The Normandy's airlock opened with a soft click, revealing a human figure. The figure shuffled forward, shoulders hunched in sadness. A baseball cap perched unevenly on the figure's head, threatening to tumble to the planet's moss-covered surface.

Jeff looked up and scanned his surroundings without really taking them in. All he could see was EDI's lifeless form in the co-pilot's seat. When the Normandy crash-landed, the other crew members rejoiced. The red beam took everything offline, meaning the end of the reapers. And…EDI.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. It applied but the slightest of pressures, and Jeff turned his face just enough to see Ashley standing there, looking at him. "I'm sorry." Her voice was quiet. She lightly squeezed his shoulder, careful not to dislodge any bones. Jeff hung his head and he felt himself tearing up. He'd never thought he'd get so attached to someone else, let alone an AI. But he'd grown very fond of EDI. More so than of anyone else. He silently cursed Shepard for doing what she'd done. A tear dropped to the planet's surface.


Ashley removed her hand from Jeff's shoulder and allowed him to mourn in silence. She descended the few steps to the planet's surface and looked around. The air was humid, but breathable. They'd been lucky. Leafy greens surrounded the Normandy from all sides. Ashley realized the planet's dense foliage must have cushioned their landing. Luck, again? Or had Shepard known more than she'd let on all along? Her instructions had led them to plot a course specifically for this planet. With a pang of regret Ashley understood that, in the events running up to the battle on Earth, Shepard must've done her utmost to prepare the crew enough to keep them alive, while she herself most likely ended up giving her life. Ashley had been one of the few to see the Reapers either destroyed by the beam or at least disabled by it. She'd also seen many ships being pulled towards the exploding relays. The Normandy had just been far enough away from the nearest relay. No, Shepard had increased their luck, but they'd definitely been lucky. Even their Commander couldn't have known what would happen.

Her musings were interrupted when Garrus cleared his throat next to her. His once proud posture was now bowed. No doubt he was thinking similar thoughts. "You think she's alive?" he asked, confirming her suspicions.

Ashley studied her feet, unsure what to say. "I hope so." She paused to study the turian. "How's Tali?"

Garrus couldn't help but widen his mandibles in a slight smile at hearing Tali's name. "She's doing alright. Said she had something important to do. Shepard's orders."

Ashley frowned. "What orders?"

Garrus shrugged. "Hell if I know. She can be as secretive as Shepard herself. You should go ask her. You're in command now, after all." He looked at her intently.

Fuck. Ashley's eyes widened as his words hit her. I'm in command. Shit. She'd not thought about that yet. Frankly, she didn't want to be in command, either. But someone had to be. She hastily nodded at Garrus and turned around to go back into the ship to gather the crew and find Tali. Pausing, she reached out to the turian and pointed at Jeff. "Watch over him."


Tali found Samantha Traynor already hunched over EDI's lifeless form. The Specialist lifted her head as the quarian approached, a smile carved into her face. "I think we stand a chance," she said brightly. Tali grinned behind her mask, then nodded at Samantha.

"Let's turn her back on! Can you get Joker in here? We need the Normandy's drive up and running if we want to reboot EDI."

Tali opened a small hatch under EDI's left foot as Samantha trotted out to find their pilot. She returned a few minutes later, followed by a very hesitant Jeff. He eyed both of them warily while keeping his distance.

"What's going on?" he asked hoarsely.

"Joker, we've been working on a contingency shutdown and reboot for EDI in case something like this would happen. Commander Shepard asked us to make sure EDI's software could 'pretend' to be organic for a brief period of time. She suspected something would possibly happen to synthetics, seeing as that's what this whole Reaper war sort of was about. So we've been working on that and we think it succeeded. We want to try to reboot EDI but we need the Normandy's drive core to be running for that." Tali explained.

Jeff's mouth opened in shock. An angry frown covered his face. "And you didn't tell me?" He shouted.

Samantha cringed. She'd tried to convince the Commander to tell Joker about their plan, but Shepard had been adamant about not telling anyone who didn't need to know. Something about the risks being too severe and not wanting to get Jeff's hopes up. "Commander Shepard forbade us to tell you," she squeaked. Tali nodded solemnly.

Jeff shook his head, angrily muttering under his breath. Then, he slowly walked over to the pilot's seat and sat down. His hands remained in his lap, quivering.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Tali asked impatiently as she hopped from one foot to another. She was very excited to see whether their hard work had paid off. It would be one of her greatest accomplishments yet. And EDI's and Traynor's, of course. Without their help, she'd have been lost.

"She's not our Commander anymore." Jeff answered. "Ashley is."

"That's right," Ashley's voice sounded behind them. She didn't seem too happy about it. "What are you guys doing?"

Tali explained the whole thing again. The dark-haired woman simply nodded thoughtfully. Tali wished Ashley's face would reveal what she was thinking, but she'd become very good at hiding her thoughts after the whole affair with Udina. And she'd learned from the best, after all. Shepard had always been an excellent poker player.

"Do it." Ashley finally said. She leaned back to give them the room they needed. Jeff's face lit up as hope settled in his stomach.

Several minutes later, Tali felt warmed by the Normandy's familiar hum as the drive core sprang back to life. She knew they'd have to be quick; the ship didn't have much power left. They needed EDI to make necessary repairs before they could replace empty fuel cells with the ones they'd stocked up on — Shepard's orders as well — to really get the Normandy working again. Right now the ship's power was hooked up to an emergency generator, causing the lights to work without requiring an active drive core. However, the generator wasn't enough to reboot EDI and the drive core would fail quickly. She gave pointers to Samantha while working on changing several wires in EDI's hardware. It wouldn't be long now.

Samantha adjusted one last setting in EDI's software and leaned back expectantly. A gruelling minute passed. Then another one. And another.

Jeff's face fell as his hope deflated.

Suddenly, EDI's eyes opened and she moved her head to look at Jeff. His smile beamed as he threw his arms around her.

"Careful, Jeff. You don't want me to shut down again, do you?"

Jeff pulled back instantly, grunting as if he sprained a bone. EDI's mechanical chuckle resonated through the bridge. "That was a joke."


One by one they filed into the CIC. Many pairs of eyes watched Ashley expectantly, waiting for her to say something. She'd chosen not to stand in Shepard's familiar spot in front of the — now defunct — galaxy map. She never asked to take Shepard's place. The Commander had just made her XO in case something would happen to her. Ashley's eyes fell on EDI. How much of what was going to happen had she really known? She looked around the room, studying unscathed faces and counting heads. Thirty-two. She frowned.

"EDI, how many crew should be present?" she asked.

"Thirty-three, Commander."

Ashley winced at the title. Thirty-three. "We're missing someone. EDI, can you perform a quick scan?"

"Acknowledged."

Ashley scanned the room again. Everyone was glancing around uncertainly, trying to determine who of their fellow crew was missing. Garrus, towering over everyone else, suddenly stepped forward and cleared his throat. He and EDI spoke at the same time.

"We are missing a life pod."

"Where's Liara?"