Chapter 175

Shepard nodded and understood what Kunou just said, "I see, so the thorian essentially taught Saren to think like a prothean, but how?".

Shiala seeing that Shepard understood, began to explain "The cipher is the very essence of being a prothean, it cannot be described or explained, it would be like describing color to a creature without eyes.

To understand, you must have access to endemic ancestral memory, a viewpoint spanning thousand of protheans generations.

I sense this ancestral memory, the cipher, then I melded with the thorian, our identities , our minds intertwined, such knowledge cannot be taught... it simply exists".

Shepard sighed, most of what Shiala just said, flew right over his head but that didn't change the fact that he needed that information "I need the cipher".

Shiala looked down and seemed to be lost in her thoughts for a while, but soon enough, she looked up and then said "There is a way, I can translate the knowledge from my mind to yours, as I did with Saren".

Shepard frowned, he didn't like the idea of allowing Shiala to do this but nodded to her, though he quickly shared a look with Harry and received a nod in return, knowing that Harry was going to keep an eye on him, he gave the okay to Shiala to transfer the knowledge.

Shiala nodded and walked up to Shepard "Try to relax, Commander, slow, deep breaths, let go of your physical shell, reach out to grasp the threads that bind us, one to another.

Every action sends ripples across the galaxy, every idea must touch another mind to live, each emotion must mark another's spirit, we are all connected, every living being united in a single, glorious, existence, open yourself to the universe, Commander, embrace eternity!".

Shiala stopped in front of Shepard, she looked up for a second and then turned her gaze into Shepard's eyes, her eyes turned completely black and Shepard only saw a white flash.

The vision he had seen back on Prime began to play one more time in his mind, however, this time the visions were clearer, more understandable and Shepard paid attention to everything being shown in those visions.

-----

Soon enough Shepard opened his eyes and stared at Shiala, who stepped back, both looked perturbed and stressed about what they had seen, Shiala looked away from Shepard for a second and then began to speak "I have given you the cipher, just as it was given to Saren, the ancestral memories of the prothean are a part of you now.

Harry turned his head toward Shepard and decided to ask Shepard how he was feeling "Are you okay?".

Shepard frowned and turned to look at Harry "I saw... something, it still didn't make any sense though...".

Shiala then piped in "You have been given a great gift, the experience of an entire populace, it will take some time for your mind to process this information".

Shepard nodded, Harry then spoke up "We should get you back to the ship Shepard, you need some rest and maybe have Doctor Chakwas take a look at you".

Shiala sighed and then said, "I am sorry if you have suffered, but there was no other way, you needed the cipher, in time, it will help you understand the vision from the beacon".

Shepard nodded, he then decided to ask a few questions, hoping that Shiala might have the answers he needs "Do you know what the conduit is, or where is it?".

Shiala shook her head "No, I'm sorry, all I know is that Saren believes the conduit was the key to prothean extinction".

Ashley huffed "That can't be good, whatever that thing is, we can't let Saren have it".

Shiala nodded and then continued to speak with Shepard "You have the cipher, in time, your vision will clear, and they will lead you to the conduit, I only pray you find it before Saren does".

Shepard nodded, it seems that the only thing he could do now, is wait, so he then decided to ask another question "Is there anything else you can tell me about the thorian?".

Shiala nodded and then explained, "When the creature enveloped me, I became a part of it, but I still don't truly understand it, so, it's very alien, so ancient.

Its exact age is impossible to know, it measured time differently, ten thousand years of hibernation broken by a few frantic centuries of activity, its mind was awesome, magnificent, it transcended all classification, and now it's gone".

Shepard and the squad frowned, but it was Shepard who voiced out their thoughts "Don't tell me you feel sorry for that thing?".

Shiala sighed and began to explain herself "The thorian was a unique life form... a sentient being that lived for 50,000 years, maybe more, there is nothing even more remotely like it in the known galaxy.

I am grateful you saved me from a life of thralldom, yet I cannot help but feel some sorrow for the loss of such a rare and remarkable creature".

Everyone just stared at Shiala, in part, she did raise a good point, but then, the thorian was an arrogant asshole, so it was hard to feel bad about it in any way or form.

Well except Harry, he just snapped his fingers and the thorian's corpse suddenly burst into black flames, dark and powerful flames that spread through every root and feeler the thorian ever had and began to burn it away from existence, not even ashes would be left.

Everyone turned to look at Harry, but the dragon god just shrugged and grinned "I really didn't like that thing, so I made sure there weren't any traces of it left anywhere".

Shepard and the squad nodded, they understood Harry's actions against the thorian and even agreed with them, but a little tact wouldn't have hurt right?

Shiala just sadly frowned but didn't say anything else, Shepard just lightly huffed and shook his head, he then decided to ask Shiala another question "What else can you tell me about Saren?".

Shiala shook her head and began to speak "There's little I could tell you that you do not already know, he is powerful, he is charismatic, and he is dangerous.

Once I followed him, blind to his true nature, but now I see he is leading the galaxy into an age of darkness and suffering...".

Everyone wanted to laugh, Saren, dangerous? They were dangerous and all his charisma and power won't help him when they finally get their hands on him, that's a promise.

Shepard recomposed himself and then asked one more question "I want to know more about you".

Shiala just shrugged "There's nothing remarkable about me, I was merely one of Matriarch Benezia's disciples for nearly two centuries, I followed her learning at her feet.

When Benezia revealed her plan to join Saren, she gave her disciples a choice, only those who were willing had to follow her, many felt her plan was too dangerous.

But I believed her, I thought she could turn Saren away from his insanity, instead, we joined him in it...".

Shiala shook her head in disappointment and looked sad, Shepard understood her predicament, and Benezia herself admitted to having underestimated Saren and paid the price, no doubt Shiala was regretting her choice right now.

However, there was still the issue of what to do with her "Now that you're free of the thorian, what are you planning to do next?".

Shiala quickly began to explain "If you allow it, I would like to stay here with the colonists, they have suffered greatly, and I played a role in their suffering, I would like to make amends".

Shepard sighed and was wondering what to do, suddenly Harry clapped his back, which made the commander turn his head towards him, only for Harry to nod at him.

Shepard smiled and nodded back to Harry, he then turned back to Shiala and said "The colonists will need all the help they can get, they'll be happy to have you on their side".

Shiala smiled and nodded to Shepard "Thank you, Commander, may fortune smile upon you".

With that said, the group said their goodbyes to Shiala and left her staring at the black flames dancing in the chamber of the thorian, now, nothing is left of the creature, not even ashes, and that made Shiala feel melancholy, but at least she'll able to make amends.

-----

Shepard and the crew went back to the colony and once they got close to the bunker, they were met with Juliana and Lizbeth, both noticed the group and immediately began to ask questions and so everyone told them of what happened with the thorian.

After they told them everything, Juliana could only shake her head and say "I can't believe it, at least Jeong says we'll have all the money we need to keep this place running.

Apparently, there's a new kind of management and lots of changes are happening in ExoGeni, he didn't want to explain too much and seemed scared, but at least everyone here will be able to continue to live here in peace.

It's all thanks to you guys, I can't thank you enough!".

After that short conversation, the squad then went the check on the colonists, when they got there, they were already awake and very happy, Valerie and Le Fay had explained the situation to them, so they were very glad to be free.

Now that the thorian was finally gone and they don't have to worry about the geth, they immediately set out to get to work, to get the colony back to perfect working order, with the help of Shiala and the ExoGeni employees, they will be able to slowly get back on their feet.

But Harry decided to help even more, to him the colonists had gone through quite a lot and needed some recompense, so he began using his magic to repair everything that was damaged in the colony.

This surprised and awed the colonists, the dragon god then clapped his hands while using senjutsu, to make the planet fill out with plant life, this made Fero look alive and have something the colonists can work with.

With plant life and with the soil now able to support it, they can now grow crops and other resources to help the colony, this will help everyone in Zhu's Hope prosper.

The colonists were of course confused as to how Harry pulled this off, but in the end, they really didn't care much, they were just very grateful for the amazing gifts they were given.

With that done Harry then called Juliana, Shiala, Lizbeth, and Fan Dai to meet with him, the four immediately did so, and once they were gathered around Harry, he revealed that he had bought ExoGeni and was now the full owner of the company.

This of course shocked the four, but then Harry dropped another bomb, he told them that he wanted them to be in charge of the company, to make sure it actually did some good and so it would never use people like they did with the colonists.

At first, they tried to refuse, they didn't feel they could do it, and some didn't even think they deserved the chance they were given, but Harry eventually convinced them with the idea that they could do some good in the galaxy with the company.

So, ExoGeni ended up in the hands of Lizbeth, Juliana, Shiala, and Fan Dai, Harry also informed them, that most of the previous stockholders and the directors of the company had been arrested and some had gone missing, so they will have to find trustworthy and reliable people to create a new board of directors.

Harry literally, dumped all the work on their laps and left with a smile on his face, not that the new owners of ExoGeni minded though, they were very excited to do some good in the galaxy and helped other colonization projects thrive.

With all of that done, Harry, Shepard, and the Squad went back to the Normandy, however, there was a lot to talk about, so Shepard gathered everyone and started a debriefing meeting.

-----

Everyone gathered in the comms room to talk about what happened and what will they do next, however, Liara noticed something about Shepard "Commander? You look pale, are you suffering any ill effects from the cipher?".

Shepard sighed and shook his head "The cipher just shook me a bit".

Harry sighed "It's not a surprise though, your brain just received a massive filter to your human mind and shifted its point of view to another race entirely, it will take some time for all that information to settle'.

Le Fay nodded "Yes, you will feel dizzy and disoriented for a while, but don't worry, we have potions and all sorts of magical medicine that can help with that".

Kunou grinned "Yeah! We can even use magic spells to help you, just let us know if you feel really sick! We'll take care of you".

Valerie smiled and nodded "Yes, don't strain yourself Shepard, let us help".

Shepard smiled at the girls and nodded in thanks to them, the entire squad also smiled as well, happy that the commander had support and different ways to feel better.

Liara smiled and then decided to offer her help as well "I might be able to help you, I am an expert on the protheans, if I join my consciousness to yours, maybe we can make some sense of it".

Harry hummed "Well, you got the knowledge from Shiala and she's an asari, so Liara might be able to make better sense of all that information in your head, I don't want to force it and accidentally give you a stroke, it's better to try a gentler approach on this".

Kunou scratched her head "Kinda wished Jean was here, she's the mind expert out of all of us".

Le Fay nodded and then said, "Maybe even Luna, she's a great mind healer too and she might even be able to understand the information better than anyone could do so".

Valerie giggled "If anyone can understand the protheans it would be Luna".

Shepard smiled and then stood up, he quickly walked over to Liara and said "Do it, we don't have a lot of time and Saren is already ahead of us".

Liara smiled and nodded, she stood up and met with Shepard in the middle of the comms room and softly said as she closed her eyes "Relax Commander, embrace eternity!".

Liara suddenly opened her eyes and everyone saw that they had turned black, a few seconds went by, and everyone watched as Liara's face took on different expressions in a quick span of a few seconds.

Soon enough, her eyes went back to normal and she stepped back from Shepard "That was incredible! All this time, all my research, yet I never dreamed... I'm sorry, the images were so vivid, I never imagined the experience would be so... intense.

You are remarkably strong-willed, Commander, what you've been through, what you've seen, would have destroyed a lesser mind".

Harry shook his head and grinned "Shepard is just thick-headed that's all".

Everyone shared a laugh, while Shepard deadpanned at Harry "Ha-ha, very funny Harry".

Harry just shrugged and smiled unrepentantly, Ashley stopped laughing and shook her head in amusement, she then looked up to Liara and asked "So what did you see Liara?".

Liara nodded to Ashely and began to explain what she saw inside Shepard's mind "The beacon on Eden Prime must have been badly damaged, large parts of the vision are missing, and the data transferred into the Commander's mind is incomplete".

Valerie sighed "Well, it did blow up in his face, it's only natural that Shepard didn't get all the information".

Shepard tiredly rubbed his eyes, this was a problem, without knowing what sort of information they were missing or if anything he got was useful, they might as well have come empty-handed from Feros, Shepard hoping Liara found anything, he decided to ask her "You sure you didn't come across any kind of clue or hint? Something we might have missed?".

Liars sadly frowned "Everything I saw you already know, you were right about the reapers, the protheans were destroyed by a race of sentient machines.

I think it's obvious there's a connection between the reapers, the prothean extinction, and the conduit, but I didn't see anything that would help us find it".

Everyone looked down in disappointment and a bit of stress, Shepard ran his hand through his head and sighed "What should we do now? We have to come up with our next move, we can't just sit here feeling sorry for ourselves".

Everyone nodded on agreement to Shepard's words, they had come too far to let this get to them, Liara then began to speak "I was able to interpret the data relayed through your vision, what was there, at least, but something was missing.

Saren must have the missing information, maybe he found another beacon, if we can find the missing data from your vision, I can- whoa! I'm sorry, the joining is exhausting, I should go to the medical bay and lie down for a moment".

Everyone looked worried, Le Fay got up and helped Liara stand up straight, she was a bit wobbly and she didn't want her to fall, she then smiled at Shepard and said "I'll take her to the medical bay".

Shepard nodded and smiled at Le Fay "Make sure Doctor Chakwas takes a look at her condition".

Liara shook her head and smiled at everyone, thankful that they were worried about her "That won't be necessary, I just need some rest, somewhere quiet".

Harry suddenly piped in "Take her to our med bay Le Fay, it's quiet there, so she should be able to rest well there".

Le Fay nodded and then helped Liara walk out of the room, she would have teleported them, but she didn't know how Liara would react to that, being so tired, so going the long way was the way to go.

Shepard sighed and then said, "We're done here everyone, dismissed, go and take a rest".

Everyone stood up and began to leave the comms room, except Harry who stood up and walked up to Shepard's side, he then clapped his back "It's alright Shepard, well find our answers some other way".

Shepard nodded, Joker suddenly called out to Shepard via comms "I've sent off the Feros report, Commander, you want me to patch you through to the council?".

Shepard immediately responded to Joker's question "Patch them through Joker".

Joker wasted no time to do so "Setting up the link now, Commander".

The Holograms of the Citadel Council, immediately materialized in front of Shepard and Harry, though Sparatus looked in a bad mood and seemed to be glaring at Harry, Valern and Tevos looked calm though.

But Harry ignored Sparatus, as Tevos began to speak "Commander, ExoGeni should have told us about the thorian, it would have made your job much easier".

Valern then piped in next "You might have been able to capture it for study instead of destroying it".

Shepard shook his head "ExoGeni tried to study it, look how that turned out".

Harry nodded in agreement "The thorian was way smarter than anyone, its ability to mentally manipulate people and its methods were also very dangerous, that thing was a risk and should have never been allowed to do as it pleased".

Valern looked down but soon nodded in understanding, Tevos also nodded and said "Perhaps it's for the best, then, at least the colony was saved".

Sparatus scoffed and angrily said, "Of course, it was saved, Shepard would go to any length to help a human colony".

Shepard glared at Sparatus and said, "Being human had nothing to do with it, they were in trouble".

Harry pointed his finger at Sparatus who flinched, the dragon god then coldly said "You're the racist here turian, we do not discriminate here, we help whoever needs it.

You best not forget that, next time it might be the turians who need help right?".

Sparatus didn't say anything and just looked down, Harry scoffed at him and shook his head, Valern sighed and then said "Admirable, but sometimes spectres have to make sacrifices, I hope you're willing to do that when the time comes".

Shepard didn't say anything, that was true of any situation, making sacrifices was not something exclusive to being a spectre and he knew that well, but he decided not to say anything, especially since Harry didn't even give a second thought to what Valern said.

Shepard knew Harry was not one to make sacrifices, Tevos then said "Goodbye, Commander, we'll be waiting for your next report".

The council holograms soon dissipated, Shepard then shook his head "Let's go rest Harry, it's been a long mission and we'll all need to unwind".

Harry nodded in agreement and together they left to rest for a while, a well-deserved rest after the mission they took on Feros, though for Harry, that only means him having more time to work on finishing his projects.

-----

~Sometime later~

While Shepard was resting and Harry was working on his workshop, the women of the squad had gathered in the forest surrounding Harry's workshop, even Bugsy had joined the impromptu women's gathering out of curiosity.

It came as a bit of a surprise to Kunou, Valerie, and Le Fay, but not one they minded, so when Ashley asked the women in the squad to get together to talk, they were more than happy to do so, especially because they were all friends after all.

Which is why they were sitting under a massive tree on a blanket, that Le Fay pull out of her witch's hat, they even had some snacks and drinks to enjoy the little gathering they were having.

Ashley had smiled at the human snacks and was enjoying eating them, Liara and Tali were a bit hesitant, but as soon as they tasted them, they came to really like the sweets.

Even Bugsy liked them, Kunou took a drink of her soda and then said "So ~ why did you want to gather everyone here Ashley?".

Everyone turned to look towards Ashley, who nervously scratched her head "Well, I want to ask you guys something plus, hanging with all the girls sounded kinda fun".

Liara hummed and nodded "I must admit, this is kinda fun, I've never taken the opportunity to spend time with other women, much less make friends with them".

Tali nodded as she took a bite out of a donut "I had a few sleepovers and hanging out with friends growing up, but once we all started helping around the Flotilla we became too busy to hang out often".

Ashley nodded and smiled "I did it a lot with my sisters, well not much with the youngest, but once I joined the Alliance I just hadn't had the chance to unwind and hang out like this".

Valerie hummed and she drank some coffee, to the surprise of everyone the coffee began to throw insults at Valerie, though she didn't seem to mind and drank her coffee with a smile on her face.

The vampire princess then piped in "Well, we all get together pretty often, go shopping, hang out, and we even train together, we also like to spend time with our children all the time".

Liara tilted her head "Oh, that's right, Harry did mention he has adopted many children, do you guys mind that he did that?".

Le Fay shook her "We don't, everyone Harry claimed as his children, were kids that had suffered a lot, him being an orphan and having had a horrible childhood lets him understand and connect with children better".

Kunou nodded "Plus, Harry tends to just want to make people happy, he's the kind of person who sees a problem or someone suffering and he fixes the problem while also helping the person suffering".

Ashley smiled and nodded "Yeah, Harry is a good guy, but I wanted to ask you girls, just how exactly does this harem thing work?".

Kunou, Valerie, and Le Fay raised an eyebrow at Ashley's question, this was not something they expected her to ask about, but knowing she had her reasons, they decided to humor her question, Kunou smiled and then began to explain "Well, the trick is, that we consider each other family.

We care about each other and we want to see the others happy, we all share Harry because we couldn't bare making one of our friends sad or giving up Harry.

So we compromised, and so far it has worked, and given that all of us are busy with our own things helps as well, we all spend time with Harry and with each other as well to try to build up our bonds".

Le Fay giggled "It's not easy, we used to get a bit jealous of each other but eventually, we came to understand and enjoy the time Harry gives us, especially because Harry takes a few of us on adventures.

To both rest, relax, and spent time with us, though things get chaotic when we world jump, it is fun to spend time with Harry and the girls, we all consider each other sisters after all".

Ashley hummed and looked pensive, meanwhile, Liara was staring at her with an intrigued look on her face, Tali however smiled and said "That sounds nice though, just one big family having all sorts of adventures".

Bugsy nodded while eating some food, she didn't really understand everything that was being said, but she did get that it had to do with Harry, so she just nodded.

Valerie nodded to Tali "It sure is fun, we had all sorts of adventures, met so many people, and have grown a lot during all this time".

Kunou stared at Ashley as she seemed to be thinking something, Kunou suddenly grinned as she realized something "Ashley, do you want to start a harem with Shepard?".

Ashley jumped and stared at Kunou like a deer caught in front of headlights, everyone else just turned their heads towards Ashley, which made her feel nervous "Ah... well, it was just an idea... I've seen how happy you guys are with Harry, so I've got curious.

Plus, unlike you guys, we're short-lived and we're always putting our life on the line because of our jobs, so I don't want to miss my chance, at the same time, I don't want to make anyone suffer".

Liara tilted her head at Ashley "Ashley?".

Ashley just shrugged "Look, you and I started iffy, I know that Liara and I've been a right bitch to you in the beginning, but Harry has shown me that, that way of thinking isn't right.

Plus, I know you're a caring and kind woman, a little naive but that's just who you are, plus I like to think that we're friends by now, especially since we are fighting together all the time".

Liara smiled at Ashely and then gave her a nod "That makes me happy to hear Ashley, to be honest, I thought you hated me or something, but to hear you say that you think of me as a friend makes me happy".

Everyone smiled at Liara and Ashley, they all noticed some tension from them, but it had lessened after some time, so no one was worried about it, Ashley nodded and gave a smile to Liara "Yeah, so watching Kunou, Valerie, and Le Fay get along so well, while loving Harry at the same time got me thinking.

It made me realize that I don't mind it as much, in fact, I think I would be glad to have a big family like the Potters do, it sounds kinda fun you know?".

Liara looked down and thought about it for a few moments, but then she smiled and gave Ashley a nod "A big family huh?... I've always wanted sisters to play and talk with.

It has always been my mother and I, so having a big family sounds good, the problem is, how do we approach Shepard with this?".

Ashley hummed and looked up as she thought about that question "That's actually a good question..." she then looked down towards Kunou, Valerie, and Le Fay "How did you guys approach Harry about this whole harem thing?".

The girls all shared a look, but it was Le Fay who answered "We just asked, Harry already had a few girlfriends in other worlds and wanted to wait for them to get to our world before he decided.

We all just talked with Jessica, Fu, and Milim when they arrived in our world, luckily they accepted rather quickly, they were all aware that Harry was more than likely to get the attention of other girls".

Valerie then piped in "You both will have to be opened minded as well and talk, do not keep things to yourself, talk with each other and Shepard".

Kunou nodded "Though, Shepard might be a bit hard to convince though, he doesn't strike me as the kind of guy to just agree to date two women at the same time".

Liara nodded "That's right, Shepard might not even agree with all of this Ashley".

Ashley grinned and then said, "We can have Harry talk to him, I'm sure our resident dragon god can convince him to give it a try".

Tali lightly laughed "So you're using the nuclear option on Shepard, kinda hard-core huh?".

Ashley nodded "I know what I want, and I'm willing to do anything to get it" Ashley turned her head towards Liara "What about you Liara?".

Liara smiled and nodded "I'm willing to give this a try if you are Ashley".

Ashley grinned and nodded "Great, all we have to do is talk with Harry and we're set!".

Kunou, Valerie, and Le Fay smiled, Kunou then said "You can leave this to us, we'll talk to Harry and make sure he helps you guys with Shepard".

Both Ashley and Liara nodded grateful for their aid, after that the women just spent their time sharing stories, hanging out, and just spending time together

-----

Meanwhile, Harry who was finishing the rings that he was making for the squad to protect them from mind manipulation suddenly shuddered "What the? Why do I feel like I'm going to get dragged into something?".

-----

After that little foreboding event, Harry began to get other things done, starting with Kaidan's surgery, with Doctor Chakwas present to see the procedure, Harry began the treatment, he first made sure to carefully take out the implants Kaidan had.

It was a slow and exhausting procedure, especially because Harry had done it the mundane way, that way Doctor Chakwas can learn how to do the surgery by herself.

But after a few hours, Kaidan was finally free of the implants that had constantly caused him pain, after the surgery, it would take a couple of months to recover from it.

But Kaidan didn't have to wait, so instead Harry used healing magic to get him ready in an instant, after that Harry swapped notes with Doctor Chakwas and explained everything about the surgery with even more in-depth details.

In the end, Doctor Chakwas felt she was knowledgeable enough to perform the surgery and have a one hundred percent success rate, it also helped that Harry used his power of the mind to transfer a copy of his knowledge of the surgery to Doctor Chakwas as well, just in case.

After all that, Harry finally took out the sacred gear he had created for Kaidan, it was a replica of the one Shepard uses, but this one had been modified, enchanted, and built from the ground up by Harry.

It took him a bit to learn everything about biotic implants and to create enchantments plus modifications for them, but eventually, he succeeded in creating a biotic implant sacred gear.

He called it, the biotic amp, using his power over the soul, Harry merged the biotic amp with Kaidan's soul and made the bond between them strong.

With that done Kaidan spent a few hours in Harry's pocket dimension on the Normandy and trained with his new sacred gear, which manifested in his eyes, Kaidan eyes glow blue whenever he is using his sacred gear to use his biotics.

Kaidan was thrilled with the changes, not only was there no pain, but his biotics were more powerful, faster to use, and he can even manipulate the effect as well, overall, all of this was a huge success.

One that everyone on the Normandy was very happy about, not only for Kaidan but for all others afflicted by the implants and suffering all kinds of side effects, soon they'll be able to recover and live their lives without pain ever again.