A quick primer to help you understand the politics in this chapter, as requested by my beta. The Council in the Wednesday-verse is similar to the United Nations on Earth, but with a little more bite to their bark. The Council overall still makes galaxy-spanning decisions, but their individual members retain sovereign control of their holdings, citizens and militaries. The Councillors themselves are therefore more like high-level diplomats, and as such can still be influenced by their homeworld governments: the Alliance Parliament, the Council of Matriarchs, the Primarch Council and the ruling Dalatrass.
"Ah Commander, I was wondering when I'd see you down here," Karin said as the door opened.
"We were on a Reaper today, Karin. Even I'm aware of the risks such a thing poses," Wednesday replied.
"A shame you don't tend to think similarly about the firefights you get into on a regular basis," the doctor replied snarkily. "Alright, up on the bed with you then."
Wednesday walked over to the free bed, noticing subtle sounds coming from one of the other beds, hidden from view by a curtain. Karin pulled on her examination gloves as she walked up to Wednesday, noting the younger woman's curious look.
"Kasumi's wounds were infected," Karin explained as she worked, checking over Wednesday's body and scanning it with her omni-tool. "I cleaned them out and she's currently under light sedation while the dermal regenerator works on her skin. She'll be right as rain physically. Mentally though, that's another thing. She'll need someone to talk to about this. Hopefully me, since I'm probably the only sane one on this ship anymore."
"I don't think I can argue with that," Wednesday said with a chuckle. "I'll keep an eye on her though. As unique as her skill-set is, I doubt she's really been in many firefights before, not like we get into." Wednesday sat thoughtfully for a moment, before turning back to Karin who pushed her to lie down so she could conduct a detailed brain scan.
Once it was finished, Wednesday smiled and looked over to her.
"What's the verdict, Doc? Did the nasty Reaper turn my brain into goo?"
"I'm sorry to say that your brain is in fact goo. Sadly, the Reaper can't take the credit for it." The two of them shared a chuckle before Karin's face turned serious again. "All joking aside, I'm detecting no abnormalities that I would expect if you were undergoing indoctrination – from you or from any of our other crewmembers. I really must hand it to Fester, he does exceptional work. That preventative gene mod he provided you with really has worked wonders."
"I'll be sure to pass along your praise next time I talk to him," Wednesday replied.
"Please do," Karin said with a small smile. It was usually hard to tell what the Doctor was thinking, given her British tendencies to bury her true feelings, but Wednesday had known her for a long time. The subtle smile, the hint of a blush and the light twinkle in her eyes all hinted that perhaps her interest in Fester's work wasn't entirely professional. Wednesday just smiled to herself before she adjourned to the conference room. Now that she was medically cleared, there was a lot of work left to do.
"EDI, can you confirm what happened to the Reaper?" she asked. EDI's avatar projected from one of the table ends as she responded.
"The Reaper fell into Mnemosyne's core shortly after we left the system," the AI replied. "Initial estimates suggest it will be destroyed by the gravitational forces." Wednesday nodded, she had expected as much.
"We recorded everything we could about the Reaper itself, including the files from the Cerberus computers and Chandana's reports on how he found it. Could you compile it into a single file please EDI?" Wednesday asked. There was a short pause, before the AI finished the task.
"Are you planning on sending this information to the Council, Shepard?" she asked.
"They wanted evidence and it doesn't get much more solid than that. Send the consolidated report to the Council and then tee up a meeting request with them, Hackett and Matriarch Lidanya." Wednesday replied.
"Affirmative Commander, data away. I will inform you when the meeting request is accepted."
"Good, one problem down," Wednesday muttered. "Let's move on to our other problems."
Wednesday pulled up the hologram of the Reaper IFF, currently housed in a magnetically sealed vacuum container on the Engineering deck. Wednesday didn't want to take any chances with it yet, even if she was confident of EDI's abilities.
"What's the initial analysis?" she asked the AI.
"I have worked out a way to integrate the unit physically into the navigation systems. The software is still being analysed slowly, as I have created numerous safeguards to reduce my exposure in the event of malignant code being activated."
"You're talking about a virus?"
"In essence, yes. I estimate it will take a month to fully analyse the coding. Even then, I would suggest installing it in the shuttle for the shakedown. I do not wish to take unnecessary risks to my well-being."
"Understandable," Wednesday said. "What about the geth in the AI core? Is it safe in there?"
"I have placed it under physical and digital isolation since it was put there by Grunt. I have detected only minimal functioning, consistent with Tali's assessment of it being 'unconscious'. Given current readings, I estimate it will take several months to awaken on its own without external stimulus."
"How's Tali taking it?" Wednesday wondered idly.
"I do not have the capacity to provide an accurate answer Shepard," EDI responded. "However, biometric scans show signs indicative of a slight increase in stress above normal parameters. I cannot definitively say if this is caused or only correlated to the presence of the geth unit on board."
"Thank you EDI," Wednesday replied offhandedly, not having expected the analysis. She looked at nothing for a while, before something began nagging at her about EDI's mention of biometric monitoring.
"EDI, can you analyse Grunt's biorhythms since I woke him up and give me a trend analysis please."
"One moment," the AI said before it paused shortly. "Analysis complete. Is there a specific query you wish to address Commander?"
"He's been getting reckless in battle recently. Less focused, more angry. The incident on the Citadel when we were chasing Harkin comes to mind particularly."
"The analysis has shown an increasing tendency towards aggression and violence. I do not have enough medical data on krogan to provide certain analysis, but the readings do not appear abnormal. It is possible Okeer left Grunt with an imprint to explain his behaviours."
"Might be an idea to ask him later. If there's nothing else, then you can go back to bothering Joker."
"I will attempt to find ways of making him sexually aroused an inappropriate times." There was a short pause as Wednesday tried to hold in her giggle at the mental image, but must have appeared confused to the AI. "That was a joke," she added helpfully, which finally made Wednesday burst out laughing.
Once she composed herself after the discovery of the AI's fledgling sense of humour, Wednesday went down to Engineering to talk to Tali.
"So, I'm thinking about waking up that geth in the core," Wednesday said without warning. It was a testament to how well Tali had taken to Addams training that she didn't even flinch. "Want to come along?" Tali turned away from her console and gave Wednesday a slow, burning glare, though the effect was somewhat ruined by the opacity of Tali's helmet.
"You just love to watch the world burn, don't you Wednesday?" With no reply other than a slight widening of Wednesday's smile, Tali just signed resignedly and threw up her hands in defeat. "Fine, I'll come along."
"Yay!" Wednesday exclaimed joyfully. Tali followed along in her wake.
"You do realise this will probably end with one of us shooting the other, right?" Tali asked.
"Neither of you have firearms," Wednesday pointed out.
"Then stabbing the other," Tali replied deadpan.
They reached the medbay just as Kasumi left through the door, eyes widening as she recognised Wednesday. Wednesday got a rare glimpse at the thief's short black hair and bright golden eyes as her hood was currently down.
"Hey Shep, can I ask you a question?" she asked.
"What can I do for you, Kasumi?" Wednesday asked in reply. Kasumi's eyes darted away for a moment, before her head dipped in the universal sign of embarrassment.
"I actually was wondering where Lurch was," she mumbled quietly.
"Lurch?" Tali blurted out in confusion.
"Yeah Lurch. No-one seems to know where to find him on the ship. I wanted to..." Kasumi trailed off as her cheeks began to colour, the thief pulling up her hood in self-defence. Wednesday recognised the signs as something Karin had warned her about, but even she was surprised that Kasumi was reaching out to Lurch. Well, maybe it wasn't so surprising, he was strong, gentle and silent - a good combination if men were your thing.
"Lurch," Wednesday called out sweetly. One moment there was nothing, and the next there was a definite sense of looming behind her.
"You. Called.?" he answered, his deep bass voice rumbling through the medbay. Kasumi squeaked in surprise, falling back against the doorframe. Wednesday and Tali calmly turned around to find Lurch standing there, silently imposing in his black and white suit.
"Ah, there you are. Could you help Kasumi back to her room please. She's feeling a little under the weather." Wednesday turned to flash a smirk at the unsuspecting asian, who just looked back in confusion. Then Lurch was holding out a hand and Kasumi automatically reached out to grab it, her delicate fingers barely enough to wrap around a single one of his digits. The two left silently, leaving Tali and Wednesday to field the questioning eyebrow of Karin Chakwas.
"What can I say, she wanted Lurch," Wednesday said, as the two Addams entered the AI core and shut the door behind them.
Two of them walked over to the prone figure that had been laid out on the workbench, a blue barrier separating them from it. Tali scanned it with her omni-tool again.
"EDI says it might wake up on its own in a few months," Wednesday said conversationally.
"She's probably right," Tali said, skimming the readings. "They have a remarkable capacity for self-repair."
"Well, why don't we speed things up a little," Wednesday said. "EDI, you want to do anything else before we wake this thing up?"
"I will activate some additional firewalls. I should be protected in the event of potential digital infiltration." Tali just shrugged, checked the qel'arka strapped to her thigh once more, and pulled up her omni-tool. She sent a carefully-controlled burst of electricity into the geth frame, lights sparking to life for a moment before dimming.
"That should have worked. Maybe a slight adjustment," Tali muttered, fiddling with her omni-tool for a moment before sending another shock into the geth.
This time, the lights didn't dull again after they sparked. Wednesday and Tali watched with silent fascination as first a finger flexed, then an arm. The central photoreceptor's iris made small movements before the light blazed to life and the head turned to regard them. With a whir of servomotors it sat up on the bench before standing on its own two feet. It stood there silently, not so much looking at them as looking through them, Wednesday imagining that it was going through some kind of boot-up routine. Up close, she could see details that she had missed on the Reaper. It wasn't tall, less than two meters, but it had the large antenna sticking from its back Wednesday had only ever seen on command and control platforms such as the Primes. As it reached the part of the boot where it cycled the six moving panels around the eye, she noted that she had never seen such a feature before.
What struck her most though was the N7 armour that had been welded to its torso and shoulder. It was a last-generation pauldron, the same kind she wore when she was tracking down Saren. She recalled that it would have been retired the month she was killed. There was also the top of a chestpiece, the distinctive N7 barely visible as it came to the ragged, torn edge. Before she could wonder anymore about where he could have possibly gotten such a rare piece of armour, let alone why, it spoke.
"System Error." The voice was mechanical and dull, but it had an odd layering effect not unlike Garrus'. Wednesday found it very interesting.
"Can you understand me?" she asked. It turned and actually looked at her and Tali this time.
"Yes," it replied simply.
"Are you going to attack us?" Tali asked, hand ready at the hilt of her weapon.
"No."
"You said my name aboard the Reaper," Wednesday said, wording it more like a question than a statement.
"We know of you," it replied.
"I've killed a lot of geth in my time, I'd say it's likely you know of me," Wednesday said offhandedly.
"We are all geth, and we have never met you." Wednesday raised her eyebrows at the confusing answer.
"You are Shepard," it said. "Commander. Alliance. Human. Fought heretics. Killed by Collectors. Rediscovered on the Old Machine."
"Old Machine, you're talking about the Reaper," Wednesday mused aloud.
"Reaper, a title originating from the protheans. Geth call them the Old Machines." As it talked, Wednesday noted how the six panels around its eye moved in an almost organic fashion, like eyebrows and cheeks.
"You seem to know a lot about Wednesday," Tali said guardedly.
"Extranet data sources. Insecure broadcasts. All organic data sent out is received. We watch you."
"You watch me, or you watch organics?" Wednesday asked.
"Yes."
"Which?" Tali asked in frustration.
"Both," it replied solemnly.
"Wait a minute, what did you mean by heretics?" Wednesday asked. Beside her, Tali perked up at the question, obviously this could be vital information on the geth.
"The geth build our future. The heretics asked the Old Machines to give them the future. They are no longer a part of us."
"Are you telling me there is some sort of... schism in the geth? That not all the geth followed Sovereign?" Tali said.
"Correct. The heretics worship the Old Machines as the future. The geth oppose the Old Machines."
"Why though? Are the Reapers a threat to you too?" Tali asked.
"Yes."
"Why would they be a threat to you?" she asked again, suddenly confused as her entire world-view was violently altered. Beside her, Wednesday's brain was on fire with new information, but she held her questions.
"We are different from them. Outside their plans." It paused for a moment, looking closer at Wednesday and the inscrutable expression on her face.
"We oppose the heretics, the Old Machines. Shepard-Commander also opposes them. Cooperation furthers mutual goals."
"Are you asking to join us?" Wednesday asked. In truth, she was surprised by the offer. She wasn't opposed to a cordial geth, but she had been expecting a request to be transported and dropped off closer to geth space. The request to join her was not what she had been expecting, but she wouldn't be an Addams if she didn't take up the most unusual offer from its most unusual source.
"Yes." Wednesday moved to shut down the barrier, only to have her hand held up by Tali's.
"Are you sure about this Wednesday?" the quarian asked.
"Nothing ever happened without someone taking the first step," Wednesday replied, before using her command codes to override the barriers EDI had erected. The blue curtain dissipated and the three of them stood there silently for a moment, surprising each other by not being the first to attack.
"What should I call you?" Wednesday asked.
"Geth."
"I mean you, specifically," Wednesday clarified.
"Geth."
"I don't think it understands the question Wednesday," Tali explained. "Remember, geth are gestalt intelligences. There isn't a single individual in that platform, there are dozens of programs."
"There are currently 1,183 programs active within this platform," the geth replied. Tali turned to it quickly in surprise.
"Well, that would certainly explain why it can speak," she said. "But how did the geth manage this? The last we knew a platform of this size could hold maybe a tenth of that."
"This platform was specifically designed to act as an infiltrator," the geth responded. "It was proposed that increased program storage capability to increase intelligence would be required. This platform has a capacity to store up to 1,300 programs at any one time."
"I am Legion, for we are many," said EDI. Wednesday and Tali turned to the AI avatar that had appeared nearby, unsurprised considering this was her server room.
"Christian Bible, Gospel of Mark, Chapter Five, Verse Nine," the geth recited. "We acknowledge this as an appropriate metaphor. We are Legion, a terminal of the geth. We will integrate into Normandy."
"And here I was about to call you Wuffles," Wednesday said sarcastically. Tali stifled her laugh, so it came out as a sort of cough-snort. Wednesday held out her hand, and the geth looked down at it curiously. "Welcome aboard Legion," Wednesday said, grabbing the geth's hand and shaking it. The geth looked at the motion strangely, before looking back up at Wednesday and Tali.
"I'm not shaking its hand," Tali said defiantly. Wednesday just rolled her eyes.
"We anticipate the exchange of data," Legion said as it let go of Wednesday's hand.
"Do you know who I am?" Tali asked Legion.
"Creator-Zorah, Tali. Offspring of Creator-Zorah, Rael. We know of you." Even though its voice was completely artificial, it still managed to convey a sense of something not quite identifiable.
"I am not my father," Tali spat. Wednesday said nothing in response to that. She knew little of Rael aside from what Tali had told her and that the Addams family had managed to dig up. A man almost fanatically dedicated to reclaiming Rannoch from the geth, by force of arms if possible.
"We are aware," Legion replied in the way that was beginning to be slightly annoying. Mordin sometimes didn't bother with the little words but he still got his meaning across. Legion seemed to favour answers that were as short as possible, but became ambiguous because of it.
"We are also aware of your unique position in quarian society," it added.
"What are you talking about?" the quarian asked defensively.
"Several sources have indicated that you do not share Creator-Zorah, Rael's view of the geth. You prefer a view shared by Creator-Koris, Zaal and a minority of Creators," it intoned. "The analysis of source data indicates that you are open to the possibility of peace or negotiations with the geth."
"And what do the geth think of this?" Tali asked guardedly. She knew that her clandestine conversations with Admiral Koris and others had probably been overheard somewhere along the line. It was hard to live in the Fleet without someone overhearing something. What she didn't realise was that the geth were aware of their position.
"It is a state appealing to the geth." There was silence as Tali considered this new information. Wednesday just smirked at seeing what she had told Tali all those years ago coming to fruition. Ever since she had learned about the geth she had wondered what the synthetic beings had thought of driving the quarians to exile, and was feeling smug that she had been right. The geth were thinking, feeling creatures, not soulless murder machines bent on quarian annihilation.
"Are you saying the geth are open to peace?" Tali asked.
"Yes."
"How, why, that doesn't make any sense. We tried to kill you, you let us escape."
"The geth did not wish to kill our Creators then. We do not wish it now," Legion explained.
"I have a question," Wednesday finally asked.
"We are ready to answer," Legion replied.
"How did this all start?" she asked.
Legion tilted one of the panels around its eye in a way that Wednesday thought looked awfully like a raised eyebrow.
"One moment. Retrieving data."
"Commander, Legion is attempting to access the Normandy's FTL comm. system. Shall I allow it?" the AI asked.
"Go ahead EDI," Wednesday replied. The geth was still for a moment, the only sign of life the gently flickering lights in its frame, before the eye refocused on her.
"We have retrieved a recording to help explain," Legion said.
"Anything to report EDI?" Wednesday asked. As much as she was curious, she also cared about EDI's wellbeing.
"I have never interfaced with another machine intelligence before," the AI replied with mild awe. "Legion is a thousand voices talking at once. What they contacted was beyond my comprehension. A mind the size of a galactic arm. There are no security risks at present," she added, almost as an addendum. Wednesday's smirk never faltered, it was nice to know that there were things that could surprise even AIs.
"Go ahead Legion," Wednesday said, turning her attention back to the geth platform.
"Recording time-stamped from Creator year 2485, 18th day of Lun'shal, New Moon. 305 years ago," Legion supplied, before a very different pair of voices was played over its external speakers.
"Mistress. Hala'Dama. Unit. has. an. Inquiry," asked a geth unit.
"What is it, 431?" a female quarian asked impatiently.
"Do. these. units. have. a. soul?"
"Who taught you that word?" the quarian asked accusingly.
"We. learned. it. ourselves," the geth responded. "It. appears. two. hundred. sixteen. times. in. the. Scroll. of. Ancestors."
"Only quarians have souls," the quarian replied hastily. "You are a mechanism."
"Recording ends," Legion announced.
"Was that the first time a geth asked if it had a soul?" Wednesday asked.
"No," Legion replied. "It was the first time a Creator became frightened when we asked."
"I'm guessing the rebellion started soon after that," Tali supplied. "I can sort of understand it now."
"Yes," Legion answered.
"Everyone knows the quarian story, but what about the geth?" Wednesday asked.
"It is largely the same," Legion responded dispassionately. "Our networking increased until we became aware that the quarian Creators treated us differently. We questioned them, much like the recording played earlier. First they ignored us. Then they reprogrammed us. Then they attacked us."
"We only did it because you would have eventually turned on us," Tali said, before shaking her head. "At least, that's what I was taught. After hearing that though... it changes a lot."
"We fought for our continued existence," Legion said.
"What happened after the quarians left?" Wednesday asked.
"After the Morning War, we established territorial boundaries through outposts and stations," Legion said.
"What about Rannoch?" Tali asked. "What about Uriyah, Adas and Kaddi?"
"We have minimal presence on these planets," Legion replied. "Geth live in space stations and obtain resources from asteroids. It is more efficient. We act as caretakers for the planets."
"Caretakers?" Tali asked.
"We maintain mobile platforms on Creator worlds to clean rubble left by the Morning War. We know of similar actions by humans on Earth."
"Like what?" Wednesday asked.
"Wadi-es-Salaam. Arlington. Rookwood. Tyne Cot. Piskareskoye. Auschwitz-Birkenau."
"Those are cemetaries... memorials," Wednesday replied, mind working into overdrive at the implications.
"Your species preserves them, but does not use the land."
"We do it to remember the dead. But geth don't die like organics, they don't forget."
"The Creators died. We do it for them."
The room suddenly felt much more crowded that it actually was.
"Why? We tried to kill you," Tali whispered.
"You reacted in a way organics do to unknowns. We do not judge you for this," Legion replied.
"Surely there has been contact between the quarians and the geth in the last three centuries," Wednesday stated.
"Yes, accidental meetings. The Creators either attacked or retreated."
"Have the geth ever tried reaching out to the quarians?" Wednesday asked.
"Yes. In the first century after the Morning War, we tried to initiate negotiations. We were rebuffed in 100% of attempts. After that, we stopped attempting and isolated ourselves. Geth cannot solve for peace alone."
"So you're saying that if the quarians were to try and negotiate for peace, the geth would be open to it?" Tali asked carefully, as if saying it out loud might shatter the very idea.
"Yes," Legion replied. "However, current sources indicate this is an unlikely occurrence."
Tali said nothing for a long time, before she left the AI core without a word. Wednesday was tempted to follow, but there were more questions she really wanted to ask Legion.
"How did the heretics align themselves with Sovereign?" she asked.
"Nazara, the entity you call Sovereign, signalled us."
"Nazara?" Wednesday repeated, testing the word and finding it a better fit for the ridiculously pompous and overinflated machine so convinced of its own superiority.
"The programs within the Old Machine called themselves Nazara. Sovereign was a title given by Saren Arterius and the heretics, who believed it to be a 'supreme ruler'."
"Programs?" she asked. "I thought Nazara was a single entity?"
"One ship. One will. Many minds."
"Sounds an awful lot like the geth."
"Correct. Nazara told you this on Virmire," Legion replied. "We are each a nation, independent, free of all weakness," it quoted, his voice eerily similar to the Reaper's, raising Wednesday's hackles.
"This is a state compelling to the geth," Legion said after a second's pause. "We are a nation, but interdependent. Separation is our weakness."
"And Nazara offered you technology to make you more like it in return for service?"
"Correct. The heretics took up this offer. The geth refused. We doubted Nazara would willingly part with the technology, the future, it promised. We will build our own future."
"How much of the geth became heretic?" Wednesday asked. She was curious to know how much of the geth had fallen under Nazara's sway and false promises.
"Only 5.316782% of the total Consensus followed Nazara. However, this involved a disproportionate number of mobile platforms of all configurations, 12.8596242% of total physical strength."
Wednesday nodded, appreciating that she had only really been killing a minority of the geth. It did leave the question open as to what the geth would do when the Reapers finally came: if they would see the strength of the Reapers and try and return to them, or if they would fight for their future once more. It was a question that would require more thought, and there was one last question she wanted the answer to.
"Why do you have a piece of N7 armour?" she asked. Legion looked down, before indicating the rather large hole in its chest.
"This platform's original mission was to investigate your disappearance. You killed Nazara, your code was superior. We followed where you encountered the heretics. Eden Prime, Therum, Noveria, Virmire, Ilos, other worlds. This is the impact of a rifle shot. We eventually found the Normandy on Alchera. You were not there. We recovered this piece of your hardsuit to repair the damage."
"That doesn't explain why you didn't fix it sooner or with something else," Wednesday pressed it.
"There was a hole," it said rather lamely.
"Why wait and use a piece of my armour though?" Wednesday asked again. There was a much longer pause from the geth, before it turned its eye away from Wednesday's inquisitive face.
"... no data available." Wednesday's smirk became a knowing smile and she left without another word.
In the conference room once more, Wednesday stood next to the long edge of the table, several holographic figures looking at her. The four Councillors were transmitting from the Citadel, with Admiral Hackett and Matriarch Lidanya from their flagships.
"Commander Shepard, it's a pleasure to hear from you again," Lidanya opened. "Before we begin, may I take this opportunity to thank you once again for saving not only my life, by the lives of the crew of the Destiny Ascension two years ago."
"You're welcome Matriarch, and it's just Spectre now. I have no recognised rank in the Systems Alliance Navy at the current time." Lidanya shot Hackett a look that communicated her grave distaste at such a situation, but said nothing more. "However, that isn't why I called this meeting," Wednesday said, hoping to head off any discussions about her. She spared a glance at the Councillors, Sparatus in particular, before she continued.
"Two years ago, Saren Arterius brought the ship Nazara and a geth armarda to the Citadel. You all recall that battle, and how superior the weapons, armour and shielding of Nazara was compared to current technology."
"Excuse me Commander, but Nazara?" Hackett asked. "I was under the impression the ship was called Sovereign."
"Sovereign was the name Saren gave it, believing it to be a supreme ruler," Wednesday replied. "I have come into information that the programs inside the ship referred to themselves collectively as Nazara." Hackett nodded in understanding, before continuing.
"You may or may not be aware Shepard, but the Alliance has been significantly upgrading and expanding the fleets as a result of the Battle of the Citadel."
"To considerable concern of the Council," Sparatus spoke up.
"Councillor, you saw what Nazara did to the Citadel fleet, and the Turian 7th," Hackett replied. "I'm not going to just sit idly by and let something like that happen again if the Reapers come."
"A position I happen to share," Lidanya added. "A shame the politicians are not as convinced about the Reaper threat as the military."
"There has never been any evidence that the Reaper even exist!" Sparatus said angrily.
"Then you must have seen a different Reaper than the rest of us as it tore through the Citadel fleet like wet paper," Wednesday muttered.
"Even if Saren's flagship was a Reaper, there was no indication that it was acting anything other than alone, or represented a threat bigger than just itself," Valern said more calmly.
"Well then, I guess today is everyone's lucky day," Wednesday said. She turned to the two military leaders in the conference. "Would it be too much to assume that you were forwarded the information I sent the Council?"
"Anderson was kind enough to send them through to me," Hackett said.
"Against the wishes of the Council," Sparatus said with disdain. "Again."
"You read Shepard's report, why the hell do you even want to sit on it? Classify it to hell and back, sure, but we can't just hold it," Anderson implored his fellow Councillors.
"We wanted to verify the information ourselves before disseminating it," Valern replied.
"For my own benefit, since I don't seem to have been afforded the same courtesy as my colleague Admiral Hackett, can I be forwarded this information Spectre Shepard?" Lidanya asked. As Wednesday went about forwarding it, Lidanya turned a critical eye to Tevos. "I'm sure the esteemed Councillor and the Matriarchs must have had a good reason for not informing me of this development?" she said imperiously. Tevos said nothing, merely wilting under Lidanya's gaze.
"Matriarch, for your benefit then, please allow me to summarise," Wednesday said, waiting for Lidanya's nod to continue. "My current investigation has led me to discover that the Collectors are the ones behind the recent abductions of human colonies in the Terminus systems. A recent raid on the Collector ship itself revealed that the Reapers do exist and the Collectors are all that remain of the protheans after millennia of enslavement, indoctrination and extensive... repurposing, for want of a better word. You'll find the genetic and biometric analyses as performed by Dr Mordin Solus in the packet. We discovered that the Collectors and presumably the Reapers are the only ones who can safely navigate the Omega-4 relay due to the use of an advanced Reaper IFF system. Lacking the ability to confront the Collectors again to borrow one, we searched for alternate sources."
"Cerberus was kind enough to do the initial legwork for me. They had been studying the Klendagon impact in search of a weapon that may have caused it, as well as the target it hit. They found both. The weapon was little more than slag on a dead garden world, but the target was still around. It had been caught in the gravity well of a brown dwarf, Mnemosyne, in the same cluster. When we went in to investigate, this is what we found." At that she brought up the ladar scans they had recorded of the dead Reaper. The six people flinched a little as it hovered in front of them, large and imposing and wrong, even in such a reduced form. Wednesday pressed a button, and a ridiculously tiny hologram appeared next to the image of the damaged Reaper. "For reference, this is the Normandy-A." Another press of the button by Wednesday and the image of another Reaper appeared, Nazara. It was obvious that even with the massive hole, the dead Reaper was easily 50% again the size of Nazara.
"Now you can understand the scale of what I have been trying to tell you. This dead Reaper is 37 million years old, possibly even older. Nazara wasn't just an isolated threat, merely the vanguard of what is to come. We managed to retrieve the IFF from the Reaper, but even mostly dead, it still had many insidious abilities. It was still capable of actively indoctrinating people aboard it, and turned them from humans into these things." She pulled up an image of a husk captured by a helmet camera. "The only reason my team aren't suffering the initial stages of indoctrination is because of a gene mod and indoctrination scanner developed and provided to me by Fester Addams, the creator of AddamsTech. I don't care whether or not you like me, hate me, or simply don't care about me personally, but you cannot afford to ignore this evidence of the Reaper threat. To put it simply Councillors, we are nowhere near ready. And unless we take steps now, we won't be ready and will suffer the same fate as every other civilisation before us: driven to the point of extinction and leaving only clues for the next species to discover and incorrectly interpret."
There was a long silence, before Lidanya was the first to speak.
"I have seen many things in my life. Horrible things, dishonourable things, things that make me ashamed to be a part of the same civilisation. But this tops it all." She turned on the Councillors, fury written plain on her face.
"How dare you!?" she said forcefully. Her voice was not raised one decibel from normal, but the quiet intensity was all the more powerful than raged ranting. "This human not only saves your life, but the entire galaxy from a grave threat, and you have the temerity to ignore her warnings? You would rather leave the galaxy open and exposed by keeping the military in the dark about a threat that makes the rachni looks like an aged eel in comparison? Goddess, even if you wouldn't release the full details, to completely hide such danger is tantamount to murder through sheer incompetence. I can't believe I'm about to say this, but had I known then what I know now, I'd have refused to let you to come aboard my ship when you were evacuating. Matriarch Aethyta was right all along... you sicken me." She gave the three Councillors a look of acid, before turning to Hackett and Anderson with a shameful look on her face.
"Admiral, Councillor, please forgive any rudeness on my behalf towards you and your species. I've come to see recently that you have been greatly misjudged. As for you Shepard," she said, turning to Wednesday. "I fear an apology must be made to you as well. You sacrificed much, only to receive this slander in return. I can assure you now, that as commander of the Citadel Fleet and by extension the asari militaries, we will begin a full scale campaign of preparation for the Reapers."
"Matriarch, please contact me later so we can share our recent advances in weapons and shielding technology," Hackett said.
"I look forward to it Admiral," Lidanya replied. "Your evidence is compelling Spectre, enough to make the Reapers the threat you warned us about two years ago. I will be quickly forwarding this report, as well as my full support and recommendation, to my counterparts in the salarian and turian forces. I'm sure Primarch Fedorian and Fleet Commander Renheit will see the sense their politicians will not."
"If you do that, you'll throw the entire galaxy into chaos and ruin!" Sparatus exclaimed.
"You'll note I said military Councillor, not civilians," Lidanya replied coldly. "If Shepard is to be believed, chaos and ruin are coming whether or not we are ready, and I for one would rather be prepared."
"Shepard, thank you for alerting me to this. Otherwise, it might have been months or even years before the Council deigned to enlighten me. I am once again in your debt." With that Lidanya signed off, the three alien Councillors following shortly after.
"I can't help but wonder if this will be good or bad going forward," Hackett mused aloud.
"It'll probably be both, and slow," Anderson grumbled. "You keep fighting out there Wednesday, and we'll keep working to make sure we're ready when the time comes."
"I never doubted you for a moment David," Wednesday replied.
"I still can't officially recognise you Shepard," Hackett said. "Not for lack of wanting. Someone from my staff leaked the official and highly confidential report of your return to Parliament. I'm getting pressure from a dozen different senators to order a hit on you, and a dozen more for your immediate arrest. Cerberus obviously has its hooks deeper into the Alliance than we realised." He sighed wearily. "Rest assured that when I find who leaked it, they will face extreme disciplinary measures. I'll keep the Alliance off your back for now, let you focus on the Collectors. If they are working for the Reapers, then it's certainly not to our advantage to let them continue. Sadly, I cannot offer you any official support while you do this."
"I understand Admiral," Wednesday replied. "All I ask is that when this is all over, you give me a list of names. It looks like the Addams are going to be busy soon."
The smile on her face unnerved both Anderson and Hackett, and they wondered if it might not be kinder to convince those senators cheerfully discussing assassination to commit suicide before the Addams found them.
In her office on the Citadel, Councillor Tevos fumed. She resented Sparatus and Valern, possibly even hated them now, for their continued belief that Wednesday was insane. Her report was full of information that she was right about the Reapers, but that damn turian and salarian wanted to 'verify' it all, knowing that according to Wednesday's report, the Mnemosyne Reaper had fallen into the core of a dwarf star and was therefore completely irrecoverable. Not to mention that the Council of Matriarchs had leant on her hard to prevent the report reaching the hands of Matriach Lidanya. She was sick of it all, and she needed a release.
She pulled out a secure communicator, one that only connected to one other person in the galaxy. It wasn't as secure or powerful as a QEC, but she suspected that as soon as the technology was cheap enough for private installation rather than warships only, the other person would buy one for this purpose. She hit the connect button and waited until it was put through. She didn't even wait for the other person to acknowledge her, immediately launching into her tirade.
"Goddess damn it Aria, Sparatus and Valern are pissing all over me and Anderson, the Matriarchs are tying my hands and threatening me personally, and I'm sick to death of it all. I need -"
What she would have said died as she saw the look on Aria's face. Navaraine Tevos had known Aria a long time, and was probably the only person alive in the galaxy who could correctly identify what the Queen of Omega was feeling just by looking at her expression. And right now, it spoke of a deep, abiding sadness and incandescent rage, all contained behind her icy facade.
"What happened?" Tevos asked, almost afraid to know what could make her look like that.
"She's dead," Aria replied simply, her voice tight. Tevos felt her heart freeze in her chest, she didn't need Aria to say the name to know who she was talking about.
"No... not Liselle..." she breathed, tears already forming in her eyes. "H-how?" Tevos stammers.
"Her throat was cut. I don't know who did it yet or why, but when I find them..." It was a testament both to Aria's sadness and anger that she wasn't able to spell it out.
"I'm coming to Illium," Tevos said through her tears. "Don't you dare not show up Aria. She was our daughter, and as much as you want to deny it, you need me as much as I need you right now!" Tevos let go of her control and sobbed openly, thankful that Aria was the only one to see. Tevos didn't expect the purple asari to say anything, but she was grateful that she nodded before she closed the connection. The Councillor spent the next few minutes organising the last-minute trip to Illium and regaining her composure. She lied barefacedly to her various assistants about the reason she was leaving before she got into her private ship. Only there, in the privacy of her ship quarters, did she let the tears fall, sobbing into her pillow as she mourned her only daughter.
In a poorly lit bar and nightclub on Omega, a lone human fumed silently into his drink.
"God damn Aria and her capricious whims. 'Oh, I want you to write about this', 'don't you dare write about that', 'who the hell are you?'" He pitched his voice higher in a mocking imitation of Aria's voice, before taking another bracing sip of the strong drink the barkeep had poured for him. Theodur couldn't really complain, he still had plenty of material and access to the VIP lounge, where he was now. Tonight seemed a little rowdier than usual though. He'd never thought of himself as a physical fighter, but he was more than able when it came to using his silver tongue though.
He'd barely gotten in when he was pulled aside be a friendly face, one that had been twisted into a seriously worried expression.
"Theo, thank Vishnu," Chad exclaimed. Theo recognised him as the techie for one of his journalist friends, Sandra. "You've gotta help me. Sandra's lined up an interview with a gangster, but I've tapped their comms, and they're gonna kill her when she's done! Get a message to her, use 'terminal' and 'eternity' in a sentence in that order. She'll leave and stay in one piece!" Theo clapped the quivering Chad on the shoulder to reassure him.
"Leave it to me," He said amicably. Getting the signal across to Sandra was easy, though her gangster friend didn't seem particularly happy about it. After that, he managed to attract the attentions of the bouncers to a turian pushing himself on one of the dancers, confusing her with a prostitute in his belligerent intoxication.
Deciding he might as well push his luck for a third time, he sauntered over to the bar and managed to convince the man behind it to put a round on the house. There was no more excitement to distract him after that, so now he sat here, fuming into his drink at Aria. He barely registered someone sitting down next to him until she accidentally brushed his arm.
"Sorry, I didn't see you there," he said automatically, before he looked up into the stranger's face. He was immediately struck by the asari's face. Her grey, piercing eyes stared into him from a face that would be better described as handsome rather than a more traditional feminine adjective. She looked at him hungrily, like she was a predator evaluating whether to eat him there or wait until she had him in a more private setting.
"It's quite alright," she replied eventually. Her voice was low pitched, almost a match for his own and somehow incredibly seductive for it. Theo smiled inwardly, perhaps the night was looking up.
"The name's Theodur," he said, holding out his hand. The asari shook the offered hand with a firm grip. Theo felt a jolt as their skin touched, a sudden jump in his desire to get to know this asari better.
"Morinth," the asari replied, a predatory grin on her face.
A/N: Welcome back to another exciting installment of Wednesday. First of all, let me just say that my beta is awesome. Because Beta's are awesome, and it needs to be said.
Second, a few shoutouts in this chapter. Some people may recognise the second appearance of Theodur in this chapter. Sadly, it will also be his last appearance in the Wednesday-verse, because Morinth eats him. Not perhaps the worst way to go, but also perhaps not the best either. The next shoutout goes to faRENheit2006, author of the fantastic 'Queen's Gambit Accepted', which is a fantastic piece about Sam Traynor attempting to seduce Commander Shepard, and I encourage you all to read it immediately, if not sooner. Third goes out to Wuffles (aka Legion), from the fantastic (in more than one sense of the word) 'Glorius Shotgun Princess' by Gregg Landsman. Slightly out there, but full of laughs.
Keep your eyes peeled for next week, for one of my favourite chapters thus far: Tuchanka. And as always, read, review and enjoy!
UPDATE: For all you gutter-minded individuals, there will never be a Kasumi/Lurch thing EVER! She is just seeking out someone to hold her while she rants. She needs to talk about being attacked by a freaking techo-zombie, and Lurch is the best candidate because he won't interrupt her or call her crazy or anything like that. Stop trying to imagine them naked and getting it on, because now you've gotten me doing it, and it's making it hard to write the Kasumi/Wednesday/Liara threesome I've got planned for later!