who simply shrugged.

"Sure thing, Joker. I'll be right up," said Marri.

"Great," spoke Joker.

"Well, I guess we can talk another time. Duty calls," sighed Mahariel. Thellos nodded and rose from her seat. The two walked forth from the room. Thellos made for crew quarters to change her clothes and get some rest. Mahariel moved to head up the stairs. As Thellos reached the door to the cabin, it swept open on it's own. Out came Kaiden in some plain grey pajama pants. His eyes hit Marri as she passed and his jaw dropped, eyes visibly widening.

"You're drooling Lieutenant," whispered Thellos as she squeezed passed into the room. Kaiden snapped to attention and turned to face Thellos who giggled slightly. She undid the fastening of her shirt and pulled it off. Again, Kaiden's attention was caught by a Shepard. She had creamy colored skin that seemed to call to him. He found himself taking a step toward her, before he caught himself. He lurched from the room as she started on getting her boots off. Thellos looked after with a slight smile. This is gonna be fun, she thought at the idea of teasing Kaiden. She got her boots off and proceeded to shimmy out of her tight pants. She then dug out some black, snug fitting, cotton capris and pulled them on. Thellos then found a grey tank top and pulled it over her head. She then cozzied down in bunk and happily drifted off to sleep.

~\(=^-^=)/~

The Normandy lurched into action as the land above the ruins began to crumble. Mahariel, Wrex, Ashley, and an Asari made it on the ship in the nick of time. The Normandy climbed higher in the sky as the ground below erupted in molten sulfur. The lava like substance rose into the air like someone dropped a large rock in a puddle.

"Get us out of here, Joker!" shouted Mahariel as she came through the door. Thellos rushed from the console she had been working at in the CIC to her sister.

"What's going on?" she questioned. Mahariel brushed past her, calling into the intercom over earpiece for all ground team members to meet on deck. Thellos followed Marri into the comm room. Wrex, Ashley, and the Asari followed after. The rest of the ground crew filed into the room. Mahariel introduced the Asari as Liara T'soni, the very one that Udina had mentioned earlier.

Joker cmae over the intercom with a lame joke about frying sensors. Liara then snipped at the remark and admitted that she doesn't have a lot of experience with humans. The group exchange a few quips about why Saren wanted Liara and how old she is. Liara then went into this short monologue on her knowledge on the Protheon extinction. She explained how the universe seemed to have swept clean of all proof that the Protheons even existed. Some how the conversation came around to Liara peering into the mind of Commander Shepard. When the connection broke, both seemed slightly paler. Liara was beyond excited what she had seen. She managed to gather that the visions was incomplete. Nothing that really helped. Liara then became light headed and Kaiden pointed out that she most likely hadn't eaten or rested in a while. Mahariel dismissed the crew and Thellos walked up to her.

"I felt something," she whispered as she went passed. Joker then patched in the council and Thellos felt the door swoosh shut behind her.