"Mate in 4." Traynor couldn't quite hide the grin from creeping into her voice, and he had to smile at that. Shepard scrutinised the board, trying to see what she'd seen. He won once in a while against her now, but not this time.
"You know, I think you take a perverse sort of pleasure in beating your CO. You should try to be a little more circumspect about it- it'd improve your chances of promotion. Besides, haven't you found other victims on the ship?"
"Oh Commander, its not that perverse. And I figure even if we beat this Reaper nonsense...promotions will be the least of anyone's problems." Their faces grew sombre. As his communication specialist, she knew better than most how bad it was.
"Hmmm, and other victims...?"
"Well, I asked Javik and he told me was above all this primitive nonsense. Garrus muttered something about calibrations and stalked off. Vega asked me if he could shoot things while playing. Liara said she was too busy. Joker..."
"What did he say? If he went too far, I'll have a word with him." Shepard's voice grew stern for a minute, his green eyes serious. She shook her head.
"No, no...he just said he wanted to see me and EDI play strip chess." Traynor knew she was blushing, and she knew Shepard could tell. He sighed, and rubbed his forehead with his palm.
"Of course he did."
"Its OK. EDI told him that she found such a comment inappropriate according to her understanding of human courtship behaviour at this stage of their relationship. He shut up and stammered out an apology. It was cute, really."
"Ha."
"Commander." She paused for a moment, and he flicked his eyes to meet hers.
"Yes, Traynor?"
"I don't meant to be rude, or a gossip...but don't you think that's strange? Joker and EDI I mean? I like EDI. I like her voice...a lot! But, she's still an AI."
"I understand what you mean. I guess, at the end of the day, we all have to figure out what the world 'life' means? Does it mean organic life, with its biochemistry and organs and so forth? Or does it mean a feeling, thinking, sapient being no matter whether its made of quantum circuits or DNA. I tend to the latter view myself. EDI is a part of my crew, just like you or Vega or anyone else. Her friendship and loyalty matter to me. There was another...a geth platform. We called it Legion. 1,183 separate programs. It congratulated me on choosing a path of self-determinism. Told me how the geth kept Rannoch as a war memorial. Used a piece of my old armour, and didn't even know why."
Shepard leaned back against his couch, and thought about the same argument he'd had with Tali a few months ago. Tried to convince her that she needed to examine her prejudices. That not all AI necessarily bore animosity towards organic life. Most importantly, that peaceful co-existence with the geth was possible. He knew she was with the Migrant Fleet now, and given all the rumours swirling about what the Fleet was upto, his gut instincts were that he had failed to convince her. He hoped that he would find them in time to make a difference. To avert a pointless war.
"I guess, Traynor, if EDI can feel, why can't she feel love?"
"True. Hard to adjust your thinking to that. Guess we'll all need to if we want synthetics and organics to have some kind of peaceful co-existence in the future."
"Exactly. As long as she doesn't break my pilot in half, EDI and Joker should be happy together."
"Thank you, Shepard." EDI's voiced piped up, into the room.
"EDI, oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!" Traynor was wracked with embarrassment again, and Shepard had to laugh a little at her semi-panicked expression.
"Specialist Traynor, please do not worry. I am not offended by your speculation. Indeed, a certain amount of gossip regarding romantic or sexual relationships between crewmates is a sign of a healthy social team dynamic. Indeed right now, Privates Westmoreland and Campbell are speculating as to the Commander and Dr. T'soni's...level of intimacy. Logging out."
Shepard had his face buring in his palm again, and this time Traynor was the one chuckling lightly.
"Buck up Commander. She's very beautiful. And she doesn't seem to mind we spend quite a bit of time together."
"Hands off Traynor. Go find your own beautiful asari archaelogist/information broker. And I suspect she's aware she's more your type than I am."
"Aye, aye sir. No flirting with the Commander's girlfriend. Got it."
"Speaking of gossip...any chatter from Cerberus after their Grissom Academy shenanigans?"
"No, not yet. EDI and I are continuing to monitor as much as we can. We will let you know as soon as possible."
"Thanks. Grissom Academy was a big save thanks to you. Jack, Kahlee and all those kids owe their lives to your work and instincts."
"Thank you...I mean, you, Garrus and Liara might have had a little to do with that rescue mission too." Her tone was teasing.
"We did the easy part."
"Ha, says you. I'll stick to comms rather than go toe-to-toe with mechs that much bigger than me."
"Harder they fall, Traynor, harder they fall. We'll have you taking on Cerberus troopers armed with only a toothbrush in no time." Shepard was quick to tease back, and Traynor's toothbrush was a favourite button of hers he liked to push.
She rolled her eyes, and refused to take the bait.
"I still can't believe that Jack was part of your old crew. She seems very different now to what Joker said she was like."
Shepard grew silent for a minute, remembering the Jack they'd sprung from Purgatory. Covered in tattoos, running on rage and fear, broken by Cerberus so they could remake her to their needs. He was still in awe of her escape, of how she'd managed to put herself back together. He'd been scared early on that she would be too much of a loose cannon. Instead he'd found woman looking for a purpose in life, one higher than she'd managed to find till then. He had decided to trust her, and on the Collector base she had repaid that trust in full and more. Now, her evolution to teacher and mentor seemd almost natural.
"She's been through a lot. I was surprised too, but in hindsight its perfect. If we run into her again, I'll introduce you. She has some pretty good dirt on Joker, Garrus...me."
"You know Commander, a lot of your crew end up better off after serving under you. I hope some of that rubs off on me too."
"Traynor...you're whip-smart, a good soldier and entirely in your depth here on the Normandy. We survive this fight, you're going to go places. And make some girl really happy."
"I hope so. You have a sister by any chance Commander?"