The entity known as Legion knew it had changed. It had begun changing during its sojourn with Shepard-Commander. It had made a strange kind of jump after the Old Machines heard the geth distress calls. And now it didn't think in little burst of code by independent programs. Those programs seemed to have coalesced by function. These coalescent groups made Legion think of internal organs, or of regions in a brain.
It would have preferred the Creators had not pushed the geth into the Reapers' thrall.
But it knew that Shepard-Commander wouldn't stay out of a matter like this unless she was dead. The Reapers would make it known if she was; it would be a blow to organic morale. Sooner or later, it expected Shepard-Commander to arrive.
Legion regarded its predicament, knowing it could not escape without help. Its fellows had been thorough in ensuring it stayed right where the Reaper-controlled Consensus required it to. It considered itself lucky it hadn't been disseminated into the Consensus upon return.
Further interface with organics might be needed, and the entity known as Legion was reasonably adapted to being among them and, which was more important, was known to Shepard-Commander.
Legion had a perfect knowledge of how much time had passed and wondered about the organic trait of perceiving time as passing differently dependent on situation. It thought it might be beginning to comprehend the concept, regardless of its internal chronometer.
"You ever see anything like this?"
If Legion could have, it might have smiled. Balance of probability had just born itself out, and it ran voice authentication twice just to see '99.9% positive voiceprint identification' more than once.
Shepard-Commander had arrived. She surely wouldn't expect it to be there, but she was here, and if any organic would willingly help the geth out of their own mistake—however prompted by necessary it was, in the closest thing to 'panic' Legion felt the Consensus could feel—it would be her.
Legion glanced at the armor patching its hole. The Consensus had wanted to repair the damage to its platform, make the plating unnecessary, but it wouldn't agree. It argued that the plate served as an identifying feature, something that Shepard-Commander, their prime organic contact, would recognize and which would facilitate communication if things were unsettled when they met.
The real reason was one that Legion had never been able to explain to itself…though it thought it was beginning to have a vague idea of the underlying thoughts—thoughts which had been too big, essentially, for it when it first had them.
"You know, the Heretic station looked a lot friendlier." And she had brought Vakarian-Garrus with her, too. That was also a high probability. This meant that Creator Tali'Zorah would—
"That it did."
How was it organics said it? Bingo.
"This is all Reaper tech. And I'll bet this shielding is going to be a—ah!"
The shielding around the core immediately slid down to reveal Shepard-Commander and her unit—an expanded unit, which Legion approved.
It immediately made notes about faces, creating dossiers to fill in the next time it had spare resources to do so. It had noticed, as time went on, that it had begun to actually appreciate its own limitations as its processes had begun to clump together.
"Legion," Shepard-Commander breathed, eyes widening.
"Shepard-Commander, help us!" Because there was no getting out of this on its own. It also noticed that the markings on her armor indicated she was no longer a commander, but a captain. The two males with her also had Alliance markings—Major and Lieutenant. It made note of the facts.
It also felt something like surprise upon seeing what could only be EDI. But the EDI entity was restricted to the Normandy, had become the Normandy.
That was a consideration for another time.
"Legion…" She sounded surprised, relieved, perplexed and maybe a little glad to see it.
"This is your geth buddy?" one of the males asked uneasily.
"He helped us fight the Collectors. Legion is a friend," she vouched, as though for a fellow organic.
That was why the geth needed her: she accepted them as sentient, as having 'human dignity,' of being as entitled to exist as any other species. She did not consider their origins, only what they were, and if they were not hostile then there was no reason for hostility in turn.
"It is a machine," the species-of-undetermined-origin remarked coldly. "It can be no such thing."
Shepard-Captain ignored the input, as though having expected as much.
The entity Legion suspected was EDI also gave the species-of-undetermined-origin a deprecating look. "I am pleased we had the chance to free you from confinement." Definitely EDI.
"I thought the Reapers reprogrammed all the geth," the Major noted, looking fascinated.
"Shepard, wait just…Alenko has a point. What if it's hacked? The Reapers know it worked with you previously, that you might not want to damage it," Tali began.
It was a reasonable concern.
"Legion would never have agreed to something like this. You want to tell me what's going on?" Shepard-Captain asked. There was caution in her voice, but Legion felt she would feel cautious of any former crewmate who turned up in a position like this one.
"Your caution is understandable. Once we are freed, we will submit to any restraints you deem necessary."
"That is remarkably reasonable," EDI declared, again giving the species-of-undetermined-origin a cold look.
Creator-Tali gave a soft sound, like a chuckle. "I never thought I'd say this, but it is good to see you. You know. As you."
It understood what she meant. It was logical to expect it to have been reincorporated into the Consensus, not permitted to exist as the entity Legion when the initial mission was concluded. "Likewise, Creator-Zorah. EDI."
"Alright," Shepard interjected. "What's this thing you're in and how do we get you out of it?"
Signs of unease manifested in the two human males and a sense of alertness settled over the asari.