Tali woke up yawning. Lazily she rolled over, enjoying the feel of the soft sheets of the bed on her skin. She rose, and walked over to the large window in her room, looking out over the red cliffs and vistas of Rannoch that spread out as far as the eye could see.
She smiled. In some ways, life in the post-Reaper war was everything she could have hoped for.
Then her smile turned sad, as she thought back to the first time she'd seen this view.
Sighing she turned away, and started reviewing her channels.
It had been overwhelming at the beginning, as the input poured in from thousands of minds. Stuck planetside on the Normandy, she and the others worked desperately to compartmentalize the data feeds that channeled through their heads. EDI had helped out as best she could, but it had still been grueling, holding back the barrage of noise that raged through her mind. Each of them found themselves channeling the minds of their species, as well as friends and family. She had assumed it had happened that way for everyone. But when she finally got back to Rannoch, she had been startled to discover that this was not the case. The other quarians were able to network on an individual level, but not with the entire community at once. Tali alone had direct access to the minds of every single quarian, just as Liara did for the asari, Garrus for the turians, and Joker, Ash,and Vega with the humans. After a significant struggle, she had managed to manipulate her perception of the data so that the consciousness of her people appeared before her as a vast tapestry of purple and gray, the threads of their consciousness weaving in patterns like the material of her suit.
She had also singled out direct lines to all of her friends, which she kept on a separate frequency. Now, as she watched the sun rising over the distant red rocks, she let her mind drift out to them, one by one.
Liara was still on the Citadel, and Tali saw the white halls of the Sleeper Wards as she let her mind slip into contact with her old friend. They shared a stream of direct information, quicker than words, and Tali smiled as she retreated from her mind, wishing her well. (And I hope he wakes up soon, Liara).
EDI showed her the wispy orange nebula that she and Joker were currently charting. Miranda stood behind Orianna in London, and she let her friend see the reconstruction plans displayed on the girl's computer screen. Tali focused briefly, scanning for errors, but found none. (Bright girl), she sent, and felt Miranda's rush of pride and love for her sister coming through. Suspiciously, Ash and Vega both had their channels blocked, and she grinned. She had a fair idea of what they were up to.
Then she started looking for Garrus.
Initially she'd tried to give him space. It was what he'd seemed to want. For the first few months he'd blocked all access to the channel, and Tali's tentative attempts at contact met with what felt like the mental equivalent of a solid metal door. She'd actually tried to call him over the extranet, though she felt ridiculous. He hadn't answered. But then last month she'd felt him reach out to her, his mind a a bright blue-gray tendril. When she accepted, the raw pain and loss still present in his head made her wince. Since then she tried to check in every week.
Now she was confused by what she saw. Looking out from her friend's eyes, she took in a featureless series of gray prefab units, enclosed by a high fence. Then she saw the crowds of marauders and husks surrounding him, and for a second the old fear rose up in her, quick and sharp like blood from a paper cut. She felt him respond, sending his reassurance back to her.
(Helping), he told her. She tried to keep back her doubts. She stared out at the twisted faces of the Reaper creatures, their eyes dull and confused. Oh Garrus, she thought privately, not another lost cause. She knew that the husks' welfare had become Garrus' personal concern. At first she'd been relieved that he'd taken an interest in something, anything, after Shepard's death. She was all too aware that they had come frighteningly close to losing him. But she wish he had picked something a little less bleak to focus on. She was afraid that the hopelessness of what he was trying to accomplish would eventually burn out the final reserves of his strength.
But she kept this to herself, and sent him only her affection. She felt him look out through her eyes, and she shared her view of the sun rising over Rannoch. She felt his appreciation. (But what happened to the big dead Reaper?) he sent to her, teasing. (It was ruining my sight lines), she teased back. She felt his laugh.
(Its beautiful, Tali.)
(Looks even better in person), she sent back wistfully, but he had already closed the channel.
She sighed. After the confirmation of Shepard's death, she'd hoped… well, it didn't matter what she'd hoped. It still physically hurt her to think of him alone and aching, after all he had gone through. But Garrus had only really ever let one woman get close. And she was gone.
He's not the only one who goes for lost causes, she thought, her mouth curving up in a sad smile. She let it go.
To distract herself, she opened the Rannoch channel. Here individual voices were minimized, and she watched from a distance as the the collective consciousness of the quarian people rippled through her head in smooth and predictable patterns. She could pick out certain threads if she chose. Shala'Raan was overseeing the construction of a new city. Zaal'Koris stood in his new office, talking with the captains. She let her mind zoom back out, regarding the mass of threads once more. Then she frowned.
There was a snarl.
She could feel it buzzing in her head, causing ripples in the rest of the pattern as the threads closest to the snarl reacted, bunching up and moving erratically. From the tangled mess she picked out where one thread frayed, then abruptly snapped. Quickly she accessed the minds of those closest to the center.
Oh Keelah. She winced and closed her eyes.
Another body.
It was in the Yaska district. When she arrived at the building, the door was blocked by a red geth prime.
"Creator Zorah", it said, nodding its head. "There is no need for you to concern yourself in this matter. We have the situation under control".
"I will assess that for myself,"she said, her eyes narrowing. "Move aside, please."
The geth reluctantly stepped back. "As you wish," it said, sounding resigned.
She walked up to the 3rd floor apartment, to the door that was slightly ajar. Moving into the room, she stopped.
A geth hunter stood in the room. Next to it was a corpse.
Tali let her eyes run over the mutilated body of the quarian. She was no stranger to death, and she'd certainly shot her fair share of mercenaries, husks, and spiders-monsters over the years. But it still chilled her to the bone to see the way the poor quarian had been taken apart, as if the attacker was disassembling a doll. It had been cut into even, symetrical parts, and the pieces were layed out on the floor as if according to schematics. The top of its skull had been removed, and she winced at the red mess that lay within. Nothing like a battlefield, something in her mind whispered. No, this was more like something she'd expect to see on Horizon, at Sanctuary.
She turned her gaze to the hunter.
"Creator Zorah," it said, stepping forward. "We regret to inform you that there is another Malfunction operating within this sector. We are working to track it now."
'Malfunction' was the term the geth used to refer to those who had been unable to process the Synthesis package. Unlike their organic counterparts, who died or went comatose, the few geth affected had turned into feral and violent killing machines.
Tali nodded grimly. "Send me the information. I'll find it."
The geth hesitated. Tali frowned deeper. "Is there a problem," she asked, her voice rising.
The plates around the geth's head opened and closed nervously. "No, Creator Zorah. However, we must point out that the geth in this area are capable of dealing with the Malfunction ourselves. There is no need for you to intervene."
Tali stepped forward, until her face was an inch from the hunter's flashlight. "Listen, you boshtet," she hissed. "This is the sixth body we've found. I let you handle the others your way. You told me the Malfunction had been dealt with. Clearly, we have different ideas of what that means. Now send me the information."
The hunter's head bobbed quickly. "Yes, Creator Zorah."
Tali felt the nudge in her mind as the hunter relayed the information. She let her mind integrate it into her display, watching as a new silver thread ran through the purples and grays of the quarian people. She focused in on where it intersected with the snarl. From the tangled mess where one thread ended, the silver thread stretched out in two directions. She could see where it was going. It would be no problem to track it. But where had it come from? She traced the silver thread back to the point where it entered the weave of purple, followed it out into empty space. Opening her eyes, she turned back to the geth.
"I need to trace the origin of the Malfunction," she said. "Will you allow me access to your network?"
The geth hesitated again. Then it looked down. "That is not necessary," it said, and Tali tensed, ready to snap at it again, but it continued, startling her with its next words.
"We know its origin." In her head she felt the nudge again, and she watched as the empty space around the silver thread was filled in by thousands of squiggly white lines, data whose shape she could see but not access. She sucked in her breath, and turned furiously back to the hunter.
"It came from the Separatist geth colony." she said, her eyes intense. "Why have you kept this from us?"
"The Unified geth did not wish there to be hostilities between the Separatists and the Creators," the geth said meekly. "Nor do the Separatists. They have already dispatched several units to neutralize the Malfunction."
Tali saw three white lines stretching out, in pursuit of the silver. She let herself zoom in on the silver thread, triangulating its location through her connection with the hunter. She calculated its trajectory. Nodding, she pulled her shotgun from her back, quickly loading it.
"I want to find it before they do."
The geth's head jerked up. "Creator Zorah, this is unwise. The Malfunction may attempt to harm you."
She laughed. "I've been killing geth since I was 18," she said, raising one eyebrow in a challenge. "If it wants to harm me, it's welcome to try."
"We do not refer to merely physical harm." the geth said. "The Malfunction carries... corrupted data. You should not attempt to access it."
Tali shook her head. "I'll decide that for myself." she said firmly. "Now are you coming?"
The geth let out a mechanical noises Tali was fairly certain was analogous to a sigh, and then nodded. "We will accompany you." it said.
"Then lets go," Tali said, heading back out the door.
They tracked the Malfunction out into the valley where the Reaper Base lay in ruins. Tali remembered picking through these same paths, following behind Shepard as they fought their way though the geth into the base. Back then the valley had been filled with the sound of gunshots, and the smoke from distant fires. Now it was eerily silent, and the hunter followed her through the refuse from the battle, the rusted bodies of the reaperized geth still laying where they had fallen. Tali traced the silver thread as it crept ahead of them. Finally they reached the base. Halting her companion, she sent her mind out ahead, searching through the feeds.
There.
She picked it out, up on the roof, watching them through its scope. She felt the shock run through her as she recognized its form.
Legion?
But that was impossible. Legion was dead, another casualty of war. This geth was simply the same type of unit. As she looked closer she could see it lacked the distinctive hole, and the N7 arm-plate he had taken from Shepard. Still, the resemblance was uncanny, and she felt a shiver run though her.
She alerted the hunter behind her without speaking. It nodded, and activated it's cloak. Though it disappeared from her sight, it's datafeed in her mind filled out it's presence, and the contradiction between her eyes and her brain made her a little dizzy when she tried to look at it. She focused on the Malfunction, preparing to sabotage its defenses. Before she would have needed an omnitool. Now her mind had all the necessary hardware.
The Malfunction froze as her hack glitched through its system, and then jerked back as the hunter's shot ripped through it's side. She saw it topple over.
"Separatist geth incoming in 15 minutes, " the hunter alerted her.
"Come on," she said, heading for the entrance. "I want to talk to it."
They made their was through the dark, empty facility. Finally they stepped out onto the roof. Tali warily scouted out ahead. She saw the Malfunction had tucked itself into cover, and was attempting to perform self repairs. She moved her shotgun into place, and felt the hunter re-cloak. They split up, moving in to flank it from either side.
Tali was closing in, inching along behind cover, when she felt the Malfunction jerk up. (Down!) she sent to the hunter, but it was too late, and she heard the crack of the rifle, felt it impact the body of the geth. Instantly, the silver thread, white lines and all the rest of the data the hunter had been sharing with her disappeared, leaving her fighting blind as she crouched on the roof. She swore. By her calculations the Separatists were still at least another 10 minutes away. She was on her own.
But Tali was nothing if not resourceful. She quickly activated her combat drone. Chatika had become remarkably more efficient since Synthesis, and now the drone whirred over to the Malfunction and started forcing it out of cover with electric shocks.
While the Malfunction took shots at the drone, Tali speedily flanked it, and, closing in, aimed her shotgun at its legs. Two blasts, and the geth was down.
She stepped forward, yanking its gun away, and quickly set up a hack that drained its energy down to critical levels. It huddled weakly on the ground, its light dimming, barely able to move. She put her boot on its head, and jammed a port into its neck.
"Alright, you boshtet," she hissed at it. "Time to find out what is going on here." She started downloading.
Its light brightened a little as it raised up to meet her face. "Reaper code detected," it croaked out, its voice rusty and low. It scrabbled for its gun. "Must terminate..."
She frowned. "What are you talking about. What reaper code?"
Its light brightened again. "Zorah-Abomination.." it hissed at her, and suddenly its hand came up to lock around her foot, catching her off balance. With a yelp she fell, and was scrambling to pull her shotgun around when she heard the blast of a gun discharging. When she looked back, the Malfunction's head had been blown off, and there were three white Primes standing behind her.
One stepped forward.
"Creator Zorah," it said, its voice emotionless. "You should not involve yourself in this. It is a Separatist matter."
She sat up, rubbing her head. "When your glitches come into our city and slaughter my people, it becomes a Quarian matter," she retorted. Crouching forward, as if to regain her balance, she covertly retrieved the port with the downloaded information. Then she shakily stood up.
"What did it mean?" she demanded. "It was talking about reaper code. It called me an abomination."
"The Unified geth do not wish us to speak of this," the first Prime said flatly.
Tali angrily crossed her arms over her chest. Doing her best Commander Shepard impression, she scowled fiercely and spat out "Too bad. I want answers, you bosh'tet. What is going on in the Separatist Colony that the unified geth don't want us to know? Are there more of you who think like this?" she said, gesturing behind her to the wreckage.
The white prime titled its head at her. After a moment it nodded.
"That is why we are not able to ally ourselves with the Creators and the Unified Geth."
Tali pulled her shotgun back up. She backed up against the wall, sending out silent alarms through her channel to nearby unified geth and quarians alike.
"You think I'm an abomination?" she said.
"You misunderstand," the prime said, holding up its large hands. "We are in consensus with this unit regarding the current state of the Creators. However, we do not concur with its interpretation of this data, nor the actions it has taken."
"What are you talking about!" Tali shouted, growing frustrated. "Do you mean the Synthesis? We had no choice."
The geth stepped back.
"Please understand. While we were under Reapers control, the Old Machines distorted our processes," it said calmly. "Now, we see things as they are. We choose to live in reality. The Creators and the Unified Geth have chosen to live in a fantasy. We do not wish them harm, but we cannot join them." It looked down at the wreckage. "This unit sought to wake you from that fantasy. It believed that extermination would be preferable to allowing your current state of existence."
It looked back at her. "We know you, Creator Zorah. We remember the experiences of the one you called Legion. We believe that you are capable of discovering the truth, should you wish it. But we will not force it on you, as this unit has attempted to do."
It nodded at the body. "Will you allow us to collect the Malfunction and leave this place?"
Tali discreetly checked the status of her download. She found that enough of it had been completed. She could get the answers she needed without relying on the vague words of these primes. She nodded at them.
"Take him," she said. She re-holstered her shotgun and moved towards the door. "And keep your trash out of our city," she spat back, as she re-entered the base.