IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey guys! Letting you all know that this weekend, I'm leaving for a family trip to London! This will be my first vacation across the Atlantic, but not my first vacation out of the U.S. (And I do mean that beyond just Canada or Mexico) Anyways, I won't be back until April 1st, so that means no uploads Monday or next Friday. In fact, even though April 1st is a Sunday, I doubt I'll be getting another chapter out the following day. I'll try but can make no promises. No matter what, however, the regular schedule shall resume on the 6th. This does, obviously mean that you shouldn't expect a dump of several chapters for the days I missed. Sorry. Anyways, hope you enjoy this chapter, please read the Author's note at the end, and see y'all in the next one!
Commander John Shepard
I spent the night at David's place, just slept in one of the guest bedrooms. Not long after waking up, David took me to this diner for breakfast. A very nice break from the basics back on the ship. David also refused to allow me to pay for my own meal. Now, however, it was about midday. I had gone to see Zabaleta and managed to convince him to go get help at Veteran's Affairs, and then I got a message from Hackett. He had something for us but wanted to discuss it when I was back on my ship, and the secure comms that came with it. So, I sent the recall to the crew, and immediately started the return to the Normandy, taking the call in my quarters.
"Commander, I trust you rested well?" Hackett greeted.
"I have, sir. Thank you. You said you had something for us?"
"I do. It's urgent. Our training ground on Luna. The VI that simulates hostile tactics, Hannibal? Controls the drones? It's gone rogue. Our overrides don't work," Hackett started. My eyes widened in surprise. That training facility uses live-fire. A VI gone rogue…
"Are there any further security risks? If I remember right, that Hannibal couldn't access anything external."
"You remember correctly. We suspect it's some kind of programming error or loop. Not like it's self-aware, after all. We need you to go in, and manually disable the core. Sending a full briefing of the process now." Hackett started the file's upload. I'd go over it with the team's other techs later.
"Any further mission parameters?" I asked.
"No. Use whatever means you deem necessary to fight your way to the cores and their shutdown. As far as we're concerned, the drones and defense turrets are entirely disposable."
"Understood. We'll get it done, sir." I nodded.
"Thank you, Commander. Hackett out." The call ended.
"Joker," I called out through the intercom. "Once everyone's on board, get us to the Alliance training facility on Luna. Mako drop. Got an ETA?"
"Problems in Sol? Is the reason above my paygrade?" Joker asked first.
"Rogue VI." I answered.
"Well, shit. ETA? Well, we discharged the core before docking, so, I'd say four-to-five hours."
The crew was locked, loaded, and about to get a pretty nice view one we hit the surface. Everything in the Mako checked out, and Joker gave us the countdown. The cargo bay was safely vented, and the bay doors opened. We began plummeting to the surface. The crew was getting used to this. Garrus, while no longer cursing, still wouldn't cheer. Tali had begun to laugh or chuckle. Liara was still struggling not to vomit but survived. I paid attention to our descent rate. No atmosphere means we're only dropping faster and faster. No terminal velocity. But it also means that the Mako's thrusters will be more effective than usual, especially with the low gravity. Luckily, the Mako's computer calculates when the thrusters need to be activated for a safe landing, showing the driver the threshold. I activated the thrusters, and in truth, we actually landed relatively gently.
"Hey, everyone out for a moment. Think we should see the view," I suggested.
"I was just about to ask if we could do that, Skipper," Ashley remarked. Seems I got a nickname.
"Skipper, eh?" I chuckled, as we started to disembark, the rear airlock being vented.
"Does it mean something?" Tali cocked her head to the side.
"Captain of a ship. Seafaring ship normally," I answered. Tali nodded understanding. All of us were outside now, the silence being almost, eerie. I climbed to the top of the Mako and sat on the edge, feet dangling off, looking up. Wrex and Garrus remained on the ground, but the others climbed up, joining me. I barely even noticed the slight smile when I noticed Tali had taken her seat beside me. I looked up at Humanity's cradle.
"Your home?" Tali asked.
"Mine? No. Parents were born and raised there. Grew up in different cities, met in the Alliance. Technically I was born there too, but that was just my mother's maternity leave for the end of her pregnancy. I don't think I had been alive for a week before she went ship-side with me again. Not a combat ship," I reassured. "But it was Alliance. Lots of enlisted families wanted their kids to grow up with the stars, and we didn't have many established colonies. And given we hadn't met anyone just yet, there were programs to make it work. I am proud of my heritage, though. American. It's had some rough spots, like every country, but it's one that tries, at least the public tries, to live up to its values. Liberty, and justice for all. The rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
"Huh, didn't know that about you, Commander," Kaidan remarked.
"What? That my parents were both Alliance, that I'm a spacer, or my heritage?"
"Well, both, really," he shrugged.
"Hm. Heh, there's something we have in common, Tali," I chuckled. "Even if it's a bit loosely." She released a small chuckle herself, turning to look at me as she did so, rather than Earth. I imagined the smile that was under that mask. I bet it's a nice smile… Damn it, John. Cut it out. She's your subordinate, she has the suit, she has her fleet, everything. A fling would not be proper. Well… what if it wasn't just a fling… I immediately shook those thoughts out of my head. Remember Akuze, you must be careful letting a squad get that close to you. Let alone that close.
"Skipper, I can't tell what continent that is. Can you?" Ashley asked, pointing up. I squinted my eyes and leaned forward. There was a partial cloud cover on the North and South. Huh, the landmass isn't fitting the patterns I'm looking for. I pulled out my sniper and looked through the scope, earning some laughs.
"Hey! It magnifies shit doesn't it? Besides, safety's on," I remarked. Wait, is that? Oh! Alright. "It's mirrored from how we'd look at a map. See that peninsula? Left side?"
"Yeah?" Ashley replied.
"Florida. You're looking at the Americas. Mostly North, bit of South."
"Ah, I see it now. Yeah, I see the Great Lakes around Michigan," Ashley nodded.
"And that means all of what's north of that is my wonderful homeland of Canada," Kaidan remarked.
"Ah, you're Canadian eh?" I teased, laying the accent on thick. "Sorry I didn't know that sooner. Sorry, but think you could get us some real Canadian Maple Syrup? You know, if the Moose don't cause too much trouble. Sorry again." Kaidan just laughed and shook his head.
"Don't Humans consider it rude to insult one's home?" Liara questioned, confused. And just as our laughter was dying. That revived it.
"Teasing, Liara. Just teasing," I reassured. She got quiet and shrunk a bit, embarrassed again.
"So, is all that controlled by the Alliance, or…?" Tali asked, changing the subject.
"Earth itself is still governed by the same nations we had before we became a genuine space-faring species. The Alliance represents all of them beyond Earth, and controls all the Human Colonies. Look back to the Americas. Most of what you see is the United States. Canada north of that, Mexico makes up most of what you can see south of it. That being said, the border between Canada and the US is practically non-existent now. They're basically the same country in all but name. While their governments are still separate, its heavily similar. Than for Mexico, the other countries that make up the land bridge to South America became the Central American Union. While all these countries work together under the United Nations, Earth-side, and under the Alliance space-side, they're still independent." I explained.
"And they all basically ignored the Alliance until First Contact. While the Countries were all bickering over who should lead the retaliation, the Alliance actually retaliated," Ashley added.
"That they did. And don't let me paint an inaccurate picture of Earth. There's still a pretty clear divide between the First World Countries and the Third World Countries. First worlds, like America, Canada, most of the European Countries, and several others live pretty good lives, eliminating most genetic disease and pollution, the third worlds are still in our nineteen-hundreds technology. Smog and slums. Most of those are in the continent of Africa or South America. Or the Middle East Countries. Hell, China and Russia are both first world militaries with first world tech, but their authoritarian and communistic societies keep a lot of people living closer to third world rather than first. And North Korea is still recovering and restructuring from their absolutely barbaric dictatorship from the end of the two-thousands. It was a lot like the Batarian Hegemony. Same with the Chinese half the time." I explained. "And the weather is still a bit screwy thanks to pollution in the two thousands, but, seemingly barely, we made it through."
"We didn't," Wrex grumbled.
"You know, I always wondered. They called that the 'twenty-first-century bottleneck.' Did all the other species have something like that? Rampant pollution, global nuclear tensions? That kind of thing?" Kaidan mused.
"Turians certainly have," Garrus nodded. "Back when the Hierarchy formed across Palaven, as well as the unification war. That was when we had colonies out in space but hadn't met the other races yet. The furthest colonies became disillusioned with the Hierarchy, and eventually fought amongst themselves. By the time Palaven finally intervened, they all had no choice but to submit. As for pollution? Well, I think a bit less than you Humans. If the government, the group, the whole Turian race, decided the personal gain of some needed to be put aside for the good of all, that's all it would have taken to make it happen. Next to no argument."
"If I remember right from my N7 lessons, the Salarians didn't have much of a war problem. They had an espionage problem. It wasn't nukes they aimed at each other, it was spies and assassins. Like the League of One," I remembered.
"Heh, figures," Wrex chuckled.
"The Asari had neither problem. Democracy, consensus, and accommodation are deeply rooted in our culture. In truth, our planet was covered in large, individual city-states that were very open with one another. It was when we entered the information age that the Asari Republics were formed, and we became the 'Electronic Democracy,' we are today." Liara explained.
"How does that work, anyway?" Ashley questioned.
"Simple. There are official chat rooms open on the extranet available for all citizens participation. Any aspect of policy is up for debate at any time. Though we often defer to the wisdom of our Matriarchs."
"God, it can't be that simple," Ashley remarked. "Sure as hell wouldn't work with humans."
"What about Quarians? Did they have the same problems?" Kaidan continued. Tali perked up quickly, noticing she was still included.
"Oh! Well, our people unified much earlier in our history relative to yours. Back before our people had firearms. Mostly, it was a diplomatic unification, though some required militaristic enforcement. But our people also never had too much of a problem with strict authoritarianism. We're too argumentative and prone to debate for that. As for pollution, Rannoch is an arid world. Its plants were hardy, but we had to be careful with them. And we depended greatly upon the seas for food, as well as our other farming and cattle," she explained happily. "So, it was a short-lived and hastily corrected problem. Perhaps it was the need to limit ourselves until we had cleaner alternatives that kept us from becoming space-faring for so long."
"Heh, weird how that is, huh? We kinda need to screw around a bit till we figure out what works best, and just hope we don't fuck things up too much for us to quickly find our feet," I chuckled. "Speaking of fuck ups, we have to find a VI's off-switch. We can enjoy the view more later." I hopped off the top of the Mako, almost momentarily disoriented by the fact I didn't fall as quickly as my body expected. Lead everyone back inside of the Mako and began driving towards the ridgeline that the training facility rested atop of. Good thing the Mako climbs like it does.
We reached the top of the ridge and the entrance to the training facility awaited in front of us. The Alliance logo emblazoned above the door. The shuttle bay was on the left and closed down, as we already knew. I parked the Mako just outside the entrance and turned the Mako's engine and drive core off.
"Everyone out, into the airlock," I ordered. Everyone did just that. As the airlock finished pressurizing and providing an atmosphere, Ashley moved to remove her helmet. "Leave it on, Williams. Part of the training here involves toxic gases. Leave your helmets on, suits sealed, you'll be fine." Ashley removed her hands and readied her weapon, as did everyone. The door opened, revealing the main lobby. From here one could access the armory, where trainees would prepare, as well as the quarters of the more permanent crew and instructors, and the shuttle bay. Many of the normally white walls were pockmarked with bullet holes. There were also two bodies, civilians. One slumped over the greeting desk, another in a corner. Dead awhile, but nothing to decompose them. I made my way over to the desk and attempted to enter the facility's systems. Maybe get a damage report. Or something.
"Damn, locked out. Attempting a bypass…" I grumbled. Ugh. "No use. Damn VI is countering me. Alright, we're going to head down through maintenance to get to the VI core and shut it down. Careful, the drones could be anywhere. Alenko, you mark any bodies we come across. Make it easier for them to be found." Kaidan nodded, and I lead the others towards maintenance, which, fortunately, was both still marked on the walls, as well as in the map we had been given by Hackett. We turned the last corner that would take us down, and… the hell?
"Uh… we are all seeing the same thing, right?" Tali questioned. One of the Combat drones was still flying in the air just in front of us. But it was repeatedly ramming itself into the wall. The wall was clearly dented, and the barrel was starting to dent.
"Seems the VI is having problems," Wrex murmured. I aimed my rifle and fired a small burst, taking the drone down.
"All the better for us," I remarked. I lead the squad through the next door to the lower levels. Seems maintenance doubles as storage. While there were power couplings coming out of some walls, and some of them having been cut, there were also stacks of crates in corners or the middle. And another corpse slumped against one. This one was a marine. Woman, fully armored, but riddled with bullet holes.
"Must be more drones around here somewhere. Techs, get ready to short em out. Biotics, either give us barriers, or hold em still. They're jittery little bastards," I ordered. The techs kept their Omni-tools ready while the Biotics began glowing blue. Kaidan, of course, did both. I lead them around another corner into a larger room. More crates stacked around, and a destroyed turret on the ground.
"I hear something… whirring," Wrex muttered.
"Drones, get to cover," I spoke quietly, letting us all get in position, trying not to get any of us stressed by shouting so early. The lot of us began doing just that, taking cover where we could. I listened closely, the whirring was getting closer, louder. And then a swarm of over a dozen drones burst in from the next room, guns already blazing. But our tech attacks had already been primed and unleashed amongst the swarm. Overloads arcing between targets in addition to gunfire being poured towards them. I noticed my shields taking hits and got down before they collapsed, content with just blind-firing around where the drones were last I saw. I heard some explode, heard others crash. And soon, the whirring was all gone.
"Status," I requested. Each member of the team checked in. All accounted for, not wounded. "Good, let's keep moving. We got a bit farther to go till we reach the core.
"Commander, my suit is detecting toxins in the air. They weren't present earlier," Tali informed as we started walking in the direction the drones came from.
"Must be the VI trying to stop us. Well, it'll soon learn that won't matter much. Keep moving," I responded. We continued. Passing a few more corners before the VI decided to throw more drones at us. More than last time, but Wrex still heard them early, and we were ready. Gotta love Krogan hearing. But then, as the last drone collapsed, both the way forward and the way back became blocked by kinetic barriers. I chuckled.
"Doing it this way, huh? Yeah, it'll only take a minute. Garrus, Kaidan, scan around for wires. Find em, pull em. Tali, see if you have better luck than I hacking in. Maybe you can shut em off. Rest of you, with me. I'm going to test the barrier a bit." Everyone followed their orders, and I stood in front of the Kinetic barrier alongside Ashley, Wrex, and Liara. I pulled out my pistol and took a few shots, experimenting. It didn't appear to do anything.
"Wrex, Liara, can you use your biotics to open the barrier? Negate its mass effect field?" I asked.
"Haven't tried that before," Wrex shrugged. He and Liara focused their biotics and got up against the barrier. They glowed blue and attempted to push through. Liara appeared to be struggling with it a bit, but I think Wrex was making a hole. A small one. Too small. He grumbled and pulled his arms out. "Not gonna work."
"Alright, let's just see what happens when we all shoot the damn thing," I remarked, pulling out my rifle. Wrex got his shotgun back out, Williams readied her rifle, and Liara, her pistol. We opened fire. The barrier was starting to flicker. But then, both lights, and the barrier died. The night vision of our suits allowed us to still see.
"Think I pulled the right wires," Garrus chuckled on the comms.
"Yeah, I'd say so. Everyone, regroup. Push comes to shove looks like we can just shoot the barriers," I ordered. Soon enough, Tali, Garrus, and Kaidan had re-joined the group, and we pushed forward. We're getting close. The VI just wasn't giving up, and we ended up shooting our way through another pair of Kinetic barriers, and one more room full of drones. A biotic detonation thanks to Liara and Kaidan took out most of them from the get-go, and the rest were mopped up with ease. Finally, we came to the VI core. Monitors were smashed, but the important hardware was still intact. Including the heavy metal switch that would activate the failsafe. Physically slicing through the power cables providing the VI with energy. This would allow safe and thorough dismantling of the core.
There was also one final drone. It was ramming itself against the switches, occasionally shooting at them, as if trying to make it so that the failsafe could not be activated. Upon our entry into the room, it got faster. It's as if… the VI is fighting, desperately, to remain online. Well, it killed people, and it's still a VI. We're shutting it down. But…
Gunfire rang out, and the drone collapsed. The room still hummed from the sound of the VI core and its systems. The crew holstered their weapons. I approached the switch and gripped it tightly. Then our comm channels burst with almost deafening static. Everyone put their hands to their ears, groaning or shouting in pain. I tried to change comm frequency, several times, but the noise wouldn't leave. Well, I know one way to get rid of it. Fighting through the ear-splitting pain, I gripped the switch again. Pulled it back revealing a cylinder, and then turned the handle ninety degrees, slowly, given its weight, and then pushed it back in. I then pressed the final button beside it. The noise vanished, and the lights of the VI core flickered, and died.
"Fucking hell," Wrex groaned.
"Keelah… Was that the VI?" Tali questioned, her head lowered, holding it in one hand. I was about to respond, but my Omni-tool got pinged. I checked it.
"The hell? I'm getting a series of binary code here. Apparently, it came from that god-awful noise," I muttered. "Hang on, translating to English." I ran it through a binary converter quickly, head still pounding. "Well, that's fucking eerie," I murmured. "It just says, 'Help.' Repeating it, over, and over."
"It was asking for help? Impossible, this was a VI, not an AI," Tali responded.
"Maybe someone sabotaged it. Turned it into one?" Ashley suggested.
"It's… possible. But, why?" Kaidan mused.
"No idea. I'll be sure to include it in my report to Hackett. He can investigate." I holster my weapon. "Come on, back to the Mako. There's a place I want to visit before we get back to the ship."
"Sir?" Ashley asked, wondering.
"You'll see." I lead them all back to the Mako, waiting just outside, and we got situated. I checked the map, and was pleased to see that we were, indeed, not far away. About fifteen minutes later, we crested the edge of one final crater, and our destination was seen, just below. The landing site of Apollo 11.
"There she is," I grinned. Feeling a bit excited. It's not uncommon for people to come see this place in person, I just hadn't gotten the chance yet. The landing module of the Eagle, the reflective cover that was left there, as well as the flagpole and flag. Normally, the flag would be blank thanks to solar radiation, but ever since space travel, and lunar travel, became so common, it gets replaced whenever it starts to fade.
"What is it, Shepard?" Tali asked curiously. I continued driving closer. I answered her, by informing everyone.
"Crew, we are coming upon the Apollo 11 landing site. Where man first set foot on the moon."
"Normally I thought I'd need to save up a bunch of credits for this kind of sightseeing. Instead, all we had to do was take out a VI," Kaidan chuckled.
"I think that's one of the perks of working with a Spectre," I remarked.
"Ha! Yeah, go on a mission, find a new vacation destination," Ashley joked. I pulled up and stopped the Mako a few yards out from the lunar lander. Following everyone else out. Garrus almost immediately began to inspect the lander itself.
"Looks rugged. How-" he began.
"It was centuries ago, Vakarian," Ashley grumbled. Hold on, relax, let him finish. Garrus paused.
"How quickly was this put together? Turians were relaxed with our first space-flights. Our designs were more streamlined, looked strong, Turian. This is well made, just rushed. I was going to ask why it may have been rushed," he explained, defended, a bit annoyed.
"The Space race, Garrus. Here, for a date, look at this plaque," I stated. I lead him, Tali and Liara following, to the plaque on one of the lander's legs. "Here, men from Earth first set foot upon the moon. July 1969 A.D. We came in peace, for all mankind," I read. "1969. Humanity only had our first airplane sixty years prior. Two world wars were fought within that time. And in the sixties, we were in the middle of the cold war. No actual fighting, but it was an arms race. A technological race. Between America, and the Soviet Union. Russia and China, mostly. Capitalism vs. Communism. The space race was part of that. Soviets got the first man into space, we one-upped them. Beat them to Mars as well. Hm, that is if you count a private American Company instead of the American Space Agency. Heh, Elon Musk was something fucking else," I chuckled. "Madman sent a fucking car, with a mannequin, blasting an old song into space alongside his rockets. Rockets that were the first to successfully land in order to be re-used."
"A human private company did that?" Garrus seemed skeptical.
"Not joking. Elon Musk ran Space-X, which got us to Mars. He ran a few other companies that were basically the funding for it. Tesla, made electric cars efficient back during our energy crisis, though it didn't exactly transition quickly. And he also had 'The Boring Company,' which was a bit more… fun. Dug a tunnel under Los Angeles to use as transportation because the traffic was so bad. Even built and sold motherfucking flamethrowers for the hell of it," I chuckled.
"Ha! I think I'd have liked that Human," Wrex laughed.
"I think I would have too. So, back to Apollo. Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin. First guys to step foot here. Riiiight…" I murmured as I looked for the spot. There it is, Neil's footprint, still perfectly preserved, is now encased in a clear container so that it won't be disturbed. Next to it, however, people can size themselves up. That's where I stepped. "Here. One small step for man, one giant leap, for mankind." I quoted dramatically.
"That's a very large foot," Tali remarked. Ashley, Kaidan, and myself burst into laughter.
"Only because of the massive fucking space-suits they had to wear. Here, a picture," I quickly opened my Omni-tool and pulled a picture from the extranet.
"I think I like my suit better," Tali muttered. So do I… Wait, down boy. Stop. I let anyone else who wanted compare with Neil, and before long, when I noticed our suits Oxygen supplies were starting to get on the low side, I ordered everyone back to the Mako, and back to the ship.
Commander John Shepard
I couldn't get it out of my head. That VI was calling for help. From what I know, that's not something a VI should be able to do. Hackett was just as surprised from my report but had nothing to add. Anyways, someone had to have changed the VI. But, again, who, and why? And what if it just happened on its own? Making a VI smart enough, even without giving it personality, that it gains sentience? I mean, that's what happened with the Geth, isn't it? Networked intelligence got to a point that they rebelled. Hm, I can only think of one person to best answer questions about the Geth.
It was getting late into our night cycle, but she should either be finishing up her time in engineering or getting to bed. So, I pinged her with a message. Tali, if you're still awake, come by my quarters when you get a minute. I have some questions I think you can help me answer. I modified the message so that if she was asleep, it wouldn't disturb her. We could just end up talking in the morning after all. So, I waited a few minutes, grabbing and opening a beer from my stash, taking a few small swigs. Just as I was about to shrug it off and go to bed myself, there was a knock on my door, and I called for them to enter. Tali strode in, giving a small wave of her three-fingered hand.
"Sorry for the wait, Shepard. I was helping Adams in one of the maintenance ducts," she explained.
"That's fine, Tali. Wouldn't have minded if I had to wait till tomorrow. Go ahead, take a seat," I gestured towards the other chair. "I'd offer you a drink, but the only thing on this ship right now you can drink, is water. Even if you were levo," I chuckled.
"Please, there's no need, Shepard. I'm fine," she reassured, nodding her head forward.
"Suit yourself. Heh… Pun not intentional," I chuckled again. "I'm sure you've only heard that one about a billion times."
"First time, actually. That's not a phrase among my people," she, I believe, smirked.
"Huh. Go figure," I shrugged, and took another sip of my beer. "So, anyways, the questions." I leaned forward and rest my arms on the table, hands clasped. "I want to know more about the Geth. Not so much the history of the war, rather, the Geth themselves. How they work." She cocked her head to the side.
"Is this about the VI earlier?"
"It is. I'm concerned. Maybe someone changed it, maybe it got smart on its own, being pumped full of military tactics like it was. So, I think I need to know more about how the Geth got to their own sentience," I answered.
"I think I might be able to give you answers. Information on the Geth is something my people practically hoard ever since our exile. As I'm sure you know, they were created to serve as an automated manual labor force. Their intelligence was as limited as any VI. Over time, we made small modifications to their programming to allow them to perform more complex tasks, bringing them closer and closer to true AI status. But, being someone skilled in tech yourself, you know the gap between VI and AI is not so simple to cross. VI are driven solely by stimulus-response, all of which are pre-programmed, even though the stimulus' can be made more general. While an AI not only requires the capacity to learn, but to have an awareness of self. Individuality. In that final regard, the Geth are still lacking." I nodded along as I listened. There was just something about her voice… made it very pleasing to listen to.
"And the problem came when you allowed for their networked intelligence?" I asked to clarify. Tali nodded in response as she continued.
"Precisely. Up until then, the changes were so insignificant, so gradual, that we thought we could control them. We underestimated the power of their neural network. A million Geth thinking together, simultaneously, created an inherently unstable matrix."
"Did you know so many were thinking together?"
"Certainly not. We had believed that the Geth only networked with those within the same facility. We couldn't detect their interactions beyond. As we built more, and more connected, their effective intelligence became more sophisticated and abstract. One day, a Geth unit began to ask its Quarian overseer existential questions. 'Does this Unit have a soul,' is one they often asked. As you can imagine, this caused a near-panic among my people," Tali explained. How couldn't it? Out of the blue, the simple VI's were asking philosophical questions. "If they were self-aware, independent, and intelligent, then we were essentially using them as slaves. And as with any sentient species, they would see themselves in slavery, resent their masters, and rebel against their situation. It was inevitable. Imminent, perhaps, that they would rise up. We acted first." Maybe it's just the time of day, but, I began musing philosophically myself. "A general order went across all of Quarian space to permanently deactivate all Geth. They responded violently. I took a moment to muse.
"Hm… You ever wonder, what if the Quarians hadn't done that? If instead they had opened dialogue?" I asked. One of her eyes behind the mask squinted, while the other got larger and her head tilted to the side. A look of confusion.
"What? No, I can't say that I have. I doubt it would have made much difference," she answered.
"Just playing devil's advocate. Musing a bit," I reassured. "I can certainly understand the Quarian's fears. Back then, I can't really blame the Geth for self-defense. Now though, obviously, aggression." My reassurances seemed to help Tali relax a bit more with my musing. If anyone is going to be sensitive about Geth, it's Quarians.
"Still, we had no other choice. Like I said, revolt was inevitable. We hoped to end the war before it began." In general, that's not a philosophy I normally agree with. That being said…
"Don't get me wrong. One way or another, the Geth went too far. Simply declaring independence would not have required the razed worlds and destroyed cities, schools, hospitals, everything. Your people are, indeed, the victims here. It's one thing for me to philosophically sit here, musing if your Ancestors could have made a different choice with a different, more positive outcome, but it's another to think that it's truly their fault. Let alone the fault of any living Quarian today. One should absolutely never need to pay for the actions of their ancestors. And, like I said, the actions of your ancestors anyway, are justifiable," I explained my thoughts. Tali took a deep breath to calm herself.
"Thank you, Shepard. I'm sorry for getting a bit worked up. The Geth are a sensitive issue for us."
"No thanks, or apologies, necessary." I smiled.
"No, Shepard. I do need to thank you and apologize. You've been incredibly kind and generous to me, and far more accommodating than necessary. To make you the victim of an outburst would be shameful. A Hraxa to Clan Zorah," she stated firmly.
"A Hraxa?"
"Oh, I guess that didn't translate, she suddenly became meeker, and chuckled awkwardly. She thought for a moment. "An insult to my clan's honor. Normally it's only something one clan can do to another, but occasionally, the actions of one clan member have shamed and insulted the rest."
"Harsh," I whistled. "Well, I can assure you. You caused no insult, and I knew exactly what kind of minefield I was getting into bringing up the Geth," I joked to reassure her. She seemed grateful for it again, and chuckled. "So, find any ideas for a good Pilgrimage gift out here so far?" The topic change took her by surprise, just for a moment, and her head tilted to the side as it set in.
"Oh? Oh! Well, I need something bigger and better than what is normally brought back on Pilgrimage. There's a lot expected of me," she revealed. I raised a brow.
"Oh? Why's that?"
"It's my father, Admiral Rael Zorah, senior member of the Admiralty board. I'm his only child."
"Oh! I remember noticing you had the same Clan name but didn't know how close the relation was. Starting to think I should salute you, heir to his seat on the Admiralty board, your highness," I teased. Tali caught on that I was joking and laughed.
"Ancestors, me? Serving on the Admiralty board? No, never," she laughed a bit more. "But…" she began as she calmed back down. "Back to the pilgrimage. While officially, I'm exactly the same as any other citizen, but the way society views someone or something, seems to rarely be what the official view is. I'm treated differently because of who my father is. While I know I had some advantages growing up, it's not all good. Powerful people like my father have enemies. Some of those enemies are not above using me to get to him. Never anything open or violent, thankfully, but subtler… manipulations," she sighed sadly. "Like blowing some stupid childhood mistake lightyears out of proportion." Internally, I bristled at the thought of some jackasses trying to pull that. Maybe I should take their masks off and 'accidentally' sneeze or cough.
"Sorry you've had to deal with that kind of bullshit." Tali just shrugged.
"My people place a high value on family and ancestry. There's an unspoken expectation I'll live up to my father's example. They're waiting for me to do something that could change our lives for the better. And, unfortunately, I don't think they'll care much about the mission. Insular society."
"That's unfair. They should pay it some mind," I grumbled.
"Our biggest dream is to reclaim Rannoch. Even if we stop Saren, that won't happen. Though I do think I could find some sort of information on how the Geth have evolved that we could use to one day help reclaim our world. Someday," she allowed a hint of pride and hope to shine through.
"We'll find something," I nodded. Tali tilted her head to the side again, a light in her eyes, in more than the literal sense, that made me think she was smiling. "So, what's your father like?" She glanced down for just a moment, a flash. Was I about to regret asking?
"Even before he joined the board he was a prominent figure. People looked to him for leadership. He had to set an example, and he expected the same of his daughter. Plus, him being a military man through and through, there was some of the military strictness."
"Both my parents were military too. When it came to my behavior, they were strict, but when it came to what I wanted to do with my life, how I performed in life, they were perfectly happy so long as I was happy and tried."
"That sounds like mother…" Tali stated quietly. A hint of sadness, I think. "I know I sometimes felt like he was pushing me too hard when I was a kid, but now I'm old enough to appreciate what he taught me. The universe owes us nothing, and if we want something, we have to earn it."
"Also doesn't mean a parent shouldn't give unconditional love and support to their child," I argued.
"That… does sound nice…" she sighed. Damn it, now I want to punch her father.
"Are you close with him?" I asked hesitantly.
"He's not the kind of person you bond with. He wasn't around all that much. Too busy. Damn it now I want to punch him harder. A parent should always make time for their kid. "He takes his duties very seriously. Even when he was around, he was always distant, his mind elsewhere. Come to think of it…" she lowered her head again. "I can't even remember seeing him smile. Not once. Weighed down by that responsibility." See him smile? Does she mean that literally, or do the Admiralty get clean rooms for private quarters?
"What about your mother?"
"Well, everyone tends to blend into the background around my father," she strained a chuckle, and messed with her hood a little, awkwardly. "She was very supportive, loving, caring. And she was so beautiful. Members of the Admiralty board, the quarters for their family are a clean room. Whenever there, my mother refused to ever wear her suit, instead using a more traditional dress. Father and I did so less, but I still remember her doing small things with me often. Brushing my hair, teaching me to braid hers. Mother-daughter things," she chuckled again, but this time longingly. "She… passed on, five years ago. An airborne virus swept through the fleet. It happens sometimes when the filters break down." My heart sank for her. The parent that now, I'm looking at as the only true parent she had, died tragically. "Father only became even more focused on his work…" Goddamnit, my heart just sank further. If there was any time where she needed her father, it was then. And he wasn't able to give that to her.
"I know what it's like to lose a parent…" I sighed. I then stood and walked over to my desk and grabbed the metal star off it. I returned to my seat and held it up. "It's my Star of Terra. The medal they gave me after the Skyllian Blitz. Do you know why I was on Elysium on the first place?" I asked. Tali shook her head no.
"Weeks earlier, was Akuze. I was there on psychological leave, trying to recover. My father took leave to be there with me. We had just returned to our hotel from a bar when it began. Got armed, armored, and went to reinforce a weak fortification. One of the gun emplacements. I had the gun, dad covered me. For hours we were there, repelling feints and probing attacks, all the way to the full assault. Eventually, we were the only ones left there. But we held. He died in my arms that day, just as the pirates were retreating…" I recounted slowly. In one big gulp, I downed what remained of my beer. "Seems we got a good deal in common, you and I. Raised military, raised in space, good with tech and engines. And this shit…" Tali's shoulders slumped. She leaned forward, her hand reaching across. Gently grabbing mine. The material of her glove felt more or less like what you'd expect. A more loose, flexible material around her finger joints, and a harder, more leather like material around the palm. Obviously not actual leather, but, something.
"Shepard… I'm sorry," she whispered.
"Don't be. I'm sorry for your loss, you're sorry for mine, it's even. We'll call it even," I looked up at her with a half grin. We remained there for a small while longer. Just as I noticed her thumb had gently been rubbing the back of my hand. She yawned and raised both her hands up in a stretch. My eyes, very quickly, ran along her length, and I immediately chastised myself again. Hm, seems that even yawns can be contagious across species. Because I then yawned myself.
"Alright, Tali," I spoke, still at the end of my yawn. "I think it's about time we both got some sleep. Goodnight. See you in the morning."
"Goodnight, Shepard."
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Several things I just need to note here for y'all. The Luna VI's name is, indeed, Hannibal. That's something mentioned both by Miranda and EDI in ME2. I checked the Wiki. It's Binary message does indeed translate to 'HELP.' I also hope you enjoy my change to the Alliance training facility. Felt that this makes a whole lot more sense than three separate bunker-like structures at the top of a lunar hill. Next, the stuff I said about Ol' Musky is legitimate, as were the details about the Apollo 11 site. The plaque, lander, and the discarded foil. Obviously, I can't be right about the replaced flag or the encased footprint. Finally, Tali's description of a Hraxa, is another thing from Calinstel's series. So, credit to him for that expanded Quarian language. Anyways, that's all. Thanks, hope you enjoyed, and remember, I'll see y'all either April 2nd, or more likely, April 6th. Sorry for the Hiatus, but if it's any consolation, that will be the beginning of my spring break, so I'll be ready and rearing to go grind through some chapters.
