** 3rd POV **
Dr. Susan Zou sat in front of the holographic monitor, fuming in anger. Her plan to have Udina seize control of the Citadel to capture Aster had been foiled.
"DAMN!" she screamed, scattering the datapads on her desk. "I was so close to capturing them!"
"I want that militarized A.I!"
"Dr. Susan," a voice spoke up behind her.
"What?" Dr. Susan snarled, turning to face the newcomer.
"The Andromeda Initiative is ready to depart," Dianvi announced.
Dr. Susan huffed and took a deep breath to calm herself. She forced herself to remember the bigger picture. The Andromeda Initiative.
After going to great lengths to rescue Alec from prison and giving him a private lab to continue his work, Alec had finally begun to reconstruct the A.I from scratch once again. Alec had been reluctant at first, but seeing how sick his wife had gotten over the last few weeks, he had changed his mind rather quickly.
Having seen Dr. Lang's blueprints for the first construction, Alec already had all the plans to reconstruct another A.I from scratch.
But Dr. Susan was still not happy. She wanted the militarized A.I that Alec and Dr. Lang had first constructed. The use of that militarized A.I was unlimited. If it had been in her possession, then taking over the Citadel wouldn't have failed.
She should have known better than to let Udina plan the attack.
Dr. Susan gritted her teeth.
"What of Alec and his family?" Dr. Susan asked. "Any resistance?"
"They're ready to leave," Dianvi replied, handing Dr. Susan the datapad. "At this point, they don't have much of a choice. The Council sent people after Alec. They're not letting him go that easily. Alec is still a threat to them."
Dr. Susan looked through the datapad. "The Council is so short-sighted. Double-check everything and make sure they depart as soon as possible. We can't afford any delays."
"I'll take care of it," Dianvi assured her.
Dianvi took the datapad from Dr. Susan and left. Dr. Susan turned back to the holographic screen on her desk and sat down. She took several deep breaths to calm herself.
"Dr. Susan," the intercom announced. "Your husband is on line 4."
"Patch him through," Dr. Susan replied.
Dr. Susan fixed her hair and took the call. The screen flickered.
"Karin," David Anderson greeted. "How is your business trip?"
Karin smiled. "David. It's going well. I should be heading back in a few days. I heard the Citadel was attacked. Is everyone ok?"
David nodded slowly. "Udina betrayed the Citadel. John killed him. Udina was going to hand over the Councilors to Cerberus."
"Are they certain?" Karin questioned, acting surprised. "Or is it just speculation?"
"Those are the rumors, but several Spectres are looking into it," David replied. "We'll know more in a few days. "
"I'm glad you andJohn are safe," Karin said. "Keep me posted. I'll see you home in a few days."
"I love you," David said before the call ended.
Dr. Susan leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. All of her plans had been ruined. She had only approached David Anderson after vetting all the personnel that the Councilors were using as their agents.
Aster Shepard had been the perfect candidate. She was someone with enough covert missions that if she went missing or was compromised, the Councilors would throw her to the wolves.
Dr. Susan had even gone undercover and changed her name to Dr. Karin Chakwas. All in the efforts to get close to Aster. But things did not go as planned, and Aster wanted nothing to do with her. She had no choice but to send Aster to Juxhi.
Everything was going well until Alec had implanted the neural implant. SAM must have realized her plans and did everything in its power to escape her grasp. Even coming up with a plan to set off an explosion.
It had fooled her! Dr. Susan thought that when Aster was returned to the Citadel, she would be able to access the neural implant from the lab, but it turns out the explosion had damaged the implant in the process, and Dr. Susan had lost the ability to control the A.I.
Now she had no choice but to let Alec leave on the Andromeda Initiative with a copy of a newly created A.I.
Dr. Susan smiled slightly.
If only Alec knew that his research was being copied into a separate server. Her appointed scientists were constructing another A.I using the data from Juxhi. It might take them a bit longer, but she was sure they would be able to figure it out.
Dr. Susan typed in her keyboard and pulled up the camera footage from the docking area where the Tempest was currently getting ready to launch. Dianvi was near the ship, talking to a few turians.
The audio in the footage filtered through the speakers. "Andromeda, you're clear to take off."
Dr. Susan okayed the launch and watched as her project launched and headed to the Andromeda Galaxy. A journey that would take about 600 years to make.
All that was left now was for the scientists to finish their A.I.
'As long as no one finds out what we're doing, everything will be fine,' Dr. Susan thought, opening her eyes and staring at the ceiling.
"Dr. Susan," Dianvi said as she returned from the docking bay. "The Tempest has departed on its journey. Our scientists have access to Alec's private server. Anything he uploaded to it will be transferred over to us."
"Good," Dr. Susan said, standing up. "Do we have an ETA on completion?"
"A few weeks," Dianvu replied. "The SAM node has been constructed, and the scientists have started on the implant creation."
"Any word from our contact at the Citadel?" Dr. Susan asked, making her way out of her office and toward the lab.
"No contact has been made," Dianvi answered follwoing behind her. "It may take some time to re-establish communications. Cerberus's jamming field was extensive. Some of the communication equipment was damaged."
"Keep me posted," Dr. Susan ordered. "If Aster shows up at the Citadel, I want to know. I won't leave things to chance. I will personally bring her in myself."
"Yes, ma'am."