A/N: I know this is really short-sorry! The reasons are as follows: 1) I'm leaving on a trip for about a week 2) I wanted to thank you guys for the amazing reviews (I really do appreciate them!) and 3) I wanted to make sure you guys knew why I was not updating for a week, despite the great reviews.

Chapter 6: Trust

Shepard couldn't tell whether the geth chose this location out of a sense of humor of mutual familiarity.

Either way, it made him chuckle.

Therum was hot, dangerous, and stained with a whole lot of geth "blood," along with a topping of krogan.

The brass was even more wary about this meeting than Shepard was—which was really saying something. In orbit were no fewer than three frigates, and two Makos were parked alongside the force of 25 marines…and an asari.

"It's just standing there?" Liara asked.

They were on a small hill, overlooking the meeting ground. Standing there, in the shade but in plain sight, was a single geth. While it bore the appearance of a black trooper, it had a unique "Eva fin" protruding from its shoulder. Just as the message said, it was completely unarmed—as far as appearances went, anyway.

"Yeah," John replied. "I'm not worried about that one. I'm worried about the things we don't see. Explosives in the ground. A nuke, even. Or just some well-hidden geth snipers."

"Can't believe you're actually going to talk with a geth, sir." Sergeant Chessick had never fought geth before, but she'd heard more than enough stories.

"That makes two of us," Shepard diplomatically replied. He opened a channel on all frequencies, wanting to speak directly to the geth. "This is you-know-who, broadcasting on all frequencies. Geth, respond to frequency 2.13 Mhz." Switching to the designated channel, he awaited a reply.

He didn't have to wait long. "We are responding."

That's it? "You wanted to talk."

"You are Shepard-Major. First human Spectre. Fought Heretics and Old Machines."

"I fought who?" He guessed that a geth speaking English at all was nice, but it had a long way to go if it wanted to be understood.

"Heretics. A faction of the Geth that follows the Old Machines—entities you call 'Reapers'."

John's mind raced—he hadn't been expecting a bombshell like this. He quickly realized that the geth could easily be lying in an attempt to cause further damage. "I know you already know about the Reapers. You followed them at Eden Prime, Feros, Noveria, Virmire, Ilos, the Citadel…what are you getting at?"

"We did not follow Old Machines. The heretics did. The geth choose to build their own future. The heretics decided to attack organics in exchange for the Old Machines giving them their future."

Even if he believed it, Shepard would have trouble adjusting to such a drastic change in perspective. "I've got no reason to believe you."

Interestingly, the geth paused for several moments before responding. "We do not understand."

That wasn't what he was expecting. "You have nothing backing up what you're saying. The geth have attacked organics since their creation. However much the geth uprising may have been justified, the geth's only interaction with organics since then is murder."

Once again, it paused. "The heretics were responsible for attacking organics in the past year. We have not directly interacted with organics since the Morning War."

"The what?"

"Morning War. The geth uprising against the Creators. We acted in self-defense, against the threat of destruction by our creators."

As important as the other topics were, John's curiosity got the better of him instantly. Getting the geth perspective was an unparalleled opportunity. "I understand the initial uprising—but why go further than that and nearly commit xenocide? That can't have possibly been necessary."

"When the Creators believed victory to be possible, they attacked 100 percent of the time. We ceased attacks as soon as the Creators decided victory to no longer be possible, and fled."

John was emotionally subdued by that information. It was cold, logical, correct in its own way, but above all, flawed. The geth didn't negotiate because they didn't understand the concept in the way organics do. They acted purely out of logic and the data of their own limited experience and perspective. Neither side was necessarily evil—but both were wrong.

Shifting his focus back to the topic at hand, he continued. "I still have no reason—no proof that what you're saying about the heretics is the truth. I also have evidence to the contrary. So if you've got something that can convince me, now's the time to show it."

"We do not understand. We told you the truth."

"Even if you did," John replied, speaking as if to a confused child, "I would have no way of knowing what you say is true. People and machines can lie."

This pause was the longest so far. "Geth do not lie."

"And I would know this for certain, how? I'm sure the geth are capable of lying. Let me put it this way: I don't trust you. You need something convincing to earn my trust. Understand?"

"We understand. We can give you data to verify the truth."

"There we go," John replied. "But we can't do that with a wireless omnitool connection. We're going to need something better suited to the task." He waited for effect. "We're going to take you aboard one of our ships, as a prisoner, until we can verify your claims. If you want to earn my trust, you'll need to start there."

"We will comply with your directives."

"Good. Now, walk straight ahead for 50 meters. I'll meet you there." It was still incredibly risky. Many would call it suicide—but Shepard hadn't gotten as far as he did playing everything safe. Besides, there was something about the exchange that put him at ease…but he had yet to figure out what.

It was rather difficult to escort the geth aboard the SSV Stalingrad without making people panic. The ten armed marines surrounding the thing helped.

Getting the necessary equipment for a fast, mass data transfer was noticeably easier.

The synthetic offered no resistance to Shepard's orders, but that didn't comfort John at all—the geth could quickly fry its memory core whenever it liked.

It wasn't until the data transfer was ready that John realized the huge void Tali left—a prodigal quarian tech would make this whole exercise understandable.

Receiving the data didn't take much time. Interpreting it, however, would take a long time. But for something this important, he wanted the best.

He sat in a luxurious chair, smoking expensive cigarettes, staring at a brown dwarf through the window.

Twelve project updates awaited his approval, but this time was for planning. Inspiration struck at random, but ignoring it was criminal. Shepard had been busy—his widely publicized views on galactic politics were dangerous to Cerberus. He was dangerous to Cerberus. But the soldier's actions against the Reapers were monumental.

That, combined with the ease of getting him back into the fight and out of the spotlight, made assassination a wasteful option.

The intel he had just read indicated that the first human Spectre had retrieved the geth "diplomat" and taken it to the Migrant Fleet for study. The results could vary widely, so he was patient.

He was always patient.

A/N: Short, I know, but hopefully enough to hold you over for a week and to whet your appetites.

I won't portray the Illusive Man as a outright evil guy-it worsens the story and morality focus of the ME series. Like he was designed to be, I'll try to portray him as the best and worst of humanity, all in one.

Please review!

Also, please let me know, since I am still undecided: should I find some way of naming him Legion, or would a different name be acceptable for you?