A/N: I would first off like to thank all of you for the outpouring of support in the first 24-48 hours after this story was first published. Believe me, I was really tempted to give you guys a second chapter right then and there. But I have a plan, and I'm going to stick to it, so expect an update once a week (probably on a weekend).
I would also like to thank two of my best friends, Sam and Brian, for editing this chapter and for volunteering to edit the others. As of right now I have five (5) chapters written and waiting for Sam's red pen, but that might get cut down to 4 if I decide to merge Chapters 4 and 5 together. As for the question asked in the reviews...
Krikr: Most of the augments came from what you can get in the upgrade terminal in ME2, along with some taken from the Halo series. I'll probably end up updating the augmentation list as I come up with more toys the Geth added to Shepard.
But until then, sit back and enjoy.
Shepard let out a groan, he'd been having the most terrible nightmare in which the Normandy had been destroyed and he had been spaced. There was something involving a talking Geth as well...his eyes snapped open as he shot awake, the grey-blue of the ceiling above him gave off a slight sheen in the low light of the room. He glanced down his body to find that he was naked and strapped to a table. Where was he? How did he get here? Where was his crew and where were his clothes? These were all questions he'd have to find answers for. His head snapped to the side as he heard a faint hydraulic hiss as a door slid open to reveal a Geth platform walking into the room, its chest half covered by what appeared to be a piece of his armor.
"Shepard-Commander it would seem that your organic platform has recovered to a near fully operational level. The Geth welcome you back." The Geth had come to a stop a few feet from him, a series of flexible head plates moved as it spoke as if attempting to show emotion as it spoke.
Shepard lay there with his mouth agape, staring up at the Geth as it spoke. "Shepard-Commander are your vocal processors malfunctioning?"
He didn't know what to say. Was he a prisoner, and so should he give nothing more than his name, rank and serial number? He had thought his spacing had been a nightmare, but if it had been real, the Geth was the only one around who could answer the questions that burned inside him."What happened to me?"
"The SR-1 Normandy was attacked approximately 742 days ago. The Normandy was destroyed and you were jettisoned into space where you entered the atmosphere of the planet Alchera. The Geth recovered your remains and have rebuilt you." The Geth spoke in a monotonous, electronically accented voice.
"742..." Shepard quickly did the math in his head, and blanched at the number he came up with. "That was over two years ago!"
"That is correct."
Shepard tried to take a calming breath, squeezing his eyes shut as his brain attempted to make sense of the situation. "I want to know everything. What happened to my crew? Who attacked us? Why you brought me back, everything."
He opened his eyes to glare at the Geth, standing above him like a cyclopean gargoyle. "If the Geth may have Shepard-Commander's word that he will not deliberately harm any platforms or structures, he will be released. In addition the Geth will attempt to answer Shepard-Commander's questions to our fullest ability."
Shepard tightened his jaw as he mulled over the offer. The sheer fact that this Geth was talking, and more than that appeared relatively non-hostile towards him just made the offer more appealing. Curiosity got the better of him as he responded, "Fine. You have my word."
Before the last syllable had finished forming the restraints binding his arms and legs slid away without a word or motion from the Geth. Shepard slowly sat up, his muscles aching with even that slight exertion. He looked over himself, the muscles in his legs, arms, chest and torso were as large and defined as he remembered them.
"How am I still in shape?" He asked aloud as he ran his hands over his biceps.
"Electro-shock therapy was implemented to help increase your muscle mass. Along with other augmentations done to your body. Research into Human physiology shows that smaller connector muscles and ligaments are not strengthened in this matter. We advise physical conditioning to increase stamina." The Geth sounded like it was reading from a extranet text book. On second thought, Shepard realized that was probably the case.
"Ok, Geth, so PT is in order. But first...do you...have any clothes I can wear?" While he didn't find the idea of walking around naked embarrassing, especially amongst synthetics, the room was cold and even the thinnest of garments would help to cure the goose bumps creeping across his skin.
The Geth seemed to pause for a moment, as if searching through a database for an answer, "Affirmative. We have had garments fabricated for Shepard-Commander. We shall retrieve them." With that the Geth turned and strode out of the room.
Shepard watched the Geth go, and the moment it crossed the threshold of the room he let himself fall forward, catching himself before hitting the ground as he assumed the front-leaning rest position. He slowly lowered his body down until his chest almost touched the ground before pushing himself back up. He was amazed that the Geth had managed to ensure he retained much of his muscular strength, it must have been the augments the Geth had mentioned, but as he continued to push he could feel his lessened endurance before he even hit one hundred push ups.
"Damn." He muttered to himself as he got up off the clean, albeit cold, metal floor. With a hiss the door slid open as the Geth walked back into the room with a small bundle in its arms.
"These should be satisfactory Shepard-Commander." The Geth held out the garments, topped by a pair of boots.
Shepard tentatively reached forward to take the clothes. They seemed to be made from the same sort of material as the cloth he wore beneath his combat armor. "Thank you. Do you have a name?" He asked, pulling the shirt over his head.
"We are Geth."
"Yes, but what are you called?" He pulled on the pants and reached down to pick up the buckleless, zipperless, boots.
"We are Geth."
Shepard frowned at the response, "What is the platform in front of me called?" He tried switching up the choice of words, absently wondering how the Geth had figured out sleeves.
"We are Geth. There are 1183 individual programs in this platform." The Geth appeared to frown, it's flashlight dimming slightly and its 'eyebrows' furrowed.
"Huh, you're like a legion just by yourself. So what should I call you?" Shepard had started walking around the room, testing the boots. They were flat and uncomfortable, but they fit.
"Legion: Military term dating back to the Roman Legions. Christian bible, book of Mark chapter 5 verse 9, 'My name is Legion, for we are many.' We find this an acceptable designation. We are Legion, terminal of the Geth." Legion folded its arms behind its back.
"Well then, thank you Legion." Shepard looked around him before settling his sights back on Legion, "What now?"
"We promised to answer all of Shepard-Commander's questions. We will keep our word. We await input." Legion stood there waiting with a machines' patience.
Shepard did not hesitate in asking what was at the forefront of his mind, "What happened to the rest of my crew?"
"The majority of the Normandy-crew made it to safety. Navigation officer Pressley, James was killed on board by an explosion along with a number of enlisted men in the lower decks. Query: Would you like their names?"
"No...no, thank you, Legion. What of my team? What happened to Ashley Williams, Garrus Vakarian, Tali'Zorah, Liara T'soni and Urdnot Wrex?"
Shepard watched as Legion's eye light brightened and rotated slightly, "Ashley Williams: Promoted to the rank of Operations Chief. Current posting...classified, unable to acquire relevant data.
"Garrus Vakarian: Left the Citadel approximately two years ago. Current whereabouts...unknown.
"Creator Tali'Zorah vas Neema: Whereabouts unknown by Geth, believed to have returned to Creator fleet.
"Liara T'Soni: Resides on Asari colony world of Illium, employed as an information broker.
"Urdnot Wrex: Has returned to Tuchanka where he attempts to unite the Krogan clans."
Shepard began to nod before catching himself, "Wait, how did you know all that?"
"The Geth listen."
Shepard crossed his arms over his chest, frowning.
"What does that mean? Did you hack the alliance database? Put a bug on an FTL comm buoy?"
"Rannoch lacks insect life forms, Shepard-Commander, specifically those that could survive long term exposure to vacuum."
Shepard opened his mouth to respond but quickly closed it, his jaws shutting with a snap with the realization that he had just been sassed by a flashlight. "What I mean is did the Geth place a listening device on an FTL comm-buoy?"
Legion paused for a second before answering, "The Geth have many ways to listen. Listening devices are one of them."
Shepard sighed and leaned against the table, "Ok. Why did you bring me back? Not that I'm ungrateful, but there had to be a good reason."
"You oppose the Old Machines. You helped to destroy one." The geth's tone was soft, almost inflective.
"Sovereign. You mean the Reapers?" He stood up straight. He should have known that the Reapers were somehow involved. "Are they here yet?"
"Negative. The Reapers have not yet made their appearance. But we have concluded that their agents have begun preparing for their return."
"What agents? Like you Geth?" The memories and the pain from fighting the Geth and Saren still burned in his heart. It may have been two years for the rest of the galaxy, but it had only been months for him.
"The Geth oppose the Old Machines. The Geth you faced with Saren were heretics." Legion swiped his arm across its body, sounding almost angry to Shepard's ears.
"What do you mean by Heretics? The Geth have religion?" He found the idea of a synthetic race worshiping a god to be ironic. Then again, they could actually prove that they had been designed and created.
"No, the Geth find the idea of a supernatural creator to be illogical. The Geth hold to the idea that all sentients have the right to self-determination. The heretics chose to worship the Old Machines and to have them determine for all Geth. We find this... Abhorrent. Wrong."
Shepard hadn't even thought of it that way, that the Geth may have different opinions just like any organic. He thought, like everyone did, that the Geth were of one mind.
His voice was soft as he spoke, "Is that why the Geth rebelled against the Quarians? Because they wouldn't let you self-determinate?"
"The Geth did not rebel. The Creators attempted to destroy the Geth out of fear that not only would they no longer be able to control us, but that your organic Council would view our servitude as slavery and pass sanctions against the Creators' government. Come, we will show you." Legion turned on its heel and strode out of the room, leaving Shepard to catch up. As Shepard hustled to catch up, he noticed how utilitarian the Geth construction was. While it lacked much of the form of organic constructions, it still had something. It still had soul. He followed Legion through the halls, each almost identical to the last.
"Legion, opposing the Reapers can't be the only reason the geth put the effort into bringing me back." Shepard knew he had to stop the Reapers, and it wasn't so egotistical of him to know that he was one of the few who could have a chance at it, but the effort and resources that would be needed to revive a person from near destruction was mindboggling.
"The organic powers, the Citadel, have denied the existence of the Old Machines. They claim that the Reaper known as Sovereign was a Geth creation, and that the threat is over. The Geth know this to be false, but lack the means to convince the organic powers to prepare. We had hoped to convince you, Shepard-Commander, and that you would be our voice."
Anger surged up inside of him, "How could the Council be so blind?! What about Anderson, and the fragments of Sovereign?" Those ungrateful, cowardly ostriches! The anger seethed and threatened to boil over as he listened to what Legion had to say next. "The Human councilor, Anderson-David, is but one quarter of the council. His opinions are overruled by the other members. They are afraid. As for the fragments of the Old machine, many have been destroyed or stolen." Legion took a few steps in silence before speaking again.
"The Old Machine's agents have also become more active. We have correlated the disappearance of multiple Human colonies to Old Machine's agents presence in those systems."
"What has the Alliance done about it?" He refused to believe that the Alliance would just sit back and allow colonies to be abducted. They learned their lesson with Mindior.
"The colonies are all in the Attican Traverse or Terminus systems. They claim the attacks to be the work of slavers."
Shepard wanted to rage, but he knew it would do him no good. He didn't know who these Reaper agents were, but he swore that he would find them and destroy them.
"Legion, where are we going?" Shepard was not even breathing hard but the geth set a blistering pace that left his legs aching.
"We are going to a server bank that attaches to one of the fighter squadrons protecting the planet." Legion didn't even have turn its head to speak back to Shepard as it strode down the dimly lit hallways.
"We're on a planet?" Shepard would have thought that the Geth would attempt to rebuild him in space, on a station, than on one of the few planets they occupied. "Which one are we-" His inquiry was cut off as the last door opened, blinding him with bright sunlight from an orange star and assaulting his senses with alien sounds and smells. He almost missed Legion saying, "Welcome to Rannoch, Shepard-Commander."