CHAPTER 1: Memorial

Akuze Memorial Site – 1050 hours Galactic Standard Time (G.S.T.) :: 11.4.2191 Terran Coordinated Universal Dating System (T.C.U.)

Captain Kaidan Alenko slowly and deliberately fastened the brass cuffs of his military blues, all the while looking at his weathered reflection in the mirror as his reflection looked emptily back at him. He had arrived late last night, attempting to spend as little time on this planet as he could before returning back to the Citadel. This was no ordinary planet; this was Akuze, long a testimony for one of the greatest failures of human colonization and a lifetime event of the Hero of the Citadel: Commander Shepard.

That fact bothered the captain to no end, but not because of the devastation that happened here to a younger Commander Shepard; it was because it was another painful reminder of the Commander himself: his commander for three years, his friend…his love. Today would have been his thirty-seventh birthday. It had been less than five years since the Battle for Earth, and the end of the Harvest War, but the last words Commander Shepard had said to him were still freshly burned into his mind:

"No matter what happens, know that I love you…always."

Kaidan closed his eyes as his mind replayed the bloody leveled battlefield that was the last five-hundred feet to the Citadel Beam, guarded by the oldest and possibly the most powerful of the Reapers: Harbinger. Shepard had narrowly evaded a blast from Harbinger, only to look back to see Harbinger obliterate a Mako tank which flipped backwards and nearly crushed Kaidan and Garrus, both of whom were following close behind. Both were caught in the blast as the Mako combusted instantly as it fell on its top, and Shepard backtracked to drag them out. In a seemingly miraculous chain of events, Harbinger seemed less interested in the Normandy as it came down to evacuate Garrus and Kaidan, and instead turned its attention on Shepard as soon as it lifted off.

That was the last time Kaidan saw Shepard alive. In the medical bay, he had keened for any hope for any news for Shepard. The minutes that followed were excruciating. While the Crucible was in transit, Admiral Hackett whispered a few words in near bewilderment: "My god…he did it." That was proof enough. Shepard had made it to the summit, and from there unleashed the energy of the Crucible, and from then on was gone.

After his wounds were treated, he limped to the bridge—ignoring any protest by Dr. Chakwas—to be there in case Shepard called for any evacuation. The call never came, and he could only watch in silence as Admiral Hackett ordered all ships to retreat as the Crucible primed. Joker had the mindset to disregard the orders and fly for the Crucible at the base of the Citadel.

The rest was a bit of a blur to Kaidan: they had spent the better part of a month on an inhabitable moon that orbited a gas giant over a dozen light-years from the home system in the Local Cluster. While the ship was only moderately damaged, there was no good way for the Normandy to lift back off from the ground once the repairs to the main reactor were complete. The Normandy SR-2 was designed only for space-docking; a dock on terrain with its mass effect fields could torch the immediate area.

It had been almost five years now, and they had long escaped that moon, thanks to their great shock, a Reaper; two of them in fact. It was surreal; two Reapers picked up the ship using their appendages and lifted the Normandy off the moon. Once it was stable in space, the Reapers disappeared. Soon after that, an Alliance vessel jumped into the system and escorted the Normandy back to the home system. Once there, the Normandy crew learned that the Crucible didn't destroy the Reapers as planned, but had subjugated them under some kind of super intelligence identifying itself only as the Guardian. The Reapers repaired the mass relays—which had apparently have been severely damaged from the Crucible—and also returned the Citadel back to the Widow Cluster in the Serpent Nebula. The Crucible had been left behind in orbit above Earth.

Kaidan opened his eyes and looked at himself in the mirror again, almost disbelievingly. Ever since then, there had been an uneasy peace throughout the galaxy. The majority of the Reapers apparently were now hovering outside the borders of the galaxy, while a small number of them now went across the galaxy back and forth, almost like they were on patrols. Whoever this Guardian was, it apparently saw itself as a sole authority of protection in the galaxy, armed with the most powerful force in the galaxy that only a few short years ago had threatened to extinguish all advanced life in the galaxy, synthetic and organic. Needless to say, the Council races were quite disturbed by this revelation; they were now under the watchful eye of this Guardian, who at a whim could repeat the hell that was the Harvest War. Five years of uneasy peace reigned since then.

As a Council Spectre, Kaidan was ordered—along with all the other Spectres—to monitor Reaper movements throughout Council Space, and Kaidan obediently monitored Reaper activities. He had been curious himself. Why weren't the Reapers destroyed? Why did they stop? What were they doing now? He hoped that an answer to any of those questions could lead him to the answer to the question he was really asking: where is Shepard?

A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. Turning, he saw a turian standing in the doorway. His face was scarred heavily on the right side of his face, while a simple but brilliant dark blue pattern decked the right side of his face, over his nose and fading into the scars. His black marble eyes seemed just as weary as his face depicted.

Kaidan looked away. "Oh, hi, Garrus." Exhaling sharply, he continued as he looked back at the mirror. "You, uh…kind of startled me there."

Garrus himself exhaled in the same fashion; a half-hearted chuckle. "Yeah, I have that effect," he said.

"Did you need something?"

"Just coming in to tell you that the ceremony is starting soon. We saved you a spot towards the front."

"Thanks," Kaidan said simply, but didn't look at Garrus.

Garrus' eyes flickered apprehensively, as his doubled-voice questioned floated to Kaidan. "Are you all right, Kaidan?"

Kaidan perked up. "Yeah, I'm all right. Just, uh…a little tired, got in late last night, didn't sleep very well, you know."

Garrus only kept his gaze. Words weren't necessary.

Kaidan lowered his own gaze. "I…I just have a lot on my mind."

That was enough for Garrus. "I understand, Kaidan. We miss him too."

Kaidan raised a hand to his head, hoping that there wasn't another migraine coming. He'd been having trouble with them lately. "It's not the same, Garrus…"

Garrus raised his tridactyl hand. "I—we know. Shepard was very important to you, and you were the galaxy to him. He may have not said so to us, but we knew. I'm sure, wherever he is, he's looking out for you. You know, before the charge to the Citadel Beam, I got to talk to Shepard one last time. I told him that if the thing turned sideways and we both end up in the afterlife, we would meet at the bar, and that I was buying."

Kaidan sniffed, smiling. That sounded like something Shepard would do all right. Garrus was the closest thing Shepard had to a best friend, outside of his own relationship with Kaidan. "I'm sure he's still waiting for you."

"No, I'm sure he's already bought some and is now just looking down at us, giving us a toast for good luck."

Kaidan looked at Garrus again, his chocolate eyes reflecting the light more than usual. "Yeah, sounds like him." Kaidan rubbed his mouth. "I…I miss him so much. There are just so many questions I have…"

"Kaidan," Garrus said. "We had no idea the Crucible would do what it did. I doubt even Shepard knew what happened when he opened the arms. We might never know."

Kaidan could only nod. "Yeah."

Kaidan's omni-tool lit up. Lifting his left arm, he punched a few keys on it. "Kaidan."

"Oh, Captain, did Garrus find you all right?" came a high, perky voice with a thick accent, every r trilling like a nightingale's call.

Kaidan looked at Garrus, who merely looked back with what Kaidan swore to be a smile. Looking back at his omni-tool, Kaidan said. "Yes, Tali. He just found me a little bit ago."

"Good. The ceremony starts very soon and the seats are filling up. I don't know how much longer we can hold your seats."

Kaidan nodded. "All right, we're on the way."

The omni-tool faded from view as Kaidan lowered his arm. "Guess we, uh…should get going."

Garrus nodded. "Yeah, we should."

XXXXXXXXXX

The skies were clear as the pavilion filled with people from many races to pay their respects to the Shepard Memorial and the man whom it memorialized. The memorial was extravagant: walls of black marble with the names of the soldiers, regardless of race, who lost their lives during the Reaper War. The chief part of attention was the Shepard Memorial Flame at the heart of the memorial: a burning bowl, shadowed by an obelisk of black marble with a white marble summit. On the face facing the flame, there was an ovular picture of Commander John Shepard in navy blues. Underneath it was carved the following:

COMMANDER JOHN ALAN SHEPARD

(11.4.2154 – 10.11.2186)

N7

SILVER STAR

MEDAL OF HONOR

STAR OF TERRA

NOVA CLUSTER

SILVER DAGGER

Despite the memorial site's prominence, it stood in the middle of a desert, several clicks from the nearest outpost on the planet. The only other landmarks were mountains in the distance. Vegetation was scarce as well as any form of wildlife. Despite its isolation, the site was infamous; this was the place where a unit of Alliance soldiers perished against a group of thresher maws. Commander Shepard was the only one to survive, although unconfirmed reports suggest that a second had survived but was never found.

That catastrophe was fourteen years ago, and many had heard a synopsis of what had happened on this site that day in 2177. Despite its tragic atmosphere, it was now barely a footnote in Shepard's legacy in light of his greatest accomplishment: conquering the Reapers. While the Citadel Council considered the continued presence of the Reapers as an ongoing investigation, a growing number of citizens in Council Space consider Shepard as the conqueror of the Reapers. Shepard had become something of legend and myth. Some conspiracy theorists have gone on to say that the Citadel Council is in fact very knowledgeable about the Reapers' apparent pacifism, and had in fact known that the Crucible was in fact designed to overthrow the Reapers' minds and turn them into an unstoppable force against whoever questioned the Council. More such theories were similar, although they mainly point to the Alliance as they who control the Reapers now, even going as far as suggesting the Harvest War was a front for them to gain control of Council Space under human rule.

As the theories grew in number, those who had known the Commander the best could only remorsefully bemoan the callus accusations against the Alliance, the Council, and even the Commander, although there was nary a foolish soul who would speak out against the memory of Commander Shepard. Even the newly organized Batarian Parliament had warned its citizens to bide their words regarding Commander Shepard, despite his involvement in the annihilation of the Bahak System. Whether this was a result of the complete dissolution of the hegemony or Shepard's death being satisfaction enough was hard to tell; nevertheless, batarian sentiment towards Shepard was very mixed. Still, it was no surprise that not a single batarian could be seen at the memorial today.

As the pavilion continued to fill, despite the diminishing amount of vacant seats, a woman stood silently in front of the obelisk that contained Shepard's image. Flecking a small black lock of her hair out of her face, she admired the simple but extravagant obelisk. It was fitting for the Commander; he was a man of simple taste, who had often spent his free time building ship models. She had observed this when she served aboard the Normandy during the Collector attacks. When she was an operative for Cerberus, she monitored Shepard's movement, even in the confines of his cabin. She didn't except she could learn so much about the commander by observing him in downtime, not to mention on the battlefield.

"It's been some time, Ms. Lawson."

The woman, Ms. Miranda Lawson, turned to see who has addressed her: a well-aged officer of the Alliance, weathered and scarred by decades of battle, and his snowy hair was just another verse in the canticle. "Not long enough it seems, Admiral," she replied simply.

"Perhaps," replied Admiral Hackett. "I doubt any amount of time can change what we think about those days."

"Only a fool would believe it would."

Hackett could only nod.

"It's strange," Miranda continued. "The last words I said to him were that if we won or came out at all, everything would be different. I was right, but I couldn't predict this."

"None of us could; none of us knew what the Crucible would do when it fired, although it did what it needed to do: end the war. Shepard got it done."

Miranda was all too familiar with the outcome of that final battle on Earth, and had spent the last few years investigating not only the cause of the Reaper subjugation, but the disappearance of Shepard. Her first step was to investigate the Crucible more closely, coupling it with what they knew about the Citadel, more accurately the fact that it regulates the entire mass relay network. However, it was a dead end; the Crucible was defunct and spent. Upon closer inspection, it was revealed that when attached to the Crucible, it was little more than a power source. There was neither anything on the Crucible itself, nor in the plans to actually suggest otherwise. The Crucible had been designed to be used in conjunction with the Catalyst, and the Catalyst was inferred to be the thing that allowed the Crucible to fire the dark energy bursts.

Miranda spent the following years combing the Citadel, cooperating with C-Sec, but nothing emerged from all those years of poking around the crevices of the Citadel; all fruitless. Despite years of cold leads, she never gave up. She couldn't, not when a person's life could be on the line. Not when that person was Commander Shepard, whom through his actions and conscience Miranda saw the true evil of Cerberus, and through his help, Miranda was able to save her sister from her father's grimy hands. She owed the Commander a lot, but finding the Commander because she owed him wasn't among her reasons. To be honest, she couldn't help but feel that the list of reasons she compiled was callused in itself. The more she thought about it, the more she felt like she was doing it because the world still needed him. Was it because the Reapers were still around, silently drifting through galactic space? Or was it simply because she felt that Shepard had known more before he disappeared?

Her mind flashed back to reality as her eyes continue to explore the memorial's stonemasonry. "Yes, he got it done…," she said.

The hollowness of her statement was not lost on the Admiral's part, but he had chosen to say nothing. They could speculate what happened at the base of the Citadel for ages to come, but until something new turned up, all they had was what they already knew. The admiral only turned away to leave. "Ms. Lawson."

"Admiral," she returned politely, but remained. There were just so many questions that needed answering. Most would have called her quest for answers a desperate ambition for closure, but it was that kind of determination that had made her so useful in Cerberus, and in a strange turn against her former employer before the Reapers invaded. Perhaps her quest was just for closure, but on the other hand, it wasn't just for herself either.

Looking away from the memorial itself for a small moment, she could see how quickly the seats had been filled. Most were strangers, or were more just passing acquaintances of the Commander. That being said, she instantly spotted the former comrades-in-arms that Miranda herself either had the pleasure of working with or at least knew they were trustworthy enough to have earned the Commander's trust, and that was enough for her. At the same time, she could even see who was missing from this event, and had been since before the war ended. She had heard that Dr. Mordin Solus, a salarian military scientist high up in the STG, had given up his life to make sure the krogan were finally freed of the ever-controversial genophage. Thane had perished at the blade of Kai Leng, but not without preventing him from taking out Councilor Valern during the Second Battle of the Citadel, even while he was in the final stages of Kepral's Syndrome. Even the geth construct "Legion" that they had found on a derelict Reaper months before the war had disseminated itself in the virtual realm so all geth would become free-thinking synthetic constructs independent of each other.

While she hadn't been there to witness each time it happened, she knew that each loss affected the Commander severely. Despite the fact that he had accepted that casualties happen in war—particularly in one of that magnitude—he couldn't help but grieve for them. That was what made the Commander special: he took the time to create an intimacy between himself and each of his squad-mates. They were his friends, and he never discriminated. Even when it seemingly got to the point he would have to choose sides, he rose to the occasion to temper down both parties. For a warrior, he was quite a talented diplomat.

Just remembering that, Miranda had every reason to continue the hunt for Commander Shepard, or in the very least, discover his fate. If anything, his circle of friends deserved to know. Shepard would have wanted in the very least that.

XXXXXXXXXX

Captain Kaidan Alenko didn't know how he managed to keep his composure throughout the ceremony. For the past five times this ceremony had been held, he had always maintained a complete neutral composure, and he always asked himself how he had and why he hadn't let himself go. The silence itself had been his answer. Great care had always been taken to ensure the quality of each ceremony at this site on this day, and Kaidan had always been thankful. It would be in the very least a great disservice to mess up a memorial service of one of the greatest soldiers in Alliance history.

Come to think of it, he found himself unable to cry since that fateful night. Somehow, any other tragedy that has happened since then has felt paled in comparison. Not even finding out his father had not survived the war had pushed him to as much grief as Shepard's death had. Sometimes he had chided himself for it; other times, he reasoned that Shepard truly was a kind of man that became closer than any friend, sibling or parent. It had only taken them both three years to get to that level…three very short years.

He stood before the obelisk now, aware of the crowd milling behind him, looking at the same thing, but never paid them any more mind than the wind. Most of them were complete strangers to him, and had only addressed them politely. He had no desire to know them better, nor felt it worth trying since it wasn't likely they'd meet again, so why bother? Truth be told, his ability to forge new friendships had been severely impaired after being dealt such a loss as he had suffered. While no one had mentioned it, he could tell that the friendships he had with his old squad-mates five years ago has been in the least strained. Thankfully, they understood, but still made it known that if he needed to talk, they would be there to listen.

"Square root of 906.01 is 30.1…square root of 912.04 is 30.2…"

Kaidan shook out of his stupor enough to hear quickened ramblings of seemingly nonsensical math equations. Looking towards the source, he saw two young men standing only a few feet away. One appeared to be in great distress, while the other—an Alliance soldier—was trying to console him.

"Square root of 918.09 is—"

"30.3," said the young soldier softly and consolingly.

The other man, looked at the soldier, but remained silent.

Curiosity got the better of Kaidan and he spoke up. "Are you two all right?"

The distressed man didn't seem to pay Kaidan any mind. The soldier however nearly jumped when he saw Kaidan, and at one rose up and stiffened into a salute. "C-Captain Alenko, sir!"

"Loud," the other one started to say. "It's getting loud."

Kaidan was half-way to returning the salute when the other spoke about noises. He had to force himself to stay focused to finish the salute. As he did, his eyes scoped out the young soldier: a young lieutenant, couldn't be any older than twenty-three. Kaidan had already noticed his snow-white hair, and his eyes were as grey as a slate. "Could he be albino?" thought Kaidan, but he dismissed that thought. This young man's skin was fair, but not pale. Moreover, his eyebrows seemed to have stayed dark, despite his hair. "Possibly partial then," reasoned Kaidan mentally. Finally, he said. "At ease…" Kaidan peered at the officer's bars on the man's shoulders. "…Lieutenant."

At once, the young lieutenant relaxed. "Thank you, Captain. Second Lieutenant Paul Daniels, sir. Engineering Corps, SSV Saratoga." He motioned to the man beside him. "And this is David Archer."

Kaidan's eyes mildly flashed in recognition of the name. "Archer?"

Lieutenant Daniels' professional demeanor seemed to falter. "You know that name, sir?"

At once, Kaidan's mind flashed to a conversation he had with Shepard during the Harvest War, regarding a mission to liberate Grissom Academy from Cerberus hands. Kaidan had been still recovering from the attack on Mars while this had happened, but Shepard was generous to give him the details. Kaidan had learned that young David had been rescued from Cerberus Project: Overlord, a project designed to subjugate the geth, under the leadership of Dr. Gavin Archer…David's older brother. Shepard had intervened on Aite, rescuing David from Cerberus' clutches and brought him to Grissom Academy. Kaidan could still remember Shepard's chilling description of David's condition when Shepard first saw him.

"I couldn't believe he was still alive. He was stripped naked and surrounded by wires and needles, some going through his arms and legs. Pipes were forced down his throat and his eyes were pried open. He couldn't even blink…but he was crying so hard. He kept saying, 'Make it stop,' and 'It all seemed harmless.'"

Kaidan could even remember himself wondering if he would get nightmares of that. He himself had been through nightmares of others' creation, but he couldn't help but wonder if his particular hell was any worse than David's, or even the reverse. Who's to say which was worse? Forced to perform biotics to the point of a hemorrhage or to be turned into a living motherboard for a computer? Finally, Kaidan answered. "Second-hand, yes." He could tell that the lieutenant wanted to ask more on the circumstances, but had the prudence to keep his curiosity stilled. "Is he ok?" Kaidan asked as he looked at David, who was still muttering mathematical equations.

Lieutenant Daniels looked at David. "It's his way of keeping himself grounded. Poor David here is severely autistic, but he's a mathematical savant, far better than any of the engineers I've worked with. Back when I was in Grissom Academy, David here was pretty helpful in my projects."

Kaidan nodded, asking, "Grissom Academy?" He knew he might regret it, but he was curious. "Were you there when—"

"When Cerberus invaded?" Daniels finished. Before he answered, he looked at the memorial. "Yeah, I was with Octavia, Isaac and David here. Octavia had a barrier up and Isaac was enforcing it. David and I were trying to use our omni-tools to set up a comm-relay to see if we could get in touch with Ms. Sanders, but until Commander Shepard arrived, we weren't successful; too much interference. We owe our lives to the Commander."

"Square root of 906.01 is 30.1…," David started again.

Kaidan looked pityingly at the two. While he himself owed the Commander more than anything he could ever repay, these two were forever impacted by the simple fact that the Commander had saved them from Cerberus, and hadn't seen him again since then. Kaidan had to wonder just how many other people the Commander had impacted in such a way; he then wondered if it was possible to even count that high.

The young lieutenant saluted once more. "It was a pleasure, Captain." Looking back at David, he said, "Come on, David. Let's find a seat. Ms. Sanders should be saving us some with the rest of the Grissom guys."

As the lieutenant walked a still-muttering David away, Kaidan looked sorrowfully back at the memorial. Another reminder of the wonderful man he had fallen in love with. Sometimes, he hated being reminded, but then he remembered that these reminders were just the fruits of Shepard's legacy, and among many reasons why Kaidan was undyingly loyal to him…and loved him with every part of his heart.

"If only you were alive, John. You've touched so many lives here; I bet you would have loved to see us live the lives you gave us." Forcing back fresh tears, he conceded to go find the seat Tali had reserved for him. The service would soon start. He had a feeling that Shepard would have been annoyed at all the "fuss" he was getting; Kaidan thought with a tearful smile, "Price of being a celebrity…"

XXXXXXXXXX

SSV Normandy SR-2; D1 Commanding Officer's Quarters – 2437 hours Galactic Standard Time (G.S.T.) :: 11.4.2191 Terran Coordinated Universal Dating System (T.C.U.)

The service was lovely; it always had been. While Kaidan had no doubt that they would never slouch on a memorial service dedicated to Shepard, he still felt impressed how well it's managed, and without too much pomp and circumstance that memorial services often fell victim to. Kaidan sat on the edge of the bed, trying to let his mind rest from everything. Every year he hoped it would get easier, but each memorial the pain came back anew. It was miraculous enough not to break down each time.

It only got worse when the central crew of the Normandy from before and during the Harvest War with the Reapers went their own respective ways for the most part. Tali returned to her people on Rannoch, but that was expected. Garrus initially returned to Palaven to help with rebuilding but had since moved on to other activities. Liara left without a word, although among them a mutual assumption that she left to get a new ship to continue being the Shadow Broker. Lieutenant Vega left for N7 training after enough of Rio de Janeiro was rebuilt, although Staff Lieutenant Cortez remained, the ever faithful Kodiak pilot. There was very little of what made the Normandy special left, as far as crew is concerned. Jeff "Joker" Moreau was still the ship's pilot—as it should always be—and EDI was still the AI of the ship, Dr. Chakwas had stayed on as the ship's medical officer; beyond those three, the Normandy felt very empty without much of its central crew now gone.

Soon after the war, Kaidan had been named the Captain of the vessel. While not a technical promotion, Kaidan had been both saddened and flattered by it. He still felt out of place; the previous Commander had set the bar exceedingly high…and was one in a million. He was also still a member of the Citadel Special Tactics and Reconnaissance group. It had been five years and Kaidan still did not feel right sitting in his old CO's quarters. For some reason, he couldn't get used to the idea that it was now his quarters. He knew full well why, but it didn't shake how awkward he felt. In his heart, this place will always be Shepard's cabin. Kaidan even kept the fish-tank stocked as well as the models Shepard had bought and assembled while with Cerberus and during the war. Some had quietly questioned that holding onto Shepard's belongings like he did was probably not the best way to move along, but Kaidan always defended his behavior by saying that it was what Shepard would have loved had he been alive to say so. Either way, Kaidan made sure not to change much of the cabin during the five years he has been its commanding officer. During the best of times, it made him feel that Shepard never really left.

"Captain Alenko, if I might have a moment of your time…?" came the pleasant voice of EDI over the intercom.

Kaidan snapped out of his thoughts. "What is it?"

"I have received a priority message from Admiral Hackett. Do you wish for me to relay it to your quarters, or would you prefer to take it in the QEC?"

"That won't be necessary, EDI." Kaidan stood up. "I need to get up for a while anyway. I'll take it in the QEC."

"As you wish, Captain."

Kaidan strode for the doors leading towards the elevator, taking it down to the CIC. Once it arrives, he strode out, seeing Specialist Traynor still bent over the interfaces near the Galaxy Map. Turning to his right, he takes a turn into the War Room Corridor. As the scanners labored to confirm his biometrics, he stood still as Privates Westmoreland and Campbell stood guard. Kaidan will always remember the more humorous circumstances that had brought these two as official members of the Normandy.

Soon enough, Kaidan entered the War Room and into the neighboring chamber of the QEC. Waving a few hands over the holographic interface, he stands in the center as an azure-outlined hologram of Admiral Hackett appears. Kaidan stiffens into a salute. "Admiral Hackett."

"Captain Alenko, how are you holding up?"

It was no secret to the old admiral that Kaidan always had a rough time during the memorials, year after year, but Kaidan wasn't going to let his feelings show today. "I'm ready and able, Admiral. EDI says you have orders for me?"

"More or less. Some of our engineering corps—in addition to some of our top scientists—are showing expressed interest in installing artificial intelligences into more of our ships, given the success of EDI. This has caught the attention of Alliance Brass, as you might imagine."

Kaidan silently marveled at his own ability to not react to the news as much as one might have. "I would, and if I may speak freely, couldn't that implicate the Alliance? Artificial intelligences are still illegal for the most part, if I'm not mistaken."

"You aren't, but Councilor Osaba has revealed that the peace between the geth and the quarians have provoked some of the other Councilors to reevaluate the Synthetic Intelligence Statutes of 1896 CE. After the quarians have regained their homeworld and now live in cooperation with the geth, many advocacy groups are using the peace to call upon the reevaluation. As it currently stands, the Statutes are still in effect and unopposed; just talks. The Alliance is pushing for the reversal of the Statutes, but some of the more conservative members of the Council are still digging their heels in. After all, humanity was still fighting wars in Europe while the geth drove the quarians off of their homeworld. But humanity isn't alone in their standing; the quarians and even the volus are making their voices heard. In the end though, there are still too many neutral standings among the Council for anything decisive."

Kaidan's brow fell. "I'm following you, Admiral, but I'm not sure what this has to do with me."

"Currently the Normandy is the only ship in existence in all of Council Space to have a successful AI-implantation, and the Council knows it. While they know that EDI's existence is technically a breach of intergalactic law, her role during the Harvest War had them checking themselves. The Brass sees this as an opportunity. By using the Normandy as the mainstay in our political push to influence intergalactic law, we might have a chance to make real progress in virtual and artificial intelligence technology.

"Go to the Citadel, Captain. When you arrive, we will have some new crew for you. One of them will be our selected software engineer. He will be there to analyze EDI, looking for factors into her successful implantation that we might be able to duplicate."

The orders struck Kaidan as odd. "Couldn't one of our own engineers here find that information out for you, sir?"

"Don't misunderstand, Captain. This engineer isn't just there to analyze. He'll be bringing a prototype AI of his own design to help him collect information."

"He's bringing his own AI?" Kaidan repeated rather incredulously. "How is that even possible? I'm not software technician, but don't artificial intelligences require a sizeable blue box to operate? EDI's alone had to be split into two consoles in the AI Core.

"I don't know the details, but apparently his AI is portable, and he can take it anywhere he can carry it. You'll have to ask him more about it. Either way, his AI will directly interact with EDI. It's our belief that EDI will be the one who will help us. Any AIs we create will be with her help."

Kaidan nodded, although something about the entire thing made him uneasy. Just the same, he was a soldier through and through, and if the Alliance needed something done, he would get it done. "Understood, sir."

"Once you reach the Citadel, dock at Docking Bay D24, and your new personnel will be there waiting for you there. Good luck to you, Captain."

Kaidan saluted again. "Thank you, Admiral."

"Hackett out."

As the hologram disappeared. Kaidan turned to leave. "Joker, mark a course to the Citadel."

"Just when I was getting used to the quiet, we get to babysit a new set." The pilot's response was its usual dripping sarcasm. "Don't know what is it about you, Captain. Must be your magnetic personality."

Kaidan couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Well, if that's the case, I guess I can let EDI give you crash courses on parenting. Might help you in the future."

"Hey!" Joker yelped. "We weren't serious about that!"

"He's joking, of course," said EDI.

"You're not helping, EDI."

"Break it up, you two." Kaidan changed the subject. "EDI, you up for this assignment?"

"My processes are optimal, Captain Alenko. I for one am looking forward to meeting and conversing with this prototype. Its own experiences should prove to be interesting."

"If you even think of adopting it, EDI," Joker cut in. "I'll be sure to adopt a dog. Otherwise I'm going to start feeling outnumbered."

"Right," Kaidan said. "I'll leave you two to it. Tell me when something comes up, EDI."

"As always, Captain."

"Or maybe a cat;" Joker continued. "Smaller messes and they don't drool. Better than a hamster or fish, anyway."