No one in Normandy's galley paid attention to Kasumi even though she now stood in plain sight. They were too busy straining to see through the infirmary windows at the door to the AI Core. Grunt and Zaeed still stood watch outside, but now everyone knew the "IFF component" was really a functioning geth platform. Shipwide security precautions were in effect, ranging from software, to hardware, to hardware - the kind used to put holes into software. Jacob unlocked the armory, and the ship looked like it was readying for invasion as armed crew members now patrolled the corridors.

Protection aside, Kasumi thought, it was only fair to let the crew know what was happening. Finding out your omnitool or control panel was suddenly under geth control when you turned it on would ruin anybody's day. Shepard would have never heard the end of it.

But less than an hour later, Shepard canceled the alert. The geth, he announced, wasn't hostile. Everyone was to resume their normal duties, just like that. Never mind, turns out the killer machine isn't anything to worry about. Back to work. Of course, everyone who wasn't on duty ran straight down to the mess to see what was going on - and more importantly, gossip about it. Regular crew like Matthews, Hadley, and Rolston mingled with the likes of Jack, Thane and Samara. Kasumi briefly considered sneaking into the Core to see first hand, but with the extra security in place she might cause a panic if EDI detected any anomalies so she resigned herself to having to watch with the peanut gallery outside.

Kasumi wished she'd chanced it now, since everyone now looked to her for answers. Everybody knew she was with Shepard on the reaper when they found the geth, but that didn't keep them from asking the same questions over and over.

"You actually saw it, right?" Matthews asked. Everybody kept their voices low, as if somehow the sound might carry through the window and the sentient machine would come looking for them. "You helped bring it on board?"

"I did, and I did," Kasumi said.

Thane, who very well might have had a weapon beneath his jacket, stared through the window with his hands behind his back. "Do you also agree with the Commander that this particular geth is not a threat?"

"Well, we didn't have much of a chance to get to know each other. But since it used the husks for target practice instead of us, it's good sign."

Samara's eyes never left the window. "I remember the day the geth uprising began. There was no difference between combatant and non-combatant. The geth did not discriminate. Billions were slaughtered by these machines."

The way Samara said billions made everyone in the room tense. Almost everyone... Jack sat on top of the table behind them with her legs dangling over the edge. She stayed at the edge of the group but occasionally slurped loudly from a bowl of soup so no one would forget she was there. "Bet Little Miss Fishbowl isn't happy about this."

That got silent nods of agreement from half the crowd, while others spared the convict irritated glances or rolled their eyes. Kelly Chambers in particular looked distraught at the callous remark. "This torture for her. I can't believe the Commander would be so insensitive."

"Well," Kasumi didn't like hostility building around her. Uncertainty and fear were a bad combination. Maybe it would have been better if Shepard kept the geth secret until he'd made a decision about it, after all? "From what I heard he didn't do it lightly."

"Where is Tali?" Thane asked. "I'm surprised she's not here."

Jack shrugged. "Down in engineering with her finger on the self-destruct button?"

That provoked scattered laughter until Miranda walked into the compartment from the lift, flanked by Garrus. "Chief Zorah is monitoring from Engineering, as per Commander Shepard's orders."

"Fuck," Jack set her bowl down on the table at the sound of Miranda's voice. So much for easing tensions, Kasumi thought. But Miranda, maybe sensing everyone was on edge, didn't make an issue of the con's choice of seating.

"But she is watching, right?" Hadley asked.

"She is," Garrus confirmed. "Everything's being done with her supervision to prevent an incident."

That seemed to calm everyone's nerves. Until Jack pulled her legs up and spun herself around to face the turian and the XO. "So is Shepard a reaper puppet now, or what?"

That little verbal grenade got everyone talking. All around Kasumi, especially the human crew, started talking at once.

"Commander Shepard will make an announcement when he's ready." Miranda's expression was stern though she kept her cool. But everyone kept talking over her. She raised her hands and spoke loudly over the din. "All right, clear the compartment. Unless you're supposed to be here, be somewhere else." She gave Garrus a little side glance.

The turian immediately began ushering people aft toward the lift. "Okay, everybody out. Anybody still here in thirty seconds will either be helping me out in the Battery or scrubbing pots in the galley for the duration of the shift. The mess is off limits until further notice. Let's go. Move it. Move it."

Miranda, hands on her hips, watched Jack slide off the table top, leaving the soup bowl behind. She pointed to it. "That's not where that belongs."

"The maid'll get it," Jack said.

Garrus cocked his head at Jack as she passed. "Please?"

Jack paused, then smiled pleasantly at Garrus. "Sure thing." She walked back to pick up her bowl, glaring at Miranda the whole time. "All you gotta do is ask nicely."

"Thank you," Garrus said, keeping a close eye on both Jack and Miranda until they were a safe distance apart.

Kasumi stayed behind as the rest of the crew filed toward the aft exits. She was obviously included in the order to clear out, but not knowing things was never on her to-do list. Maybe since she was actually part of the team that discovered the geth and tipped Garrus off about it earlier, he'd reciprocate. When the last of the crew had gone, she tapped him on the shoulder.

Garrus rarely showed impatience, but it was clear he wasn't in the mood for any further insubordination when he whirled around to face her. "Ah, my first volunteer. Would you prefer fault tolerance testing in the battery, or cleaning out the fridge? Choose quickly, or you get to do both."

"Uh, new girl here," Kasumi said quickly and raised her hand. "Not looking for work. I just have a question. Totally, one hundred-percent unrelated to anything associated with the geth, I promise."

Garrus's eyes narrowed. "What is it?"

Part of being a thief was always being able to explain why you were doing something you weren't supposed to be doing on a moment's notice. One of the best diversions was to let people think they caught you doing something else entirely. "Well, after coming back aboard from our last trip, from anywhere, really, Jacob's always having to schlep our gear back to the armory. I don't really have much to do on ship, and I thought maybe... he could use an assistant to help him clean up. He shouldn't have to do it all by himself."

At mention of Jacob's name, both Miranda and Garrus shared a knowing smirk. Kasumi could see the thought germinate in their brains as easily as if they had windows in their foreheads. That's right, Kasumi has the hots for Jacob. Isn't she cute for trying to capitalize on that while hiding behind a lame, transparent excuse?

Miranda, confident as always about always being right, swallowed it hook, line and sinker. "Mister Taylor is quite capable of managing the armory, but it's very kind of you to offer."

"Well," Kasumi said, grinning from under her cloak. "Just trying to help out, you know."

"You're a true team player." Garrus cast a meaningful look toward the exit. "We can discuss it at the next staff meeting. Now, how can I put this delicately? Shoo."

"Okay, I'm going, I'm going. Sheesh." Kasumi could feel their eyes on her as walked across the mess toward the lounge and cloaked the instant she was out of sight. She skulked back to the corner by Miranda's office. She was going to find out what was going on, one way or another.

"I swear," Miranda said as she and Garrus walked back toward her door. "She's almost as bad as Tali."

"Different story altogether. Kasumi's desires are a bit more... basic."

Kasumi shrugged, even though they couldn't see her. What could she say? Jacob was hot. She wasn't looking to discuss philosophy or economics with the man, let alone start picking out living room furniture.

"Regardless," Miranda said, "We shouldn't encourage fraternization on the ship. We're not running a dating service."

Party pooper.

Miranda stopped in front of her door and it whooshed open. "You coming in?"

Garrus leaned seductively against the wall, his voice dropping to a low purr. "Speaking of fraternization... Are we starting early today?" Miranda snapped her fingers and pointed into her quarters. Garrus gave her a piercing look as he walked by. "I do love a woman who takes charge."

Kasumi grinned at the turian's swagger, and slipped through the door before it could close behind them. Garrus was no stranger to Miranda's quarters. Theirs was a fascinating relationship not because of the oddity of an interspecies pairing, but because of their wildly conflicting personalities. Some relationships thrived on conflict, and at the start Kasumi suspected whatever was going on between them must have been very satisfying indeed.

Every night without fail, Garrus strolled to Miranda's door before he turned in. Sometimes it would just be a quickie, other times the turian wouldn't make it back to his own quarters until the next morning. And it was always Garrus visiting Miranda, which seemed a bit selfish on the human's part... or so Kasumi thought until curiosity got the better of her. Even though she spied on everyone as a rule, she actually respected the privacy of those wanting to share a little moment together. Some things shouldn't be stolen.

But she just had to know what the two of them did together, night after night, and decided to peek just once, just to see.

It was absolutely, positively the least romantic encounter imaginable. Miranda sat at her desk, surrounded by holo-screens, while Garrus lounged on the nearby couch with several datapads and his omnitool. For the first hour they didn't talk or even make eye contact. When they finally did speak, it was to clarify what size of power coupling was needed for some doo-dad on the shuttle, then they discussed the best way to reshuffle sublevel storage to make it easier to access replacement parts. Then, things got really hot and heavy when they moved on to duty rosters.

It was so disappointing. It wasn't some forbidden, doomed affair between a suave turian commando who somehow sniped a human supremacist's heart, forcing them to hide their love from the prejudice and scorn of an unfeeling galaxy that wanted to tear them apart. Garrus and Miranda weren't hopeless romantics, they were just tireless workaholics. Coupling wouldn't happen without direct orders, and even then filling out the proper paperwork would probably serve as foreplay. That night and every night, each rendezvous was just another shift for both of them.

That wasn't entirely true, Kasumi thought as Miranda walked straight to her desk, as usual, and Garrus plopped down on the couch in his usual spot across from her. They shared a fetish for organization, but it was more than that. Thanks to their efforts, a day's issues seldom turned into tomorrow's problems. Miranda handled the ship's business, and Garrus managed the squad; Shepard's right and left hands on the Normandy. Together, they formed quite a team, which was actually more satisfying than some silly romantic projection.

Miranda sat at her desk with her head in her hands behind a wall of holo screens. "Shepard's going to be the death of me. Do you know what I found the other day? A gray hair."

"Uh," Garris said from the couch. "Congratulations?"

"You don't understand. Gray hair is a sign of stress in humans. I don't get gray hairs. Ever. He did this to me." Miranda pointed to one of her screens. "Have you see this? Over one hundred emails from the crew about the geth in the past half hour. Five requests for transfer. The Illusive Man is hounding me every ten minutes for Shepard's report on the IFF, and Doctor Chakwas is threatening to resign if we don't get Massani out of the infirmary by the end of the day. She's piped a live feed to my omnitool. He does not shut up."

Garrus stretched out with his hands behind his head. "These are what I like to refer to as 'XO Problems.' Let me know when it becomes a squad issue."

Miranda sounded genuinely desperate. "Garrus, I'm begging you here..."

"All right, I have a solution," Garrus said. "Shave your head bald. Problem solved."

Miranda slumped in her chair. "You are not helping!"

"Maybe get a few tattoos. I have the perfect consultant for you..."

Instead of getting angry, Miranda actually laughed. Kasumi had to try not to giggle herself. No one on the ship other than Shepard would ever think of teasing Miranda Lawson. She simply wouldn't tolerate it. Garrus had obviously joined a very exclusive club.

"I'm serious," Miranda said. "We need to put a stop to this now, before he ends up adopting the damn thing. That's where this is headed, you know. Mark my words. We are going to end up with a geth mascot on this ship."

"Never happen," Garrus said. "Shepard will either get the information he needs from it or he won't. Either way, that thing is on its way to the Migrant Fleet when he's done. This is a temporary problem with a half-life measured in hours."

"Don't be so sure. He can't resist picking up strays. Do you know what it took to keep him from bringing that vermin from Tuchanka on board? A varren for god's sake!"

"Oh, come on. Urz was adorable."

"And he'd be roaming around the ship right now, dropping little piles everywhere if I hadn't put my foot down."

Kasumi had to stifle another laugh as she imagined the Cerberus Operative walking out of her office and stepping in varren poo.

"Of course Shepard promised he'd feed it and take care of it, but guess who would end up actually doing it?"

Garrus grinned. "Kelly."

Miranda rolled her eyes. "You know, I bet the XO of the original Normandy probably thought you were only a temporary problem, too. Three years later and I'm stuck with you."

"Well, I'm adorable too. And house-trained. Listen, you're forgetting one key thing: the Tali factor. I know that usually doesn't work in your favor, but she's your best guarantee that the geth will be quickly removed from your rapidly graying hair. There's no way she'll tolerate keeping it on board."

"I hope you're right." Miranda pointed to the messenger box her screen. "We're about to find out. Shepard's on his way."

Garrus settled into the couch cushions and closed his eyes. "See? Not even an hour."

Miranda's door hissed open and Shepard walked in. He stopped in front of Miranda's desk, but looked over at Garrus. "No, please. Don't get up."

"Wasn't going to. Say, what are the chances of me getting one of these couches moved up to the Battery?"

"Talk to the XO."

"Forget it," Miranda crossed her arms. "You lie down on the job enough as it is."

"I'd sit if I could but I don't even have a chair up there. Shepard, I want to lodge a complaint. This rampant discrimination against aliens is intolerable."

"You're on a Cerberus ship, buddy. What do you expect? Be glad you have air."

Miranda gritted her teeth. "Can we get back on track here, please? We need to talk about what we're going to do with the geth."

Shepard nodded. "We're keepig it."

Garrus sat upright. "What?"

Miranda slumped forward and cradled her head in her hands. "You are indoctrinated."

"No, I'm not. But Legion's staying. That's final."

"Legion?"

"The geth."

Miranda looked like she was experiencing the worst headache imaginable as she massaged her temples. "You named it?"

"Well, EDI did. That's not important. What is important is what Legion told me about the geth. The majority of the geth population, if you can call it that, rejected the alliance with the reapers outright. Every hostile encounter, Eden Prime, Ilos, the Citadel have all been with a splinter faction. The rest don't want to fight. Not us, not the Council, not even the quarians anymore. As a matter of fact, they want to help us." Garrus and Miranda shared the same confused, stunned expression. Shepard didn't wait for them to collect their thoughts. "Look, I don't know if it's true or not but we need to find out. This could be a game changer. We can't give this platform away, to the Migrant Fleet or Cerberus, or anyone else."

"Commander..."

"I've made the decision, Miranda." Shepard started to pace. "Toward that end, I realize keeping the geth on board is going to raise concerns among some of the crew."

"Some?" Miranda flipped one of her holos around so Shepard could see. "Over one hundred emails on the subject. Bear in mind there we only have a complement of twenty-"

"I know," Shepard said. "I've seen them. That's why I'm going to need your help on this. It's not going to be greeted with enthusiasm out there."

"In here, either," Garrus said.

Miranda stood. "Shepard, we need to discuss this before making any rash decisions. The regular crew is not going to take this well, and that's bad enough. But consider Tali. She controls power, propulsion, life support-"

"Let me worry about Tali," Shepard said. "She needs to hear this more than anyone. This could change everything for the quarians."

Garrus shook his head. "Except for the ninety-eight percent of the them the geth wiped out. Nothing will change that for them."

Shepard glared at him. His diction was forceful and precise. "I have made the decision. Now, first off... When talking about the geth we have on board, it's longer 'the geth,' it's Legion. If we call it by name, the crew will start doing it. They'll follow our lead. But if we show fear, they will too."

"Maybe we should," Miranda interjected.

"Second," Shepard's irritation was building. "Depending on how conversations go with Legion, I'm going to want to increase the crew's exposure to it. That means letting it out of the AI Core from time to time-"

Miranda couldn't hold back. "Shepard!"

"-under supervision, and under EDI's constant watch. Legion has already agreed not to interface with any system on Normandy without specific instructions to do so. I apologize ahead of time, Miranda, but your mailbox is going to bear the brunt. And I need you to run interference for me with the Illusive Man. I'll brief him and the crew in detail once I have more information."

The XO gave Garrus one last plaintive look and got only a sympathetic shrug from him. She slumped once more into her chair.

"Garrus," Shepard turned to face the turian. "As soon as possible, I want you to work up a plan to integrate Legion into the squad."

Garrus blinked. "I'm sorry, say that again?"

"Put Legion in the rotation. We need to evaluate its capabilities. I know it's handy with a sniper rifle, but we need to find out what other skills it has. Sensor and targeting capability, reaction times, mobility, the works. I'm going to have Joker find a spot on our way to our next destination where we can get some live fire time in the field somewhere, to really see what it can do."

"You can't be serious."

Shepard crossed his arms. "I'm getting a little tired of my senior officers questioning my orders. Yes, I'm serious. Draft up a basic skills test, put together some drills covering our basic tactics and have it to me by the end of the day. And I'll need a couple volunteers," Shepard pointed at Garrus and Miranda, "to help me run Legion through the evaluation. Now, the words I'm waiting to hear from both of you are 'yes, sir.'"

"Commander," Miranda said, drawing a glare from Shepard. "before we allow ourselves to become distracted, it's my duty to remind you that we have also acquired the reaper IFF, which was our actual mission objective. It's imperative that we get any data and all of Mordin's research to our labs as soon as possible. I feel I should be focusing the majority of my attention there."

Shepard stared as if trying to determine if his XO was bullshitting him or not. Even if she was, it was a sound argument. "Okay. You're off the hook. Coordinate with Mordin on the IFF. Garrus? Looks like you need another volunteer to be your assistant. Take your pick from the squad, though just between you and me? I wouldn't ask Tali. What do you say?"

"Yes, sir." Garrus now looked like he was nursing a headache of the same intensity of Miranda's. "I'll have a draft by the end of third shift."

Shepard smiled as he reached out and clapped Garrus on the shoulder. "Atta-boy. It's that can-do spirit that keeps this ship going. Any questions? No?" He answered before they could ask. "Good. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go chat with our newest crew member some more. Pop quiz: what's its name, again?"

"Legion," replied his sullen chorus.

"Ah, there it is," Shepard said as he walked out the door. "That can-do spirit. I love it. Carry on."

Even though she was invisible, Kasumi took an involuntary step back as Shepard passed on his way out. She'd seen him aggravated before, but never to the point to where he snapped at his subordinates. This geth thing is really getting to him, she thought, even more than everybody else. And it's spilling down on all of us. Strangely, though, Kasumi found comfort in Shepard's evident discomfort. Someone who was indoctrinated wouldn't be bothered by their own behavior.

Garrus sat on the couch, his mouth agape. "What the hell just happened?"

"Just so you know," Miranda said as she typed on her holo screen. "I am the type of person who says I told you so."

Garrus stood and started pacing. "He wants me to put a geth in the squad? No one's going to want to have that thing watching their backs. Including me."

Miranda kept typing. "These are what I like to refer to as a 'Squad Leader Problems.' I'm curious. Are you going list Legion as equipment or personnel on your Table of Organization? But don't worry about it. I'm sure the Tali Factor will operate in your favor. I can't wait to see how you handle that one."

Garrus stopped, frozen, his eyes closed. So far, the Tali Factor had not worked in anyone's favor...

Miranda stopped typing and leaned back in her chair. "We'll get it sorted out. But right now I do need to coordinate with Mordin on the IFF. You coming by later?"

"Of course. I'd never miss date night."

"Good," Miranda said and went back to work.

"I'll bring a trimmer," Garrus said as he walked out the door, with Kasumi right behind him. "We can do your hair."

Miranda's voice faded as the door shut behind them. "You touch my hair, you die!"

Garrus took a few steps and halted suddenly. Kasumi wavered on her toes, extending her arms to the side to keep from running into him. The turian's shoulders drooped, along with his head. He didn't move for several seconds. Did he somehow sense her presence? Kasumi couldn't see his expression, but she could hear the exhaustion in his voice as he muttered a single word.

"Fuck." He looked about to see if anyone heard it. Fortunately, the galley and connecting corridors were still clear, and the only witness wasn't about to comment. He shook his head and walked toward his hiding place in the Forward Battery, lost in thought.

His shadow did not follow, lost in thoughts of her own.