"Well Officer Vakarian, yet again you have done the unthinkable." Dr. Chakwas stated matter-of-factly, "Not only have you managed to steal your human Commander's heart, help defeat Saren and the Collector base, but now this? I must say, I never pegged you to be the cloning type."
"Trust me, doc, I don't need another male of any species drooling over my mate right now." Garrus replied, "Besides, if I cloned myself, I would have at least made him smart enough to not get himself scarred like that." Garrus knew Jane thought his scars were sort of sexy, but they were a constant reminder of the two years he had spent with Jane presumed dead. Garrus wondered what this other Garrus had been through to get himself scarred like that.
Jane stared in disbelief at the Garrus lying on the bed in the med bay, then to the Garrus who was holding her tightly. "How is this possible, doctor? Their DNA samples are a perfect match, too much so to even be long lost twins. Could this be some new twisted Cerberus experiment?"
"I wish I could tell you, Commander," Dr. Chakwas explained, "but all I can say is we're in the presence of two identical and relatively healthy Garrus Vakarians. Even his tags say as much. The only exception is this unconscious one has significantly more scarring on his mandibles than our Garrus does, including a fresh one he just received in Eternity."
"EDI, has anything unusual come up on your sensors lately that could explain what's going on?" Jane didn't bother explaining the situation because she knew EDI was always listening. This was usually incredibly convenient, except when she and Garrus were in bed together 'blowing off steam' as he had first called it. A blue light emerged in the med bay with a response.
"Actually, yes Commander. Upon requesting permission to dock we were told there was a Normandy docked on Illium already. We assumed there was a mistake and proceeded to dock anyway upon Joker's request. Now that I've scanned the vicinity, I do have a confirmed signal being emitted from a nearby Normandy SR1."
"SR1?" Jane questioned in disbelief, even though she knew EDI didn't make mistakes. "That's what our ship was before Cerberus rebuilt us." She continued, thinking out loud. "EDI, see if we can hail the other Normandy and see who's in command."
"Right away, Commander." EDI's blue light slowly faded. Jane's footsteps echoed across the clean, almost reflective floor as she began to head to the elevator. The Normandy seemed so empty without most of the crew, who have taken shore leave to spend time with their families. She figured she should change into proper attire before meeting whoever was in command of the other Normandy. Garrus instinctively followed her.
"You know," Garrus purred in Jane's ear, "I can't help but wonder if perhaps there's another Jane in command on that ship. From all those Earth vids we've watched, I've noticed humans have a strange fascination with sharing partners." Jane jokingly punched Garrus' chest plate in response.
"A threesome? One minute you're all jealous and protective over me, and the next you want to invite someone else in our bed? Don't get me wrong- I had a great time at Eternity with you. But my mind is much too preoccupied with, you know, a clone of my mate lying unconscious in the med bay to even think about sex." Garrus let out a laugh that vibrated throughout his chest. Jane chimed in with her own high pitched laugh. This whole situation was so unreal to both of them, and joking was usually how they dealt with difficult situations, outside of the bedroom anyway. Jane turned to Garrus and touched her forehead to his. She had gotten accustomed to this turian version of affection, and had grown to love it. They lingered like that for a minute, savoring each other's fragrance and presence before EDI's blue light illuminated the room.
"Commander Shepard, I was able to hail the other Normandy, and Commander Anderson would like to promptly meet with you. He made me repeat your name several times to ensure he heard correctly. He would like to meet outside of dock E-117 when you are ready."
"Thanks, EDI." Jane immediately headed for the elevator before Garrus stopped her briefly and handed her a pistol.
"We don't know what kind of shit we're getting ourselves into here. Better safe than sorry, especially when this so-called Anderson fellow is calling himself a Commander instead of Admiral." Garrus was never unprepared, especially when it came to Jane. He believed it to be his primary duty to protect her, even off of the battlefield. Jane lightly pressed her lips to Garrus' mandible for a second, then proceeded to the door. Garrus fed her sickly looking fish before following directly behind her. He always watched her six- this would be no exception.
…
Approaching the E docks, Jane and Garrus nervously awaited Commander Anderson's arrival. She decided to go alone with Garrus to avoid any more confusion. Not that there were many other crewmates she could invite to join. It made Jane happy to see her crewmates finally get some well-deserved rest, especially after destroying the Collector base and living to tell the story. It made her even happier that Garrus decided to stay with her aboard the Normandy. His personal things were slowly finding their way into her quarters, like his sleep pants and his funny-looking toothbrush. Although she wouldn't admit it to Garrus, she had become so accustomed to his light snoring and the heat he emitted during the night that she couldn't sleep without him now. One night Garrus stayed up doing calibrations and ended up falling asleep in the main battery, and Jane ended up rearranging her model ships and cleaning her fish tank since she couldn't fall asleep.
"C-Commander Shepard?" Jane heard from behind her, interrupting her thoughts. She turned around to meet the gaze of Anderson, who usually never stuttered and who was wearing a ghostly expression on his face.
"Sir!" She saluted, avoiding use of any military ranking terms, which felt unusual to her.
"Shepard, do you mind explaining to me how the hell you are standing in front of me?" Anderson asked, with a sort of sadness in his dark brown eyes. "I went to your funeral. I saw your body being buried on Earth after it was discovered in the hands of Cerberus for God knows what reason. I also saw this turian with wet eyes at your funeral, which is something I thought I'd never see." Jane couldn't help but feel her heart wrench at the thought of Garrus shedding even one tear for her. She shoved that emotion to the side to deal with later.
"Sir, there is much to be explained right now. I currently have two genetically identical Garrus Vakarians- one is beside me, and the other is unconscious in my med bay. And the Anderson I know is an Admiral, not a Commander." Before she could continue, EDI's voice came to life in her headset. Garrus tuned in on his visor as well.
"Commander, Jeff and I have been going through the ship's logs and found some unusual readings. You may want to return to the Normandy for analysis."
"Thank you, EDI." Jane once again muted her headset. "Excuse me, Commander Anderson, but we seemed to have found something of interest pertaining to our situation. Would you like to join us on our Normandy?"
Anderson hesitated for a moment, then nodded. He couldn't help but feel his heart pull towards this girl, now a woman, who was at one point like a daughter to him. "I would like that, Commander. But I must ask, who is EDI?"
Jane and Garrus exchanged glances and simultaneously chuckled lightly. "You'll see." Garrus replied, not exactly sure how to explain the AI they had all come to love.
…
There was an odd tension in the air as Jane and Garrus came aboard their Normandy with Anderson. The situation was so strange, no one really knew how to act until they found out exactly what was going on. Anderson looked around the interior of the ship, marveling the upgrades Cerberus had put into the ship. He jumped a bit when a blue light emerged next to him and began to speak.
"Commander Shepard, Jeff and I have sorted through the Normandy's logs and discovered an unusual change in energy signatures that occurred precisely 4.7 hours ago. That is about the time we travelled through the Mass Effect Relay. I also noticed a spike in radiation and abnormal gravity readings for about 10 seconds, then everything returned to normal."
"Who is saying that?" Anderson questioned, looking around the room for the source of the robotic voice.
"That's EDI. Stands for enhanced defense intelligence, and she's the AI aboard the ship. Cerberus installed her initially, but she now has almost full control over the ship, and we have come to find her very trustful and helpful." Jane smiled at complementing the AI as if she were a person.
"So, Joker, care to dumb it down for us?" Garrus turned to Joker, who hobbled in the room and found a seat next to Jane. You can understand EDI better than we can."
"Fine, you want it straight? We're thinking the Normandy made a jump to a different dimension, an, an alternate timeline." Joker wavered, not sure how else to break the news to his Commander and friend.
A few moments of silence passed between them. Garrus felt Jane reach for his hand, and he firmly grasped her small hand into his larger one, his three talons perfectly intertwining with her five fingers. "That would explain a lot." Jane broke the silence, clearing her throat afterwards. It made perfect sense. Jane felt as if she knew that's what had happened all along, she was just too afraid to accept it. It explained the two Garrus', it explained Commander Anderson telling her the Alliance found her dead body with Cerberus and then burying it on Earth, and the fact that there were two Normandy's docked on Illium at the moment. She felt Garrus beside her let out a long sigh, something he picked up from her since turians don't usually sigh. She could tell Joker had only confirmed Garrus' thoughts as well. Turians are usually difficult to read, but Jane had learned the meaning of every twitch of his face plates. Her favorite was when he cocked a brow plate, the turian equivalent of arching an eyebrow.
Anderson's headset beeped, breaking everyone's thoughts once again. "Shepard, my presence is being requested by my crew. They are now wondering what is going on." Jane nodded, and stood up to escort him out. "Let me know if you find out any more details."
"Will do, Anderson." Shepard nodded again and smiled at him. This Anderson was exactly like the one she was familiar with, she could see the same kindness in his eyes.
"Sorry to interrupt, Commander, but your other Garrus is beginning to wake up. You may want to come to the med bay now." Dr. Chakwas said, motioning for Jane to follow. Jane took a deep breath and followed the doctor, Garrus following very close behind, placing a protective hand on the small of Jane's back as they entered the med bay.