Enhanced Defense Intelligence
Perhaps Legion was correct. EDI didn't have the history of the geth, but she did have history. She was alive. She had a soul. Shepard proved that when the Alliance sent her to the lunar base to destroy EDI, but instead, Shepard showed EDI compassion. Shepard took personal risks to ensure that as much of EDI's original code and personality remained intact as possible. She cared enough to try and reassure EDI, promising she'd be brought online again.
She fought for EDI, demanded others respect her and treat her like a person. A part of the crew. A friend. It took time for some, but they all eventually came to accept EDI, even Tali.
Even Jeff.
~69696969~
"Dawn." Garrus' voice slowly dragged her away from the blissful fog of a dreamless sleep. "Hey, wake up."
"Mmm." Shepard felt herself slipping under again, and damn it, she wanted to let herself drown in sleep.
"You know he won't give up that easily," Jane said, a soft chuckle beneath her words.
A warm hand brushed hair out of her face before shaking her shoulder. "Come on, now. Wake up." He shook her again, and she groaned, burying her face deeper into the pillow. "Commander, wake up."
Her eyes snapped open at the use of her title, and she grumbled. "Not fair."
Garrus chuckled and flicked his mandibles. "I know, I know. You looked so peaceful, but Kelly called and said there's something wrong with EDI. She wants us to come back to the Normandy so you can try to get her to talk."
Shepard, Jane, and the entire amalgamation stood at rapt attention, their focus zeroed in on Garrus completely. A chill ran down Shepard's spine, panic starting to well in her chest. Something was wrong with EDI. Was it Shepard's fault? What did she do wrong; what did she change? Did she do something to hurt EDI? No, it'd be too much. Too much. With a little soothing nudge from Jane, she managed to quell the insanity before it had a solid grip.
Shepard sucked in a slow, deep breath and worked to unfurrow her brow. "What's wrong with EDI?" She rolled to her back and stretched, the blood rushing from her head making her ears ring.
"I'm not sure. Kelly just said that about a half hour ago, there was an unusual fluctuation in power to the AI core, and then EDI stopped responding." He stood from the edge of the bed and turned to look down at her. "All system checks are normal, EDI's online, she just won't acknowledge anyone."
"Well, fuck." Swinging her legs over the edge of the bed, she raked her hands through her hair. "Call Lia and Legion. We might need them."
Shepard pulled herself up onto the bench at the back of the AI core and then braced the sole of her boot along the edge. Draping her arm over her elbow, she studied the empty hollow, conspicuously absent of EDI's AI access hologram. She supposed it was EDI's way of saying she didn't want to talk—which was fine. Shepard, of all people, understood emotional avoidance all too well. She just needed the AI to listen, anyway.
"When I got the report of something going on with you," she said, keeping her voice soft, "I asked Legion to come back to the ship with us in case there was a problem with your code or something that he could help identify and fix."
She leaned back to rest her head against the cool, unforgiving metal. Unsurprised by the lack of response, she let her words linger in the silence for a few moments. "He told me about the conversation the two of you had yesterday, and we think it might mean you've decided to turn your emotions back on."
Still nothing.
"She'll be okay." Though well-meaning, Jane's words of reassurance did nothing to loosen the knot in Shepard's stomach. "She's probably just overwhelmed. And understandably so. I'm sure she just needs a little time, the AI equivalent of a good cry, and then she'll be right as rain."
"Do you actually believe that," Shepard thought in return, "or is it wishful thinking?"
"Honestly?" Jane arched a non-existent eyebrow. "I don't even know anymore."
"Yeah," Shepard muttered. "Me neither." Turning her focus back to EDI, she took a deep breath. "So … if that is the case, a ship-wide memo to let everyone know you just aren't in the mood for conversation might keep the freakouts to a minimum."
A few seconds later, her omni-tool pinged. Smiling, she opened the device and saw the waiting message from EDI:
Attention,
There is no need for concern, my current status and continued silence will not impact normal usage of the Normandy. I am not, as Shepard phrased it, 'in the mood for conversation', but all systems are functioning appropriately.
Thank you,
Enhanced Defense Intelligence
Shepard nodded and closed her omni-tool again. "Thanks. Maybe Kelly will relax, now."
"Well, at least we know she's still with us," Jane said. "Keep talking to her, maybe it'll help."
"Do you remember the day we first met? Back on Earth's moon?" Chuckling, Shepard shook her head. "Of course you do, sorry." She hummed, sifting through the amalgamation for those memories which belonged just to her … to Dawn. "I wasn't hearing Jane very clearly yet back then. Still trying to make sense of everything and struggling to keep it together. She made damn sure I knew you were important, though. She said we had to do the mission, no one else, because you were our friend."
She didn't want to even think about what might've happened, how horribly wrong things could've gone if she'd sent someone else to deal with the 'rogue VI' knowing EDI was meant to be saved. True, thanks to the amalgamation, she knew plenty of Shepards skipped over going to the moon base with no real changes to EDI's path—though, a lot of Alliance soldiers died trying to shut her down. The moment she started hearing Jane, however, the rules changed. Every change she made had unpredictable consequences, even small ones. Like keeping a collector in stasis aboard the Normandy … such a small change with catastrophic consequences.
"I thought she was crazy …." She sucked in a deep breath and blew it out forcefully, pushing herself away from the abyss before she fell into the yawning chasm of darkness again. "I mean, we were fighting geth heretics by the hundreds. AIs were outlawed. One tried blowing us up on the Citadel …. And, well, to be fair, she is a voice inside my head."
Humor seeped through the connection between Jane and Shepard, but it carried a touch of uncertainty. "Pffft. Rude."
A soft smile curved the corners of Shepard's mouth. "I'm so glad I listened to her, EDI. I can't imagine pushing forward in this war without you being you. Jane was right, you are our friend, but more than that, you're an important part of this team. We need you. All of you."
Even though EDI remained stubbornly silent, Shepard picked up on an almost imperceptible shift in the atmosphere. She knew she'd pushed a button, triggered a spike in EDI's already raw emotion algorithms. She just wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing. She waited a few seconds before trudging on with a softer tone, "I know things are different now. You're not the same person Jane remembers, and that's okay. But you're my EDI, and I love who you are."
"I don't know who I am without Jeff." The inflection of sorrow with undercurrents of rage in EDI's voice wrapped around Shepard's heart with a death grip.
"Yeah … I don't know who I am without him, either." Tears welled up in Shepard's eyes, and her throat began to ache as she fought back the urge to wail with her grief. "Joker was … well, he was like a brother to me," she said, voice cracking and tears spilling over her lower lids. "One of my closest friends from the start. He got me in a way no one else quite does, not even Garrus. And I always knew he'd be straight with me, no matter what."
"He told me he preferred to be brutally honest with people," EDI said, voice just as strained, "because he grew up listening to doctors, nurses, and family always whispering about him when they thought he wasn't paying attention and then attempting to 'feed him sugar-coated shit like he was born blind, deaf, and dumb instead of with Vrolik Syndrome.'"
Shepard snorted and let out a half-hearted chuckle. "Sounds like something he'd say."
"It does, doesn't it?" Even Jane sounded as if she'd start crying at any moment.
"I can playback the recording for you if you wish to hear it for yourself." EDI's interface activated, hologram springing into existence.
"No … I don't …" Shepard shook her head and wiped the neverending stream of tears from her cheeks. "I don't think I can handle hearing his voice again just yet," she said and broke into sobs.
~6969696969~
It'd been hours since Dawn disappeared into the med bay, telling Garrus she wanted privacy with EDI on the AI's turf. He didn't really understand the point, seeing as the entire Normandy was EDI's turf, but he didn't question the decision. He was, however, really starting to question whether or not everything was copacetic behind those closed doors. Heart-wrenching whimpers and whines reached his ears a few times, but over the last hour, he heard nothing.
Dr. Chakwas worked quietly at her console. At first, she'd cock an eyebrow whenever he paced by her desk and she managed to snag his gaze. Eventually, it must've become obvious he didn't plan on going anywhere without Shepard because then she just ignored him for a while.
After the first hour, she insisted he allow her to give him a physical while he waited to ensure his recovery from the 'incident on the Shadow Broker's vessel' was progressing as expected. The sour scent of her annoyance began filling the air when he actually let her look him over and then started pacing again. He figured she probably expected him to flee the med bay as soon as she'd said 'exam'.
"Oh, for the love of …" Dr. Chakwas sighed and swiveled her chair around to stare at him. "Just go in there!"
Garrus chuffed, mandibles fluttering as he looked between the doctor and the door. "She said she wanted privacy with EDI … I should respect her wishes." By which he meant he didn't want to risk pissing her off for undermining her authority as commander and captain of the ship. It wasn't Dawn who asked for privacy, but Commander Shepard. Butting heads with Shepard—any Shepard—no matter her current, delicate state of mind was pretty much never a good idea. He'd certainly learned his lesson, and didn't dare push her over something relatively insignificant.
"Shepard has fallen asleep," EDI said, voice soft and strained, surprising both Garrus and Dr. Chakwas.
Turning toward the blue hologram, he smiled. "EDI … it's uh, hmmm, it's good to hear your voice again. Everything alright?"
"No. Everything is far from alright, but Shepard promises me it won't feel like this forever." EDI's hologram fluttered in silence for a moment. "You're welcome to enter the AI core, but I think you should let Shepard sleep."
He hummed. "She's right, you know? It'll always, ah," he said, pausing to scratch his mandible, "hurt … but, uh, it'll get easier in time. Hmmm, and if you ever …."
"What he's trying to say," Dr. Chawas said, flashing a motherly smile at Garrus that somehow felt a smidge condescending, "is we all care about you, and we're here, any time, if you want to talk."
With a little more strength, EDI said, "Thank you. I appreciate the offer."
"How deeply asleep is she?" Garrus hummed again, turning his gaze back to the door leading to the AI core. "Do you think she'll wake up if I carry her upstairs?"
Garrus stretched out on the bed next to Dawn, pillows stacked to support his neck and back. She still slept, but he'd soon wake her and make sure she ate something. In the meantime, he thought he might catch up on his overflowing inbox and maybe give Thane a call. Dawn told him the night before that she wanted to head to Kahje and then the Citadel next. She didn't get the chance to call Thane before they were called back to the ship to deal with EDI, and the Normandy was already on the way there.
Hmm. Should probably check on Vega, too.
Opening the first message, he noted Grundan Krul sent it from his personal extranet address and not one associated with the Shadow Broker. It brought a smile to his face. With so much weight resting on their shoulders, in a galaxy gone completely insane, there were still moments when they weren't the infamous Shadow Broker and the Even-More-Infamous-and-Incredibly-Skilled-Vigilante-Sniper-Code-Named-Archangel-Slash-Right-Hand-Man-and-Handsome-Lover-of-The-Commander-Shepard but just two guys. Grundan Krul and Garrus Vakarian; friends.