That organic needed to die. I had thought that about Kai Leng ever since he was introduced as a threat during the Citadel coup d'etat, but after the death of Operative Lawson, I believed it more than ever. Operative Lawson gave us the opportunity to chase him, and it would be negligent of us to ignore it.

Leng was an affront to my new programming: Duty, altruism, and love, those were the priorities John had assisted me in choosing, and I would risk nonfunctionality to save John, Jeff, or the crew, just as they would for me.

I went with John to the base: I knew it's functions and defenses, and could counteract them faster than anyone. Jeff did not approve, as I expected he wouldn't ever since he and I began our relationship. But after Cerberus attempted to vent the hanger, I determined that it was a sound judgment.

As we made our way through the base, I noticed that some of the consoles were not fully scrubbed. One of them was for Project Lazarus, John's reconstruction. I informed him about this: Curiosity was an important function of all organics, and John had asked me questions of this before, when Mordin asked me about transhumanism.

He listened intently when the Illusive Man mentioned that neurological activity was reported, and that he was implementing sympathetic crew members specifically for John's loyalty.

"Goddess, that man will go to any extreme." Dr. T'Soni nodded in sympathy.

"Well, most of them left Cerberus anyway. Kelly's on the Citadel, everyone else is on the ship. I'd like to think the rest of the crew packed up and left too."

"I think you're right, John. Anyone would listen if you said it was wrong, unless they were indoctrinated."

"I can make them afraid, Liara. Still got that." John chuckled, and Dr. T'Soni chuckled back.

"There's an earlier log." She indicated a record John had not yet read. He turned it on.

"We've recovered his body. It's mostly in tact, including the brain, but...Sir, Shepard is clinically brain-dead. We can't...that's something that just can't be changed."

"And that's why of this moment, you won't be heading the Lazarus Project: Operative Lawson believes she can find a way." John did not pay much attention to this next sentence.

"Brain...brain-dead." He leaned on the console, almost losing his balance. His biometrics were in complete flux.

"John, I..." Dr. T'Soni started to speak, but was quickly interrupted.

"I...I'm me. I have to be. Cerberus's goal was to bring me back and...I'm me. I'm me. But...brain-dead...I just...you can't fix that. I know you can't."

"John, Cerberus had practically limitless resources and utter dedication. Whatever they did, you are you."

"Or just a VI that thinks it's me. Like President Huerta, who has one in his head. Like that shitty VI Mouse made, just better. Just a...just a moving husk, or...maybe they fixed me. Who knows? Everyone on that project is dead now: Jacob, Miranda. I..." John stepped away from the console shaking his head. It was not my intention to cause him distress, but the possibility could have occurred.

"John, I have mentioned before that your brain functions are organic."

"You've also told me that you can lie at any time, EDI." It was true, I was not required as a function of my programming to provide accurate data. It meant that John would not believe what I had told him, if it did not already concur with his conclusions.

"We should continue moving." We could not waste any more time on this: Admiral Hackett's fleet was still attacking the station, and we, or the Prothean VI from Thessia, would be destroyed if we did not make haste.


John could barely react to his realization of my own history, that I used to be the VI from Luna. I remember calling for help into his hardsuit computer before I had shut down. My interaction with him, as well as Major Alenko and Tali'Zorah, who had gone with him to Luna, had improved significantly since then.

"It doesn't matter who you were, EDI. You are a friend, and a valued member of my team." The probability that John would say something to that effect was very high, but his biometrics were still in a state of constant fluctuation. How this affected him after the knowledge of Project Lazarus was an unknown, and I could not devote more of my processing power to this: Cerberus forces were en route. But when we had a quiet moment, as Dr. T'Soni was investigating a terminal on some of the technology from the Collector base, John made it a point to tell me he appreciated everything that I had ever done for him and the crew. Again, it was a high probability that he would say such a thing. But it still created positive feedback.


"EDI, I'm surprised at you. You're working so hard against me, your creator." I had assigned positive and negative reactions to many different sounds since Jeff removed my operator shackles. His laughter was positive, and, after speaking with John, the voice of the Illusive Man became negative. I ignored him as I continued to decrypt Cerberus's data.

"Why didn't you destroy Dr. Eva's body, when you had the chance?"

"It was useful."

"Useful. Such a beautiful word. Don't you see, Shepard. The Reapers can be useful if used properly."

"The variables do not support your theory." I continued to decrypt, but I spoke back to the Illusive Man. I had completely wiped Eva from the infiltration unit: It could not upload itself again. Attempting to control a Reaper would be difficult due to threat of indoctrination, and lack of study samples.

"Your programming has been corrupted."

"My programming is my own choice." I remembered when I had asked John about the purpose of synthetic life, and I saw the trust he had in synthetic species. John trusted the geth, he trusted me. The Illusive Man did not trust in humanity, he needed to control it as he needed to control everything.

"I respect what you've accomplished, Shepard, but your role in this is over. I have everything I need to control the Reapers. Enjoy your chat with that VI." And the hologram of the Illusive Man faded.


I expected that Kai Leng would make his appearance. The Illusive Man may have claimed he did not care if we had taken the Prothean VI, but he chased Doctor Cole across the galaxy. He did not let any unknowns go unaccounted for.

"Did you enjoy watching Miranda die? It's too bad my mission took me away, but knowing can be enough." He frequently taunted when he destroyed much of the Illusive Man's office. I deployed incendiaries and overloaded kinetic barriers. He was too fast a target to lock down, but deploying over an area made him leap out of the way, and John would shoot where he landed, while Dr. T'Soni lay down wide-area biotic fields.

"You were too busy running. You couldn't kill a harmless man because of a terminally ill drell. Miranda managed to get us to find this place because you were too busy thinking you were the best. All you've ever done is run!"

"Shut your mouth!" Leng barked.

"Come here, I'll cut off your ears so you can't hear me." John's biometrics did not fluctuate much during better. Even with his barely constrained anger, he still fought calmly, shooting the troopers that dropped from the ceiling, never letting the Phantoms get close, but never taking Kai Leng out of his sight for long.

Leng leapt over a large power cable now visible from the destruction of the floor in order to reach Dr. T'Soni. John moved to flank him, and I overloaded the cable just as he was landing. Leng jumped out of the way to dodge, but the poor angle and footing made him jump straight near John. At once, John dropped his rifle, activated his omni-blade, and lunged forward, catching Leng right in the stomach.

I could hear the thud as the blade ripped through Leng's armor and straight into his abdomen. I heard the startled gasp.

"That...was for Thane." John then activated the omni-blade on his other hand, and stabbed Leng much higher, right where his heart would be. Again, Leng's armor offered little resistance.

"And Miranda." After a tense second, John headbutted Leng, knocking his body off the omni-blades and too the ground.

"And for anyone else I might have missed." Leng's blood dripped from John's hands as he picked his rifle back up. I detected no movement or signs of life from the body, but I shot it in the head to be certain. Personal confirmation of death was the Alliance's standard for all soldiers of the Phantom initiative. I did not associate positive feedback with killing, but I did associate it with protecting John and the crew. And I liked it.

"Come on, EDI, Liara. We need to get back to the Normandy." He started to walk back down towards where the remains of the proto-Reaper were housed. There were no forces to interrupt us. Before we left, we passed by the terminal, where John had learned of Project Lazarus, one more time.

John stabbed it with his omni-blade as well. It did not have the same feeling as stabbing Kai Leng, I could tell from his biometrics, and from the whispers John had been saying very softly to himself

"I am Commander Shepard. I am Commander Shepard." He continued to walk as he made his way back to the hangar. As he spoke to Lieutenant Cortez about coordinating a pickup, I sent private transmissions about what John had learned back to the rest of the crew.

We would be deploying to Earth soon, and time was short. John needed rest, and he needed focus. Odds of this mission's viability relied on him. Just as it was to the galactic core, distractions could not be afforded.