#maya brooks

happy N7 day)

Identity Theft Masterpost

Shepard's crew loiters in various places around the apartment, waiting for a lead on the mercenaries. Shepard can interact with them.

Ashley: Glad Liara's on this. If anybody can sift through a mountain of boring stuff to find that one clue, it's her.

Cortez: I'm glad you made it out of that ambush okay. None of us saw that coming. But lesson learned! Never have dinner with Joker. It won't end well.

Cortez (romanced): Let that be a lesson! You sneak off to a dinner date with another man, you get shot at.

Cortez (after first line): Glad you're okay, Shepard.

EDI: The restaurant attack has made the news. Civilian casualties seem to have been restricted to fish.

Brooks: I'm going to have to write a report about getting shot. I hear those are really complicated.

Shepard: It's faster if you make a template.

Brooks: I think maybe you get shot too much.

Brooks (after first conversation): I'm watching Dr. T'Soni work. It's... inspiring.

Garrus: So what was it, Shepard? Five minutes before someone started shooting at you? On the other hand, we get this cool secret hideout to hang out in... unless the bad guys look in the window.

Garrus (after first line): So about that fishtank you fell through...

Garrus (if romanced): Now I've got a story to tell the family when they meet you for the first time. Always helps to break the ice with turian inlaws.

Garrus (otherwise): Nah, never mind. We've all got one of those stories, but usually they don't involve seafood.

Glyph: I am compiling data on the gun for Dr. T'Soni. She should have the results momentarily.

James (if Wrex saved Shepard): Nothing beats having a krogan bodyguard, huh? I had a buddy like that once. Ah... no, not so much a buddy, really. More of a prisoner who helped us. It's a long story, man. Anyway... Brooks. She's kinda cute. Think she's on the market?

James (if he saved Shepard): Hey, so how about that part where I rescued you from certain death, huh? Maybe a surveillance camera caught it? Anyway... Brooks is kinda cute. Wonder if she's on the market.

Javik: Commander, in my cycle when we fled combat by falling through tanks containing aquatic animals, we usually... Oh. Right. We never did. You are a trailblazer.

Javik (after first line): Apologies. It was the Joker-pilot who dared me to "mock Shepard's undersea adventure".

Joker: Okay. Later, when this is all over and everything's settled, we are gonna talk about this bait thing.

(if Kaidan is romanced)

Shepard: Nice to see you in action on the car lot. It was... pretty hot.

Kaidan: Why thank you.

Shepard: What would I do without you?

Kaidan: You'll never find out.

(otherwise)

Kaidan: The Normandy's nice, but for unwinding after a mission? You can't get better than this. Observation lounge needs a hot tub.

Liara: Brooks has given me access to her case notes. She seems eager to help.

Shepard: Bright-eyed, over-eager, limited field experience. Reminds me of someone I met a few years ago...

Liara: I don't know what you're talking about. And I should get back to analyzing this gun.

Tali: Back during my Pilgrimage, I used to walk around near that sushi place and watch the fish through the window. I knew they'd never let me inside, but I'd think to myself, someday, when I've proven my worth to the galaxy, I'll go there for dinner. And you broke their floor.

(if Tali is romanced)

Shepard: I'm fine by the way.

Tali: Glad to hear it. Try not to destroy any more of my childhood memories.

(otherwise)

Shepard: Do they even have food you can eat there?

Tali: Not the point, Shepard.

Wrex: Bet you never saw a shuttle get taken down like that before. Heh. I still got it.

Wrex (after first line): Thought we were done with all the shooting on the Citadel after Cerberus messed the place up. They must want you bad, Shepard. Price of fame, I guess.

(Once the next mission is ready to start)

Liara: Shepard, I've found something. We can gather the team whenever you're ready.

MASS EFFECT LEGENDARY EDITION: CITADEL DLC

Brooks tried to be funny but the entire DLC is just... sad when it comes to her and the clone. And I know I'm not the only one who appreciates Brooks and the clone as characters. Replaying the Citadel DLC is showing quite clearly the tragedy of the road not taken.

The clone is the lonely figure who doesn't have what Shepard has and what makes them special: a team, a "we", a "us". No "we face our enemy together".

And Brooks who is not really Brooks plays a role with Shepard and with the clone. She watched from the sidelines as she put together dossiers for Shepard: everyone joined him, but not her. Never her. When she does join him, she plays a role. Not even the best version of herself, as she tries to be as clumsy and awkward as she can be as Staff Analyst Maya Brooks. Still. She gets respected, accepted and her advice is taken into account by Shepard and the Normandy crew. I think it did something to Brooks, and she will realize what exactly months or years later. But that acceptance is for Maya Brooks. It's not really for the person inside, the real one, lurking in the shadows, who I think, is longing, like the clone, to be loved.

Both Brooks and the clone have been rejected by the Illusive Man, probably one of the worst father figures in Mass Effect. Brooks is also compared to Miranda, as the clone puts it "mine has more bite". But not really when it comes to loyalty as we know. The two father figures for Shepard are David Anderson, who has a true love for Shepard, and Hackett, who is mentioned twice showing support - defending Shepard a Spectre candidate as we've seen in the archives and as someone who would understand immediately that the clone is not Shepard. Meaning the people we love understand our essence, and can't be fooled.

Unlike Shepard, the clone and Brooks are alone, playing roles, with fractured identities, and so much of the DLC is about their suffering: the clone especially. Brooks believes the clone would not have let them live, and the clone finds out that they're not going to be saved by Brooks. The look as she walks away is not one of triumph. That's sadness. And I think it's because she believes, among many things, that her and the clone are one and the same and therefore, not worthy of love and safety.

The moment the clone realizes Brooks will not save them makes me want to cry:

It is normal to want to be a part of a "we" and to despair when you realize you are alone in this world. The tragedy is that they could have been a "we", Brooks and the clone, but they didn't believe in each other enough. The person who believes in them the most is a Paragon Shepard, pleading for Brooks' life, telling the clone to live. Someone they both must see as an enemy, someone they tried to hurt badly, but someone they desperately wish to be friends with.

TW: dead animal/nightmarish imagery (dnr if you are squeamish!)

She was asleep for a long time. Or least it felt that way. And while she was asleep, she dreamt there was something caught in her throat. Her throat felt full, so that when she swallowed, she swallowed around a stubborn lump—firm but yielding, like a rubber ball. She could almost feel the needles of sulfur stabbing at her sinuses, and she cleared her throat to rid herself of the phantom stench. Then she coughed. That was when it happened: a small, white bird slipped out of her mouth, limp and glazed with the shiny slickness of her own saliva. Its wings—those hinged, aerodynamic blades—were rigid against its body, and its eyes were shut. The bird was dead. Had it flown in? How had it escaped her notice?  Her throat itched, and she pulled loose feathers from her mouth in clumsy gobs, fistful after fistful—a cheap magician's trick, conjured by the mind of a senseless dreamer. The first thing she remembers about waking up is the light. An amber haze. It crept across the dull, metal ceiling, a simulacrum of something familiar. She had no word for 'sun'. But she knew the sun; it was the thing that came up every morning and went down every night, and warmed the world until life jittered into existence. 'I am growing', she thought in her own, soupy way. 'The journeywork of the stars is within me.'  She wanted nothing more than to shut her eyes and to bask in that everyday miracle. The second thing she remembers is the smell. A mint-like scent, like strong medigel—smothering and antiseptic. It filled her nose until her eyelids flicked fully open. A woman with long, raven hair smiled down at her, and the woman draped a delicate hand across hers. Her perfectly aligned teeth, like rows of marble headstones, radiated with the yellow glow of the room. A sublime, jaundiced angel. “Hello, Shepard,” she said with a gentle hum. “It's good to finally meet you. My name is Maya, and I'm here to help you. Don't be afraid.”

Walk with me for a second. Per comic canon (take it or leave it at your discretion), Maya Brooks stole the Shepard clone and left Cerberus in one go. Therefore, when the clone woke up, Cerberus wasn't a factor. And Brooks was so fed up with their Shepard obsession that she refused to let the clone call herself anything related.

Here's where the Greek Mythology nerd in me comes in. Cerberus is Hades' three-headed dog and the guardian of the Underworld. Very symbolic in-game, so I don't mind extending the symbolism out of game. One can draw parallels between Hades (the master of Cerberus, the dog) and The Illusive Man (the head/leader of Cerberus, the terrorist group). Seph is short for Persephone, a young woman kidnapped by Hades, forced to become his bride, and kept in the Underworld several months out of the year (creating the seasons).

Brooks: "Afraid I'll come back for revenge? Is the great Commander Shepard pleading for his/her life?"