Liara knew the soft footsteps almost as well as she knew her own. Always so careful, so measured. Closing her eyes, she covered her face briefly. A gentle hand rested on her shoulder pad. Turning, she let herself be enfolded into Sam's arms.

They were so alike, and yet so different- her Del and her Sam. Del had a soft stride, often surprising people as she came up behind them, but her walk was less measured, less cautious, more commanding. Sam was deliberate in almost everything she did- analytical, calculated, almost always level-headed. Del was far more passionate and impulsive, preferring to leap into a situation and pummel it into senseless submission, before bothering to ask questions.

Sam liked to understand something from every angle, carefully weighing all known variables before taking action. Not that she was incapable of pummeling something if the situation called for it, it simply was not her first instinct to do so.

"I am sorry," she said softly against Sam's shoulder.

"For what?"

"EDI should not have taken that liberty. Not without warning us first."

"There wasn't enough time, Li. And she was right." Sam looked into her eyes, gently brushing the tears off her cheeks. "You made Shepard that promise, but I know how much it weighed on you to keep it. I know that…deep down inside, you've always kind of wondered if you'd done the right thing-"

"Sam, no…I have never doubted that you were the right thing."

"I don't mean me per se, Liara. I mean…just moving on with your life, opening yourself up again. I know part of you has always felt like you were betraying her. You needed to hear it from her. And honestly, I needed to hear it from her too."

Liara's brows knit. "Sam, I love you. You know that I love you."

"I know," Sam told her. "I love you too, Liara. I know what she meant to you- means to you still. I'm beyond honored to be part of your life and your family, Li- and I'm honored that she has charged something so precious to her to my care. I came into this with my eyes wide open. I knew from the start what you two had. I wouldn't even want to begin to change that. It'd be like throwing a rock through a stained glass window. I love you too much to do that."

Liara hugged her close again, closing her eyes and hiding her face in the side of the other doctor's neck. "Sam…"

"I'm ok, really. I'm more worried about you."

"I will be all right," Liara said. "In truth, I...l feel as if a weight has been lifted from me. Part of me feels at peace for the first time since I found out she was ill, that she was leaving me. I feel her, Sam. Now that that calm has come in, I can feel her-"

She colored a bit, ducking her head as she drew back just far enough to wipe her cheeks again. "I-It sounds silly, I suppose. Superstitious-"

"Doesn't sound anything of the kind," Sam said with a gentle smile. Liara cupped her cheek, leaning in and kissing her briefly.

"Come," she said, taking a deep breath to center herself. "There is still much that needs to be discussed. We should rejoin the others."

"Does the AI have any further information it can impart?" Melara asked. She had wanted to go after her mother when Liara walked out, but Williams had already been heading that way. Much as part of her grated over that, Williams' duty was to her bondmate, and Mel's duty was the information they had learned. "Anything it can tell us?"

"The AI seems eager to help, but remains alarmed by its isolation. While it is an independent mind and is capable of functioning on its own, this is not its preferred situation," EDI said. "It does not seem to be hostile, but the extent of its cooperation may be limited until it feels more comfortable, and we earn its full trust."

"EDI, is this AI perhaps the same as those that the simulation said originally crewed the Reapers?" Irie asked.

"Yes. This AI refers to itself and its missing kind as Pio, the same as the simulation imparted once controlled the Reapers."

"Pio must be the extragalactic version of geth," Melara said. "This ship has been buried for forty million years, EDI. Any chance this particular Pio has gone crazy as well?"

"I have no evidence to support that conclusion, Melara," she told her. "The information we were given suggested the Pio crews in the Reapers evolved over those forty million years. They remained active on some conscious level, even when the Reaper ships themselves were dormant. They merged in a unique way and became almost an entirely separate nature of synthetic being…one capable of religious superstition, zealotry, and madness. This ship was preserved for nearly as long, however it has also been without any significant source of energy. The Pio has not remained conscious and evolving during this time, but was completely inactive due to the lack of power. It did not undergo the same evolutions or processing stress as those aboard the Reapers."

"Think of it like this," Joker said, looking up from where he was standing. "The Pio on the Reapers were more or less awake and aware, for forty million plus years. This Pio, however, has been in stasis, completely unconscious, for that same amount of time. This is what the ones on the Reaper used to be, before they went looney tunes."

"Good to know. So if we can earn its trust and cooperation, how much do you think it can tell us? I'm interested in extragalactic capabilities- technology, ship design, weapons design, battle strategy, things of that nature."

"It may be able to tell us a great deal, as can the files that Joker has downloaded from the ship databases, once they're translated. However, the information will be forty million years out of date, Captain."

"It's still better than nothing."

"I have a suggestion that may be of some benefit," EDI said. "I have been analyzing the Pio's operating specs as well as the programming codes on the nanites put into place by the Id program. With its permission, I believe I can create a supportive operating system much like the geth collective- a small one, isolated in a single mobile chassis. It would eliminate Pio's need for others of its kind in its environment, as well as give it far greater processing capabilities and a full scope of abstract biometric software processing. This will allow it to develop a more complex personality and increase the rate of its learning by nearly three hundred percent."

"That'd make it like you and Joker," Athena said before Melara could speak. "It would become an independent synthetic identity with the capability to evolve its own programming."

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Irie asked warily.

"I believe it would be a significant 'bargaining chip' in earning its trust," EDI said. "We would then gain the full benefit of its knowledge. The data files downloaded by Joker can be uploaded into the new chassis. Pio can sort and translate them far faster than we will be able to, and it could function as an advisor to the mission with combat capabilities. The only alternative is to keep it trapped in a nonfunctioning chassis, or returning it to the computer systems of this ship."

"We might as well be sticking a sentient mind into prison if we keep it trapped," Melara said thoughtfully. "What would happen if we returned it to the ship?"

"We would be without this Pio's particular guidance and experience," she said. "As well, it would be returned to the synthetic form of unconsciousness until its runtimes as well degraded and collapsed, like the others."

"So, a death sentence."

"Yes. In essence."

"We cannot execute a sentient life form for no other reason than we do not yet trust it," Irie said gently.

"No, we can't. EDI, talk to it. See what it's willing to do. In the meantime, I need to inform the Council of our findings, and arrange a team to come and excavate this ship fully from the ice-"

"Mel, you really want to do that?" Athena asked. Melara looked at her, her gaze nearly as cold as the glacier they were deep within.

"Why would I not want to do that?" she asked stiffly.

"This tech is millions of years old, and from what we've seen so far, it's centuries in advance of anything we have. You really want to just slap it in the hands of the Council-"

"Yes, Athena. I really do want too," Melara said tersely, not noticing that her mother and Sam had come back in. "If there is any possibility that this Senate and their war fleets might be heading here, this ship and its technology may mean the difference between developing adequate defenses or having the entire Milky Way wiped out. It needs to be examined, studied, and any useful technology reverse engineered to give us every advantage we can get."

"And what if this Senate is long extinct? What if no one is coming? You could be putting potentially catastrophic technology into the hands of people who are not yet ready for that kind of responsibility! It'd be like handing a toddler a gun. And even if we do come to understand this tech- as EDI said, it's forty million years behind what they may have now-"

"Athena," Eír said, speaking for the first time since EDI's spare chassis had been first brought down to the ship. "Captain Shepard is right. Our only hope to develop adequate defenses is to study their technology. If the Senate's forces come we will at least be better prepared than we are now. If they do not, then perhaps this tech will give us the opportunity to go to the other quarantined galaxies- help defeat their Reapers and put a stop to this horror that has gone on for far too long."

"As well, our joint galactic energies need to be devoted to discovering the nature of this mysterious 'plague'," Liara said calmly. "We need to know what it is and, if it is still some kind of threat, how to address it. If we can solve the original problem, the rest may just take care of itself. At any rate, we cannot risk the galactic- if not universal- catastrophe that may come about if it remains unchecked."

"Does the Pio know what this plague is?" Melara asked EDI. She cocked her head slightly.

"It is unsure. It may be able to impart more information once it has integrated access to the downloaded mission files and the additional processing power provided by the Id program. It has agreed to allow us to try the integration. I believe I have made our intentions clear, and it knows what awaits it if it returns to the ship's databanks. It is desirous to help, and curious about us and our nature."

"How long until you can complete the integration, give it autonomy?"

"It will take several hours," she said. "As well, I would like to alter the appearance of this chassis to be more individual. I believe it will be confusing for organics if the Pio and I look identical. The process will be facilitated if I can work aboard the Freedom."

"Granted. Take everything you need and get back to your ship. Get the Pio integrated. As soon as it is ready I want to talk to it."

As EDI, Joker, and the geth set about gathering up their equipment, Liara folded her arms. "We need to discuss where we go from here."

"The situation needs to be presented to the Council," Melara said. "We need to research this 'plague' and find any more ships or artifacts of this kind. We also need to determine, if at all possible, if the Senate's forces are truly heading this way."

"I can expand the search parameters of the megascope," Irie said. "But so far my team has discovered no sign of anything in dark space, let alone something that may be a hostile or heading in this direction."

"Mel, you realize this means we will all have to work together as a team," Athena said warily. "You need the Broker's information resources and we need your military resources if we're going to make this work."

"I understand," Melara replied. "I also understand that I will do anything and everything to protect this galaxy and my family, no matter what it takes. You stand in my way at your own peril, are we clear?"

"I have never wanted to stand in your way, Mel," Athena said. "I want nothing more than what you want- to keep this galaxy safe. Whatever our personal feelings I think we can at least agree on that."

"Good. Then you and Red won't mind giving the rest of us the means to track down these artifacts as well?"

The quarian glanced at Athena, then shrugged, powering her omni-tool. "It's a simple scan algorithm that looks for the artifacts' particular static signatures and isolates them from the background static of space itself. You'll have to figure out a way to boost the scan radius- right now you must be in solar orbit to accurately read the celestial bodies in that system."

"Good. Right now, I think we all need to regroup while EDI works with Pio. We'll keep this shaft locked down until the Council can send a team in to retrieve this ship."

"I will inform Sallie and her crew to start moving to the secondary mining field immediately," Eír said.

"Very well. We'll reconvene on the Normandy first thing in the morning- 0700 local time. Hopefully by then Pio will be talking and we can get a handle on exactly what it is we need to be devoting our energies to."

"Mel, we would prefer to bunk tonight on the Normandy," Liara said. "That is, if it is not inconvenient. I would like to speak with you, and to see my grandson."

"Of course, Mama. You're always welcome."

"We would like to stay aboard as well, if we can," Irie said, glancing at Gerty. "The Normandy is more comfortable than Gerty's little transport."

"We'll find room," Mel nodded. "For now, I want everyone cleared out of this ship, and out of this mine. We all have much we need to do and to consider, and I don't know about the rest of you, but I for one have had my fill of this place."

The small crawler drove over the blue and green surface of the glacier, picking its way from the mine dome to the secondary site where Athena had parked her ship. Athena was driving, her parents in the back compartment talking in low voices together. Red had come in a few moments before, perching at shotgun and watching Athena quietly. When she couldn't stand it anymore, the asari glared.

"What?"

"She really does have a hate on for you, doesn't she?"

"She has her reasons. It is nothing I have not told you before."

"I know, but it's kind of weird to see it in person," Red said. "She's so cool and collected, and then she looks at you and Keelah, if she doesn't start spitting fire."

"It is nothing I do not deserve-"

"Oh, do shut up. You're so eager to punish yourself for something you didn't know and didn't intentionally do, and you're happy to let her play torturer because you feel you deserve it."

"Do I not deserve it?" Athena asked, glancing at the blonde merc.

"No. You don't." Red said. "You made a fucking mistake, a stupid mistake. You were a kid. You didn't mean to hurt her and when you did, you panicked. Happens. Now I think you welcome her hatred because its somehow safe and comfortable. It's easier to be an ass when she gives you every reason to be one."

"You know nothing about it."

"Oh, I do, but that's beside the point. What isn't beside the point is what else I know. We're going to all have to work together on this mess, Theen. She's going to have to get rid of this irrational anger if that's going to work, and you're going to have to get over thinking you like it this way. I mean, look at your mother and her sister. They don't hold this hatred for each other, and your mother tried to kill her bondmate, several times."

"She was programmed to do so, it was not her fault-"

"And this whoopsie with Melara was your fault? Did you know trying to meld would do that?"

"No, of course I-"

"Did you have any control over what happened?"

"I-"

"Then let it go, Theen."

"I have tried! She is the one that does not wish to make amends-"

"Bullshit. You like to pretend that but its bullshit. You goad her along at every opportunity and you know it. If you really wanted to make amends you would have just told her you were trying to get to me and find out what I knew. Instead, you lied to her and went behind her back needlessly just to feed her animosity toward you."

"That is not true!"

"Then why are you pissed?"

"I am pissed because you are insufferable!"

"Yes, but being insufferable works for me, and I don't just do it to one person and then pretend my insufferability is their fault. I'm also right."

"Please, just cease talking."

Red lifted her hands. "As you want. I'll shut my yap for now. Just so you know, I'll still be right even when I'm not talking."

Athena glared over at her, then focused her attention on driving. Almost since the moment she'd broken her out of C-Sec holding, the quarian had turned her on her head. Even after seeing what Athena was capable of she never showed the slightest fear of her. Athena didn't like people being terrified of her, but she had not yet come across someone that had seen the full scope of what she could do and wasn't afterward afraid- save her parents. Red was a smart ass, blunt, infuriating, with a careless attitude that was both admirable and incredibly irritating.

Was it little wonder that Athena had fallen head over heels for her?

And that's yet another problem, isn't it? she thought. After what had happened with Mel, Athena had never dared even attempt a meld with anyone again. She had no doubt that to do so would result in death for the other party, thanks to her artificially manipulated genetics. She had resolved herself centuries ago that she would be alone. She was at peace with that. She could not risk a romantic relationship, and even if she could take a mate without killing them, bearing a child and condemning them to such a life as well was something she would never do.

Though Red had made it plain that she was, herself, quite interested and not at all afraid that even attempting a meld would likely put an end to her life- Athena had put a stop to the very idea nearly before it could get started. It was not possible, and it was not something she would ever be willing to risk.

No. Her energies and devotions had only one purpose. To help stop the threat to the galaxy at all costs. If she could do that, perhaps then she would have made up for the abomination of her existence, for the lingering stain of Gellian Osco's evil, and for the harm she had caused the innocent.

Nothing else mattered. Nothing else could matter. Not Mel's hatred, not her feelings for Red, nothing.

She would not allow it.