Chapter XIV
In the four months since the Citadel turned into ruins, the Keepers had been hard at work. At one point, their count had been over a thousand, but no one fully understood where they were coming from or where they went when their numbers dwindled. When Shepard read Engineer Daniels' email about a possible connection between the Keepers and the Mass Relays, she was immediately intrigued and invited both Engineer Daniels and Engineer Donnelly to come by her office at ten hundred hours.
"Good morning, Commander Shepard."
"Good morning, Daniels. Good morning, Donnelly," responded Shepard. "It's nice to see you."
"Likewise, Commander. We were extremely happy when we heard you had made it," replied Daniels.
"Thank you!"
"And happy that you and Major Alenko are finally officially together," continued Donnelly.
"Ken, I don't think the Commander has time for small talk."
"It's alright, Daniels. I did make a spectacle of myself kissing Kaidan like I did in front of everyone, but I hear congratulations are in order for you two."
"Huh, yes ma'am, thank you!"
"So when's the big day?"
"In fact, Commander, that's another reason we wanted to talk to you in person. We would be honoured if you could be the officiant at our wedding next week. We know it's very last minute and we understand if you can't make it, but you see, life's too short, and..."
Shepard made a slight gesture for Donnelly to stop talking.
"The honour will be mine."
"Really?"
"Yes, really!"
"Brilliant, Commander, this is pure dead brilliant!"
"Ok, now that that is settled," giggled Shepard, "what is the deal with the Keepers?"
"Yes, ma'am, as you know, we are part of the team working on rebuilding the Charon Relay. We were assigned to maximise the structural integrity of the gyroscopic rings. A few days ago, we noticed that a significant amount of unscheduled repairs were done to them," answered Donnelly.
"We have since determined that the Keepers are to thank for those repairs," continued Daniels.
"How is that possible? How did they get there?"
"We have no idea ma'am, but we know that the Relay is transmitting a high-frequency sound, and we believe that if we were to bring the Citadel closer to the Relay, more Keepers would help with the repairs," replied Donnelly.
This meant that the Charon Relay could be operational in a fraction of the time that was originally anticipated. Shepard asked that Daniels and Donnelly monitor the Keepers activities and study the possibility of amplifying the signal of neighbouring Relays. As soon as Daniels and Donnelly had left, Shepard sent out a memo to Hackett and the Council informing them of the new development. Just when Shepard was about to tackle the dozens of unopened emails in her inbox, Joker stepped in her office.
"Shepard, you look like you need a break."
"Do I?" said Shepard, looking at the time. "I think it's more like you want company for lunch."
"Well, now that you mention it, I am a little peckish, but if you're too busy to go eat with a friend, then..."
"Yeah, actually, I wanted to talk to you about something."
"Uh oh, what did I do now?"
"Nothing, I hope," responded Shepard teasingly. "How are you doing, you know, with EDI not being with us anymore?" continued Shepard in a more serious tone.
"Yeah, I'm taking it one day at a time, trying not to think about it too much."
"What if there was a way to bring her back?"
"Where are you going with this Shepard?" questioned Joker hesitatingly.
"Alright," said Shepard earnestly, "Tali found a backup of data that EDI stored in the processor of the Normandy. Tali thinks it's EDI's consciousness and she wants to try to revive her body with it, but first we wanted to check with you, to make sure that you would be OK with it."
"Are you kidding? Of course I'm OK with it," approved Joker in amazement. "Damn, she's a sly one. The idea didn't even occur to me, but it makes so much sense that EDI would have a contingency plan...Self-preservation and all."
"My thoughts exactly," agreed Shepard. "I'll give Tali the official seal of approval. Still want to go for lunch?"
"Yes, absolutely!"