Karin

I could easily diagnose when something wasn't right, not just from a medical perspective, by sensing emotion and expression. Bethany had struck me as needing space and time to recover, while I think we all did, she couldn't get past her feelings to focus on what was more important. Maybe that was why she was guarding the war room and not out on the battlefield, I didn't really care, it was not my place to judge, even if I occasionally couldn't help myself.

I'd led her to the med bay, away from what had been the CIC, completely ruined, to provide her refuge. Now in the dark, save for the glow from our bodies, as we waited for Samantha and Joker to return, we were no longer calm and collected, the anxiety climbing with the heat that was dispersing through the Normandy due to the lack of a working cooling system. I sat in my chair, while Bethany took up a place on one of the cots; we were getting impatient, merely because there was nothing else to do. "How are you feeling?" I provided her, still concerned for her mental health.

"I'm okay now, I was just so angry with how they spoke about everyone-" She stopped herself and I could make out the purple circuits on her shoulders rising and falling quickly in a shrug. "I know they meant nothing by it but after everything else we've lost… it just seemed wrong to take it for granted. We're still alive and everyone else didn't even get a chance. At least we get to try to build a new life."

"At this stage I do not consider us lucky nor unlucky I suppose. This could go both ways, good or bad. We should take a leaf out of Commander Shepard's book, make the right choices, the one's that will help all of us, I would rather not take too many risks and end up burning all our bridges."

Bethany made a noise I could only assume was agreeing, her words confirming my thought. "I know. I let my emotions get in the way of my better judgment. I thought I was a soldier."

"You are. With that comes some responsibility but you're also human and with that comes some emotions we cannot ignore." I sighed and put my hand beneath my desk, feeling around briefly before my hand wrapped around its target. "Would you like a drink of Serrice Ice Brandy?" I asked her, reading the label off the pale yellow glow of my hand. "It might make you feel better, not much to do now while we wait regardless."

"I'd love one," her response coming from closer to my side, obviously eager as she came to retrieve some.

We only had one drink, I didn't want us both tipsy and giggly when things really started to kick off and in a situation like this it was best to keep your head. Bethany was thankful though, I had felt the warming liquid hit my throat and it calmed me considerably, I hoped it had the same effect on my companion across from me. Hopefully our stomachs were still fully functional and alcohol tolerated by our synthetic bodies.

"That was nice." Bethany mumbled from the cot, handing the bottle back to me, I put it away in its spot beneath my desk.

"I'm glad to hear it. Do you suppose Joker and Samantha are doing okay?" I guessed it had been at least an hour since they'd left us, our fidgeting had stopped briefly while we enjoyed the brandy's touch but now with little to distract I worried we'd start feeling a little stir crazy.

"I can't imagine anything going seriously wrong," We both looked toward where the server room door would be, having not heard a sound due to the extremely thick metal of the Normandy's innards, we could only predict the possibilities. "I mean, Joker cares about EDI, he wouldn't risk anything that might hurt her, if he wasn't sure about something he wouldn't blindly plough ahead anyway. Would he?"

"No, I don't suppose so. He's a smart lad though- even if he doesn't always listen. I'm sure he's found some way to restore power to the ship, it's just taking time."

As if on cue the lights flickered and returned to full functionality. We were scrunching our eyes to see properly through the haze the light created, working to adjust from the pitch black confines we were trapped in only moments ago.

The door to our left regained its green 'open' interface and slowly the door slide aside to reveal a very puffed Joker and Samantha who looked stunned as she held him up, one of his arms around her shoulder. "That was incredible." He muttered after he'd caught his breath, Traynor dumping him onto a cot in a seated position.

"Totally creepy, you ever do that to me without fair warning again and I might have to show you the barrel of my gun at close range." She glared.

I wasn't sure what was going on, but I imagined Joker had stumbled onto something while he worked to fix the power problem. "What exactly are you on about?"

"He lit up like a Christmas tree and completely blanked on me." Her voice was full of wonder. "I had no idea what he was doing but he was bright and stiff and…" She finished dead-pan. "Immensely boring. Sitting on a crate for an hour was not what I had planned when I suggested I back him."

I was still bemused but I at least now had some minor understanding. Bethany still stared in shocked silence, I wasn't sure if she was trying to understand it or not. "So what happened Joker?"

He cleared his throat, hand on his chest. Now that I could see I found my omni-tool and quickly slipped it on, attempting to examine him, unhappy with the way he was breathing and coughing. "No harm done doc, think I drew in too much breath when I was 'waking up' so to speak."

"You didn't collapse did you?"

Samantha was grimacing. "Not until he came out of it. Wasn't unconscious though…"

Joker sounded like he was on a high, his eyes sparkling (this time not due to our new synthetic additions). "I don't know how to explain this properly but I was inside the Normandy. Like we're inside her now but I was actually in the servers… like inside the programming." He looked off into space, eyebrows scrunched. I couldn't see anything untoward about him, but he was speaking and acting somewhat strange, rocking back and forth on the cots edge. "It was so cool." He added in an excited afterthought.

"Inside the program?" I repeated with bemusement, my face appearing slightly 'deer-in-headlights' like. "You managed to network with EDI?" I was slightly sceptical of this announcement, after all it wasn't something we'd ever done before Shepard's 'geth heretics' episode, in which she required a pod to access the network. If we had say, evolved beyond what we were, did that mean we had reached beyond mere mortality? If we could enter a machine and work with them, did that mean we still would age, need nutrients, sleep and even die? I was merely speculating further, beyond the possible perhaps, but there were so many unknowns. I began to feel giddy, sitting down beside Joker on the cot. "It all seems rather far-fetched. Perhaps you were merely hallucinating?"

"Impossible." Samantha shook her head. "We did nothing else in that room and the power has returned. He was able to stand there, doing nothing for the entire time eyes and… circuits glowing so bright they were white. It was like something from a horror movie."

Joker looked disappointed now. "Damn, that would have been pretty awesome to see too…" He admitted, scratching at his beard absent minded.

I sighed, in my old age I didn't really work too closely with technology, just when I had to write up medical reports and do research. I think synthesis was wasted on me, but I didn't want anyone to hear me thinking that way. "We should discuss this with the others, now that the powers back on we should work on the ship, she's in bad shape and Joker seems to be medically stable if not for minor muscle damage in your arm- likely from the crash. I'd imagine you'll have to take it easy if you plan on scrubbing the floor, but otherwise the sooner we get this done, the sooner we can concentrate on more important things."

"Like food…" Samantha groaned her stomach rumbling loudly in the confines of the med bay.

Garrus

I walked at the back, EDI leading the front, I felt obligated to protect the others, even if they were more than capable of taking care of themselves. As Shepard's right-hand-man, I felt obligated to follow the same role without the commander there, watching everyone's six. With my assault rifle, an M-15 Vindicator in my hand I felt slightly more able leaving the bush then I had upon entering, when dragging the tarp we didn't have hands free for weapons.

EDI's voice travelled back to me from her position as leader. "Full power has been restored to the Normandy; we shall definitely be back before nightfall, in which case we should lock up tight. Animals will still be attracted to the area; with the ship closed up we'll be safer. We don't have the ability to get off the ground but the basic electronics are all working and the rations stores are plentiful."

I roved my eyes amongst the trees, general location stats running across my visor. Nothing exciting, just longitude/latitude coordinates, a bit of general information on the plant life, expected elevation increases and drops, stuff that helps me navigate over the land. I tend to ignore it a lot of the time when walking, but in a fire fight it was very useful, pinpointing enemies from miles away. It made my shot with an M-97 Viper a hell of a lot more accurate. "Do you suppose we should need a lookout?" I asked, more than happy to take up the post.

"It may be an idea. The top of the ship would be the safest place to post one." She responded. "I suppose with the damage to the tail end she could be liable to attract animals, we should barrier that section of the ship in what little day light we'll have left, to avoid animals entering the wiring, cargo and food stores."

"Short term solution boss." James called back to me. "We could strip those ships of their metal?"

"A task for tomorrow I'm afraid." Liara sounded weary, obviously lacking the strength to do much more then trudge. We fell into silent step then, the crunch of the leaves beneath our feet the only sound to counter those of the birds high above us screeching and carrying on.

My eyes strayed to Tali and stayed there the rest of the trek. She was worried about illness but still seemed fighting fit and I was still worried after her outburst. It wasn't like Tali to lose her temper but I understood the reasoning behind it. It was more than unusual that she should shoot out (literally) in such rage, but she missed my talons so I couldn't complain. My shields would have been more then up for a couple of rogue bullets, but I didn't want to test the theory. "Let's just take it easy guys, keep up that steady pace." I was trying to encourage, knowing there was little else to be positive for but a hot meal and a cold drink on our return.

Liara

While I was looking forward to returning to the Normandy, my interest lay in the life around us and all the possibilities. If the plants were networking, all I would need to do is find the signal, exploit it and I would have plenty of information to add to my database. Of course I knew exploiting the world around me would be wrong and that my days as the shadow broker were over, I still couldn't help but get excited by the possibilities. It kept me from thinking about my hunger and sore feet.

We could see where the trees thinned, the gaps showing more between each log as we came closer to our target. The great brightness of sunshine on metal suddenly blinded us momentarily and then the ship came into view, a beacon of hope for us who were losing their ability to continue. "Finally." I murmured, excited now as we returned to familiarity, EDI was a good leader, she'd lined us up perfectly with the ships door.

When we made it into the cool of the ships interior it was to find the CIC completely devoid of the destruction previous when we had landed. The objects that had broken were no longer in the area and things that had fallen had been placed where they belong. There was a lacking of bodies, due to our hard work and any blood that had remained had been scrubbed. It was now the Normandy as it should be; minus most of its crew, but enough that there was plenty to still celebrate despite it all.

I was honestly shocked by the hard work put in by the four we'd left behind, the lights were shining on the gleaming floor, reflecting off its surface. EDI informed us of where we needed to be. "There are no life forms on this floor; they are in the mess hall awaiting our return." We squeezed into the elevator taking it down a floor, not sure what to expect, I was pleasantly surprised when the smell of cooking hit me. Everyone was happy to see each other in one piece; Joker quickly took up EDI in an embrace, glad to see her return safely minus any bullet holes, the rest of us not so quick to jump on one another but the chatter that began amongst us was unmistakably words of praise for what each group had accomplished.

I decided I was better off helping in the kitchen, removing my armour to wear more comfortable attire; I began to assist where I could to make the meal come faster. Several foods were began laden onto chopping boards and cut, others just getting to the pan, obviously they'd only began cooking when we had arrived back at the ship and while I didn't eat dextro food, I thought it best I help prepare it as the others had little idea what to do.

For a time we didn't discuss the events of what had happened, simply resting and setting up meals, I think we were all too hungry to really care, it didn't change anything, we would find out soon enough what the other had done in the last few hours. When everything was prepared we all sat around the large table together- something that had been difficult to do previously but now seemed to be easily achieved, we began conversation.

EDI spoke first, nothing in front of her but her arms folded on the table. "I have shut the Normandy's main door and locked it, we are however still unsecure with the damage to the ships main body. I suggest fixing it once we have finished refuelling," She recommended, watching us all eating her expressions impossible to judge. She may have been curious, I could never tell, somehow Joker knew exactly what she was doing, but her face was a blank slate for me.

The shore party discussed our exploration at length, how we found the clearing, the large alliance ships, searching found the crew all dead, and being attacked by the strange furred creatures. We didn't bring up the synthesis, none of us really wanting to draw attention to it in Tali's quiet state, she ate while we all spoke, supplying our own version of events. She kept her mouth shut, and with her mask on, like EDI, she was unreadable. It made me feel cold, I had never seen her like this and I decided I would talk with her in private later, but for now I left her to her own thoughts.

The other's expressed their experience, with the power out they saw the strange circuits, needing to fix it Samantha and Joker crawled through the vents, and Joker's eventual networking experience. Samantha had plenty to say on the subject, like Tali I don't think she was quite ready for synthesis, and wasn't as eager as the rest of us to experience what Joker had when he melded with EDI's programming.

When we had finished eating we discussed fixing the ship, got a plan of action together and set to work, covering holes and blocking weak areas from becoming entrances to the ship. With the ship secure, there was nothing more to do but go to bed (for EDI charge), none of us were prepared to do much more, it had been a long day and exhaustion had set in long ago. I was eager, heading off for my room, first it was a matter of checking my databases and then I would crawl into the bed at the back of my office.

Glyph appeared from around the corner, the blue orb floating in front of me, I was pleasantly surprised, if Glyph was available then I would at least have my important things catalogued. I may no longer be the shadow broker, but it comforted me to know all that hard work I'd done was not wasted. "Greetings Dr. T'soni. It is good to see you again. I have performed several backups in your absence due to power failures across the Normandy's grid. Would you like me to access anything in particular."

"Maybe tomorrow?" I asked with a yawn, flopping back onto the mattress with a sigh. "Turn your external light off; it's going to be hard enough to get to sleep as it is." Glyph turned his light off and the ones above me, which would have helped if I did not emit my own light source. I sat up quickly, eyes on the bright lavender coloured circuitry that lined and dotted my blue skin, while we'd discussed this, I did not expect it to be so apparent, out in the sun it was impossible to see, now it was more than obvious shining like tiny diamonds across my skin.

"It seems the lights have not fully dimmed, I apologise. Shall I attempt to turn off the light source?"

"No! I mean… it's fine Glyph, that will be all."

"Good night Dr. T'soni."

Joker

The Normandy passed stars and planets as it traversed space to get to the waiting mass relay. It picked up speed as it passed the relays spinning hub, and with a loud zap was transported to another system, another galaxy, away from the destruction it left behind.

"You cannot sleep Jeff?" EDI's face appeared above me, upside down as she bent over my laying form. She dropped into the leather seat beside me I turned my chair as well, bringing it up so I could face her, placing the Normandy model down on the console.

"I don't know if we're the last people in the galaxy and I can glow in the dark… Sleeps going to be hard to get for a while." I placed the mass relay model beside the Normandy's, EDI picked them up, examining them closely, the tips of her lips rose in what I took to be a smile.

"While the Normandy is an impressive ship, I might be biased, but I believe it is possible other ships survived the relay jump- Not necessarily on this planet but somewhere. As for your healthy new glow, I like it, it makes us more compatible, more similar."

I couldn't think of anything to say to that, I hadn't thought of it that way. I watched her as she examined the models, moving them around as I had earlier, using the cockpits view of the stars as my background to set the scene. "Did you find these in Commander Shepard's quarters?" She asked me.

"Yeah, I went to check on the fish. They survived, I would have imagined they'd have electrocuted themselves- being partially synthetic now but apparently they overcame it somehow. Wonder if we can swim? I guess we've all adjusted to be able to perform as we had before but with improvement?"

"You still have the ability to ingest food and water; I imagine submerging yourself wouldn't cause adverse reactions."

I nodded, lost in thought. "What brings you here?" I queried, taking the models and dropping them to one side.

"I have fully charged and am currently experiencing some problems. I noticed it earlier when you and the others were eating. Something is not right."

I was concerned, sitting up in my seat, EDI didn't generally have a problem she couldn't fix on her own, it must have been serious if she needed my help. She was as close to the ship as she could be whatever would be the issue?

"I believe I am experiencing signs of hunger and thirst, my midsection feels compressed and researching digestion I believe that I need to satisfy my body's energy requirements. Before I charged I was also feeling… different. Now that I have been connected to the Normandy for a while, I feel what I consider to be refreshed. I believe I was mimicking sleep." Okay, not what I expected, synthesis might really have effects on her. "It is possible that I could be mistaken in my calculations, but I wonder if you would humour me? I do not believe it would hurt to try."

"Until you electrocute yourself on a drink of water." I quipped uncertainly.