Mass Effect 1
|
(Shepard approaches a door that two Geth platforms seem to be guarding in Saren's secret base on Virmire. After dispatching both of the Geth, they enter an office. From behind a desk an Asari stands up. IT IS RANA THANOPTIS.)
Rana: Don't shoot! Please, I just want to get out of here before it's too late.
|
Shepard (CALM DOWN): I'm not going to hurt you. Who are you? OR Shepard (WHO ARE YOU?): Let's hear it. Who are you and what do you want? Rana: Rana Thanoptis, neurospecialist. But this job isn't worth dying over. Or worse. You think the indoctrination only affects prisoners? Sooner or later, Saren will want to dissect my brain, too! |
Shepard (I DON'T BELIEVE YOU): Everyone in this place is trying to kill me. Rana: Do I look like a soldier? I'm a neurospecialist. And this job isn't worth dying over. Or worse. |
|
Shepard (WHY SHOULD I TRUST YOU?): Give me one reason I should help you. Rana: “I... I can help you! This elevator behind me goes to Saren's private lab. I can get you in. See? Full access. All of Saren's private files. Are we good? Can I go? (Skip ahead to Shepard (TELL ME ABOUT YOUR RESEARCH): What were you studying here? in the tree) |
Shepard (WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?): I thought this was a breeding facility.
Rana: Not this level. We're studying Sovereign's effect on organic minds. At least, that's what I assumed. Saren kept us in the dark as much as possible.
Garrus: You helped him and you don't even know why?
Rana: I didn't have the option of negotiating. This position is a little more... permanent than I'd expected. But I can help you. This elevator behind me goes to Saren's private lab. I can get you in. (Rana unlocks a door keypad) See? Full access. All of Saren's private files. Are we good? Can I go?
Shepard (TELL ME ABOUT YOUR RESEARCH): What were you studying here?
Rana: It's that ship, Sovereign. It emits some kind of... signal. Undetectable, but it's there. I've seen the effects. Saren uses it to influence his followers, to control them. It's called indoctrination. Direct exposure to the signal turns you into a mindless slave, like the salarian test subjects. But there's collateral damage, too.
Shepard (COLLATERAL DAMAGE): What do you mean by “collateral damage”?
Rana: Sovereign's signal is too strong. Spend too much time near the ship and you feel it. Like a tingle at the back of the skull. It's like a whisper you can't quite hear. You're compelled to do things but you don't know why. You just obey. Eventually, you just stop thinking for yourself. It happens to everyone at the facility. My first test subject was the man I replaced. Now I just want to get out of here before it happens to me.
Shepard (SOVEREIGN'S SIGNAL): Tell me more about this signal.
Rana: Signal's not exactly the right word. There's some kind of energy field emanating from the ship. It changes thought patterns. Over time -- days, maybe a week – it weakens your will. You become easier to manipulate and control. But it's a degenerative condition. There's a balance between control and usefulness. The less freedom a subject maintains, the less capable it becomes.
Shepard (SAREN'S INTEREST): Why is Saren researching this? Isn't he the one controlling it?
Rana: The signal comes from the ship. It makes us obey Saren, but I don't think he controls it. Not exactly. I think... he's scared it might be affecting him. Indoctrination is subtle. By the time the effects become noticeable, it's usually too late.
Shepard (GET OUT OF HERE): I'm going to blow this place to hell and gone. If you want to make it out alive, you'd better start running.
Rana: What? You can't... but I'll never... ahh!
(She runs out the door at full speed)
Garrus: You enjoyed that, Commander.
|
Rana Thanoptis Indoctrination “tells” The “tells” of indoctrination are quite subtle in this conversation, but there are two possible tells: #1) She says “It makes us obey Saren.” She could have said “It makes people obey Saren” #2) There is a possible hint of a smile where she says – “Indoctrination is subtle. By the time the effects become noticeable, it's usually too late.” – I haven't seen it but others say they have. |
(Shepard approaches their cell)
Salarian: What do you want? I told you everything! I--
(pause as he realizes you're not with Saren)
Salarian: Who are you? Alliance, right? I knew someone would come. It tried to break me, but it couldn't! I shut it out!
ARE YOU OKAY?
IDENTIFY YOURSELF. NOW!
Shepard (WHO ARE YOU?): Slow down, I need to know where you came from.
Salarian: Private Menos Avot of the Third Infiltration Regiment STG, ma'am! Captured while on reconnaissance six days ago. Glad to answer, ma'am! Never any questions from these bastards. Just whispers and poking and cutting. I'd have said anything to get out and get some payback. That's not too much to ask, is it? A little payback?
|
Shepard (ARE YOU FIT TO FIGHT?): Can you help me, or will I be carrying you out of here? Salarian: I'll be at your back every step of the way. I just need to get out of here and away from that incessant whispering. They've piped it in for days now. |
Shepard (WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?): What did they do to you, soldier? Salarian: Experiments, but I don't know what for. The effect of incessant whispering on my shortening temper? Who knows? I just need out. |
Wrex: Something's not right here, Shepard.
Ashley: Something's not right here, Commander.
FORGET ABOUT HIM
|
Shepard (YOU'RE RIGHT): Setting him free could endanger the mission. Salarian: No! No, I need to get out. This room is too small and it keeps talking and I really want to get out of here and get some work done. I need to get out. Let me out. |
Shepard (I CAN'T JUST LEAVE HIM): If we don't let him out, he's as good as dead. We have to do something. Salarian: Yes, leaving me here would be bad. Very bad. It's too small and the noise just won't go away. Whispering is loud, you know? I need to get out. Let me out. |
NO.
|
Shepard (SORRY, I CAN'T RISK IT.): I can't take that chance. Salarian: Can't take the chance... no chance. I need to do what it says. I have to. Let me out. (beat) Salarian: Let me out! Let me out! Let me out! Let me out! (he charges the cell door at full speed and is knocked unconscious by the impact) |
Shepard (ALL RIGHT. LET HIM OUT): Set him free. He could help us. Salarian: Yes, sir! You'll find that I am very good at following orders! I should be. I hear them over and over. Why are they repeated when they are so simple? So damn simple! (He attacks the party moments after his cell is opened) |
(Shepard approaches their cell)
Salarian: Well, you're not a geth. And you're not wearing a lab coat. I guess I'm glad to see you. Lieutenant Ganto Imness of the Third Infiltration Regiment, captured during recon. I assume the fleet was called in to destroy the base?
I WAS SENT ALONE.
WHY SHOULD I TRUST YOU?
Shepard (SORRY, I'M ALL YOU GET): The transmission wasn't clear. The fleet is not coming.
Salarian: I see. Then you must be the infiltration team. I know the captain. He will want this facility destroyed. My team was altered, indoctrinated. He knew about the breeding grounds. But the indoctrination is a greater threat, and far more horrifying. I watched good people reduced to mindless husks. There wasn't anything left. Others died during the experiments. I envy them.
I'M LETTING YOU OUT
I CAN'T TRUST YOU.
Shepard (TELL ME ABOUT THE RESEARCH): Do you know anything about the experiments they were conducting?
Salarian: They were studying indoctrination. Symptoms, progress. Saren uses it to control his people, but I don't think he fully understands it. I don't know much else. I just saw what it did to the others. Turned them into empty husks. I can't end up like that. Please - let me out!
(Alternate): My whole team was... altered. But I was left alone as a control subject. I still have my senses, although I almost wish I didn't.
Shepard (I THINK I CAN TRUST YOU): I'm opening your cell, but then you're on your own.
Salarian: Don't look back and hope to outrun the blast, hmm? A better chance than I had before you showed up. Thank you, human. And good luck. You'll need it.
(Salarian leaves without attacking you)
(Shepard approaches their cell)
Salarian: Ar-rah-rah-ar.
(Shepard approaches their cell)
Prisoner #1: The voice brings endless night. From the void. The darkness. No one will survive. It never sleeps.
Prisoner #2: It is emptiness. Peace in death. There will be nothing but the voice. When comes the harvest, so must they reap.
Prisoner #3: No one escapes. I am only what it wants me to be. We are nothing before them. There will be peace in the silence.
Kaidan: No threat here, Commander. Are they even aware of us?
Garrus: Why did Saren do this? There's just no reason.
Wrex: This is no way to treat a prisoner. Kill them, sure, but to leave them like this....
LET THEM OUT.
SAFER TO KEEP THEM HERE.
Shepard (OPEN THE DOOR AND KILL THEM): Better to die than to live like this.
Kaidan: Just mow them down, Commander?
Wrex: I'm all for it. Every second like that must be torture. I know I'd sooner be dead.
(Shepard shoots the prisoners and gets +2 Renegade)