AN: First in a series of N7 Special Ops Stories... I know exactly what prompted this first story: smutty one shots of Fem!Shep and Legion and some of EDI's comments on the Normandy in ME3. "My programming contains priorities. Actions which fulfill those priorities provide positive feedback for me. I tell the organic crew that 'I like it'. It is shorthand." "Shepard, I will alter my processing power to give priority to your stated goals: duty, altruism, love." - EDI

Warnings: language, hints of possible sexual relations between a human and an AI. (everything that may or may not happen is off-camera)

Aberrant Code Modifications

[Excerpt from the private journal of N7 SpecOps Agent Ann Lu]

[Entry 43-5:2197]

It was supposed to be an easy mission: routine patrol to Firebase Jade before a well-earned break on the Citadel. We'd been on back to back missions for the past three weeks and we were all beyond exhausted.

It was late evening and Patrick had been complaining on and on about missing a date with his girlfriend, who apparently wouldn't have another shore leave for at least three months. It had been driving the rest of us crazy.

After the first couple of hours Han'Vaat had started listing, in gruesome detail, all the long term effects of repeated exposure to low-intensity Overloads. But good old Patrick was always the brave sort and it wasn't until Burak threatened him with dismemberment that he quit his whining. It was never good to gamble with the patience of a Krogan, especially one as short-tempered as Jorgal Burak. Good soldier, Burak - but not one to give a fig about your problems unless they came with ripped armor and gushing blood.

Nevertheless, we had - in no small part due to Patrick's obnoxious bellyaching but also our own carelessness - failed to detect the approach of the Cerberus shuttles. By the time we had detected the infiltrators, they had already restricted our movements to the lower base, where exits were scarce and cover even more so.

A grenade blasted through Han'Vaat's shields while he was setting up a turret and he took two in the stomach before I could drag him back to cover. There wasn't much I could do about his pierced suit and we all knew that he'd need evac as soon as there was any gap in Cerberus' forces.

Patrick set about contacting our CO while Burak and I wasted mountains of ammo on whittling down Cerberus' defences. We were tired, pissed off and made plenty of mistakes. I wasted a unit of medigel on fixing a gash on my right arm.

Patrick could have used that later when a Phantom ripped open his back. Burak could have used it later when he tackled an Atlas to cover the rest of the team.

It was a victory, if you could call it that. We cleared the base before the shuttle came for pick up... A victory where Han'Vaat, Patrick and Burak were going straight to the ship's Med-Bay for emergency operation - and you know it's bad when a Krogan can't shrug it off in under a day.

And it seemed we weren't done here. Command had gotten wind of another group of Cerberus agents coming in under twenty-four. We were to set an ambush. And by we, they apparently meant I, as the single member of my team still standing.

'And what the heck am I supposed to do, Commander? Solo this?' I said, trying to ignore the shivers I'd been getting for over an hour now. I hadn't had a problem coming down from an adrenaline high for years now… but I'd rather it be that then the other issue.

'Don't be a wise-ass, Lu. We have the Geth who were supposed to drop to Paeto for the eezo transport we negotiated with the Salarians. I'm giving you a couple of Hunters and a Prime as backup. Mission brief is with them.'

'Right, Commander. Lu out.'

[Excerpt from the private journal of N7 SpecOps Agent Ann Lu]

[Entry 43-6:2197]

Damn it all! The doc had assured me that the last mods would be good for at least a year and a half. A year and a half didn't mean three weeks. I briefly wondered if I could crawl into a hole and die instead of having to explain to my new AI support why I'd need to meditate for three or four hours a day unless I wanted to start crawling all over the lab, trying to mate with whatever phallic-shaped research equipment I could find. Freaking hell.

(Systems Alliance Medical Lab / Location: [redacted])

It was high time for him to get some shut-eye but he'd been reading a fascinating article on the possible uses of localized mass-effect fields in forcing the dispersion of medicine during emergency field operations when the suit's own medigel application sensors were damaged. Just one more minute became ten and then an hour and now his comm screeched at him… All these interruptions. He managed another couple of phrases before his assistant overrode the door lock.

'Dr. Baker, we need your help in the lab.' Claudia was saying. 'The results for Field Agent Lu just came in. They're not looking good.'

'Is something wrong with the new gene treatment?' Stephen Baker frowned, looking over the datapad the panicked girl had brought him.

'That's part of the problem doctor, ahem.' the woman whispered, as they passed a couple of lab techs in the hallway. 'If you recall, she was, ahem, one of Dr. Kanor's lab-bred; marked down under possible rejection of cybernetics so we, ahem, customized the Sirta mod...'

'Yes, yes, Claudia. I remember.' the doctor interrupted 'Patient 544. One of the three survivors from Kanor's experiments with Asari DNA. Nasty work that...' he said, scrolling over the information.

'Gerard's work had always been dodgy but he really lost contact with reality in those last couple of years. His ridiculous assumptions that the Asari's high biotic potential was intrinsically linked to the biochemical changes they go through during the transition from child to maiden - and to find someone mad enough to not only believe him, but fund his insanity!'

'Ahem, yes. Well, as it stands, we took the standard blood and tissue samples after the procedure to monitor any mod decay.' with a few quick taps on her omnitool, Claudia brought up another display.

'As of twelve hours ago the mods don't even show in the blood and tissue samples, ahem, it's as if her body has already purged them. Our calculations on the modified rate of absorption, ahem, due to the alien DNA, might have been off by a couple of weeks but based on these results, our calculations were off by an order of magnitude... It shouldn't be possible!' Claudia complained, nervously tugging on her sleeves.

'Possible or not, that's not the issue now. The main concern is getting in contact with Agent Lu and ensuring that she has access to the back-up meds.' Stephen countered with an impatient huff. 'She's got less than forty-eight hours before the body reverts to its natural cycle... or what passes for natural with how Kanor's mangled her genes. Better she deal with the old meds' side-effects than with that problem during a mission. Make the call and then join me in the lab. We'll look over those calculations.'

He spared a thought to the unfinished article - and it had been such an interesting read too… With a mournful sigh, he resigned himself to another sleepless night.

[Excerpt from the private journal of N7 SpecOps Agent Ann Lu]

[Entry 43-7:2197]

You'd think the Geth would think to update they data-banks with whatever info they lack about human visual cues. I'm pretty sure any other race in the galaxy could tell that I was dying of embarrassment trying to explain that, due to some stupid doctor's mistake, my CO's insistence in taking this mission and my creator's insane genetic patchwork I was now stuck on an alien planet with no meds and with more raging hormones than a pubescent Krogan.

No, instead, Prime was busy asking questions. I'm pretty sure data acquisition is a Geth euphemism for nosiness.

I might have lasted about fifteen before I blurted out something about doing a perimeter check and legging it. I already had to concentrate on regulating my breathing, my skin felt flushed and the suit restricting. The shivers were getting steadily getting worse and I'd be damned if I wasted my meditation time explaining to the AI that if he didn't leave well enough alone, in a couple of hours I'd be begging it for sex.

(Firebase Jade / Location: Sur'kesh)

She couldn't have been gone for more than half an hour when a synthesized voice broke into her light trance.

'Agent Lu. We have determined your current course of action to be inefficient. We will assist you in solving the problem to conform to the mission schedule.' The Geth saying this was crouched in front of the chair on which she was sitting cross-legged and, even so, still managed to look imposing.

'What the heck, Prime!' Ann cried out, driving her chair into the wall. It was somewhat embarrassing to lose her cool so easily but she supposed exceptions could be made with a twelve-foot Geth platform staring her in the face from less than twenty inches away.

She eyed the nearest exits in the vain hope that they'd moved from the position she had memorized two days prior. They hadn't, so she was still stuck between the lab wall and an AI whose programming didn't compel him to respect the human concept of personal space.

'This platform will aid you in removing the physical symptoms of your stated problem.'

Rubbing her eyes, she tried to cover her discomfort with humor. 'I thought you Geth had a thing about not being someone's tools and now you're offering to be my sex toy?! Isn't that a bit demeaning for an elite military unit?'

Prime's face-plates closed raised into a position that, from her limited knowledge, meant that the Geth was miming either confusion or disapproval.

'Reasoning linked to organic emotions cannot be applied to Geth. The current purpose of this platform is to provide allied assistance. Agent Lu is our ally. Agent Lu has encountered difficulties in solving a problem with current resources. Aiding Agent Lu is classified as providing allied assistance. In organic terms: We do not find it demeaning, Agent Lu.' the Geth platform replied, his open palms raised in a calculated gesture meant to enforce the honesty of his assertion.

'Right. Machines. No feelings.'

'That is correct.'

He wasn't letting this go, but neither was she. She might have considered the offer - had it actually come from a fellow human. Hell, in an hour or so, any levo-amino organic would do. But a Geth? Ann felt the beginning of a headache at just the thought of thinking about the logistics... Not to mention the morality of using another being for sex when they didn't know whether they wanted it or not.

'So speaking of which... You couldn't really tell me whether you'd like or hate whatever I'd make you do.'

'Like or dislike is irrelevant. The only imperative is the completion of assigned or self-assigned objectives.'

And there's the headache, Ann mused.

'Look, Prime. From where I'm standing, you're people. Synthetics, but people.' she huffed, dragging a lightly shaking hand over her sweaty brow. 'People have the right to make their own decisions. And when they are incapable of distinguishing between what's good for them and what isn't... it's the job of everyone else to make sure no one takes advantage of them. In this case, my job. So drop whatever "self-assigned objective" you've come up with and focus on the mission. It's a bit of a pain - okay, a big-ass pain - but give me three or four more hours to meditate and I'll be ready to party with our Cerberus guests.'

'Mission details place the arrival of hostiles in under two hours.'

'Well then, you and the Hunters will just have to hold them off, won't you!' she argued back, fed up with the Geth's obstinate determination.

'Estimated chances of success are higher with the presence of Agent Lu as an active member of the team.'

'I'll be an active member of the team when I'm damn well ready!' she nearly yelled, before dropping back into the chair. 'Look, Prime, I can't put it clearer than this: it's physically disturbing, romantically weird and morally wrong. I could get past the first two... but you can't get any satisfaction out of doing the dirty with me and therefore won't be doing the dirty with me. End of discussion. Now go away and let me meditate... I'll need a miracle anyway, to be good to go before the freak-show arrives.'

The platform's plates closed tightly around the dimming light. The Geth looked pissed but Ann refused to budge. It seemed pretty stupid to start a staring match with a machine but, after a few minutes of silence, the Prime nodded.

'Acknowledged. We have achieved consensus. We will reconfigure basic run-times to conform to Allied Unit-Agent Lu's demands.'

With that, his head lowered onto his chest, his arms slackened, shoulders lowering and back curving ever-so-slightly forward; the platform appeared to have entered a power-saving mode.

Ann was at a loss. She brushed some stray bangs out of her eyes and rubbed her hands lightly over her arms, swallowing a moan at the contact. Even the lightest touch was driving her crazy and she wasn't in the right state of mind to argue with stubborn AI.

'Heck! And what exactly does that mean, Prime?' When the Geth failed to answer or even provide some sign that he was aware of her question, she risked poking him in the side. Still, he remained unmoving.

Walking around the inactive machine, she decided to get her answers from one of the other two Geth on the premises. She peeked into each room until she found one of the Hunters keeping watch on a balcony, his sniper rifle poking through the rails.

At her approach, the Geth politely turned his head in her direction.

'Greetings, Agent Lu.'

'Hey, Hunter... So here's the thing: Prime and I had a bit of a disagreement and I told him that I needed three or four hours downtime. He shut down before he could give me a straight answer… and I guess I just wanted to make sure we're on the same page. I'm gonna go bunk down in Lab Room D1. Could you check that everything's fine with Prime?'

'Affirmative.' the AI answered.

As she turned to leave, he addressed her again and she had the sudden notion that she should be alarmed when his face-plates twitched every so often, as if he couldn't decide what feeling he was supposed to display.

'Geth Prime Platform AC3.17-P8 is currently in the process of performing alterations to his core programming.'

'What, now! Why?'

'Programs are being adjusted to receive positive feedback from physical interaction with Allied Unit-Agent Lu.'

Her throat was uncomfortably tight, her mouth suddenly too dry and Ann didn't know if she felt horrified, outraged or flattered.

'You're telling me Prime's making his brain like the idea of having sex with me...' she managed to rasp.

It took less than a second for the Hunter's head to sketch a nod. 'It is an acceptable analogy.'

'Well… f*** me.'