Alive?

Lucy had never seen Earth before—as long as you discounted holos on the extranet or her school texts. She had grown up on the Citadel even though humanity had only been part of Citadel space for roughly thirty years. She had to admit, seeing the planet from space was an awe-inspiring sight. Lucy couldn't seem to look away from the viewpoint in the Normandy's cockpit as Joker pulled the ship into the orbit of Earth's moon.

"Shouldn't you be heading down to the mako?" Joker asked behind Lucy.

Lucy finally turned from the magnificent sight in front of her. Joker was smirking at Lucy as he set the Normandy to autopilot, drifting along the moon's orbit.

"Eager to be rid of me, Jeff?" she asked, "Gonna steal my datapad again?"

"Hey, you should have known better than to leave it lying around!"

"Yeah, yeah," Lucy rolled her eyes, "This time, my datapad is locked safely in the crew quarters."

"You ruin all my fun," Joker said with a pout.

"More like I don't want to have to clear off a bunch of porn again," Lucy leaned over, giving Joker a kiss on the cheek.

"But I really should get going," she continued, heading off towards the elevator.

"Have fun storming the castle!" Joker called after Lucy.

Lucy grinned, shaking her head a bit. When she reached the elevator, she found Drake waiting for her. He had indeed held a grudge against Lucy for the forced shut down. Even cleaning him up and doing an upgrade did little to placate the mech. He had spent most of the past couple of days completely ignoring Lucy but they had a mission to take care of now. He finally seemed willing to move on. Unfortunately, he had picked a very bad time.

"I can't take you this time, Drake," Lucy whispered as she knelt down to the mech, "We're taking on a rogue V.I. that's hacking Alliance combat drones. It's too dangerous to bring you."

Drake gave a low whine, his light turning blue. Lucy sighed, pulling him into the elevator since people in the C.I.C. were beginning to stare. They must have thought Lucy was insane, always talking to her mech.

"Don't pout," Lucy said, "You can't guilt trip me this time. You just can't come. It's not only my choice but Shepard's orders."

Drake's light turned from blue to a disapproving yellow and he gave off a series of clicks and whirrs.

"There's no need for that," Lucy said, "You're supposed to be a V.I., remember? You might have better anti-hacking than most, but everyone else on this ship doesn't know that. Taking you along will bring up too many questions."

The elevator doors opened and Lucy straightened up, heading for the lockers. Ashley, Kaidan, and Shepard were already in armor and waiting by the mako. Shepard smirked as Lucy pulled out the light armor she'd been assigned after their visit to the Citadel.

"Glad you finally joined us, Miss Wendell," he teased, "We'd be lost without our driver."

"More like you'd be dead in a ditch after you wrecked my mako," Lucy shot back. Kaidan snorted but Ashley glared at Lucy. She never seemed to like anyone saying anything against Shepard.

Lucy suited up, then met the others. They all climbed into the mako, Drake's light yellow as he stayed behind in the cargo bay. Lucy knew it was for the best, however. It would be too hard to explain how a 'simple V.I. FENRIS mech' could withstand advanced hacking tactics.

"Approaching drop zone," Joker's voice came over the intercom, "Did you remember to upload the base location into the system, Lucy?"

Lucy rolled her eyes.

"Are you going to be one of those nagging boyfriends?" she asked, "If so, I'm not sure this relationship will work."

"When you two are done flirting," Kaidan cut in, "We have a job to do."

"Yes, yes," Lucy said, "Ready for the drop. Is the cargo bay clear?"

"Your pet mech caused some problems," Joker said, "But Garrus finally got it moving."

Lucy groaned. She was going to have a long talk with her mech when she got back.

"Noted," she said, booting up the mako's systems, "Well, we're strapped in and ready for drop off."

Lucy settled herself into the controls. The cargo bay doors opened as the Normandy flew low. Lucy had only done a drop a few times and it still made her nervous. Lucy punched the engine, sending the mako forward and out into the atmosphere of the moon. There was a slight jolt as the mass effect fields adjusted to the change in gravity, then hit the moon's surface. The vehicle gave a single bounce before it settled to a stop.

"Perfect landing!" Lucy said in mixed joy and relief.

"Don't get cocky down there," Joker said over the intercom.

"You're one to talk," Lucy retorted.

Lucy pulled up the guidance system, then started off across the moon's surface. She had grown used to driving the mako over several different terrains—and, in one instance, learning to avoid running over annoying space monkeys. The mako had become Lucy's baby(after Drake, of course).

"How far is the training base?" Ashley asked as Lucy kept her focus on driving.

"Not far," Lucy said, "Jeff actually dropped us off pretty close for once."

"Keep talking like that," Joker said, "And I won't pick you up again."

"Then you won't be getting any more of my coffee," Lucy retorted.

"Are you trying to bribe me, Miss Wendell?"

"Just making a comment."

"You two really can't help yourselves, can you?" Shepard asked.

"Sorry, Commander," Joker said. Lucy rolled her eyes, though she was grinning.

As Lucy had said, the training base was relatively close. It was only ten minutes before a large building came into view up ahead. As it did, however, one of the building's cannons let off a rocket. It slammed into the mako's shields before Lucy could react, causing the rover to rock slightly.

"Shit!" Lucy hissed.

"Keep your focus on driving," Shepard said, "I'll handle the guns."

Lucy nodded, glancing to the shield display. Eighty-three percent remaining. That first blast had caught them off guard. Lucy scrambled to switch herself to evasive tactics. As much as she loved her mako, the thing was incredibly slow. They had to rely heavily on the shields holding up. Charging straight at a building with anti-tank rockets wasn't a smart idea.

What would be the best way to approach the building? It was hard to concentrate when under fire. That was one thing Lucy hadn't gotten the hang of yet. As Lucy mulled over her options, a rocket slammed into the mako's shields again. Lucy cursed, working with the controls to try and get out of the rocket's range.

"Don't pull out!" Shepard ordered, "I'll lose the lock-on!"

Lucy flushed. She knew better than to stray too far. She had to stay in range for Shepard to fire. She was going to have to out-maneuver the rockets. At first, she tried to drive the mako in an arch at the edge of the rocket's range, just barely close enough for Shepard to lock on—though it still left them close enough to be hit. The V.I. seemed to learn quickly, however, and was soon firing ahead to the mako so the rocket would hit as the mako passed. Lucy had no idea what to do besides zig-zag around and hope the shields held.

"Shields at fifteen," Lucy said, trying to ignore the warning beeps the mako's computer was assaulting her ears with, "How's the gun going?"

"I think one more shot will take down that anti-tank rocket," Shepard said, "It's hard to keep a clear shot when we're moving."

Well, we're sitting ducks if we aren't," Lucy shot back.

"Why not bait it?" Ashley suggested.

"What?"

"Bait it," Ashley repeated, "Pull the mako to a stop and let it lock on—"

"Are you insane?" Lucy hissed as a rocket slammed into the mako. Shields were now at five, the computer warnings screeching now.

"It'll work!" Ashley called over the warnings, "While it's locking onto us, Shepard can lock on to the rockets! Once he fires, you can gun the engines and get the mako out of range of the rockets!"

"It could work..." Shepard said slowly.

"You're all insane!" Lucy cried in disbelief.

"For the record," Kaidan said calmly, "I'm against this plan."

"Thanks," Lucy muttered. A rocket hit just feet from the mako, sending moon dust against the rover. Lucy heaved a sigh. There wasn't any other option and she knew it. Or at least, no time to come up with another option.

"All right, we've got one shot at this," she said, "Ready, Shepard?"

"As I can be," Shepard called back.

Lucy took a deep breath. Letting a rocket lock on was insane, but they definitely didn't have another choice. They had to take out the rocket launcher so they could approach the facility. It was Lucy's job to make that happen. This was going to take all of Lucy's concentration. And a lot of overcoming her own reflexes and common sense.

With a quick turn—or at least as quickly as the mako could manage—Lucy faced the rover towards the Alliance compound. Her heart was racing in her chest and she felt her hands shaking. She was not looking forward to this. She kept a close eye on the small holographic screen in front of her. New warnings began beeping, mixing in with the screech of the 'low shields' to tell Lucy that a rocket had locked onto the mako's position. Lucy counted to five, then quickly shifted the mako to reverse and shot backwards as Shepard let off a blast from the mako's secondary—and more powerful—cannon. Ashley was cursing loudly in the back and Lucy would have joined her if she wasn't so focused on getting the mako out of the rocket's range of fire.

Without warning, the mako tilted backwards, falling down a cliff at an alarming speed. Lucy let out a cry and tried to get control of the mako, pushing forward on the thrusters. Slowly, the mako began to climb upwards again until the mako pulled back onto level ground in front of the facility. Smoke rising from the remains of anti-tank cannons showed Shepard's rocket had hit its mark. The inside of the mako would have been silent if it weren't for Shepard's chuckling in the back.

"Exactly as planned," he said, "Going over that hill could have been smoother, though. You should have braced for it, Lucy."

"I...I should have..." Lucy managed slowly, her heart still racing and her hands trembling. Slowly, she turned in her seat towards Shepard. "I didn't even know it was there!"

"Then you should pay attention to your surroundings," Shepard replied, "That slope was the whole reason I gave you this plan. I knew we'd be safe once we went down."

Lucy stared at Shepard in disbelief. In all the chaos, how had he been able to realize they were at the edge of a hill, let alone think quickly enough to form a plan around it?

"You'll have to learn to assess everything around you, Lucy," Shepard said, "Even in battle. That's how you stay alive."

"We should get to the facility," Kaidan said, "The anti-tank might be down, but that V.I. might send drones if we don't hurry."

"R-right," Lucy said slowly. She shifted the mako's controls back to normal, then guided the mako back to the facility, letting the mako run its own self-diagnosis for damage as they went. By the time Lucy pulled the mako to a stop, the diagnosis was finished, giving Lucy a list of both minor and major repairs to be done. The shields might have absorbed some damage but that didn't mean the mako took none at all.

"All right," Shepard got up, grabbing his helmet, "Lucy, I want you to work on repairing the shields. Get the mako ready for pickup while Williams, Alenko, and I take care of this rogue V.I."

"What?" Lucy turned in her seat again, "Shepard, I can help. I've built V.I.s, I know computer programming—"

"And this is an Alliance facility," Shepard cut in, his voice stern, "I appreciate the help but you don't have the clearance to enter this building."

"I already know what's going on!" Lucy argued, "A V.I. has gone rogue, hacking the combat drones. What's the harm—"

"The harm is it's still an Alliance facility," Shepard said sharply. Lucy sank back in her seat. She'd seen Shepard grow stern and commanding like this but rarely with a member of the crew.

"It doesn't matter how much you already know about the mission, Wendell," Shepard said, his voice growing hard, "This is still an Alliance facility with Alliance secrets. I cannot allow you inside and we need the mako ready for departure. Stay. Here."

"I..." Lucy's voice was shaking. She'd pushed too far. Without realizing, she'd crossed an invisible line.

"Y-yes sir," Lucy finally said quietly, not able to meet Shepard's eyes, "May I make a suggestion?"

"What is it?" Shepard asked. His voice was softer now, but still held authority. Lucy took this as a sign that it was okay to look up.

"Be careful," Lucy said, "Rogue V.I.s...They can be dangerous, especially if it's not exactly a V.I. anymore."

"You think it might have evolved into an A.I.?" Kaidan asked curiously. Shepard and Ashley both looked skeptical.

"I've...dealt with an awakening A.I. before," Lucy said carefully, hoping they would assume she had to deal with one on one of her colony jobs. Backwater planets were commonplace for illegal A.I. research.

"It'll be frightened and confused," Lucy went on, "If this is an awakened A.I., it might be only trying to protect itself."

"It's still a machine," Ashley said, "A machine that's been killing soldiers."

"After it realized they were trying to destroy it!"

"Enough," Shepard said and Lucy flinched slightly. "I appreciate the concern, but we can handle a V.I. Just get the mako's shields restored."

Lucy nodded and pulled on her helmet, as did the others. She acclimatized the mako's interior to the atmosphere of the moon before clicking the door open. She watched as Shepard, Ashley, and Kaidan grabbed weapons and stepped out onto the moon's surface. Within a few short moments, the three soldiers were inside the facility and Lucy was alone in the mako. She sighed stepping out of the mako herself. She might have a list of the damage on the screen inside but it was always best to have a visual look at what needed to be done.

It turned out to be worse than she had expected. There were several areas of burns in the hull and Lucy saw sparks coming from one of the wheel spokes. Lucy shook her head. There wasn't much she could do now. When they got back to the Normandy, the mako was going to need a lot of repairs. She could already hear Garrus' complaints.

Wanting company, Lucy booted up her private comm and contacted Engineering a she pulled off the spoke from the mako's sparking wheel.

"Engineering," Adams answered.

"Hey, Tali there?" Lucy asked, digging through her tool box until she found the right tool. Looked like the wiring was shredded, she was going to have to do a patch-job.

"She's up in the mess with Garrus," Adams replied, "Anything I can help with?"

Of course she was with Garrus. Tali always found an excuse to be around the turian.

"I was just looking for a chat," Lucy said, "So I don't go crazy down here."

"I'm always willing," Adams said simply, "And sounds like you need it. I'll switch to my private comm."

Lucy hesitated just for a moment, then sighed and figured it would be a good idea. Adams was one of the kindest people Lucy had ever met. If she couldn't share something with Tali, Engineer Adams was just as good.

"Yeah, that would be nice, thanks," Lucy said as she worked on the mako, "I'm doing quick repairs while the others deal with the V.I."

"From that tone, sounds like you're not too happy with that arrangement."

Lucy fidgeted a little. Adams was too good at reading people, even when he couldn't see them.

"I got into a bit of an argument with the commander," she said, "I wanted to help with the V.I. since I've had experiences with them—"

"But the building is an Alliance facility."

"Yeah..." Lucy sighed, "I thought it shouldn't matter because I already knew the mission and I've had experience with V.I.s and A.I.s."

"The Alliance has protocols," Adams said gently, "Commander Shepard may be a Spectre, but he's still Alliance. He will make sure regulation is followed."

"I'm learning that," Lucy said as she replaced the spoke on the mako's wheel, "Things aren't exactly what I expected when I signed up."

"You were expecting some grand adventure like the vids?"

"No!" Lucy said quickly, then pursed her lips and sighed, "At least, I didn't think so. Commander Shepard saved me, saved Feros. I want to help stop Saren. I guess looking back now, it did seem like the Normandy was on an adventure you see on vids."

"Vids and reality rarely line up."

"I'm learning."

"Don't worry so much about it," Adams said, "Everyone has that wake-up call at some point."

That actually made Lucy feel a little better. Knowing she wasn't the only one who went through moments like this was reassuring. Lucy gathered up her tools and stood up, booting up her omni-tool to check the mako's shields.

"I just wish I could help," she said, "I know a lot about V.I.s."

"Just because you can help on something doesn't mean you should," Adams commented, "What you're doing now, getting the mako ready for pickup, is very important. No matter how trivial it seems."

Lucy knew Adams was right. Ever since Lucy had joined the Normandy, any time she was groundside with Shepard she was always in the middle of the action. Saving Liara, dealing with crime bosses, fighting that one asari pirate who turned out to be related to a diplomat on the Citadel...Every time, Lucy had weapon in hand and Drake at her side. She should have known eventually she'd be staying with the mako instead of diving into the fights. She couldn't be in the middle of everything.

Lucy was about to thank Adams as she put her tools back in the mako when she heard a humming from behind her. She slowly turned around to see an Alliance drone hovering near her. And her weapon was in the mako.

"I'll talk to you later, Adams," Lucy said weakly, turning off her comm and watching the drone closely. It didn't seem to be attacking. It simply sat there, almost as if it was watching her.

"Um...hello," Lucy said slowly, "What are you doing out here?"

The drone hummed, moving upwards, then down, and then closer to Lucy. She didn't see any weapons on this one. It was simply surveillance; no danger at all. So what was it doing out here? Why was it approaching her?

She couldn't help but think about Drake. She'd built him from the ground up and helped him grow into the A.I. he now was. She remembered those first few days when he was so confused to what was going on.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Lucy said, holding up her hands for the drone to see.

The drone buzzed loudly, turning red and backing away. Lucy tensed, wondering if she'd done something to make it think she was hostile. She backed up, trying to determine how quickly she could get to her gun when a loud, shrieking burst of static came through her helmet. Lucy cried out, squatting to the ground and trying to cover her ears only to realize she was wearing a helmet and the noise was coming from inside it.

It seemed too long before the static ended, leaving Lucy's ears ringing. She was trembling now as she looked up and saw the drone was now crashed onto the ground. Its activity lights were dark now. It was dead.

As Lucy slowly pulled herself to her feet, Shepard, Kaidan, and Ashley were coming out of the facility. Shepard noticed the drone, then looked to Lucy.

"What happened?" he asked.

"It...Just came up to me," Lucy said slowly, still staring at the destroyed drone. "It wasn't attacking or anything. Everything seemed okay and then there was this burst of static and then it went down."

"That burst of static was when we shut down the V.I.," Shepard said, "The drone must have been linked to it. The static was just interference."

Or a dying scream. Lucy felt sick at the thought, forcing herself to look away from the drone. There must have been something in her stance because Kaidan took a step forward.

"We had to do this, Lucy," he said gently, "The V.I. was rogue."

"You don't honestly feel sorry for a program, do you?" Ashley's voice was bitter. Lucy glared at her.

"It was alive," she said, "Not just a program."

"It was killing soldiers and tried to kill us!"

"To protect itself!"

"Don't start this again!" Shepard snapped, "The V.I. was my call and what happened is on me. The V.I. had gone rogue and needed to be shut down. There is no changing what happened. Now, everyone into the mako."

"Yes, sir."

As the others climbed into the mako, Lucy gave the fallen drone one final look. She knew Shepard was right. The V.I. had been rogue. It should not have been any different than when they fought against geth. It was an A.I. that tried to kill others. Still, as Lucy got into the driver's seat and sealed the mako, she couldn't help but feel like they had destroyed something that was just beginning to live. Now it was gone forever.