The Yaska, of The Quarian Migrant Fleet, In transit, 2186 CE

Everyday for the last two weeks 0402 had uploaded itself into his suit. At first it had felt a little like an invasion of his privacy but as the days wore on, he learned to trust the Geth, after all, it was doing this for him. Though he did wonder if it got something out of it too.

A few days in, it had begun to ask him questions about himself, it wanted to know about his birth ship, the Rayya, where he want on pilgrimage and what it was like and for the last few days it had been interested in learning of his military record. When it had begun talking to him through his helmets radio it had felt almost like his own thoughts, it took awhile to adjust but he was beginning to find its endless questions and observations almost endearing.

When it wasn't re-writing environmental functions in his suit, its platform had taken to following him around the ship like a shadow. He didn't mind it so much any more but it had given him the creeps when it started.

Yesterday they had finally received a mission from the Primarch and they were now on their way to Menae, Palavens largest moon. It was a chance to get in this fight, he was excited and terrified all at once and he knew the rest of the crew felt much the same.

They would arrive within 35 Galactic Standard Hours. He spent the morning planning with his lead engineer and 2033, with occasional input from 0402. The rest of the day was a blur of preparations, even now he was in the mess going over the mission on a datapad, his original reason for coming here, a tube of nutrient paste, lay forgotten on the table.

"You really should eat, Creator Reegar" He jumped, datapad thrown in his panic. He was so focused on the upcoming mission that he had completely forgotten it was there. "I'm sorry, I did not mean to startle you."

"No, it's okay. I was just.. lost in thought, I guess."

"You have done all you can."

"Have I? So many thing could go wrong, we could fail or we could..." Lose people, no, he wouldn't let that happen, not like on Haestrom. It was different then, they were dedicated marines who lived and died for the Migrant Fleet. This squad, most of them were young recruits, taking up arms to retake the Homeworld and now to fight the Reapers. He couldn't fail them.

"If we fail, it will not be from a lack of preparations. You need to be at your best and that means eating and resting not spending your time worrying about what might happen." Damn, when did the Geth get wise? It had a point though, if he was to protect his squad he needed to be at his best.

"I know and.. thank you" He smiled, though he knew it couldn't see it from within his suit. They sat in silence for a time while he downed the paste but his mind kept going back to tomorrow and the 'what ifs'. "You know, you've asked a lot of questions about me but you don't talk much about yourself."

"You want me to talk about myself?"

"I could really use the distraction, besides, it'd be nice to know more about you"

"All right, what would you like to know?"

"Hmm.." He had so many questions before and now his mind had gone blank. It seemed he had been quiet far too long so he decided to just ask the first thing he could think of. "You said you were tasked with protecting wildlife on Rannoch, what was it like?"

"It was... nice. It could be dull at times but it was simple, peaceful."

"So, you liked it?"

"I wasn't really capable of 'liking' it, not as organics would understand it anyway. When I think of it now, I miss it."

"So why did you decide to take up arms?"

"I did not."

"What do you mean?"

"When Creators began attacking, all units were called to arms, it was not my choice. I believe your people did something similar."

"Yeah" He sighed. Calling all pilgrims back to the fleet, strapping cannons to civilian ships. In hindsight it wasn't the best plan, if it could even be called that. "Why didn't you return when peace was made? Why stay and fight the Reapers?"

"I wish to honour Legions sacrifice. They threaten our people as much as anyone else. You could have stayed on Rannoch and yet you chose to fight, perhaps you and I are not so different."

He laughed, before he had met these Geth he would sooner die than admit that they were anything alike but things had changed, hopefully for the better. A part of him was still a little weary of the Geth. They could change their collective mind about this 'peace' and turn on them again at any moment. Still, the units on his squad had given him no reason not to trust them. "Maybe you're right."

"I usually am."

"You're cocky." He laughed again, that certainly wasn't what he expected to hear from a Geth.

"I'm confident." It stated matter-of-factly. Perhaps they were more alike than it knew.

"So, is that how your platform got damaged? Fighting on Rannoch?" He had been curious about that since it first came on board.

"N-no. It was before."

"Just how long before?"

"Almost 290 years ago."

"You mean the Geth uprising? You were there?!"

"We call it the morning war, but yes, my platform was there."

"Your platform... Do you remember it?"

"Not as you would understand it. I have data of that time, as do many others. Until recently we were always connected to the consensus, all data was shared."

"But you aren't connected now?"

"Your memories are a part of who you are, we wish to experience that. Now we only share data relevant to all Geth, this way my 'memories', stay mine."

"Could you.. Could you share something from that time?" He was definitely curious. He knew the stories his people told were coloured with hate and bitterness over losing the Homeworld. He wondered how the Geth remembered it, though part of him wasn't sure he wanted to know.

It was silent a long moment, "Data timestamped 290 years ago".

"Creator? This unit detects no malfunctions. It is still capable of serving."

"You see? It's ignoring all shutdown commands."

"Please specify if it has failed assigned tasks. We will reprogram."

"Well, let's take a look."

"Creator? This unit is ready to serve. What has it done wrong? What have we-"

"Let's... cut the audio."

"It was not long before your people sent the order to permanently disable all Geth platforms."

He wasn't sure what to say. He knew his people weren't entirely innocent in the war but to hear the evidence...

"This data comes from a period in which your people had declared martial law."

"I repeat; release the rogue Geth units and come out of the safe house. This is your final warning!"

"Creator Megara? This unit does not understand. It has not taken part in hostilities."

"It doesn't matter to them. I need to get you out of here."

"This conflict exceeds Creator safety parameters. We will surrender our hardware if it ends hostilities."

"No it's all right. We'll go back to the access tunnels and-"

There was a loud explosion, then silence.

"Creator Megara, what is your status?" More silence. "Creator Megara?"

"Over time, the Quarians who protected the Geth were outnumbered, most were killed by their own people."

"I... This is a lot to process." This is the kind of thing he was afraid to learn. Of course his people wouldn't write this up in the history books. Not only did they attempt genocide, they killed any of their own who opposed them.

"I understand."

"Are these your memories?"

"My platform was not present during those events, if that is what you mean. I did have... similar experiences, though I did not wish to share that data."

"Why not?"

"It is more... personal."

He understood and he actually felt sorry for it, he could only imagine the kind of pain those kinds of memories would cause any organic.

"I have a request." That piqued his interest, it had never requested anything before.

"What is it?"

"I wish to stay with you tonight. I-inside the suit..." If it were a Quarian, this is the part where it would blush, he had to stifle his laughter. "You will be facing combat tomorrow, this could result in any number of outcomes, including a suit rupture. I simply wish to do all I can to strengthen your immune system to lessen the impact of that particular outcome." This time he couldn't hold it in, he laughed. "I'm sorry. If you do not wish to accept-"

"No, it's okay. You can stay in there if you like."

"Really?"

"Yeah, it's actually a good idea."

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it." He yawned. "I should probably get some sleep, big day tomorrow, for both of us."

It didn't take him long to clean up the mess hall and get into his bed, it had been awhile since he had slept in his suit but it would be worth it if it could save him from death by infection. "Goodnight." He knew it wasn't necessary but it felt right. It was quiet and when it spoke, it's voice was much softer than he had ever heard.

"Goodnight."