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Henry Lawson is the father of Miranda Lawson and her genetic twin, Oriana.


Background[]

Lawson is a powerful businessman who was obsessed with securing a way to make his mark on history - namely, by creating a "genetic dynasty". Rather than have a normal family, Henry took his own DNA and doubled his X chromosome to create a daughter, Miranda, whom he ensured would have "desirable traits." Miranda was not the first offspring engineered in such a way, but she was the first one Henry kept.

Henry spoiled Miranda growing up, giving her everything she wanted, but there was always a hook, an angle designed to fit his long term plan for her. Eventually, Henry grew dissatisfied with Miranda and used her DNA to create a more ideal heiress, Oriana. Miranda rebelled, taking Oriana and fleeing after a violent shootout with Henry's guards. When Miranda went to Cerberus for protection, Henry withdrew his support for the organization.

Mass Effect 2[]

See also: Miranda: The Prodigal

Though Henry was smart enough to not attempt to come after Miranda while she was under the Illusive Man's protection, he continued to search for Oriana. In 2185, he contacts a childhood acquaintance of Miranda, Niket, and entrusts him to find Oriana. Niket finds Oriana's adoptive family on Illium, and hires Eclipse to capture Oriana. If Commander Shepard intervenes, the plot fails as Niket is killed, either by Miranda or Captain Enyala.


Mass Effect 3[]

Following Miranda's defection from Cerberus (or death on the Collector Base), Henry renews his support for Cerberus and sets up a base on Horizon, dubbed Sanctuary, luring hapless refugees as subjects for experimentation to study husks and the effects of Reaper indoctrination as a means to control them. Henry believes that his work would immortalize himself as the "savior" of humanity, regardless of the reprehensible means he used in it. Though he is able to copy the signal that could control the husks, he believes that applying similar techniques on the Reapers themselves will be much more difficult.

Henry confers over comms with the Illusive Man on the Sanctuary experiments

Meanwhile, Henry persists in hunting for Oriana, regardless of prior circumstances. He eventually succeeds in locating his daughter, and brings her to Sanctuary. However, the Reapers discover his work, due to Henry underestimating the strength of the Reaper signal, and assault Sanctuary. At the same time, Commander Shepard discovers the true face of Sanctuary while tracking Kai Leng. The Illusive Man sends Kai Leng to Sanctuary to retrieve Henry's research data, which Leng does but leaves Henry to die. Abandoned by Cerberus and running out of options, Henry holes up deep in his laboratories, grabs Oriana as a human shield when Shepard reaches him, and tries to bargain his way out.

Henry mentions that Oriana tried to shoot him, which he attributes to her elder sister's "poisonous influence". With Miranda absent, Shepard can let him go free in exchange for Oriana, shoot him and/or Oriana during negotiations, or alternatively Oriana drags them both to the cracked window, sending them plummeting to their deaths.

However, if Miranda is alive, Henry isn't walking out as Miranda fully intends to kill him regardless of Shepard's intentions. Miranda musters her powers and biotically hurls Henry through the damaged glass, sending him to his death below. Depending on prior circumstances with Miranda, Henry may be able to realize what she's about to do and shoot her in the stomach, though that fails to stop her from hurling him out the window. He still dies, though he also succeeds in personally killing Miranda as she succumbs to the wound shortly afterward.

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