2185
Normandy SR-2

Shepard didn't fully relax until she heard Joker and EDI confirming that they had successfully entered the mass relay and were getting the hell out of the system. Even then, some part of her was expecting that Collectors could (somehow) follow them through the relay and blast them on the other side. Which was completely ridiculous - but it was that kind of day.

She stalked towards the Briefing Room, not entirely sure when the Illusive Man would be available but having no real desire to do anything than pace, and stew, and wonder if it really was possible to flay someone alive with your mind - and if it was possible, the best way to do it.

Shepard plowed through the tech labs - Mordin didn't appear to have noticed her - and stopped short when she saw the Doctor leaning against one of the walls. He pushed himself up and gave her a tight smile. "Commander Shepard."

"Let me guess. You're looking to give the Illusive Man a piece of your mind as well," Shepard said.

"Indeed. I've got rather a lot of unanswered questions at this point." Shepard noticed that his jacket looked, somehow, none the worse for wear despite having been hit by Harbinger's biotic attack. Stupid thing to wonder about.

"So do I," Shepard said, sighing as she leaned back against the wall. "He's in the habit of not answering them fully. I'm betting that's not going to change."

"Call coming in from the Illusive Man, Commander," Joker said, and Shepard snapped up straight, preparing for action. "Figure you've got a few words for him. At the least."

"Thanks, Joker," Shepard said, and walked into the Briefing Room. The Doctor followed her, watching closely as Shepard pushed the button that sank the table into the floor, bringing up the holographic transmitter for the QEC. She walked forward and heard the scans kick in, turning to gesture the Doctor forward. "This is the way he prefers to communicate. I've never actually met him in person. As far as I know, Miranda's the only one who has."

"I'll be wanting to change that, at some point," the Doctor commented as he stepped up besides her. His expression flashed to wonder for a moment as he bent, inspecting the machinery. "Full-body holographic scans. Interesting."

The scans kicked in, and Shepard was once again virtually transported to the Illusive Man's office. It was somewhat unfair, she thought, that she'd never been there in person. The view was spectacular, as one might expect from the office of a man with a god complex and virtually unlimited resources. It had a direct view of whatever dying star the base was orbiting, the surface a constantly changing mix of burnished orange and steel blue.

"Shepard." The Illusive Man's gaze flicked to the man standing beside her. "And the Doctor, I presume. I'm glad you decided to help."

"The Illusive Man," the Doctor replied, folding his arms across his chance in an - unconscious? - echo of Shepard's own stance. "You have much to illuminate."

"Been saving that one?" the Illusive Man asked, a hint of humor in his voice as he took a drag on his cigarette.

"Yes, actually. But!" The Doctor raised a hand. "Besides the point. You found me. You knew of me. No one else in this universe does, except the being called Harbinger. I'd like to know how."

Shepard had questions - accusations - but she felt no need to interrupt the Doctor, bull-rushing over him with her own fury. To be frank, she wanted answers to those questions as well, given what she'd learned about where the Doctor came from.

"Legends. Rumors. I was half-convinced I was chasing a ghost until I got you on the phone," the Illusive Man replied. "I was putting out feelers for anyone that might be able to help Shepard - and got stories of you that I couldn't corroborate, which I found fascinating. Stories of you being present during many of the pre-spaceflight conflicts, but nothing in the actual record. The conspiracy theories from the twenty-first century mention a benevolent alien who fits the description of you I found in other sources. But the stories that fascinated me the most came from other races. You were seen on Rannoch, before the quarians created the geth. On Tuchanka and Khar'shan, where humans are generally not welcome."

"Really," the Doctor said, keeping his voice even. Having been to Tuchanka and talked to a few batarians, Shepard wasn't surprised that a sighting of the Doctor on those worlds was big news. And he'd been seen on Rannoch? Shepard wondered if that had anything to do with Tali. "I'm not convinced that all of those stories happened in this universe."

The Illusive Man frowned. "I'm afraid you've lost me."

"I mean that I'm from a parallel universe," the Doctor said, continuing to pace. "I came here through a rift in time and space. In my universe, there are plenty of stories that are similar to what you've mentioned - but I've only been here since your call telling me to go to Illium." He paused, narrowing his eyes at the Illusive Man. "How'd you find me, anyways?"

"I had Cerberus scanning for unknown alien tech to try and pick up Collector signatures," the Illusive Man replied. "Your - ship - came up during one of those scans. I connected the dots. Gave you a call."

The Doctor frowned, starting to pace again, his lips taut.

The Illusive Man inhaled on his cigarette and shifted his gaze to Shepard, taking the Doctor's silence as a cue to change topics."EDI sent me the preliminary data you extracted from the ship - with the Doctor's help. It looks quite interesting."

Shepard looked over her shoulder to see that the Doctor had halted the pacing, standing at the edge of the holographic field. He gave her the slightest of nods, and she squared her shoulders as she turned to face the Illusive Man. "EDI told us the distress call originated from the Collectors," she said angrily. "You betrayed us."

"We're at war. The Collectors are taking humans, and every minute we waste is one more we give the enemy to prepare," the Illusive Man said firmly.

"I know the stakes," Shepard said, exasperated. Didn't she hear it all the time? Didn't she say it all the time? "But we're supposed to be on the same side. How can I trust you if you feed me what you know is bad information, and it leads us into a trap?"

"Yes, it was a trap, but I was confident in your abilities," the Illusive Man replied, standing up to look Shepard squarely in the eye. "And you had EDI and the Doctor to help. The Collectors weren't anticipating them."

"Except that they knew me," the Doctor said, re-entering the conversation. "Harbinger noted that my arrival was anticipated."

"Maybe they found the same rumors I did," the Illusive Man said. "Or maybe they somehow saw through to your universe. They've been around for hundreds of millions of years." He waved a hand. "That's besides the point. You made it out."

"It was an unnecessary risk, not telling me," Shepard said. "There are always alternatives."

"You may not like being on the receiving end - neither would I - but the facts," the Illusive Man said, pacing slightly, "are with me. Besides, the decision paid off. EDI confirmed our suspicions." He sat down and lit another cigarette, inhaling on it before continuing. "The Reapers and Collector ships use an advanced Identify Friend/Foe system that the relays recognize. All we need to do is get our hands on one of those IFFs."

Shepard resisted the urge to snap that they'd just left a Collector ship that had one of those. EDI might be fast, but she'd been multitasking quite a bit to help them get off the ship. "I'm guessing," she said, keeping her voice firm, "that you have a plan."

"There's a science team working on a derelict Reaper as we speak. You'll find your IFF there."

"Where is this derelict Reaper?" Shepard asked, suspiciously.

"An Alliance science team recently determined that the 'Great Rift' on the planet Klendagon is actually an impact crater from a mass accelerator weapon," the Illusive Man said. He paused to pick up his drink and take a sip. "A very old mass accelerator. I sent a team to find either the weapon or its target. They found both. The weapon was defunct, but it helped us plot the flight path of the intended target - a 37 million year old derelict Reaper. We found it damaged and trapped in the gravity of a brown dwarf."

"Have the scientists found anything that might look like an IFF?" Shepard asked.

The Illusive Man sighed. "We … lost contact with Dr. Chandana's team shortly after they boarded."

"Great," Shepard said. "I have to go clean up another mess."

"We need that IFF, Shepard."

"I heard you," Shepard replied, uncrossing her arms and stepping back. "And I agree."

The Illusive Man nodded. "I'll forward the coordinates to Joker. In the meantime, I suggest you tell your crew that I didn't risk their lives unnecessarily." He looked over at the Doctor again. "It was a pleasure to meet you. I hope we can speak again soon."

"Don't count on it," the Doctor said. "I'm staying for Shepard, not you. In fact-" he strode forward, his face set into an iron-hard expression, "when this is all over, when we make it back from the Collector homeworld - I'm coming for you. Cerberus will not stand when I'm through with it."

Funny thing, Shepard thought as she looked between the two of them. He doesn't look so ridiculous now. I think I believe him. She had no objection to that, as it was running along lines of thought she'd had herself.

"You'll find I'm not easily intimidated," the Illusive Man said. "Or defeated. I would say give it your best shot, Doctor, except that what I'm doing is too important to be derailed by anyone. We're not enemies."

"Oh, yes we are," the Doctor said.

The Illusive Man sighed. "Now, that's a shame. It would have been a privilege to work with you." He looked at Shepard. "Get me that IFF, Shepard."

Shepard turned around, exiting the holographic interface, hearing it power down behind her. When she heard the familiar sounds that told her the interface was deactivated and the Illusive Man was no longer listening in real time, she looked up at the ceiling. "EDI, tell the crew to assemble. We've got a lot to talk about."

"Of course, Shepard," EDI said.

The Doctor stayed for the meeting, even though it turned out to be a lot of talking (and arguing) in circles. Predictably, there were those who wanted to push forward and get this IFF now, and those who argued that they should wait. And just as predictably, the decision was left to Shepard, who seemed to be choosing caution for now, making their next destination the Citadel instead of this derelict Reaper. Apparently there were errands that Garrus and Thane (one of the other people they'd picked up on Illium, the Doctor remembered) had to run.

The conversation with the Illusive Man had been … interesting. Either the Illusive Man was wrong about his sources - and as much as he continued to despise the man on principle, evidence suggested he was good at what he did - or the Doctor was due to have some adventures on Rannoch, Tuchanka, and Khar'shan in the future. He'd managed to get ahead of himself, again. Not that surprising. It also suggested that he would eventually be able to travel through time here.

"Harbinger said that they didn't create the rift," he said to the empty TARDIS. "I can't see the Illusive Man having done so, either. I don't think anything in this universe can. So where did it come from, and why did it open?"

He heard a tentative knock at the TARDIS door, followed by Tali's voice. "Doctor?"

"Just a minute, Tali'Zorah," he replied, walking over to the door. The quarian engineer walked inside, slowly, looking around at the interior of the TARDIS. She was followed by Mordin, and the salarian's mouth dropped open.

"Bigger … on the inside," Mordin said. "How big?"

"Very," the Doctor said, instantly in a better mood. He'd been waiting for Mordin to come onboard. He knew a kindred spirit when he saw one. "There's a library, and a swimming pool, among other rooms."

"Library?" Mordin asked, swiveling his head, his wide eyes as wide as they could go. "Books from … other times and places? Science books?"

"Yes, and yes," the Doctor said, grinning broadly. "I'm still not quite up on where your technology is - but no two universes are alike, so I'm sure there's something you can learn from me. If you have any understanding of the mass relays -"

Mordin shook his head regretfully. "No. Never been able to build new mass relay, ever. Possible STG is working on it, somewhere, but -" he inhaled sharply "-out of loop." He was still walking around, on his second - third? - lap of the console room.

"The Conduit was a prototype mass relay built by the Protheans," Tali said. "That's the newest mass relay we know about - and it was destroyed after we went through it in the Mako." She shook her head. "If I never ride in a land vehicle with Shepard again, it will be too soon."

Conduit. Ilos. The memories flashed into place, easier this time after the mention of Ilos back on the Collector vessel.

"Still," the Doctor said, trying to think it through, "your scientists must have some understanding of them."

"Some, yes. But not -" Mordin inhaled sharply again, in what the Doctor was beginning to suspect was a verbal tic- "enough. Biologist, myself. Diseases, countermeasures. Not physicist." He paused in front of the typewriter and extended one finger to touch a key. "Purpose of this-?" he inquired.

"Just for fun," the Doctor said.

Mordin pressed the key, looking surprised when it retracted. He squinted at the area above the typewriter. "Old-fashioned. No screen." He pressed another button, and then, a smile split the salarian's face - more literally than in some other species - as he began mock-typing. "No idea of output. But -" another sharp inhale- "Fun."

Tali, taking the Doctor's encouragement of Mordin as tacit permission, moved one of the puzzle joysticks around. "Seems like a lot of this is for fun," she said. "Or does that really dispense water?" She jerked her head at the faucet.

"No, you're right about that," the Doctor said. "She likes to surprise me sometimes, the TARDIS does."

Tali leaned back on the console and looked up at the arching ceiling. "You said that your ship was alive. How is that possible?"

The Doctor started pacing around the console room as he considered how to reply. "You understand, I'm not an expert on TARDISes." It killed him to have to admit it, but he was dealing with two of the more intelligent people he'd encountered recently - not only that, but Tali was an expert on ships. He wanted to give them a complete picture. Maybe they'd be able to offer useful commentary. He was always looking for ways to keep his TARDIS healthy.

Well, except for turning the brakes off like River had. He liked the sounds. Made things more exciting.

"But my people found that a computer couldn't handle the complex, reality-warping stress that comes with gallivanting about through time and space. I've … spoken … to my TARDIS. Once. And she indicated that she has some free will of her own. She said that she chose me because she wanted to see the galaxy. And, well, running about is what I do. She's a consciousness that lives inside my ship."

"Like EDI," Tali said. "Except that EDI's an artificial intelligence."

Mordin rested one hand under his chin. "Would be interesting to see if EDI could pilot TARDIS."

"Well, there's only one of them, and I'm not letting her in my TARDIS," the Doctor said peevishly.

Mordin looked disappointed, but nodded. "Engine?" he inquired, craning his head back to look up at the center of the console.

The Doctor nodded. "We can take her for a spin, if you'd like."

Mordin's face split with a smile, again, but his expression fell when Tali spoke up. "Actually, Shepard asked me to - that is, she thought you'd like to see the Citadel while we're there, and that you'd prefer our company to anyone else on the ship."

"Can't have the stranger wandering off without an escort," the Doctor murmured. "All right, Tali'Zorah. I would be delighted to see the sights of the Citadel with you and Professor Solus."

"Presidium is quite impressive," Mordin said with a decisive nod. "If didn't know better, could almost believe it was on planet, not space station."

"Shepard said she'd tell us when we exited the mass relay," Tali said. "She also suggested you might want to come up and see the approach. I'd say it's worth seeing."

"View - " Mordin inhaled sharply- "spectacular."

"Well. When you put it like that, how can I refuse?" The Doctor said, grinning broadly.