Drain Brameged Inc. Proudly Present

A Mad-Hamlet Production

Blue: Iris: One

"...get her on the table..."

"EDI, can you-?"

"I am capable of doing a complete analysis at your command, Miranda."

"Scanner's up!"

"Do it EDI."

"Processing, please standby."

"Well?"

"Processing..."

"What's happening Miranda?"

"Liara, please-"

"No! Not again, no more pleases or outsides. Tell me what's going on!"

"Processing. Fascinating."

"Elaborate EDI."

"Under normal circumstances the amount of data from the scanner would require exactly zero point zero zero three seconds for me to process using only my most basic run times. I have prescribed nearly ten percent of my operative capabilities and have yet not completed my task. Processing."

"What. Does. That. Mean?!"

"Answer her, EDI."

"Without further data I can only speculate. Based on available information, that I will seek to verify as accurate as soon as the processing is complete and based on the massive spike- Processing complete."

"Well?"

"This...this should not be possible."

"Does anyone else suddenly feel the need to run and hide?"

"Garrus, you're-"

Shepard sat up.

"Goddess!" Liara almost shouted moving to embrace her human- and froze.

The commander sat, spine ramrod straight, head up, she would have been looking right at the wall opposite the medbay...if her eyes had been open.

"Shepard?" Liara's voice asked from behind the hand she had over her mouth.

Her human's head snapped to face her, eyes still closed, one hand shot out missing the asari's head by centimeters. There was a resounding crunch of plastic shattering and with no seeming effort at all Shepard pulled one of the monitors off of the medbay walls and dropped it in her lap. Without even looking in the direction, Shepard reached out with her other hand, grabbed a datapad from one of trays near her bed and, still facing Liara, casually ripped the back off the smaller machine. Hands blurring, the commander began to attach the torn wiring from the larger display she had just removed from the wall to the datapad.

"EDI!" Miranda said very loudly. "We need to know-"

"The commander's mind has received a massive data burst from her implants, " EDI responded. Her voice seemed awed, not the dry, polite tone she normally used when giving a report. "Through a process I do not yet understand, data from the machines within and around her brain, was transformed into neurological signals; these signals were than accepted by the human mind and are currently stored in the commander's short term memory. It could be conjectured that this data was a series of instructions."

Garrus' voiced had a dangerous edge to it and he appeared to be choosing his words carefully, "Are the implants controlling Shepard?"

EDI was silent for a time, in the background Shepard continued to work. "I do not believe so."

"And why not?" Miranda demanded.

"For two reasons," EDI replied. "Firstly, the data has been moved to short term memory. Higher brain functions are not impeded; synaptic paths are not being overwritten. Essentially, the neurological 'fingerprint' that is Commander Shepard still is."

"I'm going to pretend I understood that and just move on to the second reason," Garrus said, rubbing at a spot behind his left mandible.

"Commander Shepard cannot be controlled by anything."

"Oh. Right." Garrus grinned. "I forgot that part. So why is Shepard doing this Day of the Living Dead thing?"

EDI paused, "I do not understand the question, Garrus. The commander has not tried to eat- Oh. I see," there was another pause. "The scanner is still operating, please examine Shepard's neurological activity and compare those with wavelength found in people who are-"

Garrus held up one hand, "I know how to shoot people, EDI."

Liara bent over the readouts surrounding Shepard's bed, studying the results for a moment, "she said that Shepard is dreaming, Garrus."

Garrus eyed the commander, who, having completed her assembly was now typing furiously at the data pad. Long strings of symbols, some familiar, others less so, flashed across the screen only to be replaced a split second later by a new sequence of integers, "You're telling me she's sleep...programming?"

Shepard's finger's froze, she cocked her head to one side as if listening to something just coming into range, remained motionless for a moment and fell back on the pillows. Liara pushed her way past Garrus, who had been standing at the head of the bed, she cupped her human's cheeks between her hands, "Shepard?"

"The commander's neurological activity is now falling into what is believed standard for delta sleep," EDI reported through the loudspeakers. "Vitals are well within normal range, Dr. T'soni. The commander will be fine."

Liara brushed her forehead against one of Shepard's cheeks, feeling the steady strong breath run across her face, "Thank you, EDI," she said.

The monitor that Shepard had torn from the wall now lay across her legs, forgotten. Myriad wires and connections still anchored it to the datapad that danged off the side of the bed, on the monitor itself a complex series of numbers flickered on and off, on and off on and... A figure of chrome stepped up besides Miranda, reached down with one metal hand and retrieved the monitor.

"You're welcome, Doctor," EDI said, she bent to study the figures on the monitor for a moment. "Intriguing."

"That is really weird," Garrus replied, glancing between where EDI's voice had been coming out of the speakers and where her platform now stood before them.

"Try viewing the world around you through multiple sensors suites, including every possible wavelength in the visual, audio, radioactive and cosmological scale, with three-hundred and sixty degree internal and external vision along with processing ten to the fifteenth power data feeds and core processes at the same time," EDI murmured.

"And you find Joker to be suitable intellectual stimulation?" Garrus asked.

EDI shrugged, "Yes."

"Joker?" Garrus pressed. "Really?"

EDI tore her attention from the figures and glanced at the turian, "I like bad boys," she said completely straight faced.

Garrus started coughing violently.

"Hey!" Joker cut in through the speakers. "I am bad. You should see-"

"Porn collection," Miranda interrupted.

"Porn collection," Garrus agreed."

"Oh," Joker grumbled. "Is that joke getting old? Yeah, it's getting old."

Shepard groaned, tried to sit up and had both Garrus' and Liara's arms at her back, assisting her; she blearily glared around the room, "Wha...what substance was I abusin' las night?" she slurred, raising one hand to her temple. Her eyes suddenly focused and her gaze flickered over everyone in the room; from Miranda standing on one side of the bed, to EDI, to Garrus and then she stared up at Liara who was supporting her.

"No," she whispered, "not again."

Shepard squeezed her eyes shut, shaking her head in denial, "Don't tell me-" her voice snapped off and she forced her eyes open, "Deal later, work now," she muttered. Her friends exchanged confused glances.

Shepard appeared to study the others, "Okay," she said to herself. "Miranda still looks pretty much the same, Garrus is that a new scar?"

Garrus opened his mouth to answer but Shepard's continuing ramble steamrolled right over him; her attention turned to Liara, "Never changing, no matter how long I keep leaving you-"

"Which in this case was under twenty minutes," Liara interrupted.

Shepard's mouth fell open but she recovered quickly, "Oh."

"Tell me you recorded that EDI," Garrus said out of the corner of his mouth."

The android cocked her head at him, "Everything is recorded by the security system. What is there about this moment that makes it significant?"

Garrus' mandibles flexed in a turian grin, "Future possibilities for fun," his light tenor rumbled.

Liara stroked an errant lock of hair behind Shepard's ear, "What's the last thing you remember?"

Shepard swallowed, "Miranda. She came in and told me that-"

"I was informing you that I had made a list of supplies that we would require once we arrive at the asari moon," the former operative interrupted smoothly. "Don't you remember, commander?" she asked putting emphasis on the last words.

Garrus looked from Miranda, to Shepard then back to Miranda, "Yeah," he said. "That whole thing in where one person tries to stop another from blabbing by interrupting the conversation works really well in fiction because writers are stupid; in real life- not so much."

Shepard gave the turian a half-smile, "Just how many of my movies did you watch again?"

"Way too many," Garrus replied. "But hey, I learned how to survive a slasher movie and got to hear Liara's theory on how those types of flicks are allegories for sex, y'know, long hard blades thrust into female flesh, spurting arteries and so on. I was drunk at the time and it made a great reason to go all the way to very drunk," he paused, sighed. "Ah, good times."

"I was in a coma!" Shepard grumbled.

"Which meant total access to your whiskey supply," Garrus replied. "Like I said: Good times. So, what's the big secret?"

Shepard nodded to Miranda, "You know what I'm going to say, right?"

Miranda sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose, "Something about being able to trust everyone here, and you're correct of course, commander." She shrugged one shoulder, "Old habits die hard and... is it a fault that I just want to keep you safe?"

Shepard leaned forward, her gaze intense, "With these people here, I'm safe."

"That include me?" Joker's voice spoke up.

Shepard rolled her eyes, "Yes Joker, that includes you too."

"She rolled her eyes didn't she?" the pilot asked rhetorically. "I know she did, I could practically hear it. Don't tell me she didn't."

"She did," Garrus rumbled. "Now shut up."

"Pfff, fine, see if I care. I'm only navigating us around stars, black holes and shit and I don't have any secrets. Everyone knows about my porn."

"You don't have a porn collection," Miranda said. "That's the secret."

"Oh sure, just tell everyone," Joker grumped. "I have a reputation to consider."

"Miranda?" Shepard encouraged the other woman. "Go on, tell them."

"Yes commander," she reached for her omnitool.

"No pictures," Shepard interjected. "Just spit it out."

"Very well," the former operative looked around at the others for a moment, seemed to take a moment to collect her thoughts and said, "from a biological standpoint Commander Shepard has stopped aging. Barring disease or trauma the data indicates her natural lifespan as ...theoretically endless."

No one said anything for a moment.

"Dammit Shepard," Garrus finally spoke up. "You get all the coolest toys."

Then Joker, "Wha- I... Wow. I got nothing."

"Kill me now," Shepard replied, grinning. "I've seen everything."

"Shepard," Liara interrupted. "What happened? Do you remember anything from while you were unconscious?"

Her human's smile faded and she stared off into space for a moment, then speaking very slowly, appearing to choose her words she said, "I promised no more secrets and I'll keep it. I...just need some time. Can you all accept that?"

There was no hesitation as everyone, save EDI, responded with various affirmatives.

Shepard slumped slightly, "Thank you, but what about on the outside? What did you all see?"

EDI stepped up to the bedside, "You produced this, commander," she said and handed the datapad with the pages and pages of numerals to Shepard.

The commander examined it for a moment before replying, "It looks like someone blew up math."

"No commander," the android replied. "What is written there is a ground breaking discovery of mathematics and cosmic navigation."

Everyone's focus turned to the pad in Shepard's hand.

"EDI, I can't even do my taxes," Shepard replied. "There's no way I'm responsible for this."

The AI acknowledged Shepard's words with a nod, "Strictly speaking you did not create this, commander. However it was your body that did the work. I theorize that the implants within your mind, for lack of a better term, uploaded the data using your organic frame to recreate the information."

"They had control of my body?" Shepard's hands clenched into fists as her outrage range throughout the medbay.

"Strictly speaking, no," EDI replied, her calm monotone a jarring counterpoint to the commander's sudden rage. "You were under the scanners the entire time, commander. There was no indication of intelligence behind the act. The information was strictly that- information. Not commands. The instructions along your nervous system came from your actual brain. It was fundamentally you who chose to share this data."

"God," Shepard groaned, rubbing at her temples. "They told me I had to remember how to see. It seemed like a good idea at the time."

"Who?" Liara pressed. "Who told you, Shepard?"

Taking her asari's hands in her own, the commander said, "Later, please Liara. Just... a little while."

While she did not pull her hands away, there was no disguising the frown that marred the asari's face, "Very well Shepard. I shall hold you to that."

"Okay EDI," Shepard said, turning her attention back to the AI. "So what's so amazing about my math homework?"

Letting the metaphor slide the android replied, "I believe this is how The Collectors were able to locate and destroy the Normandy SR1 despite its stealth systems being active at the time. It is a formula for tracking anything in space, either ship or celestial object, based off of reflections and disruptions made in background cosmic radiation."

Again the room was silent for a moment before Shepard said, "What?" and at the same time Miranda exclaimed, "That's impossible!"

"You understood that?" Shepard asked her.

"Yes," Miranda said with a nod. "And it's absolutely not possible."

Shepard folded her arms across her chest, "Explain."

The former operative echoed Shepard's gesture unconsciously and paced in place, "The theory is actually sound," she began. "The idea being that as an object moves through space it passes through background radiation. It'd be the same as tracking a submarine underwater by how ocean currents alter themselves around the ships hull. Possible, but the amount of data and computational power not to mention the variables would be staggering. Weather, wind, how every other object in the area would also effect the currents and so on."

"Ms. Lawson is correct," EDI concurred. "But that is the brilliance of the work here; it accounts for and takes in account all the variables within the area of the ships scanners. It also does so in a way that is-" she cut off. "- the best possible term would be intuitive."

"I am so lost right now," Garrus said leaning against the wall. "But that's okay, I can still shoot things, right?"

"An analogy then, Garrus," EDI said. She reached down, picked up the data pad and casually tossed it to the turian; he snatched it out of the air easily.

"Consider the mathematics that were involved in that act," the AI continued. "Your mind predicted the trajectory, arc and speed of the pad. It also had to calculate the proper angle and timing of your extremity, your hand in this case, to successfully intercept the object. Additionally your mind had to consider the viability of even attempting to catch it. You did this without any conscious thought. That is what this new formula offers: An intuitive means of understanding everything moving around the ship," she paused. "I estimated that utilizing the program would require only a three percent increase in computational power for the sensors. I was incorrect- the increase is only two point five percent."

"Wait," Miranda held up a hand. "Estimated? Was? EDI, what did you do?"

"I have uploaded the formula into The Normandy's sensor suite, there has been a five thousand percent increase in performance and it is still climbing."

The former operative fumed, "EDI that was not your decision to make, you should have asked us first."

Cocking her head to the side slightly the AI replied, "On the contrary Ms. Lawson, I am The Normandy. I decide what does or does not go into my body."

Liara started coughing and Shepard had to hide another grin; still against the wall Garrus hadn't moved but his left mandible started twitching slightly. A burst of static announced Joker shutting off the PA system.

Miranda stared at the AI, "That...was a joke?" she said hopefully.

"Hardly," EDI replied perfectly serious. "Why do you- Oh," she stared around the room for a moment at the others. "Ah, I see the metaphor."

"EDI," Shepard said quietly. "It is your body, I agree but I am the commanding officer here. I would appreciate it in the future if you checked with me first before any further such...upgrades are made. Purely for safety's sake."

She AI's eyes tracked behind her visor, as if reading, "I see commander. You are concerned how my actions might have affected the ship, the possibility of traps in the code. You are ..." she paused then straightened to face Shepard, "you are correct Commander, Ms Lawson. I appear to have been-" again a pause. "Overexcited. This has never happened before I must consider it some."

"Hey everyone," Joker's voice cut in. "We've arrived and we'll be making planet-fall in fifteen minutes. Might want to get ready for some sort of welcome."

"Ugh," Shepard grunted getting out of the bed. "Let's do that, I've had enough of this room for awhile."

The airlock hissed as it opened, light from inside The Normandy spilled out to pool on the floor; the figure silhouetted in the hatch cast harsh shadows through the gloom. Moving slowly she reached behind her, dismounted her rifle and brought to bear at the darkness ahead.

"Of course," Shepard hissed. "No response to communications, emergency power and no life signs."

She carefully eased out into the hallway onto the gangplank. Moving briskly she made her way across to the dock. Behind her she heard her two companions make their way to her side. Garrus strode to her right, his own weapon focused on the darkened end of the room within which The Normandy hovered in a zero-G field.

"Are we sure about the 'no life signs' part?" he said out of the corner of his mouth.

Liara settled in at the rear of the group, "EDI does not make mistakes. If there is anyone here they are somehow masking their signs. There is nothing so far to indicate as such though."

Garrus chuckled, "Never is, until they start shooting."

"Keep it quiet," Shepard muttered, "EDI, you picking this up?"

The AI's cool voice came through her earpiece clearly, "Affirmative commander. From various scans I have created an internal map of the complex; I believe I have located the central command station. It is not far from your position. Uploading coordinates now."

Shepard's omnitool beeped, "Coordinates received, EDI."

She shrugged slightly, rotating one shoulder, than the other, nudging the armor back into position and reassuring herself of its continued flexibility. The weight, she remembered the comforting weight of her N7 armor and part of her thrummed inside. Shepard knew what wearing the armor and her weapons meant- that she was entering a potentially hostile situation. One that could quite easily end in death, hers or others with mad scrambling, screams, explosions and the roar of gunfire ringing in her ears. She shouldn't be looking forward to it, she really shouldn't.

But the weight, the comforting weight of it all. Guns, armor, the helmet with its pads squeezing her face just a little to tight- that always happened- no soldier ever had a perfectly measured helmet. It was good feeling. Sure, there was problems that had happened to her, or at her and she had no direct say so, no way of specifically contesting those but right now...now the situation found her equipped, trained and ready to go looking for trouble...and shoot it-

-preferably in the face.

Shepard turned to the others. "Let's move out. Fast and quiet. Maybe we can find some answers."

"Answers like, where did everybody go?" Garrus asked rhetorically.

"Something like that," Shepard replied, wryly.

"I am more concerned with how did they get there," Liara added. "I'd be partial to the answer 'on their feet' myself."

Garrus and Shepard exchanged a glance, "Yeah," Garrus said with a nod. "I can see how that'd be preferable."

"Enough," Shepard hissed. "Let's go."

The three of them moved silently down the dock, other berths lay beyond The Normandy, wide open spaces; what little light there was did little to penetrate the depths that stretched beneath them. A few short minutes ago The Normandy had entered the facility through an automated beacon. As the ship had approached the facility a huge door in the roof had opened revealing a shaft that had plunged deep below the surface of the planet. The beacon had offered navigation details, allowing Joker to easily bring The Normandy down, down and deeper still until the zero-g field had snapped to life, towing the ship to the berth it now occupied. During the decent repeated attempts at raising communications had been made with no response. EDI's own scans had not offered any further insight as well. On an impulse, Shepard had ordered a squad to board the station, one that she, as always, would lead.

The three of them reached the far end of the cavernous room in moments. Their progress was halted by a massive door set in the wall. Fully twice as tall as the turian and half the length of The Normandy.

"Okay," Garrus asked, back pressed against the wall, keeping an eye on the way they had come. "Now what?"

"One moment," Liara replied. Working quickly the asari fished a small device out of her belt and slapped it on the door. A circle of lights sprang into existence, their red glow casting a bloody pall over their faces.

"Isn't that the thing you used-" Shepard began.

"On The Shadow Broker's ship?" Liara finished. "Yes and no, it's far more primitive. This one is designed to access the internal components and provide adequate power so it may-"

A quiet rumble shook the floor slightly and with a groan the door began to rise up.

"-open the door," Liara smiled.

"Move it," Shepard ordered. "Let's find out what the hell is going on around here. I was expecting a welcome of some sort, not an abandoned base."

Motes of dust drifted lazily in the shadows; moving aimlessly between the darkened consoles, held aloft by the weak drafts circulated by ventilation systems. The only source of illumination in the room was to be found at a large control panel directly across from the still sealed door. A single green holographic embalm winked on and off, over and over again patiently. Above the console the wall, lined with glass and projectors, curved across the length of the room. Dead center of the console was a single command and control chair. It faced away, towards the door; anyone sitting in it at the time would have been in the perfect position to welcome unexpected guests but the chair waited, empty and patient. Behind the chair the smaller darkened consoles made even rows all the way to the back of the room. In front of each of them was a similarly empty chair. Silence hung over the collection of technology, deep, heavy...waiting.

The sound of gears turning within the walls shattered the quiet, a rush of air through the opening door sent the dust motes corkscrewing across the room; a shadowy figure ducking under the ascending door, spun to its right sweeping its gun; at near the same time another figure ducked in and echoed the movements only to the left.

"Clear," Garrus announced.

"Clear," Shepard replied. "EDI?"

"You are in the central command room," EDI confirmed. "If you can restore power I should be able to access the base computers."

"Acknowledged," Shepard replied.

"She's so polite," Garrus said to Liara. "She's got so many Reaper algorithms her infiltration-ware has evolved around there isn't a machine that she can't access. She should just say 'I will access' like it's inevitable. Much more badass."

The asari eyed him with a slight frown, "Do you even know what a computer algorithm is?"

Garrus grabbed one of the chairs and gave it a spin, "Well no," he admitted. "But EDI says she's got more of them than anyone else and she usually mentions them only when she's about to make some really expensive super-secret computer roll over and play dead- and she always does."

"Of course," Shepard was standing in front of the central console. Unlike the others this one was circular. Providing nearly three hundred and sixty degrees of interface. The seat was in the middle allowing the user complete ease of access. The entirety, like the others in the room, was dark except for one single icon hovering in mid-air. It glowed a pleasant shade of green. "Just one button to push."

"Bet you it triggers the self-destruct," Garrus said, pointing at the holographic glyph.

Shepard grimaced, "With my luck it wouldn't even have a countdown."

"If it is a self-destruct and it kills us all how would you collect on your bet Garrus?" Liara asked.

The turian tapped a finger to his lips, appearing to be deep in thought; finally he said, "Well, 'I told you so's' are big currency in turian heaven."

"That's the one with bar, right?" Shepard asked.

"Yep."

"But if it's heaven," Liara asked, appearing genuinely puzzled. "Why would you have to pay for the drinks?"

"Can we please push the button before we start a religious war?" Garrus asked plaintively.

Shepard slammed her gauntleted hand down, through the hovering symbol; the silence was interrupted by a quiet hum. Deep below the ground generators spun up, relays flipped and power coursed throughout the complex. In the command center lights from a dozen consoles sprung to life. Reds, blues and greens with the ever present yellow glow of holographic interfaces penetrated the gloom.

In front of Shepard a display flashed into existence. An image appeared a moment later- that of an asari. She was, as all her species, beautiful, at least by human standards. Her skin was a deep, dark blue- so deep she appeared more of a purple. In contrast, flaring out along the lines of her face, above her brow, along the high cheekbones and the line of her jaw, bright white tattoos spiraled across her face. Unlike most facial markings that Shepard had seen, those or whorls or spiraling patters, this new asari's tattoos were mostly of straight lines and sharp edges.

It was her uniform that was the attention getter. Most asari were seen wearing long dresses that concealed and yet accentuated their figures, that or the classic body stocking seen on the maidens at a great many drinking holes across the galaxy. However very rarely Shepard had encountered asari dressed in dark green suits; these suits in question were body tight, dark green and indicated that their wearer was very, very dangerous, and the asari in the image was wearing one- An asari commando, an angry looking asari commando.

When confronted with an angry commando most of the galaxy's opinion on best course of action is die at your own hand; it increases, but does not guarantee, the possibility that a relation of some sort will be able to identify your corpse.

"Greetings Commander Shepard," the asari said, trying and failing to smile through clenched teeth. "By the time you receive this message-"

"I will already be dead," Garrus said out loud.

"We're not that lucky," Shepard replied

"this location will have been abandoned. I have received orders," the recording continued, "and, despite my objections, to remove myself and my troops until your departure. Officially we are performing war games on the other side of this land mass. This is for the sake of plausible deniability should our involvement become discovered."

"Understandable," Liara interjected.

The recording went on, "Unofficially we have been tasked to safeguard a secondary facility, the whereabouts are classified. When you have completed loading the supplies just send the code accompanying this recording through the short range communication nexus. We will receive and know we can return to our duties. The facility itself is fully automated and, while our records have been expunged from the system, the proper programs for the purposes of loading cargo remain intact. We anticipate that the entire process should not take more than two days," and with that the message ended the display snapped off.

Reaching up to her com-piece Shepard said, "EDI?"

"Yes commander."

Looking around at the humming machines Shepard said, "Can you access the places' mainframe? It seems that it's supposed to be automated somehow but I don't care to spend the time figuring out the on switch." she steadfastly ignored the smiles she knew, she just knew, that Garrus and Liara had on their faces.

"Affirmative commander," EDI replied. "Accessing. I have control. Automated loading procedures have begun. Estimate time to completion being just under thirty-two hours. Commander, there is an inventory of what goods have been set aside for the Normandy, it is quite extensive. From foodstuffs to replacement parts as well as military hardware and medical supplies. Shall I send a copy?"

Shepard suppressed a groan, even on the run one cannot escape paperwork- which was what delegation was for. "Negative EDI. Separate the items by category. Foodstuffs to the mess chief, Engineering gets the machine stuff the infantry weapons and supplies can be handled by ...who did I assign to that?"

"Lieutenants Sarah Grames and Denise 'DD' MacDonalds," EDI replied instantly.

"So that's their names," Shepard mused aloud. "I did wonder."

"I must confess, I always had categorized them as 'The Door Girls," Liara admitted. "Even their personal records in my files were somewhat boring."

"Play nice ladies," Garrus reprimanded. The turian had taken a seat behind one of the consoles, his legs up, leaning back in the chair, one hand loosely gripping his side arm; he appeared for all the world as if he had let his guard down. Only a professional would realize that he had chosen the one seat in the room that allowed his to see the door without first being seen and that his gun, no matter how casual the appearance, was essentially pointing in the direction of the main entrance.

"That reminds me," Shepard said snapping her fingers. "One last thing EDI, have the ship weapons be assigned to Mr Vakarian here. He's overdue for some serious calibrating."

"Of course commander."

Garrus leveled a dead eyed stare at Shepard, "Thanks for that."

Where before the dock had been quiet before it was now a hub of activity. Members of the crew moved around with purpose. Automated drones and mecha staked the halls bearing goods; everyone was shouting at others, ignoring completely what they were being told and demanding all the attention be given to them. The robots didn't say anything and therefore got a lot more done.

Garus had gone to start his inventory and Liara had excused herself to catch up on, as she had put it, 'long neglected data categorizing' leaving the commander with not a lot to do. The duties had been assigned, everyone involved was quite capable and their time frame was well within reasonable standards, this meant the commander had some free time.

Shepard was on the crew deck with the mess sergeant.

"Are you sure about this Gardner?" she asked.

The older man punched up a list on his omnitool, "Sure as shit stinks, ma'am. These hear asari 'pear to have been stocking some earth edibles. We got veggies, fruits, synthetic meat stuffs-"

Shepard made a face, "Ugh, steak in a tube."

Gardner shrugged, "S'not so bad ma'am if'n ya spread it thin enough."

"On what?"

He shrugged again, Shepard decided he wasn't one for body langauge, "Whatever ya happen t'be eatin' at the time."

Shepard signed, "Okay, so what else we got?"

He re-examined the read out, "Pretty standard fare. RMM's, emergency rations, lots of actual preserved material so we'll be eatin' pretty swell for a time."

"And how long do we have before the vegetables go bad?"

"Darndest thing, commander," Gardner replied. "They come wrapped up in these teensy tiny stasis field generators. Best I've ever seen. In theory we could'a keep em' ...forever most like."

Forever.

The word echoed in her mind.

'You're immortal.' The words floated out of memory.

Forever.

Immortal.

Forever.

Stasis.

Harbinger.

"Commander?"

Shepard blinked, "Sorry, Sergeant. Wandered off." she tapped one temple.

"Yeah?" Gardner shrugged yet again, "I was just sayin' by my estahmations," he drew out each syllable. "I figure we got us about six months worth of fine dinin' and another two months 'of oh noes, not this crap again."

"So nearly a year," Shepard said.

"Yeap."

A few seconds passed in silence, around the two of them crew members were hurrying. Some of them carrying large boxes of goods, others lugging crates; groups moving one way kept having to move around or through groups from the other, the elevator doors opened and shut, opened and shut and every where was the constant sound of 'excues mes', 'sorrys' and of course the often shouted 'coming through.

"Beggin' your pardon ma'am," Gardner said after a time, "But what zactly' more can I help you with?"

"I guess," Shepard began, she looked around the ship, her ship again, "I guess I'm wondering how I can help out; if anyone needs a hand."

The mess sergeant put one hand on hip hip and scratched the side of his nose, "Nawp, I reckon we got this covered. 'Sides it's my guess soon as we head out o'hear you'll be pretty busy. Shootin' things and getting' shot, probably some of them fancy bio-otics as well comin' at ya. You might wanna take all the advantage of the lull as you got."

"Bio-otics?" Shepard crossed her arms, head cocked to the side inquiringly.

"That's my way, I'ma stickin' too it," the older man said, grinning.

"Alright then," Shepard replied. "That's good advice. Can you do me a favor then?"

The mess sergeant grimaced slightly, "I wager I cn'fit in a small one. Depends o'course."

Shepard told him.

He eyed her warily for a moment, then choosing his words carefully said, "Really?"

She nodded.

Pausing to scratch his head he began nodding in acknowledgment, "Alright, gotta say, never did see that one comin'- never saw you as the type an' all, you unnerstand; sounds nice though. It's a lil' thing to ask for. Lord knows we got enough now. Y'know I do believe we even have one of them proper containers for just the occasion. Don't go askin' me how that happened' but I do recall seeing something like that down below engineering. Gimmie a few minutes and I'll have everythin' packed up, ready to go."

Shepard grinned, lightly punched the sergeant on the shoulder and turned away before calling out, "EDI, I need some information."

A moment later she was in front of the what once had been the XO's cabin but had, since before The Reaper War, delegated to centralized, non-standard, information acquisition and dissemination- in other word's Liara's room.

The door hissed open and sure enough, there was her asari, standing in front of the several dozen monitors; each one displaying a different type of data, graphs, charts, star-systems and walls of text flickered across each screen painting the room a hellish glow of different colors. Glyph, the small light-bulb VI was navigating the room, it must have detected the door for a moment later it was hovering in front of the commander.

"How nice to see you again, Commander," it said in that voice that always set Shepard's teeth on edge. "The Shadow Broker-"

"Thank you, Glyph," Liara interrupted. "I'll see to our visitor."

The information broker causally moved toward the commander, stepping well inside her human's comfort zone, looking into her face Liara said, voice just above a whisper, "How are you?"

In response Shepard took her asari's hands in her own and stepping back with gentle a gentle tug replied, "Follow me."

Liara cast a quick glance back over her shoulder at the wall of data, "This might not be the best time, Shepard. We have a few hours of relative peace. After that though, who can say what will occur. Now would be the ideal moment to gather what resources we can in terms of information and-"

" couldn't agree more," Shepard said cutting her off. The two of them stood now to the side of the mess hall. "But as you said, this is moment will be short; when I was- at the last-," Shepard tried again. "When I was dying up on The Citadel I suddenly had a long list of regrets; not those kind that couldn't be avoided; necessary sacrifices but the ones where I had had the chance and didn't take it. We're here for two days Liara; I don't want any more regrets. I know there will be required choices, hard choices in the days to come but right now, this moment with you, I don't have any."

Shepard pulled her lover closer, embracing her asari she brought her lips so the merest sliver of space separated them and whispered, "So I'm going to take advantage of that and you're coming with me.

In an instant Shepard slipped out the embrace, grabbed one of Liara's hands and dragged her around the corner. The mess sergeant was there, looking his normal grumbling self, his face set in a deep scowl with just a hint of approval glittering in his eyes. In one hand he held what looked like a container of some sort. Liara did not recognize it as such. It was large, about half a meter across and half that again tall. It appeared to have been made of woven slats of flexible wood. A curved handled, perpendicular to the body of the container allowed for it to be carried either in ones hand or, she assumed, rather uncomfortably from the shoulder.

"I'm not sure what is going on," Liara began. "Shepard what is that ...thing?"

"Than you Sergeant," Shepard said, plucking the basket from the old soldier; looking over her shoulder at her asari, Shepard's gave her one of her thousand watt smiles. "Checking off a regret Liara, we're going on a picnic."

END- Blue: Iris: One