A/N: I have decided to include three different endings into this story; a dark ending, a relatively happy ending and a rather disturbing ending. To keep things clear each separate ending will hopefully be a single chapter, at most two, and my author's notes should keep you oriented as to whether a chapter is part of an ending or not. This chapter is the last one that all three endings will have in common so nothing is resolved as it simply sets up the upcoming plot branching.

QUAESTIONIS

"Hello, Jack."

"Fuck off."

Taken aback by the laconic greeting, not by the typically caustic words but rather by its dismissive tone, Shepard frowned at the tattooed woman before deciding to try again. "Good to see you too, Jack."

"I'm not joking, Shepard, fuck off."

"What the hell's gotten into you, Jack?"

"Nothing, jackass…it's more about what's gotten into Miranda." Jack sneered.

"Oh…well, you see I…" stuttered Shepard, desperately trying to talk his way out of the psychopath's bad side.

"Shut up, Shepard. Did you really think the ship's rumor mill wouldn't find out about this? I heard Ken telling Gabby that the entire crew deck could hear you and Miranda fucking."

"I'm sorry, Jack. I just…"

"Still talking, Shepard? Just shut the fuck up and listen. I'm not mad you fucked someone else, it's just sex, I'm pissed that you fucked Miranda and are running around like her little bitch doing what she says."

Trying to follow this Jack's strange rebuke Shepard simply remained silent as the convict continued ranting, "You told me that you weren't a part of Cerberus, you helped me on Pragia saying that what Cerberus did to me was wrong…and then you go and fuck Miranda, the Cerberus cheerleader who can't admit what they did to me was wrong. What the fuck, Shepard? Don't you get it that she's pure Cerberus and is just using you on the Illusive Man's orders?"

Deciding to defend Miranda in the hope that Jack's irritation would be assuaged if she thought Shepard's entanglement with the 'Cheerleader' was free from Cerberus influence Shepard tried to explain, "Miri isn't really a part of Cerberus anymore, Jack. You were there when we got Oriana away from Eclipse and Cerberus oversight; you know that Miri was betrayed by the Illusive Man."

"We only have her word to go on for all of that…and I don't fucking trust Cerberus agents. Neither should you."

Giving a sharp squeak as she started with surprise at the abrupt chiming of her omnitool Tali hurriedly glanced about engineering to reassure herself that no one, particularly the annoying jester Ken, had caught her flinch. Satisfied that her momentary embarrassment had passed unnoticed Tali opened her omnitool's mail function curious as to what had caused the alert to sound. Exhausted by the latest away mission, to a derelict Reaper of all things, it took Tali a moment to comprehend the incoming message's information. Realization dawning upon her Tali's heart sank as she read the long expected, dreaded orange letters that appeared on her haptic interface screen.

Location: Chicago, Earth

Time: 17:27

Sender: Op. Chief Williams

Encryption: None

Tali, could you please forward the attached file to John, I still don't have his private extranet account and I don't trust Cerberus so I'm not going to route it through their channels. Thanks Tali, and good luck with whatever danger you're flying into this time.

Oh, Keelah…now what should I do? Tali wondered briefly before she was pulled out of her indecisive contemplation by the Normandy's intercom broadcasting EDI's voice. Thankful for the distraction this provided Tali hurried to follow the AI's orders and left engineering to report to the briefing room.

The away team stood around the Normandy's briefing room table eyeing the unusual image projected above its surface. Looking up from examining the picture of the deactivated geth Tali broke the silence, "Shepard, it's a geth…it has to be destroyed."

Ignoring the quarian's suggestion Shepard instead cocked a questioning eyebrow to Miranda as he spoke, "What do you think we should do about this situation, Miranda?"

"Cerberus has a standing reward for any intact geth. We should turn it over to them and collect that prize." Miranda replied, managing to keep her excitement at Shepard turning to her for advice from showing on her face.

Nodding in agreement with Miranda's suggestion Shepard straightened from where he leant across the table opening his mouth to voice his decision. Suddenly he was interrupted, everyone turning to look at the speaker who had never before bothered to venture an opinion during planning sessions. "Really Cheerleader? Just give the geth to fucking Cerberus? In case you've forgotten but we all saw at Project Overlord what happens when Cerberus gets their hands on advanced technology. Shit, for someone supposedly so smart you sure as hell don't learn from mistakes."

Furious at Jack's meddling Miranda spun to face where the convict stood leaning insolently in one of the briefing room's corners. Her perfectly formed and groomed features curling into a sneer at the other woman's unconventional appearance and abrasive character Miranda opened her mouth to issue an appropriately scathing rebuttal, "Of course, that is just the type of 'thinking' that a criminal…"

Cutting off Miranda's abuse Shepard interrupted, his commanding tone overriding Miranda's verbal sniping, "Okay…That is all for now. I'll make my decision in a little while, for now the geth is secure enough in the makeshift isolation chamber Tali made in the AI core's. Crew, dismissed."

Following in Shepard's wake the Normandy's specialists filed out of the room with Miranda bringing up the rear; except for Jack who stood her ground in the corner flanking the doorway. Ignoring the few curious or idle looks that slid over her as the procession filed past Jack kept her eyes locked on Miranda's in a contest of wills the rest of the crew either didn't notice or had the good sense to pretend not to notice. Soon, the Cerberus agent drew close to Jack and the air around the two women began to shimmer faintly; the biotics struggling to keep their powers from unintentionally flaring, knowing the resulting destruction would earn them Shepard's disapproval. Unwilling to simply walk out of the briefing room and abandon the field of battle to Jack Miranda halted several paces from the convict as the rest of the crew left the briefing room; the two women's staring match continuing to drag on as they gauged each other's strengths.

"You should know something about me, Cheerleader." snarled Jack, finally breaking the thick silence.

"Oh, is that so? I highly doubt that there is anything about you interesting or important enough to warrant my attention." Miranda replied, purposefully exaggerating her cultured, smooth accent in the hopes of subconsciously making Jack aware of the inferiority her harsh, expletive laden speech demonstrated.

Jack simply ignored Miranda's subtle attempt at manipulation and continued speaking as if Miranda had said nothing, "I'm not a pussy…I don't give up. You might have been able to scare Tali, that Ashley bitch, or any one else away from Shepard but I don't scare."

"I do not know what you're talking about, Subject Zero," Miranda replied evenly, pleased at the flash of discomfort that passed through Jack's eyes at the use of her Cerberus designation, "The Commander and myself are in a relationship because of our mutual respect and admiration, not because I have been 'scaring off' other women. Now, if this confrontation is because you are angry that you missed your own opportunity to attract John's attention then I'm sorry but he wants me…someone who is his equal, not a charity case."

"Go to hell, Cheerleader." Jack growled from between clenched teeth, "He knows how fucked up I am but that didn't stop him before. Besides, once he finds out that you're a backstabbing whore he'll probably kill you and then come running back to me and, just spit on your memory, I might just take him back."

"Truly pathetic…you would take back a man who left you at the first chance he had to chase another's skirt? I guess beggars really can't be choosers." replied Miranda, determined to hurt Jack in return for how the convict's frighteningly accurate assessment of Shepard's likely future behavior had shaken her.

"Get bent." snarled Jack as she turned and stormed out of the briefing room, shoving an unlucky crewwoman who happened to be passing the doorway to the deck.

Once the doors had shut behind the retreating psychopath Miranda stood in silence looking at the projected image of the deactivated geth while contemplating this latest difficulty. Jack was undoubtedly correct Miranda reflected; Shepard would kill her if he ever discovered her full machinations, or even that she had lied and still owed some loyalty to Cerberus.

Miranda shook her sense of apprehension away; this was the razor's edge she knew she would be walking in manipulating both Shepard and the Illusive Man. So what if Jack had been temporarily able to counter Miranda's influence over the Commander regarding the geth issue? All it meant was that Miranda would have to sink her barbs even deeper into Shepard, a task which so far did not appear too difficult. Miranda held no illusions; the fate of this geth was crucial to her plan. Convince Shepard to turn the thing over to Cerberus and it would both prove her control over Shepard to others attempting to use him, such as Jack, as well as lull the Illusive Man into believing that Miranda was completing her mission as ordered…hopefully she could maintain that charade long enough to ensure that Oriana's trail had grown cold and that Shepard had fallen absolutely under her thumb.

Tali paced restlessly around engineering drawing both concerned glances from Gabby and occasional comments from Ken, jibes that ranged from sarcastic warnings about the quarian's suit wearing out from excessive pacing to lecherous comments spoken in a stage whisper to Gabby about the swaying of Tali's hips as she walked back and forth. Finally, after yet another remark about wearing a hole in the metal decking, Tali snapped at Ken to shut up as she turned and fled engineering. Her mind reeling from the responsibility that earlier decisions and this second message from Ashley had placed upon her Tali stepped into the elevator; determined to find someone able to help her clarify the conflicting feelings of guilt, duty, and desire that warred within her.

Exiting the elevator onto the crew deck Tali considered the options she had as potential advisors in the matter of Ashley's two letters to Shepard and Tali's own role in keeping those messages from him. Garrus was the obvious choice but his descent from being the Garrus that had hunted Saren to the vengeful turian that had murdered the defenseless Sidonis on the Citadel mirrored Shepard's own descent from 'the Hero of the Citadel' to 'the Butcher of the Terminus'. Tali knew Garrus was not an option, he would turn any information Tali entrusted to him over to Shepard as a matter of loyalty to the Commander. That left only Joker and Dr. Chakwas from the crew of the original Normandy but, not being a part of the away team, neither of them had fully witnessed Shepard's fall from grace and were therefore incapable of advising her in this matter. As far as the other crew members went everyone was either Cerberus, displayed a conspicuous lack of normal morality, such as Mordin and Thane, or was at least as unstable as Shepard had become, such as Jack and Zaeed. That left Kasumi, who Tali genuinely liked, or Samara with her unbending principles as the only possible sources for help.

Standing in front of the elevator door Tali shifted indecisively as she looked back and forth between the port and starboard observation rooms trying to decide who to seek out for aid. While it would perhaps be best to talk to both Samara and Kasumi Tali was reluctant to let more people than absolutely necessary discover her duplicity regarding Ashley and Shepard. The more time she spent away from her station and the more people she met with while gone the higher the chance that word of her unusual absence from engineering would reach Shepard, and Tali wanted to avoid any rumors regarding this from reaching him until she had made a decision regarding how to deal with Ashley's messages.

Squaring her shoulders in determination Tali chose a direction, turned and began walking towards the door.