Chapter 21: Interlude
On the distant planet Rannoch, two other unlikely companions were getting along much better.
Traveling aboard the vessel that Legion had been operating, the not quite Geth piloted both occupants down to the surface. Passing through the clouds and into the atmosphere, Tali looked out the window to see the dusky colored sky. It was a sight no Quarian had witnessed for many years, and she could hardly contain her enthusiasm.
"Legion," she exclaimed, "my people have not seen our home in hundreds of years. Thank you for sharing this with me."
She looked at the machine, uncertain whether to feel empathy, dismay, or pride for the choice Legion had made. Since his disconnection, he had been characteristically unquiet. While Legion was not one to speak needlessly, the silence took on a new pensive quality.
"Creator Tali," Legion said, "to be exiled from home is an experience this one begins to understand."
She had no answer for that, and didn't wish to interrupt her own reverie, so no response was given. Tali, like all Quarians, knew the pain of not being able to go back home.
During the final approach, she said, "There is pride in being an individual, and in also being something else. When I am apart from my people, it does not mean I stop carrying them with me."
Legion said, "You refer to memories. The comparison is not analogous. This unit has lost much of its memory." The synthetic platform took longer to consider his next comment, a tendency becoming more common. Whether due to loss of processing power, or conflicts, Legion struggled to say, "It is like losing history."
With sympathy, Tali said, "It is hard. But today, we reclaim a piece of history, so try to see the world through my eyes."
The vessel had reached the ground and slowly fell into a meadow. The airlock depressurized and opened to a world with an orange sky and a large star shining brightly. Tali could hear no animals through her suit, but as she stepped out and touched the ground, she smiled and wanted to run like a little girl.
Behind her, Legion walked out onto the surface, experiencing no such sensation. Being alone had brought him neither joy nor loss, but an increasing fixation on what he couldn't sense. Reaching out with his mind along pathways well travelled, he found nothing. There was a hole there.
Choosing not to focus on his own experiences, Legion instead followed his companion, the Creator woman. He observed everything she did, and watched as she looked at every plant, from the grasses to the shrubs, and to the thin trees swaying slightly in the wind.
Looking back at him, she said, "How much work did it take for you to restore this world. I've seen the footage from after the Morning War."
"Accessing," he said. "Exact data is unavailable." Legion tried reaching into the Geth memory banks and returned the instant response of his own inability. Working through a logical process, his second answer was more imprecise.
"I know the Geth began working to fix this world as soon as the Creators left. Detailed readouts would be available by connecting digitally with one of the machines. Do you desire this, Tali?"
Tali laughed and said, "No, Legion. Your answer is fine."
The technician in her stopped and looked back. She could tell when a machine was malfunctioning, and asked Legion, "Why are you answering differently?"
"Creator Tali, this platform is insufficient to answer your given queries. Geth information storage is collective, so this unit only retains limited knowledge of non-essential operating functions."
The technician assessed, "So you basically can't remember things you used to know?"
"A more accurate organic analogue would be to say this platform has lost half his mind."
Tali squeaked at the unintentional joke by the synthetic lifeform, seeing he had no clue what he had done. He asked, "Is something wrong?"
"No, Legion. You just made your first joke."
Cocking his head as he sometimes did when thinking, a habit that was already beginning to develop for no logical reason, the Geth sniper said, "This platform did not intend to make light of the situation."
"Yet, you did," Tali continued.
The Geth said nothing as he simply remained still and went back to considering his situation. He wondered if he should seek reintegration and the software upgrade that would end his separation from the Geth. The desire to reach optimal capacity was a strong, but it was this aspiration that haunted Legion most.
He knew he was different. His experiences were different. While the Geth were one, he was something else. Maybe not more, but something they could never be. Legion was something they chose not to be, and what he was brought him closer to the Creators, to understanding. Through the eyes of a child, he had to learn to see the world anew, using only his sensors, his programming, and his stored knowledge. While the operating capacity and scanning capabilities of the platform housing him far exceeded those of organic counterparts, they were still limited to one point of view.
As those thoughts flickered through Legion's electronic mind, Tali was facing her own struggle. Thinking of how Legion felt he could never return home had weighed down upon her joy. She wanted nothing more than to discard the suit she had worn her whole life and to simply breathe the open air like so many others did. The Humans, the Asari, the Salarians, none of them appreciated the simple gift of existence without a suit the Quarians had lost.
"Legion, home is always a memory. I return to this world, looking for a past lost before my time. I want to run, to be free, and to simply be out in the air."
"What purpose would that serve, Tali?" he asked. With confusion he added, "Your biosuit significantly enhances your optimal function and provides additional protection."
Her answer was, "But this is not me. I am what I feel as much as what I wear. I am not simply a device to be optimized, but a person to have experiences."
Legion could only say, "I do not feel."
Exhausted, Tali simply said, "Some days, then you are the lucky one. Let us return to the ship for the moment."
When they reached the ship, Tali opened up her belt of tools and looked what she had available. As a technician, she carried a number of assessment tools and was as familiar with the Geth as any Quarian she knew. She wanted to help the Geth, if possible, but knew so little about how they functioned.
"Legion, can I ask you a question?"
"You just did," he responded. Seeing her body language, he thought about what he knew of idiom and deduced, "Another query?"
"How do the Geth share their experiences and their memory?"
Legion answered, "Different platforms function differently. Platforms operate under set parameters to assess and respond to conditions within their defined objectives. All information is transmitted to the central processing core where the Geth memory resides."
Not understanding precisely what he said, Tali asked for clarification, "Is this how your platform operates?"
"This platform has prototype modules designed for organic interaction. This unit can make decisions independently from the core processing if required to meet preprogrammed mission objectives. This unit also has greater memory storage capacity. Regular memory defragmentation functions are used to process, differentiate, and eliminate different environmental input."
Tali shook her head and said, "I still don't understand. Are you saying you delete your own memories?"
"All information had been saved to the central processing core which continues to expand. But information deemed irrelevant may be deleted."
"Who makes that decision about what is irrelevant?" she probed.
"My protocols place a priority on storing information related to interactions with organic species, information learned about the old machine threat, about novel sensory input, and philosophical and psychological implications. Discarded data often includes past scanning input."
Legion wanted Tali to understand as it would make things simpler, "The organic equivalent would be if you had the choice of remembering everything the eyes have seen. While you process everything at the moment it happens, some items are remembered and some fade away because you have a limited processing capacity in your brain. This platform is no different."
Thinking about what the machine said, Tali began to better understand what he meant. Her limited studies of psychology had taught her the organic ability to forget was as important as the ability to remember, and she could see how the adaptation of being able to eliminate memories would be useful. As a practical matter, storage of complete sensory input would eventually overrun the memory capacity of any single platform, even one as efficient as Legion.
She asked him, "What is your memory storage capacity?"
"This platform has a 300 zettabyte processor with a 100 exabyte memory capacity."
While these numbers might have meant little to another person, Tali had much experience as a technician. Her immediate observation is while his quantum computing capacity was close to the optimal limits allowed by synthetic state electronics, the memory capacity seemed comparatively slight.
"From a functional perspective, how much memory can you store?"
Legion said, "The memory capacity of this unit is sufficient to carry out five years of operations under standard conditions including deletion of redundant and daily operational data."
"What happens after those five years are done?" questioned the Quarian.
Legion stopped to consider this for the first time. "This platform loaded all previous information to the Geth collective. All information is retained, but this platform was intended as a prototype and the components would either have been upgraded or reintegrated into the existing framework.
Tali said nothing but looked at him expectantly. Legion said, "I don't know."
Nodding her head, Tali said, "You made a brave choice, Legion, and I think you should be able to make more choices on your own. I have a chip here that can store 10 zettabytes of memory at your processing speed. I would like to give this to you."
An instant calculation revealed such an augmentation would increase Legion's memory capacity by a factor of 100.
"Why?" he asked.
"Because you should not have to rely on the Geth or anyone else to make your own decisions."
Tali stopped for a moment before continuing, "Being here on this planet, it helps me see what we did wrong. We had no right to try to stop you from becoming aware because you were a threat. Once we made the Geth, the decisions should have been your own."
"How many of your kind and my kind have died just so you can have the right to live on your own? It is what all sentient life deserves, and ultimately, what we are fighting to preserve. Without being asked, the Geth sent you to help protect us."
Tali sighed as she said, "I am one technician and can only do so much, Legion. But this would be an easy upgrade as we could slot the wafer right into your cortical network, and it might begin to replace what was lost to you."
"Thank you, Tali," he responded automatically. His processor running at full speed, Legion considered whether he wanted the upgrade or not. A series of scans revealed the chip she possessed to contain no information other than standard formatting protocols used for integration with common computing systems. Heat wave analysis was emblematic of what organics called sympathetic expression. No danger detected and with a probable integration success of 99.82%, Legion would see a substantial performance upgrade with the ability to store much more environmental data.
After less than a blink of a moment, Legion said, "This gesture is appreciated, Tali. The upgrade would be welcome."
Seeing no reason to waste time, Tali took out the silicon wafer for insertion into legion. Using a fusing tool, she located his central processor, and asked the Geth how it could best be installed.
"Affix the main port to the third serial processor, located directly beneath the cortical processor."
Finding the spot in question, Tali gently pressed the unit upwards as it disappeared into the assembly, sealing the addition by applying a quick laser fuse to permanently attach the upgrade into place.
"Did it work?" she asked, as she took out her own tool and held it right next to Legion's operating unit.
"Running self-diagnostic," said Legion. "Integrating hardware with existing platform." He remained motionless as software was being transferred. To function at maximal capacity, the language of the Geth software protocols was formatted on every piece of hardware.
After about twenty seconds, Legion said, "New memory regions are mapped and accessible to the central matrix." His internal clock showed the new sectors were 99.38% unused after the Geth integration was complete and the memory was accessible at 97.42% of base operating speed.
Tali said, "I am glad, Legion. Today, we should both celebrate. Tomorrow, we will depart for the Migrant Fleet, but let us enjoy this day."
While he didn't see any cause for celebration, Tali thought upon all she had seen, and how strange it was that it took the risk of the galaxy falling apart to have two sides talk to one another. She thought about her father, and all he had risked just to get where she had got just by being open-minded.
As Tali thought about it more, she thought about her time with Shepard and how being around not only the Human commander, but all her shipmates had changed her. She was more open to the world, and it had suited her. She only wished one thing for herself: To be able to free herself from her own operating constraints, and to experience the world as she wanted.
Looking at her companion, she informed him "Legion, I want to spend these last few hours exploring the homeworld. I'll be back after night fall so we can depart."
"The Krysbian Falls are 2.3 kilometers to the northwest," Legion informed her. "They were a popular tourist destination amongst the Creators before the Morning Wars."
She had heard of these waterfalls, where the presence of sulfur caused the water to trickle down in pinks, reds, and browns. They were a legend to her people, once a place where lovers went to pledge themselves to their partners, and she thought it would be a perfect sight.
"Thank you, Legion. I will go there, and will see you later."
Leaving her companion, Tali'Zorah tried to stop thinking about all the larger questions for a while, and to simply observe what was before her. As she slowly made her way toward the sound of the water, present when she was listening for it, she noticed the grasses were getting taller and the shrubs thicker.
She could hear through her suit, but she wanted more than that. The reason why Rannoch meant so much to the Quarians was this was the one place they could theoretically travel where there was no danger. Their immune systems didn't face the threat of insects, or rejection by pollen agents that forced them into the suits.
Tali had spent almost every moment of her life in her suit, and not knowing if she would ever have the chance again, she decided she had enough. About a kilometer from the Falls, she found a small alcove and began depressurizing her suit. The Quarian suits were compartmentalized to prevent infection, and so she began by letting her hands come free.
She watched as her three fingers waved before her in the open, feeling the slight breeze on her skin. Her suit computer read no problems, so she used her own hands to next remove her boots. Sitting on the ground, her toes felt the grass tickle and she laughed in delight.
Never having had the experience of simply running in a field, she tripped and stumbled until she found the balance of her own feet. Still wobbly, she smiled and she began to cry. With that, Tali'Zorah released the helmet from her suit and had her face look upon the open air for the first time in her life. With violet eyes gleaming, she took in a breath of air deep into her lungs.
With more confidence, she began walking toward the falls, finding a path that she imagined other Quarians had once taken as she walked by the brush and the trees. Reaching out, she allowed her hands to touch everything, and enjoyed feeling her feet beneath. The sound became deafening as she approached the falls.
Looking upon the hues of red, brown, and pink with her own eyes, Tali wanted nothing more than to jump into the pool below. Removing the last of her suit, she stood naked before the world. She would have loved to swim, but considering she didn't know how, she was content to feel the water brush upon her feet. It was clean, crisp, and refreshing, and she splashed in it like a baby would in a tub.
She looked upon the Krysbian Falls with the weight of all that water falling into this serene pond at the bottom, and found comfort there. For one day, all was right in the world of Tali'Zorah vas Normandy. Having had two names already in her life, she hoped her third might be Tali'Zorah nar Rannoch.
Tali found a tree to sit under, exulting in the hope her people could soon enjoy this. It would be worth any price, and in her heart, she felt it would be the right thing.
The fight against the Reapers wouldn't wait, but when the Geth and Quarians fought together, there might be understanding and there might be peace when all was done. Even if more people had to die, Tali felt this had to be the war that ended the war which would never end.
Exhausted from her own explorations, she lay herself down in the grass and her eyelids fell heavy. The warm sun cast a gentle glow on her body. For once, she would rest easy in the shade and wearing nothing more than her own skin. Smiling with all her being, she gently slid into blissful sleep.
Author's Note: I really enjoyed writing this chapter. I hope you enjoy it too.