*** End of an Era ***

Sitting far enough from the ship seemed to help Saren calm down after the trip from Eden Prime, but the bone-chilling cold grated on him; it made his joints crunch when he moved. Turians were not well-adapted to extreme cold, and he had other reasons to dislike Noveria, but Benezia needed to put in another appearance at the lab.

The rachni queen had delivered about a hundred eggs, but they had not yet begun hatching. The cold would help with that if the information from Sovereign was good, but they needed more eggs and they need them faster. Benezia was confident that she could "persuade" the rachni to produce. That was perhaps the least unpleasant way to put it. He didn't like contemplating the asari merging with the insect-like thing, committing what could only be described as a mental rape in her efforts to get the queen to yield more eggs...and hopefully another queen.

There had been a discussion about possibly using afcRNA on an egg to change it in this way, but the breeding process itself was not yet understood well enough. If they had more eggs, they could experiment with them more readily, but at the moment, each specimen was relatively valuable.

This was not the only place he was doing research on rachni breeding, either; a dozen of the eggs had been sent with a small detachment of geth to another icy wasteland of a planet to determine if they could be hatched there.

He had gotten word – third-hand and inconveniently late – that the geth had lost some of their android platforms on that frozen world to what they assumed were scavengers. Saren had made it abundantly clear that there could be no compromise of this operation; no one could know the rachni were not extinct until they were positioned to strike.

Fortunately, even damaged and partially disassembled, the geth unit that had been captured still had a functioning transmitter, and this allowed them to track the scavenger ship via telemetry from the unit's remains. Saren had sent an agent to intercept and kill them when they made for Ilium.

Now he had learned – again too late – that the agent had only managed to kill half of the scavenger crew before getting himself killed. That idiot Fist had also gone dark, and that human Shepard had almost certainly been responsible.

He sat grinding his incisors as he cancelled or used expensive WOTTA hacks to rescind the various fund transfers to Fist and other agents who had been killed, trying to think of what to do next. The Conduit was the highest priority, and the beacon's message had shown him what to look for – a planet the Protheans had called Ilos – but not where to find the relay that would let him get to it.

Sovereign had made it clear that finding the Conduit was the next major task, but Saren still hadn't determined whether the sentient starship was unable or unwilling to provide more information or better direction.

Perhaps the all-powerful reapers were not as omniscient as he had thought.

Still, he had vastly more knowledge and resources than a human soldier…though he would have to take his own operation underground. While it had lasted, the prestige he carried as a Spectre had been unmatched. Only his reputation had bought him a few hours in which to liquidate or liberate his resources. Fortunately, his people were alerted in time and had taken their cells into anonymity, evacuated unsecured locations.

Though even if he managed to kill Shepard, he now had a deadline. The beacon had been found.

# # #

With Richard in tow, Shepard had found Tali and Kaidan engaged in a technical dialogue about drone VI control versus autonomy, and Ash browsing the virtual storefront of a human Maker. Across the hall, he noticed the hanar Maker he'd spoken with before, but had no way of knowing how to tell if he'd likewise been noticed.

Kaidan saw the two men approaching, but finished his sentence to Tali before addressing them. "…but sequesterage also offers better security. Oh, hey Commander. How'd it go?"

Shepard was nonchalant. "First she didn't have time to see us. Then she wanted to see us."

Richard had a huge, victorious grin on his face. "But we did get to see her."

Ash finally turned away from the holographic catalog. "That's it? You just went bloogling?" She shook her head. "What will your mother say…?"

It was the first time Shepard had seen Jenkins smug. "She'll say, 'you didn't do anything unchaste, did you?' And I didn't."

"I suppose now you can put another notch on your binoculars." She shook her head again and returned her attention to the holocatalog.

Shepard turned to Kaidan. "So what did you guys find?"

"Uh…" the biotic looked at Tali. "We didn't. I asked her if she used a drone, and she said she did, and we ended up talking about how short a leash she has on it."

"It's not a leash, I just constrained the expert systems to combat only so it can run faster, fight better," she defended. "Until we can superimpose the state data directly into the projection itself, drones will remain complex toys. The range is too short, the attacks are too expensive for the power draw, and they're just not smart enough to be fully autonomous. Sure they draw fire, but if you want to do any serious damage, you'd be better off using a mech."

"Except that you can print drones in the field," Kaidan said toward the Commander. "So they become a consumable."

"And you have to carry all your consumables with you anyway, so you might as well bring in heavy weapons…" Tali said to Shepard.

Shepard held up a hand toward each to stop them, "Wait; give me the short version."

"That is the short version," Ash interrupted. She looked over her shoulder at them. "These two were going at it worse than you and the LT."

"But that was about as far as we got before you got here," Kaidan said.

Shepard noticed the holocatalog Ash was browsing, and took a couple of steps toward it. "Well at least you got to relax," he said. "Did you find anything?"

"I wish I could wear my hair longer, so I've been looking for a hair clip that I can wear and not have to rearrange to deploy my helmet. I can't be the only soldier who has this problem." She scrolled through a few of the available products. "Nothing I haven't seen before, though." She turned to him. "So is there something else we want to do while we're here?"

"Let me see if I can get an update from Captain Anderson." Shepard gestured for RTM. Hey, skipper. Any luck? He looked down the "hallway" to his right and saw Barla Von's shop; the purple-clad salarian guard was talking with a turian who turned and walked away.

D. Anderson: Udina knew where the turian Councillor's Chief of Staff has a regular meeting and ambushed her on the way out. He's showing her the evidence while we walk with her to her next meeting.

That sounds hopeful.

D. Anderson: Maybe. She's not saying much.

Shepard was about to let the Captain alone when his next message came in:

D. Anderson: Oh boy. Where are you?

In the Maker hall near Barla Von's.

D. Anderson: Better head for the tower. We're going directly. I'll meet you at the lift exit.

Shepard made eye contact with Ash. "Glad you suggested we come here." He raised his voice and spoke to the group, "Looks like the Captain and ambassador managed to get connected with the Council. Come on, we need to get up there now."

He turned and jogged across the bridge; the four others followed.

# # #

Having handed off the krogan at In-Processing, checked in with the Captain, started the download of the Alliance blackbox data from the soldiers, and started his RPGVI on creating a report of the day's three major incidents, Garrus expected the tasks would take some time to complete.

So he was relaxing, and nearly oblivious to the world when PVRing his gameworld of Wild Empress. He had "cracked" his ARA to leave the visor off when doing so, which made it look like he was simply napping. When he felt the thump of a krogan finger, it was quite a surprise.

"Hey, are you awake?"

"Sorry, I thought I was going to be waiting for a while." Garrus tilted his head. "They let you go already?"

Wrex shrugged. "That teeny quarian isn't the only one protected by the Volition Accords. You shoot at me, I shoot back." The krogan shifted slightly. "Do you know where I can find that human, Shepard? If he's going to hunt down Saren, I want to find out if he'll take me along."

Garrus contracted his cranial foreplates. "You seriously think you could get aboard an Alliance ship?"

Wrex held his arms out to either side, as if displaying himself. "Who would turn down a krogan battlemaster?"

"The Alliance. And every other serious military organization. They're not looking for hired guns any more than C-Sec is."

Wrex looked suddenly tired. "You turians have no sense of humor."

"A sense of humor?" Garrus sat up a little straighter. "Okay, how about this: You're older than everyone else on the ship. Added together."

"Yeah, okay. I guess that's kind of funny. For a turian."

"Look, I'm busy. If you want to wait here until the humans head back to their ship, the Alliance dock they're using is Four-Two-Two on that lift." He pointed out into the atrium. "There's no way they'll leave without going through there."

Wrex looked out at the elevator with one eye and at the turian with the other. "Hm. I'll eat that." He turned away, walked to a seat that faced the elevators, producing his PET as he sat down.

Garrus' ARA informed him that I'll eat that was a krogan idiom for accepting something as true and thanking the one who had offered it. The turian looked at the back of the krogan for a few moments, and then stood up slowly.

The words of his old mentor drifted into memory, You'll never get if you don't ask.

He touched a talon to his collar. "Captain Merickus? This is Vakarian. If you can spare me, I need the rest of the day off, sir."

"Wait…what? Vakarian? Is this Garrus Vakarian?"

"Very funny. Yes, it's me."

"Uh...sure. You're only about two years overdue for a day off. Is something wrong? You just want the afternoon?"

"Well, I may need more, but I'll keep you posted. Something…personal has come up and I kind of need to handle it right now."

"Now? What is it? If you don't mind me asking."

"Frankly sir, I'm not entirely sure yet. Could be a big opportunity. But I'll know more in a few hours. I'll keep you informed, sir."

"Certainly, Latarn. And if it's anything I can help with, just ask."

"Will do. Thanks, Captain."

Looking thoughtfully around him at the C-Sec offices, he walked to the taxi stand and took a ride to his efficiency flat and began gathering as many of the things he couldn't stand to be without as would fit in his "sandwich" pack.

# # #

Godo's omnitool chinked at the arrival of a message.

CDHouse: This is the SysNet VI for Chora's Den.

Owner-Operator Horace Tinkell has been declared provisionally dead. CS1602.71-73 Report/Full Record/Update/Contest this Report

As the General Manager of this Establishment, you are now the Operator locum tenens.
The Establishment is currently in Closed mode, no staff are present.
There are currently GCr
129454 of credit and GCr21778 petty cash available to resume operations.

Staff has been absent for 91 minutes.

89% indicate they are available to return to work.

Facilities are in Fair to Good condition.

Do you wish to reactivate Establishment Chora's Den?

The salarian frowned.

Then he smiled.

Yes, he replied. He switched comm modes and continued, Message to staff: Please excuse the chaos, but it seems we are under new management. You may now please return to your duties. You will not be docked for the time away from work for today. Also, be sure to report any injuries or property damage to the SysNet VI within the next three days.

# # #

When the elevator door lifted, Anderson was standing there.

"Come on. Udina's presenting the quarian's evidence to the Council," he turned and started walking. "He's already showed them his Vettered holo of the geth cores and boy, you should have seen him when the memory core actually showed Saren's name. Definitely an I-told-you-so type. I think he's still explaining why we're confident in the data before he plays the audio."

Shepard looked over his shoulder at Tali and nodded. "Thanks again," he said quietly.

They started up a flight of broad alabaster stairs.

Tali smiled. "Thank you…for the help, and for taking me seriously."

They could hear the recording being played over the room's PA system as they approached the back of the platform. "Eden Prime was a major victory," said Saren's voice. "The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit."

"And one step closer to the return of the reapers."

Everyone saw Udina lower his glowing omnitool and point across the chasm at the Council. "You wanted proof, there it is." His body language suggested that if he could have poked each Councillor in the eye just then, he would have.

Three-meter holographs hung in the air for all to see of the surviving core clusters, and the preliminary analysis of the other geth data. The super-dreadnought was also visible, both in LRAW and still imagery. Alliance data from Sargon ACI, and Normandy showed the massive ship to be nearly opaque to their various sensor technologies. Dozens, possibly hundreds of still images of the geth invading Eden Prime scrolled by, captured from local security cameras, colonist omnitools, and semi-autonomous devices.

Councillor Sparatus was clearly annoyed; his fringe was flat against his skull. "This is an outrage, Ambassador. I offer my personal apologies. This evidence is irrefutable." His voice was amplified to be audible throughout the hall.

Tali whispered to Shepard, "Haven't they already heard this? I thought that's what the Human Ambassador was doing while we were at the clinic."

"Probably, but they need to make it part of the official record," Shepard waved once toward the corner where the turian Spectre had been represented during their earlier meeting, "Look, Saren's not here, not even holographically."

"I'll bet the turians are piiii-issed," Ash gloated. "Even I know who Saren Arterius is. This has got to be making them all look bad."

"Yeah," Kaidan nodded, "Though it seems like he's being railroaded if they're not even giving him a chance to answer before they do this. Why isn't the turian Councillor stopping them?"

"I assume the other Coucillors could override a single vote if that were the case," Shepard said quietly, "But for all we know, the turian was the one who demanded Saren be shut down. Turians are really tough on dissidents...but especially on traitors."

Udina had been eavesdropping as they approached; he turned and nodded. "Yes, well done, Miss nar Rayya. The evidence you recovered from that geth was so well established for purposes of Council law, that decision was practically made for them." One side of his mouth curved up in what might have been a smile. "This will help humanity greatly; we are in your debt."

Tali's head turned toward Shepard. "Does this mean you're done with me?" She sounded surprised and unhappy.

"I doubt it," the Commander answered. "Whatever happened to Saren, we still have to stop the geth from invading any other colonies. And your experience with them, as well as what we've seen from you already, should prove highly valuable."

And the Captain said to, Shepard thought.

Tali nodded and relaxed, looking back up to the Council Platform where the turian Councillor had been reading intently from his data pillar.

To his considerable annoyance, Councillor Sparatus had been getting reports that Saren was not only ignoring the Council summons, but his known support structure had disappeared. The word back from his various intelligence staffers was that Saren had effectively evaporated.

"It seems that in the time since our last meeting, he has been turning his operations dark," the turian was saying, "Vast accounts have been emptied, corporations have been tunneled and imploded." He played a talon across its control surface, and turned to the other Councillors. "On behalf of the Third Heirarchy of Palaven, former Spectre Agent Saren Arterius will be stripped of his status and all efforts must be made to bring him in to answer for his crimes." It was with visible effort that the turian stepped back and glared at his data pillar one last time.

He turned to the other Councillors again. "I move we disbar Spectre Arterius immediately, retroactive to our previous meeting…"

"Too little, too late," Anderson said quietly.

"Seconded," added Valern.

"Affirmed," said Tevos. The asari was frowning as she continued to look at Sparatus. "And…I recognize the other voice, the one speaking with Saren. Matriarch…Benezia." She sounded puzzled.

Valern looked up from his data pillar to the asari.

"Who?" Ash said.

Udina echoed the question forward. "Who's she?"

"Matriarchs are powerful asari who are entering the final developmental stage of their lives," Tevos explained. "Revered for their wisdom and experience, they serve as guides and mentors to my people. Matriarch Benezia is a powerful biotic and she will have many followers. If she truly is involved in this, she will make a formidable ally for Saren."

"The facecloaked person," Shepard realized.

"What?" Udina turned.

"C-Sec officer Garrus Vakarian had other evidence that pointed to Saren," Shepard explained. "We didn't get it from him after we rescued...um, Tali'Zorah nar Rayya. He took the krogan back to C-Sec HQ, and we didn't get his evidence. But he told us he had camera data implicating Saren and someone wearing a facecloaker." He pointed at the nearest holo of Eden Prime. "They were both there, and that must be who it is."

"I'm more interested in the reapers," Valern pointed toward the platform, "What do you know about them?"

"Only what was extracted from the geth's memory," Captain Anderson replied. "The reapers were an ancient race of machines that wiped out the Protheans. Then they vanished."

"That's…incredible," said Tevos. "What evidence do we have of this?"

No one seemed to have an answer.

"The geth believe the reapers are gods," Tali whispered to Anderson, "And they think Saren is the prophet for their return."

"That's the stupidest thing I ever heard," Ash grumbled. "They're machines. How can they believe? Or have prophets?"

"Because of what Saren said, we suspect the Conduit is the key to bringing them back," Anderson continued. "But we've not had enough time to fully analyze the data. We do know that Saren is searching for it, and that's why he attacked Eden Prime. The beacon may have given him a critical clue."

Valern worked his data pillar, then frowned at the other Councillors. "Do we even know what this 'Conduit' is?"

"Whatever it is, Saren thinks it can bring back the Reapers," Shepard said to Anderson. "That can't possibly be good. Remember what you realized about the geth building that dreadnought. That thing did a lot of damage to the colony on the way in; even by itself, it's a serious threat."

Sparatus shook his head. "Listen to what you're saying. Saren wants to bring back the machines that wiped out all life in the galaxy? That's insane…if not impossible!" He looked toward Tevos, who looked doubtfully back at him. "It has to be," he insisted, "Where did the Reapers go? Why did they vanish? How come we've found no trace of their existence? If they were real, we'd have found something!"

Shepard set his omnitool to play back the first message Normandy had picked up from Eden Prime, and it displayed it silently on one of the holotiles. "That something may have just stomped Eden Prime, Councillor. I assume you have seen the video in the final message from the Alliance's 212. The camera they were using has a channel of ranged voxel data and information it has about the ship is general, but very exact. Normandy's LIDAR confirms that it's enormous…bigger than any ship I'm aware of…except possibly Destiny Ascension. Wherever it came from, this is a serious threat, not just to humans, but to everyone."

He lowered his omnitool and continued, "You've officially stopped supporting Saren going forward, and that's clearly a good step. But Councillor, if I understand what you've just discovered, whatever resources he's already gathered in his years as a Spectre are still his."

Anderson turned from Shepard to the Council, "He must have known for months…or even years that it would come to this!"

"Whether Saren actually can make the reapers come back may be irrelevant," Udina sounded dismissive. "He may have nothing to do with them; they may be past misinterpretations of some kind of force majeure, like pre-scientific people trying to explain an eclipse or a comet."

"But the geth and their super-dreadnoughts are a real threat," Shepard pressed the point. "With the past three centuries to themselves, you simply cannot afford to assume they have only one such warship; they could have dozens, even hundreds; I doubt they're recognizing the Treaty of Farixen. For all we know, the reapers may be a real threat, too."

"This is different." Tevos manipulated her omnitool. "You proved Saren betrayed the Council and used the geth to attack your colony. He's using them now to search for the Conduit, but we don't actually know why."

Valern shook his head nervously. "The reapers are obviously just a myth, Commander. A convenient lie to cover Saren's true purpose. A legend he is using to bend the geth to his will."

"Maybe. But without knowing his true purpose, you can't responsibly treat it as a non-threat. If it's an Atlantis, or a Noah's Ark, well…fine. But if it's a Vishnu-type asteroid collision, or an engineered hypernova, it could kill billions instantly. You need to know if it's as real as this super-dreadnought." For emphasis, he pointed at the holograph hanging between them. "At the moment, we don't know if Saren fabricated a whole reaper story to appeal to the geth, or if he's actually using information from another credible source; he's certainly talking about them as if they're as real as rocks."

"Saren is now a rogue agent on the run for his life." Sparatus was still seething at the sense of betrayal he felt. Saren was a close, personal friend with a long history of getting the job done no matter what. "He no longer has the rights or resources of a Spectre; the Council has stripped him of his position."

"That is not good enough!" Udina leaned forward over the data pillar at the end of the platform, aimed an accusing finger at Sparatus, "You just told us he's used this time to gather incredible resources; money, ships, possibly people and equipment…and that's just what we know about. No! You know he's heading for the Traverse; send your fleet in!"

"A fleet cannot track down one turian," Valern shook his head.

"A Council fleet could secure the entire region," Udina insisted, "Keep the geth from attacking any more of our colonies!"

"Or it could trigger a war with the unaligned worlds of Terminus Systems." Sparatus put his hands behind his back and stood tall. "They may be wild out there, but if there's one thing they agree about, it's their illusion of independence. Nothing would unite them faster than the perception of a massive military presence from the Council. We won't be dragged into a galactic confrontation over a few dozen human colonies."

"Then send me," Shepard said, "I can find him. I might even be able to bring him back alive."

Tevos sounded impressed. "Commander Shepard is right. There is a way to stop Saren that doesn't require fleets or armies." She looked meaningfully at the turian.

Valern messaged, If he finds and captures Saren, well and good. If Saren kills him, we'll have confirmed he's a threat and we'll have a much better idea of where he is.

I move we make Shepard a Spectre, the asari messaged to the other two Councillors.

Sparatus recoiled. "No! It's too soon. Humanity is not ready for the responsibilities that come with joining the Spectres."

"You don't have to send a fleet into the Traverse," Shepard said. "You have someone with Saren in his sights. And the ambassador gets his human Spectre. Everybody's happy."

Valern messaged, How else do you think you'll get that new ship out of the Alliance fleet, Councillor? I doubt either of us can afford to miss this opportunity. I second the motion.

Udina raised an arm, pointed at Shepard, "It was a turian Spectre who betrayed this Council, and a human who exposed him. We've earned this!"

Sparatus had managed to get control of his fringe, but his mandibles were still down as the asari and salarian turned to face him.

It's up to you, Councillor, Tevos messaged. She nodded soberly.

The turian slowly retracted his mandibles and nodded back. Then I affirm.

The three Council members touched their data pillars, confirming the decision, and starting a multicamera recording of what was about to transpire. Tevos spoke, "Commander Shepard."

He looked up toward the Council, feeling like he was suddenly in the spotlight. "Councillor?"

"Step forward," the asari continued.

Next to the platform's data pillar, the edges of a panel on the floor illuminated, describing a rectangle where Shepard assumed he was being directed to stand. He turned for approval from his CO; the Captain was already looking at him with the hint of a smile playing around the edges of his mouth. He nodded toward the front of the platform; Shepard nodded in reply as he moved into the lit rectangle.

Stepping out Shepard's way, Udina found himself standing next to Anderson. A tone sounded, resonating gong-like through the chamber.

Kaidan looked up and noticed people in the gallery began to collect at the railings. Shepard glanced left and right quickly; there were more people up there than he'd realized.

Tevos spoke, "It is the decision of the Council that you be granted all the powers and privileges of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of the Citadel."

"Spectres are not trained," Valern continued, "but chosen. Individuals forged in the fires of service in battle. Those whose actions elevate them above the rank and file."

"Spectres are an ideal," Tevos said, "a symbol. The embodiment of courage, determination, and self-reliance. They are the right hand of the Council: Instruments of our will."

"Spectres bear a great burden," Sparatus said. "They are protectors of galactic peace; both our first and last line of defence. The safety of the galaxy is theirs to uphold."

"You are the first human Spectre, Commander," Tevos finished. "This is a great accomplishment for you and your entire species."

"Thank you, Councillor." He thought for almost half a second about what to say, opting for brevity. "I'm honored."

His ARO displayed, D. Udina: Ask them what your first mission is.

"What's my first mission?"

Valern replied, "We're sending you into the Traverse after Saren. He's a fugitive from justice, so you are authorized to use any means necessary to apprehend or eliminate him."

"Do you have any idea where to find him?"

"We will forward any relevant information to Ambassador Udina," Sparatus said.

"Apparently not," Ash sniped under her breath.

Tevos put her hands behind her back. "This emergency meeting of the Council is adjourned."

Suddenly aware of the fact that this was probably still being recorded, Shepard nodded solemnly, used the opportunity to check how close he was standing to the edge, and then turned to face the ambassador.

Anderson stepped toward him, hand extended. "Congratulations, Commander. I knew you'd do it."

"Thank you sir," Shepard replied as they shook hands. "I'm…glad to have done you proud."

Udina's mind spun with arrangements he would have to make, and how many of them would involve the current Captain of Normandy, the ship he had finally resigned himself to giving up to the cause. "We've got a lot of work to do, Shepard. You're going to need a ship, a crew, supplies…"

"You'll get access to special equipment and training now." Anderson seemed confidently excited. "You should go down to the C-Sec Academy, and speak to the Spectre Requisition Officer."

Udina barked, "Anderson, come with me. I'll need your help to set all this up!" He marched off quickly. Anderson turned to follow with another glance and nod toward Shepard.

With the platform a little emptier, Shepard found himself the center of attention. Kaidan stuck out his hand, as did Ash and Richard. Everyone spoke at once.

Richard was loudest, "Hey, congratulations, sir! This is epic!"

Kaidan clapped him on the shoulder. "Well done, Commander. I'd say there isn't a foot left in the room that still has a sock on it."

Tali's omnitool glowed as she captured stills and PVR.

Ash looked over her shoulder at Udina and Anderson as they left. "Not even a 'thank you' from the ambassador? What a jerk."

"He's got a lot on his mind. Besides, until I bring in Saren, I haven't done anything. Come on." As they walked to the elevator, Shepard continued, "We have a lot to do ourselves, and I haven't checked in with the ship since we got to Eden Prime. But based on this meeting, we're probably going to head right back out…and in the next 48 to 72 hours, depending on how fast the dock crews can get us turned around." He shook his head. "Hard to say where we'll get our next assignment at this point."

He worked his omnitool as the door closed behind them, querying his workstation aboard Normandy. "Nothing from Trident, and the skipper hasn't issued any departure orders yet, so he's not getting anything from the other end. Hmm..."

He looked up at the other Alliance soldiers and shrugged. "Since it seems we have no more immediate tasks, when we get to the Presidium, you're all at liberty, on a 24-hour cycle."

Richard turned away from the elevator's transparent exterior, flashed a grin at the Commander. "That's what I'm talking about."

Kaidan asked, "We're not going back to Arcturus? I thought they were going to install a set of aft cannons, and some other stuff."

Shepard nodded. "Yeah, so did I. Skipper said Joker wasn't thrilled…at first. He argued that it would throw off the balance. Now that he's been talked into it, I wonder how hard it'll be to get him to think he was right all along?"

A grin slowly formed on Kaidan's face. "Isn't it neat how simply asking the question can make the answer obvious?"

*** Glossary ***

bloogling: a portmanteau of "blue" and "ogling," said of humans enjoying asari models

LIDAR: Laser Infrared Detection And Ranging, sometimes referred to as "light radar"

LRAW: Long-Range Analysis Wireframe

Maker: someone who specializes in custom microfacturing and modifacturing

PET: Portable Extranet Terminal

PVR: Polyphase Virtual Reality - an immersive VR technology with between two and five channels of data

RPGVI: Report Program Generator Virtual Intelligence

Sargon ACI: Sargon Alliance Colonial Installation - the Alliance base on Eden Prime

Sandwich pack: A bodypack, or backpack with front and rear sections, providing better balance and greater capacity. The turian military's version of a footlocker.

Treaty of Farixen: a treaty signed by Council races limiting the number of dreadnoughts among the different Citadel races in their given fleets. At the Farixen Naval Conference, the Council races agreed to fix a ratio of dreadnought construction between themselves due to their destructive potential. See the Mass Effect wiki for more.

Vetter: an application for establishing the veracity or credibility of a thing by comparing it with municipal data, public records, running application integrity, etc. Necessary but not sufficient for legal decisions. Since the name of the app is "Vetter," something that has been approved with it is said to be "Vettered."

voxel: the 3D analogue of a pixel. Using accelerometer data in conjunction with recorder timecodes allows interferometry to be performed; further derivation allows distance and relative size. The voxels required to describe an object can be reliably computed from just a few frames of video if matched with properly-calibrated omnitool mesh data.

WOTTA: Works Once, Then Throw Away