The Commander still isn't satisfied, and she has a whole new question, somewhat deeper than the last:

What do you think of love?

Joker: It's effed up. [pause] Oh, but you were serious, weren't you? Hell, why wouldn't you be serious? I can never tell when you're joking, Commander. Maybe if you lightened up a bit more then I wouldn't have all of this confusion… [sigh]

Aren't you going to answer?

Gah, fine. Love is… different for everybody. Me? I love ships, I love the way they move, I love the sense of control I have when I'm busting this baby from one move to the next. It's like something you can't walk away from. You love your job, right?

I wouldn't exactly say I love being the chess piece standing against the Reapers…

Yeah, but you love being who you are, right? If you didn't love being who you were, then you'd be sane and walk away or be as stupid and ignorant as those sons of bitches on the Council or in Alliance Command. Love's easier when there aren't any people in the way, get it?

How so?

If you love a person, then you gotta put up with their little mood swings and outbursts and just them in general. Ships, objects, and ideas are a lot simpler. They don't nag nag nag about not making your bed or [high pitched voice] 'honey, why don't we ever do anything fun? I miss it when you took me to places. I'm not gonna have sex with you until you treat me like a spoiled princess!'

Not all women are like that, Joker.

Yeah, yeah, I know you ain't, but I'm not talking about you. I'm just talking about… people in general. It's easier to love something that doesn't talk back to yah, just saying.

Kaidan: That's an… interesting question, Commander. Why are you asking me?

Because I'm curious, Kaidan.

Uh, okay. [clears throat] Love's just a feeling. You have it or you don't. You… go through every day thinking about the person you love. Sometimes you hate them, but even when you do you know you'd never leave them. You stand by them, you know? You'd die for them. You just can't look away from it.

[catches himself staring into the Commander's eyes and turns away abruptly] Anyway, there's my two cents on it.

Ashley: Love's easy. Okay, yeah, it's muddy, too. I think if you found the real person you liked a lot, then it wouldn't matter how crappy the waters are as long as you have each other, you know? You're probably talking about boyfriends and girlfriends, but I'm actually not. I love my sisters, I love my family, I love this crew. I'd do anything for you guys.

Thanks, Ash. That really means a lot.

I mean it, Commander. I know everything's not exactly the best it could be right now, but we're making the most out of a bad situation. We're going to pull through, one-hundred percent.

Garrus: Love's crazy, Commander. It's all this… hormone-driven stuff. I don't know. [scratches back of neck awkwardly] Most things I've seen have shown that most of the true love out there is garbage. People say they love each other and then I get a call to answer a domestic dispute. People marry, then they divorce. But people do insane things for love, too, like sacrificing themselves.

You sound like you've seen a lot of these things personally…

I have. In C-Sec it wasn't always flashing guns and killing hostage-takers. Most of the time I was out answering domestic dispute cases, and those were… never pretty. A lot of screwed up people who should've known better than to get themselves in those kinds of situations. Sometimes you'll hit a good love and you'll stay together until you die, but it's rare.

What about love for family and friends?

Well… [shrug] People change. I may not like it, but they do, and there is only so much you can do to stop it. I enjoy people for the time I have them.

Really? Do you think we'll turn on you, Garrus?

What? No. No, you know me better than that, Shepard. You guys are solid troops, and we've got a good cause. No, it's other people who worry me, but trust me, you're the least of them.

Wrex: Love is something reserved for the weak. If you're going to survive, you need allies, not a goddamn girlfriend or whatever the hell you have.

Going past girlfriends, what do you think of love itself? Just in general. You obviously love killing.

I kill because I'm paid to, Shepard. I don't enjoy it, I'm not sadistic. I'm out to see just how far to the top I can go before somebody finally brings me down. I have no passion – I'm out to survive, just like you.

What about your people?

I'm going to survive long enough to get the Clans back in order. Those assholes need a leader right now… idiots. The Genophage weakened us, reduced us to begging mongrels. I refuse to let our race become as useless as the quarians.

So maybe you could say that you're in love with the survival of your people?

It's not love, Shepard. It's survival. There's a difference.

How so?

Survival means that you can sire enough offspring to bring the world to its knees. Love is being too naïve to see the world find you.

Tali: [pauses for a moment] That's… an odd question, Commander. Why are you asking?

Just curious, Tali.

What do I think of love…? Love's what holds everything together, you know? It's how my race has survived so long in the Migrant Fleet. We love each other, we'd do anything for each other. If my death meant the survival of another quarian, I would gladly give my life in order for them to survive.

And you think love is just giving your life for another?

No! No! Not that at all! Commander, love is something that all communities should be built upon. Love for an idea, a person, a religion – every civilization has roots there. Keelah, Shepard, I thought you knew me better than that.

No, relax, Tali. I'm just probing you. I'm interested in hearing what you have to say.

Really? [swallows] Okay, then! Love is an amazing thing, Shepard. I think everybody could use a bit more of it, especially in these days.

Liara: Love? That's a strange question, is it not? I see by your stance that you're completely serious… Very well, then, I will attempt to answer your question, but forgive me if it's not the kind you're looking for.

Relax, Liara, this isn't a right or wrong type of question. I'm just getting different feedback.

Oh, I see, then… this is for some kind of study?

Kind of.

[blushes] In my opinion… love is something you cannot escape.

How so?

I believe that when you find it, you will know. [looks into Shepard's eyes] It is something you wouldn't want to escape from.

Jacob: Love… that's a tricky one. Guess it depends on what your personal definition of love is.

That's why I'm asking you.

Yeah, yeah, I know… just trying to come up with a good answer. [pause] Okay, got one. Zaeed and Jessie. Miranda and Cerberus. Joker and the Normandy.

That's your definition?

Yes, ma'am.

Miranda: Love? Really, Shepard, you do choose the oddest questions to ask before a suicide mission… Very well. [light chuckle] I suppose I should answer you, shouldn't I? Love is… [pause] well, it's everywhere. I wouldn't go as far as to say that it binds all of us together or anything. There are different types of love. You have the addictions, the stalkers, the Reaper indoctrination for example. It's all very hormonal for a time. Sometimes I think that the salarians have it right with those reproduction contracts. It proves that love is hormonal… though I disagree with it at some parts as well.

Yes?

Well, for example, you could love an idea. Mordin loves his work as a scientist, and that's not hormonal at all. If salarians couldn't sustain those types of feelings for long periods of time, it would prove without a doubt that love is something you can only get within a narrow window of time.

True.

Love isn't something you should go out looking for, kind of like a target. It messes up a lot of good things, so I've tried to stay away from it, myself.

What about you and Jacob?

[blushes] That was a young mistake! We both just weren't mature enough to realize that we couldn't work well together in… that type of setting. We're better off as friends. I love him as a friend, nothing more. And you'd best get those ideas out of your head, Commander.

Mordin: [ducks under table to remove a squealing mouse by the tail and dumps him in a glass container] 'Love' is emotion of strong affection and personal attachment. In philosophical context, love is virtue representing kindness, compassion, and affection. In religious context, love is not just a virtue, but the basis for all being and the foundation for all divine law, like your human religions and soforth. I happen to love my work a great deal.

That's a pretty thorough answer, Mordin… but I know you probably have more to say about it than that.

Have had tougher questions before. [laughs] The word love can refer to a variety of different feelings, states, and attitudes, ranging from generic pleasure to intense interpersonal attraction. "Love" can also refer specifically to the passionate desire and intimacy of romantic love, to sexual and hormone-driven love, to the emotional closeness of familial love, to the platonic love that defines friendship, to the profound oneness or devotion of religious love. Diversity of uses and meanings, combined with the complexity of the feelings involved, makes love unusually difficult to consistently define, even compared to other emotional states.

Love in its various forms acts as major facilitator of interpersonal relationships and, owing to its central psychological importance, one of the most common themes in the creative arts.

Zaeed: Goddamn it, Shepard, is this all you came down for?

Come on, Zaeed, give me a bit of an answer.

Love's love. There. You're almost just as bad as Chambers, and that's not a compliment.

Kasumi: Love's knowing that you've gone through every layer of security a place has, pulled a few dirty tricks right under security's nose, and walking out with a priceless artifact while they're busy arguing about how to approach the thief right behind you. [laughs] Man, that was the best heist of my life…

Come on, Kasumi, be serious.

I was only poking fun, Shep. But it's true! I love everything I do. As long as you do everything with a passion, it never gets boring. Keeps it alive and interesting, you know?

Grunt: I love killing things, breaking bones. I've been thinking of different ways from Okeer's connections… [laughs] There was this one time when he stomped on the shin of a human while he was standing. The bone snapped and poked right out of his shin. Man collapsed, screaming, and got a knee in the face. Then he stepped on his neck, and blood just came out of his mouth. Funniest thing.

Jack: What are you, some kinda shrink or something? Can't you just try and stay outta my head? I'm not into that kinda thing, Shepard.

Jack, come on. Humor me.

No way. Go ask the quarian if you want a good girl talk. Otherwise, leave me outta it.

Thane: Well, I suppose that there are many different determinations of love, si'ha. I gather that you're asking out of curiosity? What is your motive?

The acquisition of knowledge?

[blinks] Very well. Love is a beautiful thing, though sometimes it is warped with its complexity. When a being has such a strong connection to one thing or one person, it can fundamentally change who they are and what they believe in. When I met my wife, I became attached. Frightfully so. I don't regret it, but the change was… disconcerting.

How so?

I'd given up my entire being to one person I hardly knew. I stalked her and did not know why. The feeling was odd for me, being such a solitary person. After I realized how much I loved her, how much I needed her, I did not relent. It only grew stronger.

Possessive?

By some small glimmer of fate, she felt the same about me. We were both equally guarded about the other, if that is what you are asking. Our son, Kolyat, is the product of our love… I only wish that I had taken care of him better than I have.

You're making up for any mistakes you made by reconnecting with him now, Thane.

I realize that… they will always be my mistakes and I will always carry them around with me, but I've learned to accept that. And by some miracle, my son has as well. Things will be safe for him on the Citadel… but until the Reapers are gone, I will fight at your side, Commander.

Samara: I am not the one should be asking about love, Commander Shepard. My duties as a Justicar do not permit me to have any such personal attachments.

Please, Samara.

It is not something I wish to talk about.

[Shepard sits down next to her]

And it seems you are insistent. You do not want to ask me this, Commander. My feelings, my thoughts, they are clear and yet tainted on this matter. I know only that I cannot love, that I should not love. What has come from such love affairs has been nothing to be proud of. I have devoted my life to killing my daughter – how can I possibly say that I love her still? That I care for her. I was there to kiss at scraped knees and wipe away tears, but once I learned what they had become I locked the three of them away from sight, ashamed of the sight of them.

You weren't ashamed. You tried to protect them.

And then Morinth got away, and I knew that I must kill her. This is not love, Commander. Our relationship is founded on hate and lies… and yet I do wish that she was different. Every day I yearn and pray that she will see the light, but I have already been sworn to kill her for her actions. I do not forsake my vows.

I see how this still bothers you.

It is a scar that will never go away, even with death.

Legion: There are 14 noun definitions, 6 verb with direct object, 1 verb without direct object, 1 verb phrase, and 6 idioms corresponding to the word 'love.' Shall we dictate?

No. Just tell me what 'love' is like to the geth.

We do not understand, Shepard-Commander.

What do you all think love is?

We are… confused. Is this a spiritual question?

Yes, it is.

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