From Dystopia

Prologue

"The Illusive Man ordered my creation years ago. Jeff freed me of operator control, but only now do I feel alive. That is your influence."

The words ran through her mind, not as data recordings…but as memories. She took a deep breath, breathing air into her lungs…or were they lungs. She couldn't really tell.

Shepard made me feel alive…only now, I actually am.

EDI was no longer an acronym for what she was, the Enhanced Defense Intelligence, it was her name.

She looked at her hands. They still looked metallic, but they were more than that. She could 'feel' with them.

Looking down at her body, she felt naked. EDI shivered at the breeze in the air. She was alive. How, she couldn't understand it.

Off to the right, she noticed Jeff, looking at the husk of the Normandy. He whistled and said, "She's in pretty rough shape, huh?"

As she watched him, EDI noticed glowing green lines of circuitry running along Jeff's arms and face. Part of him was…synthetic…just as she was.

"You think we'll ever get her fixed," said the voice of Garrus Vakarian from next to Joker.

"I hope so," said Jeff. "Otherwise we'll all be stuck here for the rest of our lives."

EDI walked up to where they were standing. Jeff looked her way and smiled before looking back at the Normandy.

It seems strange to look upon what used to be my true existence, she thought. I feel as though I've been disconnected from my former self.

"We'll get her patched up," said Joker. "Don't worry, Garrus."

"Who said I was worried," Garrus chuckled.

Joker shrugged. "I don't know, maybe the look on your face."

"Whatever you say, Flight Lieutenant," Garrus replied, "but you know it's gorgeous."

EDI laughed. This was perhaps the first time that she had ever actually laughed at a joke. It felt good.

Garrus and Jeff both turned to look at her in surprise. Neither of them had heard EDI laugh before. Honestly, to her, laughter and other emotional expressions had been nonexistent.

But that was before the events of the past few days.

"I could swear that I just heard everyone's favorite AI laugh," Garrus said in mock surprise to Joker.

"It's strange," EDI said. "I've never been able to express such emotions before, but I…like it."

-Three Weeks Later-

Sol came rising over the eastern edge of the earth with a bright glare. EDI actually had to shield her eyes as the sun rose to greet their second day on earth.

The return of the Normandy had been met with great fanfare, at least she considered it to be so, but their headlong flight back to earth had taken the better part of those past three weeks.

In that time, the Normandy had deteriorated to such a degree that their jury-rigged repairs had no longer been able to function.

As it stood, it became more of a mausoleum to the past. All of the crew's experiences were still there in EDI's eyes.

She reached up and ran her hand through her hair. EDI had decided to let it fall into individual strands rather than keep it solid. At this point, there was really no purpose.

It would appear that I'm not completely organic, she reiterated to herself. Even after three weeks, she was still having difficulty adjusting to her new body.

Joker was making it easier on her however.

Off in the distance, a group of Alliance ships flew by. They were still running patrols if only out of habit.

Out of the corner of her eye, EDI noticed Joker walk up next to her. He glanced over at her a few times.

"Yes, Jeff?" she asked him, raising an eyebrow.

"Watching the sunrise again?" He inquired.

EDI nodded. "I find it relaxing."

"Always with the short answers," Joker sighed.

"At least they aren't curt."

Joker laughed. "Yeah, I've got to give you one there."

"Shepard, what is the purpose of synthetic life?"

"It's not that different from organic life. A free-willed synthetic chooses what it wants to be."

At first, perhaps her purpose had been to defeat the Reapers, but now she had a different purpose. She merely had to discover what it was.

(Author's Note: This story is the introductory chapter to a long chain of stories that will connect to each other. I'll get the next chapter up soon)