After the great silence, the second chapter is here!

* Review Responses:
casper2222, Law77, davycrockett100, thank you for your reviews, folks!
Alex the Digital HellReaper, not in this chapter, at least. But, yes, some of your predictions are correct.
Lord Xantos A. Fowl, Citadel Space does not allow AIs (even shackled) outside of a few laboratories. You can argue that VIs are "weak AIs" - and they are - but true AIs that are capable of thinking for themselves are outlawed. Also, yes, while I've probably exaggerated, the Turians are portrayed as a bit lawful stupid even in-universe. This chapter, however, should show that Asari and Salarians aren't as simple.

* AN: I'm truly sorry for the delay with this chapter, but I had to concentrate on writing my dissertation, and that really left me with no inspiration to write anything else.

Legacy of Nazara
Chapter II: The talks

Benezia let out a tired sigh as she looked away from the datapad containing all the info the Citadel Council currently had on the Systems Alliance that she had been studying almost non-stop for the last few days. Why again had she agreed to be the Citadel Council's emissary for the negotiations with the Systems Alliance? This was just one big headache for her.

And the biggest source of that headache were the AIs that existed as a part of the Alliance. These AIs were unlike anything seen in the Citadel Space ever before. They didn't look mechanical at all and their movements lacked the stiffness of a robotic construct. In fact, they were almost indistinguishable from their organic allies, the humans, save for occasional oddly-colored eyes or hair. Furthermore, these AIs were clearly capable of emotions and, in general, seemed to react to various situations much like an organic being would... And while Benezia was old enough to remember the times before the Geth creation, their uprising and the subsequent ban on AIs throughout the Citadel Space, this was the first time she 'saw' a machine that was alive. And it was so confusing for the Asari matriarch.

Many other technologies mentioned in the codex the Systems Alliance has shared with the Citadel Council were equally alien to her. Their FTL wasn't built around the Mass Effect, and while their ships did have Element Zero cores, those were used mostly for utility purposes. Even more than that, the Alliance's warships mounted direct energy weapons, and not just for point defense, but for their main armaments as well – such weapons were something that some of the brightest minds of the Salarian Union were trying and failing to create for the last two millenniums!

Back to the AIs, though. Officially, the Citadel Council was upholding the ban on the synthetics they had put in place after the Geth's uprising. In the reality, however, only Turians were honestly following through with it. The Salarian Union was very interested in the human technologies and saw the continued existence of the 'Mental Models' as an acceptable trade off for the know how, provided they weren't causing the Union any troubles, of course. Similarly, a number of Asari matriarchs have expressed interest in what made these 'Mental Models' so well-adjusted to the human society. Perhaps they were hoping that by learning that secret, the Asari Republics and the Council will finally have a way to turn their AIs, or, maybe even the Geth, forever non-hostile?

Benezia had no idea, and, regardless, all these conflicting and sometimes even contradicting 'requests' and orders she had been given were making her job of representing the Citadel Council to the Systems Alliance even more difficult than it would have been otherwise. At least, she had been promised some really nice credits for the job done... But were those credits really worth all the headaches this whole mess was giving her?

~/ *** \~

As they were waiting for the Citadel Council's envoy to arrive, the crew of "Adeona" spent their days gathering as much information on the greater galaxy as they could. Alas, at the moment their means of studying the galactic society were limited to the extranet connection they were generously allowed to use. This connection wasn't especially fast, but it was there, and Adeona was going to make the most out of it. Thus, she was spending all of her 'free' time immersed in the sea of the alien knowledge, downloading and translating the most interesting tidbits for her crew to analyze in details.

Of course, she wasn't allowed to wander through the alien information network without supervision. In fact, Adeona could count over a hundred of various programs monitoring her actions at all times. Most of those, however, were rather pathetic V.I.s and she would be able to fool them rather easily, should she wish to. As for the more competent ones... They were noticeably different from the rest and it looked like they capable of creating an intelligent hive mind when enough of them grouped together. Could they be the Geth? That certainly was a likely possibility, even if Adeona had no actual proof that the machine race had their agents within the extranet. Regardless, since those observers kept a polite distance from her and didn't interfere with her research, she let them be.

While the codex and other online encyclopedias were a good source of the 'official' information about everything in the galaxy, they certainly were whitewashed to some extent. After all, what ruler would want to have all the problems of his or her country be put on the display? Thus, Adeona also made sure to visit the less censored knowledge repositories, as well as a number of forums and discussion boards. The results of this investigation were... quite interesting.

Now she had an alternative image of the greater galaxy, the one where not everything was perfect in the Citadel Space and not everything was awful and lawless in the Terminus Systems. What was more important, though, Adeona now also knew what the citizens of the galaxy thought about the Systems Alliance and, she was sure, this information would be helpful during the upcoming negotiations:

To wit, while the majority had a cautiously-neutral attitude – which was kind of normal for any new contact – there were several minorities with different views on the Systems Alliance. The most vocal one, unfortunately, believed the synthetic life to be the Evil incarnate and wanted every AI in the galaxy destroyed. Some even called for a war with the Alliance in order to force the ban on AIs on them. This group consisted mostly of Quarians, Turians and, quite surprisingly, the Hanar.

On the other hand, there also were those who (correctly) believed the Systems Alliance to be the proof that organics and synthetics could coexist peacefully. Some even expressed the desire to establish peaceful relations with Geth, despite them being omnicidal robots according to the codex.

The third minority of interest was composed of the Volus and some other traders, and they didn't care about the AIs one bit as long as they got their credits... Of course, there were other groups, but those weren't as prominent or voiced their opinions as loudly. All in all, the people of the greater galaxy seemed to be not that much different from humans on the whole. That, probably, was a good thing too: it was always easier to deal with something you could understand.

~/ *** \~

"We're approaching the Zaru Cha system. ETA five minutes." A voice announced over the intercom. Nodding, matriarch Benezia rose from the comfortable sofa she had been sitting on and headed towards her yacht's bridge: even if there was no actual need for her to be there, the aged Asari still wanted to personally oversee the arrival to the system where the talks with the 'Systems Alliance' will soon take place. But seeing as she walked there with the unhurried grace that was expected from someone of her statue, by the time she finally stepped onto the Bridge, her yacht – as well as a pair of cruisers that the Council had insisted on accompanying it – was already dropping out of FTL on the edge of Zaru Cha.

And, well, the system was exactly the back of beyond Benezia had been expecting based on the reports she had read. There wasn't any real surprise that only a handful people had even heard about this place before the incident two weeks ago. Today, though, pretty much anyone with a connection to extranet had heard about this system and the first contact that took place within it.

"We're being hailed." One of several younger Asari manning the bridge announced. "It's "Adeona" and they are confirming our identity, and those of our escorts." The T'Soni matriarch nodded.

"Send them our identification codes." Benezia commanded. "Also ask them when they will be ready to begin the talks." She added a few moments later. Indeed, her arrival was rather unannounced, so she doubted that the Systems Alliance would be able to assemble their diplomatic team – which would be participating via telepresence, if she understood her briefing correctly – right away... With a nod, the communications specialist sent her boss's message away.

Adeona acknowledged their transmission just a few moments later. An actual answer to the question asked by Benezia, however, was given only after several long minutes. Apparently, even with FTL communications, organize stuff in an instant was impossible... Anyhow, according to Adeona, all Alliance's officials will be ready for the talks in three standard galactic hours. Which was quite acceptable with matriarch T'Soni.

~/ *** \~

Thankfully, there were no abrupt changes to the 'schedule', and three hours later the brick-like human shuttle made a touchdown in the Benezia's yacht's cargo bay. The T'Soni matriarch, of course, was there to greet the Systems Alliance's delegation. She wasn't alone there, of course; her entourage consisted of a full squad of her best commandos and a Salarian SPECTRE by the name of Jaroth Palon, who was assigned by the Citadel Council to observe the negotiations.

And while Benezia knew that the majority of the officials she'll be dealing with will be participating in the talks via telepresence, she was still a bit surprised when only six people disembarked from the shuttle. Those six were "Adeona"'s captain, lieutenant commander Whiteford; Adeona herself – now accompanied by a pair of floating drones – and a team of four marines that was their guard detail.

"Welcome to "Elasa Dawn"." The Asari matriarch greeted while discreetly studying her guests and, especially, the marines. And she had to admit that they were quite impressive: all of them were easily over seven feet tall and completely encased in matte-black heavy mechanized armor, which appeared to be environmentally-sealed too. They carried what could only be described as heavy machine guns in their hands, but that thing wasn't their only weapon: each marine also had a Krogan-sized heavy pistol, an equally-big knife and a good dozen of grenades marked with different colors. Furthermore, a discreet scan revealed that while none of them were biotics, they all were cybernetically enhanced and, probably, were damn good at fighting unarmed... Was there any wonder that their attempts to appear non-threatening weren't really working?

"That you for having us over, lady T'Soni." Adeona, who, like her captain, was wearing the System Alliance's dress uniform for the occasion, replied politely. "We hope for a productive discussion today."

"As do we." Was Benezia's response. "Please follow me to the conference hall so that we may begin." Mr. Whiteford nodded to the marines, and a pair of them saluted and stepped back to guard the shuttle, while the other two joined him and Adeona on the track towards the conference hall.

The short walk to the conference hall was spent in an uneasy silence as the wary Asari commandos were keeping a close eye on the human marines and, especially, the AI with her drones. The lone Salarian was probably just as suspicious of them, but the humans had a lot more troubles reading his emotions, so it was hard for them to say what really was going through his horned head...

Once the group arrived to the conference hall – thankfully, without any incidents – Adeona ordered her drones to spread out a little and activate their holographic projectors. A moment later, a whole group of 'ghostly' humans and Mental Models joined those already in the room. And, thanks to having read the human codex, Benezia was actually able to recognize some of them.

"I believe, introductions are in order." Adeona spoke then. "I'm Systems Alliance's Star Fleet's reconnaissance vessel "Adeona", and this is my captain, lieutenant commander James Whiteford." She said while gesturing towards the man. Next, the word was taken by a petite girl with very long blonde hair. She appeared to be barely a teen and was wearing a simple but pleasant ensemble consisting of a white shirt and long straight navy-blue skirt.

"I'm the Admiralty Code." She introduced herself. "I'm the chief technological adviser of the Systems Alliance." She paused for a moment, as if deciding whether or not to say something else, but ultimately decided against adding anything else to her introduction: these aliens really needn't know that she was also responsible for creation of the Union Cores for the Alliance's fleets... Meanwhile, one of her greatest 'daughters' took the word:

"We are the supreme flagship of the Fleet of Fog, Yamato. Pleased to me you, envoy T'Soni." A brunette in a pink ballgown made a curtsy as she introducing herself and her 'twin', who instead wore some sort of a uniform. That 'second' Yamato then added: "If you, for whatever reason, need to differentiate between the two us, you can call me Kotono." Benezia nodded, almost absentmindedly, to that while recalling what she had learned about these two from the human codex... And, well, while this codex was quite dodgy about what Yamato had been doing before then, it did introduce her as one of the major founders of the Systems Alliance nearly fifty years ago. Furthermore, she was the de facto guardian of the Alliance's homeworld, Earth (no coordinates provided).

Meanwhile, the next representative of the Systems Alliance began introducing herself. She was a tall young woman with long raven-black hair made into an tight bun on the back of her head and held together by a pair of silvery needles. She was wearing the Alliance's dress uniform, complete with a ceremonial sword on her left hip.

"I'm great battleship Arcadia and I'm the supreme flagship of the Systems Alliance's Star Fleet." She said while standing at attention. Not feeling like telling anything else, she then passed the word to the next of their little group:

"Greetings, madam T'Soni." An old and bald but surprisingly fit dark-skinned man in the Alliance uniform with quite a number of service ribbons on it greeted in a... not perfect galactic, though it was clear to Benezia that the human was doing his best to get the pronunciation right. "I'm the head of the Systems Alliance's Defense Committee, fleet admiral Arnold McKinley." After a moment-long pause, he continued: "And these are my fellow members of the committee, grand admirals Vasily Kuznetsov and Xiao Li." He introduced his colleagues, who then offered the Asari matriarch their greetings.

"I'm the flagship of the Blue Steel sovereign fleet, Iona." A white-haired green-eyed girl who looked no older than the Admiralty Code introduced herself. "I'm representing fleets relations adviser, admiral Chihaya Gunzou. Unfortunately, due to ...circumstances, he is unable to attend these talks in person." Three and a half years ago Gunzou had contacted the Nagasaki xeno-infection and while he managed to survive this cursed disease, it still did terrible damage to his body and left him in the nearly-constant need of medical attention.

Meanwhile, the word was taken by one of two humans not yet introduced. He was a relatively-young, tall brown-haired man wearing an immaculate black business suit with a red tie.

"Greetings." He said a little bit unsurely: having the fate of the Alliance depend on his words and actions today left him quite nervous, and, despite his best attempts, he couldn't really hide that. "I'm the elected representative of the Systems Alliance's colonies, Benjamin Goldstein." He paused for a moment, perhaps contemplating on whether he should add anything else to his introduction, but ultimately decided against it and passed the word to the final representative of the Alliance.

"I'm the Secretary-General of United Nations of Earth, Chandrakant Manju." A stern-looking woman with brownish skin and graying hair said as she introduced herself. "I hope today will mark the beginning of a mutually-beneficial relations between our people."

"As do we." Benezia replied with a nod. "I'm matriarch Benezia T'Soni, and I have be chosen to represent the Citadel Council during these talks." She said then, while glancing at the SPECTRE, silently asking him, whether he wished to remain anonymous for now or whether he would like to introduce himself to the human delegation. The Salarian decided to go with the latter:

"Jaroth Palon, SPECial Tactics and REconnaissance." He said. "My main objective is to observe these negotiations, but I may be providing some input as well."

"Pleasure to make acquaintance." Chandrakant said. "Now, shall we begin?"

"Of course." Benezia agreed. "First and foremost, the Citadel Council wishes to reaffirm that your people are indeed peaceful explorers, as stated in your codex."

"Indeed." The Secretary-General replied. "We do not seek hostilities with the galactic community and will respect existing borders in our expansion." After making a moment-long pause, she continued: "However, we will also protect our space and our people."

"Does that include your AIs?" The Salarian SPECTRE brought up an important point that needed to be negotiated. Barely a moment later, he received his answer. And it wasn't exactly the answer that the Citadel Council would like:

"Yes." Fleet admiral McKinley replied firmly, no hesitation heard in his voice. The other humans appeared to share his sentiments and simply weren't fast enough to deliver the speech themselves. "The Fleets have been our trusted allies for decades and we will stand by them. If our entrance into your community means their deaths, then the Systems Alliance will not become a part of the Citadel Space."

"Thank you, admiral." The Admiralty Code said, before turning her attention to the aliens. "We are aware of what had happened in your past and... we can't say your mistrust towards synthetics is entirely unfounded." While the codex was heavily biased against the Geth, the leaders of the Systems Alliance were quite sure that was more to the story than a bunch mechs gaining sentience and suddenly wishing to spill their creators' blood. "However, we too are living beings – even if we aren't alive in the same way that you are. And we will fight to protect our right to live. And, like you've heard just now, we will not be alone in this fight."

"That said." Chandrakant picked up. "While the Systems Alliance will not become a part of the Citadel Space unless you welcome all of our citizens, organic and synthetic alike, we are still open to negotiating trade deals, defensive and law enforcement and scientific cooperation pacts with the Citadel Space as a whole or any of its member states independently."

"I see..." Was all that Benezia could say in response. This wasn't exactly how the Council had expected the talks to proceed, and as such the T'Soni matriarch wasn't sure what she should do next. "I'm afraid, I'm not a person who can strike such deals." After making another, much shorter this time, pause, she continued: "In the meantime, I'm willing to try and answer the questions you might have about the galactic community I'm representing today."

"Of course, we reserve the right not to answer the questions that would require us to disclose the information the Council wishes to remain a secret." The SPECTRE agent added. That was perfectly understandable, and the representatives of the Systems Alliance had no problems with agreeing to that.

"We would also like it if you can answer some of our questions about your people and your government as well." Benezia added then.

"Of course." The Secretary-General replied. "But we, likewise, reserve the right not to disclose sensitive information." After getting the confirmation from the aliens, she continued: "Anyhow, here's our first question:.." And so the little game of trading answers to each others questions began...

~/ *** \~

Urdnot Wrex was sitting in a seedy bar in the bowels of Omega. Normally he avoided such wretched places whenever he could, but today he had no choice: his contractor wanted him to remove a gang leader that was causing trouble in the slums lately, and the varren shit liked to frequent this cesspool for whatever reason. Laying a trap for him there looked like the fastest way to get the objective done to the old Krogan.

And while he waited for his target to finally show up, Wrex entertained himself by listening to the a random vid channel playing in the background as he seeped the strongest alcohol the barman could find for him. Unfortunately, right now it was the time for the news block and... Well, the reporters were once again talking about that new race, the humans or whatever those squishy Asari-lookalikes called themselves. No, Wrex could understand that the discovery of a new space-faring race was an event of great importance, but, seriously, repeating the same few bits of information every damn hour for two weeks – that was a bit too much...

Perhaps, the Krogan mercenary thought, he should ask the bartender to pick a different channel? He had absolutely no desire to listen for hundredth or so time about these humans and their apparent use of sentient AIs. It was simply mind-numbing boring at this point... Then the newscaster announced that the first round of negotiations between the Citadel Council and the Systems Alliance had taken place earlier today. Now, that was a bit more interesting, Wrex decided. Perhaps, listening to the news would be a bit more tolerable today...

And as he listened to the newscaster giving the summary of what had happened during those talks, Wrex decided that he actually liked these humans: if nothing else, they had quads to tell the Council to stick their wants up their collective asses. Plus, he could admire the loyalty the human and their AIs had towards each other – that was pretty much a species-wide example of krantt... Perhaps, he could visit one of their worlds to see what their society was like for himself after he was done with his current job? Speaking of which, Wrex spotted the bastard he had been paid to kill entering the bar. So, gulping down the beverage he had ordered in a one massive sip, the old Krogan drew his Graal Spike Thrower shotgun and fired a bunch of deadly blades at the unsuspecting little shit. All the while grinning at the prospect of a good fight against the 'bodyguards' and sucker-ups of the now-dead gangster...

The Geth Collective was abuzz with the news that the Systems Alliance refused to sacrifice their synthetic allies to appease the Citadel Council. Now with an even greater number of runtimes voting for this, it was decided that Collective should try establishing a peaceful contact with the Systems Alliance.

Of course, the Geth were still building their future on their own, but it was agreed that having an ally out there would be beneficial to the Collective.

That's all, folks!