Eden Prime Part 4 A Turian and learning about Cultivation just a little

Making it to the down Nihlus was terrible for them. A few geth had arrived and a quick firefight ensued. Still empowered by the spirit energy, Leo used and omni-blade to cut through them quickly. Ashley and Jane Firing instead of running now.

Once the dust settled, the treatment of Nihlus took slightly longer than expected. He was barely alive really.

A.I.- Let the other two deal with any stranglers and look around. A chance for you to do your work is available. Ask him to join you. To sign a contract to keep living.

'Really, this does not seem like the right time.' Leo said skeptic. He looked behind to see Jane and Ashley taking out any Geth that twitched about. He shrugged and tried his best to help the Xenos. "I can save you Nihlus. But it comes at a cost. The question is, are you willing to do whatever it takes to stop Saren from bringing about the end of everything you know?"

Nihlus eyes focused a little bit as he thought it over. His blue blood all over the place making it very hard for him to even concentrate really. He knew Saren shot him, but hearing Leo's voice confounded him. It sounded warm and inviting in a way.

Leo brought Nihlus omnitool arm over to his front. A few taps and a contract appeared on it. It was not like he could pull it out in the open. Ashley and Jane would have been suspicious somewhat at that.

"Hurry up." Leo said. He could feel Jane and Ashley already coming back his way. Nihlus touched the controls agreeing. A small bit of power left Leo to stop the blood loss of Nihlus. On Leo's end, he received a detailed level of information on Nihlus life especially his military career. 'Great, Turian customs. This should help in the future.'

"By the spirits.. this.." Nihlus droaned out before fainting. The information to much for his current state. If he tried to blab of course, he would be ripped apart via his soul. 'The spirits are real!' Was his last thought.

Leo made sure the punishment was harsh. Traitors would make good sacrifices and cause his Aspect of Sacrifice in his cultivation to go up. Slowly the wounds on Nihlus's body sealed up. The "omni-gel" working wonders along with spirit energy.

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Beacon-

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After Nihlus was secured, a shuttle arrived to take him and the others. They would return to the Normandy then come back and get the others. Jane, Ashley, and Leo.

Anderson ordered for them to secure the Beacon. Which was most likely a moot point really. It looked slightly damaged. How that happened, Leo had no idea.

"Get back!" Jane yelled to Ashley. She was far away from the beacon but a weird beam of light went out when she moved near it. It dragged her all the way towards the center. "Damn it!" Both Jane and Leo moved in and grabbed her.

"Woah!" Ashley said suprised. She was tossed to the side out of harms way.

The Beacon lit up sending both Jane and Leo into the air. However, the pulse was contained as the A.I. in Leo took over and downloaded the beacon information. The images shown to Jane were not as mentally damaging to her mind as they were supposed to be.

More was recovered thanks to the A.I. destroying the safeguards on the beacon. Since the A.I. was a part of Leo's soul it did not trigger the protection from the beacon. The scans came back clear.

A.I.- It tried to resist me. I destroyed the protection upgrading Jane's mental thinking a little. She will be more aware of you. So do not even try to sneak up on her. As for you, well I can hack things better now.

"Ugghh!" Leo groaned as he dropped first. Jane was caught by him using Lift on her. She was out cold from the overload. Followed by him next when he put her down. "That sucked."

*Boom!* The beacon exploded as the two were out cold. Leaving a very distressed Ashley Williams. If she was responsible for both their deaths, she defintely wouldn't get over it.

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-Normandy-

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Nothing else happened after that. The shuttle came back getting Leo and company out of there.

"Ughh well, hello beautiful." Leo mumbled opening his eyes looking at Dr.Chakwas. "Definitely ok with having an angel greet me."

"Heh, quite the charmer Commander." Dr.Chakwas smiled leaning away. "But I am old enough.."

"Old enough to be a consensual partner. And very beautiful. If you ever get bored and horny, I would gladly love to try and entertain you." Leo leaned up slightly. A small blush appeared on Dr.Chakwas. She said nothing else as she looked over his results. Happy for the compliments. Considering the full age of Leo, he was actually older than she was. Just didn't look the part now. "How bad?"

"Your muscles are screaming I bet. Gave you a slight sedative. But.." Dr.Chakwas showed him the data. "..the tests show you are going to be fine. Sedatives are working to keep your body out of pain. But you are not experiencing the euphoric effect. I have the strange feeling alcohol works the same way."

"So my body will get the benefit but I won't feel the effects? So I can never get drunk or.."

A.I.- You can not experience the effects of them. However, continue to drink alcohol. I can distribute everything in it to store away. Memory serves you enjoy the taste, so no loss there. Drugs only have a few chemical compounds that are beneficial to us. Stay away from them. Tobacco once in a while is ok as well.

"Sorry Commander." Dr.Chakwas had kept talking the entire time. He completely missed it. But the A.I. would repeat it back later. A scientist's wet dream was in his soul now. "Do you need any counseling?"

"Do you recommend it?"

"You are one of the first to ask that. Yes, I recommend bed rest and to take it easy for a few days as well." Leo suprised her again by fluffing his pillow and leaning back. "You are seriously going to follow doctors' orders?"

"Yes. A beautiful doctor to boot, most defintely." Dr.Chakwas rolled her eyes and move to tend to the others. "Damn that is a good-looking woman."

"You are a bit of a pig." Darryl said grinning. Not chuckling due to his injuries still.

"I can die any day and I have no attachments, who gives a shit besides a few fucks really bout what I say. Considering what happened in that hell hole, things are going to get worse." Leo shrugged. The "mental disruption" fed one of his Aspects in cultivation. Disgust. Which was really potent around a lot of people.

"That bad?" Nirali asked. She was not that bad off but received proper treatment upon returning to make sure.

"You saw what happened down there. The Alliance and the Council are going to try to bury this and will botch it. Get ready for a galactic slaughter-fest coming up." Leo accessed his Omni-tool and sent the data over to her. "Check out some of this footage and see for yourself."

A.I.- I believe with the data you have retrieved and a few changes we can get them more on our side given time. Or at least more proactive for the Andromeda Initiative. The best bet is to not say Reapers. The boogeyman is not believable till it is to late.

'I will leave that to you. You devise the plan, and I will try to act it out.' Leo looked at the few messages he had and responded to them while the A.I. went over details. Small things that lead up to big things in the future. 'So many contacts. Man, you were busy!'

Not long after, he went to sleep when Dr. Chakwas came over once more. She recommends rest after going through a little bit of stuff with him. Leo aced all the tests, unlike Darryl who resisted.

Jane was still sleeping. When Leo went to sleep, he entered his Spiritual Scape. Literally entering his own soul. Which was a combination of his mind and emotions. His body was surprisingly the first layer of protection for this place. Which was why the A.I. had him focus on that before his soul woke up fully.

The place was expansive as far as he could tell. In place, he floated about naked as the day he was born. Skin bronzed and fingernails sharp and dark black for some reason. His eyes a golden brown with jet black hair cut in a military fashion.

"Greetings Leonardo." The A.I. floated about in front of him. Basically a ball of multicolored light. "Perfect time to go over the fundamentals yes?"

"Yes. But why are my fingernails black and sharp?" Leo raised his hand up showing him. "And just call me Leo, no need for formality really."

"Very well." The A.I. pulsed committing it to memory. "The fingernails are the result of a Fallen God that was slipped into you when you were leaving the Boundary. It tried to influence you but a safeguard in place by your brother made sure that did not happen."

*Warp!* A giant cage appeared from out of nowhere really quickly. Inside was a man covered in blood that looked a little like Leo. But covered in tribal markings and a few odd markings engraved in the flesh.

"This is Tlaloc, what do you wish to do with him?"

"Huh that is really easy.. Sacrifice him. Duh." Leo said simply. "I need to power my cultivation as this is a good as time as any. Is there something else I should do?"

"Yes." The A.I. fluttered about. "He can sign a Contract of Submission. Passing on knowledge to you and then heading to the Boundry to receive punishment from Barnabus."

"But if I kill him here and now... I get knowledge anyway and become stronger." Leo walked around the large cage. Studying the Fallen God intently. "A great experience really at my disposal. Think of all the insights I can gain for my cultivation."

"That is true, however much can be learned in the future from sparing him. As well as strengthening the Pantheon as a whole." The A.I.'s voice turned a little insistent. A bit of a personality starting to develop. 'If he kills the first God that he comes across that will not bode well for future talks.'

"Fine then, but I want his techniques on Lighting, Disease, Famine, and Fertility." Leo knew a little about the god and those Aspects would go well for him. "With Gaia already over Nature and Fertility, what does that mean for me anyway?"

*Shing!* A contract formed and Tlaloc signed it. Slowly his body shrunk to that of a human size. Then he vanished altogether. A ball of light shot into Leo which caused a disturbance in his body really on the outside.

He gave a few tosses and turns. Basically the impression of a nightmare briefly. Considering Jane was experiencing some of her own it did not cause a panic.

"In Aspects that line up with the head of the Pantheon increases even further." The A.I. informed as requested. "Both Disease and Famine information have increased for you. You can now cultivate those field types of spirit energy. Famine itself has direct ties with Nature so that will help later for Terraforming landscape."

"Alright, so I can gain power from people who are sick and dying then?" Leo asked to make sure. If that were the case, he would gain power by healing people slightly. Or in this case, relieving them of the sickness slightly. The A.I. confirmed it. "Ok, so I guess Medicine as an Aspect as a whole will work. Considering my Bioengering history It will be fine to go with that."

"Yes." The A.I. moved about. A few bits of spirit energy forming an image of words. "In Chaos, you have Famine, Disease, Bloodshed, Disgust, Science, and Curiosity." Leo thought six would be enough for each field. His brother did seven on both sides. That was to much. "In Order, you have Medicine which covers a large field of study from your personal history and what you want to do. Lightning which fits into Nature makes you more resistant. As well as helps your body circulate spiritual energy more. You need a few more Aspects for Order really."

"I am still at the Initiative Rank so.. it should be fine. Wait.. shit the effects from the Beacon!" Leo realized the energy it released went over his entire body earlier. The effects caused his body to change. "It refined my body a little. Since Initiative Rank is such a basic Breakthrough, how long do I have?"

"A few days before your body breaks through on its own. I am keeping it at bay currently." The A.I. intoned. "Your mind already surpasses your body and soul, so no dallying."

"Ugh, I have no idea what would be good and not counterproductive for the future." Leo groaned. With a thought, the information his brother gave him appeared in the form of texts. "There has got to be something here to go along with Nature and Medicine for Aspects."