#gentaro effect

He sits in the Presidium Commons, looking out over the lake. In front of him are two drinks, both berry teas, in case someone sits down near him.

As he turns around, Gentaro stares up into the eyes of Valyra, the sister of the Asari he loved.

"Valyra, please, have a seat." He stands up and pulls out the seat for her.

"Hello, Gentaro. How have you been dealing with things since that day?" She takes the seat with a sad smile. Ever since the day she had watched his friends save his soul, she had developed a better respect for the young human before her.

"I'd be lying if I said it didn't still hurt. But I'll get over the heartbreak eventually."

"It's a nasty thing they did to you. What are you going to do about it?"

"I'm going to move on. Sure, I might have been tricked by a hologram, but I don't have any desire to find out who was responsible." He slides the tea to her and she gratefully accepts it.

"Why not? If it was me, I'd want to know who had tampered with my mind." Valyra always wondered this about Gentaro.

"What does it accomplish? I'd be pushing myself for revenge and validating their whole experiment. Because they invented something to make me happy, and obviously wanted to see what would happen when it was taken away." He shakes his head. "No. I'm not even going to look into it. It happened, I was broken because of it, and now I'm done with that chapter of my life."

"You're a better person than me." Valyra looks down.

"No, I'm not. I'm just trying to live for the sake of my friends. They wouldn't want me to waste my life on revenge. So, besides that, what brings you here?"

He had seen through the idle chatter. Valyra's smile disappears. "I was going through my sister's strongbox and I found a letter to you. Written the night before her last deployment." She hands it over. "If you want some privacy.."

His hand rests atop hers. "No. I want you here. Aleira was your sister and you deserve to hear what she said."

He takes the letter and cuts open the envelope with his pocketknife and starts reading.

"My Dear Gentaro,

These past few months have been incredible. I have never met someone so optimistic, so willing to extend the hand of friendship.

You talk a lot about how much I mean to you. But you may never know the impact you had on me. The day I found you wounded, I was planning on giving up being a nurse. I told myself 'One more day and that's it.' But when I saw you there, those feelings faded. I saw a young man with broken bones trying to direct the nurses to the other people first. You held in the tears and the cries of pain until you were safely at Huerta.

I couldn't believe that you cared more about others than yourself, and as I looked in on you during the operation, I realized I had been selfish. I wanted to escape having to care for others with nothing in return. But you changed my mind.

I did everything I could to switch shifts with other nurses just so I could spend more time with you. I had to know you, to figure out what made you so self-sacrificing. Was it self-hatred, or something more?

I found out through your convalescence that you were the most genuine person I had every met. You never did anything for yourself, but only to benefit those around you. And because of that desire to help others, I fell in love with you.

Though my sisters never approved of our relationship, I wanted to be with you. I still remember how clueless you were. I dropped hints and asked loaded questions about your love life. And still, it took me confronting you directly for you to get it.

Thanks to you, I was able to go back into the field to help others. Even though we were often deployed to opposite ends of the galaxy, I knew I could find you again when we were both on the Citadel.

What we had was special to me, and I know it was special to you. But I want you to know this: You have a bright future ahead of you. If something should happen to me, I don't want you to mourn longer than you have to. If this letter finds you after my demise, I have one wish for you.

I wish that you would keep seeking friendship, keep bringing smiles to others. And if I don't return to you, I want you to be happy as well. Find love. Never give up on finding it. No matter what trials may come your way, you are perhaps one of the best people in the galaxy and you deserve happiness.

May the Goddess guide you to your next big adventure.

With all my love, Aleira.

Gentaro lays the letter aside and swipes at his eyes, trying to keep from showing the tears. But Valyra moves the hand away. "Go ahead. If you're going to cry, do it."

Gentaro sniffles a bit and starts bawling. That simple gesture of someone being there while he cries means so much to him.

Ten minutes later, the last tear falls and Valyra offers him a handkerchief. "I know now, that my sister picked the right person to love. And I hope you take her advice. Find someone to love, someone real, and don't let the pain from past relationships stop you, all right?"

"Kisaragi Gentaro, have you come to a decision about your SPECTRE Induction?" The turian councilor looks down at Gentaro, standing there in a non-com uniform. He can tell the young human is uncomfortable being there.

"Permission to speak freely?" Gentaro asks, not sure of the prpoer procedure. He knows he's being recorded, and wants to get his point across.

"Feel free." the councilors nod, and Gentaro takes a deep breath.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of the Council, I frankly think you picked the wrong person for this honor." Gentaro starts. "I have only been a part of the war against the Reapers for nine months now, and in that, I have been on 45 sanctioned missions for the Alliance. That's a small number compared to the other soldiers in the galaxy who do this day in and day out."

He takes a look around, making sure everyone is still following him.

"I wonder if the appointment to SPECTRE has anything to do with my technology. You're all well aware that the Fourze gear is a weapon from another time.

Maybe the appointment is connected to my public broadcast warning people on Earth and Earth colonies about Cerberus. I was only doing what anyone who prefers galactic stability would do.

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I was able to reverse indoctrination with my power.  Unfortunately, for every person I was able to redeem, there were ten I couldn't save. That hurts more than you might know.

But the truth is, as trite as it may seem, my power comes from friendship, and that's what I fight for. Not for humanity, or any other race. But for a unified galaxy. When you're out in the field, You don't care if the person next to you has  six fingers or ten. You care that they're going to provide covering fire, or drag your wounded body away from the fight, because you would do the same for them. That's friendship. Old hatreds and new rivalries buried because when we're fighting for our galaxy, we're all equals."

Gentaro looks around.

"I do not deserve this honor because I do not belong in this timeline. To grant me SPECTRE status would be an insult to the hundreds of other soldiers and spies I've worked hard to befriend. For this reason, I cannot accept the appointment to SPECTRE."

Nine hours at Firebase White had taken its toll on Gentaro. He's not sure, but that must be what a siege is like. He makes his way back to his apartment on the Citadel to rest and recover.

It's only ten minutes sleep, but it's more than he's had in the past few days. He looks up groggily, and notices that there's someone waiting to be buzzed in. It's not Picasso. Gentaro and the Prime share this space, and Picasso would have just entered.

He stands up,heading for the door on unstable feet. The open button is pressed and he finds himself staring into the helmet of Admiral Tali'zorah.

Gentaro takes some time to steel his nerves. He's sitting here in a studio, wearing a three-piece suit. In five minutes, the studio lights will be going full blast. He has the speech memorized, but this is his first time appearing on television. And this isn't some local broadcast. This is going out to refugees of Earth and the human colony worlds. It is literally the biggest stage he's ever been on and he's not sure he's cut out for this. But someone has to get the message out. Someone has to do this.

A stagehand brings in a bottle of water, and a teleprompter hums to life in case he forgets what he was going to say. Now it's two minutes before his life on Citadel changes forever.

The lights come on one by one, and the stage director cues Gentaro.

"Hello There. I'm Gentaro Kisaragi. I was born on Earth, and I'm currently living on the Citadel, and I want to be friends with all of you. I'm one of you. I'm not military, I'm a civilian.

Now, let me be frank here. The war's got everyone in a bad state, and you may be wondering what you can do to help. On the one side, you've got the Alliance, but that's years of military training that have to be crammed into weeks. On the other side, you have Cerberus, which promises results now. It can be very tempting to take the easy path.

But Cerberus is never a good choice. They want to put humanity on top of the other races. Why? We don't have the best military. We don't have the best ships. We don't have the best technology or medicine. As far as all those things go, we fall in the middle. We, who are the youngest race in galactic terms, have nothing to offer the galaxy if we're in charge.

What humanity does have is you. Men and women who want to help save the galaxy. Men and women who are faced with this choice.

Allow me to explain why you would be better off supporting the Alliance in the Reaper War. Cerberus claims to have your best interests at heart. Why then, do they require all new recruits to agree to suicide on capture orders? Those of you with interactive screens can touch the five documents that just appeared below me to read the confessions of rescued Cerberus techs. If Cerberus wants to support humanity, why do they strip away a person's individuality through indoctrination and brainwashing? I need to remind you, that's also a Reaper tactic."

More documents appear on the screen as Gentaro takes his next tack.

"Cerberus is also known for claiming alien technology and cannibalizing it to make their own troops stronger. They will invent medical advances that can save lives, and declare them a failure because they're only useful to a non-human species. They used a refugee camp as the testing grounds for reaper tech experiments. They will perform unethical and lethal experiments on people who are either unwilling or unable to fight back. Sometimes these victims are under the legal age of consent, just kids. Kids that Cerberus turns into weapons."

When it seems as if there's an advance in the Alliance's plan to unite the galaxy, Cerberus steps in to prevent it. They did so on Sur'Kesh, and almost cost the Alliance the Krogans. And for what? Make no mistake. Humanity cannot win this war alone, despite what Cerberus would have you believe. We don't need to be on top of them. We need THEM."

"There is one good thing that Cerberus has done. And that was bringing the Shepards back. And to a man, when they fought their way through the Collector Base, the Shepards all chose to destroy the base, and cut ties with Cerberus. And really, we all look up to the Shepards. If they can't trust Cerberus, why should you?"

"Cerberus will take everything from you. Your life, your work, your ability to evolve naturally, your ability to be useful to anything but their goals. Which is why I'm taking the time to say this... My name is Kisaragi Gentaro. I am a Human, born on Earth, and Cerberus does not represent me. And if you want this war to end in victory against the Reapers, they shouldn't represent you either."

Tali stands looking at the Galaxy map aboard the Normandy, waiting for news from home. A lot had happened to Rannoch in the past few months. One item of interest to the young Admiral was the archaeological digs the Geth and Quarians were doing. Their stated purpose was to find relics that could help the war effort, but most of them weren't finding anything useful.

A message comes across her Omni-tool, marked for Priority from Rannoch. Maybe this is the news she's been waiting for. Something that can help turn the tides.

"Creator Tali'Zorah." The voice of a Geth unit known to human archaeologists as "Indiana" comes through. "We have found something that might be of interest inside a cave beneath Mount Narquara. Relaying footage to you now."

The footage shows an old Quarian petroglyph, with the shape of some kind of environment suit. That can't be. The Quarians didn't need the suits seven hundred years before. There's something else going on here. Tali tightens up the field of view and noticed a set of four markings around the petroglyph. Four familiar shapes. A Circle, a Cross, A Triangle and a Square, all pointing to different points of the body. Where he she seen this before? She remembers.

"Indiana, search around for any artifacts connected to the petroglyph and have them forwarded to me on the Normandy."

"I will comply, Creator Tali'Zorah." The geth closes the communications channel.

She needs to contact the one who knows the most about this. She ducks back down into the engine room and sends a message to his omni-tool.

~~~~

Gentaro's just come back from helping out as a set monkey for the Salarian's production of Mary Poppins. Apparently, set monkey also meant extra, so his face is covered in fake soot. He washes as much of it off as he can before heading down to deliver food to the refugees.

On his way down, his omni-tool beeps for incoming. "Hello, Gentaro here!" he says, not paying much attention at the moment since his hands are full.

"Gentaro, I'm glad I found you." Tali's voice comes through.

"Tali? What's going on?"

"Can you meet me aboard the Normandy? We've found something interesting on Rannoch. Something that applies to you, specifically."

That has his attention. He hands the food to the guard on duty. "I'll be up in five minutes, Tali."

"Meet me in the Observation Deck, by the poker table."

Gentaro's still waiting for Ash Shepard to wake up, but after two hours, she doesn't seem to be lucid just yet. Leaving a note with the nurses to page him if she wakes up, he takes a stroll around the hospital.

There's so many people here. The wounded. The dying. The weeping. It breaks his heart a little more every time he visits. This isn't like the hospitals back in his home timeline. Back there, he could help heal the wounded, befriend the dying and comfort the weeping. Nothing's stopping him from doing that now, but his own sense of inadequacy. He barely knows how the human body works. Trying to use his Switches to heal Alien bodies...he wasn't sure how it would work.

He stops in the main wing of the Hospital, where a lone drell sits reading by the light from the window. Who's this? Gentaro's seen him around before, but has never been able to greet him.

Because that is eleven different kinds of not cool. Are you trying to emotionally scar the people I care for?

Gentaro waits in the docking bay for his friend to arrive. He's been going stir crazy staying on the Citadel. He promised so many people that he wanted to fight the Reapers, but as he's not military, that option hasn't come up. He idly plays with his Astro Switches as he considers what's coming.

The footage makes it clear. This is going to be a harder fight than anything he had ever experienced. Reapers are merciless, and they use the bodies of the fallen to rebuild their numbers. But he's got the power of a friendship-assisted combat armor on his side.