A/N: The first line in this chapter is courtesy of EvilSwissMiss. I wish I could take credit but…its purely her awesomeness :D
"I'm going to fuck you with a biotic field so hard that your grandchildren will feel it!"
The door slid open, a silent motion lost in the static snap of biotics, the crash of a chair against the wall.
"Try it and I'll-"
Bam. Bam.
The two pistol shots cracked like a whip through the room. Blankets shredded, tufts of mattress foam spurting upward in powdery indignation. A vase and a small side table, both caught up in the blue fire of dark energy, dropped to the ground as two women gaped at the third who had entered.
Shepard's glare was heated ice as she lowered her pistol. "I trust I have your attention," she rumbled in a low voice, immensely threatening in its calm. Her eyes shifted from Miranda to Jack, before she slowly nodded. "Good. Now. One at a time. Tell me what the fuck is going on."
"She won't admit that what Cerberus did to me was wrong!" Jack snarled before Miranda could open her mouth, her finger jabbing hotly toward the other woman, muscles in her arms corded like steel.
"It was not Cerberus," Miranda insisted firmly. Unlike Jack, her arms folded defensively as she unconsciously adopted the confident, superior aura that had served her so well in the past. "It was Osco-"
"It was a fucking -!"
"Stop!"
Two sets of jaws snapped shut as Shepard barked. Shipping her pistol she fixed her simmering gaze upon Jack first. "You. Stop blaming Miranda for everything horrible that's happened to you. Tearing her apart won't fix a goddamn thing and it sure as hell won't make anything go away. She was a goddamn child when you were in that facility."
Jack blinked, straightening with a scowl. Del's eyes shifted to the Operative, her face still set in stone.
"And you, stop trying to excuse away what is right in your goddamn face. Good intentions, idealistic motives or not, Cerberus hurts people-"
"Shepard, you don't understand," Miranda protested. "Yes, it was a Cerberus project but Osco was never supposed to go as far as she did. She and her team doctored reports, hid the more extensive of their tests from the chain of command. They went rogu-"
"I know a fuck of a lot more about Cerberus than you seem to think," Shepard snapped. "I'm not a goddamn fool. I do know how to read and research and it's amazing what you can find out when your fucking girlfriend is the Shadow Broker! Went rogue? Like Cerberus did in the beginning from the Alliance? Don't piss in my ear and say it's raining, Miranda! The Cerberus cells that planted emergency beacons in thresher nests 'went rogue' didn't they? Forget what happened to me and my crew, tell it to the families of the marines that died on Akuze! Project Overlord 'went rogue' too, didn't it? The Teltin facility 'went rogue'…the number of projects that 'go rogue' around this organization are rather staggering, don't you think? Either the Illusive Man is in the habit of employing a lot of psychotically rebellious people that take their assigned projects to the extreme, or these projects aren't nearly as off the grid as you'd like to believe they are."
"Ha, yeah-"
Shepard's eyes shifted furiously to the tattooed biotic, the glare on her face enough to make the ex-con take a half-step backward. "Jack, get the fuck out of here. I will deal with you in a minute!"
Jaw tight, Jack growled under her breath, before she turned on her heel and stormed out. As soon as the door shut Shepard looked back at Miranda. When she spoke again her voice was gentler, though no less firm.
"Miranda, she was out of line coming in here and throwing that into your face," she said. "But you know perfectly well why she did it. I know she's been pushing your buttons ever since we took her out of cryo but you haven't exactly been going out of your way to prove her anything but right."
"Shepard-"
"No. I'm done." Shepard punctuated the word with a sharp slice of her hand. "If you feel the need to defend Cerberus so vehemently then you need to ask yourself why they need you defending them at all. At any rate, that's none of my business. You know my feelings on the matter and I'm not going to beat you about the head with them. I'm in no position to tell anyone else what choices to make or how to live. That's between you and them. What I will say is this: I will not have my XO and a member of my crew throwing a biotic temper tantrum on my goddamn ship! I will not risk this mission or our missing people while you two tear out a bulk-head! If Jack so much as sneezes in your direction again I will confine her to the brig…and the same stands for you, Miranda. Stay out of her way or I will confine you, is that clear?"
"Perfectly, Commander," Miranda murmured.
"Good," Shepard straightened, then gestured at the toppled furniture. "Clean this up."
She turned to go, pausing in the door as it slid open. Half looking back Shepard murmured, "Sorry about your bed. It didn't deserve that."
As she stepped out and the door closed, Miranda couldn't help a weary, weak little smile as she looked back at her ruined mattress, her torn blankets.
"No," she sighed faintly. "It didn't."
Jack was pacing down in the sub-deck, fists clenching and unclenching, wreathed in cold fire as she strode. The moment Shepard appeared she turned toward the commander, striding toward her. "Shepard, that bitch-"
"Shut up and sit down!" Shepard ordered, pointing firmly at the cot. Jack drew to a halt, straightening to her full, if diminutive height. She grit her teeth, then turned and dropped into a sit on the cot, hands flopping in her lap with a heavy sigh.
"Am I wrong?" Jack demanded. "I fucking dare you to tell me I'm wrong, Shepard. You know what Cerberus did to me!"
"Yes…and no," Shepard admitted, folding her arms as she leaned on the wall.
"The fuck you mean, 'yes and no?'"
"It was Cerberus, but not the way you know them," Shepard told her. "Jack, Cerberus was an Alliance black-op before they…went their own way, just a few years ago."
Jack's face went dark. "So Teltin… it was the Alliance?"
Shepard sighed, then shook her head. "Teltin was a remote facility that Cerberus developed without Alliance knowledge, even though they were considered an Alliance op at the time. Biotics were new to mankind back then. Records were doctored and the Alliance believed that Teltin was doing biotic research on cadavers…kids who had passed away due to eezo exposure without developing into actual biotics. Seems it did start out that way but once Osco was brought aboard at the Illusive Man's request…that's when things started to get a bit more…involved."
"So, story doesn't change," Jack snorted. "They lied to the Alliance, like they lied to my real mother…just like they continue to fucking lie now."
"Even so, the Alliance's hands aren't completely clean in this, Jack. The records were altered but it's not like it was fucking air-tight. Maybe some Alliance asshole turned a blind eye for a while, pretended that what was going on was ok, or wasn't happening. I don't fucking know. What I do know is this…you wanna be fucking pissed off at Miranda for what happened to you, fine. You might as well be pissed at me for the same since I am Alliance through and through."
"Fuck, Shepard, that's goddamn stupid-"
"Yes, it is. Just as stupid as it is to hate Miranda for the bullshit that was spewed on you as a kid. Look, I'll tell you the same thing I told her. It's not my place to tell you what to feel or what choices to make. However this mission is too important for you to be fucking around and acting like a goddamn petulant little child, Jack. You turn an eyelash again toward anyone on my crew, Miranda or anyone else, even once, and I'll pitch you in the goddamn brig so fast your fucking hair will never grow back."
If Jack's scowl were acid it could have eaten through the bulkhead as she glared at the wall, before she snorted. "Fine, Shepard. What the fuck ever. Let's just get your goddamn mission done with."
"Fine," Shepard said, straightening as she turned to go.
"Hey, Shepard," Jack halted her with a shake of her head. "Look…this aside, no one's ever done for me what you have. I'm…sorry I called you a fucking pussy."
"You trying to make me cry, Jack?" Shepard asked with a wry twist to her mouth. "You wanna hug?"
Jack snorted. "Fuck you, Shepard."
"Yeah, fuck you too, smeghead," Shepard chuckled as she walked away. Jack blinked, before her face contorted in confusion.
"What? What the fuck is a 'smeghead?'" she called. The only answer that came was the sound of Shepard's boots tromping back upstairs.
"Have you ever heard the story of 'Jonah and the Whale?'" Kasumi asked in an almost reverential tone.
"What's a 'whale?'" Grunt wanted to know, narrowing his sky blue eyes.
"Big animal, back on Earth," Shepard told him. "They live in the ocean. Some are the size of small transports."
"In the story, a man named Jonah is swallowed by one and lives in its belly for three days," Kasumi added.
"If you tell me we're gonna be in this fucking place for three days I'll shoot you right now," Jack said, her tone on edge. Shepard couldn't even reprimand her for it. Every cell in her body seemed to be tense, and she knew that the others were feeling it just as she was.
Jonah and the Whale, indeed. They were truly in the belly of the beast.
Over thirty million years old, the derelict corpse of the shattered Reaper still felt alive somehow, the essence of its being still in motion, like the sliding of unseen tendrils under dark swamp water. Shepard had barely believed her when Miranda had told her about it, and that they might find an IFF aboard.
Del was worried about what else they might find aboard. The Cerberus scientists that had been studying the synthetic carcass had stopped reporting in, and from what they had seen since hooking up to their interference base, they had all but disappeared, leaving only disturbing video logs in their wake.
"Thirty seven million years old," Liara murmured with quiet, troubled awe as Del stood and regarded her holographic form. She had retired to her room to inform the asari of the situation shortly after Miranda had told her about the derelict. They were already en route. "I knew that the cycle had repeated uncountable times but to find evidence of it from so long ago…"
"I know, Tianlán. It's…difficult to wrap your head around," Shepard agreed.
"At least it gives us some hope. If an ancient civilization could develop a weapon strong enough to stop even one of the Reapers, then there may be the chance that we can do the same. Just… be careful, Del. There is no telling what you might encounter within a God…even a dead one."
So far, they had not encountered much beyond disquietude and a troubling ultimatum.
Almost the moment the infiltration team had set foot on the Reaper, some mechanism deep within had found enough life left to it to seal them away from the Normandy, trapping them aboard. They would have to find the eezo core and take it out…then make a frantic run back to the Normandy and hope they could reach it before the wreck tumbled into the gas giant it was orbiting.
Shepard was beginning to wish she'd become an accountant.
"We're not getting anywhere by standing here gaping," she said to the other three, gesturing at them to move onward. It was hard not to gape, the cavernous gut of the beast just as huge as the Collector ship had been, a twisted pit of riotous black and almost organic lines.
As they started on their path again a faint, low groan whispered through the air. Immediately Shepard felt the hair on the back of her neck rise as she instantly recognized it.
"Husks!" Kasumi cried out a breath later as the gray forms began to flood onto the walkway, pulling their way onto it from below like wicked trolls from under a bridge.
"Guess we know what happened to the scientists," Grunt growled, lifting his gun.
Eyes glimmering that faint, sickly blue, a dozen husks at least rushed out of the dark, fingers stretching toward their prey. Shepard could imagine that, beneath her helmet face-plate, Jack's face was displaying an almost beatific grin as she strode forward two paces and dropped smoothly to one knee. Her arm swung in an arc, hand lighting with fire as it swept past her thigh and just over the ground.
A series of biotic flashes popped along the floor, sailing away from her until they reached the closing wave of hostiles and exploded. Bright blue light flared, dissolving several of the husks into dust and knocking another two or three flying. Of the dozen, only two at the very far edges remained unaffected, continuing to head toward them.
"Ooh, too bad," Shepard barked a laugh, erasing one with her rifle as Grunt took out the other with a blast from his shotgun. "Seven-ten split again, Jack…and leaving me to pick up your spare."
"I'm still ahead by four," Jack sniped back. On her feet once again, she moved forward through the clouds of ash and biotically backhanded three more husks that were trying to pull their way up.
"In what version of reality?" Shepard huffed. "I got three back there while you were busy cleaning your fucking nail-"
Anyone that's ever had a bullet pass by too close for comfort never forgets it…or the sound it makes. Shepard had experienced far too many close calls in her life to even hope to mistake the sudden, wasp-like hiss for anything else.
It was there and gone in a heartbeat, whispering past her helmet, her HUD giving a quick warning flash as it, too, sensed its passage. Snapping her head around reflexively she watched the husk just behind her collapse soundlessly to the ground.
Her rifle snapped up, tracking the trajectory of the shooter even as she darted behind cover. Her eyes narrowed as she caught sight of a figure in the distance, lurking on a catwalk. The time between the sound of the shot and her eyes fixing to the producer of it was less than half a second. A blink, and the catwalk was empty, but the silhouette of the sniper was burned into her mind, unmistakable.
"Shepard, are you all right?" Kasumi asked. "Was that…was that one of the scientists? Maybe some are still alive in here-"
"No," Shepard growled. "That was geth."
Jack's groan of pain was laced with frustration as the biotic shifted against the railing, hand plastered to her shoulder as she struggled to lift her pistol. "Motherfucker!"
"Jack, stay down," Shepard barked, shifting into position between the wounded and spent biotic, and the seemingly endless onslaught of husks. Near to the collapsed ex-con, a limp and battered geth lay lifeless upon the floor, its fingers still outstretched toward Shepard as if entreating her for aide. "Kasumi! We can't keep this up forever!"
"I'm almost set, Shep…five more seconds!" the thief replied frantically, fingers flying as she finished setting the eezo core to overload.
Grunt's shotgun was barking with ferocity, but the krogan boy himself was also wounded and still the fucking things kept coming. Shepard tried to remember how many scientists, techs, and support staff Miranda had mentioned were here under Dr. Chandana's purview and couldn't recall. Given how many husks they'd already taken out and how many were still coming at them, she had to guess around a million.
"We're set…two minutes Shepard!"
"Grunt! Get the geth!" Shepard ordered, even as she grabbed her last grenade and pitched it toward the door. The blast cleared the way, and after picking off one or two more husks she shipped her weapon and grabbed hold of Jack, hefting the biotic up and slinging her over her back, ignoring the woman's protestations.
"You're taking that thing with us?" Kasumi asked as Grunt grabbed the geth and slung the limp chassis over his shoulder.
"Just fucking go!" Shepard barked. They didn't have time to discuss it. They had to be out of the room before the core erupted and off the Reaper before gravity consumed it, and God only knew how many of those husks were left between them and the exit.
Shepard could count every breath, every heart beat that passed, each seeming to take a lifetime in and of itself. Her muscles stretched to their utmost and for a moment it was like a nightmare…the kind where no matter how fast you ran, your goal only seemed to retreat from you.
Then in a rush, metal came up beneath her stumbling feet, Grunt slung a huge arm around her and she was in the shade of the airlock.
"We're in!" she gasped into her mic. "Go!"
The airlock slid shut even as the Normandy turned away, rocketing out of the gravity well with almost effortless ease. The inner lock opened and Shepard hauled off her helmet, dropping it to the ground amidst panting gasps.
"Are you all alright?" Miranda asked, striding toward them. Everyone but Jack was panting in exhaustion, the run having been far more frantic than even Shepard had expected. Her heart felt like it was going to thunder out of her chest.
"Grunt, get Jack down to the med-bay," Shepard ordered, watching as the krogan lifted the pale biotic up and carried her out toward the CIC. "Joker, we clear?"
"Safe distance, Commander," the pilot replied, half turning to look at them. "You look like you've had a day."
"Shepard, is that a…that's a geth," Miranda stared at the limp form on the floor. "Is it…? It's wearing N7 armor!"
Del bobbed her head. "Long fucking story. Have security take it down and lock it up somewhere safe for now."
Stepping past Shepard strode toward the CIC herself, taking the IFF out of the pouch on her belt as she went. "EDI, I'm taking this down to Tali and the engineers. I want you to scan it. I want every specialist in the conference room in twenty minutes and I'd like at least a preliminary analysis on it by then."
"Understood, Shepard."
Tali's face-mask reflected back the tiny holographic IFF half an hour later, the quarian standing with her hands planted to the table in an effort to keep them from trembling. "I can vouch for the hardware," she stated to the gathered group. "It is very old but it is in almost impeccable condition. I should be able to integrate it directly into the ship's systems in fairly short order…perhaps twenty four hours. Software…is another concern."
"My preliminary analysis of the device is promising," EDI took over. "I believe I can mesh our ship systems with the IFF's source code, however it will be no small task. For the integration to be seamless with the Normandy I must develop a programming interface that works harmoniously between our established technology and the alien technology of the chip itself."
"Like an interpreter," Shepard murmured.
"Yes, however I will be working to interpret a language no one but the Reapers speak."
"How long?"
"If I do not reduce my other run-times, it could be days," EDI told her. "Perhaps even weeks. We must be absolutely sure. Anything less than perfect integration could result in the Omega 4 relay not calibrating properly...to attempt to pass through it would then prove catastrophic."
"Can we reduce some of EDI's run-times?" Shepard asked, looking at Miranda.
"Some of the secondary systems could be switched to manual overview," the Australian told her. "It would increase the work-load on the crew but nothing unrealistic."
"I believe to do so would shorten the integration by a significant amount," EDI commented.
"Do it," Shepard ordered with a nod toward her XO.
"What about that geth?" Jacob asked, his dark eyes unreadable.
Shepard didn't miss the way that Tali's hands pressed even tighter to the table at that. Looking at her, she waited until Tali's luminescent eyes met hers, then nodded. Reluctantly, Tali visibly attempted to relax, and sat down in her seat.
"The geth is…unusual," Shepard informed the group. "Not only did it work to aid our efforts in obtaining the IFF, it also spoke to us."
"Spoke?" Miranda blinked. "Geth don't speak…at least not in any way we can understand them."
"This one has apparently learned," Shepard told her. "More, it knew my name."
Troubled looks were exchanged around the table. Shepard let that sink in a moment, then straightened. "God knows I've had my fair share of experience with these things. I don't believe it's so badly damaged it cannot be reactivated-"
"Reactivated?" Jacob interrupted, almost in sync with Tali as the pair sat forward. Glancing at the girl, Jacob shook his head. "Shepard, I don't think that's wise. The only good geth is a dead geth. I say shoot it out into space, let the vacuum have it."
"I agree," Tali replied instantly. "It is too dangerous to have on board. If it got into EDI-"
"There is no risk it would be able to infiltrate my systems," EDI provided. "I can engineer several additional firewalls specific to the geth's relay and hard-line feeds. At the first sign of an attempted infiltration I would be able to overwhelm and deactivate the unit again, without suffering any damage."
"Keelah, no," Tali insisted. "Shepard, I can't support this."
"Understood, Mei Mei," Del answered.
"Cerberus has an outstanding bounty on any intact geth units," Miranda suggested. "We could deliver it for research, have them dissect it in a safe and controlled environment."
"I still say we should just dump the thing out the airlock," Jacob grumped.
"We have never had the opportunity to talk to a geth," Shepard reminded them. "What we could learn from a simple interrogation could prove more valuable than just a dissection of its systems, and would certainly be more valuable than just spacing the damn thing."
"Talking, more talking," Grunt rumbled. "You shouldn't talk so much with enemies. Easier to just shoot them."
"Talking is how you find out plans, strategies, motivations," Shepard reminded him. "It's how you end up defeating a foe that is physically superior, Grunt, and don't make me fucking smack that into your head again."
He scowled at her, huffing, but said nothing else. Del wiped a hand over her mouth, eyes unfocusing slightly as she contemplated, before looked up at EDI's blue orb. "You're absolutely sure you can secure your systems from any hacking attempt?"
"I am positive," the AI said confidently. "Physically, the unit can also be restrained behind a barrier shield. There will be no danger to the ship or crew."
"Then I want to speak with it," Shepard decided. "Valuable intel could be lost if I don't, and it can always be spaced or turned in for research if I don't like what it says."
She didn't add that she was hardly going to turn it over to Cerberus for research. She'd arrange to safely transport it to the Alliance, probably via Thanatos, before she ever even dreamed of passing the Illusive Man such a treasure trove of technology.
Tali seemed to slump slightly at her decision, but said nothing. After a moment's pause, Shepard nodded. "EDI, prepare those firewalls and the barrier. I'm going to check on Jack in the infirmary and then I will go to reactivate the unit. Tali, I know you don't like this…but I would prefer it if you were with me."
"Yes, Shepard," the quarian murmured.
"As soon as this geth situation is squared away I want all resources going toward getting this IFF up and running. Dismissed."
Bathed in dim yellow light, secure behind a shimmering curtain of energy, the limp geth was as cold and unmoving as a gravestone. Tali wasn't really sure what she felt as she stood there beside Del, silently regarding it.
Even without her people's exile from their home world, their forced migration among the empty voids of space for the last three hundred years, there still remained everything else these things had done.
The attack on Eden Prime, where Ashley's unit had been killed and so many civilians had been heartlessly spiked on dragon's teeth to become husks.
The invasion of Feros and Noveria, where yet more innocent people had died, crushed under cold, synthetic heels.
Haestrom, where so many good quarians had been lost.
Her father. Deefa.
"Are you sure about this?" she asked once more, her voice soft but thick as she looked over at Del Shepard. Her friend. Her commander. Her Jie Jie. She would follow the woman into death itself but every inch of her being was praying Shepard decided not to go through with this.
When Del said nothing, Tali forced herself to remain silent as well. She wanted to remind her of everything these machines had done…but she knew that Shepard hardly needed reminding.
After a moment, the dark-eyed human woman looked upward. "EDI? We ready?"
"Firewalls are in place, Shepard. I am prepared to resist any hacking attempt and am able to render the unit non-functional within .021 nanoseconds."
"All right. Hold on to your trousers. We're firing this thing up."
She nodded at Tali, who let out a breath. She tried to keep the trembling in her fingers hidden as she activated her omni-tool. After a moment's work she nodded and spoke as neutrally as she was able. "Unit is powering up now."
Like a candle-flame caught in a breeze, the geth's face-light began to flicker. The motion was trembling for a few long moments, before it started to steady, strengthen, brighten. Then, with a suddenly flash, it reached full strength, and the unit began to shift.
As it sat up, Tali took an unconscious half-step backward, the tension all but singing off of her small frame. Shepard touched her shoulder lightly with her fingers, a reassuring gesture, before she stepped forward.
The geth regarded her with an almost quizzical tilt of its head, before it rose to its feet. Standing, the gaping hole in its chassis was painfully obvious, but Shepard's attention was focused far more on the N7 armor fused to its shoulder and side.
A war trophy, maybe? Would the geth even care about something like that?
For a moment, human and machine regarded one another in silent challenge, before Del finally spoke. "Can you understand me?"
"Yes," the geth replied instantly. Its voice was clearly synthetic though perfectly understandable. At the sound of it, Tali jumped ever so slightly.
"You know who I am?" Del asked firmly.
"Yes. You are Shepard-Commander."
"I take it I took a pot-shot at you at some point."
"No. There was no pot. There was no shooting," the unit replied. "We have never met you."
"Then how do you know my name?"
"All geth know Shepard-Commander."
"So because I killed some geth, you all know about me now? Some kind of…instant communication?"
"No," it replied. "You have not killed us. You have not killed geth."
"I'm pretty sure I've killed quite a fuck-load of geth," Shepard challenged.
"No. You have not killed geth. You have killed heretics."
"Heretics? What the fuck does that mean?"
"Heretics worship the Old Machines. The Old Machines promised them the future. They left the consensus."
"A…mutiny?" Tali blinked, looking at her friend. "A rebellion maybe? Old Machines…that must mean the Reapers."
"So the units I've killed are ones that ran off to join Saren and the Reapers, and there are geth units that didn't do that?"
"Yes. We chose to create our own future. There is no value in a future that is manufactured by another. We have followed you, Shepard-Commander. You destroyed heretics. You oppose the Old Machines. We have followed you from the beginning."
Shepard's eyes narrowed a bit. Great, my own geth stalker, she thought, before she gestured at the thing's arm. "Where did you get that N7 armor?"
The geth looked down at the portion of hard-suit fused to its chassis and, despite the fact that it was incapable of true expression, Shepard could almost imagine surprise on its face…as if it had forgotten the piece was there, or had not expected her to notice it. After a moment's pause it looked back at her.
"It…is yours."
"Why are you wearing a piece of my armor?"
Damned if she couldn't imagine the thing was flustered now, tiny flaps around its face-light shifting rapidly in almost agitation.
"There was a hole."
Wiping a hand over her face, Shepard sighed and gave Tali a sideways look before addressing the machine again. "What do you want?"
"We oppose the heretics," it replied. "We oppose the Old Machines. Shepard-Commander opposes the Old Machines. There is logic in this."
"You want to join us?" Shepard blinked, baffled.
"Yes."
Shepard stared at it, unsure how to even begin to process the ramifications of that one. "You say you've followed me," she told it. "Then you know how many geth I've fought, what I've had to do to stop them. What could you possibly offer me to make me even think about beginning to trust you?"
"Logic," the unit replied calmly. "We rendered aide upon the Old Machine, we did not oppose you. We have not attempted to access the systems of your ship. This platform awaits disposal at your convenience, and cannot prevent such an action. We are…at your mercy."
Could machines even understand 'mercy?' Shepard looked at the thing skeptically. After a breath, it inclined its head.
"We can provide our intelligence on the Old Machines," it continued. "We can provide a solution to heretic problem."
Shepard looked at Tali with a frown. "What do you think? Is a geth even capable of lying?"
"I have no idea," Tali admitted. "What I do know is we can't simply trust it. We have no proof that what it's saying is accurate."
"Well, it's right. It didn't try and kill us on the derelict. Every other goddamn geth I've ever seen has shot on sight."
"They didn't shoot Saren," Tali pointed out. "Obviously they are capable of some level of restraint."
"True, but if they were influenced by the Reapers as Saren was, it could be that control rather than their individual will-"
"Keelah, Jie Jie…will? It's a machine. Do they even have a will?"
"I think they do," Del told her, then gently reminded her. "I think they have enough of a will to want to survive, to question whether or not they have a soul…or are your own stories about the war between the geth and your people inaccurate?"
Tali ducked her head, unable to refute that. The whole mess had started because a single geth unit had displayed sentience…and with sentience came will, independent thought…even if it did not necessarily indicate emotion as organics understood it.
Shepard wiped a hand over her face as she sighed softly. "I have to think about this. I cannot take a blind risk that what you are telling me is the truth."
"Understood, Shepard-Commander. We will wait for your consensus."
"Tali, c'mon. EDI, meet us upstairs in the Nest and send up anything you can find in the databases on the geth and geth behavior. We're gonna pull an all-nighter and figure this damn thing out."