(Bloody hell, an update? What force of hell of this? Took me ages due to work and social shite. BUT IT'S BACK! Sorry about the Chapter being small and everything guys, writer's block, it was hard enough to write this as it was, nevermind make it as long as the last two chapters. Also, ten thousand views! *confetti*)
Chapter 9: We Are Unique
"So you had to kill her?" Was Kelly's opening line to her conversation with Samara that night. Samara was awfully quiet, not the usual Samara, who would at least open up her thoughts with you, who would share her opinions and views. This Samara refused to turn, and whose eyes remained a steady stare at the window into space.
"Yes. Not something I'm proud of but-."
"The Code demanded it?" Kelly finished, her arms crossed.
"Yes. It…it is my life. I have to follow it, lest I fall back upon my mistakes of youth. My mistakes were the reason why my daughter had to die today, and are the reason why I sit before you, spilling my pleads."
She's awfully poetic when she's sad, Kelly thought, gazing at the view. It was amazing, she had to admit. Pure black amongst the crystalline stars that shone, and even here she knew they were just light from millions, maybe billions, of years ago, and that she could jump across the galaxy in the blink of an eye, and see what had been in this Universe. The possibilities were endless, and that just made war all the more likely. Her mind drifting from that subject, she turned to Samara, and realising just what was wrong, smiled intensively.
"What was Morinth like, Samara?"
"She was always the wildest…"
"I can't thank you enough John. I didn't expect an attack of this magnitude on the ship," Shepard started, shaking the man's hand. John was still recovering from the nasty concussion he had. Turns out, when the ship shifted into FTL, he had whacked his head off a Collector rifle, knocking him out. He wasn't in armour, so he was lucky not to have landed beside the trigger on the weapon.
"It was the least we could do Commander. You can count on Blue Team," he said, releasing his hand from Shepard's grip. Miranda and Jacob were also in the room, and both had their own reports to show. Jacob was first, approaching the Chief.
"We found a way to manufacture the same ammunition as your rifles, more or less. Mordin created a design and I called up a few contacts. The Illusive Man's agreed to fund them to get you the ammunition you need," Jacob finished, handing the datapad to the Chief. The bullets were basically the same, apart from the need to implement some sort of way to fit them into the clips the Spartans had custom designed. It was finished that the bullets needed to be slightly smaller, but the bullets for Linda's sniper rifle could remain the main size. There was that at the very least. John would take any advantage he could. He could also see that Shepard was a lot happier. Everyone could guess why.
"Shepard, I talked to EDI and we agreed to shut down the Reaper IFF until we go through the Omega 4 relay. It's ready to be activated at any time, and EDI will be on constant alert now that she's…unshackled," Miranda said, scowling at the last word. She disapproved. "No more viruses at the very least. We have time to build up our team, and I'd recommend we take a look at the Geth unit we recovered. I suggest we ship it back to Cerberus for study," she concluded.
John cut in. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, we risked our lives for this thing, just to send it back for study? I don't like the sound of that," he said, placing a hand on the table. "We should at least investigate it first. Turn it on, see what it does."
"And endanger the ship?" Jacob scowled. "No, we should just chuck this thing out the airlock, done and dusted. No need to cause anymore damage when it starts shooting the place up."
"What about the damn scientific benefits? No-one has ever recovered a live Geth for study. Do you realise what we could learn from it?"
"We'll activate it first," Shepard finally interrupted, his hands on the table. "See what it says. The least we can is that. Tell EDI to get ready in case it tries something. I'll be going down to talk to it now."
The Master Chief walked with Shepard down to where the Geth was being stored. John was in full armour, walking along. They both reached the med-bay, staring at the door for several seconds as the Master Chief sighed.
"I agree with what we're doing here…but I still think we could be more prepared," he said, cradling the barrel of his MA5B assault rifle. Shepard still wondered how anyone could look so impassive, with his armour or without it, and right now, that was with it. He stood taller than the rest of the crew by a good head, and barely passed through the doors to each room.
"That's why I brought you along," Shepard replied, passing into the AI core, where two guards and a shield were guarding the Geth.
"Get ready. We're bringing the Geth back online," Shepard said, as the marine saluted and walked slowly backwards, his weapon raised. Shepard keyed in the necessary codes, watching with slight amusement as the Geth stood up. It was the same black colour as most Geth, with visible wires running across its body, and a red streak across its chest. With slight horror, Shepard recognised the N7 symbol. He'd ask it later.
"Can you understand us?" Shepard said, gesturing to himself and John.
"Yes," it replied, its voice vibrating lightly, giving the illusion of multiple voices.
"Are you going to attack me?" Shepard asked warily.
"No," it replied, its mechanical calmness so clear in its voice.
"That's not what all the other Geth said," The Chief muttered.
The Geth looked at him, the areas around its eyes moving upwards. "You have not met us." The Geth was transfixed on the Spartan, apparently running the armour through its databases as fast as light, frustrated by the lack of results.
"We meant the other Geth."
"We are all Geth, and we have not met you. You are Shepard, Alliance Commander, destroyer of the heretics, killed by Collectors, rediscovered on the Old Machine," the Geth said, as if reading off a report.
"The Old Machine-."
"Commander, with all due respect, we should get along now. We need to know more about this thing," the Chief cut in, his body language showing annoyance and impatience.
"Alright, good thinking. Tell me, what is your name?"
The Geth paused. It stared blankly at the floor, not responding. For a second, it looked like it might have blown a fuse of some sort. Then its eye shot up, and it spoke.
"We are Geth."
"No, what is your name."
"We are Geth."
"What is the name of the individual standing in front of me?"
"There is no individual. We are Geth."
Oh for fuck's sake… The Chief thought, gazing at the Geth. The thing was smart, but by the looks of things, not particularly bright. Apart from the lightbulb.
EDI appeared, floating in mid-air. "My name is Legion, for we are many," she said, giving Shepard the response of 'That seems appropriate' and the Spartan nodding ever so slightly.
The Geth paused, looking intrigued from the body language that seemed to only be apparent from the small manoeuvrable points on its head/neck. "Christian Bible, Gospel of Mark, Chapter 5, Verse 9…we acknowledge, this is an appropriate metaphor. We are Legion, a terminal of the Geth. We wish to help you."
"You do?" Shepard said with mild puzzlement, as the Master Chief just shrugged.
"Yes. We have mutual gains. Stopping the Collectors goes towards stopping the Old Machines and the heretics," Legion said, his eyes glowing brighter. "Will you accept us?"
"You want to join my team?" Shepard said, gazing at the Chief for help. The Chief gave a brief nod. So at least he could say the Chief bullied him into it. Hehehe. Shepard turned back to the Geth, and smiled lightly at Legion.
"Welcome to the Normandy Legion," was his only response as he extended his hand. Legion stared at it for a few seconds, slowly extending his own. They clasped together, cold metal meeting warm flesh. What Shepard didn't realise was that Legion was recording the entire exchange, noting it down in Geth history as a defining moment that had never truly occurred with Geth and organics.
A peaceful exchange.
The Chief smiled, muttering under his breath.
"Tali's gonna be pissed."
Tali was pissed.
"A Geth Shepard! You can't be serious! I mean, Cerberus, but this? They can't be trusted! You can't expect it to live up to its promise-jfjwhwiuhf-."
She realised Shepard had placed a hand on her speaker and had stopped talking, noting the sounds of gibberish. She swatted his hand away, placing one on the approximate location of her forehead.
"Keelah…really Shepard? A Geth? A Geth with a name?!" She added, looking pretty pissed off in his cabin. He stood up and grabbed her arm as she paced about, looking her dead in the eyes.
"It changes nothing Tali, alright? There's nothing to worry about. It's still the same mission, it's still the same pros and cons…it's still you and me, you know that right?"
That made her stop. She stared hard at him, his fists clenched. The death of her father was still raw in her mind, and that was obvious from the way she was treating the Geth arrival. Usually it'd be the occasional moan, or the annoyed grunt of disapproval. This was pent-up.
"So help me…fine. Just keep it out of my way…please."
"Don't worry Tali. Besides, if something does happen to it, you can be happy about that, right?"
