Ashley recognizing Sam was a possibility Liara had not considered. She was so surprised by it, in fact, that she at first could not say anything, trying to process it.

Sam was a little taken aback by the enthusiastic greeting, blinking at Liara's companion. "I'm sorry? Do I…?"

Liara saw her face go pale as recognition suddenly hit home. Sam had never met their Ashley Williams, of course, but she had seen her vids and her photos too often to count. Ash's face was nearly as famous as Del's was among even the general population- let alone in her own extended family.

"H-how is this possible?" Sam asked quietly. Liara gently caught her arm.

"I shall explain in a moment, love," she said, then looked at Ashley. "You know her?"

"No," Ashley replied, sounding far less confident. "I mean, yes I do but…but I don't think I do. I-I mean, she looks…she looks just like my cousin, but the accent, and…and she can't be your Ash's cousin can she? The timeline…"

"Li, what is going on? What is this?" Sam asked, getting upset.

"Sam, we need to go and talk to Melara quickly," Liara said. "A full explanation will have to wait until after that conversation- I am not entirely sure I have the whole of it myself."

"Then I'm coming," Sam said firmly. Liara nodded, having expected no less, and lead the way inside. They reached the infirmary, Sam and Ashley giving each other odd looks the entire brief journey- and Liara headed immediately for Lily.

"We need to wake her," she said softly. Dae looked around from where she still sat at Mel's bedside, getting to her feet with a puzzled expression as Lily shook her head.

"I would still prefer another few hours-"

"I understand, but I do not think it is necessary," Liara said. "Melara is not delusional. It is my belief she truly saw Del in that cargo bay, but we need more information…and quickly."

"What?" This was from Daenys. "You think she really saw-"

"How is that possible?" Lily asked, shocked. Liara gestured to the woman beside her.

"This is Commander Ashley Williams," she said. Lily looked at her in confusion a moment, before her eyes went wide.

"How is that-"

"We have discussed it and it is our belief that Commander Williams was pulled through the Fold from her own universe and into ours."

"And you think that Del was too?" Daenys asked, putting it together, her own eyes wide.

"If she were, it would explain Melara's reaction upon waking," Lily said.

"Yes, but we need to know for certain," Liara said. "If Del got pulled through then we need to find her. She could be injured, or lost drifting. Time is of the essence."

Lily was already heading to gather the needed medication. As she headed back to the biobed, Aleu stirred from his doze, looking around in confusion. Dae murmured softly to him and urged him up to his feet, holding him gently with an arm around his shoulders as she kept him back out of the way.

"What's going on?" he asked, still muzzy. "Is Tatta-?"

"Tatta will be just fine," Dae said and then hushed him gently. Liara moved closer to her slumbering daughter as Lily stopped the chemicals keeping her unconscious and injected her with a stimulant.

"She may still be weak and confused," she said as a gentle warning, looking up at Liara.

"I understand," Liara replied.

A moment later, Mel's brows began to knit and she started shifting a little. Even before she could open her eyes, Liara began soothing her.

"Shh, Mel…I am here. You are all right."

"Mama?" Melara's voice was weak and rasping as her eyes cracked open.

"I am here."

"Dae? Aleu, are they ok?"

"We are fine," Daenys said, moving over and taking her other hand. She looked at them, relief on her face as she saw her family whole and uninjured.

"Melara, I need to ask you something but it is important you remain calm," Liara said. Melara looked back at her, eyes still fuzzy.

"About what?" she asked, then abruptly stiffening, heavy lidded eyes widening. "Bába!"

She abruptly tried to sit up but Liara and Daenys both caught hold of her, preventing the motion.

"Mel, calm down…"

"We have to find her!" Melara said, ignoring the admonishment. "Mama, I saw her, I did-"

"I know you did," Liara told her. "I know, baby. I need you to tell me what happened, what you saw."

Melara stared at her a moment, still confused. "Mama…"

"Please, Melara. I know you are still disoriented. You were badly hurt. But it is important. We need to know exactly what happened."

"I…"Her eyes unfocused a little as she tried to remember. "I was double checking the security around the anchor in the cargo hold. The Normandy came under attack…the ship, the crew, are they ok?"

"The ship was badly damaged, but Joker managed to get her down intact," Daenys said quickly. "There were casualties among the crew but most of us got out in time. One of the last communications we had from you was claiming there were hostiles in the cargo bay. You ordered Joker to seal it."

"Y-yes. They came in these weird pods, punched right through the doors. Those dark asari. Two of them. I was afraid they would get into the rest of the ship so I ordered him to seal it. They attacked me and I fought back but they were so fast. They seemed to know the anchor was there. One of them tore apart the defenses and peeled open the metal box it was in like it was made of paper. I think they may have been clearing it intending to open a Fold right on the ship, let more troops pour through."

"You stopped them?"

"No, not really…I…" She paused a moment, still struggling to remember through the haze of pain medication and trauma. "I got the one away from the anchor but the second got the drop on me. I was pinned, couldn't move…it was tearing in to me…"

Daenys took her hand and held it tightly, closing her eyes. Melara looked at her sadly, a reassuring return squeeze all she could do to comfort her wife.

"I ordered Joker to vent the bay," she said at last, looking back at her mother. "I couldn't risk more getting on the ship."

Liara felt her stomach clench. She understood the order, but it would have resulted in Mel's death as well. Mel would have known that when she gave it.

She would easily give her life for those she loves, Liara thought. You know that.

She did know it, and had for a long time…but that didn't make hearing about her daughter's near suicide any easier.

"I don't think he heard me," Melara said. "If he did, he didn't listen. Didn't matter. There was an explosion and the next thing I knew, my attacker and half the bay was gone. I managed to grab the strut holding the anchor upright but the decompression didn't stop."

"The barrier system was damaged," Daenys said softly. "The Normandy was being hit hard. We almost were not able to get the barriers back up."

"Shouldn't have mattered," Melara said. "Once the bay fully vented the decompression should have stopped, barriers or not. It didn't. It just kept on and on. I couldn't hang on, but…but someone caught my hand."

Her brows trembled and she shook her head, her eyes going gloss. "It was her. It was Bába."

"You saw her face?" Liara asked softly. Melara nodded.

"She was halfway out of that Anchor, dressed in a hard-suit. Our face-plates were only a few inches apart. I saw her as clear as I'm seeing you now. Clearer. I heard her voice."

"What did she say?"

"She just told me to hang on. Said she wasn't letting go."

"What happened to her? Did you see?"

Mel nodded weakly, looking a bit crest-fallen. "The decompression finally stopped and we hit the ground, lost our grip on each other. I-I was losing consciousness, I think, but…the last thing I remember, she was reaching out toward me and but moving backward. She looked surprised."

"She was going backward?" Liara asked intently. "Back into the Fold you mean?"

"I-I think so. It was like a yank. Just that quick, and she was gone."

Liara let out a breath, lowering her head a bit. "Thank the Goddess," she said softly, but the expression on her face was mixed with heartbreak.

"So she's still there," Ashley said, speaking for the first time since they entered the infirmary. "She didn't get pulled through after all. Thank God for that."

Melara looked at her, drawn by the voice. "Wh-who….Mama, she…is that Aunt-?"

"Yes, and no," Liara said softly.

"The hell is going on?" Melara asked, and tried to sit again. Dae didn't stop her this time, but gently supported her.

"Lily, please send for your mother," Liara said, looking at her granddaughter. "She needs to be here to hear this."

Irie was pacing over an hour later, making idle loops around the infirmary with a datapad in her hand. Melara was still in the biobed but was seated now, Aleu perched up beside her.

As well the others were still gathered. Mostly, they had just listened, though a few had interjected questions. All looked as if they didn't quite believe what was happening.

"So the Reaper War never happened in your universe," Irie said, half glancing at Ash from her datapad.

"Never, and from the sound of it, I'm incredibly grateful for that," she replied. "I thought Osco was bad."

"And Sam…our Sam, looks like your cousin?"

"Like her fucking twin."

"But your cousin was a marine, and had an accent?"

"Yeah, like I said," Ashley replied. "We've already covered this."

"I am sorry, I am just trying to…well, it is my belief that our two universes are fairly close together, but not identical neighbors. Perhaps within a million volumes-"

"A million?" Ashley said, surprised. "That actually sounds pretty damned far apart-"

"Not when measured against the reaches of infinity," Irie pointed out. "You have to remember, if multidimensional string theory is correct- and you are living and breathing proof that it is-each and every decision, no matter how minor, has the potential of creating its own Hubble volume. And that does not just apply to large decisions, but to each and every individual's most minor action- anything that utilizes potential or observational energy. If you get up in the morning and choose to put on red socks instead of brown, then that is potentially a split. It is also a split if you choose to put on red socks but your neighbor picks ham instead of fruit for breakfast, and their cousin chooses-"

"Yeah, I get it. Times that by trillions of people, a trillion times a day…"

"Times an endless trillions of volumes. Precisely. Our closest neighboring volumes would be absolutely identical in all ways to our own, save one minute point, perhaps as small as someone's socks. The more differences you encounter, the further away the volume. From what I am hearing, your volume has some pretty major differences to ours, but they are still close enough to be recognizable. A million may be a conservative guess at that."

"So if there was no Reaper War, there were no Reapers," Melara said, looking at Irie.

"Yes, and that has a lot of implications," she replied. "Most of which are astronomically fascinating. No Reapers means no quarantine. No quarantine means no Cycles, which means all the species in this Commander Williams' universe, that came before our own…the Protheans, the Inusannon- they all became extinct for other reasons. Or, perhaps they didn't-?"

She looked at Ash, who shook her head. "I've heard of Protheans, and they're definitely extinct," she said. "Eggheads have several theories as to why- war is the most popular. Never heard of Inusannon."

"Which could mean they never existed in your reality, never got off their world, or did not leave enough artifacts to be discovered," Liara said.

"We could spend several days discussing this, and I could study it for years," Irie said, a gleam in her eye. "But of course there is not time for that now. It does seem to illustrate something interesting. Though each different Hubble volume can vary based on a small, even arbitrary difference- the socks again- there are certain patterns that seem consistent- at least in closely neighboring volumes. It is as if despite comparatively minor changes some truths and laws remain constant."

"C'mon Irie," Melara said. "Galactic please."

"Well, in Ashley's universe for example, the Protheans and prior civilizations are still extinct, even though there was no Cycle to make them so. There was still the first Contact War. They still faced a galactic threat, only it manifested through Osco rather than through the Reapers, and was not nearly as severe. In that threat, the brasa are still- or were- a major power outside of this galaxy. The Alliance still exists, the asari High Command still exists, the Council still exists, the mass relays and biotics still exist-"

"Yeah, I had a question about that," Melara said. "We know the 'infection' we were quarantined for is dark energy. We know that it is potentially destroying the galaxy…how is it not doing the same thing in her universe?"

"Simple," Irie said. "This universe is the one that caused the problem. It was in this universe where dark energy was pulled through from the Foundation Levels, as the Pio call them. Her universe is merely one that the energy is being pulled through, passing by along its way to here. They still have biotics, can still use them, but I am willing to bet they are not as powerful as the biotics we have here, and are not causing the same damage. Think of it like a river. The Foundation Levels are the wellspring, the source of the river. Her universe is merely along the river. Ours-"

"Ours is the ocean or lake at the end," Liara said.

"Yes, where all the water gathers and pools, where sediment- element zero- can come to rest rather than being drawn along on a current, causing a greater and greater problem. That is not to say her volume is not in danger from this same issue," Irie said. "If dark energy tears ours apart and leads to its collapse, it will cause a cascade effect that will do the same to every closely neighboring volume. Ash's volume and a trillion more like it will also be torn apart."

"All the more reason for me to get my ass back there," Ashley said. "And soon."

"Warning them of the problem will do nothing," Irie said. "The problem must be solved here, it cannot be fixed there."

"We don't even know if we can get her back," Sam said.

"It will be tricky," Irie said thoughtfully, looking over at the commander.

"Tricky, but not impossible?" Ash asked hopefully.

"There may be little hope," Irie said kindly. "I do not want to give you a false sense of what we can accomplish here. We must know exactly which volume you came from and be able to fine tune the anchor to directly connect to it. I think with the Pio's help we may be able to accomplish this from our end given time, but there are factors that may still make it impossible."

"Like what?" Ashley asked, irritated.

"We may be able to connect to the correct universe but not the correct time," Irie said. "We could return you to a point a thousand years from the one where you left. Or it could be that we can get everything perfect on our end and there is simply no anchor to connect you to on yours. Or do you believe that your Captain will leave the anchors intact if Osco is defeated?"

Ashley paled a bit, and Sam frowned. "If there was even a chance that she'd come back, surely Liara would leave an anchor intact?"

"No," Ashley said softly. "If she thought there was ever any chance of these brasa coming through, she would destroy them. The greater good of the galaxy would come first."

Irie gently touched her arm. "We will try, Ashley. I promise you that. However you must be prepared for the possibility that we will fail."

"Yeah," Ashley replied, then shook her head. "I'm…going to get some air."

As she strode out of the room, Liara started to rise to follow her. She halted as Sam lightly touched her arm, and then followed herself.

She found Ashley standing near the garden entrance, leaning on one of the wide windows and looking outward. Before she could speak, Ashley did so.

"Your Ashley didn't have a cousin, did she?"

"She had a few," Sam told her.

"But not you."

"None named Sam," she replied.

"And you're her…her what? Her great grandkid?"

"Great-great-great, yes," she replied. "My…grandfather was her great-grandson, if I remember right."

"I wonder if you're the same person then, or if you just look like her." Before Sam could reply, Ash just shook her head. "Doesn't matter. None of us are the same people, are we? Your Ash and me…we look alike, have a lot in common, but we're different people aren't we?"

Sam leaned on the window frame. "How much of the person is innate, and how much is a result of decisions, circumstances, the choices we make?"

"Exactly."

They were silent a moment, Sam just watching her. Finally Ashley looked at her. "Something on your mind?"

"Sorry. I just…never thought I'd meet you. Her. I mean…"

"What was she like?"

"I've only got stories," Sam said. "Liara might be better to-"

"I wanna hear what you have to say about her," Ash replied. "Indulge me."

Sam regarded the view for a long while, then said, "My father and grandfather both idolized her. They brought the family name back to Williams. She was my earliest hero. Second human Spectre, helped turn aside the attack on the Citadel, helped with the Reaper War. She distinguished herself time and time again, made it all the way to Fleet Master despite the 'family curse'."

"Family curse?"

"Yeah, the First Contact War. Her grandfather was in charge at Shanxi. He surrendered to the turians. First human to surrender to a hostile alien force. He didn't have a choice, but it was enough to get her family black listed in the military. She had nothing but shit assignments before Eden Prime, passed over for promotions, ignored for commendations…all her potential, just wasted."

"Huh. Well I'll be."

"Not the same for you?"

"My grandfather was offered the post at Shanxi. He decided to take an alternate one instead. It was Admiral Grenson who surrendered to the turians. Man, this stuff just hurts my head."

"Yeah," Sam said, her eyes troubled for a moment. "Your…your Sam. She and Liara…?"

"No," Ashley said, looking at her. "Kind of surprised me when I realized that you and this Liara were a thing. My Sam never showed any interest in the captain, nor vice versa. I mean, they got along all right, but until the Doc came I never saw Liara show any kind of 'human feeling' if you get me. She was always just business. Quick. Efficient. Clinical."

"I see," Sam said softly.

"That upsets you?"

"Just…not easy, having verification."

"Of?"

"Of being second," she said sadly, then shook her head. "Not a surprise I suppose. I love my wife, and I know she loves me, I do. I knew all of this going in, I just-"

"Yeah," Ashley said. "Goes back to what Sihra and Sokka said. Soul mates. The idea is fantastic of course but…what about the rest of us? When do we get ours? Or are we just doomed to live a trillion lives being the second option?"

"You don't have someone?" Sam asked. Ashley shook her head.

"No. I mean, I've dated, don't get me wrong. Not in a while though, and none of them were what I'd call a 'soul mate'. Since you're standing here, apparently your Ashley managed to find someone. What was he like?"

"He was a civilian when they met," she said. "Landscaper. He got conscripted when the Reapers attacked. Joined up with Admiral Anderson as part of the civilian militia and apparently had a knack for it. After the war he joined the Alliance Reserves."

"Couple weekends a month kind of thing?"

"Yeah, though at the time it was pretty much full duty. There was a lot of recovery after the war…a lot of need for willing helpful hands. They had two kids, Nicole and Lewis."

"Huh. I always liked the name Lewis. Which one was your line?"

"Nicole," Sam replied. "Lewis never had kids. He died in an accident when he was twenty two."

"Oh. Sorry…"

Sam shrugged a bit.

"So what was the lucky guy's name?" Ashley asked. "The one the other me hooked up with, I mean."

"David Tepper."

Ashley shook her head. "Don't know a David Tepper. Maybe I should look out for him. I mean, if I ever get home."

"What about your cousin?" Sam asked after a bit. "I mean, since she and Liara never…well, did she at least have someone?"

"Yeah," Ashley said. "Her name is Bette Kirchmann. Civvie too- she's a masseuse. I used to tease Sam endlessly about that. Leave it to her to find a girl good at giving a massage. We nearly lost her when Osco hit San Francisco with one of her damn PMD missiles. Fortunately we got her out in time."

Sam shook her head. "I've never met anyone with that name."

"Maybe she doesn't exist here."

"Maybe. Or maybe she did but doesn't anymore, or will and just doesn't now."

"Or maybe she's just another random non-soul-mate romance, one of a trillion of you fell into?"

"Yeah."

"Does it matter?" Ashley asked, eyeing her. "I mean, let's say you were to run into Bette one day, and you were soul mates. I mean, real soul mates, destined for each other. What would you do?"

Sam looked insulted. "I have a wife that I adore," she said. "We have a daughter. I wouldn't just abandon them if that's what you were suggesting!"

Ashley smiled. "That's the exact answer my Sam would give, and with exactly that same look on her face. I didn't think that you would, but your answer helps me get a handle on you. Now I just gotta get a handle on everything else, especially since it looks like I'm going to be here a while."

"You're thinking about your family."

"Of course I am. They're not going to know what happened to me. Mom's not going to know what happened to me. It's going to tear her up. The idea of never seeing them again…I can't accept it. I can't accept being in a universe that isn't mine, wearing a face that belongs to some old long dead war hero, everyone I ever knew or loved centuries in the grave. Not to mention the fight going on at home right now. They need me there…and I'm stuck here."

She shook her head, silence falling between them again for a long moment before she spoke again. "Everything here is fucked up."

"Yeah, must seem that way."

"I can almost…almost accept a Liara that never became a Spectre. Your Liara seems nice. More reserved than I'm used to, and definitely older, but she seems on the ball, able to take care of herself. But c'mon. Doc as a marine? What the hell could have happened in her life to turn her from the woman I knew into a marine?"

"You mean Del Shepard."

"Yeah."

"I'm still trying to wrap my head around her being a geneticist," Sam said. "The media weren't very nice to her, in the early years I mean. I believe their favorite term was 'shaved gorilla'."

Ashley stared at her. "Shaved…"

"Gorilla. Yeah. Or Meathead. Or Butcher."

"Meathead? That woman has more brains in her pinky than…was it different here?"

"Was she stupid, do you mean?"

This was from Irie, her voice drifting to them as the asari approached from down the hall. They both turned and looked at her. Irie shook her head.

"My father thought she was stupid, as did many of those who did not take the time to know her," Irie said. "But no…she was far from stupid. She taught herself how to read, taught herself how to play an instrument in less than a year, taught herself three separate languages by the time she was twelve."

"And she still became a marine?"

"She had…few opportunities," Irie replied. "And a decided knack for making problems go away with a liberal application of force. "

"I don't think mine even knew how to throw a punch," Ashley told her, then activated her omni-tool. "Oh, here. I think I still have some information recorded from when we were researching her, on our way to save her ass from Osco's thugs….yeah. Here we go."

A holographic vid screen appeared, playing a research tape. It showed a human woman standing behind a lectern. Information was scrolling over the top, giving her name, age, and various stats. It labeled the footage 'Lecture on Mendelian Genetics as Applied to Asari by Dr. Delilah Spruce Shepard, Stanford University' along with the date.

The woman was clearly Del Shepard. Irie recognized her instantly, despite the differences that were clearly apparent.

Her hair is longer. Bába never had hair that long in my life. Her face is not scarred, she has no silver lock in her hair. She is…softer somehow. Gentler in her face, less…worn.

Her father's old, familiar voice filled the air.

"We know that in humans and other mammals both domestic and alien that the diploid nature of chromosomes allows for genes to assort independently during sexual reproduction, wherein haploid gametes are formed. Genes adorning the same chromosome never recombine, however via chromosomal crossover we know that chromosomes can exchange stretches of DNA which shut off the alleles between the chromosomes. This normally occurs during meiosis, however it has been observed in the asari DNA and RNA proteins that the amino acid sequence can be altered, producing an RNA molecule that mutates the mother's DNA during randomization to potentially form a copy of the alien DNA used as a mapping catalyst. This new RNA molecule can be used to produce amino acid sequencing in the three nucleotides of the sequence that, theoretically, adapts into the genetic code of the asari. Unfortunately the results have yet to be proven in the lab, but if this theory can be proven correct, that means that the asari do not simply randomize their own genetic code, but that the genetic code of the father species can and does insert certain amino acid sequences via mutated copies into the genetic sequence of the asari. That is, the DNA of the father species is not directly incorporated but rather is mimicked by the asari DNA via transverse mutation that results in the same trait being-"

"It rambles on," Ashley said apologetically, pausing the vid. "Most of it is way over my head."

"She had some interesting theories on asari reproduction," Irie said softly. "My people have long speculated that the father does not contribute genetic material directly but that certain areas of the asari sequence go through a mirror mutation to reflect the DNA mapped and sampled during reproduction. They have not yet been able to prove it as yet…asari DNA is twelve times more complicated than any other sentient species…but it would explain the similarities in some traits in asari children that reflect their father species. Such as Melara's eyes. They are exactly the same shade as….what?"

She saw the way Ashley was looking at her.

"Yeah," the human woman smiled, shutting off the playback. "You are definitely her daughter."