Tali sat ramrod straight in her chair, hands in fists on her knees. The news was not a surprise to her, but it had come as a bit of a shock. Or, rather, the speed with which it had come did. "The Conclave, backed by the majority of ship captains, have demanded that the current Admiralty Board submit themselves for trial. Normally, this would be counter to how our government works, but with the support of three fifths of ship captains—and three quarters making it clear that they have no confidence in the Admiralty Board as it is—well. There's not much the Admiralty Board can do but submit."

"You know you'll always have a home here."

Tali's eyes stung, knowing this was a genuine Shepard so-you-don't-lose-sleep statement, honestly meant, safe to take to the bank. Personally, Tali didn't think exile would be on the list of reprimands, not when the Homeworld had been recovered, after a fashion…or she did when her mood was up. Sometimes, when she felt gloomy or worried…

"But how do you end up with three fifths of ship captains in column A, and three quarters in column B?" Shepard asked.

Tali gave a watery laugh. "Three-fifths of the Captains are threatening to either leave the Flotilla, or refuse to consider any order given by the Admiralty Board a legal order. Three quarters simply have no confidence. It's unprecedented, either way. Koris and I have already agreed to submit ourselves before the judiciary panel assigned by the Conclave. I think Raan will…or maybe she'll resign first. Save everyone a bit of trouble." She hoped Raan was filling out the paperwork now. It might not save her from any reciprocity, but it might soften sentiment towards her a bit. They wouldn't have to forcibly remove her from office, for instance.

There was a moment of silence, before Tali sighed again. "That was why Gerrel backed down, you know. Not because he suddenly saw sense or grew a conscience. The bulk of the Heavy Fleet refused to open fire when you were begging us not to. I guess a lot of people had family in the Civilian Fleet, and weren't happy that they couldn't withdraw."

"How's the disarmament coming?" Shepard asked, more to change the subject than for any other reason.

"On hold…but I think the Conclave might prefer to ask a Spectre to oversee at least the first stages. You know, so they can make it look like the Admiralty Board's fault, and get everything dealt with at once. So that's the situation," Tali finished on a sigh, putting her head in her hands. "The Conclave will be contacting you, I think, before long. Well, you and Alenko, since you're both Council Spectres, and since Gerrel nearly got you killed. Now that we have a homeworld again, it suddenly occurred to people that we'll have to start playing by Council rules a little more attentively if we don't want to find ourselves labeled 'Terminus Space.'" She shivered at the thought.

"How does it feel to recover your homeworld? Last I heard, the geth were helping establish a preliminary colony in the southern hemisphere."

Tali gave an uneasy chuckle. "They are. Turns out, not all the quarians are so eager to settle the homeworld if the geth are still living there—fear, mostly. But I think as the Flotilla watches and sees that no massacres are happening…and when they see that segment Allers put together…" Tali looked at her hands, licking her lips. "It was…generous…of them not to leave our ancestors rotting under the sun. I never really thought about what happened to the dead when the original refugees left."

"I never thought about it, either," Shepard admitted. "But when I do, I'm reminded of something Javik said about machines, how they consider time a theoretical concept."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Imagine hundreds of thousands or even millions of dead. Imagine cremating all of them. Then gathering enough seeds for a proper scattering. Then taking down the crematoriums. Then rebuilding the cities. Etching the names of the dead in the walls. How many years do you think it all took?" Shepard shook her head slowly. "Longer than most organics would have spent."

Tali shifted uneasily, the thoughts new and strangely frightening in their magnitude. "You know, it's in moments like this I think I understand why the ancestors panicked when a machine asked if it had a soul. It means the machine had somehow become…more…than it was meant to. And there was no knowing why or how."

"A thought to keep us organics humble," Shepard said, nodding. "So you think the Conclave is going to want to speak to Alenko and me?"

"I think so," Tali nodded, glad of this second change of subject. She didn't feel like delving into existential questions this evening. "Probably to give evidence, just at first. Then maybe to see to the initial phases of disarming the Liveships."

Mercifully, Shepard did not repeat her view about how unforgivably stupid that had been. Tali and Koris had both opposed the initiative, but Raan had sided with the majority, believing the assurance that more firepower equaled a shorter engagement.

"They know you're busy. I don't think they'll keep us for more than a week—two at the most."

Shepard looked up from contemplation of her water. "You're not staying?"

"No. Not even if the Conclave decided to leave me in my post," Tali answered somberly. "I went and had a look at the Homeworld with Garrus. It was so beautiful, everything I could have hoped for." She swallowed hard. "But it's…it's tainted for me. I look at it and all I see are the mountains of dead—unnecessary dead!"

Shepard reached out, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"And Legion. It's weird to think I'm mourning a geth…but it—he—was more than just a geth. There at the end."

"I'm hoping to hold a memorial for him before we leave," Shepard said, the pain evident.