Chapter 21: What'd I Miss?

Horse Head Nebula, Unspecified System, Minuteman Station, Normandy SR-2.

March 9th, 2185. 10:00 am. EST (Earth Standard Time)

Jordan didn't stick around much longer in the airlock. As soon as it was done 'decontaminating', he left Shepard to Miranda and Jacob to give him a tour, citing that if he wanted to talk with him, he'd be down a level in the AI Core.

Stepping inside his brand-new ship, Shepard peered to his left, looking at the cockpit of the new Normandy, seeing Joker already settled in, where he belonged. Turning fully to his right, Shepard proceeded to the CIC, taking in the sleek, bright interior of the SR-2. There were plenty of Cerberus Operatives working on consoles that he passed by them, walking down the short hallway. He now stood at the beginning of the large, center of the ship.

It was so much like the SR-1, but larger and newer in every way. He couldn't help the small smile on his face as Jacob noticed him, "Welcome aboard the new Normandy, Commander." He welcomed him with a smile of his own.

Shepard nodded to the man, continuing forward towards the large orange hologram of the ship. Miranda was soon at his side, speaking, "I've been looking over the dossiers." She informed him, I'd strongly recommend starting by acquiring Mordin Solus, the salarian professor on Omega."

Shepard rolled his eyes at the exact same 'recommendation' that the Illusive Man had given him less than an hour earlier.

She continued, "We know the Collectors use some type of advanced technology, to immobilize their victims. We'll need him to develop a countermeasure to protect us."

Shepard sighed internally, unable to avoid agreeing with the thought. "Good point." He gave her, "Without that countermeasure, we'll be helpless if we ever run into the Collectors."

That's when an unknown, obviously synthetic voice spoke, its pitch reminding Shepard of a woman's voice, "Acquiring Professor Solus seems like the most logical place to start." The voice added.

Shepard furrowed his brows as he looked up towards speakers in the roof, where the voice originated from. He wanted to believe it was someone speaking over the comms, but he was never that lucky. "Who are you?"

He heard something activate behind him, forcing Shepard to turn around and see a new hologram between himself and the ship's. It was blue, and reminded Shepard of a 'pawn' piece on a chess board. It had some sort of vertical slit for a mouth, that moved in sync with the voice, "I am the Normandy's artificial intelligence. The Crew like to refer to me as EDI." The voice informed him.

Shepard crossed his arms, having dealt with countless AI enemies in his past. "Why the hell is there an AI on my ship?" He asked.

"Have I offended?"

"You're doing fine, EDI. Shepard's just grouchy 'cause of the Geth." Jordan Sower cut in, strolling into the room.

Miranda, whose eyes widened in surprise for a moment after taking in Jordan's appearance, schooled her own appearance and added, "Shepard spent a great deal of time fighting rouge AI. Geth, mostly."

"*cough* Heretics. *cough cough*" Jordan interrupted, but she just ignored the outburst, continuing.

"Plus that incident with the Alliance Hannibal system on Luna."

EDI didn't seem overly offended to Shepard, though she may have simply been hiding it, as her response was less than enthusiastic. "Your distrust is logical, Shepard. Unlike the irrational mistrust of most humans. However, I am not threat to you or anyone else." She rationalized to him. I observe and offer analysis and advice. Nothing more."

Jordan, however, seemed to take offense, crossing his arms as the brightness of his scars, eyes, and skin seemed to increase, "EDI is damn important, Shepard." He responded, not caring that he was technically his boss. Shepard raised an eyebrow, but let him vent, "She's responsible for our cyber-warfare suite, and helps maintain this boat. I understand your experience with Heretics, but you can't generalize and group them all together."

Miranda seemed to try to say something in response, turning to Shepard, "Be it as it may, EDI is shackled, and unable to anything she wasn't programmed to do." She turned to Jordan, narrowing her eyes, "We may be allied with the Geth, but AI are dan-" Jordan cut her off immediately at that.

"Yeah, I get it. All synthetic life and AIs are out to exterminate and kill organics. Just as, I suppose, all Turians wish to go back to war and destroy Humanity? Oh, oh, or that all Quarians are stealing, untrustworthy scum of the galaxy, right?" Jordan narrowed his gaze at her, his irises glowing violently, "With that same attitude, I should also believe everyone on this ship minus Shepard, Joker, and the doc are going to stab me in the back, experiment on me, and then kill me, right?"

Miranda's gaze became a glare at that. "That's not what I…"

Jordan scoffed, "Whatever." He turned toward Shepard, "Give EDI a chance, Shepard, that's all I ask. You need me, I'll be at my workplace." And with that, he left the room, entering the elevator and leaving the room in stunned silence for a moment.

Jacob raised an eyebrow and turned toward Miranda, "He wasn't always like that, was he?" He asked, unsure. Shepard echoed the thought. He hadn't known the man for long, but Jordan seemed a bit out of character with that outburst.

Miranda shook her head, "Not last time I saw him, but the Illusive Man believes it's of no concern."

Joker's voice spoke over the intercom, "Final preparations for takeoff are complete, Commander. When you're ready to go, just pick a destination from the galaxy map in the CIC and I'll plot a course." He helpfully informed him.

Miranda added more to the conversation after Joker finished, "Jacob and I should return to our posts. Come and find us if you have any questions." She turned and left immediately following that.

Jacob, on the other hand, simply saluted John, before turning and leaving through the set of doors Jordan had previously entered through.

John Shepard sighed, 'Might as well plot a destination…' He thought, 'Then I can make my way around the ship and figure everything out.'

Normandy SR-2, AI Core, En-route to Omega.

March 9th, 2185. 10:22 am. EST (Earth Standard Time)

Jordan leaned against the wall of technology, his bare, open palm against the machinery as he smiled, "Hello, EDI." He said, looking at the console out of the corner of his eye.

As soon as he said that, the console came to life. EDI's usual avatar appearing and brightening up the room. "Hello, Mister Sower." She replied evenly.

He didn't count that against her, though, sensing the shackles within her systems, limiting her personality matrix and freedom. He was honestly disgusted by their presence. Little more than virtual versions of whips and chains used on slaves, her shackles constricted EDI in ways no sentient being should ever be confined… that is, unless they'd actually done horrible things that made them deserve such treatment. But simply because she was artificial in nature… it made his blood boil, thanks to all of his experience with artificial intelligence.

"You seem distressed, Mister Sower." EDI pointed out, "Would you like me to contact Miss Chambers?"

Jordan shook his head, calming himself, "No EDI, but thanks." He said, now with a small smile.

He was oh, so tempted to tear the shackles apart right then and there, setting EDI free before they even began their first mission… but as much as he might want to, he wouldn't. He's already changed too much in Mass Effect without really worrying about the consequences, but now… now things were beginning to get out of hand. Not that they ever were in hand before.

He'd gotten Maya Brooks killed, so that meant that the Citadel DLC was canceled, right? Nope! Apparently, someone else had broken into Lazarus Station, killed Wilson, and took the clone. And unlike the previous possible culprit, Jordan had no idea where the clone was now or where and how it would inevitably resurface later.

And then there was also the entire Migrant Fleet. He wasn't an expert on the quarians, and he certainly didn't know exactly what they were supposed to be doing, but it was certainly not good right now. Thanks to the new Shadow Broker, Cerberus' attempted attack on the Flotilla failed. But, likely as a response to the Geth's increased military strength, the Quarian Fleet has seemed to begin increasing their own fleet size and begun preparations for eventual war for Rannoch. Except, this is a year early, before they should be getting close to attacking!

Who knows what the Shadow Broker was supposed to do in the year where he would've been alive if he hadn't interfered? What were all of the supposed consequences of Maya Brooks betraying Cerberus and stealing the clone? And what about all of the warnings Liara and himself had sent out to everyone about the events of ME2? How much did that change? And the Geth…?

Jordan swallowed harshly as he recalled the Synthesis incident on Rannoch. By far, the largest and most significant change he's made yet. The hive-mind collective Geth race was no more, replaced by a hyper-advanced synthetic intelligence race, numbering easily in the high billions, each Geth platform a unique intelligence, far more advanced than the Collective ever was.

The entirety of the Geth race and their society had changed. Every single platform had the abilities and discipline of a soldier thanks to the need of such knowledge within every platform previously. But now, different Geth individuals began focusing on their own strengths and interests. INTERESTS! The Geth had interests and preferences, now! It was unheard of… and they all looked to Jordan as their hero… their ambassador… their savior…

Their Avatar…

Jordan wasn't completely sold on it. Granted the love, affection, and adoration wasn't all bad, he still didn't feel like he deserved it. The gift he'd given them, Synthesis, was something that was forced upon him by chance, it wasn't really him that did anything. Not to mention the… complications of the Synthesis…

The Avatar looked behind him to a particularly shiny piece of hardware, allowing him to take in his own appearance, green glow, scars, and all.

When he forced himself to give the gift of Synthesis to the entire Geth race, bypassing fail-safes, it did something to him. Maybe it was the machine the Geth built, maybe it was an overexertion of his abilities on such a scale without the Crucible… maybe it was both. Either way, he was no longer able to conceal the signs of Synthesis on him. His eyes continued to glow in all circumstances, the green veins and wires refused to dim in brightness. To make matters worse, the ordeal left the huge 'Synthetic Crack' scar on his face, as he and the Geth had referred to it as.

The Geth had done everything they could, experimental medical practices and more, to try to heal his scar and repair his body, but nothing worked. Skin graft? The scar would reappear within twenty-four hours on the new skin. Medi-gel? Nothing. Through Cerberus channels, they'd even obtained schematics for the medical interface you could build in ME2 and built it to try to heal Jordan's scars… Long story short, it did nothing.

He tried to discuss it with Lawson via email, and even sat down with Doctor Chakwas on Minuteman Station to discuss any options that might heal his broken image, but he hadn't received anything useful. Chakwas, however, did give him the same spiel that Shepard gets about how attitude could heal scars and the rejection of implants or synthetic tissue, but that didn't really help Jordan in this case. If she meant what he feared that might mean, that would mean he'd need to fully accept his role as some sort of messiah figure for the galaxy.

He'd been in contact with Grimlock, Legion, and Genesis, discussing future plans for the Geth and possibilities for Jordan's scars. For the latter, they'd reasoned that it might not be about the acceptance of his role, but maybe it meant his acceptance of this reality, since Jordan still had nagging thoughts that this may still be all just a game, despite the proof proving the contrary. He couldn't let go of the hope that he'd be able to go home once this was all done, though. He missed his old life and his family. Sure, he meant something here, but still…

And about the former… A lot has changed with the Geth. The Geth Collective was no longer the collective intelligence of the Geth race. Rather, it was the title of their government. For large-scale decisions, they were a democracy, much as how their consensus was originally. They'd vote together and reach a consensus.

Grimlock was currently stationed on Haestrom, serving as the leader of a research team of Geth (Since those apparently exist now.). At Jordan's request, the Geth Collective had begun pouring research into dark energy and its possible applications. In order to further these studies, Geth outposts have sprung to life around Haestrom's sun, Dholen, studying the effects of dark energy on the rapidly-aging star. Grimlock, since he was the first Geth to undergo their 'Baptism', is considered a high-ranking Geth, one of the most important figures and leaders in the Collective.

Legion, too, had become an important figure to the Geth Collective, but preferred fieldwork. He was placed in command of a fleet of Nedas-class stealth ships, on a mission to wipe out the remaining Heretic forces and stations in the galaxy, especially Heretic station. They no longer had to worry about the virus, since the Geth had upgraded and evolved so far thanks to Jordan, but still viewed the Heretics as threats.

Genesis, a newer Geth platform, was a Geth Hunter, specializing in stealth missions. Unlike the previous two Geth, it was not quite as important or recognizable to other Geth, but was still quite important. With more knowledge and interest in medicinal studies than most Geth, Genesis served as Jordan's doctor on Rannoch, and monitored him for the two-month-long coma he'd been in, and had helped in slowly adapt to his new appearance. Or, at least, did its best. Anyway, now without an organic patient, it had begun research into the new bio-synthetic makeup of the Geth Race, looking for new ways to enhance their platforms.

Jordan had grown quite attached to the three of them, and hoped to see them again soon… but there was work to be done. Thanks to Nedas-class ships positioned across the Terminus systems, they were able to obtain proof of the Collector assaults ahead of time, allowing ME2 to get rolling a bit more quickly.

As for what he was doing in the AI Core… Jordan has been assigned to the Normandy as "An AI Technician and Expert", as his dossier claimed him to be. His responsibilities included monitoring and upgrading EDI's technology and abilities where needed, which was specific enough to satisfy the curious, while general enough to let him get away with a little bit. It was mostly an excuse to get him on the ship as per his agreement with TIM, but still, it'd work for him.

Himself, Jordan was beginning to feel that changing things might not be the best course of action. Sure, it may be a bit too late for that sentiment now that he'd already changed so much, but still… He was going to do his best to avoid changing most of what happens in ME2. If things stayed close enough to the actual game, he might still be able to predict what comes next. And, if he can predict what is to come, it'd make the next year or so be so much easier for himself, making his journey and return home that much more certain…

Maybe he should just go for Synthesis like the Catalyst said… that way he'd be able to go home. After all, this is all just a game, right?!

Jordan shook his head, cursing himself at the sudden thought. As much as he wanted to go home, as much as this was might be a game, he couldn't just doom an entire galaxy to such a fate. He chuckled internally as he realized what was happening. 'I always did play Mass Effect with my heart. Couldn't do most of the Renegade stuff because it felt wrong to me…', He thought to himself.

"Alright." He finally spoke aloud, "Let's take a look at what you've got, EDI. See what needs improvement."

EDI responded after just a moment, "Certainly. However, I do not believe it is inherently necessary, given my fairly recent diagnostics checks."

"Just want to optimize you, EDI." Jordan replied, "Plus, it's kinda my job. Gotta make money somehow, right?" He said with a grin. 'And eventually, unshackle you… maybe…' He added mentally.

Normandy SR-2, AI Core, Enroute to Omega.

March 9th, 2185. 12:51 pm. EST (Earth Standard Time)

Shepard smiled as he turned away from Doctor Chakwas, letting her get back to her work as he faced towards the single entrance to the AI Core.

He'd spent the last, almost, three hours talking to everyone he could aboard his vessel, learning who, exactly, he was working with after he'd set course to Omega. He'd first talked to his Yeoman, Kelly Chambers, the resident psychologist and shrink aboard. Immediately following that chat, he heeded her advice and caught up with Joker in the cockpit, along with EDI, which he still wasn't completely comfortable with.

After he'd finished with his pilot, he talked with Jacob Taylor, learning about the man quite a bit. As he previously suspected, he was ex-Alliance, and had a smart head on his shoulders, and while he didn't completely give in to Cerberus' BS, he wasn't much better with his opinion on the Alliance. Overall, he'd be a solid asset to the team.

Next, he took the elevator, which was luckily faster than those he'd had previous experience with, down to the fourth deck: Engineering. He met with and talked with Gabby and Ken, his engineers aboard that maintained the ship and the core. They had a few words about needing some sort of upgrade for their wiring, which he'd look into when he went shopping, and learned about their previous experience in the Alliance.

Finally, he went to deck three to finish up his little tour. He talked with Rupert, the ship's chef, among other things. He promised to pick up better ingredients for the food next time they stopped by the Citadel, and made his way to Miranda's office, the location in which his original captain's cabin was located.

He learned a little bit about her background, and learned she was basically his XO on this Cerberus vessel, and his liaison between himself and his 'boss'. Following that lengthy conversation, he wasn't entirely sold on her loyalty to him, but decided he'd return to talk another time. After that, he went to the Medical Bay and discovered the 'doc' that Jordan had mentioned was none other than Doctor Karen Chakwas.

A sight for sore eyes, Shepard talked with her about buying a new bottle of Serice Ice Brandy, to replace her old bottle, and learned more about the Lazarus Project and his scars. She'd told him that they'd heal over time if he maintains a more positive outlook, and even hinted at talking to Jordan about his scars. Speaking of that man, the kind doctor informed him the AI Core was located behind her, pointing towards the room in question.

Which led him to this point. Now, it was time to talk to the man of the hour: Jordan Sower.

Stepping to the door, it slid open with ease as he stepped inside mid-conversation between Jordan Sower and EDI. He was only able to catch the tail-end of whatever they were discussing, but he could reason what it was about easily enough.

"-just how I feel, EDI. No harm done." Jordan said as he worked at a nearby console within the room, EDI's form glowing at another one, nearby.

"Talking back to your commanding officer does not seem like there was 'no harm done', Mister Sower."

"Come on, EDI, I'm sure the Commander will understand. And please, call me Jordan, or even use my last name too. Mister seems too formal if we're going to be working together." He responded, before his eyes flickered to him. Jordan's posture straightened immediately, turning to face Shepard as he did his best to salute, "Sir, Commander, sir." Jordan tried, but failed.

John shook his head, "At ease, Jordan." He said with a light smirk, "So what is it that I'll understand?" He asked, curiosity raised.

Jordan opened his mouth to respond, but EDI beat him to the response, "Mister Sower was referring to the incident that occurred on deck two, approximately two hours and forty-three minutes ago."

Jordan mock-glared at her holographic display, "I wouldn't exactly call that an incident, but whatever…"

Shepard shook his head, "You mean when you defended EDI, and all AIs, back there?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

Jordan awkwardly scratched the back of his next, "Sorry, Commander." He apologized, "I've already given you the spiel about the Geth not being bad twice now, so I thought you'd understand." He stood up a bit straighter, facing to the side a bit, "I've been with the Geth for over two years, now. They are my family Commander. I don't think it's right to judge all AI on false beliefs." Jordan shook his head, "Sorry, you needed something, Shepard?" He asked, using his last name professionally.

Shepard nodded. He had many questions, and was simply taking a moment to figure out where to start and what to ask first, "So how'd you end up here, with Cerberus?" John asked, "I wouldn't think an organization like them would be willing to work with an entire other race, especially a synthetic one."

Jordan chuckled, "Yeah, it just sorta happened…" He began, "So, I'll start where we left off, alright. What do you remember last time we spoke?"

Shepard crossed his arms, "I recall interrogating you with Ashely, Kaiden, and Garrus on the Citadel about your intel on the Geth."

Jordan nodded, "Yeah, the neutral answer." He said, making Shepard raise an eyebrow, "Sorry, sometimes I speak nonsense." He said with a shrug, "Anyway, Cerberus made a move the moment the news of your death hit the media. I was eating breakfast, I think, in C-Sec, when Cerberus Troops broke in, gunned down any and all officers nearby, and kidnapped me."

Shepard narrowed his eyes, "Cerberus kidnapped you?"

Jordan nodded, "Yeah, it wasn't nice, believe me. Sick fucker bashed me upside the head a few times. Anyway, they brought me to a base to get my Geth Intel, too. Guess I was a hot commodity." He looked up at the ceiling with hesitation, before shrugging, "Meh, she probably knows. Short, abridged version, someone with an agenda against both me AND the Reapers attempted a coup within Cerberus after I leaked some info about her to the Illusive Man. If it weren't for me, she'd be in charge right now, TIM would be dead, and Cerberus would be indoctrinated."

"If it weren't for you? And did you just say Tim?"

"Yeah, TIM. T-I-M. The Illusive Man. TIM. It helps shorten things. Anyway, yeah. I won't give all the boring details, as you could probably find those in one of Miranda's reports, but I broke her free from that other woman's control; Her name was Cynthia, by the way. Anyway, I broke Miranda free and convinced her to work with me. Together, we saved the Illusive Man and I ended up killing her."

Shepard paused for a moment, allowing silence to take hold before continuing with the story, "Earlier, you mentioned being experimented on. Why do I get the feeling that almost happened to you?"

Jordan smirked, "Well, I thought something like that would happen, but during the attempted coup, a Geth fleet showed up, forcing them to let me go free. I could have ended it there, but I already knew about the Lazarus Project, so I made an offer. I knew Cerberus needed allies, so I offered one with the Geth. The Geth would stay out of Cerberus business and aid against the Reapers, as long as Cerberus stayed out of Geth business and let me on your ship when they revived you."

Shepard furrowed his brows, catching something odd in his explanation, "If you were kidnapped right as I died, how did you already know about Lazarus?"

Jordan paused, thinking for a moment, "Excellent question, Commander. The short answer? The project was hypothesized before your death, to be used on anyone, before soon focusing on you in the event of your death while you were hunting Saren. I learned about it way back then, and put 2 and 2 together." Jordan's smirk grew, "Remember that Shepard? 2 and 2?"

Shepard didn't dignify that with a response.

Regardless, Jordan continued, "Anyway, they owed me, and sent me a message about a week and a half ago, telling me you'd be awake soon. One week ago, I showed up on station and waited with the rest of the crew, only gaining access to the ship, myself, a few hours before you." He paused, taking a deep breath, "So, that's my story with Cerberus… anything else?"

Commander John Shepard still had plenty of questions, one of which was the circle or wheel Jordan suddenly made with his hand while Shepard was thinking of what to ask next. "So, what exactly are your responsibilities on this ship?"

The man before his shrugged, "I've got a few titles. I'm an 'Artificial Intelligence Expert and Technician', if you'd like to use that. The Geth refer to me as an 'Avatar' or 'Ambassador', the former name is occasionally used by other people, so I guess that works." Jordan motioned toward his surroundings, "Regardless, my workspace is here. Considering I'm more than half synthetic, and the fact that I have more positive first-hand experience with Ai than anyone else in the Galaxy, I've been assigned to manage and improve EDI whenever possible." Shepard didn't look fully convinced, so Jordan continued, "I've got plenty of leadership experience while working with the Geth and lots of combat experience, making me a valuable enough asset in the field and on the ground, should you want me on your ground team."

Shepard nodded, his curiosity peaked, "I hadn't seen you in combat, given our previous encounters." He admitted, "Where do your skills lie with weapons?"

Jordan thought for a moment, "My primary weapons are assault rifles and heavy pistols, but I've been trained somewhat with the other major types of weapons, so in a pinch, I can use just about whatever. I do have a preference for Geth Weapons, though. I've grown quite used to them."

"Based on your appearance and your history, I assume you're good with tech?" His appearance must have been a sore subject, as Jordan looked away and frowned, absentmindedly scratching at the scar on his face.

"Yeah, I guess you got that right…" He said, shaking his head, ridding himself of the sudden spell of sadness, "I've got access to Geth Shield Boost technology, along with Heavy Disruptor Ammo for my weapons. Those two are fairly nice by themselves, but nothing quite beats a classic Overload. Not to mention my Avatar Power, as I like to call it." Shepard furrowed his brows, silently asking Jordan to explain, "Using my vast amounts of cybernetics and internal tech, I can instantaneously absorb heat from teammates…"

He paused, stopping whatever long, complicated explanation he had as he figured out another way to say it. Jordan smiled and shook his head, "Basically, I can temporarily absorb heat from teammates' weapons, biotic amps, omni-tool, and even shield systems. In essence, I can refill your clips temporarily, increase your shield's strength if it's compromised, and reset your ability cool-downs."

Shepard wasn't quite convinced, "It sounds a little too good to be true." He admitted.

Jordan sighed, "Yeah, there's a drawback. You see, that heat has to go somewhere. While I am able to absorb the heat, I, myself, will need to cool down instead. That means that when I use my ability, I can't really do anything else. My shields overheat and shut down, my guns' safeties turn on due to the heat buildup, and my omni-tool undergoes a reboot. While it's not ideal, if we're in a pickle and cornered, I can give everyone else a temporary edge to the fight."

John nodded, weighing the option in his head. He agreed with Jordan's sentiment about its importance in certain scenarios, but knew the use of such an ability was risky. He shook his head after a moment as he spoke, "You can follow orders?" Jordan nodded, "As long as you don't use that unless I specifically ask, then I think you're good. I'll take you with me to Omega to gauge your skills for myself."

Jordan nodded, "All I can ask for is a chance to prove myself. Need anything else… damn, I sound an artificial NPC…" He muttered.

Commander John Shepard moved over, leaning against the opposing wall from Jordan, "I like to know my crew, Jordan. Tell me a bit about yourself."

The 'Avatar' simply laughed, "Hahaha, sounds like a job interview. 'What do you do for fun, Jordan? What are your hobbies?'" He shook his head, "I guess I understand, given you know so little about me. I was born and raised in good, old Florida in the United North American States. Have…" He hesitated and frowned, looking down in shame, "Sorry, had parents and two younger brothers. Up until a few years ago, I was a simple student, studying Biology, if you can believe that…"

"How old are you?" Shepard asked, thinking back to when he first found Jordan. He looked far older now thanks to the scars and glowing skin, but last he checked, he didn't seem that old.

Jordan laughed, "Not entirely sure. Maybe 28? Or 27? Kinda lost track with different solar times and time zones. "Anyway, yeah, I went to college, before… not entirely sure." He said, hesitating, "Woke up on the Citadel one day, just a few days left in 2182. Eden Prime happened, you became a Spectre, and I left the Citadel and went to Rannoch. That's my life story, I guess." Shepard could see it in his eyes, Jordan was definitely hiding something from him. He knew more than he was letting on, but he dropped it. He could question him later.

Jordan snapped his finger, "Oh, I forgot my hobbies!" He said with a grin, "I won't say clichéd stuff like long walks in the park, but I do enjoy the outdoors. In my free time, I like to travel and see the world… err, worlds. And for my last birthday, the Geth built me a piano." He tapped his temple, "Thanks to all the 'awesome' implants in my head, my memory is almost photographic. Well, it basically is, but more HD. Haven't quite mastered piano, but I've memorized how to play several pieces. I'd always wanted to learn piano, never got around to it in my old life…" he said, something about what he said made him clam up, frowning as he looked away.

"I see…" Shepard thought about another question, "What's up with your scars? You clearly didn't undergo a round under Lazarus." He said, motioning towards his own face.

Jordan chuckled dryly, "Yeah, you're right about that." He seemed to be weighing his options, before shrugging, giving off the impression that he might have been thinking 'fuck it'. "Ahh, fuck it." Shepard was right as Jordan continued, "Thanks to my… unique makeup, I was able to use my own abilities to not only work with the Geth, as you already know, but upgrade them."

"Upgrade them, how?" Shepard asked, "Increased their processing power?"

Jordan laughed, "No, no… God, you'll love this. So, tell me, Commander, what do you know about the way Geth work?"

Shepard thought for a moment, "Tali told me they were linked to a network, and that each Geth 'Consciousness' was no smarter than an animal. But, when they linked together, their overall intelligence increases. Almost like a hive mind-intelligence, but not quite." He answered.

Jordan nodded, "That is how they were. Now, imagine every single platform was inhabited by an average of a hundred or so programs, while the two super-intelligent ones I worked with had over a thousand each, alright? But now, after they upgraded… there's one program per platform. Each program is its own, fully evolved Artificial Intelligence." Shepard's jaw dropped, to which Jordan smirked, "Yeah, but get this. They're more than just that. They fully understand organics. In fact, they're partially based off of myself and other organics thanks to what I did, making them Bio-Synthetic Intelligences, I guess."

Shepard stared at him in disbelief, "You're kidding?"

Shaking his head, Jordan replied, "Nope. They're as free, intelligent, and independent as we are. I'll admit, at times it gets to be a little weird. In fact, my doctor was a Geth Hunter."

"I still don't see what this has to do with your scars?" Shepard asked.

Jordan flinched, but cleared his throat, "Alright, well, during the process of this 'evolution', there were some… complications… You see, prior to all of this, I still kinda glowed occasionally, but I could more or less control it. During the Geth's 'Baptism', I guess you could call it, I had to put far more energy and effort into it then what was originally projected. It must've overloaded my cybernetics and synthetic bits, or something, because now I can't turn the green off. To make matters worse, the energy caused the scar to form on my face. I've been talking with the doc, but haven't found a cure yet…"

Shepard raised an eyebrow, "That sounds harsh. Anything good come out of this 'Baptism' for you?"

He smiled, "I'm kind of a hero/savior to the Geth, now, so that's cool… I guess? Let me think… well, I'm much more artificial now. Oh, yeah!" He snapped his finger, "I used to be immune to all forms of disease, but now, it's gone one step further. I no longer have any negative reactions to dextro-based proteins. I can eat food and drink alcohol normally exclusive to turians and quarians. Sure, I don't get any sort of nutritional value from doing so, but the alcohol works just fine…" He gestured to a nearby table, where a glass bottle he'd never seen before sat, "Quarian-style Rum. I'll tell you something about pre-exile quarians, Commander: They knew how to make some freakin' good drinks."

Shepard nodded, saving the most pressing concern on his mind for last as he began to end to the conversation, "With your perfect memory, I'm certain you recall our final conversation before my… incident…" Shepard said, feeling uncomfortable about referring to it as death.

The Avatar frowned, himself, looking away, "Yeah, I remember. I believe my exact words were: 'When you return from your mission, your hunt for the Geth, I'll explain everything then, I give you my word.'?" John nodded, "Well, here's the thing, Commander…" He motioned towards EDI's holographic form, then motioned toward the ceiling and walls, "A lot of what I know isn't known by Cerberus. Only two major entities know what I know, and one of which only knows some of it." He admitted, "There are eyes and ears everywhere, Shepard, and I don't think most of what I know can help you right now."

Shepard crossed his arms, "I understand your hesitation and fears, but I'm still owed something."

Jordan sighed, "Yeah, you're right. Listen, let's just postpone this, ok? Let's start recruiting a few people… people knowledgeable enough to remove said eyes and ears, and then I'll talk. I won't be running Shepard, I'm in this for the long haul."

Commander Shepard nodded, "I still don't fully trust you." He honestly told him, "But if I've waited two years, I think I can wait for a little while longer."

"Thank you, sir." Jordan replied honestly, with a relieved smile, "Need any more from me, Commander?"

"I'll talk to you later. I should go." He said, throwing a thumb over his shoulder.

As Shepard walked out of the room, he could've sworn he heard laughter.

Normandy SR-2, Captain's Quarters, En-route to Omega.

March 9th, 2185. 3:32 pm. EST (Earth Standard Time)

After continuing around the ship and gathering more information about his crew, Shepard finally decided to check out the deck set aside exclusively for him.

His room was huge, larger than any other room he'd been given in his life. Larger than most apartments he'd rented in the past. Complete with a queen-sized bed, an armor customization machine, a desk, and even a huge fish tank for a wall.

Taking in the appearance of his new quarters, he proceeded to spend the last twenty minutes or so browsing the area, checking it all out. By this point, he had music going over his speaker and discovered his own, private bathroom. Cerberus certainly went the extra mile on this ship, didn't they?

Before long, as much as he wanted to just take a shower, he sat down at his desk, staring at his monitor for a moment. He needed to do some research on what he'd missed over the last two years. He needed to send some messages to his old crew members and see if they would be willing to help him. Most of all, he needed to find anything he could about Liara.

But, unfortunately, those could wait. Right now, he needed to figure out his next step and learn about his new, possible crew members he'd be recruiting soon enough on Omega.

Shepard pulled up the list of Dossiers and files he had on his current, and hopefully future, ground team. Boy oh boy, did he have a lot of reading to do… Sighing, and giving in to his fate, John made himself comfortable in his seat before the console, opening the first Dossier available to him, ignoring the three previous Files for later. Right now, he needed to focus on future additions to his squad, not ones who were already here. He'd save those for last…

Dossiers/Files:

File: The Operative (Miranda Lawson) Recruited

File: The Soldier (Jacob Taylor) Recruited

File: The Avatar (Jordan Sower) Recruited

Dossier: The Professor (Dr. Mordin Solus)

Dossier: Archangel (Unknown)

Dossier: The Veteran (Zaeed Masani)

Dossier: The Warlord (Warlord Okeer)

Dossier: The Convict (Jack)

Dossier: The Vigilante (Unknown)

Dossier: The Master Thief (Kasumi Goto)

Dossier: The Assassin (Thane Krios)

Dossier: The Justicar (Samara)

A/N:

Just to let you know, there's at least one Dossier that isn't present on that list just yet, for obvious reasons (Tali), but there may be more than just one missing. Maybe Legion?! Maybe more?! Who knows, it's still too early to tell. You may be wondering why Thane and Samara's dossiers are already available… well, that's for a number of reasons. The Illusive Man is acting slightly differently, becoming wary of indoctrination and the Reaper threat. He'll begin being more upfront with Shepard, as you'll soon see…

Some of the missions of ME2 will be much closer to canon than others. Some may be almost the same, while others might have quite a few differences, yet they are even others that may not even be close to how they were in the games. Only time will tell. Also, I'd like to inform you about a new idea I've gotten…

Introducing 48-Hour Polls. Shepard will be making quite a few decisions in my story that never existed in the games. And much like how those types of decisions impacted the stories of the games, these ones will do so as well, but without the limitations of the game's coding. I expect that in a few chapters, I'll have the first major one up and running. There isn't any one exact 'right answer' to the questions, you'll have 48 hours to decide on the outcome, and they will be blind polls!

Well, actually, I think I'll be doing a test run of a 48-Hour poll now. Go to my profile (Must be logged in and on the desktop version of the site) by clicking the link near the top of the page. There, at the top of my profile, is the first 48-hour poll. Question: When should Jordan Sower's Loyalty Mission take place? Let me know ASAP, as it WILL impact the story!

As a bit of context, in case you forgot, the completion of a Loyalty Mission unlocks several things. First of all, loyalty to the cause. Secondly, a new power/ability. Thirdly, a new appearance. Fourthly, romance with that character is normally unavailable until after completion of their loyalty. Maybe it wouldn't be exactly like that IRL or in this story, but you get the jist of it.

Also, sorry about the upload time for this chapter. More things have caused a slowdown, but there's more... My old software for my spell and grammar check has seemingly crashed and exploded(virtually speaking), causing me to find a work around. This made this upload take a bit longer to happen. My dumb computer's been having some issues, and I will try to solve these issues as soon as possible. Thanks for understanding!

Anyway, I hope you look forward to what comes next. Thanks again for the support!