Chapter Ninety-Two: HVT

"Uhhh, Commander?"

"Yes?"

"I think Hackett might actually kill you if you keep your camera off," Traynor said over the shuttle's intercom, "He's currently yelling in my ear."

"Fuck." He turned to the clone, "Get your helmet on, and don't tell a soul who you are."

"Alright." John pulled on the Cerberus helmet clumsily and without any ease that came with military training. Great. Just another body to babysit.

"Okay, EDI," Colt said, turning from the clone, "You can turn our cameras back on."

"It is done."

"I just want to reiterate that our HVT is in custody," Colt said for the group of Admirals who were no doubt watching his feed, "I got him. The Illusive Man is officially in Alliance custody."

"Good job, Shepard," Hackett said flatly through the intercom. "Call me on the QEC when you get back to the Normandy."

Colt was in for a world of hurt. "Yessir."

A few minutes passed where all Shepard could think about was the reprimand to end all reprimands. Luckily, the Illusive Man interrupted his train of thoughts with a cheery question. "Why don't you tell people that your dad beat you?"

"Didn't I tell you to shut the hell up?" Colt mumbled rather unconvincingly.

"Why, Colt?"

Shepard looked at Liara then at EDI. What was he supposed to say?

"Do you really wanna' discuss this right now?" He asked the Illusive Man. Not that he didn't love airing his personal problems to half the fucking galaxy or anything.

"Yes."

"It's been fifteen years. And he's still dead and nothing will ever change that. So I'll remember the good parts and everything he taught me, and I'll let the rest go. For his sake and for mine."

"You'd just let something like that go? Just shut-up and say nothing?"

"He was sick. I realize that now. He was still a good person who did good things. And I still love him."

"Is that your version of forgiveness?" The Illusive Man asked.

"No, it's my version of self-preservation."

"Commander, we have arrived at the Normandy," EDI mercifully interrupted.

"Tremendous," he said, picking up his helmet. "Get him in the brig, then let's meet in the War Room for debrief. Hopefully Hackett will be done with me by then."

"Right away," EDI said. He watched the AI help the Illusive Man out the shuttle before exiting himself. He walked towards the elevator, aware that Liara was hard on his heels.

"What was that all about?" She asked once the doors closed.

"I don't know. He's off his goddamn rocker."

"No, I mean...Is it true?" She asked, "About your dad?"

"Ya."

"Why haven't you ever said anything? I always thought he was such an amazing guy."

"First of all, he hardly beat me up. He just sorta slapped me around every so often. Secondly, he was an amazing person. I separate him from the person who slapped me around...I realize that it sounds like I'm making excuses, which I am, but that's fine."

"Wait, what?"

The doors to the elevator opened, which Colt hurriedly walked through. Liara followed close behind and caught his arm. "Hackett can wait," she said, "We need to talk about this."

"Ya, okay." He pulled over and leaned against the wall. They were behind Traynor's usual duty station in the mostly empty CIC.

"This is...I don't even know what to say."

How could he make her understand? There just simply wasn't any hatred in his heart for Rowan.

"He barred me from the Alliance," Colt began, "I mean, he absolutely forbid me to join. Once, I asked why he hated it so much. And the only thing he said was, 'I can't let this happen to you.'"

"And?"

"And now I get it. Why it drove him up the fucking wall. I had no clue what he meant when he originally told me that. And now I know. And I just can't blame him. So, I don't and I remember the person who tried his best. Simple as that."

"How could you just forgive him so easily? How can you be so casual about it?"

"Liara, I have struggled for years to figure out how I still love someone who treated me that way. And I still don't really have an answer. But I think if I ever see Alex again, he'll ask me the same thing. If I loved him so much, why'd I let him get taken? And I don't have an answer so I try to apply the same principles to Dad."

"The situation with Alex is in no way similar."

"Isn't it though?" He asked. "I hope Alex still loves me despite what I did to him. I still love my dad despite what he did to me. People aren't black and white."

"Colt...Goddess. There is not a lot of gray when it comes to hurting a child."

"Well...I suppose that's true."

"I just can't believe he did that to you. The one person I thought had treated you well, and now... I just can't believe he let you down like that."

Colt shrugged before answering, "That was a long time ago. In a different life. Literally. There's no need to dwell. Now, come on, let's go. Hackett's waiting." He turned and led the asari through security before reaching the War Room's QEC. "This will be just a minute. Can you please gather the crew for debrief?"

Liara nodded but said nothing.

"We can talk more about my dad later, okay?"

"Okay." A slight grin appeared before she added, "Good luck in there. Sounds like you'll need it."

"Goddess help me," he said while turning for the QEC. He climbed the QEC's few stairs, steeled himself, and then accepted Hackett's call request.

"Shepard, you better have a good goddamn reason you shut your coms and cameras down," the admiral practically growled. His image shimmered as he crossed his arms and grimaced.

"Sir, I can explain in person. I'd rather not do it now."

"Negative. Tell me now."

"Sir, I've uncovered some highly sensitive...highly disturbing things. Things I'd rather not say if we're both not completely alone."

Hackett gave him a long, measured look before answering, "You're lucky that you're you right now. Anyone else and I wouldn't have it."

"Thank you, sir."

"What have you done with the Illusive Man?" Hackett asked.

"I've got him in the brig and I'll make sure he's cared for. I'll keep the guards rotating regularly to prevent second-hand indoctrination. I recommend that he stay on the Normandy for a few days. I may be the only one who can talk to him."

"Very well. I need to figure out more permanent accommodations for him anyways. We can discuss this more when we meet."

"Before we meet, sir, I was thinking that maybe we could also hit Sanctuary. The Illusive Man is...well, he's nearing the end, I'd say. There's no way he'd be able to put any kind of fight up in Sanctuary. It's my recommendation that I go there immediately. We can get the truth out about Sanctuary and shut it down for good. Cerberus will hardly be a presence."

"Hmm," Hackett said while scratching his chin. "You're right about Cronos being dead...And I think you're probably right about Sanctuary. But can you be sure about its location?"

"I asked the Illusive Man if its been moved and he said it hasn't. I can go over there, do some recon, and if it's not there, we regroup."

"Alright, Shepard. Go there now and put an end to it. No more refugees have to die in that slaughterhouse. Will you need support? Any N7s?"

"No. I wasted their time today. Time they could be using to actually kill Reaper forces. Sanctuary will be simple. Get in, get out. I wouldn't expect it to last more than a day, including intelligence collection."

"Very well, then. Shutdown Sanctuary and then we'll talk."

"Yes, sir."

"Hackett out."

Colt stepped from the QEC and walked into the packed War Room. Almost everyone was waiting for the Cronos debrief. "Listen up everyone!" He said. The room went instantly silent and all eyes were on him. "Hackett and I have decided to hit Sanctuary next. We can't let the mass slaughter and experimentation continue. Joker, please start heading for Sanctuary's last known location."

"Right away, Shepard," the pilot answered over the intercom. He was almost drowned out by all the talking. Even for the Normandy crew, this was a fast turn around.

"I know we're heading to another mission so quickly on the heels of another," he started, "But we can't waste another minute shutting down Sanctuary. All my fears of the operation have been dismissed. The Illusive Man isn't lucid enough to put up an effective defensive. He's in the late stages of indoctrination and barely knows where he is. I'm quite confident that Sanctuary will be as empty as Cronos was. It will take a couple of days to reach Sanctuary. As we draw closer, I'll hold another briefing."

"As for Cronos," he continued, "The mission was a resounding success. No casualties and we finally have the Illusive Man in custody. We can put an end to this bullshit in-fighting and focus on the true enemy, the Reapers. No more games. No more tricks. We just dealt Cerberus a killing blow."

"For those affected by Cerberus operations, I hope the capture of the Illusive Man brings you some closure. If you wish to discuss how this may impact you or your family, both Doctor Chakwas and I can provide support. Please reach out if you need to."

"And as for intelligence collection, the ground team managed to get some data pads, hard drives. Things of that nature. Send anything of interest to me and send anything that needs further analysis to Alliance Intelligence HQ. Blah, blah, blah. You know the drill on collection."

"And finally, down to the most pressing issue-the Illusive Man himself. We are currently holding him in the brig and will continue to hold him until after the Sanctuary mission. I am not authorizing anyone to speak with him."

Several intelligence officers started to disagree with Colt's order. He held up his hand, cutting off their protests. "I know this is frustrating, especially to those who have training in interrogation. But he's too dangerous. He's experiencing late stage indoctrination at this point. As we've discovered, second hand indoctrination is a very real threat. If he were to ask his interrogator to be released, there's a very real possibility that the interrogator would oblige. For this reason, no one is allowed in with him. Food is to be handed through the door slot and guards must stand at least ten feet from his cell. I want guards rotated every two to three hours."

The crew nodded at his commands, but the chit-chat had died down. They seemed a bit uneasy actually. Perhaps they'd picked up on Colt, who felt rather uneasy himself. His stomach was still turning from his first good look at the Illusive Man.

He swallowed hard at the memory and scanned the crew until his eyes came to rest on Ryan. He was standing in the back, out of the way. His presence reminded Colt about the Cerberus clone.

"We also liberated some poor Alliance soul who was being kept on the base. He seems a bit skittish, so maybe give him some room until we can drop him off on the Citadel. We pulled him from the base in full armor and he doesn't seem to be too keen to take it off. I'll restrict his access from all the important parts of the ship. Talk to him if you want but I wouldn't expect much." Colt paused, wondering what else he needed to say. "Did I miss anything?" He watched everyone shake their heads before saying, "Dismissed."

Most of the crew exited the War Room. More than usual actually. He checked his omni-tool and discovered it was nearly lunch time. How were they on Cronos Station for that long? He momentarily considered going to sleep before quickly denying himself the rest. He'd plan Sanctuary first, then he'd get some sleep.

He cracked his neck before turning his attention to the center holograph. Cronos Station rotated, showing the full extent of the Alliance forces. Almost everywhere he looked, there was some sort of Alliance ship. So what would happen to the station now? A new Alliance base? Or would they leave it abandoned? They probably wouldn't destroy it, but it was still a possibility.

"What are you thinking about?" Garrus asked from behind him.

He listened to the turian's footsteps get closer before answering, "I don't know why, but I never thought they'd get the Illusive Man. I thought I'd find him, maybe kill him if I had to. I was prepared if it ever came down to that. This is somehow much worse. One of the smartest, most twisted individuals in the galaxy got gutted so damn easily. Hell, he made their job easier by putting that Reaper tech in his goddamn skull. He did half the Reaper's fuckin job for them...So fuckin stupid."

"I'm gonna be honest with you. I really don't see why you're so bothered. Fuck the Illusive Man, you know? We got him. He can stop getting in our way. Who cares how we defeated him? Let's move on to the real war, Cerberus is just a distraction."

"I know you're right. I keep telling myself the same damn thing. But I just…" Colt could feel his nails digging into his palms. "The look in his eyes is so dull. He's in there. But I'm also speaking to someone else, if that makes sense."

"Ya, it does. He's indoctrinated, so by definition you are speaking to someone else. Probably our friend Harby."

Colt laughed before answering, "You're probably right. I just need to get over it and focus."

"Time to pull your head out of your ass."

"Time to pull my head out of my ass," Colt parroted. Garrus nudged him with his shoulder before heading off himself. He started to watch the turian leave before Ryan caught his attention.

The clone walked over and silently watched the holograph himself. "I know what you mean, though," he said after a while. "The Alliance included memories of the Illusive Man. And even though he was an asshole and even though he's a big pain in my...our collective ass, I still respect him."

"Exactly!" Colt said. "Thank you. That's what I mean. You see-" He cut himself off when he remembered this was a rather public space. He turned around to see who'd heard Ryan, but the War Room was empty except for the two of them. A bit weird.

"And I think you're making a mistake." Ryan said.

Colt focused back on the clone, unsure he'd heard right. "I'm sorry, say that again."

"I think you're making a mistake."

"In what way?"

"I think your initial instincts about Sanctuary were right," Ryan answered, "I think they'll be some hybrids at least. Maybe some Reaper forces. It's a bad idea to go without back-up. Almost nothing about Sanctuary's situation is different. So the Illusive Man is indoctrinated. That doesn't mean whatever creation he concocted on Sanctuary has magically disappeared. We should go in with the same reinforcements and you should bring a bigger squad. Hell you should consider two separate squads."

"And the other one would be led by you?"

"Or Garrus or Liara. Whoever you feel is the most qualified."

"Hmmm," Colt hummed. "I hear you but…"

"-You don't agree?"

"I wasted everyone's time today. There are thousands of people who could've used the N7's help today, instead they walked through an abandoned Cerberus base."

"It's your decision," Ryan said, "I wanted to let you know where I stand."

"Thanks, I appreciate that you told me. Last thing we need is for me to do whatever the hell I want with no one calling me out. I'll consider what you said. Perhaps there's a happy middle ground to be found."

"Perhaps."

...

Colt set his datapad down before scrubbing at his face. Holy hell. What time was it? He checked his omni-tool and let out a sigh. He should've been asleep hours ago. He stood up while reaching for the bottom of his shirt. He started to pull it off off before thinking better of it. Once he got comfy, he'd sleep for eight hours. And he hadn't spoken to the Illusive Man all day. He looked at Liara sleeping soundly with Rosebud curled at the bottom of the bed. He wanted nothing more than to join them, but it was irresponsible to not check on the former Cerberus leader. All he needed to do was make sure the Illusive Man was comfortable and fed, then he'd go to sleep.

Colt got onto the elevator and rode it all the way down to cargo. When he stepped off, he could see the two guards at their position. They saluted him and made an entrance for the Commander. He was careful to step-in, ever aware of the strength and agility shown by his indoctrinated mother. The Illusive Man looked fragile but there was no telling what the Reaper upgrades did to his physical abilities.

"Shepard," the Illusive Man greeted. He was sort of scrunched-up in the cell's corner. His feet were pulled up, showing off his claw-like toenails. Guess the Reapers didn't remind their subjects about the proper tenets of foot hygiene.

"I came to check on you," Colt said, his gaze still set of the Illusive Man's disgusting toes. "And make sure you've been fed and that you're comfortable. Or as comfortable as you can get."

"I'm okay."

"Alright, well. I should go then." Despite his words, Colt stayed perfectly still.

The Illusive Man narrowed his eyes and looked at Colt for a while. Finally, he gave a small nod and said, "Shepard, can you stay with me for a bit?"

He nodded and sat down opposite the Illusive Man. He leaned back against the cell's walls and looked over the decrepit Cerberus leader once more. "What am I doing?" He asked aloud. Why wasn't he in bed by this point? Why'd he agree to stay?

"Do you think this is what happens to us all?" The Illusive Man asked suddenly. When Shepard didn't answer, he continued on. "Indoctrination is all about exposure and if you hang-on long enough...It's inevitable, isn't it?"

Colt sat-up, keenly aware of what the Illusive Man was trying to do. "You want me to be indoctrinated because then you'll feel better about yourself. Like it's somehow about someone's character or their moral foundations. Let me be clear. I am not indoctrinated. Never have been. That doesn't make me a better person than the people who have been indoctrinated. You have plenty to feel bad about, but being indoctrinated is not one of them. And if I'm being honest, I am sorry that you're indoctrinated. I wish it never happened. Really, I do. But I will not sit here and listen to you insinuate that I'm indoctrinated. I especially won't tolerate that kind of assertion in front of my crew. Am I understood?"

"But have you ever stopped to consider it? You are probably their prime target. There's no reason why you wouldn't be experiencing some of the symptoms."

"I can't be indoctrinated, Jack."

The Illusive Man stared at Colt, almost like he was waiting for the second half of Shepard's sentence. When he remained silent, the Illusive Man let out a chuckle. "And who told you that? The Reapers?"

He stopped smiling when he saw Colt was serious. "If you really believe that, you're worse off than I am."

"It's the truth."

"What did they say? That you're different? That you're special? These are lies," he spat, "They've done this for millions of years. They know what to say. They know exactly what you want to hear."

Colt shook his head. "No."

The Illusive Man gave him another look, like he expected Shepard to keep talking. But he said all he had to say. The Illusive Man was wrong, what else could be said?

"You know who you sound like?"

"Who?" Colt asked.

"Like Saren."

Shepard shrugged. There was no use in explaining himself. It probably wasn't even the Illusive Man speaking at this point.

"Just like him, " The Illusive Man continued. "You know, he didn't think he was indoctrinated either."

"I know. I was there."

"Do you believe him then? When he asked you if submission was preferable to extinction?"

"Of course not," Colt answered. "I wouldn't be fighting otherwise."

"Is that true? If right now the Reapers offered an end to the killing in exchange for submission, do you think you'd say yes?"

No more reading daily casualty reports? No more watching whole worlds fall? No more watching his friends die?

"You weren't so quick to deny that outcome," the Illusive Man said. Before Colt could disagree, he continued. "Saren knew about indoctrination decades before anyone else. He had protocols in place to prevent such a thing from occurring to him, and yet Sovereign couldn't be stopped. What makes you think you're better than him?"

"When my mom, or more accurately Harbinger, tried to kill me, what he really wanted was to search my memories. He wanted to understand why I can't be indoctrinated. Let's just say he wasn't all that successful in his endeavor. Later, I learned that it was Cerberus' influence that actually prevented both his searching of my memories and my indoctrination. But I think you already know all this."

The Illusive Man blinked rapidly before grinning wildly. "You got me. I'll have to be more subtle next time."

"Next time? What makes you think there'll be a next time? Every time I talk with the Illusive Man, I'll actually be talking to you. Now that I know, I'll let him rot down here."

"This is the first time I've inhabited Jack in some time. I'd give him the benefit of the doubt," Harbinger said. "I really don't need him anymore, so he's all yours."

"So why are you here now? To kill me? A rematch?"

The Illusive Man's hands shook as they ran down the front of his shirt. When he looked up at Colt again, the cybernetics in his eyes were shining brightly. For the time being, the Illusive Man was well and truly gone. Only Harbinger stared back at Colt. "Your mom was a much stronger vessel and she didn't stand a chance. I have no intention of trying again tonight."

"So why are you here?"

"Like your cycle, you are quite unusual, Commander," Harbinger started. "I want to know more."

"Oh, fuck off."

Harbinger regarded him with...curiosity? Whatever it was, he stayed silent until it grew uncomfortable. Finally, he said, "I pity you. In fact, I pity this whole cycle, but you? I've been where you are and I feel nothing but pity."

"If you pitied us so much, then you wouldn't slaughter us," Shepard said, "If you felt anything, you'd put an end to your harvest."

"If we didn't pity you, then we'd leave you alone. And we decided long ago that doing nothing was the worst action we could take."

"Explain," Colt demanded.

The Illusive Man started to twitch while some of the veins on his face began to turn black. Shepard summoned his biotics, ready for an attack. Seconds went by before he stopped twitching and raised his head to meet Colt's eyes once more. The cybernetics in his eyes no longer glowed and his veins were already starting to go back to normal.

"Is is breakfast time already?" The Illusive Man asked slowly, hopefully. There wasn't a shred of Harbinger left.

"No. I was just checking on you. Get some rest." And with that, Colt turned to leave the prison cell.

...

Colt woke up slowly, comfortably. He blinked his eyes open and became aware of a lightly snoring Rosebud. She was curled up against his chest and looked quite content in her slumber. He yawned, turned over on his back, and scrubbed at his face. His beard was already a few inches long, and itchy.

"I see you got kicked out," he said before yawning again.

Liara swiveled around in her chair, a smile on her face. "She might possibly be the most jealous animal I have ever encountered...But I had a lot to get done, so I was up early. I didn't get kicked out today."

"Early, hmmm?" He checked the time on his omni-tool. "Jesus, I slept like twelve hours."

"You needed it."

"That's probably true."

"Wait there, I'll go get you some coffee," Liara said while standing.

"And some toast and jelly?"

"Done and done," Liara said while walking out their cabin. He watched her go before pulling up messages on his omni-tool. He started to answer the ones that were low-security, low-encryption. He was in the middle of sending one when Liara walked back in.

"Here you go," she said while handing him a mug. She sat on the edge of the bed, turned towards him. Usually Shepard woke up before Liara and got her coffee, so he was enjoying today's role reversal.

"You seem cheery today," he said.

"How could I not be? We got the main Cerberus base and the Illusive Man without firing a single shot," she answered, "You have to admit that's pretty unusual for us."

"You mean it's unusual that we didn't utterly destroy everything?"

"That's it." They both laughed before lapsing into comfortable silence.

After a while, Colt said, "Ryan thinks we should bring in reinforcements for Sanctuary. He thinks Cerberus has potentially created something new with all their genetic testing supposedly going on in Sanctuary."

"And what do you think?"

"The Illusive Man is barely clinging to reality at this point. I find it hard to believe he could orchestrate something like that in the past month or two...I mean, what do you think?"

"It does seem excessive to invite the entire force that was present for Cronos," she said, "But it is better to be safe than sorry. If the genetic testing does yield some new creature, it'll be better to have a solid backup force."

"So maybe like a few N7 teams and the rest of the Normandy ground team in reserve?"

"Sounds like a good middle ground," she replied.

He nodded slowly, mentally mapping out his next steps in gathering more support.

Liara reached out and stroked his beard, completely derailing any of his previous thoughts. "I like this length," she said. "Suits your face. You always look good, but this is...quite nice."

"Quite nice? How academic of you," he teased.

"Now you're just fishing for compliments," she said while starting to stand. He lightly grabbed her right hand, causing her to sit back down. She was grinning until she saw how serious he'd turned.

"There's something else," he started, "I had a little chat with Harbinger last night."

She raised her eyebrows in surprise but said nothing.

"I went to check on the Illusive Man, and lo and behold, it was actually Harbinger. What he said was, well it was pretty disturbing." She said nothing, so he continued. "He, um, he said he pitied this cycle. And especially me because he's been in my shoes."

She gave him a startled look before glancing sideways at his feet. "How did he even get your shoes?"

Colt threw back his head and howled in laughter, surprisingly even himself with its intensity. "Sorry, that's a human expression that probably doesn't translate well. I mean that he's been in my situation before. That he can empathize with what I'm going through."

"Empathize with you? If that were true, the Reapers would never have started this war."

"That's what I said, but then he said that doing nothing was much worse than slaughtering us. That leaving us alone was the worst option."

"Goddess, that is...disturbing. It almost sounds like there is something worse than the Reapers out there."

"That's kinda what I thought too. I mean, why else would leaving us alone be the best option?"

Liara nodded slowly, looking a bit pale.

"I've also been thinking about something else. The more I think about it...well, the more unsettled I become." He took a second to swallow and find the words for an emotion that almost couldn't be described. "I think it's fair to say that I've probably talked to the most Reapers or Reaper-like creatures in the whole galaxy. I mean I have had full conversations with some of the most important ones. And, umm, I have rarely seen them express what I'd call human emotion. And by human, I mean organic emotion. Definitely not Sovereign and never Harbinger. That thing, whatever it is, that I first saw after my mom's funeral is the only one who ever had the right facial expressions. You know what I mean? The eyes never match whatever bullshit story they're telling. But with the Illusive Man? It was all right. The sincerity, the look he was giving me. I mean, I believed him. Which I shouldn't. But it was different."

He thought about what he just said before adding, "I don't think I said that right."

"No, no. I do get what you're saying. But I don't know what to think. All I know is that we should keep this between us," she said.

"Completely agree. No need to scare people even more."

"I'll look into it, see what my contacts can dig up. See if they have ever made any comparable comments to anyone else."

"Good idea," Colt replied. He expected her to return back to work, but she stayed firmly by his side, looking rather intent.

"What?" He asked.

"We need to talk about your Dad."

"I don't know what to say, Liara. The Illusive Man was right, that all did happen. I just don't wanna' talk about it. It was a long time ago, anyways. Why dredge up a past that, really, was kind of miserable in an assortment of ways. Let's look to the future."

"I don't want to just ignore what happened. Don't you think talking might help?" she said after a minute.

"No. Maybe. I don't know," he replied, "The only thing I know is that I don't want to talk right now. I've got to stay focused. On the war and the reasons why we have to win. I can't go down that road. I'm sorry and I hope you understand."

"I do. We don't have to talk about it." She paused again before asking,"Speaking of the all the reasons we have to win, do you ever think about getting married?"

"To you?" He blurted out. Regret set-in immediately.

Thankfully, Liara laughed and nudged him lightly with her shoulder. "Is there someone else?" she asked, "Did Garrus finally get to you? Or EDI's voice?"

"You've been talking to Traynor too much." They both laughed before silence settled in again, making it clear that Liara was expecting an answer. And a serious one. "I think about it all the time," he admitted. "There's a shortage of hope these days. Not a lot of positives to go around. But the thought of marrying you gives me hope and strength. When I need to dig in and keep going, you're what I think about."

"Good to know."

"Good to know? What the hell?" He said, "I can't pour my heart out and get a 'Good to know."

"Okay, sorry. What I meant to say is that I want to marry you, too. I can't imagine a future without you. So let's get bonded, or married, or both. Or whatever humans do."

"And then I can get my hands on your sweet, sweet fortune."

"Well," she began, "I would qualify for Alliance spouse benefits."

"Ya, I feel like I'm definitely getting the better deal," he said, "The money. The fact that I'm marrying up. Basically everything."

"Marrying up?"

"You're so much smarter and capable than I am. I'm basically the dude that kills people efficiently. But you? My God, you're the full package. I'm not even the funny one anymore!"

"Not true," Liara replied, "Any of it. I'm the one 'marrying up.'"

"Well, I guess agree to disagree."