The first stone fell directly into the wound on his chest, flashed with a burst of released energy, and the Turian's body was enveloped in a soft golden glow. This is enough to accelerate regeneration by leaps and bounds, taking it far beyond the body's capabilities. However, not for long. Three crystals should be enough for me to repair the most critical damage. If I don't URGENTLY restore the circulatory and nervous systems, Saren will die quickly and guaranteed.
The last crystal was barely enough to stop the decay and degradation of the nervous system and restore the damaged spinal cord. What can I say, Saren Arterius, the native universe HATES you! But the First Foundation, perhaps, favors. You will live.
Burn Nazara in the flames of decay, how much more fuss I have to make! And you won't be able to get off with a simple recharge... We'll have to take extreme measures... I hate using THIS method of treatment...
Chapter 30.3 The treatment of Saren.
Nihlus saw me coming back, perked up and jerked towards me.
"No need." I stopped his impulse with a gesture. "You shouldn't see this."
A short pause, literally moments to reflect on the situation and make a decision.
"I want to know." a calm answer, said in a slightly trembling voice.
Nihlus approached, gazing intently at the blood-soaked body.
"How bad is it?"
He let me go ahead and was walking next to me now.
"Not as much as it seems. The nanites and all traces of their activity have been removed. The brain was not damaged. The nervous system... requires restoration. Everything else is not too critical. It takes a long time to heal, but Saren is more alive than dead."
"For how long?"
I shrugged my shoulders.
"I can't say yet. How long do we have to fly to the rendezvous point?"
"Two hours to the repeater, three days of driving, and four days to the planet."
"We took longer on the Normandy."
In response, an ironic look.
"The Hierarchy has been flying around the Galaxy for the third thousand years. It's not surprising that our ships are faster and more powerful than human ones."
"It makes sense. The Alliance still cherishes the hope that the level of technology development is approximately equal."
The Turian shrugged his shoulders.
"What's the point of trying to convince them?"
"And it's true."
Nihlus looked at the body hanging in the air.
"You still haven't answered."
"Let's see what we can do during the flight." We reached the door of the infirmary. "Nihlus, you shouldn't see all this." I put my hand on his chest. "It's time for us to leave this world. Go. He's going to be fine. It's going to be okay now. I'm not going to let him die, since I've already spent artifacts on him that could buy a quarter of the planet."
"I'll give you the whole planet if you get him back on his feet." He whispered and left.
I shook my head as I opened the doors. Right now, he's still holding himself in check, trying to stay calm and cool, but he won't be enough for long, and pretty soon Nihlus will snap. And it would have been better if it hadn't happened on the Normandy.
Lowering the body onto the bed, I spoke loudly, knowing full well that I would be heard:
"Garrus, are you busy?"
There was a short pause, and the answer came through the intercom speakers:
"No."
"Come to the infirmary. I need help."
I didn't hear an answer, but Garrus came into the infirmary just a minute later.
"Can you put him on life support?"
Garrus nodded and silently did what was required.
"Is there an IV?"
A short nod. While the Turian was setting up an IV, I drained half a liter of my blood and poured it into the saline solution. The blood did not mix with the clear liquid, settling on the bottom in a dark cloud.
"What for?" he asked softly.
"My blood is very active, full of energy and acts as a light mutagen. It will help to repair the damage done."
"Will there be no conflict?"
"No. I have long adjusted my body to the biochemistry of your species." I replied ironically, looking into the wide, surprised light blue eyes. "Have you ever wondered why you've never caught even a mild allergy?"
Garrus chuckled slightly.
"I'm glad you take such good care of us."
"Who else should I care about in this reality?" I grimaced.
He didn't answer that question, just stared into my eyes.
"Do you know if Saren is a biotic?" I asked, getting off the slippery slope.
A slight tremor and the barely audible rumble of running engines pierced the ship: the corvette took off from Vermaer.
"As far as I know, no."
"Strange. There are traces of the zero element in his nerve nodes. A lot. The artifact didn't remove them, so they stuck." I was thinking. "Yes, perhaps there is a chance to save his biotics, no matter where he gets it from."
The energy supply rune lay on the twisted plates of natural armor, the outflow of energy stabilized, was structured and was directed by me to a specific goal: accelerating the regeneration of the nervous system.
Pulling a chair closer, I put my hand directly on the open wound where my collarbone was missing. A short change, and the skin on the palm bursts, letting out a thin trickle of blood.
"Now all that remains is to wait and keep an eye on the process." I muttered, getting comfortable.
Garrus stepped closer, giving me a chance to lean my shoulders and head against him. Clawed hands dug into her hair, rolling short strands between her fingers.
"How can I help you?"
"You're already helping." I shrugged my shoulders.
"And yet?" The vibrant voice sounded delightfully soothing, washing away fatigue and tension.
"Bring me something to eat in an hour. Is there any sweets on the ship?"
"There is. And a lot of."
"Wow... Saren has a sweet tooth." I couldn't help but chuckle. "You can't tell from him."
A hot hand slid over her neck, lightly stroking her skin.
"I never thought I'd see Arterius in such a state." Garrus confessed. "You know, I've been investigating his activities."
I nodded.
"Saren... dangerous."
"Who's arguing."
"Studying it... I realized that he is absolutely ruthless and recognizes only practicality and efficiency. He simply does not know such a thing as pity, does not follow the laws, and easily violates all prohibitions if they interfere with him." Garrus put his hand back on my head, unconsciously running his fingers through my short hair. "Saren will stop at nothing to complete the task." a brief flash of mild displeasure. "His suicide attempt only confirms this."
"From his point of view, the action is reasonable and logical."
"I heard."
"Did it change your opinion of him?"
"A little bit. I don't consider him a traitor. No one would have a chance against the Reaper. Saren just got hit."
I nodded.
"He got into the Lord with a flourish."
"When he realized what he had done and was able to lose control, he did what a Spectr should do: he did everything to get the information to the Council. And..." Garrus hesitated. "And removed the threat from his side."
"He almost ruined all our efforts!" I winced at the slight stab of pain as my body began to connect to the victim's body. "So much effort to get him out from under the Lord, and he almost flushed everything into the sewer with one shot!"
"He didn't know." the guy shrugged his shoulders.
Oh, how... already protecting him? This... Good. The image of the Enemy has not had time to take root and has already cracked. You can't hate someone you're picking apart... I would not like there to be conflicts between Garrus and Saren: Nihlus will suffer first of all because of them. If Garrus can accept Saren's logic now, it will help avoid a lot of problems in the future.
His arm tingled as blood entered the Turian's system. Some will break down into clean energy in the right places, some will boost regeneration, and some will... it will work as a mutagen. Naturally, limbs and crushed bones do not grow back in Turians, just like in humans. The body's energy resources are too low, regeneration is too slow, and the metabolism is not designed for such feints. But mine is very calculated. With a certain amount of imagination and skills, you can partially synchronize with another organism and give it the abilities of a metamorph for a while. Limited, defective, but sufficient for complete regeneration and restoration of the body. Although the process is so fucking unpleasant. To put it mildly.
"Garrus, I'm going to need foods rich in calcium, copper, chromium, iron, selenium, and protein. Especially calcium and protein."
"Will do."
That's how adorable he is! No left-wing questions and doubts. I'll do everything.
"If I fall out of reality for a while, don't be surprised or panic. Oh, yeah. It may happen that my hand will grow into his body." Garrus tensed, and his fingers twitched on my head. "This is normal and there is nothing terrible. I'll have to duplicate some of his bodily functions for a while."
"Is the damage that bad?"
"The nervous system is on the verge of disintegration. We'll have to turn around and try to prevent him from becoming a paralyzed invalid. Otherwise, it would be more merciful to kill him without allowing him to regain consciousness. Saren won't live like this. Garrus didn't answer, thoughtfully running his fingers through my hair, and I quickly disconnected from reality, shifting my attention to my body and its continuation, consciously accelerating the seizure of control over Saren's body. I have a lot of work to do...
Chapter 30.4 3 days later.
Three days flew by unnoticed, and I remembered again why I so dislike treating through a direct connection. No, the method is EXTREMELY effective, fast, and allows you to actually pull the patient out of the grave, endowing the patient with powerful metamorph regeneration, but the side effects, though not fatal, are unpleasant. When the ship left the stage in the system, where the Normandy was already supposed to be waiting for us, I was barely able to regain coordination of movements, having stopped sticking from the feeling of a limb that was not yet fully formed, which I already had in a completely healthy state. The Turians watched me with a bit of irony, Tali only looked in a couple of times to make sure I was okay.
I crawled to the control room with the matyugs and fell into the copilot's seat, kindly vacated by Garrus. My body stabilized and no longer tried to turn me into a Turian, returning to my usual mode of operation, although the phantom tips still held.
"I hate such methods." I muttered, examining the chitinous plate dissolving into the skin. "The body then brawls."
Nihlus grinned, watching the instruments with half an eye. The corvette was heading towards the planet in superlight.
"You looked it... interesting."
"Don't be sarcastic. You haven't seen it yet, when there was a wave of uncontrollable metamorphoses." I yawned into all the fangs that I hadn't managed to turn into human teeth yet. "That's a monster come out."
"But I liked it." Garrus muttered sarcastically, leaning over the back of the pilot's seat and happily burying his face in my overgrown hair. "I've never seen anything like it."
He should have seen it! Once, while learning this very direct connection after another semi-amoebic appearance, I freaked out and scored myself on the level of instinct: when I lose control of my body, it takes one of three combat transformations, depending on the situation. And Garrus just witnessed me sleeping in the middle of the infirmary in such a transformation. The hefty armored beast definitely found understanding in the Turian. After the first stupor has passed.
"How is Saren?"
"Normal." I yawned. "At least it can already be shown to other people's eyes. The most critical thing has been fixed: the nervous system has reached a completely autonomous existence, the brain is working normally, the circulatory system has been restored, and the internal organs too. The spine is still weak, but all the defects and old injuries have been fixed. The new vertebrae are still very fragile. They will get stronger to a normal state only after ten to fifteen days." I yawned again. "In general, the entire skeleton has been restored. The left arm still doesn't look its best, of course, but it's already there and functioning. The rest can be improved with energy replenishment and natural regeneration."
"How is his mind?" Nihlus asked quietly.
"I haven't even touched it yet. As long as he sleeps, nothing terrible will happen. His physical condition was much worse. Indoctrination could have started like an avalanche at any moment, and it would have been impossible to save him even with my capabilities. And so... The risk was too great."
Nihlus switched control to autopilot.
"Are you going to transfer it to the Normandy?"
"No."
The green eyes blinked in surprise.
"But why? We'll fly two ships to the Citadel, and then we'll leave this one in the hangar. I don't think Sparatus will give us a parking space for a small corvette."
"And the real reason?" Nihlus grinned, giving me a quick, sarcastic look.
"I like it here." I honestly admitted. "No one is poisoning your nerves, no worries and problems with the experimental trough and its childhood sores. And your ships are more convenient. They're just more comfortably made."
"The Spectre ship is designed to be inhabited indefinitely by the Spectre himself and his battle group, if any." Nihlus shrugged his shoulders. "Such corvettes are specially designed for the needs of the Special Corps."
"Do I have the same one?"
"Practically, yes. Only the newer model."
"So it's time for me to take a young pilot course. But it will be a little later." my stomach croaked plaintively, reminding me that I absolutely needed to put something in it. "I'm going to loot Saren's food supplies. How much longer to fly?"
"About twenty minutes."
"Good." I got up and stretched.
As I was leaving the control room, I added:
"By the way. I managed to save his biotics."
Nihlus shuddered and turned around.
"Rin... Saren has never been a biotic."
Chapter 31.1 The rendezvous point with Normandy.
