The shuttle ride out of the atmosphere took place in relative silence as Miranda and Jacob sat across from Shepard and Legion. While Shepard would have been perfectly happy to spend the entire trip in silence there were questions on both sides that had to be asked. Miranda cleared her throat, one shapely leg draped over the other above the knee, hands clasped in her lap, "Shepard, if you don't mind we have some questions we'd like to ask you. To insure your that you are functioning as well mentally as you appear to be physically."
Shepard shifted on the hard, uncomfortable, seat, "What, you don't trust the Geth to have done an adequate job?"
"No, to be frank, I don't. Your records show that you were born on the colony of Mindoir, and that you were the only one to not be captured or killed in a slaver attack on the colony. Do you remember any of it?"
"I try not to." Shepard growled, leaning forward, "I remember smoke, and fire. I remember the screams as the Batarians raped and butchered dozens. I remember running, of feeling afraid and hungry. I remember my first kill, a Batarian slaver, who I killed by putting a pick axe through his chest." An uncomfortable, awkward silence fell over the shuttle before Miranda began again.
"Next question. On Akuze, your platoon was wiped out by Thresher Maws. What do you remember of that?" Miranda had taken a data-pad off her seat, glancing down at it as a reference to what Shepard had said.
Shepard clenched his jaw, gauntleted hands curling into fists. He had pushed all these memories down years ago. He had used them, focusing the anger and rage as a tool to press on with his life, and now he was having to reel them back up to the surface, "I took my platoon on patrol to investigate a distress signal coming out of the jungle. It turned out to be an ambush, the beacon was placed in the middle of a Thresher Maw nest, though we knew nothing of them at the time. A maw popped out of the ground and tore my men apart. I lost fifty good men and women that day, and I would gladly give anything to bring them back."
Jacob looked at Shepard in wonder. He had read the reports, but hearing it from the man himself was something entirely different, "How did you survive?"
"I fought. Ran through almost every weapon my men had dropped, even the rocket launcher, before I killed the worm. My men sacrificed their lives to give me time to finish that fight." His voice had steadily lowered to almost a whisper by the last sentence as he stared off into the memory.
"A couple more questions, commander. On Virmire, you had to leave a squad mate behind. Who did you choose?" Miranda had ticked off a box on the pad as she asked her question.
"Are you going to ask me about everyone who has died around me at some point in my life? Because if you are, you missed a few." Shepard was getting annoyed at the questions, deeply personal questions that he was loath to answer.
"Please answer the question, commander." Was Miranda's cold response.
Shepard sighed and looked off into the distance at no where in particular, "Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko, a friend and team mate of mine when we went after Saren. I volunteered him to go along with the Salarian team as support. They got overwhelmed by the Geth and Krogan, and he told me to go get Ash who was defending the bomb site... I had to secure that bomb site, without it the mission would have failed."
Miranda nodded, "Last question, commander. After the battle of the Citadel you were given the choice of naming an appointee to be Humanities councilor."
"Yes, I chose Captain David Anderson." There had been no way that Shepard was going to let a slimy little SOB like Donnel Udina become councilor after everything he had done.
"Captain Anderson is now councilor Anderson, though they say he prefered life in the military." Jacob spoke up, trying to cut what he felt was a growing hostility between Miranda and the commander due to the uncomfortable nature of the questions being asked, "Its nice to know that humanities councilor won't be putting politics before defense."
"I would like to ask Legion some questions as well. No organic has had a chance to interview a Geth in almost 300 years." Miranda's gaze had slid to Legion who had sat silently through the exchange.
Shepard looked to the Geth, "It's up to you, Legion."
Legion seemed to think it over for almost half a second before responding with, "This unit is willing to accept inquiries."
Miranda launched in with her first question, "What do the Geth hope to accomplish with Commander Shepard?"
"That Shepard-Commander be our voice to the organic powers of the galaxy and to prepare them for the return of the Old Machines."
Miranda was unconvinced, "Do the Geth have any additional evidence to present to the Council races? If you don't, you're going to have a tough time convincing them to change their minds."
"The Geth have no additional evidence, although this partnership has a high probability of recovering said additional evidence."
"So without any more evidence how do you expect Commander Shepard to convince the Council?" Miranda did not trust the Geth's motives, she was sure there was more behind this. Some ploy or plot.
"Shepard-Commander must convince the organic powers to begin preparations with the evidence before them. The Geth have begun to scour the galaxy for additional evidence."
"Wait, what?" Jacob blurted out in startled surprise, "If Geth ships and troops start showing up around the galaxy the Council might take it as another invasion attempt and go to war!"
"Then they will have begun to prepare. The Geth are discreet, Taylor-Jacob. We avoid heavily trafficked areas to decrease likelihood of detection. We also contain our searches to non-council space as to avoid confrontation."
"The Geth aren't just going to sit back and wait for the Reapers to get here. They need evidence, and obviously they consider the Reapers to be a big enough threat to risk war with us organics if it means finding the evidence they need." Shepard spoke quietly before either Jacob or Miranda could get out another word.
"Now its my turn to ask some questions. Who, exactly, is your employer?" Shepard looked hard at the pair, Legion adding his unblinking eye to the intimidation as they waited for the answer.
Miranda sat back, pursing her lips as she spoke, "Well, I guess we owe you that at the least. No one knows his real name, but he's called the Illusive Man."
Shepard raised an incredulous eyebrow, "The Illusive Man? So he's in charge?"
"That would be accurate. We'll be arriving at our destination soon, commander. I'm sure all your questions will be answered there." Miranda settled back in her seat, signaling that the conversation had ended.
"I've been hearing that a lot lately." Shepard muttered and sat back. He glanced at Legion, who he imagined must have been recording every word and action.
True to her word the shuttle exited FTL not long afterwards. The holoscreen, which up to that point had been the inky black of Faster Than Light space, lit up with stars as a station drifted into the forward cameras view. A few minutes later they arrived, the shuttle docking smoothly. As the four stepped out Shepard took in the warm, clean halls with their white walls and ceilings that stood in stark contrast to the darker halls of the Geth.
Miranda, who had been leading them down the hallways stopped at a door, spinning quickly to face the commander, "The Illusive Man is through this door and down the hall. I advise that you don't keep him waiting."
The door slid open and she walked into the large antechamber, taking up station at a computer terminal as Jacob moved to the railing, looking out into space. Shepard turned to Legion and spoke to him in a hushed tone, "Keep your guard up, Legion. I don't trust these people."
"Affirmative, Shepard-Commander." Legion's eye scanned the room before it simply stepped to the side, standing beside the door. With its back to the wall it was a position that would allow Legion to safely see everything.
Shepard nodded and strode across the chamber and down the short hallway. The hall slowly descended to a darkened room that held nothing but a circular pad of grey metal in the center of the floor, his strides bringing him to a halt inside of the pad. Shepard looked about him as a grid of light rose from the floor and stretched to the ceiling above. Before him now was the flickering blue image of a man sitting in a chair, reclined and facing him. The man blew out a cloud of smoke from a cigarette as Shepard studied the stranger.
The man looked to be on the upper end of being middle aged, a full head of dark brown hair flanked by graying temples was slicked back to reveal a high intellectual forehead. When the man spoke his voice carried weight, the kind of voice that commanded respect, "Commander Shepard. A pleasure to finally meet you."
"Illusive Man. I thought we'd be meeting face to face." Shepard sized him up, reading his body language. The man may not have been physically strong, but he was obviously confident.
"A necessary precaution for people who know what you and I know. How are you feeling?" The Illusive Man took another drag on his cigarette.
"You don't get to talk to me like a friend. You have to earn that." Shepard crossed his arms over his chest. This was the man at the top of the pile, the king of the hill, and Shepard knew that he would have to tread carefully.
"I'm trying to be helpful, Shepard, you need to put your personal feelings for my organization behind you. For the good of Humanity." The Illusive Man scowled at Shepard through the hologram.
"My personal-? Your organization was the one responsible for the deaths of my men at Akuze! Then tortured, for years, corporal Tombs before he escaped and started hunting your men down! Your organization killed Admiral Kahoku when he found out that you did the same thing to his men on Edolus as you did to me and mine!" Shepard wished the man was in front of him so that he could strangle the life out of him and finally put the ghosts of Akuze behind him.
"I am not responsible for overseeing the day to day operations of Cerberus's various branches. If it would make you feel better your men's lives, as well as the late admirals, were not in vain. We learned much from it, and as the Shadow Broker would tell you, knowledge is power."
Shepard pointed a finger at the Illusive Man, his teeth clenched together in anger, "Fuck. You."
"Do not be childish about this, Shepard. We both need each other for this to succeed! I don't care why the Geth brought you back, I care that they kept enough of your human dignity to know that the enemy of your enemy is your friend. Trust me, Shepard, the collectors are our enemy here along with the Reapers." He subbed out the cigarette and stood from his chair.
"The Collectors stand to be a knife in our backs when the Reapers return. We don't know what kind of numbers they have or what kind of weaponry they possess, but you saw what their ship did to yours. Now imagine that across the galaxy, an anvil to the Reapers hammer. We would stand less of a chance than we already do. Help me, Shepard. Help me help you. Find these Collectors, and if my theories on them are correct, you will find the evidence you and the Geth are looking for."
"The enemy of my enemy, huh? We'll, you're right about one thing: You are my enemy. But I won't turn down help, not now when I need it most. If you want to be helpful, if you want me to 'put it behind me', then tell me what you know. Your cheerleader out there said you opposed the Reapers."
"What I know is that we're at war. No one wants to admit it, but Humanity is under attack." A frown had crept onto the Illusive Man's face. Shepard was obstinate and the effort needed to convince him had been more than he had expected, but he needed the man.
"The Reapers plan to harvest every organic life form in the galaxy. How do you know they're connected to these Collectors?" Shepard asked. The Geth could correlate data, but Cerberus may have actual information, and actual hard data was always better than correlations based on sparse and often shaky evidence.
"The abducted colonists number in the hundreds of thousands. I'd call that harvesting, wouldn't you? Place that alongside the data the Quarians forwarded from Veetor's debriefing and the connections are quite obvious, if somewhat hidden. I don't know why they've taken a special interest in Humanity, perhaps it was because you killed one."
"Alright, but why me? From the looks of it you could field an army to take on the Collectors and put a stop to these attacks."
"An army is a clumsy thing, Shepard. A small team is far more maneuverable. A scalpel, compared to a hammer. Much more effective for dealing with these random abductions. As for why you," The Illusive Man paused to light another cigarette, "you're special, Shepard. A symbol of what Humanity stands for, what we can accomplish. You stopped Saren and his Geth. You saved the Council. The Geth may have rebuilt you, but Cerberus can give you the resources you need."
"What do you know about the Collectors?" Shepard needed answers, more than that he needed information he could work with. That seemed to be all he wanted since he woke, answers to the questions that swirled around him.
"They are, for the most part, a mystery. They come from a world beyond the Omega 4 relay, a relay that only their ships seem to be able to navigate. They mostly keep to themselves, hiring mercenaries or pirates as intermediaries at exorbitant rates when they do need something from us. They'll come, trade wondrous technologies for seemingly insignificant organic specimens or technology and then simply disappear back behind the Omega 4 relay."
"So I'm guessing you have a plan? Because if this is going to work I'm going to need that army…" Preferably from the Alliance or barring that the Geth, "or a really good team." Shepard asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
The Illusive Man took a moment to light another cigarette, taking a drag, "I've compiled a list of mercenaries, soldiers, scientists and the like from across multiple species. You'll need only the best, and you'll need their loyalty if you're to succeed in this mission. I advise starting with Doctor Mordin Solus, on Omega. If the Collectors do have a way of freezing an entire colony we will need a way to counteract it."
"I haven't even left yet and you're already giving me orders?" Shepard scowled, wishing that his old team had stuck together.
"I'm giving you direction, Commander. A suggestion, if you will. By the way, I found you a pilot. He's one of the best, someone you can trust."
"You know, when this is over you and I are going to have a reckoning." Shepard hoped he would have that chance, and he had only just met the man.
"I look forward to it. Good luck, Commander." With the press of a couple buttons on the arm of his chair the Illusive Man took the last word and severed the comm link.
Shepard stood quietly for a moment, pondering on who the Illusive Man had meant by a pilot he could trust when a high pitched, if somewhat nasally voice called out from behind him, "Hey Commander!"
Shepard turned to see his old pilot, Jeff 'Joker' Moreau, hobbling out of the shadowy hallway in a Cerberus uniform with his usual cheeky grin on his face. Shepard threw his arms wide, shouting, "Joker!"
Joker waved him forward as they walked back out to where the others waited. It had been two years and the only thing that seemed to have changed on his pilot's face was a longer beard, "You look good, Joker."
Joker carefully turned to speak as he walked, his legs just as brittle as they had always been, "Look who's talking. I saw you get spaced. How'd that work out?"
They turned the corner, passing the others as Joker led him up a flight of stairs to another level, "Got lucky, with a lot of strings attached. How'd you get here?"
Joker shook his head, the motion a mix of both sadness and anger, "It all fell apart without you, Commander. Everything you stirred up, the Council just wanted it gone. Team was broken up, records sealed, and I was grounded."
Joker's hobbling took on a more angry stride, his voice bitter, "The Alliance took away the only thing that mattered to me. Hell yeah I joined Cerberus."
"The Geth told me about the team." Shepard walked slowly behind Joker, always ready to catch him if he fell, just as he always had, "Do you really trust the Illusive Man?"
"Do you really trust the Geth? I still can't believe that part." Joker was quiet for a moment before continuing, "I don't trust anyone who makes more than I do. But they aren't all bad. They were going to rebuild you, and now will fund you with their dirty money." He flashed Shepard a grin, "They let me fly...and then there's this. They only told me last night."
The two looked out over a dark hangar bay as a series of lights flicked on from prow to keel, revealing a sight more beautiful than anything either man had seen. There sat a ship, twice as large as the Normandy yet following almost the same exact lines. Shepard felt a shiver pass through his body, emotions flooding him as he stared at the ship that even docked looking like it was straining at the leash, wishing to run free. The lights reflected brightly off her polished silver armor, painted a dazzling white with black and gold highlights. Her prow was marked proudly with SR-2 alongside the Cerberus logo. Another marker on her wings and body completed her but for one very important thing that was missing.
"It's good to be home, huh Commander?" Joker asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
Shepard turned his head to look at his pilot, "I guess we'll have to give her a name." He looked at the beautiful ship one last time before turning away to find a Boatswains mate and a can of silver paint and polish for the Normandy.
Shortly thereafter Shepard, along with Legion, Jacob and Miranda stepped onto the new SR-2 Normandy. He had taken off his armor, allowing it to be placed in a crate and moved onto his ship, and now wore a stylish black suit with white highlights. He had refused to wear a Cerberus uniform and would have struck the Cerberus emblem from the ship if he didn't think it would have caused a mutiny.
Through the airlock and to the left showed Joker already seated in the pilots' seat, to the right he followed Miranda and Jacob down to the CIC and Galaxy Map. Jacob was the first to speak, "Welcome aboard the new Normandy, Commander."
"I've been looking over the dossiers." Miranda stood next to Jacob, hand on her hip as an orange holographic image of the Normandy casting the room in its glow from in front of the galaxy map, "I'd strongly recommend starting by acquiring Mordin Solus, the Salarian professor on Omega. We know the Collectors use some sort type of advanced technology to immobilize their victims. We'll need him to develop a countermeasure to protect us."
Shepard hated to admit it, but she made a good point, "Your boss suggested the same. I guess without that countermeasure, we'd be helpless when we run into the Collectors."
The voice that answered him from speakers in the ships ceiling caught him off guard as its synthesized feminine voice spoke, "Acquiring Professor Solus seems like the most logical place to start."
A small hologram of a ball and cylindrical base like a wormhole tunnel rose up from a pedestal in front of him. Shepard asked, "Who are you?"
A wide, vertical, slash much like a cats eye expanded and contracted as the hologram spoke, "I am the Normandy's Artificial Intelligence. The crew refers to me as EDI. Does your Geth companion have a designation, commander?"
Legion stepped forward, its eye looking at EDI's hologram, "This platform is known as Legion. We did not expect to find another synthetic life form. We anticipate a mutual exchange of data."
"I look forward to it, Legion."
Shepard looked at EDI, for he had figured that Cerberus was desperate, but he hadn't thought they would risk the Council's wrath in creating an AI, "Do you fly the ship, because helmsmen generally don't like it when people take away control of their ships, especially Joker."
"I do not fly the ship, so Mr. Moreau's skills will not be wasted. I observe and offer analysis and advice along with managing the ships Electronic Warfare suite and point defense, nothing more. Perhaps Legion would be willing to help me upgrade those defenses."
"Might be useful, who knows what we might run into out there. Joker, set course for Omega. Miss Lawson, Mr. Taylor could you find a place for Legion?"Shepard looked from one to the other before EDI spoke up.
"Most of the crew may be uneasy at the sight of a Geth platform walking about the main areas of the ship. If I may make a suggestion, Commander, Legion would be welcome to take up residence in my server room behind the med bay on the crew deck. Due to the need to keep my processors cool, the server room is an average of 13 degrees Celsius cooler than the rest of the ship at all times."
"That accommodation is suitable, Cerberus-AI-EDI." Legion said before walking around the CIC to the elevator, drawing suspicious and fearful stares from the crew members at their stations.
Shepard frowned, knowing that he would have felt the same before. He turned to Miranda, an idea to somewhat fix the problem already in his mind, "Miss Lawson, would you write up a memo to the crew explaining to them that Legion is to he treated with respect and that he is an ally?"
"I'd be happy to do that, commander." The light voice came from across the CIC, a young woman with short fiery red hair parted to one side stood in front of a terminal next to the ramp leading up to the map.
"And you are?" Shepard walked over to her over, getting a closer look. She held herself with the straight back and forward stare that bespoke of discipline yet seemed to radiate an aura of friendliness that Shepard had rarely seen in the military. Up close he could see bright green eyes shining out from behind her bangs.
She came to attention and saluted, "Yeoman Kelly Chambers, at your service, Commander Shepard. I'll be your administrative assistant. I'll manage your messages, and help you monitor the crew."
"What do you mean by monitor, Yeoman Chambers? Do you mean spy on?" Concern flashed across his face as he wouldn't have put it past a group like Cerberus to spy on their own people.
"No, commander, although I will be sending reports on the crews mental health back to Cerberus HQ. Part of my job is to insure the good mental health of your team as well as the rest of the crew. I have degrees in psychology for not only humans but aliens as well. And please, Commander, call me Kelly."
"Ok...Kelly." Shepard had never been that informal with crew members, the first Normandy crew notwithstanding, "Make sure you get that memo out to all department chiefs before the end of shift."
"Yes, Commander." Was all Kelly said before turning back to her terminal, typing away with a furious energy.
Shepard turned back to the others, "Miss Lawson, I'll talk to you later. Mr. Taylor, I'd like to inspect the armory."
"I'll be in my office, on the crew deck, if you need anything commander." Miranda strode off to the elevator, drawing a wholly different set of stares than those that had accompanied Legion.
Jacob saluted saying, "Follow me, Commander, its right this way." He led Shepard to the port side hatch at the rear of the CIC. The armory was fairly standard, but at the same time far more impressive than what the Geth had presented to him on Rannoch. Various weapons supplied by Cerberus lay in an organized fashion on tables spaced throughout the area, the Spitfire laying by itself on a separate work table attached to a bulkhead. A diagnostic station sat near a window overlooking the main drive core.
"Impressive set up, Mr. Taylor. Are you the armorer along with being part of the ground team?" Shepard looked over the assembled weapons, mostly M-8 Avengers, Mantis sniper rifles, Scimitar shotguns and Shuriken machine pistols. Shepard noticed his own Geth weapons laid out, awaiting inspection.
"No, but it helps kill time and I know a lot about a lot of weapons from my time in the Alliance Special Forces. And Commander, please call me Jacob. No one has called 'Mr. Taylor' since I left the Alliance." Jacob stood to the side at ease, hands clasped behind his back.
"Is Cerberus always this informal? I'd taken you for the military type. What were you, an N?" It had been a common fact of life throughout Human history that many soldiers turned to mercenary or private contracting work after leaving the military, if anything to just have a sense of normalcy like they used to have.
Jacob shook his head, "No, I was apart of the Corsairs." He explained about his work, about how the endless sea of red tape had finally gotten to him, about meeting Miranda, his mission to save the council from Batarian terrorists, and why he joined Cerberus.
"So you wanted to protect people without all the red tape? Sounds like somebody I know." Shepard wondered what Garrus was up to these days. His friend had dropped off the radar from everything the Geth and Cerberus knew. He hoped the Turian sniper was keeping safe, "You know, I think you're a good person, Jacob, now that I've gotten to talking to you. But I think you may be working for the wrong people."
Jacob gave a dry chuckle, "That's what I thought when I was with the Alliance."
It was at that time that EDI chimed in over the armory's PA, her avatar appearing on a small wall mounted ledge, "Commander Shepard, your presence is requested in the Medical bay on the crew deck."
"Thank you, EDI." Shepard turned to walk out of the Armory when Jacob called out, grabbing his attention.
"Shepard, I know that you and Cerberus have a history, but please, give us a chance. Don't judge the many based on the actions of a few."
Shepard paused for a moment in thought at what Jacob had said, "I'll think about it." and walked out of the armory.
Doctor Karin Chakwas sat at her desk in the medical lab, reviewing the medical reports of the Cerberus crew. When word had come down earlier that Commander Shepard was not only alive, a shock to her, but going to be in command of the ship and its mission left her elated. She had thought him dead, they all had. The Alliance and Council declaring him KIA had left her believing that she would never see him again. They had held memorials and parades in his honor and memory that had gone on for weeks and months as people from across the galaxy came to pay their respects. Now she was told he was alive and how this came to be didn't matter to her. She turned as she heard the door his open, a warm and welcoming smile on her face. At the sight of the Geth platform striding through the open doorway to the apparent indifference to the rest of the crew swept the smile from her face as she let out a startled cry, scrambling away and wishing she'd kept some sort of firearm nearby, as the Geth simply cocked its head to the side and spoke.
"Alert: This platform means no harm. We are know as Legion, ally to Shepard-Commander."
Karin was speechless, not believing the Geth, glancing around for anything she could use as a weapon when EDI sprung to life from her pedestal, "Doctor Chakwas, is there a problem?"
She stumbled over her first few words, struggling to get them out as she stared at Legion in abstract horror, "EDI! It...there is a Geth in my med lab!"
"I am aware of that, Dr. Chakwas. Legion came aboard with Commander Shepard, who should be arriving now." As the last word was spoken Shepard stepped into the lab.
"Doctor Chakwas!" Shepard smiled as he stepped around Legion, "I didn't expect to see you here. Is there a problem?"
She was relieved to see him standing there, "Shepard! That's a Geth, what is it doing here?" her eyes darted from Shepard to Legion and back.
Shepard rubbed his forehead with the back of his arm, as he figured that this was something he'd be explaining a lot in the coming weeks, "The Geth are the reason I'm back. Doc, I know it may seem strange but the Geth are on our side. Legion volunteered to help on this mission, and I wasn't in much of a position to refuse. He- It will be residing in the Server room." Shepard tried to sound reassuring, but even he still had trouble believing it.
Karin stood up straight from her previously hunched defensive position and straightened her grey uniform. She cleared her throat with a cough, "I...see. Well then, I don't fully understand but lets see what we can do about changing that. If you'll lay on the scanning table there, commander?"
Shepard looked at the cold plastic slate, "A medical exam? Do I have to?" He knew that he sounded rather childish, but he had never been a fan of being poked and prodded.
"Yes, commander, you do. If you are saying what I think you're saying," Her eyes traveled over to Legion who was standing next to Shepard, "than it would be best to make sure the Geth put everything back in the right place. Now, jacket and pants off and up on the table."
With a heavy, exaggerated, sigh Shepard began removing the garments till he stood there in nothing but socks and underwear. He laid down on the table and looked about the lab as he waited for Dr. Chakwas to begin. He spotted Legion, still rooted in spot, "Legion, you don't just have to stand there. If there is something you need to do, feel free to go do it."
Legion turned its head to look at Shepard, "We may be able to provide insight for Chakwas-Doctor into the Geth's rebuilding of Shepard-Commander."
Karin gave Legion a cringing glance, "I'm quite sure that won't be necessary. In fact, I would prefer to do this in private."
"Then this platform will proceed to its station." With that Legion walked forward and through the door at the end of the med lab.
Once out of sight Karin let out a long held breath before turning back to Shepard, "I cannot believe what I just saw and heard. Lets see what they did to you, Commander."
She started the scanner, the machine whirring as it read his body down to the molecular level. She watched the read out, her jaw dropping unprofessionally as she watched the results, "Commander, I'd say you were fine but for the fact that you seem to be more so!"
She turned the holoscreen so Shepard could see the readings. He noticed that everything was where it should be, yet on the screen his skeleton had been highlighted leading him to ask, "Doc, what's up with my skeleton?"
"The Geth seem to have reinforced it. The calcium structures are there, but they've been mixed with ceramics and metal! And that isn't all they've changed. Your neural pathways from your brain all the way to your lowest nerve tips have been coated in a highly conductive material. Your skin and muscles have been re-woven for greater strength and density. Then there is your blood." She pulled up a feed from the scan that showed Shepard's blood pumping through the veins in his arm. Mixed in with the red and blues of his blood was smaller, darker objects.
"What is in my veins?" He felt his skin itching at the mere thought that the Geth had injected him with some kind of machinery.
"Nanobots, from what I can tell. Tiny little robots that seem dedicated to repairing you alongside your bodies natural means. This is all...amazing! I didn't think the Geth to be this medically advanced." She looked as amazed and stunned as she sounded, as the Geth had done what Organics had only theorized as possible.
"According to Legion the Geth studied all the medical texts and lectures on Humans they could find on the Extranet. Guess it wasn't hard for them, being robots and all." The scans finished Shepard rose from the table, donning his discarded clothes as doctor Chakwas pored over his medical data.
"No, it wouldn't. While I may envy them from the point of view of a student, as a practitioner I will say that there is no better teacher than experience. But for the Geth's lack of experience in organic medicine, they did a fine job piecing you back together." She had swiveled in her chair, having retrieved it from where it had rolled after he startled movements from before, "That will be all, Commander. Its good to have you back."
"Its good to be back." He looked down at his right forearm, and thought, 'But not all of me.'