I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE BELOW CHARACTERS 'CEPT THE WANDERER AND ALL OTHER CHARACTERS / NAMES BELONG TO BIOWARE

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Then Legion unplugged the power cord...and the terminal shut down for the last time.

.

The ride back to the Normandy was devoid of any conversation or signs of excitement. The air inside the Hammerhead was quiet as they left the forsaken planet.

They each had their own lives to ponder. Shepard was reflecting on what the Wanderer said; Life isn't about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain.

Even though she had listened to many speeches and words of wisdom alike, this particular statement had struck a chord with her. Military life left no thoughts to be generated other than battle plans, field-strategy and killing the opposition. When was the last time she actually took the time to enjoy life? Not since being revived by Cerberus, and certainly not when she was dead. Her life up onto this point had been surviving the storm, surviving the battle, surviving the Reapers. She had little time to contemplate 'the finer things in life'. However she was starting to grasp the concept. It was all a matter of perspective. Whether it's a storm or a little rain, whether it was a epic and bloody military victory or a quiet personal triumph, there were one and the same. Like seeing the cup half-full, versus half-empty.

Legion was currently communicating with the Geth collective and sending a recording of the Wanderers exchange of data with the AI. The data transmitted to the synthetic race was currently being cross-examined and dissected, using much of their processing power. The words the Wanderer spoke held much wisdom to organic races, but how about synthetic? Why had the Prothean AI been able to comprehend such profound subject matter?

The only Geth consciousness that actually started questioning the speech's true meaning was Legion himself. Legion grew confused with itself and left the gestalt network. He seemed to actually be the only platform that grasped some knowledge of the power of the words. Was he that different? Had his time away from the Geth collective changed him? Why was he referring himself as a singular, instead of a collective? Legions processor was clocked into overdrive.

The Wanderer sat, thinking about the AI on Ilos. He was amazed about the level of comprehension and thought the AI had shown. He had behaved exactly like any advanced organic mind. Thoughts from the scientist, from Vigils thousand year life, had complied its self into something that was very much real. It was a great sorrow that they could not preserve him. He would be remembered for a long time.

The Wanderer lifted him hand in front of his face. He was holding the data-crystal. He had transferred some of Vanguards run-times onto it hoping to share them with EDI to increase her advancement. Along with that, it contained the complete blueprints for the Conduit: the Prothean built mass relay. He was in the beginning workings of a plan, and this data was crucial to his plan.

After the shuttle docked back on the Normandy, the squad members went their separate ways. Legion hurried back to the AI core to recharge and Shepard and the Wanderer headed for the briefing room. The council had installed a quantum entanglement based communications array to link the Normandy to the Citadel since their last "talk".

As Shepard walked into the communications room, the table lowered and was replaced with a hologram scanner with a cut-down version of a terminal to the side. They were instantly in communication with persons half-way access the galaxy. The councils images were displayed in front of them.

As usual the Turian started the exchange off to a jolly good start. "Commander Shepard, What is the reason for this assembly?"

Jane Shepard was about to give him the finger when he was interrupted by the Asari diplomat. "Please..." she whispered, "give Shepard a break. Shes done so much for us already." His mandibles waved in frustration.

The Salarian councillor stepped up. "Is their something you would like to report Commander?"

"Yes, councillor there is. We have recovered the complete blueprints for the Conduit, courtesy of the Wanderer." She said. Once again the council was at a loss of words.

Unfortunately only one person at a time could use the quantum entanglement communicator. She stepped off the platform and the Warrior stepped on. He was still clad completely in armor. He wanted to ensure his current identity was as mysterious and cryptic as when they first saw him on the Citadel. Hopefully when all this was over, he could walk around like a normal person instead of constantly being harassed by the media like a celebrity.

"Council." He said nodding his head in respect. He inserted the data-crystal into the terminal to his right and pressed a button. "I have recovered complete construction designs and diagrams pertaining to build a mass relay." He said. "Decryption key is 1.8928 QTS"

Data began assembling itself in front of them.

Anderson stared at the diagrams with excitement. "How did you get this?"

"Vigil."

"But the VI was 'dead'!" The Turian said.

"It turned out be be an AI." The warrior said. "An AI's data files remain intact despite it's death, like a OSD or a storage drive. Once power is restored, a new AI personality is created. Shepard sent you a video of the entire mission if i'm not mistaken."

The Salarian nodded. "Yes, and it appeared you contacted the AI from WITHIN the terminal? Could you explain how to accomplished that? We would greatly appreciate it if you could come in to gather further information about yourself... "

The Wanderer held out his hand. "I would appreciate if you keep my identity classified until further notice. I have my reasons, but rest assured I will be there if you need me."

"Understood. We have notified the Turian, Asari, Salarian and Human fleets to begin mobilization. We will begin construction of Conduit v.2 ASAP."

"Goodbye Wanderer, Shepard." And the comm closed.

He turned to Shepard. "Ill be in the mess if you need me. Mind stopping by later?" He walked away.

=-=-=-= some time later

Shepard had been doing her usual rounds around the ship when she noticed that no one was at their usual posts. Hugely intrigued, she decided to ask EDI.

"EDI?"

"Yes Shepard?"

"Where's Mordin and Jacob?"

"Down in the mess hall Commander."

"Wheres Miranda and Garrus?"

"Down in the mess hall Commander."

What was going on?

She took the elevator down one level. She found most of the crew around the mess hall table, huddled around the Wanderer, listening with rapt interest. Upon entering the area, a delicious smell immediately assaulted her nose. Each of them were holding some type of a food in hand...Was it a hamburger? She remembered when Joker had talked to her once in the cockpit. 'You know what I could go for right now? A hamburger. Not vat-grown. An honest-to-god dead cow. With horseradish."

Fighting to prevent her salivary glands from working into overdrive, she approached the group. She could hear the Wanderer speaking...

"...So then a mercenary comes up on the other side of the ships core and fires a rocket at the mech, right? But he's too close; he gets fried in the explosion and the impact knocks the damned thing straight down the coolant vent! Wouldn't have believed it, if I hadn't seen it myself."

The majority of the mess table had been taken over by the Wanderer, who was using a couple of fries, four cups, and a hamburger bun to illustrate how his team had infiltrated and destroyed a enemy ship years ago. To his side, Joker offered the occasional comment around a mouthful of bovine flesh, and the rest of them offered short comments and nods as they listed to him talk.

"We raced to the escape pods, as fast as we could," the warrior continued, "and there was only one left when we got there. One of the mercenaries that were still alive tried to close the door...thought we were all dead, the rascal. Didn't even get a chance to be surprised before Jorge put a bullet through his face, and we jumped in and launched the pod just in time before the core overloaded and we were all blasted to smithereens."

A few short murmurs and high-fives could be heard.

"-ommand-er?"

Shepard turned to her right to see Tali holding up a item wrapped in paper.

"Wa-t o-e?"

Shepard stared at her. "Tali, are you alright?"

A sound of swallowing could be heard through her helmet. "Sorry commander, my mouth was full, want one?"

Shepard took it. "Is this a hamburger?"

"Uh, when I asked him what it was, the Wanderer described it as 'a pre-prepared disc of charred cow-flesh adorned by vegetable and wheat products'."

Shepard almost started laughing. "Yeah, its a burger. How did you manage to eat one... with your helmet?..."

"He got me a dextro-amino paste-tube of it, and it's the most delicious thing I think I have ever eaten. Same with Garrus." Tali said, pointing to the Turian across the room.

Shepard turned to see Garrus, a burger in one hand, a fistful of fries in the other, taking turns to take huge bites. From the look of the wrappers that were littered around him, he had gone through several already.

She spotted Joker sitting in a chair, burger in hand, with look of utter bliss on his face.

Her stomach grumbled. With haste she quickly unwrapped it and took a bite. sooooo goooood. It had been years since she had any REAL food. Sure they weren't the healthiest things to eat but the occasional treat was welcome.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the Wanderer. "Jane, glad you could make it!" She sat down.

"Where did you get all this?"

"Citadel. I wanted it to be a surprise. After hearing the crew complain about the food now that Gardner is gone...Anyways I wanted to talk to you, mind stopping by later after everyone's gone?"

"Sure thing" She took another bite our of her hamburger and took the opportunity to chat with the rest of the crew.