"All right, EDI. Tell me what we've got."

Shepard had definitely learned her lesson with Grunt. This new visitor was getting the full nine yards, and that meant no civvies, even if she was aboard her own ship. Instead the golden glow of her omni-tool made her well-polished armor gleam, and the AI's calm voice radiated from the small speakers inside it.

"Human male, approximately 2 meters tall, age estimated at 45. Significant scarring indicative of extensive burns as well as cybernetic replacements. Cerberus has reverse-engineered and corrected the most egregious oversights in this system."

"Hold on. Reverse-engineered?" She ran a hand through her short hair as the elevator doors closed.

"Correct, Shepard. The technology was deemed to be of unique origin and was salvaged, then later largely deemed as inefficient and relatively crude. Many systems including breathing support have been replaced with technology originating from the Lazarus Project as part of an ongoing Cerberus initiative to expand the use of new developments, possibly for commercial use."

The light flickered a moment as the elevator came to a stop. Instead of moving on immediately to the starboard cargo bay, Shepard walked only to lean on the railing of the deck, looking out the wide window at the hangar below. "Sounds like he's about as hard to keep down as I am." She had to respect that, at least. "So where's he from?"

"Unknown."

She blinked before looking sideways to the small Engineering console where EDI's representation flickered on. "You just said he was human, EDI."

"That is correct. Genetic analysis shows that the subject is entirely homo sapiens sapiens. Further microarray analysis shows many known genotypes, such as heterozygote advantage for the CFTR and triosephosphate isomerase proteins." Shepard blinked rapidly at this, enough for even the AI to deduce that she was losing interest. "Several new mutations were recorded. The most notable difference appears to be large amounts of an unknown organelle within the subject's cells."

"So he's human, but he's infected with something. Great."

"Although large quantities are present, at this time there appears to be no known vector for infection."

"Good, I don't need the new kid sneezing on Tali and making her keel over."

"In that event, the envirosuit would prevent -" Shepard gave another sideways glare at the AI's display, and EDI seemed to get the message. "Mordin requests blood and tissue samples for further analysis, with your permission."

"Sounds fine to me. You still haven't gotten to the part where Cerberus got their paws on him, EDI."

"The subject was acquired from a small fighter discovered adrift near Horizon. The ship is not equipped with a Mass Effect drive -"

"Wait, wait -"

"Instead there appears to be technology of an alternative means of intergalactic transport. Cerberus scientists are currently investigating, although it appears to be substantially slower than the Mass Effect relay. Current hypothesis is that the small fighter was caught in the Collector ship's Mass Effect field."

"So, he got stuck in the wake and was brought along for the ride?" She crossed her arms over her chest, leaning back against the railing.

"Essentially correct, Shepard. However, evidence suggests that at that range, he intended to pursue the Collector craft instead of being accidentally swept up along with it."

Shepard stood up, giving a low whistle of appreciation. "Man's got cojones, I'll give him that."

"Primary reports on scarring indicate that approximately twenty-five years ago, coinciding with considerable burns, the subject was in fact effectively castrated -"

"Don't! Just don't - don't finish that, EDI. I don't even have them, but you're still making them hurt," Shepard groaned.

To its credit, although the AI looked desperately confused (as much as it could, anyway), EDI only responded with a polite "Yes, Commander Shepard."

She took a few more minutes to try and get her hair into some sort of order - paradoxically, the shorter she cut it, the more messy it seemed to become - before nodding at the starboard cargo bay door. "All right, EDI, open it up. Let's see what we've got."

The door slid open, and Shepard frowned. Lights were flickering, and that made her nervous. If the Normandy was going to go into this mission, everything had to be working, down to the last lightbulb relay. Instead the back half of the cargo bay was bathed in darkness, centering around a boxy stasis pod that made Grunt's tank look downright friendly in comparison. Of course the angular Cerberus logo was stamped on its surface, on top of the tinted window that made it impossible for her to see what exactly was inside.

"I apologize for the atmosphere, Commander Shepard. It appears the symbiotic organelles serve some purpose to enhance biotic capabilities. Conservative estimates place the subject's biotic power at approximately equal or greater to those of Subject Zero."

Shepard paused a moment, reflexively scouting the room for any boxes she could dive behind to use as cover. But her assault rifle was with her. She at least had that advantage. ...however slim it might be.

A small array of objects were laid out on a nearby table. As if to stall actually confronting the problem, she walked over to glance over them, finally picking up a small metal cylinder with an air of amusement. "Those are the personal effects recovered from the subject that Cerberus has forwarded to you. It appears his main weapon was in effect a plasma sword. The switch is the red button by your thumb."

Curiously, she held it out and gingerly thumbed the switch. A vibrant red blade extended outwards, thrumming in the air - and almost immediately, Shepard gave a laugh that was half of a snort. "Goddamn, this looks like something that somebody would come up with in the society of creative anachronism or something." She paused. "Not - not that I ever did that in college. It's totally undignified for a Spectre, and, uh - no time to do stuff like that in a good military career."

"I'm sure, Shepard."

Very gingerly, she deactivated the sword and set it back down before looking over to the stasis pod once again. "Anything else I should know, EDI?"

"There is significant neural activity in the limbic system, especially in the amygdala, as well as in the auditory processing centers, despite the measures of the stasis pod."

"So..." She slowly thought over the last few words. "What you're telling me is that he's mad as hell, he can probably hear us, and that he's one tough bastard?"

"That would be a correct colloquial summary."

She sighed, pausing to look the stasis pod over again. Then she checked her assault rifle. Fully loaded, set to incendiary rounds. Not that she hoped to use them, but it was always better to be prepared. "You know, EDI, if the Illusive Man really wants to send me presents, I'd appreciate a box of chocolates or some flowers or something," she said wryly, checking her gun over. "Not some mystery man who's likely to tear my face off. Even if flowers are a little ineffective against Collectors."

The lights flickered again.

Shepard drew in a deep breath, standing up straighter, before letting it roll out of her in a long sigh. With easy, quiet confidence - the type that had served her well so far - she stared the stasis pod down. Although she could see nothing but shadow, she knew there must be a pair of eyes in there, somewhere, and she hoped she was meeting them.

"All right, EDI. Let him out of there."