"The whole series of my life appeared to me as a dream; I sometimes doubted if indeed it were all true, for it never presented itself to my mind with the force of reality."

Mary Shelly (Frankenstein)

March 12th, 2188

Captain Ashley Williams

___________________________

The hospital in Joughin was off the rails. Ashley was reminded of the holding areas on the Citadel during the Reaper War. As she passed down the corridor the hospital staff moved aside. Ashley wasn't sure if it was respect for her rank, or the huge marine on her right shoulder.

Sgt. Jengo Turay was an Alliance lifer, a hardened veteran with an icy stare that could make a Krogan step away. He was unusually dark skinned, even for an African, and he stood a few inches over seven feet. Ashley hadn't had a chance to get to know him yet, but in the two weeks he'd served under her command she'd yet to see him crack a smile. She planned to change that, eventually, when she had the time.

When they turned the corner into the ICU, she spotted one James Vega. He was still in full battle dress and surrounded by a compliment of armored soldiers—Krogan, Turian, Human, and even a few Asari Commandos. Ashley had grown accustomed to seeing a mix of aliens fighting together, but what she had never seen was a common uniform outside of C-Sec. The color scheme as well as the emblem on their armor was unified. They were all part of the same company.

As soon as James saw her, he saluted formally. "Captain, good to see you. Major James Vega, SGL," he said.

Ashely cocked her head. "Sorry, Major, I've been in deep space for the last few days. I must have missed the bulletin. SGL?"

"Strategic Galactic Legion," said James. "I know it's a mouthful, sounds stupid as hell, but that's the moniker the Council stuck on us, at least for now."

Ashley nodded. "The Alliance has initiated a blockade of Benning. Admiral Yuan gave me orders to assist you. I only had a brief communique that said the planet is under martial law. What the hell is going on?"

"Cerberus," said James. "Turns out we have solid information that they were behind the assassination of the President, among other things. We've been raiding facilities."

"Shit," said Ashley. "I knew it. How organized were they?"

"Too fucking organized," said James. "And as you know, you can't question the bastards. As soon as you capture them, their heads explode."

"Yea," said Ashley. "Ocular flashbangs, so how did you get two prisoners for transport?"

"Well, one of them is ex-Cerberus, name is Ramirez," said James. "We still haven't figured out how he's involved. And the other, well, are you ready for this?"

"Shoot," said Ashley.

"It's another Shepard clone," said James.

Ashley froze. "God, so that's what she meant."

James cocked an eyebrow. "Eh?"

"Long story," said Ashley. "Involves sour music, need I say more?"

"Mierda, you mean the big HER," sighed James. "Where the hell?"

"Don't ask," said Ashley.

James nodded. "We're loading the prisoners on your shuttle now. The Council wanted one of their Spectres to handle the interrogation."

"So why are we in the hospital?" asked Ashley.

James shook his head. "Somehow, Jack got mixed up in all of this. An operative pointed us in the direction of a Cerberus safe house that Jack was investigating, but we got there just a little bit too late."

Ashley frowned. "How bad is it?"

James shook his head. "Some Cerberus super solider did a number on her. I don't know if she's going to make it. Our medic did the best he could, kept her alive till we got her here. We also picked up the clone at the same location. She was locked in a closet in the basement."

"So, the clone wasn't working with Cerberus," said Ashley.

James twirled his finger in circles near his temple. "No, she's completely loco, Ash, I don't think she can work with anyone. As crazy as the other clone was, this one's a step beyond. I don't even think she knows who or what she is. She also looks a little different, but..."

James clenched his jaw and tried to collect himself. "Damn, Ash, it was hard as hell hearing that voice, seeing that face again. I have no idea what Cerberus was planning to do with her, and, no me importa. I just want them all dead, for good this time. You feel me?"

"I feel you," said Ashley.

She gave him a faint smile, which he returned. It was good to see him. For a while, they'd been close, comrades, lovers, and what they had was headed in the right direction until the last stages of the war changed everything. After that, he was there for her, but she fucked it up, pushed him away. Ashley wanted to reach out to him, but with his squad around, and Turay, there was no chance. It was probably for the best. Her feelings were complicated enough, and now there was another clone to contend with.

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence as they stared at each other. Thankfully, a doctor approached, breaking up the awkward stares.

"How's she doing, doc?" asked James.

The doctor shook her head. "I'm sorry, Major Vega, but her chances of survival are slim to none. The system is locked down per Alliance orders right now, so I can't access her living will. If it does come up, and I see a DNR in there, I'll be obliged to take her off life support and call it."

"Fuck," said James. "So there's nothing at all?"

The doctor frowned. "Unless you can arrange for a series of miracles that would give me cause to re-examine my position on the existence of the divine, there's not much more we can do. I've induced a coma and put her in stasis, but she'll die in the next sixty hours. Just to have a chance, she needs a cellular spinal infusion, and the nearest facility with cell replication equipment is at mobile fleet command. It would take a week to transport her there, even without the blockade."

Ashley smiled. "So, you'll give God a chance if I can deliver a miracle, eh doctor? Do I have your word on that?"

The doctor tilted her head and frowned. "This is no joking matter, er..."

"Captain Williams," interjected James.

The doctor's eyes widened. "You're Ashley Williams? Oh, yes, I recognize you now. It is such an honor..."

Ashley held up her hand. "Appreciate it, but let's cut to the chase. I'm invoking my authority as a Council Spectre. This patient is an important lead, and I'll need to question her. For that I need her alive, so I'll have to take her to fleet mobile. How soon can you have her ready for transport?"

The doctor fumbled over her words. "Captain, as I said..."

Ashley cut her off. "My ship is fast, fast enough to get her there in your timeframe if we move now. So how soon, doctor?"

"I can have her secured in a medical pod in transport bay six in twenty minutes," said the doctor. "I'll see to it personally, Ma'am."

"Thank you, doctor," said Ashley.

As the doctor hurried off, Ashley put in a call to the Salamis. "Cortez, have the prisoners arrived yet?"

"Aye, Captain," said Cortez. "You won't believe this, but one of them..."

"I know," interrupted Ashley. "Listen, we have another one to bring up. I need a shuttle and a corpsman at the hospital in ten, bay six."

"Got it, Captain," responded Cortez.

James Vega smiled at her. "It's good to see you back on your game, Ash, Captain."

"Liara whipped me into shape," said Ashley.

"Doc did good, real good," said James.

Ashley saluted. "Major, good luck to you on the rest of your op, clean the bastards out."

James snapped to attention. "Yes, Ma'am! And Ash... about Jack, if you get her through this, I'll owe you one."

"You were close with her?" wondered Ashley.

"Compadres," said James.

Ashley nodded. "She's one of Shepard's, one of ours."

"Yea," said James. "Godspeed, Captain, and careful with that Ramirez pendejo."

By the time James turned and barked an order at his legionaries, Ashley and Turay were already on their way to the hospital's transport bays.

_______________________________

Ashley was a few meters short of the elevator when Prangley stepped out of it. Earlier, he'd helped Turay take Jack's pod up to med bay. At the time he was relatively calm, but now he was trembling with rage.

He wanted reassurance from Ashley. "Captain, this Cerberus asshole, Ramirez? Tell me you're not going to make any deals with him. Tell me you're going to beat the information out of him, then throw him out the airlock."

"Lieutenant, this is my command. I'll handle him however I damn well please. We're not even certain he's with Cerberus," she said.

"I checked him out," said Prangley. "He's neck deep in Cerberus connections. No way he wasn't with them."

Ashley stared the kid down. "Lieutenant, I said I would handle this. Now, return to your station and your duties. That's an order!"

Prangley saluted vigorously. "Yes, Ma'am!"

There was a touch of insubordination in both his tone of voice and his body language, but Ashley let it go. There was too much on her plate at the moment. She could always hand out an ass-kicking later if he didn't cool off.

She rode the elevator to the crew deck. The Salamis was similar in layout to the original Normandy, with a few additions. Just as the Normandy incorporated both Human and Turian designs, the Salamis boasted small but noticeable Salarian and Asari elements. The most obvious was a small containment area with a quarantine cell that could be vented into space in an emergency, and an interrogation cell that made use of advanced monitoring instruments. There were also other devices of a less savory nature.

As a Council Spectre she didn't have to adhere to Alliance protocol when it came to interrogation. Spectres had the freedom to utilize whatever methods they felt necessary. Ashley wasn't comfortable with that kind of authority, in fact, she made a point of brushing up on Alliance interrogation regs so she could stay within them.

Ashley hadn't just made peace with alien cultures, since the end of the war she'd come close to embracing Shepard's way of thinking. Her personal life had gotten complicated as a result. However, she was still Human, and she intended to act like one. As far as she was concerned, the whole damn galaxy could use a little dose of Human morality, skipping all the ugly bits that Cerberus embraced, of course.

She stopped outside the cells. Chief Kato was standing guard. She acknowledged Ashley's presence with a brief nod. Ashley took a breath. She wasn't ready for the clone, not yet. It would be better to deal with the Cerberus asshole first. He didn't have a chance to get to her, not on that level. The clone was a different story. Ashley could tell that the thing had managed to shake Vega. That face, that voice—she'd need a little time afterwards.

She entered the cell. Ramirez was restrained, sitting in his chair with an imperceptible expression on his face. There was a chair opposite of him, but she chose to stand. She wasn't Shepard. Ashley wasn't the relating type. Dominance was her play.

"Start talking," she said.

Ramirez let a sly smile slip. "What subject would like me to illuminate?"

Ashley came at him straight up. "Are you Cerberus?"

Ramirez laughed. "If I were with Cerberus, you would interacting with an eyeless corpse at the moment."

Ashley shook her head. "Nice try, but I've done some digging. You were a research scientist, neuroscience specifically. Graduated from Kane-Pat with degrees in Molecular Biology and Neuropyschology, you were recruited..."

Ramirez interrupted. "You asked me if I am Cerberus, present tense. I did not say I have never been with Cerberus."

"So you admit it," said Ashley.

"I was formerly with Cerberus, yes," said Ramirez. "As was Miranda Lawson, Jacob Taylor, Commander Shepard, and many others. However, I am no longer associated with Cerberus, in fact, they are my enemies and I have been working against them."

"Well, you're doing a shit job of it," said Ashley. "The way I see it, is that everybody who's come in contact with you, is either missing, dead, or on their way to dead, and that makes me think that you're doing Cerberus's work."

"I agree with the former," said Ramirez. "I have failed to protect my assets, and that is on me, but it is the hazard of my mission, and there was never any intention to allow them to come to harm."

"You sent Jack straight into a trap," said Ashley.

"I did not," said Ramirez. "I gave her a dead end lead and made her promise not to follow it up without assistance. I also attempted to have her detained by law enforcement to keep her from following said lead. The only thing I am guilty of, is underestimating Ms. Nought's resourcefulness, and the lengths that Cerberus was willing to go to find Olivia Free, which is what we should be discussing right now."

"That name keeps coming up. Who the hell is Olivia Free?" said Ashley.

"She is one of Shepard's former lovers," said Ramirez.

"So," said Ashley.

Ramirez smiled. "Indeed, it is a name on a long list."

"Don't be a wiseass," said Ashley.

"It is merely an observation. The Commander suffered from a compulsive sexual disorder," said Ramirez.

"You didn't even know her," said Ashley.

"It was my job," said Ramirez. "When I was with Cerberus my assignment was to learn everything there was to know about Commander Shepard. I dug into her past, recorded her brain patterns, extracted samples of her DNA, and so forth. I know the woman as well as anyone in this galaxy. Because of me..."

"You brought her back," said Ashley.

"I had a hand in it," said Ramirez. "But only indirectly, as my end of the operation proved to be... less successful."

"The clone," said Ashley. "You made Shepard's clone."

"Correct," said Ramirez. "Four of them in fact, all failures, two spectacularly so."

"Yea, I saw," said Ashley.

Ramirez sighed. "The clone you encountered on the Citadel, number three, was actually our biggest success. She was sound, but it is not DNA alone that makes someone, it is their thoughts, their memories, and capturing those is difficult. I would point out, however, that without my work, Miranda Lawson wouldn't have been able to restore key neural pathways that had been damaged."

"So this clone in custody, is this yours as well?" asked Ashley.

"It is the second," said Ramirez.

Ashley frowned. "So if you are no longer with Cerberus, why were they using one of your clones to set Jack up?"

Ramirez shook his head. "I do not believe they used the clone for the sake of Ms. Nought. I believe they were going to use it to identify Olivia Free, and Jack interfered with their plans."

"And what are their plans? Why the hell are they so interested in one of Shepard's old girlfriends?" asked Ashley.

"That, I do not know," said Ramirez. "But it may have something to do with Olivia's nature."

Ashley frowned. "Explain."

"I suspect Olivia Free is two people," said Ramirez.

Ashley sat down. "Huh? You mean she's a clone too?"

"Not exactly," said Ramirez. "It is a genetic alteration. I never found the records, but I believe that she is two people, perhaps even sharing the same consciousness. If you look closely you can see it in her art. She is both voyeur and subject, present always in two parts."

Ashley shook her head. "This just doesn't seem like a Cerberus thing. They're into breeding shock troops, acquiring tech, trying to dominate the galaxy. Where does this fit?"

"That is what I have been trying to determine," said Ramirez.

Ashley threatened the man. "If I interrogate this clone, and find out you've been lying..."

Ramirez nodded. "I am being straight with you, Captain, though I will be intrigued to see what has become of this clone. I urge caution, especially for you, when it comes to the number two."

"Why?" said Ashley.

"The first two clones were created using extensive neurological maps," said Ramirez. "As it turned out, the imprint was too specific to that time frame. Everything that the Commander was experiencing when the images were taken was strong, but past memories were faint. This changed her whole personality, weighting it towards the present experiences and pretty much ignoring the formative childhood experience."

"Not sure I follow," said Ashley.

Ramirez shrugged. "I relied heavily on brain scans taken during a raid on one of our facilities, which occurred shortly before your Feros mission on the original Normandy. Her personality is weighted towards those experiences."

"When she saw the images from the Prothean Beacon and everyone thought she was crazy," said Ashley.

"Yes," said Ramirez. "And when she was infatuated with you."

Ashley sighed. "Great."

"Use it to your advantage," said Ramirez. "She was always a buggy one, but she may respond to you in a different manner than she does most. She is also the youngest of the clones. I know that is relative, but her body was not put through the artificial aging process, nor were her mouth and jaw surgically altered. Also we never got around to duplicating the scars on her body, thus she looks as Shepard would have had she never been a soldier or suffered through Mindoir."

"Is she dangerous?" asked Ashley.

"No," said Ramirez. "I am not sure if it is coincidental, or part of her particular mindset, but this clone is incompetent compared to the real Shepard. Her biotics are weak and her combat skills nearly non-existent. As unstable as she is, were she anything else, she would have been destroyed along with clone number one and number four."

"Shit," said Ashley. "So you made these clones and killed them?"

Ramirez stared at her. "Only the two that were dangerous. The others were put into storage as soon as Project Lazarus panned out. One was stolen. You know the rest of the story."

Ashley frowned. "Where were they being kept?"

"Right here on Benning, of course," said Ramirez. "This was the location of Project Mirror; our clone facility. We used an automated farm as a cover operation, thus we could ship in all the genetic materials without raising any flags."

Ashley shook her head. "You sly Cerberus bastards."

"Do you mind if I smoke?" asked Ramirez as he nudged his chin in the direction of his jacket.

"I wouldn't if I were you," said Ashley.

Ramirez had a puzzled expression. "Eh?"

"I already think you're a Cerberus asshole. If you pull out a cigarette and start puffing away, it'll remind me of the biggest asshole of all, and I might just think 'the hell with it' and ventilate your skull," said Ashley.

Ramirez became extra polite. "Point taken, Captain Williams."

Ashley stood up again. "Don't get comfortable. I'm going to interrogate this clone, and do some digging of my own. I have my resources as well. Then I'll decide if I'm going to shove you out the airlock or hand you over to the Alliance where you'll probably live out your life in a jail cell."

Ashley left the room, closing the door behind her. She used the one way viewer to look in on the clone in the adjoining cell. It was a Shepard clone all right, though Ramirez was correct, this one was younger than the other clone they had encountered. Ashley had never really evaluated the Commander's physical appearance before, to do so would have seemed disrespectful, but the creature in the cell wasn't exempt