Bardon listened to the many. Dakira was in danger unless he could solve this issue, which was not good seeing as Dakira was the closest thing they had to an ally on the Batarian Council.
'Our use of music did not go as planned. It should have made them think there was more unrest among their people than they realize, instead they go after the one who wishes to help his people.'
It was a miscalculation on Blacklight's part, but not a bad one. In fact, it was a good one. A very good one.
'We shall construct a body of some unknown Batarian. One without a trace of Blacklight within it. It will have a brain but no true mind of its own. Just a series of instructions.'
Bardon Listened to the plan, and found it bold, but potentially useful.
'We shall construct the body today, as we find a way to make it think and act as we need it to.'
But could it be done? This was unlike anything Blacklight has ever tried before.
'It can be done, but we must be careful, the mental instructions of this mindless being must be perfect. We shall think up the perfect body but no soul, with a brain but no mind. Bardon, make the preparations.'
And he did.
Garrus looked down at the assorted mess of what once was a shop, and decided he was glad Blacklight wasn't allowed on the Citadel, if only because a mess like this would fall on him anyway.
As he picked up the metallic debris on top of many broken shards of glass, he watched as Frosty bubbled and oozed around the heating ducts where Shepard was trying to teach the little blob to speak.
If gurgling counted as speech then Garrus supposed she was succeeding.
"So, how did you meet Frosty anyway?" asked Shepard.
Garrus thought on that for a moment before he smiled.
"It's a funny story, it all started when I volunteered to deliver a shipment to a group of Salarian scientists interested in studying the creatures….
Garrus was in the process of calibrating the main guns as they took off from the Salarian group who they had delivered the Coolant Breed to. Whatever studying those guys were doing must have been really boring if the reactions of the STG operative sent to guard the scientists were anything to go by.
Garrus was minding his own business when he heard a familiar sound. It was a rumbling gurgle he knew well as a small blob rolled towards the heating vent. His jaw plates flared a bit.
"Well, well, well. What have we here. Looks like we didn't get all of you. Hey little guy." Said Garrus as he bent down to observe the small Coolant Breed.
It made adorable bubbling sounds as it undulated, which caused a sloshing sound to emanate from it, like Ice in a glass of water.
He reached out and poked the thing, and it purred just a bit.
"Awwww! You're like a legless baby hanar. Yes you are."
The blob rolled towards Garrus and created a small stubby tendril from its mass that poked Garrus back.
"Hmmm, well I suppose I should inform the captain."
The tendril was absorbed back into the blob as it shook and sloshed.
"Then again, one missing blob isn't going to hurt anything."
The Blob stretched a bit at that as it moved back to the heat vent.
"I think I'll call you… Frosty."
It purred happily.
"So you just took him?"
Garrus shrugged as he swept the glass away with Ashley's help, though it was odd to see the thousands of tendrils fold off Ashley as they each picked up the glass individually to deposit them in a waste bin Kaiden was holding.
"No one noticed. When we made it back to the Citadel, I had him in a crate and brought him home."
"What did you do after that?" asked Kaiden as his arm shifted into something that shot fire to incinerate the discarded boxes.
"Well…."
Garrus plugged in the old space heater and almost immediately Frosty engulfed it and purred happily. Garrus couldn't help but smile just a bit.
"Glad you like it.", said Garrus as he stood up and watched frosty do his thing.
He made his way towards his room, but not before turning around to watch the small blob do its thing to the heater.
"Good thing you don't need to eat. I always wanted a pet, but never could afford to keep one."
Frosty purred.
"That should keep you occupied for the night. Goodnight Frosty, pleasant dreams… Well, assuming you can dream… Which you probably can't… Goodnight regardless. Pleasant cooling, I guess."
Garrus nodded as he made his way to his room. He had to start work again tomorrow, and getting a good night's sleep was very important. Making his way to his bed, he fell on top of it, and passed out almost immediately.
However he was unaware he had left his door open, and a few moments later, little Frosty rolled into his room, stretched itself to his bed, and laid motionless right at the turians feet. Garrus did feel a bit chilly that night, but the insulated covers kept him from waking. Frosty remained still, except of course when he would roll out to cool off the heater every few hours, but he always came back to his spot.
"Awww!", said Shepard as she clasp her hands to her face.
"I woke up and there he was, sitting at the end of my bed like a guard varren."
"That sounds adorable."
Garrus nodded, but not before he noticed something… off about Shepard.
"You look a bit different. Did you do something?"
"Oh… I'm a girl now."
"…I see."
"Well don't keep us waiting, what happened next?"
"To be honest, it was pretty much the same every day, until recently that is, when he stopped moving around as much…"
Garrus watched as the small blob just sat there. For some reason, he wasn't going to the heater, or to the bed. Sure he would still follow Garrus around at night, but for the most part, he was lifeless where he was once so active.
Garrus gently ran his talons across the slimy membrane.
"Frosty, do you want to go to the Directory again? No one is really there right now, and the computers there are always overheating. Would you like that boy? Huh, C'mon, I know you want something to cool off."
Frosty only undulated in a sporadic motion before settling down.
Garrus picked up the little blob even as it nearly froze his arms solid, but his suit was able to take most of the damage.
"Poor thing… You know what, I think I have some vacation days spared… Maybe I can get you some help."
Frosty purred lowly. Garrus smiled as he patted Frosty.
"I'll see if I can do anything. You just wait here my little snowball."
"…So I checked in my vacation days, got on a transport ship here, and tried to find a Blacklight. You were the only person…Persons I knew could help poor Frosty."
Shepard looked to Frosty, then to Garrus, then Back to Frosty.
"Hmmm… Well, we can't be sure what is wrong just yet, but it shouldn't take long. I'll do a bit of analysis while you all clean up." Said Shepard as she lifted a hand made only of millions of microscopic tendrils that was slowly stretching towards Frosty.
"I'm going to send in a few robust microbes to see if they find anything. They should be able to withstand the cold for long enough before they are excreted through the membrane later. Hold on tight Frosty"
The tendrils connected, and Frosty flinched.
Dakira sighed as he looked over his notes. He had hit a dead end. No new evidence had been found, and worst of all, the High Council was getting impatient.
It seemed as if his time as a Councilor of the Batarian Hegemony would be drawing to an end. His name would be forever stained, and those of his family would suffer for it for generations to come. Briefly, he wondered if he would be able to save his family name through some rather drastic measures.
However, this train of thought was short lived when his omnitool went off. His communications channel indicated it was Bardon. Dakira wondered why he was contacting him. Even as a member of the Master Slave Caste, it was still highly irregular for him to contact anyone. Dakira thought it must be important. He even felt a flicker of hope Bardon had found something.
He answered.
"Bardon, how are you my friend."
"I have information."
Dakira almost felt his heart stop.
"I'm Listening."
"I don't wish to go into details, but I went to pick up the newest shipment of slaves. I found something among the traders…"
Dakira looked down to the Batarian before him, currently bound to a chair, who stared back blankly with dead eyes. Adorning his upper arm was a familiar Tattoo. It was the mark of the Slave Traders.
Dakira looked to the self-made gun they found near the man. A Propellant gun with Titanium rods sharpened into stakes. He lifted the gun as he looked to Bardon.
"Thank you Bardon for your sharp eye. With this, I can keep my position."
Bardon only nodded.
Dakira, satisfied, looked to his guards holding the suspect.
"So, tell me. You obviously belong to the Traders Caste" said Dakira as he motioned to the mark upon the suspects arm.
"Which only begs the question of why you would play anti-slave propaganda. It makes no sense… Unless you have a secondary goal."
The suspect limply looked up. His eyes unfocused.
"Your…Message was…Not in our best interests. We know how it would end if you had your way."
"That doesn't explain much." Said Dakira idly.
"Council easy to play… We know they would make you find out what… occurred."
Dakira was beginning to understand.
"And If I failed to find you, I would be voted off the Council."
"Yes" said the Suspect blankly.
Dakira nodded before turning to the guards restraining the suspect.
"Find out who this is. No ledgers are here. The mark on his arm is of the Slave Traders Caste, his cohorts must be among them. Possibly even one of his slaves."
The guards nodded as they looked to the Suspect.
"And the John Doe?"
"Question him, then execute him for crimes against the Hegemony."
"I will not talk."
"We shall see."
"I will not talk."
Dakira only looked at the dead eyed suspect before turning to Bardon.
"I will ensure your protection from possible retaliation, you have my word."
"Thank you Dakira."
Dakira nodded before he turned around.
Bardon walked with him. The construct would say nothing. The 'protection' would prove an issue to do much, but there were more Blacklight hidden among the masses that could work ahead. All that was needed now was to plant just the right evidence against the Slave Traders Caste.
"Do you want to know something Nel?"
The cybernetic Varren looked to its master as Saleon looked into the lens of a microscope. The Varren, even through Saleon's hazmat suit, could sense that his master was oddly enough shaken by something he was seeing.
"Blacklight, the species that is, isn't a virus. Then again the Blacklight virus itself is a retrovirus, not a virus, but that's not the point. Not really. Blacklight is made up of cells like any other species, granted the cells have properties of multiple kinds cells simultaneously as well as bacteria depending on what Blacklight needs. Each cell is a factory for more of the virus. What makes Blacklight special is that the cells only produce the virus when Blacklight wants them to. Anything infected by the virus has its non-coding DNA activated and those genes are added to Blacklights genetic library as the cell becomes another Blacklight cell."
Saleon looked away from the microscope towards Nel.
"That is what makes the Blacklight Virus so unique; it doesn't destroy the host cell. It can, but it doesn't have to. When Blacklight wants to change things around they remove the genes in the virus and replace them with what they want. Then they release the virus so it injects the needed genome they want into their cells. Basically it's gene therapy on an unprecedented scale."
Saleon turned to the eggs.
"I took tissue samples from the specimen. I think… I may have made something far FAR worse."
The Varren Quirked its head.
"No, I'm not stopping. But… Whatever comes out of that egg, it won't be Salarian. The tissue samples had a cell wall made of some kind of plastic. Only plants, fungi, and some bacteria have a cell wall… I don't even know how that got in there. None of the subjects' samples had Cell Walls, let alone plastic ones… It had redundant DNA… Radiation resistance basically. It was excreting toxic chemicals as well, several in fact… I'm not sure, but I think the cells started to construct something very much like an endospore after I stopped giving it nutrients… That was just a tissue sample Nel."
Saleon looked back to the microscope, and seemed to be avoiding it in a very noticeable way.
"I can't stop here though. But, how did it naturally produce plastic for its cell wall, why? I suppose it lets the cell stick to other cells, but… that can't be it. A plastic cell wall made of... whatever kind of plastic this is would be synthetic… right? I looked at that cell wall very carefully Nel, and it wasn't a bioplastic, that much I know. But… I didn't put it there… How did it get there? Unless…"
Saleon turned to the material he used to contain the egg… Specifically the plastic capsule he kept the samples in.
"No… That can't be it, can it?"
Nel stood and walked towards his master, before laying down at his feet.
"I suppose I should relax. There are more eggs I need to look into, they might not have the same biology. If they do however… Hmm. I suppose these traits can be useful. I'll need to take another sample, and examine it immediately."
Saleon stood up.
"I think I'll look at the samples of the others later. First however, I have to get rid of this one."
Saleon took the slide and petri dish the containing the sample and moved over to a small incinerator. He had many around the lab just in case. Carefully placing the samples inside, Saleon closed the door, set the incinerator to its max setting, and activated the incinerator.
He let it burn for a very long time and left it burning. He would come back to it later, only after he was fully sure that the sample was destroyed in its entirety. Right now, his next course of action was to put the eggs in even better containment units using the absolute best materials he could get his hands on. Just in case they decided to hatch several months prematurely.