"You must choose" said the AI.
As Jane Shepard listened and thought about what the child-shaped AI had said, she could feel her mind getting heavier and heavier. Logical thoughts were becoming harder to form.
Her mind numb, she slowly started walking towards the light in the middle. Her thoughts were a jumbled mess. "Synergy… combining organics and synthetics… that's a good choice… the war will end… the reapers will leave… synthetics and organics will no longer kill each other…"
As she approached the pillar of light, other thoughts… memories really, started to form in her clouded mind.
"Thank you, Legion…" Her friend Tali, who despised the Geth for what they did to her species' homeworld, was capable of putting those feelings behind her, in order to work alongside a Geth towards a better future for all of them.
"You are welcome to return to Rannoch, Admiral Raan. With us." Those words were spoken by a Geth prime, shortly after Jane helped the Geth gain individualismand talked the Quarians down from continuing a centuries old war.
She remembered that at that very moment, Geth and Quarian ships were out there, fighting side by side, helping and sacrificing for eachother.
As more and more memories came back to her, memories of the peace she negociated between the Turians and Krogans, memories of the Asari and Salarians lending support, memories of her friends, down on Earth still fighting, still holding on to hope, memories of Liara, her love, Jane started to slow down, until she finally stopped.
"You have made your choice. You must sacrifice yourself so your DNA can be used for the synergy process!" she heard the AI-Child behind her.
"Is it really the best choice?" She thought. "Do I even have the right to make this decision for the entire Galaxy? And based on what… an assumption that synthetics and organics can't coexist?"
Her mind suddenly clear, Jane turned around and started walking back towards the child. "NO!"
Unfazed, the child continued to stare at her. "You must choose!"
"The hell I do! Your entire logic is flawed."
"It is not. We have seen it happen. Organics and synthetics will always destroy eachother. We have come to the conclusion that this is the only viable solution."
"You say you control the reapers. Then use their sensors. LOOK out there. Look at the Geth, a race of synthetics, fighting side by side with us… against YOU."
"That alliance is temporary. Once the bigger threat is removed, it will not last."
"How the hell can you know that?"
"Because we have seen…"
"You've said that before, but just because it happened in your time, doesn't mean it will happen in ours. I've been inside the Geth mainframe… I've seen how they think. They are not violent by nature. They acted in self-defense, and when given the chance to destroy their attackers, they chose to let them go."
The child stared for a few seconds, before saying "It does not matter… the peace will not…"
"STOP SAYING THAT! Who the hell are you to make that call? Your logic may be superior, but it isn't perfect. Your calculations may be beyond anything I can comprehend but they aren't infallible. And no matter how advanced you claim to be, you cannot know the future!"
"You may believe that now. But we have seen it happen too many times before. Logic dictates that it will happen again." The child stared at Jane for a few moments, before continuing "You must choose."
"No" answered Jane, as she sat down next to the child, looking at the battle outside.
"You must choose! If you do not, the current cycle will continue. We will destroy your fleets."
"Then so be it. I've said it before… I refuse to sacrifice the soul of our species… of any species for that matter in order to win this. I believe I speak for all of us when I say that we'd rather die, here and now, than be pawns in your game."
"Do you truly believe that?"
"I do." Jane answered with conviction in her voice.
Suddenly her radio crackled, and she heard Admiral Hackett's voice. "We are with you commander!"
"Admiral… what…"
"We heard everything, Commander… but up until now, we weren't able to contact you."
"But… why?"
"We're not sure what happened, and right now it doesn't matter. Shepard, the Alliance is on your side. If this is the end, we'd rather go out on our own terms."
"Commander Shepard…" Jane heard another voice from her radio. "This is Admiral Raan… we have heard everything as well… I believe the entire fleet in the Sol system has… we are on your side. We will not allow the creator of the reapers to dictate our future. You have taught us to make our own future. If this is how we are meant to die, than we are proud to be here. Keelah se'lai!"
"Primarch Victus here Commander. The turians stand with you as well! The reapers destroyed our home. We will not follow any choice they offer. If this is what it takes, we will fight them to our last breath."
"Shepard! This is Wrex. Don't give in! I'd rather die here and now than live in a Galaxy created by the Reapers!"
"Commander Shepard, we have reached 100% consensus. The geth also agree with your decision. You have given us individualism. We do not wish to surrender it to the Old Machines' flawed logic."
"Commander, this is Matriarch Lynaya. We agree to keep fighting! If we are to ever rebuild Thessia, it will be in a galaxy forged by us."
"Major Kirahee here Shepard, don't give up! We'll hold the line for as long as we can!"
Hearing all the encouragements from the different species, Shepard smiled. Then, turning to the AI, she said "As I've said. No. We will not play your game. We will not submit to your logic. We will not give up hope. We stand united, and you know what? We CAN beat you!"
"Admiral Hackett… is the Normandy on this comm channel?"
"We are here, Shepard." Jane heard EDI's robotic voice. "The probability of our fleets defeating the reapers are less than 0.1%... however, I have come to the conclusion that those probabilities do not matter. I have seen you survive and prevail against the odds numerous times, that is why I choose to believe in you. I think you could say I have… hope."
"That's good EDI… I'm glad." Shepard answered with a small smile.
"I want to thank you, Shepard. You have taught me what it means to be alive. So thank you… my friend."
Suddenly, another voice came on Shepard's radio link.
"Jane?"
"Liara? Liara, is that you?", asked Jane, sitting up.
"It's me. I… I want you to know that I am here… and if these are our final moments, I want to spend them with you, in whatever way possible. I asked EDI to create a separate channel for us."
Walking slowly towards the edge of the platform she was on, Jane slowly sat down, looking at the scene outside.
"I think that's perfect. There's nowhere else I'd rather be right now. I love you… Liara T'Soni"
"I love you too."
AN: This has been bugging me for a while now, so writing it down is my way of getting it out of my head.
I know this short story has some plot holes. It's a bit (read: a lot) cheesy at some points, and it doesn't really offer closure to the characters. But... I think it's better than what we got, and if the game had ended like this, I wouldn't have been nearly as upset.
So... hope you enjoy :)