Epilogue

"Tell me something Kelly, how long does it take to calibrate the Normandy's armaments?" Shepard asked from his private terminal. Kelly looked at him perplexed.

"My guess would be a few hours at most." Kelly replied.

"You hear that, Garrus? So what are you doing down there?" Shepard questioned with a grin.

"Where would the fun be in just spilling all my secrets, Shepard? Can't a turian have any privacy on the ship?" Garrus asked through the intercom on Shepard's terminal. "Oh wait, this is a Cerberus ship. I forgot."

"You know, I could come down there and find the surveillance bugs for you." Shepard jested. Garrus just let out a small laugh.

"I can handle a few surveillance bugs, Shepard. No need for you to save my ass more than once." He said.

"And why would I need to save you from surveillance bugs? You obviously have nothing to hide." Shepard teased.

"If Cerberus got wind of my calibrations…they might just promote me to CO. I'm looking out for your career, Shepard." Garrus replied.

"Alright, alright. Obviously you're going to stay glued to that terminal playing Galaxy of Fantasy or whatever it is you actually do on there. Just come up for air once in a while. I can't have you thinking about calibrations all the time." Shepard said.

"No promises, Shepard."

"Commander, you received a new message." Kelly announced. Shepard nodded and opened his inbox. There at the top of the window was a message with the subject line 'I'm still alive.'

Even though the subject was vague, Shepard knew from whom it came from. "Thanks Kelly, I'll take it in my cabin."

Shepard entered the elevator and pressed the top button. The doors closed and the elevator began its ascent.

Thank god this elevator is faster than the old Normandy's.

The doors opened and Shepard stepped into his cabin. He activated the fish tank's feeding dispenser before sitting down at his desk and opening the message.

"Hey Shepard." The message said. Shepard was surprised that Tali recorded her voice. Everyone else always wrote their letters down.

"I just wanted to let you know that I'm okay. We've been out here for a while, but thankfully things are going smoothly for us. We haven't seen any resistance so far. Kal'Reegar says that we shouldn't expect any for a while."

The message paused. Shepard crabbed a cup of coffee sitting on his table and took a sip.

"I miss you. I've been thinking about you since I left, thinking about…us. Keelah, I still can't believe it sometimes. It just seemed so unreal that it happened. But I know it did. And I'm happy that you feel the same way. More than happy. You're always the first thing in my mind when I wake up in the morning. I still get that warm feeling from thinking about it."

The message paused again before Tali started again. "I hope you're being safe out there, Shepard. You know, you never promised me that you'd be careful." She said. Her tone made it obvious she was smiling. "Anyways, just stay safe out there, Shepard. I'd hate to lose my boyfriend. Keelah, I'll have to get use to calling you that. Keelah se'lai, dremo."

Shepard was grinning throughout the whole message. He was curious about what Tali called him at the end of her message.

Dremo? Must be a term of endearment for quarians.

Shepard set down his cup of coffee and stroked his chin for a few seconds. He pushed a button and began to record a reply.