A/N: Well, it looks like I've been dumped in the deep end. Thanks Melara.

To those who have been following me for a while now, my deepest apologies. I won't offer a list of excuses to explain why it's been so long between updates. In short, I'm sorry. Thank you for your patience. I truly appreciate that you've chosen to follow this story and the fact you have done so means more than I can say.

Now that a certain someone has put the pressure on me to finish this so she can write the next instalment of Dark Energy I suppose I'd best be getting a move on. As I've said before, I do have a synopsis planned. It's somewhat fluid, as I've had to collaborate with Melara to ensure our stories fit.

Having the opportunity to work with someone who can only be described as an incredibly talented author is an absolute honour. Thank you Melara, from the bottom of my heart.

Again, I am so sorry for the abysmal delay since my last chapter. I will be working very hard to keep the momentum going now that my Muse is talking to me again, and the sooner I get this done the sooner DE5 can start. Win win as I see it.

Thank you for following this story, I hope you like where it goes.

MWMWMWMWMW

The mess erupted into a cacophony of cheers and whistles, both Sam and Liara wincing slightly as the wall of sound enveloped them. Waiting patiently Liara gave those gathered a few minutes to settle again before raising her hands slightly in a gesture for silence.

"I will have Norlan schedule meetings with each research group in the next week or two to sort out particulars but for now, congratulations everyone. I am looking forward to see the discoveries this project will deliver with a full year of funding."

Stepping down off the chair she had stood on to make the announcement Liara briefly squeezed Sam's hand before disappearing into the excited throng. Sam mingling with the crowd herself for a few minutes before escaping the dome, the cool air and comparative silence a relief after being in the packed mess.

"Bit overwhelming in there, isn't it?" Jumping slightly at the unexpected intrusion Sam turned to find Doctor Parker leaning against the entrance to the medical clinic.

"Yeah a little. It's great to see everyone so excited though. Are you staying on Doc?"

"I hope to. Of course I have a separate arrangement with Doctor T'Soni than the research groups do but I would like to continue my tenure here. It's becoming an increasingly interesting place to be."

"You just want to poke me with more needles."

Laughing, Doctor Parker stepped forward and clapped Sam on the shoulder. "You're safe for now Doctor Williams, I promise."

"For now, he says... fine. Truce. And hey, if you're going to hold poking me with needles over my head for a whole year just call me Sam. Doctor Williams is too formal and it makes me feel like I've done something wrong."

Laughing again Doctor Parker nodded. "Sam it is. And remember, anything." Winking at the exasperated look on Sam's face he retreated back into the clinic, the firm click of the door closing coinciding with a sigh from Sam.

Scuffing her boots in the dirt she turned for her dome again. She'd left her rendering program running while the meeting took place and the final high resolution pass should be done by now. The thought of fully exploring the ruin, if only by a 3D holo-model for now, pushed everything else aside as she hurried home.

MWMWMWMWMW

"Here, see?" The holo-model pulsed slightly as Sam pointed through the floating render to a section of the rear wall on the first floor. "And here, and here. Every level is the same."

Reaching out with one hand Liara gestured for the model to turn while her other hand increased the zoom. "Yes, I see it Sam. The pedestals seem to be linked with a secondary mechanism. And look at the floor in this section of each level."

Peering closely at the model Sam's eyes first narrow speculatively, then widened. "Stairs!"

Zooming the model again Sam jabbed a finger triumphantly. "The pedestals are linked to hidden stairs." Grinning at Liara she gave the asari a quick peck on the cheek. "In the mood for some biotic lock-picking?"

"Once we go over the sequence a few times to practice, certainly." Smiling at the obvious deflation in Sam's mood Liara looped an arm around the woman's waist. "We have a whole year Sam. I would like to savour it, in every way."

Ducking her head briefly Sam nodded and gestured for the holo-projector to power down. "A whole year. I like the sound of that."

Standing, Liara held a hand out to Sam, pulling the woman close as she stepped away from the table. "There is no one I would rather spend a year with, explore this ruin with. This is an amazing discovery Sam." Pausing a moment Liara's hand squeezed Sam's tightly. "You are an amazing discovery."

"Oh? Planning on chronicling your discovery of me Doctor T'Soni?"

Blushing a deep purple the asari lightly slapped the grinning woman on the arm.

"I like that colour on you Li, brings out your eyes."

Fixing Sam with a dark glare Liara rolled her eyes and sighed. "Oh just shut up and kiss me."

"Doctor T'S..."

The world ceased to exist as Liara's eyes flared black a mere moment before her lips pressed against Sam's, and two became one.

MWMWMWMWMW

"You ready for this?"

The morning sunlight spread a soft glow throughout the first level of the ruin, augmented by several work lights. The past few days had been dedicated to practising the sequence until both of them could perform it flawlessly.

Smoothing her tunic Liara took up her position and nodded. "I am ready Sam."

Closing her eyes briefly Sam inhaled slowly then exhaled. "Ok, let's get started."

Both twisting slightly to look at the other they donned their re-breathers for safety. All the scans appeared clean, no signs of any traps or the like. The air quality in the next level down was unknown however and Liara had insisted on the masks, even to the point of practising with them on.

Liara's eyes flooded with black and Sam felt the gentle nudge of her consciousness pushing against her mind. Relaxing, she welcomed the light touch of the asari as they both flared into biotic brilliance and their practice drills took over.

"On my mark. Three, two, one, mark."

Anyone standing outside the ruin could have been forgiven for thinking a full-blown biotic fight was occurring inside, as bright blue light burst from the gap in the stones guarding the entrance. As the glow faded and the sunlight cautiously crept back into the gap a low rumbling became apparent. More felt than heard it was still enough to send a nearby flock of birds into sudden flight.

Lowering her hands Sam stood panting slightly, feeling the usual pang of disappointment as Liara slowly withdrew from her mind. The whole room was vibrating slightly, super fine dust filtering down from the ceiling. Each pedestal was still alive with biotics, both pattens standing in sharp relief against the stone as the dark energy crackled and twisted through the intricately carved designs.

Taking a few steps back, Sam and Liara moved to the centre of the room. A series of clicks sounded, followed by a faint grinding sound. Staring intently at the back wall Sam finally noticed a section of the floor beginning to almost imperceptibly move.

The grinding became briefly louder, than smoothed to a regular humming as the floor section dropped away faster. Barely restraining themselves the pair watched and waited for several nervous minutes until the humming stopped, its cessation heralded by a dull thud.

Both activating their omni-tools almost simultaneously they quickly went through a pre-planned check.

"Floor... stable."

"Walls and ceiling... stable."

"Air quality... holding."

Cautiously approaching the newly formed stairway, Liara continued to monitor the air quality while Sam confirmed the integrity of the floor and the stairs themselves. Shining a light down the stairway revealed little more than what was present on the current level of the ruin – stone walls and floor, a pedestal and carved patterns that appeared similar to those already catalogued.

Shutting her omni-tool down Liara nodded and removed her re-breather, Sam following suit a moment later.

"It is a little stale, understandably, but quite safe for the moment. We will know more once the drone has completed its reconnaissance."

Eyes lighting with excitement Sam hurried to the work table and powered up the drone. Syncing it with her omni-tool the small device lifted off the tabled and wobbled its way over to the stairwell. Catching Liara's amused smirk Sam raised an eyebrow.

"I know, I know. It's unbalanced with all the extra gear but it will do for now. I'll get the weight properly distributed before the next level. It's flying isn't it?"

Liara barely suppressed a laugh as the over-loaded drone bounced off either side of the stairwell before successfully descending into the darkness. Glaring at her in mock consternation Sam held her omni-tool out towards the asari.

"You want to drive?"

"I am sorry Sam, I know the drone was last minute and there was little time to put it together. It shall serve our purposes, even if it does currently handle like a drunk volus."

Quickly locking the drone in a holding pattern Sam burst into laughter. "Know a lot of drunken volus do you?"

"I have heard of a heavily drugged one. A biotic god, he called himself." Liara waved her hand dismissively. "It was a long time ago, and unimportant now. What can you see?"

Moving to stand next to the human Liara peered at the small HUD projected by Sam's omni-tool. The drone was making a slow sweep through the room, feeding all manner of data back to Sam's console.

The room appeared identical to the one they were currently standing in. The same number of pedestals, arrayed around the walls in exactly the same way. Even the designs on the walls appeared identical. Scrolling quickly through the telemetry Sam grinned.

"The air is safe to breathe and the room is structurally sound. Fancy checking it out Doctor T'Soni?"

Setting the drone to a pre-programmed sequence Sam shut her omni-tool off and wrapped her arms around Liara's waist. Smiling, the asari reached up and brushed a smudge of dirt off Sam's cheek.

"Ready when you are."

MWMWMWMWMW

Carefully lowering the equipment to the floor Sam swept her forearm across her face, grimacing at the smear of muddy dust now decorating her skin. Glancing around the room she saw her now much improved drone steadily tracking its way down the far wall, scanning the stone and uploading the results to her console nearby.

All the levels in the ruin had been identical, with the only difference they had found so far being the pedestals. Each had a slightly different activation sequence and each had been progressively harder to master.

Then they reached this level.

The first few levels had definitely been Prothean in construction, though following a much older design. Despite their highly advanced technology even the Protheans hadn't been able to do justice to the lower levels they had copied. The designs on the walls and pedestals, while incredibly accurate, were just missing... something. Neither Sam or Liara could quite put their finger on it – each Prothean level was a perfect copy of the ancient design, but still somehow different.

Until this level.

The walls were completely smooth. As was the floor, and most of the ceiling. Only the key activated stairway marred what would have been an absolutely flawless cube, cut in solid stone. Liara had speculated the older levels were added at a far later date than this room, and prior to the intrusion by whomever it was that had constructed the stairway this room had no discernible entry or exit. Thus far all their tests and scans supported that theory.

Skirting the centre of the room Sam checked the data on the console and shook her head slightly in sheer amazement. "Flawless doesn't even begin to describe this." The construction of the room was perfect. Each surface was completely flat, not even a micron out.

The only thing out of place, if you could even call it that, was precisely in the centre of the floor. Precisely. A smooth stone pedestal, so fine and intricately carved the laws of physics were still debating whether it should even be able to stand under its own weight.

A simple, cylindrical column in shape, it flared slightly at the top and bottom. It was also hollow. The intricate carvings adorning the throat of the column had almost removed more stone than they left yet there the pedestal stood.

The pedestal, and even the room itself, paled in comparison to the final object present though, one that had thus far bluntly refused all efforts to identify it. It was a cube. Small, white and, to the naked eye, as perfect as the room. It hung in space above the pedestal, in what would be the absolute centre of the room, rotating slowly.

For almost a month now it had hung there defiantly. Scans to try and identify its composition returned no results. Energy readings showed nothing at all, not even the faintest trace of atomic activity. Even the stone walls were returning low energy levels. Basic laser scans showed it to be hovering in the exact centre of the room but anything more detailed simply returned no results. No density. No estimation of weigh. No velocity, even though it was clearly moving.

Liara had immediately set an exclusion zone around the pedestal, one that Sam readily complied with despite her burning curiosity. Staring at the cube intently Sam stretched, and started slightly as a pair of blue arms wrapped around her waist.

"Geeze Li, I need to get you a bell."

Laughing softly the asari rested her chin on Sam's shoulder and regarded the cube.

"Infuriating, is it not?"

Turning in Liara's arms Sam looped her arms around Liara's shoulders. "That it is. I've never come across anything so stubborn in my life." Sam's eyes narrowed as Liara smirked slightly. "Don't even say it."

"I would not dream of it Sam." Releasing her hold Liara stepped back and moved to the console, the data scrolling up the screen painting a dancing pattern of light on her face. "Nothing of note at all. Just.. nothing."

Sam stared at the cube a few moments longer before turning, her eyes speculative. "Li... I'd like to try something."

"You are thinking about using biotics?" The look on Sam's face was all the answer Liara needed. "The thought has crossed my mind also Sam. It stands to reason biotics may have some effect in this room, given they were essential to gaining access in the first place. However", Liara paused to sweep a hand around the room, "there are no pedestals here. No designs. Nothing save perfectly flat stone, the carved pedestal and our mystery cube."

"I know it could be dangerous Li. We don't even know what that thing is. But what else can we do? We've run every scan possible, every test possible. If we're careful, start small... maybe something will happen, maybe it won't. But I can't just stare at that thing for another month without trying something."

Bowing her head slightly Liara thought a moment before nodding. "Alright." Raising her head she looked Sam in the eye. "But we do this with the utmost caution."

"Deal."

Moving back to stand with Sam at the edge of the exclusion zone Liara grasped the woman's hand, entwining their fingers. "Tomorrow morning then. We are both exhausted and it is getting late."

Squeezing Liara's hand gently Sam gazed at the perfect white cube. "Tomorrow."

MWMWMWMWMW

"Anything yet?"

"No, nothing."

Clamping down on her biotics Liara sighed, and rolled her shoulders. They had spent all morning slowly and carefully applying a weak biotic field to almost every part of the room. Nothing at all had registered on their equipment. No energy anomalies, no hidden designs, not a single change in the mysterious cube. It floated as serenely as ever, ignoring everything happening around it.

"The only thing left is the pedestal and the cube."

"Sam..."

"I know Li. Well?"

Blue eyes met brown as Liara and Sam looked at each other, the cube hovering between them.

"Let me try Sam." Liara held up a hand to silence the protest before Sam could even voice it. "While your mastery of your biotics is nothing short of incredible, you are still not always able to control the size of the field you summon. I can. Please Sam, if we are to continue this experiment I must be the one to test the pedestal and cube."

Acquiescing reluctantly Sam knew Liara was right. Despite her best efforts she sometimes did flare more than she intended when creating a biotic field. It was for that exact reason Liara had been the one using biotics at the points in the room closest to the cube and Sam had checked the corners.

"Ok, but wait a sec." After ensuring all the sensors were logging correctly Sam quickly skirted around the wall and stood near Liara at the foot of the stairs. "In case anything goes wrong I want a quick get-away for us both."

Nodding slightly, Liara smoothed her tunic down and took a deep breath. She carefully summoned a weak biotic field around her right hand and raised it towards the cube. No alarms sounded from the console. Inching forward slowly she kept her eyes fixed on the cube, all the while her ears straining for any alarms. Nothing. After getting as close as she dared with no observable change to the cube or pedestal she stepped back, dropping her hand to her side.

Turning, she began following Sam to the console when the work lights abruptly went out. The faint wail of the weather klaxon slowly filtered down the stairs a moment later.

"Oh great."

Without a thought Sam raised her hand, intending to summon a small biotic field to provide some light. The dark energy crackled to life, a far larger field than Sam had meant for snapping and sparking into existence. Suddenly the cube flared into brilliance, a white light bursting from its walls.

"Sam!"

Focusing every bit of concentration she could muster Sam desperately tried to extinguish the field around her hand. Tendrils of blue-black energy started to reach eagerly for the cube, while it in turn reached out longing tendrils of white, laced with purple.

"Li, I can't stop it!"

Every muscle straining, Sam still couldn't stop her energy-wreathed hand from reaching towards the cube. Spinning faster and faster the cube started to hum then began to waver from its point above the pedestal.

Both Sam and Liara could only watch in horror as the pedestal suddenly disintegrated and the cube flew towards Sam. The moment it hit her palm her fingers tightened reflexively around it, the energies mingling momentarily before the biotics snuffed out.

A moments respite was all they got, their eyes meeting briefly before Liara's widened in alarm. A lazy tendril of white energy, with a faint purple tinge, appeared from between Sam's clenched fingers. Then another. And another.

The energy snaked up Sam's arm, writhing and twisting as through it possessed a life of its own. Dropping the strange artefact Sam cried out in alarm as the energy quickly sheathed her entire body.

"Sam!" Liara looked on in horror as the flickering energy field danced over the woman's skin before slowly seeming to sink into her.

Suddenly gasping in pain, Sam clapped both hands to the back of her head, madly scrabbling just above her hairline to pull out her biotic amp. The small device had suddenly grown hot, so hot it almost felt as though it were boiling. With a pained grunt, Sam wrenched the amp free of its socket and cast it to the floor. Sparking and smoking, it had all but melted. One hand still pressed tightly to the back of her head Sam locked an agonised gaze on Liara, reaching out for her, before her eyes rolled back in their sockets and she pitched forward into the asari's arms.