The surface of Rannoch was not where Allers expected to film the interview, an interview she knew would be unlike anything she had ever covered, and which she was desperately eager to begin. But Shepard hadn't been well after the events on Rannoch, and however excited and enthusiastic Allers was, she had no intention of bulldozing Shepard when Shepard couldn't deal with it.

So she'd stayed quiet, and waited patiently, knowing that Shepard would bring the matter up sooner rather than later.

The city was huge, sprawling, and strangely surrounded by a ring of what looked like local flora. When the shuttle touched down on one of the roads that led into the city—a road which had been removed from the landscape, except within the city, which gave the city the appearance of floating above the rest of the terrain on a cloud of flowers—Shepard, her two marines, and a geth Prime that dwarfed them all waited for them.

"Hello, Allers," Shepard grinned, indicating 'here we are.'

"I'm going to like this, aren't I?" Allers asked, regarding the architecture. She could see it had been damaged once, but that the damage had since been repaired.

"I don't know. You weren't allowed to shuttle in, because you don't just combat drop into a war memorial."

Allers felt her face go slack. "War memorial?" she asked.

"See all the flowers?" Shepard asked, pointing at the ring of flora. "Quarians used to practice cremation as a proper burial. Those are the descendants of seeds mixed with the ashes of the original quarian dead, despite the fact that there were no organics left to see to them."

Allers blinked. "So the geth…"

"Gave their dead enemies proper burials, according to their custom, yes. This is just one such memorial. Come on." Shepard turned and began to walk deeper into the city.

Allers remembered being vaguely aware of a planet full of sapient machines. She also remembered, in 2183, when the geth were crazy nihilistic robots who stuck people on spikes and made monsters out of organics. She'd been surprised to meet a geth, face to face, that didn't want to kill everyone. And now, she was being given concrete evidence—assuming the geth weren't lying, and that this flower field wasn't a recent addition to the landscape…

She stopped the thought. Even if the flowers were a recent addition, she didn't think even the geth could affect so much restoration to an old ruin without more of a footprint around the site.

She was just at the point of being glad Shepard told her to wear comfortable shoes for this outing when she noticed the buildings began to show strange markings. "What are these?" she asked, dragging fingers over the etchings. They were deep enough that, even if Rannoch was prone to sandstorms, they'd last for several centuries.

"The names of quarian dead," Shepard answered briskly. "Those who opposed the geth. The names of those who supported them are etched into various religious centers."

Allers stopped walking.

Shepard, apparently hearing the cessation of footsteps looked over her shoulder, mouth curved in a rueful smile, indicating this was not what she had expected either.

"Why?" Allers asked.

Shepard motioned to the silent geth Prime. "It seemed...appropriate," the geth answered after a pause.

"So…will I be talking to you today?" Allers asked carefully.

"I do not represent the geth," the geth answered simply. "The Reformed Consensus is deliberating which units should be fitted as diplomatic units. But I am concerned with Legion's last request."

"So, wait, can I ask…how is the Reformed Consensus different from the original Consensus?" Allers asked, unable to stop herself.

"When we were many runtimes together within the Consensus, we were a single organism and shared overarching thoughts. We still retain the ideals of cooperation, but we are now individuals who were once many. My impression is that the Reformed Consensus is not unlike an e-democracy, similar to that of the Asari Republics. Each geth has a voice, and we all reach for the same things," the geth replied promptly.

But if the geth were now individuals, which was what the short brief she got to see indicated, then this utopian ideal of cooperation in an e-democracy wouldn't last forever. It would be interesting to see how the geth and their system of government evolved…

…and it was a little chilling to think about it. Then again, what government didn't have corruption or selfishness or other kinds of organic-style hubris? She supposed there was no sense holding the geth to a standard no one else could adhere to…

She'd worry about this sort of thing later. She couldn't say she trusted the geth—not when they'd been murder-machines a few years ago—but even as she thought this, she considered how many crimes of organics vs. organics she'd covered in her lifetime.

Her mother's voice echoed in her head, the day she'd entered the journalism field: if there's one thing I hate, Di darling, it's a double standard. Don't you go helping those along.

They continued to walk silently through the city. Shepard sat down on edge of an empty fountain, looking around. "That's one of the religious centers," she pointed to a building set atop five or six steps. It didn't bear any iconography Allers recognized. Then again, why should it?

She did notice that the walls on the outside were smooth, so she supposed the carved names must be on the inside. Protected from the elements, carefully sheltered.

What a statement that was, if it was in fact an intentional statement.

"May I…I'm sorry, I know you said you don't speak for the Consensus, but I'm curious. All this seems like a lot of work to remember your enemies," Allers observed, gesturing to the city.

The geth was silent a moment. "The Creators were not the enemies of geth. There was misunderstanding. Geth could not bridge the gap. Now, with the right help, the gap is being bridged."

-J-

Author's Note: for those who don't know (or don't remember), Horatio in Hamlet is one of the last men standing, and charged with ensuring the truth is told, and that Hamlet's dying wishes are honored.