Lt. Commander Edwards came to in the med-bay of the SSV Orizaba. He would later learn that the Normandy team had rescued Shepard and he from the Citadel and then flew them back to the fleet. Admiral Shepard had insisted that the Commander be brought to her med-bay, one of the finest in the fleet, for care. Bobby got brought along because Tali insisted that Shepard wanted him there, even though Tali had no idea why that Shepard did.
Dr. Michel, one of the doctors from Huerta Memorial on the Citadel, was attending physician for both Shepard and Edwards. She had escaped the Citadel during the Cerberus take-over and had joined with the fleet before the final push to retake earth. When Dr. Chakwas heard Dr. Michel was with the fleet, Chakwas had recommend Dr. Michel to be the lead physician for Shepard's care.
"Good to see you're waking up, Lt. Commander," Dr. Michel said to Edwards. "How are you feeling?"
"I've felt worse doc, but I can't remember when. Where am I and what happened?" Edwards asked.
"Where you are is on the SSV Orizaba, but you were found on the Citadel near Commander Shepard. No one is sure what happened. We were hoping you could tell us."
Bobby didn't like the sound of that. "Tina … I mean Commander Shepard, is she okay?"
"The Commander is alive and stable but her injuries were more extensive than yours," Dr. Michel noted. Bobby did not notice an Admiral approaching the bed from the other side.
"Did I hear you call my daughter, a superior officer, Tina, Lt. Commander?" Admiral Hannah Shepard asked.
Bobby turned his head and, seeing the admiral, said, "No, ma'am. I mean, yes, ma'am, I did. No disrespect was intended. I was just worried, ma'am."
"Who are you to be worried about my daughter, Lt. Commander? How do you even know her when none of her crew seems to know you? Even Admiral Hackett says he didn't think you two knew each other. Yet she's asking about you when she's found; you're found just tens of meters away from her near the dead bodies of Admiral Anderson and the Illusive Man; and all she was wearing was your shirt and her underwear. Can you explain any of this, Lt. Commander, because no one else thinks it makes any sense and I don't like mysteries, especially when my daughter is involved," Admiral Shepard said.
"Admiral, I appreciate your desire for answers but the Lt. Commander just woke up. There will be time for him to answer questions later. Now, I need to complete an examination and make sure we didn't miss something," Dr. Michel said.
Admiral Shepard took a deep breath. She said, "I'm sorry, Doctor, but I'm worried about my daughter. Anything he could tell me would be helpful."
The way the Admiral was talking caused Bobby to realize something wasn't right. "How long was it after the explosion before we were found?" he asked.
"An hour, maybe two, Lt. Commander. But I don't see what that has to do with my questions." Admiral Shepard responded.
"That can't be right," Bobby said. "Two hours?"
Admiral Shepard's patience was at an end. She assumed Edwards was stalling, and was getting ready to lay into him again. But before she could say anything, SAI said, "The Lt. Commander is just as confused as you are, Admiral, but I can answer most of your questions."
"SAI," Bobby said, "What do you mean you can answer her questions?"
"Hold on. Who or what is Sigh?" the Admiral asked.
"The Lt. Commander refers to me as a Strategic Analytical Intelligence, or SAI. I was a virtual intelligence he developed to help analyze the intel he procured." Bobby didn't like what he was hearing. SAI was referring to himself in the past tense, which wasn't a good sign. "Much of what I have to say next will be highly classified information, Admiral. Are you comfortable with the doctor hearing it?"
Admiral Shepard ran a hand through her hair. She looked at Edwards then at Dr. Michel. Finally, she said, "I'm going to go talk to Admiral Hackett. Doctor, complete your check but do not leave the Lt. Commander alone until I get back. Also, we may want to move him someplace more private for this discussion."
Bobby wanted a chance to talk to SAI and figure out what SAI was saying but Dr. Michel understood that the Admiral wanted her there to prevent that from happening. She kept Edwards busy until the Admiral returned. "Right now, there is no one in the operating room, Admiral. We could set you up in there."
"That would be fine, Dr. Michel. Admiral Hackett is on his way. We'll get started as soon as he arrives."
Dr. Michel had Edwards moved into the OR and chairs were brought in for the two Admirals and Hackett's yeoman, who was to record the conversation. Admiral Shepard stayed with Edwards the whole time, not saying anything but not leaving him alone where he could talk to SAI. Edwards heard the door open and Admiral Hackett walked in. Admiral Shepard stood and saluted. Edwards said, "Sir."
"At ease, everyone," Hackett said. "Lt. Commander, care to fill us in on what happened on the Citadel?"
Edwards gave an abbreviated version of how he had come to be on the Citadel, and what happened during and after the Cerberus take-over. He started to tell them what Commander Shepard had told him about her trip, but SAI interrupted, "Perhaps it would be better if I covered this part, Lt. Commander."
"I'm sorry, Admirals, but I've been having problems with my VI," Edwards said.
"Let's hear what it has to say, Lt. Commander," Hackett said.
"Go ahead, SAI," Bobby said.
"You are aware of the AI that Leviathan created?" SAI asked and the Admirals responded in the affirmative. "The Catalyst, as you referred to it, was that AI and it resided on the Citadel. Many cycles ago, when the Crucible was first designed, the race that designed it found out about the Catalyst through studying the Keepers. Because of this, the Catalyst severed all control it had over the Keepers, preferring to control them through an independent program. It was this program that the Protheans altered, preventing the Catalyst from signaling the Keepers to open the path to dark space, thus delaying the Reaper invasion. Because of what it had done to protect itself from discovery, this severed the only means the Catalyst had to open the relay. When Sovereign's attempt to take over the Citadel failed, the Catalyst signaled the Reapers to begin the long journey via FTL travel and then waited."
SAI continued, "The Collectors were an attempt to start the harvesting before the Reapers arrived to speed up the process of harvesting in this cycle. But, as with Sovereign, Commander Shepard foiled this attempt. Then she destroyed the Alpha relay, further delaying the harvest. The Catalyst was not happy with these developments, but it was impressed. Then, you completed the Crucible so it had to act."
"The Reapers had indoctrinated the Illusive Man and through him almost everyone in Cerberus. The Catalyst used him and his agents to stop the Commander on Thessia and to get the Prothean VI. Then the Catalyst used them to take over the Citadel. When Commander Shepard and Admiral Anderson made it to the controls for the Citadel, the Illusive Man was waiting. The Catalyst had let the Illusive Man believe he had control, when in fact the Catalyst, through the Reapers, was controlling him. Through the actions of the Illusive Man, Admiral Anderson was shot." This was a true statement, but a misleading one and Bobby knew it. But he wasn't going to correct SAI unless pressed to do so. "However, before the Illusive Man could harm her, Commander Shepard convinced him that he was indoctrinated and he shot himself. The Commander then opened the arms of the Citadel so the Crucible could dock," SAI said.
"We've been able to piece most of that together from what we knew and what the Normandy crew found, except for the Catalyst being the Leviathan AI. But that doesn't explain why the Commander and the Lt. Commander were out of uniform. I sense there's more going on here," Admiral Hackett said.
"There is. I apologize Admiral, but these are details I needed to make sure you understood," SAI said. "What you don't know is that when you called Commander Shepard to get her to trigger the Crucible, she passed out. But the Crucible had changed the Catalyst. The Catalyst realized that at some point, if not this cycle then a cycle soon, organics would defeat the Reapers. But it had another 'solution' to war between the organics and synthetics. The Catalyst believed that the Commanders DNA could be added to the Crucible's energy and throughout the galaxy new hybrid organic/synthetic races would be formed. So, it brought the Commander up to its main platform to complete this transformation."
"However, Commander Shepard didn't trust the Catalyst. When given the choice, she chose to destroy the Reapers, believing that was the mission and that one person should not make the choice to alter all life in the galaxy. Her decision reignited the Catalysts anger, and it decided it would make the choice for everyone. It could not force her to merge with the Crucible but it had a plan. Through Shepard the Catalyst would birth its child, a human/synthetic hybrid that would change the galaxy. But to get her, it needed a way to control the Reapers. So, it activated my dormant SAM programs, turning me into a sentient intelligence that it could use to control the Keepers," SAI said.
"Wait. Did you say SAM? From the Andromeda Initiative? Lt. Commander, I thought you turned all that material in after your mission," Hackett said. Edwards had been around the Old Man enough to know he wasn't happy. He knew when he kept the prototype SAM code that if he ever got caught there would be hell to pay. But, at the time, it had seemed worth the risk. Now he knew that decision had been the equivalent of jumping out a tenth-floor window and he was about to hit bottom.