"Dr. Lang," Dr. Susan said, walking through the lab door. "How's everything looking today?"
"Same as usual," Dr. Lang replied, going through her notes. "Not much has changed."
"The new data didn't help at all?" she asked curiously. "I had hope it would."
"It's too soon to tell," Dr. Lang answered. "The simulation hasn't completed all the calculations yet."
"It's been at it for hours," Dr. Susan said, taking a seat in one of the empty chairs.
"The computer processor isn't equipped to handle the load," Dr. Lang muttered to the screen.
"It'll take as long as it takes," she said louder. "These calculations are newer than anything we tried before. Where did you say we got the calculations from?"
"We have everyone at the Science Academy trying to help everyone out," Dr. Susan began, avoiding the question. "This is the best we've got."
"That's why it's taking so long," Dr. Lang answered. "I had to change everything to accommodate the calculations."
Dr. Susan leaned back on the chair and stared at Dr. Lang. Her first impression of the doctor wasn't all that great, especially when she showed up with two turians 3 weeks ago at the docking station.
Since her arrival, Alec has had her working on perfecting her implant design nonstop with the help of the engineers. So far, Dr. Lang has gotten exceptional results, but she has been struggling with stabilizing the implant.
None of the engineers had been able to find the solution to the problem, but Alec was beginning to think that his prototype might come in handy in this particular situation. Going out on a limb, he had given her some new calculations for Dr. Lang to try out. They were all waiting anxiously for the results.
"You ever think about taking a break?" Dr. Susan asked out of nowhere. "Maybe take some time off?"
"I didn't come here to relax," Dr. Lang answered. "I came to make this implant work. It's what got me nominated to come to the Science Academy."
"All work and no play," Dr. Susan commented. "That sounds stressful."
"We all have different ways of distressing," Dr. Lang answered as the computer started beeping.
"This is it," Dr. Lang whispered in disbelief.
The calculation Dr. Susan had given her not only would stabilize the implant, but it would give it the necessary power to be used at will without burning out the circuits. Dr. Lang had her reservations about where these calculations came from, but they worked.
"It will work?" Dr. Susan asked, standing up.
"Yes," Dr. Lang replied, in disbelief, turning to face Dr. Susan. "It'll work."
Dr. Susan smiled the biggest smile Dr. Lang had ever seen, "I'll tell Alec as soon as possible." With that, she took off from the room.
It took a second for Dr. Lang to take that in; the excitement had clouded her senses momentarily. Dr. Lang stared at the wall as all the information gathered in her brain. If Alec Ryder was being informed, then that would mean he had something to do with the calculations given her to use on the simulation...
He would have to have gotten them from somewhere; no one at the Science Academy had been able to come up with the solution... No living human could... He was going to use the implant to house the A.I!
Dr. Lang stood up at the realization. Alec had to have finished the building of the A.I., and she was blinded as to why they wanted the implant stabilized so badly.
Dr. Lang was so focused on finishing her design that she didn't realize it could be used for housing an A.I. She had come up with the idea for the implant when she had graduated from the N7 program.
Some of the candidates in the program suffered from severe migraines thanks to the L3 biotic implants. It had been her way of helping them out, but she hadn't been able to finish the design...until now.
Shit! Dr. Lang thought, looking around, making sure no one was going to enter the lab anytime soon.
She quickly inserted a USB hard drive into the machine and programmed it to copy everything there was on the hard drive. Without any time to lose, she copied all of her notes, including the new calculations, and downloaded the simulation program to her omni-tool.
Hopefully, with this information, she might get a better clue as to how the A.I would interact with the implant. No sooner had the data been copied over, Dr. Lang heard a knock at the door.
"Enter," Dr. Lang called out, looking as normal as she could.
Dianvi opened the door and walked over, "Dr. Lang."
"Dianvi, what a pleasant surprise," Dr. Lang replied, smiling. "What can I do for you?"
"The Director has asked to see you," she replied. "He's asked me to take you to his office."
"Of course. Lead the way."
Dr. Lang remembered the first time she set eyes on Alec Ryder during orientation. He had entered the room and had everyone's attention even before he spoke. She hadn't realized that Alec was the Director of the Science Academy. No one in the Council nor the intel gathered mentioned anything about it. It made Dr. Lang wonder what else the intel had missed.
Alec said a few words of encouragement and congratulations before leaving. Most of the other researchers and assistants were in awe and didn't say much after his departure. Dianvi had come back in and explained the datapad in front of them before letting everyone leave. After that, everything just fell together.
Working on the implant design had taken up all of her time Dr. Lang's time between eating and sleeping. There was no such thing as taking a rest when there was so much to do. Ka'li had used any free time to find a way to communicate with the battlecruiser or with Garrus, but with no luck.
It seemed like all incoming or outgoing communications were being blocked from somewhere in Juxhi. Neither Ka'li nor Dr. Lang could find the source of the interference, so all they could do was hope that the battlecruiser hadn't abandoned them.
Dianvi led them both of them down to the third floor, but instead of heading straight through the hallway, they took the first left they came across. It didn't take long for the wall to change in color and texture.
Dr. Lang began to feel the floor dip a bit as they continued walking. The air around them also changed. If she didn't know better, Dr. Lang would guess that they were heading toward a different part of the Academy.
"It's just up here," Dianvi said, breaking the silence. "Not much further now."
The pair of them stopped in front of a steel door a few minutes later.
"Mr. Ryder," Dianvi called out. "I have Dr. Lang as you requested."
The door swooshed open, and Dr. Lang followed Dianvi inside. The room was not what she had expected. There were stacks of tech all over the floor and piles of notes and notebooks stuffed in every corner. Alec was leaning against his desk and stood up when he saw them.
"Thank you, Dianvi," he replied, smiling. "That'll be all."
Dianvi bowed and hurried out the door.
"Dr. Lang," Alec said in greeting. "How are you doing today?"
"I'm well," Dr. Lang answered politely. "Dianvi said you wanted to see me."
"Straight to business, I see," Alec commented, motioning for Dr. Lang to take a seat in an empty chair. "One of the things I admire about you."
"That's very kind of you," Dr. Lang replied, taking a seat.
"Dr. Susan said you have made a breakthrough in your design," he said, taking his seat as well. "Tell me about it."
"Well," Dr. Lang started. "The design incorporates an implant to help regulate the input and output of energy."
"What's the focus group for your design?" he asked curiously.
"I had biotics in mind," Dr. Lang replied. "Doesn't matter the species, the implant was designed to handle any load."
"If I wanted to use it to regulate any type of energy source, would that be possible?"
Dr. Lang stared at Alec for a long time before answering, "It may be possible, but new calculations have to be drawn out depending on the energy source you want to accommodate."
"It took so long to find calculations to get the implant to stabilize; it would take longer if we were to change what the implant was originally designed for."
Alec didn't reply and leaned back against his chair.
"Difficult but not impossible," Alec said out of nowhere. "It's settled."
Alec jumped out of his chair excitedly, "When you get back, we will start working on different designs for the implant."
"What do you mean by when I get back?" Dr. Lang also asked, standing. "I didn't realize I was going anywhere."
Something about the whole situation felt wrong. It was like they were trying to get rid of her, and "taking a trip" was just the way to do it. There were so many ways for something to go wrong on the trip.
"Everything has been scheduled," Alec replied, walking her out. "Your pilot will be docking shortly."
Dr. Lang said her goodbyes and thanked him before walking back. Ka'li was already packing by the time Dr. Lang made it back to their room in the West wing.
"How did it go?" Ka'li asked when she saw Dr. Lang enter.
"We are being sent on a trip," Dr. Lang replied, leaning against the doorframe.
"That's what I was told a few minutes ago," Ka'li answered. "I hadn't realized we were allowed to take trips anywhere."
"You and me both," Dr. Lang said, grabbing her suitcase from underneath the bed.
"It's the perfect time for something to go wrong," she continued. "We need to stay alert."
"I couldn't agree more," Ka'li said, continuing her packing.
When they were notified that the shuttle had landed to pick them up, both of them made their way to the docking station. Dr. Lang was hoping to see Garrus, but instead, she saw the female turian, Maenia, getting out of the shuttle.
"Dr. Lang," Mania said in greeting. "Your bags have already been loaded."
"Thank you," Dr. Lang replied. "We'll depart as soon as we get the green light."
Dr. Lang and Ka'li got themselves seated in the shuttle and waited for the control tower to allow them to depart. Even though Juxhi didn't have a physical security presence, they did have a shield that could knock a relay out of the sky.
"Shuttle N07BD, departure granted," the tower said over the radio.
"Departing now," Maenia replied, inputting her controls in the dashboard.
"This may be the only chance we get," Aster whispered to Mirithea. "Switch omni-tools with me. Make sure the Council gets this."
"Don't worry," Mirithea whispered back. "They will."
The departure from the docking station went smoothly, which surprised Aster. However, when Maenia started pushing several buttons out of nowhere, Aster knew that they may not be getting off of Juxhi anytime soon.
"What's going on?" Aster asked, dreading the answer.
"The controls are not acting right," Maenia replied. "It's fighting me. It's like I'm not in control."
"Get the parachutes," Aster said, unstrapping. "Maenia, forget the controls, suit up."
Maenia unbuckled from the pilot seat and came over to where Mirithea was grabbing the parachutes.
"We're going to have to bail," Aster said as Maenia opened the shuttle door. "Maenia, you go first and secure our landing."
Maenia jumped out, leaving Mirithea and Shepard alone.
"There's only one chute left," Mirithea said, yelling over the wind.
"I know," Aster said. "You take it. It's me they're after."
Mirithea strapped into the parachute and glanced at Aster once more before jumping out. Just like Aster had said, they were after her. All she had to do was get the omni-tool to the Council, and the mission would be over.