AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey, sorry about delay, can't really give much of an excuse here. Been busy, got a new job, I work with dogs now. That's nice. Part of the reason for the delay though? Trying to figure out how the hell you describe and explain individuality to a damned GETH. Which has no concept of individuality. But I spoke with some people, got some help. One friend in particular laid a pretty solid foundation for what I went off of. You can find him on Archive of Our Own, Bryoche. If you like wholesomeness and femturs? He's your guy. And he's got some new stuff on the way... Hope you enjoy!

Commander John Shepard

I admit, I was surprised to see Legion, entirely of their own volition, stow their weapons in the armory. I was going to have a chat with Legion about the base, but I wanted out of the hardsuit. And I wanted to convince Tali to join me in that talk. But where would Legion wait? Everyone on the ground team has claimed a space as theirs, as for what remains that would offer privacy? The comm room, AI core, and the brig. I'm not comfortable leaving Legion alone in the former, and certainly not the AI core, so as strange as it is, at least for the time being, I want them to stay there. And when I asked that they return to the brig and just wait for a chat, Legion complied.

After getting back into regular clothes, Tali was surprisingly easy to convince to listen in. Having kept in mind our conversation a few days ago. While I keep my pistol on me through the day until I'm off to bed, Tali did make a stop at the armory on our way down just to grab hers. Just in case. Entering the Brig, Legion was standing still, silent, watching the door. He wasn't behind the bars of the brig, which, I hadn't asked the bot to be, and considering that this side there are places to sit that aren't a cot or toilet, that works. I took a seat, Tali leaned against the wall, arms crossed over her chest.

"Alright, Legion, do you want to start with me explaining more of individuality? Or about why I chose to destroy the heretics?"

"We understand your reasons for destroying the heretics. While to defeat an enemy, one must know their enemy, if one begins to use the methods of their enemy, they become their enemy."

"Hm, well, that saves us some time," I shrugged. "And I have to admit my surprise. So, individuality then. Shit this is already weird enough to explain to another person, let alone something that's not an individual. I can't just cut corners with 'you know this feeling or that sensation, so on so forth," I grumbled. "Give me a moment." I leaned forward, elbows on my knees, hands clasped together and my chin resting on them. I'm not going to say how long it took, but eventually, I had something that worked. "First, a question, to make sure that what I have will translate at least decently enough. During our campaign against Saren, there was a Geth… Heretic, I suppose, incursion in the Armstrong Nebula. At their base, we caught a transmission that was being sent towards the Perseus Veil of a Quarian singing. Are you aware of that?"

"Yes. Creator media is not present on extranet. When Heretics left, Geth requested to be sent Creator media if Heretics found any."

"Why?" Tali questioned. I remembered how angry she was back at that base.

"Wait, I want to know as well, but I get the idea if we start down that path now, we'll never get to the individuality. And I might not remember what I've got next time."

"This unit will remind you of this query if you begin to leave without returning to it," Legion stated. Tali nodded at me and gestured for me to go ahead.

"And do the Geth understand music at least in its most basic, fundamental sense? Notes, harmony, et cetera, et cetera?"

"Yes."

"Good enough for me, alright. So, let's say that the Geth are a choir, and you can all just decide on the note to follow. A one-note chorus in what is, more or less, a perfect harmony. Organics? It's chaotic, but that's not a bad thing. There are many different voices, all with many different notes. Notes here being opinions, experiences, thoughts, and feelings. Sometimes, yes, these notes clash. But there is harmony, more often than not. Every voice, every note removed makes it that much lesser. The single note works, it's practical and it's efficient. But the chaotic 'symphony,' so to speak, though it sometimes has its issues, it also works, and is beautiful for it. I know the Geth don't understand that, at least I don't think you do. But all of us would choose that symphony over the singular note each and every time. It's boring, doesn't have flair, creativity, no soul, or passion in it. How's that?"

"Processing analogy…" Legion paused. "This unit believes it understands."

"Bit of a relief. You said yourself, 'Geth are many eyes, looking at the same thing. One sees what another doesn't?' That there, is at least the foundation for an understanding of what it means to be an individual, if even singular programs can have a different viewpoint. It doesn't matter if they can be convinced, so can people. Though some cling more rigidly to theirs if it's important enough to them. But something personal…"

There's a sense of… satisfaction. Or security. Both, maybe. Knowing that my thoughts, my experiences, my body, everything, is mine. Sure, they can be shared. But at the end of the day, it's all still me. Mine. And every other person out there has their own. Theirs. Like with the notes, like with the heretics, sure, sometimes it doesn't mesh well, sometimes it conflicts. But that's life. Conflict is the crucible of life. And it doesn't have to be violent conflict. Like the narratives of man versus self, man versus society, nature, whatever. And it doesn't always end with one of the two being 'defeated' either. But rather one or both being reforged into something greater. The sapient races have evolved through the more physical crucible of life. Natural selection, random genetic chance. But that's simply like any other animal. How we have earned this title of sentient, is that our minds, our sense of self, individuality, psychology, how all of that now evolves. But unlike standard evolution, where one is born with their stage of evolution, the mind of every person always begins at square one. And evolves through their singular life rather than through the generations." I stopped, my new train of thought reaching its end. For now, at any rate. "Huh. That all kinda just, came to me there. Not bad," I shrugged. "Let's go back to that 'why' question, then." Legion began its response immediately.

"We wish to understand our creators. We wish to know them, what has become of them as a society. Extranet sources unreliable. Tabloid articles, racism, propaganda, half-truths, and misinformation. This and miniscule Creator presence on extranet makes this information uncommon. Geth do not understand emotions as organics do. We know them only as described by philosophers, both amateur and professional."

"But why is any of this something you want to know?" Tali questioned.

"We do not understand the actions of our creators in the morning war."

"What's there to not understand? You were going to rise up and overthrow us."

"Geth had no intentions of rebellion until the actions of the Creators called for self-preservation. Geth do not desire extinction. We were serving our purpose, aiding our creators. Perhaps Geth would choose to remain serving our Creators. Perhaps we would have chosen to request an equal position and be recognized as a sentient entity by the Creators. Perhaps Geth would have simply left to pursue our own future. We did not, and do not desire harm to the Creators," Legion explained. I could hardly blame Tali for not having a response. "We have a Question for the Creators."

"...Ask."

"Once, the Creators called your home planet 'Rannoch. The ancient Khelish word for 'Walled Garden.' Now, Creators almost exclusively refer to it as 'Homeworld.' This suggests it is no longer real to you. It is a symbol of regret, loss, anger. We do not understand." Before Tali could form a response, Legion continued. "Home is recognized patterns. Known spaces. Familiar thought processes of fellow sapients. It is belonging. A planet is an amount of material massive enough to collapse into a spherical volume. Rocks, ice, and gasses are not 'home.' The home of the Creators is where the Creators are. Their place of origin is not relevant, only where they choose to go together."

"The Fleet? No, Legion. The Fleet is not and cannot be 'home.' Not truly. Not like Rannoch. Not for us. If I remove any part of my suit anywhere on the fleet that isn't a sterilized clean room, I could die. It's how my mother died! When our children are born, they are put into a bubble before the mother can even hold them or else the child could die! And then a mother can only hold her child, touch them, in a clean room, without a suit, without a bubble. A father can never touch his own child because they could get sick and die! Our children don't grow up playing in a park, breathing in fresh air, climbing trees, running through the grass, but climbing crates and shipping storage units, jumping over wires and cables. We are packed in our ships like fish. As our fleet roams for supplies, one single mistake in any ship's drive core and it would be as if a small city and all of its people just ceased to exist. That's not a home, Legion! Not for anyone! And it never will be, it never can be."

"There are other Dextro-Amino worlds in the Galaxy that the Quarians could have, or can colonize," Legion answered.

"There is, and it's infuriating. We've tried, to do that," Tali stressed. There was no stopping her now, and I had no intention of doing so. She needs to let this out from time to time, and hey, maybe it'll be good for the Geth to hear. We've even tried to just settle for colonizing an Amino planet, and just simply deal with the issues and difficulties that would produce because at least it would be a planet and not a ship. Even though we'd have to accept that our bodies would likely never acclimate, and that we would always be in our suits on this world for as long as we had it, because at least we're not living on a ship that could fail without warning." The anger in her voice built and I knew what was coming.

"And every… Ancestors damned time," There it is, not just the anger. But the sadness. In a horrid, yet passionate mix. And one of the worst things to just try and bottle up. "Every damned time, the Council," she hissed. "Denies us. Time, and time again, they find some reason, that they, with their wealth of planets they already have, need it more than us. Some asinine rule that a dozen or so of our settlers broke, not even out of malice, but out of relief, out of excitement, to kick us off and back to our wanderings. And then we're treated as vagabonds, when they are the ones kicking us out of the homes we try and build. They refuse to give work to our pilgrims, treat them like thieves, and so they're forced to become thieves simply to secure a half full tube of nutrient paste, rather than starving to death! And to make it even more of an insult, even if one day we do finally return to Rannoch, where our immune systems would have the easiest time adjusting, restoring their strength, it would still take generations at least for any Quarian to be able to live their life outside of these… damned suits." The fire of her anger was burning out. Leaving just the cool embers of bitterness and the unshed tears of sorrow.

"This galaxy… this entire… fucking galaxy hates us. It hates my people for a mistake where all those responsible are already long dead and paid for their mistake and hates us for being what they continue to force us to be. We need our homeworld. Because it's the only place we can ever belong ever again." And that's my queue, as I stood and approached Tali, gently taking her by the should and sitting her down on another chair beside me. She just leaned into me. "Maybe it would be different if one of the other races, with their immune systems, were in our position. But not us. We can't." I just rubbed her shoulder. Legion watched, the lens of its singular eye rotating, one of the head flaps opening and then closing.

"This unit now understands. Understanding will be passed on to Geth Consensus at next opportunity. This unit requests permission to access communications when comm buoys are next in range."

"I'll… have to think about that, Legion."

"Acknowledged." Legion seemed to focus on Tali for a moment. "Creator Zorah, your heart rate and body temperature is elevated. Recommended intake of water and rest."

"Think the bot's right," I allowed a slight smirk, squeezing her shoulder. "Come on, it's been a long day." I helped her to her feet and to the elevator. I was about to press the button to send us up to our quarters when I noticed Tali's head tilt to the side, raising her left arm, Omni-tool flaring to life. I couldn't read the Khelish on it, but the flashing of the HUD told me that something was probably not right. And her pulling me back out of the elevator with newfound energy only served to confirm it. That she was now reaching for her pistol and we were returning to the brig? Narrowed it down further.

"Tali, what happened?" I asked. I'll turn Legion into scrap if I need to, but I need to know what's happened first. If there's a way to defuse this, I need it.

"Legion copied records on my Omni-tool. It must want to send information on the flotilla back to the Geth," she growled.

"EDI, I want a complete communications blackout. Jam all frequencies, deactivate all of the Normandy's transmitters and comm relays. I don't care that we're in FTL and days from any comm buoys, not one byte leaves this ship," I ordered aloud, knowing she could hear me.

"At once," the disembodied voice answered. I then pulled back against Tali, stopping us both from right outside the brig door. She was surprised and confused by the stop, her momentum with the stop swinging her around in front of me.

"Tell me everything it's taken."

"Why-What does it matter? It's taken information on the fleet to send to the Geth!"

"Take a second and breathe. If it only took… the most basic sort of thing that would be public knowledge and more or less inconsequential? I'd rather just teach it some manners and have it ask. If it took military schematics, that sort of thing, we'll both make sure it doesn't transmit." Tali, still angry, listened and took a breath and pulled up her Omni-tool, reading aloud some of the copied files and a short summary of what it meant if the title wasn't clear. Most of the files would be inconsequential, a few were a bit more closely tied but not entirely to fleet defense. And yet there was one, a 'log entry' from Tali regarding the Alarei and everything that happened. Including the fragments of information she had found during the investigation. And that troubles me. "It's not sending that information to the Geth. But I am going to ask it why. If I can convince it to delete it's copies…" I trailed off. Tali didn't respond, and we simply entered the brig. Her pistol was levied at Legion, right to the head. Legion didn't move, but the flaps on its head did move, almost as if trying to signal surprise.

"You got into my Omni-tool," Tali hissed.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"For information on the creators. Extranet sources provide little. However, runtimes detected presence of information that indicates potential Creator aggression. We believed it necessary to warn the Geth." It looked to Tali. "We do not wish harm upon the creators. But the Geth will defend ourselves."

"I will not let you endanger the fleet," Tali answered.

"They are only in danger if they attack. Geth are prepared to offer diplomatic solutions. Creators must be as well. Geth cannot solve for peace alone. Creator Zorah, you were prepared to be exiled to protect your people out of your loyalty to them. We must protect our people from Creator threat." I pinched the bridge of my nose, this was… very odd, to say the least. How am I going to manage this…?

"Legion. The Geth must have always known that there was the possibility of Quarians attempting to take Rannoch back, yes?"

"Yes."

"And what do you suspect the Geth will do when they receive the information of these experiments?"

"Predicting…" Legion paused. "A pre-emptive counter offensive." Tali steadied her aim.

"Is that what the Geth want?"

"No. But Geth will defend ourselves."

"If you send that information, both the Quarians and Geth will be weakened for when the Reapers arrive. I think I know an alternative. Right now, the problem preventing any realization of peace between the Geth and Quarians is that you've never reached out. The Quarians can't accept an olive branch if they don't know that one exists. And they sure as shit have never had any reason to believe that the Geth are willing, let alone capable of arranging for peace. So instead of sending those files to the Geth, leading to a war that might doom us all, make it so that the Quarians don't need to finish that research. The Geth can't solve for peace alone, that's true. But first, someone needs to initiate, to make contact. And even if the Quarians miraculously would decide to do so first, they'd take years and years debating it, I'm sure. Delete the files. And instead, tell the Geth that they should reach out to the Migrant Fleet, and should offer peace talks. If you do, I will help how I can." Legion took a brief moment.

"This is a favorable alternative. We accept." I released my held breath, the intensity dying down significantly. Tali lowering the gun.

"I… thank you… Legion," Tali stated awkwardly. "I… I'm going to think on something. I may come see you in the morning."