"Jenkins has a bad case of hero-worship and it's bothering me," Kaidan announced with a scowl as he walked in.
Shepard had been reviewing everyone's notes on Noveria, mostly because her own were lacking, and relying on her memory was a bad idea. She was quickly developing a sixth sense for identifying them outside handwriting. Kaidan's were the neatest and most organized but Liara's the most informative - extensive and labored. Which was helpful but also meant Shepard had to scour through a lot of detailed common gossip before finding anything useful. Garrus was short and concise, and Tali had a knack for identifying the exact bits of relevant information.
"You know what I'm gonna have you all do?" Shepard answered conversationally, ruffling through what was effectively a pile of datapads. "Liara can compile all of our data, what we remember and any ideas for problem-solving. Tali can go through it, cut out anything useless, and then Garrus rewrites it in little words for my personal convenience. And then you do your bullet-point, index, title, subtitle thing, and I think we might actually be able to make sense of all of this."
"My bullet-poi- Did you not have a writing class in the academy?" he deadpanned.
"I paid more attention in classes where they talked about shooting bullets."
"And in the middle of all this collaborative report-writing, what's your job again?"
"Delegating. And reading," she added after a beat.
He dropped down on the chair. "Uh-huh. It's a good idea, though. Run it past them after Noveria."
"So, what were you saying about Jenkins?" she finally asked, turning around to lean against the table.
He ran a hand through his hair self-consciously and made a face. "Jenkins used to fanboy about you, you know. And since I kind of did the same, we got along pretty well. But now, since I shoved him out of harm's way on Eden Prime and he keeps seeing me hanging around you, he's getting a little star struck by association and I don't like it."
She burst out laughing and he crossed his arms with a huff. "It's not funny!"
"It's hilarious. Aren't you always the one to tell me to suck it up when I complain about attention?"
"I don't tell you to suck it up, I'm just saying, there are worse things – yeah, okay, you've got a point, laugh it up."
"Does it bother you because it reminds you of you?" she asked with a straight face.
"You're the worst."
"I know, but I recently got reminded you used to have a really embarrassing crush on me you didn't know how to deal with. I feel entitled to this one." She reconsidered her statement. "Actually, you still do, you've just learned to hide it better."
He rolled his eyes, but she could see his cheeks had warmed up a little under all the tan, so now this was just entertaining. "Shut up. How do you deal with it?"
"I slept with you, did you forget so quickly?"
Kaidan started, clearly not expecting that, and then scowled when he took notice of her shit-eating grin. "You're trying to be funny today, you need to start spending less time with Joker."
"How dare you, I'm always funny."
"Always trying, is what you were trying to say."
"Watch it, Alenko, I know where you sleep."
He almost flirted back, but then he remembered the door was open and he was curious about the question she was evading. "Seriously. How do you do it? With everyone else, I mean. I know it makes you uncomfortable."
She shrugged. "I surround myself with smart-mouthed outcasts with authority issues. Helps balance out the ego."
As though specifically to prove her point, the comm. came alive in her ear and Joker's sharp voice sounded. "ETA to Noveria, twenty minutes. Don't freeze any important bits out there."
Through the open door, Shepard could hear Ashley vaguely grumbling something about her commander's preference for crazy and insubordinate, and she decided she sort of deserved it.
Although – "Careful, Ashley, what does that say about you?" she called out to her, and heard her simply harrumph in response.
"Well, she's never insubordinate."
"Hey, Commander," she said, poking her head in, "since I'm not entirely sure what counts as insubordination anymore, what do Alliance regs say about the opposite of fraternizing with the pilot on the ship?"
Shepard crossed her arms at her. "You mean ignoring him?"
"… No. But sure, let's go with that."
"They say he's the one responsible for getting your ass out of lava, or an exploding planet, or a giant life-sucking AI self-destructing machine, or an army of those, or whatever else Shepard thinks up when she wakes up in the morning."
"Uh – hopefully it wasn't this morning, then."
"He's talking about the reapers," Shepard said carefully, because Joker was confirmed shit at keeping this secret. "Y'know, the things I saw destroying the protheans in my vision."
Ashley shook her head. "Yeah. Again – not this morning, right?"
Kaidan was snickering. Shepard threw him a dirty look. "No."
"Who knows what tomorrow will bring, though," he added unnecessarily. It was Joker's turn to snicker in her ear now.
Ashley's lips twitched as thought she might smile and she left with only a cursory glance to the unreasonable amount of datapads on her desk and a more suspicious one to Kaidan.
She switched Joker to a private channel. "You could at the very least try to not blab everything to her, you know. I can tell she's getting suspicious," she reprimanded, keeping her voice low so no one outside could eavesdrop.
"Commander, frankly, all this lying won't last. Not your style."
"I'll yet see the day where that statement isn't an insult," Kaidan vowed.
"Yeah, well, I can at least give it a shot," she replied defensively. "She's gonna think we're crazy if we tell her."
"Yeah, I know not much is gonna change, but at least we'll get to stop walking on eggshells."
"Gonna tell Liara you called her crazy, Joker," Kaidan said immediately.
"No, you won't, otherwise I'll tell Shepard-"
"No, she already knows," he said quickly.
She narrowed her eyes. "What do I know?"
"She so does not- Ground control, this is Normandy, permission to approach," Joker said, abruptly switching channels.
Shepard stood, grabbing her gear. Kaidan hurried to follow innocently. "We are not done with that conversation."
"It involves Vega and strip poker, okay?" he admitted. "No further questions."
"Oh, we are so not done with that conversation."
Kaidan groaned as Liara joined them. She looked far too calm and there was not enough to read in her expression. Shepard's attention switched. "Liara-"
"I will be okay."
"No, it's just-"
"Shepard. I will be okay."
Kaidan intervened. "It's possible we could break Benezia out of the indoctrination."
Liara clicked her tongue impatiently. "Yes, and we've discussed this. That is a last resort. The priority is everyone's safety. Us included. We should minimize the variables we introduce to the game at this point."
"It's your mother," Shepard said, and her tone shouldn't have come out so sharp. Liara flinched.
"I know. But we will not jeopardize this mission. It's too important. Garrus agreed."
"And Tali told him to stop being a cynical idiot. Do you know what the mission is?"
"End the threat of the reapers."
"Saving the people the reapers are threatening," Shepard corrected. "Don't lose sight of that."
"Your mother is one of those people too, Liara," Kaidan reminded.
Liara huffed. "Let us not rehash this argument. We reached an agreement. If we can save her, good. If not, she is dead anyway."
They saved her. Well, after getting involved in a great deal of business that, again, had nothing to do with them. Liara was in tears as they boarded the Normandy, hand tight around Benezia's limp one. The asari matriarch was unconscious, for obvious reasons that Shepard had managed to convince her of before the indoctrination took over again, and so she'd lived, and now they had to figure out what to do with her.
"I did not think we could do it," Liara admitted after the debrief and the Council's strained and pointed questions about the rachni queen Shepard had casually let wander off-planet. "I was too scared to hope. Shepard, you are-"
"It's okay."
"I want you to know, I will always be your friend. I will always be unconditionally on your side," she vowed fiercely. "Anything you need, you can count on me."
"I knew that already, Liara. But thank you. You can always count on me too."
She smiled, eyes still glistening, and left for the med bay. They hadn't discussed what to do with the matriarch until the reapers had been dealt with, which was the point at which anyone felt comfortable waking her up again. Liara hadn't wanted to discuss it – said they'd think about it if the problem arose. But Shepard had a pretty good idea of what to do, and it involved reconnecting Liara to her father. Unfortunately, it also involved careful explanations that might raise unwelcome questions from Aethyta if done wrong.
At any rate, she would give Liara time to compose herself before she brought it up. The Council wanted their debrief, and now that this mission was done, she knew things would start speeding up – Joker could only make a brief stop at the Citadel before their time to get to Feros became alarmingly limited, time she took advantage of to rest for as long as she could before hitting the ground running again.
This, of course, meant that she almost seemed to be avoiding Kryik, who was very insistent on talking with her after Noveria. Avoiding him was, of course, the last thing on Shepard's mind (or at least she hoped that's what everyone thought), but it ended with an outright ambush, one day, as he caught her walking out of the comm. room after a very productive vid-call meeting with Admiral Kahoku.
"Commander," Nihlus greeted, "may I have a word? Surely you have a few minutes while we arrive on Feros."
"You can. I've been meaning to talk to you, actually."
He didn't look like he believed her, but nodded back to the comm. room, and she followed him inside.
"I heard you let a rachni queen loose," he began, sitting down with his legs crossed. She mimicked him, except for the man-spread part, disappointed that he thought this conversation would take that long.
"No, you heard that I let an associate of Saren's live and brought her on the ship," she corrected, because she wanted to streamline the confrontation he was gearing himself up for.
He uncrossed his legs, something flashing across his face. "Is Liara with her mother now?"
"She has been ever since. And the matriarch is unconscious."
"And you trust her? Liara, I mean."
"With my life."
He clenched his jaw. "Okay."
She stared for a second. "Okay?"
"I told you I'd think about it. I also told you I respect you."
She felt pleasantly surprised. She'd almost been gearing up for a fight. "I appreciate it."
"You should expect it, not appreciate it."
"I appreciate it anyway."
He almost smiled. "Don't you want to know why I didn't accompany you to Noveria?"
"I do, actually."
"I – don't think I'd have made the same choices. And I wasn't sure I wanted to be confronted with it. Believe it or not, I am aware that conflict is unhelpful."
"So maybe that's the best reason to have come along. Facing those kinds of issues is the best way to work through them."
He looked surprised. "Sure. Maybe I'll join you on Feros, then."
"You'd be welcome to."
He stood. "Thanks for the talk, Shepard."
"Commander!" Joker's agitated voice was heard in her ear, and the rest of the ship as well, judging from Nihlus' face. He paused on his way out. "Got a transmission, few minutes after we got to the Hercules system – not decoded yet – it's an Alliance gig from Luna, something about a rogue VI, so if you could-"
He couldn't have been clearer if he'd been yelling, which he sort of was, so she hurried past Nihlus' raised eyebrows in the bridge's direction. "Joker, start using a goddamn direct channel," she muttered, doing just that.
"Sorry, Commander, but wouldn't that look a bit strange? I usually broadcast every other distress signal," he told her distractedly, and she took a moment to remind herself that this was EDI and he wasn't going to act his normal self.
"Right, yeah," she said, deciding it wasn't worth pursuing. Liara, Tali, Garrus, Kaidan and even Wrex and Dr. Chakwas joined her as she arrived next to Joker.
"We are going now, right?" Tali demanded immediately, and Kaidan exchanged a look with Garrus.
Liara looked troubled. "I- I am unsure if we should not give Ferus our immediate attention, but-" she continued even as Joker swiveled around with a sneer on his face. "This is EDI."
Joker turned back to the controls without comment, and Wrex huffed, gesturing through the windows at Feros' rapidly approaching silhouette. "What I remember from this place isn't pretty. Something about pollen."
"That's not-" Dr. Chakwas thought better of it. "Feros has waited long enough, and I believe the consequences will be dire if we wait much longer. You, Alenko and Williams did not come back in particularly good condition last time."
Joker's face was falling a little every second, she could see in his reflection. "It was close, and it's getting closer, gotcha," he muttered with a sigh.
"And if we don't hurry to get to EDI?" Kaidan asked softly.
Tali hugged herself. "What if her interface ends up destroyed completely by someone else? The technology Cerberus based her on would be lost."
Shepard wished she hadn't said that, because Joker tensed so much she worried he might hurt himself. "EDI is too smart to let that happen," Garrus said in an attempt at being reassuring.
"Who says it's EDI? Who says it's not just a rogue VI still?" Wrex shrugged.
"True, there is no reason to believe that – whatever the little boy Shepard saw, who changed our memories – how would he have improved what is essentially a computer?" Liara asked tremulously. Shepard remembered her mother was still in the med bay.
"I mean – isn't the point that she isn't just a computer? That synthetic life is-" Dr. Chakwas was gearing up for a moral debate, but Kaidan, bless his heart, was having none of it.
"What's it matter anyway? We know who she is. Cerberus designed her after what was on that moon."
"And reaper tech," Wrex reminded. Tali threw him a dirty look.
"The point is, if it's her, she's there. If she's not, that's the start to getting her back, without Cerberus interference," Garrus concluded. "We can hope that things work out anyway if someone else goes there, but – well, clearly something's different, last time this wasn't the timing."
And then as if on cue, everyone turned to Shepard. "Well, Commander?" Joker's voice was strained. "What do we do?"
For a second longer, Shepard remained silent, looking warily between them all, and lingering on Joker – then, movement caught her attention out of the corner of her eye and she locked gazes with someone a few meters away.
"We split up," she said. Nihlus arched an eyebrow at her, leaning against the wall in the distance and contemplating the gathering.
She beckoned him forth. "Seriously?" slipped from Kaidan's lips before he could stop himself.
"He's a Spectre same as me, working this investigation same as me. So yeah."
Wide-eyed, Joker looked between the two Spectres as the turian got closer. "So what's the plan?"
"The plan is that while Kryik takes Alenko and Williams down to Feros to check out the geth activity, you're flying us as fast as possible to the Local Cluster and back, where I'm taking Liara and Tali to check out the distress signal. Clear?"
Nihlus, who'd joined them in time to hear that, snapped his gaze to her.
"Yes, ma-am!" Joker turned back to his controls, hands flying and laser-focused.
"I feel benched," Garrus joked.
"I feel restless," Wrex added, and everyone turned to him in alarm.
"Small teams are better. Both of you will get your chance to shine, just don't break anything before that, please, Wrex," Shepard warned, walking quickly and being followed by anyone she'd named.
"So – I guess I'll suit up?" Kaidan asked hesitantly, to which she just nodded once. Not appearing appeased, he left to go warn Ashley. Tali and Liara left to grab their gear as well, after exchanging looks with each other.
Nihlus was still following her to her quarters. "Why am I taking the Alliance backup while you take aliens to look into Alliance business?"
"Because I think it's a good idea."
"Why am I going to Feros instead of you? I'm not Alliance, but if they don't have issues about the aliens you're bringi-"
"Because I think it's a good idea."
"Why is it even so important to go look into this distress signal right this moment that it takes priority over Saren?"
"Because I think it's a good idea."
"Why do you have to be the one to go?"
"Because I think it's-"
"A good idea, yeah, got it," he snapped, finally annoyed.
"Good, all done with the questions?"
"There's something you're not telling me."
"Plenty of things. And while trust is important, for this, I need you to do it blind."
"Fine." He paused, and she wondered if he was finally getting around to asking the question he wanted to ask. "You think it's also a good idea to – face those issues you mentioned by myself?"
"You're an experienced Spectre. I'm barely one myself. Are you actually asking me this?"
"You told me to do some soul-searching."
"Yeah, about your methods. Your attitude. I didn't tell you to have an existential crisis." His eyes narrowed. She rolled hers. "You won't be by yourself, that's the point. If you have doubts, ask Alenko. That's what I do."
He snorted, shook his head, and left. "Hey," she called after him, and he paused to look at her, "Do it slow and smart. Think but trust your instincts. Prioritize people. I'm hoping to get in and out of Luna as quickly as possible, so hang tight, I might get back in time to help." She better. She needed to be the one to suffer through the Thorian encounter.
"Yes, Commander."
She grabbed her stuff and really, really hoped this wouldn't backfire.
She kept the comm. on the Feros' landing team's frequency for as long as they were within range, but soon enough they were approaching the mass relay at a speed impressive even for Joker. Kaidan's voice fizzled and died in her ear, halfway through a warning about a drone on Ashley's two o'clock, and Shepard took a deep breath, questioning every decision she'd ever made.
But it was too late to reassess, and her objective was clear. The sooner she sorted out Luna, the sooner she'd get back to Feros.
"A little reckless," Garrus told her lowly, later, as they shot across the stars. Shepard did not make eye contact with him.
"Only if I was trusting the wrong people," she defended firmly.
He seemed to accept that after some consideration. "Fair enough. You might want to hurry anyway, though."
"You really don't have to tell me twice."
They went through the relay and Shepard could tell Joker was straining the ship and ignoring far too many policies, rules and safety precautions in order to hit this kind of timing. FTL jumps needed care even in the calmest of conditions.
But Joker was Joker, and soon they were landing smoothly on the moon, Earth looming over Shepard like a token, a warning, a reminder, and the materialization of her motivations all in one. She turned her back on it, but not before Tali commented.
"I don't think I've ever said it, but your planet is beautiful, Shepard. Especially when it's not under siege."
"Yeah."
"You grew up on Earth." Liara had a way to make her voice sound so earnest, like an invitation to step into a warm, comforting hug. Shepard suspected it was how a mother ought to feel like, or a sufficiently older sister. Then again, Shepard also suspected Liara excelled in using it like a trap covered in honey.
"Yeah." It almost sounded like a sigh.
"A homeworld is always going to have a piece of a species that cannot be brought anywhere, not with any technology. It tells a story, our history. It gave us life," Tali told them wistfully. Liara's biotics shuddered even if her expression only flashed in pain momentarily. Shepard looked away, lightly infused with some sort of inspirational adrenaline.
"Let's make sure they're all right where they should be when this is over, then."
"Right behind you, Shepard."
"Lead the way."
But she stopped the Mako instead. "Wait. There should be some sort of defense here. I remember turrets, I think," she said slowly, carefully sweeping her eyes over the landscape. "They're not activating, and I don't even see them."
"Over there," Liara called, pointing.
Tali jumped out and the other two followed. The quarian crouched beside a pile of what could have been Alliance equipment once, without the bullet holes and the signs of an explosion. "Not much to salvage beyond scrap metal," Tali said disappointedly.
"A more pressing observation is that we're clearly not the first ones here, something's different," Liara berated. "We must make haste."
"Joker, someone else in the Alliance take a look at this signal?" Shepard asked, hurrying back into the vehicle.
"Nope, everyone backed off when the Normandy called dibs. The distress signal died a few minutes ago."
"Any logs you can access that might tell you who's here?"
"Already on it."
The Mako sped through uneven terrain even faster than usual, and Shepard noticed Liara wincing from the corner of her eye. Tali was the only one currently serving on her ship whose claims of having no problems with Shepard's driving had the benefit of the doubt, because her face was the only one Shepard could not actually see.
"Shepard, we have a problem." Joker sounded strained. "A small vessel landed here almost a full day ago. Picture the worst possible scenario. You're wrong, it's worse. It's-"
"Cerberus."
"Yeah. Yeah, actually. How did you know?" Joker sputtered in surprise.
"Hunch," she replied, stepping out of the Mako and arching an eyebrow at Miranda, who stood crisp as always, a few feet away.
"It's Miranda Lawson, Joker," Liara said softly.
"That's. A good thing? I think." Tali's voice couldn't seem to decide on intonation, but the general impression was wariness.
"You're joking, right? It's never a good thing."
"You might want to hold off on all the bashing, Joker," Shepard told him as they approached Miranda quickly. She was waiting for them patiently. And beside her – "She's not alone."
"Hello, Shepard," EDI said, the body of Dr. Eva Coré – or at least a reasonably faithful replica – blending her features into a smile as she stepped forward.
"EDI!"
"Wait, what?!"
EDI switched her attention to Liara with a nod. "Dr. T'Soni. It's very good to see you."
For a moment, Liara jerked as though she wanted to give the AI a hug, but stopped herself just short. Tali had no such qualms, and EDI held her almost scientifically, support points, suit concerns and all. "And you as well, Tali'Zorah vas-Normandy."
Shepard smiled at the AI but let her gaze fly to Miranda. "Been busy, I see."
Miranda's rare self-indulgent grin lit up her face. "I always am. This is proving very exciting. I like knowing more than everyone else at all times."
Shepard had to fight hard not to laugh. "I think we need to have a long conversation." Just not too long. "Where's the staff? Hackett said they'd abandoned the moon?"
EDI shifted slightly as if to call attention to herself. "I threatened to release poison gas if they didn't evacuate immediately. So they evacuated immediately."
"That, uh – that'd do it, yeah."
"They should be in Alliance custody by now," Miranda added.
"What-"
"Commander, maybe haste would be beneficial?" Liara reminded pointedly.
"Right - I have an urgent problem that needs addressing somewhere else, so why don't you board the Normandy and we'll talk on the way?"
Miranda hesitated. "Very well," she agreed. "But EDI's core is inside," she told them, pointing at one of the three bunkers in sight. "And it needs to be loaded onto the ship."
Shepard decided to postpone the questions. "Let's do it, then. Quickly."
"Uh, that's gonna be a problem." Joker seemed to be focusing very hard to keep control of the situation.
"Why?"
"Because you have no way of securing me. I am not built into the ship and the SR-1 is fairly smaller and unprepared. My power requirements will become a significant burden, if not incompatible. I am not even sure I'd physically fit in any one specific room. In weight alone, I might interfere with several tech calibrations," EDI explained calmly, and Shepard again filed more questions for later.
"Yeah, well, that's what Garrus is for," Tali said flippantly. "The power requirements are workable and the cargo hold has more than enough space. The Normandy is an exceptional vessel and I am used to dealing with tight parameters. The team of engineers is the best there is. We'll get you on board."
Shepard tilted her head in the quarian's direction. "What she said."
"Finding somewhere to land, then," Joker said, and Shepard could hear tentative enthusiasm in his voice.
Miranda and Liara were exchanging a look. "It's not a permanent solution."
Shepard nodded. "I agree. It's a practical one. But the ship could use serious upgrades anyway. They'll be arranged as soon as possible."
The first problem with their plan was removing EDI from the bunker. She did not fit through the door. More questions for later. The solution, Miranda concluded rationally, was to blow away the wall.
"Have Joker aim the Normandy," she suggested.
Shepard was torn between a childish/military instinct to immediately agree to a huge explosion and the level-headed instinct to suggest tearing down the necessary portion of the wall carefully instead.
"Or, in case we don't want to blow up an Alliance facility for no particular reason, we could cut up the wall. With proper tools."
"Weren't you in a hurry?"
"Fine," she caved, entirely too easily.
So they blew up an Alliance facility, and Shepard decided she was going to have a job of explaining this one to the brass. But on the other hand, there was a huge boom and flashing lights.
"This doesn't look anything like the AI core on the SR-2," Shepard said in-between heavy breaths as they dragged what could only be described as a conglomerate of computer parts out of the rubble and through the hole.
"It wouldn't. This is what was at hand, clearly. The result of improvisation," was all Miranda said.
"What-"
"Commander, you'll have to grab that corner urgently, it's not secure," Miranda interrupted her abruptly, and Shepard saved the questions for later once again, lurching forward to do as she was told.
By the time they'd cleared enough distance for the Normandy's heavy tools to be able to take over, Shepard was beginning to feel a weary prickling in the back of her mind, which she wouldn't call fear, but was definitely adjacent to some sort of strain the burden of command put on her. They were running out of time.
She tried to usher everyone on board as the Normandy loaded the core, but Miranda had slowed to a stop. They hung back and Shepard spotted the source of her hesitation when she saw her gaze sneak to the Cerberus vessel she'd arrived in.
"Miranda?" Shepard asked, unsure what she was asking for, exactly.
"We need to talk, Shepard. But maybe not now. EDI can answer most pressing questions later, I think."
"Then you better be expecting a call soon."
Miranda allowed herself a slow smile at Shepard's immediate understanding. "Naturally."
But now it was the Commander's turn to hesitate. EDI's core was almost inside the ship. They had maybe a couple of minutes. "Just – one question. What were you even doing here?"
Miranda shrugged. "I knew where EDI was, of course. I'd been involved in the early stages of her project, back in the day. So I kept an eye on Luna, and when I began decoding the distress signals coming from here, I realized it was her. Actually EDI, in fact, not the original rogue VI. I brought a prototype of Dr. Eva's body that I've been putting together rather hastily ever since I arrived – in the past, I suppose. That'll be your turn to offer some explanation later, by the way." she said patiently.
"How – you've been putting a prototype body together? With what resources?"
"Cerberus resources. I have extensive budget allocation privileges," Miranda said off-handedly. "I stole most of the early theoretical design blueprints off their databases."
"No one asked any questions?"
"No one at Cerberus asks me questions, Shepard. Except for the Illusive Man. And I was discreet. As far as he knew, I was investing a little more than usual in some pet project. Which isn't all that far from the truth," she pointed out. "At any rate, EDI should make sure to stay on top of hardware upkeep, beyond the obvious." Miranda gestured toward the makeshift AI core. "That is no proper equipment for a self-respecting synthetic, and I'm not entirely satisfied with the end result of the mobile platform either."
"It does need some work," was EDI's only input.
Miranda gave her an apologetic look, but EDI didn't seem bothered. Shepard cleared her throat. "And now you're on the moon?"
"I told the Illusive Man I thought this 'rogue VI' was actually an AI and an asset we wanted. He agreed," Miranda finished, glancing back at Shepard. "I convinced him to send me here, and shut off the signal when I picked up your ship was approaching."
A little stunned at Miranda's efficiency in the face of insanity, Shepard said the first thing to come to mind. "You 'picked up' we were approaching?"
"Yes. I hacked your communications."
"This would not have happened if I had been on board," EDI commented.
Shepard glanced at her. "Yeah, EDI, don't worry, you don't have to convince me to kidnap you any further." EDI responded with a blank expression. The ship's cargo door was closing. Shepard turned back to Miranda. "Why didn't you just contact us?"
"You seemed rather – preoccupied," she said pointedly. "And – I knew I could handle this for you. I also knew you'd eventually cross paths with me. So why take the chance that this had not just happened to me, or worse, that Cerberus noticed that I was somehow in touch with the Commander Shepard of the Alliance Navy?"
"Miranda, you need to stop this lone wolf thing."
"It's not like that. Really."
Shepard sighed tiredly. "Okay."
"Shepard, listen," Miranda said, ignoring her obvious concern, and then hesitated. "I'm returning to Cerberus. I'm telling the Illusive Man you picked up the distress signal as well and I wasn't expecting you, and that you disabled the VI. Permanently and irredeemably. The explosion will be a helpful prop."
"Why?"
"Because you want a high-ranking spy in Cerberus. And I am it. And because my father isn't living long enough to get involved in Cerberus business."
"Your sister-?"
"Can sit tight in ignorance for a little longer while we sort out every mess in the galaxy."
"Miranda-"
"Shepard, I know what I'm doing. Trust me."
"Of course I trust you, that's not in question, but you don't have to-"
"I do, and I want to."
Shepard pursed her lips but relented. "Fine. Just – be careful."
"I will."
She was satisfied with that, because Miranda had once been the type to put very little stock in promises of the sort. She could hear Joker getting restless. Two more minutes, she promised herself. "Good. And Jacob?"
Miranda nodded. "He just enlisted. He contacted me, and I got him assigned to Dr. Brynn's team." A smirk briefly formed on her lips before her face blanked again. "I assume he's going to try and change their minds slowly, like last time."
Shepard still looked weary. "And enlisting with Cerberus was the best way to do that?"
"I think you'll agree, Commander, that the best way to do anything at this point is to not make waves so big you stop seeing the island for the ocean. Slowly, we change things. But intelligently as well."
"Understood." Miranda tilted her head in acknowledgement. "Don't get reckless."
Miranda let a small smile play on her lips. "Between my own skills and my new and improved knowledge, I think recklessness is being on my bad side."
"Nice to see Miranda hasn't changed."
"Joker. It's not nice to talk about people behind their back."
"Stop hacking my ship!"
"Stop making it so easy."
"Hey Commander, you gonna be long? Show her easy once EDI's on board," he added in a grumbling voice.
Shepard snorted. "Alright then, people. Let's move out. Someone's eager to see you, EDI."
EDI smiled and Shepard knew she wasn't wrong about synthetic life.
"Stay safe, Shepard," Miranda said with a smile.
"You too."
"It was nice to see you, Miranda," Tali piped up unexpectedly.
"You too, Tali," Miranda replied after a moment. She glanced at Liara, who smiled warmly like she always did. "Dr. T'Soni."
"Ms. Lawson."
Miranda walked away, her gait as domineering as ever. Shepard herself didn't think she looked that meant to be in charge.
"Alright. Double time. I threw Nihlus at the problem on Feros and I need to get back to make sure he didn't just shoot it dead."
EDI immediately forged ahead in front of them with purpose, and Tali shook her head after her. "Humans have the most self-imposed constraints on their own relationships and are also the first ones to ignore them," she commented, clearly thinking about Joker, and having a go at Shepard and Kaidan too for good measure.
"Oh?" Liara cut in slyly. "And this differs from quarian culture, I take it? Does that mean our resident turian officer has a broken heart?"
"Well, no, he'd make the worst hurt doe eyes. I have my weaknesses. But I said the most. Not only."
Shepard had forgotten how much of an invested gossip Liara could be, and didn't really appreciate the reminder as she and Tali walked back to the ship under heavy bombardment, which they engaged in not-at-all reluctantly, actually. She supposed it was a good thing that they could retain some lightheartedness in the face of such danger, but she also supposed it was a bad thing they'd normalized it to this degree.
The first thing EDI did aboard the ship was head for Joker, determinedly offering silent support as she was cut off from her usual connection to the Normandy. Shepard was almost tempted to go talk to them right away, but the AI merely informed her of an unreasonable ETA, which Shepard knew would prove accurate, and soon enough they were rushing through the mass relay and approaching Feros at speeds only her pilot could pull off.
"The colonists," Shepard muttered when they got close enough.
"Gone wild. On course with last time then. Eyes sharp, Commander. I'm gonna have to drop in hot."
"I'm going alone. Do it."
"That is a terrible idea, Shepard-"
"Don't argue with me, Joker."
"Damn it. Don't make me have to leave you to die a third time, please." Joker wouldn't look at her, and EDI glanced over worriedly.
"Jeff, if I died a third time, I'd deserve to stay dead. Now, c'mon. I'll be fine. Drop me." Her voice had gone a lot softer, all of a sudden.
He didn't reply but complied.
"Hold tight. This is gonna be fast and rough."
