CHAPTER 11

THE NORMANDY DOCK

After getting word that Shepard found the quarian, proven Saren's involvement on Eden Prime, and becoming the first human Spectre; Neo steps out of the Normandy and meeting them is Captain Anderson and Dominic Osoba. The three men wait for the elevator in front of them open and when the doors parted, Shpard came out along with three separate species following him.

Neo spoke thought to himself. Matriarch Benezia involved? Now I find out she's the mother of the Prothean expert I'm looking for. I don't like it. Then he quickly hushed his mental tone and watch as Shepard talks to Osoba.

"Hello, Shepard." Osoba said. "I have a message from the Ambassador. Captain Anderson is stepping down as commanding officer. The Normandy is under your command now."

"She's quick and quiet and you know this crew." Anderson said. "Perfect ship for a Spectre. Treat her well, Commander."

While Anderson was explaining to Shepard why he was standing down, Neo pulled out his data pad and typed up what he had found. He waited when Osoba mentioned about potential geth activity on the planets of Feros and Noveria.

Then Neo took over the conversation. "We should first set of to find our expert. She's a scientist, archeologist; basically she's a specialist on the Protheans. Well, I'm not so sure if she's the one to talk to since we don't know where her allegiance stands, but it wouldn't hurt to find out. Her name is Dr. Liara T'Soni." Neo rubs his chin.

"Something I should know?" Shepard asked.

"Nothing right now, but I have to tell you when we are on our way." Neo said. "What I can tell you is that she was last seen exploring archeological dig sites on uncharted worlds around the Artemis Tau cluster."

"Alright, let's start there." Shepard said.

"It's you decision, Commander." Anderson said. "You're a Spectre now. You don't answer to us."

"Oh, yeah." Osoba voice began to wane as he rolled his eyes back. "Udina wanted me to remind you that you now represent the best in humanity and you were human long before being a Spectre…etcetera, etcetera." Osoba just waves his hand. "Just don't screw up so he has to clean up the mess and then it makes my life hell."

Shepard smiled. "I'll try not making things hard on him, but most importantly on you."

"Oh right." Neo said changing menus on the data pad and showed him the message. "One more thing, I have just been transferred to your crew."

Shepard looked at the data pad and he looks at Neo. "Just remember who is in charge."

Shepard entered the Normandy with a sense of shock and awe. He couldn't believe he replaced Captain Anderson. He knew the man of his reputation, but felt like it was nothing Shepard truly earned when taking Anderson's ship. After taking some time at the front of the cockpit and making a meaningful speech, all doubt running through the crew was put to rest. He orders the ship to make a course for the Artemis Tau cluster.

Shepard took the elevator down to the cargo bay where he can see what had been brought on board. When the door opened, Agent Neo was standing behind the door.

"Commander Shepard." Neo said.

"Agent Neo." Shepard responded. "There was something you wanted to tell me that was important back on the Citadel?"

"Come with me." Neo leads Shepard over to the crates he ordered from Earth. When Neo figured it was quiet and safe between two of the crates, he spoke. "You see, when I found Liara T'Soni I knew she came highly recommended. However, when I found out about, Benezia…"

Shepard waited for a moment, but demanded an answer. "What is it?"

"Matriarch Benezia is Liara T'Soni's mother." Neo confessed and Shepard looked only in disbelief.

"This can't be a coincidence." Shepard said. "The odds are…what about the others knowing this?"

"I haven't told them for a reason." Neo said. "They can't know of the mother and daughter relationship. It might give them reason to shoot on sight."

"This could also determine if our team is walking into a trap." Shepard said. "We don't know if T'Soni is working to find this Conduit."

"Then we won't know until we find her." Neo said. "Look, Commander. I know you are the newest human Spectre agent, but I've been playing the role of agent for five years now. I may know a couple of tricks up my sleeve and that's why I'm being assigned to your team. My expertise can give you an edge to what took me years to learn. You have no idea how important your role is to humanity's entrance into the Spectre program and Alliance Intelligence is willing to help make this happen."

"Look." Shepard said. "Whatever your reason may be, still remember that you're still taking orders from me."

"Yes, sir. I'm just reporting my intel to my, Commander" Neo didn't smile, but he shrugged off any hint of being belittled before his newest commander.

Shepard just takes a deep breath and asks "What's in the crates? Neo smiles and walks over to a tall white crate. The crate was also incredibly wide. He scans the box on the side and the crate opens making a loud hissing sound. The crate automatically swings open and inside looked like some mechanical body.

"Wait a minute." Shepard closely investigates the body of the machine. "This looks like an old APU."

"Yes it is, Commander." Neo smiles. "An Armored Personnel Unit. A relic of the Human/Machine war." He taps on his Omni-tool and the APU activates. "During the war, about a 120,000 of these things were made. Only now there are 350 remaining throughout the known galaxy. Only 70 are actively in use with our agency."

"You use these?" Shepard gave Neo an inquisitive look. "They're nice to look at, but they only good for as collectible antiques or being in a museum. I mean the ammunition doesn't exist anymore and there's not any real protection for the pilot operating it, except for that glass canopy, which looks brand new."

"Then I'm glad you see that, because this model and the ones in our service have been upgraded." Neo points to specific areas. "The ammunition and cannons on this thing runs on the same principle of Mass Effect technology, so no need for reloading. As for protection…" Neo activate a control and shimmering blue shield formed around the glass canopy.

"State of the art shielding. Not even a direct missile hit will damage the cockpit or kill the operator."

The noise of the machine attracted the attention of many crew members in the area; including Ashley, Wrex, and Garrus. Many nodded in approval.

Shepard continued his questioning. "What about the Mako? It has those features already."

Neo just casually answered. "True. The Mako's All Terrain mode has many advantages over the APU here, but the APU can go into more enclosed spaces than where the Mako can't go. But speaking of using the Mako, I have another feature."

Neo walks over to the other white crate. This one is lying flat on the deck and again he opens the crate using his Omni-tool. While looking inside, there was another box.

Neo opened that box and there were what seemed to be six black oval-shaped spheres and each was wrapped in some sort of silvery and blackened metal wire.

Neo chooses to activate only one of the strange spheres. Everyone jumps back when multiple red light flashes on in the center of the black object. The image looked like someone activated a giant insect. Some were so shocked at the reaction, even Wrex pulled out his shotgun in defense.

"No, Wrex." Neo calmed the krogan and then calmed everyone else down. "It's alright everyone. Just watch."

The thing just rose up and flew effortlessly through the air and it looked like an octopus or a squid swimming through the water.

"This is another relic from the war." Neo said. "This is called a Sentinel. It's a multi-tentacle creature with multiple sensors that flies effortlessly through the air. I plan to use them for reconnaissance when dealing with the geth."

"This is a machine." Ashley said. "The geth are machines."

"Neo?" Shepard asked. "How reliable are these things? These Sentinels were made by the Machines almost a hundred years ago and originally designed to kill organic beings."

Neo said. "They have been repurposed not to harm organic beings."

"So were the geth." Tali joined in from the engineering room when she heard the noise. "We also programmed the geth not to attack us and look what happened there. What makes you think that the geth couldn't corrupt a Sentinel's programming while on reconnaissance?"

Neo thought for a moment and said while looking at Tali. "Alright then, we can do it the slow way. We'll locate a planet that the geth have infiltrated and take as many parts off the dead geth as we can. We will study the geth before I put these guys on top of the Mako."

"Thank you, Agent Ander… I mean Neo." Tali corrected herself. "I understand your need for this, but…"

"Don't have to explain to me, Miss Zorah." Neo said. "These Sentinels are no more intelligent than a varren. I'm sure your father; Admiral Rael'Zorah appreciates the wisdom of what he put in his daughter."

"What?" Tali didn't know what to say.

"Shit, there he goes again." Ashley growled as she still remembers Neo talking about her family.

Shepard did damage control and asked Neo another question. "Now, tell me what these are?" Shepard touched Neo's left arm and pointed to three large white circular pods, hoping to ease any tension. "Those are connector pods." Neo said. "They connect to a program or to the Matrix."

"Aren't they a little big?" Shepard said. "They look like sleeper pods."

"These connector pods are the latest toys from earth." Neo said. "They are meant for freeborn humans like Lieutenant Alenko and Chief Williams to enter a program or the Matrix like we can."

"Really?" Shepard looks at Ashley, and then he looks at Tali, Garrus, and Wrex. His eyes squint with an idea. "Can these pods work for aliens too?"

"They could, but I would have to modify the pods first." Neo said.

"Make it happen, Agent Neo." Shepard said.

Neo could only respond by saying "Aye, aye, sir."

It took only an hour for Neo to make the modifications. Requested by Shepard to make the connector pods more alien friendly. During that time, Shepard had chatted with Tali, Garrus, and Wrex. He told the three of the modification to the pods and managed to convince them to try it out.

Tali, Garrus, and Wrex were waiting for Shepard and Neo to make the final reperations while a crewman pulled up a connector seat for podborns. Neo gives Shepard the thumbs up and Shepard sits in his seat.

When the wire attaches itself to the node on the back of Shepard's head, Neo says to the three aliens. "Congratulations. You three are going to be the first of your species to enter what we podborn humans call a simulation program. Only a hundred freeborn humans entered this program and only a few actually entered the Matrix itself." Neo activated his Omni-tool and the pods opened. "Now when you step in, you each must remain relaxed at all times."

The three non-humans were a bit hesitant at first, but they slowly enter the pods without protest. When they lied back on their raised bedding, the doors shut and lights were flashing on and off when the program started.

Then to the astonishment of the three, they saw they were not on board the Normandy anymore. Tali, Garrus, and Wrex found themselves in a solid white space of nothingness. The only thing around was themselves and they were each sitting on leather chairs.

"Welcome to the entrance of the simulation program." Shepard shows himself while wearing his formal Alliance uniform. "I'm taking the opportunity to show you what humanity and the Matrix is all about. This program will help answer any questions you could have about both podborn and freeborn humans."

The three didn't say a word at that moment, but Tali decided to break the silence. "All right. Can you tell me about the Matrix?"

Shepard nods his head then without any warning, a strange box showed up in front of the three beings. It was a type of vid screen, but only the box was made of wood and stood on large wooden base. Garrus remembers something from old human cultural studies from the 20th century and he recognizes this vid screen to be what they use to call a television. Shepard clicked on the old television with a television remote control. Then the screen showed archival footage of a courtroom battle from the year 2090:

The archival narrator spoke in the manner of a 1950's news feed reporter about the events that followed with scenes that followed. "This is most likely where the Matrix had its beginning. The humanoid machine, B1-66ER was now on trial for the murder of its owner. B1-66ER stated that it was threatened from its owner when it asked the question 'Is this unit alive?' When the question was asked, the owner threatens to disable the unit. But B1-66ER killed the owner in what was considered an act of 'self-defense.' Since the court determined that this unit was not entitled to human law, the destruction of B1-66ER was carried out."

Suddenly, Tali's head slumped down and she had her hands on her helmet. Shepard noticed her concern.

The documentary continued. "After the court decision to destroy B1-66ER, mass protesting across the industrialized world, mass civil disturbances erupt when robots and their human sympathizers rise in protest." Then scenes of riots and peaceful protest were being waged from around the world. Then the scene turned to violence when machines were being destroyed. "World leaders fear a robot rebellion, and governments across the planet initiate a major program to destroy all humanoid machines. Some robots escape destruction when humans, in their greed, still want the robots to work and produce things for them." The scene shows a vast desert with a city made by machines. "The machine population is exiled, and they create their own nation in the Middle East, named Zero One.

"When five years came later on the fateful year of 2095, the United Nations was discussing the economic crisis the lack of machines and their economic imbalacnce Zero One was having on the global economy." Then a machine version of a male and female humanoid entered the U.N. floor. "When the machines requested a seat on the U.N. and offer their help to ease the crisis, they were turned down. Then the U.N. agreed to one resolution…war with the machines." The next image was a nuclear mushroom cloud.

"The war began when U.N. forces unleashed a campaign of nuclear carpet bombings over Zero One. The damage was extensive, but the machines were immune to nuclear fallout. So the machines began overrunning large portions of the Middle East, Asia, and Eastern Europe. That's when the solution to remove the machine's source of power came in a form of blackening the sky called Dark Storm." Then images of black clouds start to cover the Earth's atmosphere. Images of the war between humans and machines were being put into the mix. Then a picture of a political rally stood at the screen's attention. "The fact remains that there were still human sympathizers that still existed among the human nations, struggled to stop the war. Some groups that were once political in speech from the beginning then turned to radical plans of action. As for leader of the Machine Rights Now movement, Clarence A. Darrow made this speech about the war."

The image showed Darrow speaking on a podium. "What has this war done to us? This war is without victory for both sides! If the machines win, we will either be exterminated or made into slaves of their bidding, but they will be powerless without the sunlight! If humans win the war, we will continue the long slow process of killing ourselves in laziness and complacency! There will be no victory in this war on either side! The only way to end this war is in a truce! A synthesis must be achieved!"

Then the image turned back to a group of scientists sitting in formation. "The radical wing of the MRN called Blue Skies kidnapped the scientists responsible for the Dark Storm project. They were taken to the machine occupied city of Moscow." A human member of Blue Skies stood between a large humanoid machine and a few U.N. officers standing in Red Square. "The Blue Skies managed to both successfully interrogate the scientists and mediate peace between the machines and the U.N. When the secret was released about the knowledge of the Dark Storm, the war ceased to a halt." The next image was the U.N. building in New York City. "The armistice and talks began around October 29th of 2099."

Then the images showed human delegates and three large humanoid machines sitting on opposite sides of the table. "The talks were intense, but when the machines offered a way to help elevate humanity…a breakthrough came. Machines will create and manage a functional government for both humans and machines, while humans will be mentally and physically enhanced through the guidance of a superstructure known as the Matrix." One of the massive towers of the Matrix was shown next. "On May 15th 2100, the agreement was made to construct the Matrix and Dark Storm is to be removed from the Earth's atmosphere. Then when both tasks were done, 2102 was declared the year of Synthesis when the first generation of podborn humans was born." The image showed a human baby boy, barely a week old, being placed in a pod by the child's parents. The next scene was the baby, after being attached with wires and a tube down his mouth and a wire connecting to his head. Then the pod filled up with pink fluid. Then the next scene was subtitled as 15 years later. The image was of the same pod, only instead of a male baby it was a full grown male human crawling out of the pod and removing his wires. "Emergence day has come for this first generation of podborns or homo-machinists as they are properly named." The words THE END shows on screen in the fashion of a 1950's documentary. Then the screen goes blank.

Shepard felt like a teacher at school all of a sudden, especially when he asked. "Does anyone else have a question?"

Wrex chose to ask the next question. "Yeah! I know how the freeborn humans breed, but how does it work for podborns?"

"Can you specify?" Shepard asked.

"I mean, there are rumors about podborn humans." Wrex said. "I hear that they are born like crops out on a farm. Then placed in the Matrix to be raised until your Emergence Day."

Shepard hesitated to that analogy and said. "That sounds ridiculous." He smiles, but then he explains. "Podborns breed naturally as freeborn humans can, just after being born is what makes us different." The television disappears and a large glass screen takes its place. Shepard pulls up an diagram of a baby podborn human and imagery diagrams to specific areas of the human child. "You see when the podborn child is born, the child is born with the node on its head. The node is installed through nanotech DNA." A strand of human DNA replaces the child. He points to areas of the DNA's double helix. "This is a normal strand of human DNA from a freeborn human. We have the standard Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine, and Guanine. For a podborn human, the strand of DNA is different."

Shepard shows the strand of DNA that belongs to a podborn human. Some of the DNA's building blocks were replaced by what looks like computerized sequences. "The DNA strand of a human podborn will pass itself on to a human partner during conception of a child." The image behind Shepard showed a female egg being fertilized. "The DNA building blocks will take control of the new life and creating a human with Matrix based DNA." Then an image of a baby being placed in a pod by two of the parents is shown. "The drawback is that when a baby is born with a node to the back of its head, there's no way of the child growing up without the Matrix, because the child will grow up not being able to cope with the implants in its body naturally. The solution is the child must be raised by the Matrix until the child has physically matured by the age of fifteen."

Shepard realized that was a lot for the three to wrap their minds around, but Garrus wanted to ask the next question.

"What happens when you are in this Matrix?" Garrus asked.

Then Shepard smirked and somehow pulled up a swiveling chair. He sat down and leaned forward. "It's a highly sophisticated virtual reality program. Everything looked and felt real. It was the first fifteen years of my life." Shepard smiled thinking of the memories. Then he activated two separate screens behind him. On the left screen was himself in a pod. On the right screen was himself in the Matrix. "This was what I was in the program." He points to the a young boy playing in a room full of other children of what looks like a pre-school. "And here I was as I really am at the time." He points to the pod. Then a series of images from when he grew up in the matrix. The program kept going up to the point of his graduation. Then it showed himself escaping his pod and being flushed down a tube.

"Wasn't he cute at that age?" Garrus said.

"Well, that's all I got to show you today." Shepard stops Wrex from leaving and tells him something that gave Wrex a huge krogan grin.

Only Shepard, Tali, and Garrus were walking away from the simulated program. Neo asked Shepard why Wrex haven't left yet. Shepard grinned and turned on a screen next to the pods. It showed Wrex simulating a battle with mercenaries.

"At least we know how to keep him occupied." Shepard said as he saw Tali walking back towards the engineering room. He stops her and ask. "Are you alright? It looked like you had it bad in the simulation."

Tali sinks her head and said. "Actually, it was when I learned about your first self aware machine asking if it was alive."

"What is it then?" Shepard asked.

"Our people have stories from when our ancestors fled our homeworld." Tali said. "The first self aware geth unit ask a similar question as B1-66ER did. It asked 'Creator? Does this unit have a soul?'" Tali hung her head low and shook side to side. "It was a lot to take in. I'll be in the engineering room if you need me."

Tali walks away and Shepard just rubs the back of his head, feeling the node on his head.