Dr. Amanda Kenson

Dr. Amanda Kenson is a human scientist from the University of Arcturus who became notable when she and her team claimed to have discovered that the construction of the mass relays pre-dated the existence of the Protheans.

Mass Effect 2
Dr. Amanda Kenson made galactic headlines when she revealed controversial findings that the vast majority of mass relays in the galaxy actually pre-dated Prothean civilization. By analyzing the composition of dust trapped in the vicinity of mass relays and comparing it to dust clouds in the same system, Kenson determined that only a fraction of mass relays could be dated to 50,000 years ago; the rest were far older.

Weapon Proficiencies

 * Submachine Guns

Research, Capture, and Aratoht
Sometime following the announcement of her discovery, Dr. Kenson embarked with an expedition team to investigate rumors of Reaper technology on the fringes of a batarian system. Kenson sent a message to a friend, Systems Alliance Admiral Steven Hackett, informing him that her team had found evidence of an imminent Reaper invasion. When Admiral Hackett later learns that Kenson has been captured by batarians and accused of terrorism, he contacts Commander Shepard, asking for assistance in rescuing her.

Shepard manages to break into the prison, and witnesses Kenson being dragged off to interrogation. After getting through the prison, either through sneaking past the guards, or blasting through them, Shepard eventually reaches the interrogation room. While Kenson is being interrogated, Shepard bursts in, knocks the guard out, and frees Kenson. Shepard then asks if Kenson can walk, to which she replies yes as Shepard hands her a machine pistol. As the alarms go off, Shepard takes cover near the door, as Kenson describes an escape plan. If they can find a security console, then she can override the system and allow the pair to escape. As a guard comes down the hallway, Shepard asks if Kenson is ready, and after stomping on the throat of the batarian interrogator, she replies yes.

Kenson and Shepard fight their way through the prison and eventually come across a security console. Kenson tells Shepard to defend her while she cracks the security. While Shepard is fighting, Kenson tells the Commander where enemies are coming from, and what needs to get done. She eventually manages to override the security, and disable the orbital tracking grid. After Shepard manages to fight off the Prison Guards, she brings down an elevator to the hangar and she and Shepard ride it up to the hangar. During the brief ride, Kenson says that they need to blow the locks on the hangar doors in order to get them open.

After she and Shepard manage to fight off a few guards in the hangar, they blow the locks and commandeer a shuttle. As the pair gets onboard, a few guards try to rush them, but get incinerated by the thruster exhaust when the shuttle takes off.

After escaping the prison on Aratoht, Kenson briefs Shepard on the current situation. Her group, called "the Project", had discovered a Reaper artifact and it gave her visions of the imminent Reaper invasion. As a result, the Project planned on destroying the relay in the Bahak system, which they called Alpha Relay, by slamming a large asteroid into it. Shepard however asks to see the proof so instead of going to Arcturus Station, Kenson takes Shepard to Project Base.

Project Base
Once on the asteroid, Kenson shows the Commander the countdown clock and explains how they calculated it. There is just over two days until the Reapers arrive, and then takes Shepard to the artifact, they called Object Rho. While on the way to the lab, she explains to Shepard that the project is ready to go, and it isn't a matter of "could we" but rather "should we". Upon arriving at the artifact, Shepard is shocked that it is out in the open. Kenson tries to calm the Commander by saying they know what they are doing and if Shepard gives it a minute, then it will show the Commander the vision as well.

Just as Shepard starts to get up from the experience, Kenson pulls the Shuriken that Shepard gave her earlier and points it at the Commander. She tells Shepard that she can’t allow the Commander to stop the arrival of the Reapers, and guards from the project rush into the room. It is revealed later that despite their earlier precautions, she and the entire project staff became indoctrinated from having spent too much time studying Object Rho. Now, they serve the Reapers and will do anything to stop Shepard from activating the project. However, Shepard isn’t finished yet as in a quick move, manages to disarm Kenson and break her wrist. Kenson limps out, holding her injured arm and tells her guards to deal with Shepard.

While Shepard fights, Kenson tries to talk the Commander down but Shepard still keeps fighting. After Shepard goes down however, either from an energy discharge from Object Rho or being overwhelmed by the Project’s guards, she tells her personnel to take Shepard to the med lab and patch the Commander up as they need Shepard alive; also, Kenson's eye were glowing, indicating that she was implanted with Reaper technology, enabling her to act as their emissary. Kenson orders Shepard to be sedated for the next two days, but about an hour and a half before the Reapers arrive, Shepard wakes up from the sedatives not working. Shepard fights through the guards while Kenson tries to rally her guards and direct them to Shepard, but the Commander keeps fighting through the guards, eventually reaching the Project Control Room.

Once there, Shepard manages to reactivate the engines of the Project and tries to make a communication, but Kenson cuts the Commander off. She asks Shepard if they know what they have done. Since she can’t stop the asteroid, she will destroy it. Shepard asks the Project’s VI where Kenson is going, and Shepard races to the Reactor Module to stop Kenson.

Shepard manages to meet Kenson at the Reactor, and she tells the Commander that she has to do it. She says that she will die without knowing the Reaper’s “blessings” but Shepard will just die. Shepard however manages to fight through more guards and prevent the core from melting down. After the core meltdown is prevented, Kenson tells Shepard that while she can’t overload the core anymore, she can overload the power to the engines and she challenges the Commander to stop her.

Shepard manages to corner Kenson at the Master Control Panel. Shepard orders Kenson to step away from the console, but Kenson ignores Shepard and says that she can’t hear the whispers anymore. Shepard again orders Kenson to step away, but Kenson pulls a detonator. She tells Shepard that all they had to do was stay asleep and none of this would have happened. Shepard can then either shoot Kenson, or try to talk her down. Regardless, Kenson presses the detonator, causing an explosion, which kills her and incapacitates Shepard.