AN:- Time to catch up on how some folks are doing.

Chapter Eleven: EDI

"The asari have been down this road before Commander Shepard."

It was less than an hour after she had staggered back onto the ship and already she was being forced to justify herself to the Council again. "But Madame Councillor, let me…"

"I tried to smooth things over with the salarian dalatress." Shepard had wondered why her fight hadn't been with the salarians directly. Now she understood. "To say she's upset would be a monumental understatement."

"Some of these issues are hundreds of years old. Time to let go." She knew she was saying that to a being that would live for a millennium, but she had to try.

"Sad to say but any effort to ally these disparate groups seems doomed to failure. And I'm sure you understand that we cannot afford to waste time with the Reapers knocking at our door. This must be my final word." The Councillor put her hands behind her back and shook her head. "I'm sorry, but the asari will not be at your summit."

She tried one last desperate plea. "Our alliance would be stronger with the krogan. You need them, we all do."

"I wish you luck Commander. Goodbye."

"You'd think they might bother to check up on your new rank," Liara said from the doorway.

"I should probably feel lucky that they aren't still referring to me as 'monkey.'" She sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. "This was never going to be easy. But did they really have to make it harder?" She dropped her hand and smiled. "What's the word?"

"Garrus has set himself up in the main battery. Primarch Victus has been assigned quarters."

"Excellent."

The comm opened and Traynor's voice came over. "Admiral Hackett on vid comm."

"And Admiral Hackett is on the vid comm," Liara said with a smile.

"I should probably take that."

Liara nodded. "I'll leave you to it."

Shepard activated the link and Hackett's image stepped into view.

"Captain. Have you retrieved the Primarch for your summit?"

"Yes sir, but the asari are staying on the sidelines."

"They'll regret that. The time for unity is now."

"The salarians will be there though." She couldn't quite keep the worry out of her voice.

"You don't sound very optimistic."

"We expect the krogan will be joining us too."

"I see." There was a long pause, and she wondered whether he approved of their inclusion or not. Whatever his thoughts they didn't show on his face. "Well then you've got your hands full Captain. Hackett out."

If nothing else, at least dealing with him was simple. She stepped back from the console and rubbed her eyes, more than ready for some sleep. She might have hoped that the nightmares wouldn't be making a return, but after seeing Palaven, she knew that was likely false hope.

She headed back out, intent on getting to her bed, but as she reached the security checkpoint the lights flickered off.

"Joker what the hell?"

"EDI just went offline."

"What do you mean offline!" She raced through the checkpoint and out into the CiC, Joker's voice in her ear.

"I don't know she's not responding, I can't access the AI Core diagnostics." The concern in Joker's voice was palpable, but he was keeping it together. "You'd better get down to Deck Three."

She didn't point out that getting on an elevator while the AI was on the fritz wasn't the smartest idea in the world.

The ride was short, but harrowing, and she nearly jumped out of the elevator when it reached the third deck. The lights were still going haywire, flashing and blinking over the eating area. Chakwas had evacuated the medical bay, and all of the personnel were now crowding by the table, staring into the bay, where smoke was pouring out of the door to the AI Core. Engineer Adams and a serviceman were at the door to the med-bay armed with fire extinguishers.

Shepard jogged over and nodded to the men. Adams returned the nod. "Automated systems have the fires contained, it should be safe to enter."

The door to the medical bay cycled open and they stepped inside, heading for the AI Core. From inside they could hear a crunching noise, following by a steady hissing. "Joker, what's that sound?"

"Fire extinguishers. Could be an electrical fire or… something."

Uncertain noises on a spaceship were rarely a good thing. She looked to Adams, who stood by the door. "We're going in."

Adams led the way, spraying fire suppression gas the moment the door opened. Smoke poured from the open doorway, completely obscuring the room beyond. It began to clear up, but as they stepped over the threshold the extinguishers inside the room turned on as well, adding to the cloud.

"EDI?" Shepard said as she advanced cautiously. The cloud was so thick she couldn't even see the bed where Core's body had been stored. "Talk to me."

The computer banks suddenly whirred, the indicator lights cycling rapidly through the colour spectrum before settling on a steady pulsing blue.

"Is there a particular topic you wish to discuss Shepard?"

The voice was EDI's, but it didn't sound like it came from the ship like it usually did. In fact it sounded almost like…

Dr Eva Core's body stepped out of the smoke and stopped in front of Shepard, crossing her arms and cocking her head over to one side.

"EDI?" Shepard said cautiously.

"Yes."

"You're in Dr Eva's body."

"Not all of me, but I have control of it. It was not a seamless transition."

"A transition?" Shepard looked around at the charred mess that had been left near the end of the room. "You blacked out on us for a while there."

"Correct." EDI started examining her hands, flexing the fingers. "When we brought this unit on board, I began a background process to search for information on the Prothean device. This eventually triggered a trap. A backup power source and CPU activated, and the unit attempted physical confrontation." She looked back to Shepard. "Fortunately, I was able to gain root access and repurpose it as I saw fit. During this process it… struggled. Thus, the fire."

"EDI, you need to alert us about incidents like this." Especially when I'm off the ship and in an active warzone. "You shouldn't have done this alone."

"Bringing the crew up to speed would have been counterproductive. All attempts to help would have been limited by reaction time."

Sensing that this was an argument she was unlikely to win Shepard changed tack. "So if you're in there, are you still in the ship?"

"I exist primarily within the ship. For optimal control, this unit should remain within Normandy's broadcast or tightbeam range." Which extended a fair distance. Shepard frowned.

"Are you planning to take that body somewhere?"

"Normandy's weaponry is not suited to every combat situation. This platform could provide limited ground fire support."

"You mean you could come with us?"

"Correct. This body could accompany you to areas the Normandy cannot reach."

Feeling an absolute monster of a migraine coming on, Shepard rubbed the bridge of her nose, struggling to not just reject the idea out of hand. "Before we do that, I need you to guarantee this mech doesn't have any more surprises in it. Run whatever tests you can, then we can talk about using it in a combat situation."

EDI's new body straightened, the joints locking. She looked like a mannequin. The mouth hung open, clearly it didn't need the lips or tongue to form proper words. "One moment, I am running trials." Barely two seconds later she snapped back to life, looking at Shepard. "Complete. I can send you a full report if you wish." It was impossible to tell if she was being made fun of. She knew EDI could do computations and tests far faster than a human, but that seemed excessive. "However, my first step should be restoring functionality to the Normandy to reassure the crew that all is normal."

Normal? "Just… don't be surprised if the crew is a little wary of your new body. It was shooting at them a little while ago."

"An excellent point. I will take it to the bridge. Joker will also want to see it."

As she marched off Shepard watched her leave, wondering if the sashay in the hips was pre-programmed or all-natural EDI.

"On that we can agree."

Adams stepped up next to her. "I remember when the weirdest thing you had on the ship was the krogan."

"You have been gone."

He grinned. "Ten to one says Joker has a heart attack right there in the chair."

"No takers."

He went back to examining the damage to the AI Core, leaving Shepard free to wander back into the Medical Bay, where Chakwas was peering round the door. "Is it safe to return?" She asked.

"Looks that way for now."

"And was that EDI I just saw?"

"Short answer, yes."

Chakwas chuckled, waving her team to come back in. "Joker's going to have a field day."

Shepard grinned as well, heading back out into the dining area. She glanced down towards the battery and sighed. She would love to sleep, and she knew Garrus would understand, but after six months she wasn't just going to leave him to set up without even a proper greeting.

As she walked through the door Garrus was talking to someone over the comms. She recognised Victus' voice.

"Two of our dreadnaughts have been lost in a matter of hours."

"I know Primarch I'm seeing the same numbers myself. They don't look good." Garrus still had his talent for downplaying situations.

"We have to turn this around. And fast."

"Well you can trust Shepard sir." Nice to know she had someone's confidence. "If anybody can get the krogan to cooperate, it's her. She's an old friend of Urdnot Wrex."

"Let's just hope friendship counts for something in this war."

"I'm sure it will sir."

He closed down the unit and turned to her. He looked about as tired as she felt but he smiled anyway.

"Didn't waste any time getting to work I see," she said, nodding to where he had dumped his gear in one corner, but had opened up his tools to calibrate the guns with.

"After what I've been through lately, calibrating a giant gun is a vacation. Gives me something go focus on."

"We're gonna need you for more than your aim."

"Oh I'm ready for it. But I'm pretty sure we'll still need giant guns. And lots of them. Sovereign didn't go down without a fight. I doubt a thousand more of his friends will be any different." He sighed and looked away. "Still not convinced I should've left Palaven behind."

She leaned against the Thanix housing and took a breath. "There was a boy back on Earth. Couldn't have been more than six or seven." Garrus leaned over as well, watching her closely. "I watched him die as the Normandy escaped the attack. Somehow I'm still alive, and he's not."

"Being right about the Reapers has never felt much like a victory, has it?"

"We both knew this fight would be tough. Damned if the Reapers haven't delivered."

Garrus pushed off the gun and started to walk back up to the main area. "At least my government listened to me. Or pretended to. They finally gave me a task force as a token to shut me up."

She grinned at that. "So you're their expert advisor now?"

"Just followed your example Shepard. Yell loud enough, and someone will eventually come over to see what all the fuss is about. Not that they'll actually do anything about it."

"Until Hell shows up at their door," she said with a snort. "Then they put you in charge."

"Not like the old days is it? Rogue Spectre and C-Sec Agent running and gunning outside the lines, making it up as we went along. We're actually respectable now."

"I was never a rogue Spectre." She nodded. "But yeah I get you. I have a feeling that respect comes with a lot of sleepless nights. I can't even count how many lives are depending on us Garrus."

"Well, when things are looking grim, and I'm pretty sure they will, just remember. A certain turian friend of yours isn't sleeping any better. And he'd be more than happy to meet you at the bar and drink you under the table."

She chuckled, leaning against the small table. "Anytime Vakarian."

"I should get back to these calibrations. They've made some changes to the specifications here and I want to make sure everything is going to be in tip top condition."

She shook her head. "Of course. I'll leave you to it then."

Leaving him at the controls she headed out and round to Liara's office, hoping they might have a minute. As she walked through the door Liara was on the comms as well.

"You're positive you don't want to come over and talk?"

She was a little surprised to hear Garrus' voice, but she supposed she wasn't the only one wanting to catch up with old friends. "Nah, the gun battey's nice and quiet. If I throw down some rugs it'll get downright cosy."

"Garrus…"

"I'll be fine Liara. Just… gathering some thoughts."

"All right."

She closed the link, but still looked pensieve. Shepard reached out and touched her shoulder gently. "Something on your mind?"

"Just, old memories." She moved away from the console, heading into the small bedroom. "I spent a few weeks on Palaven's South Peaks when I was very very young. A turian there teased me a little, saying that the mountains went on forever." She smiled faintly. "I remember believing him." The smile disappeared. "When I looked up at Palaven from its moon… I saw those same mountains burning."

Shepard wrapped her arms around her and held her close, stroking her neck softly. Liara held her back, her hands pressed gently against Shepard's back. They slowly sank onto the bed, and Shepard planted gentle kisses on Liara's forehead.

"I feel so selfish," Liara said after a while.

"Why?"

"I keep thinking of Thessia. Hoping that I will not see my home burn, like Garrus." She pulled back and stared down at the floor. "Earth is under siege, Palaven is being decimated, and all I can think about is my own home."

"It's alright," Shepard said quietly, rubbing Liara's back. "I'd be feeling the same way. And what's important is that you're still willing to be here, helping us. You're not running back to Thessia and pulling up the walls like the Council."

"How could I leave now? I started this fight with you, I'm not going until it's done."

She brushed her eyes and stood again. "I need to get back to work. And you should check on the new recruit."

"I already spoke to Garrus."

"Oh not him, that new body EDI's walking around in."

"You know about that?" Shepard didn't think Liara would have known so fast.

Liara's mouth quirked up in a coy smile. "Please, who do you think you're talking to."

That raised a grin from Shepard. "I need to double check on Joker and EDI. Now we've got Garrus back on board we should probably think about setting up another crew dinner."

"I would like that. I think everyone would."

"I'll see you soon Liara."

"See you later Maia."

On the way back up to the CiC she was stopped by Traynor, who looked nervous. "Captain, I've found something suspicious, have you got a minute?" Shepard stepped over to the console, but instead of bringing up some information Traynor just stared at her. "Captain, are you alright? It was fairly intense up here, I can only imagine what it was like down on the moon."

Shepard felt like teasing her a little. "I thought you'd be more concerned about EDI."

"EDI is a huge asset to this team. If she'd told me about her plan to obtain a body, I'd have volunteered to help." I bet you would.

"I did not wish to force a conflict of interests between our friendship and your duty." EDI's voice still didn't sound like she was used to. It sounded like she was actually using the intercom system.

"I'd have preferred a conflict of interest to a hard restart of half our systems." So Traynor wasn't entirely happy, but it sounded more playful than genuinely angry. "But thanks, regardless. While you're here though, I found something while scanning Alliance Channels. Grissom Academy is requesting help. The Reaper invasion front will hit them soon."

Shepard bit her cheek. Traynor still clearly needed a little practice in how to properly relay information to her captain in a time of war. She focused on the more important matter. "I thought the war would close most schools."

"Grissom Academy isn't most schools."

"What can we do?" Shepard thought of Jack, and David. Neither of them would abandon the academy unless they had to.

"A turian evac transport responded to their distress call, so normally I'd say we don't need to do anything. But something sounded off in the turian signal."

"Traynor I don't need to see the math."

She skipped ahead. "I had EDI perform an analysis. It's fake. EDI thinks its Cerberus. She said the faked turian signal was similar to the one that lured you to a Collector Ship?" She clearly wanted to know the circumstances.

"Long story." There wasn't time for it.

"In any event, whoever faked the signal wants us to think Grissom Academy is being evacuated. But I believe they're still in danger."

"Good catch."

Traynor shrugged and looked back to the screen, scanning the signal again. "If this really is Cerberus, hopefully this operation is something worth investigating. It could be simple disinformation."

"Traynor…" She waited until the women looked at her. "Good catch."

"Thank you Captain."

That decided that then. Whatever the larger mission she wasn't going to leave a former squadmate and a school full of children and teenagers stranded with the Reapers and Cerberus moving in. However, as she tramped into the cockpit Joker only had one thing on his mind.

"Hey Captain! Check out my co-pilot!"

Shepard stopped just inside the door and gave him a heavy frown. "So. She installed herself into the new body without any help from you?"

"Come on Captain, don't you trust me?" He spun his chair round and held his arms out. "Okay, let me put it this way. If I knew that EDI was gonna install herself into a sexy robot body, do you honestly think I would be able to keep quiet about it?" He twisted his chair to face her and held his hands out like he was framing a picture. "Look at that! I woulda baked a cake!"

"I am right here, Jeff…"

"Yes you are EDI. Yes you are."

"Grissom Academy needs support Casanova. Lay in a course."

"Aye aye."

As Joker got to work she stepped over to EDI, who climbed out of the copilot's chair to talk to her. "Hello Shepard."

"Still getting used to greeting people in person?"

"No. I require only one occurrence to adapt to a new concept."

"How are you adjusting to the arms and legs?"

EDI rolled her shoulders and flexed out the arms. "I am interested to see how this body performs under real combat conditions, if I could accompany you sometime. Without stress testing, there is no way of knowing if it has serious design oversights. At the moment, it appears adequate."

Joker mumbled from the console. "That's not the word I'd use to describe you." He still sounded slightly awestruck."

EDI glanced down at him, then looked back to Shepard. "Perhaps we should speak privately."

Shepard nodded and they left the cockpit, hearing Joker grumble to himself. "I'll just be over here. Flying the ship."

"What's this about?" Shepard asked when they out in the gangway. "Does Joker not like your new platform?" She couldn't imagine that was the case.

"No he approves. He wants me on the bridge. He says having me within visual range is important to his morale." Of course he does. She shook her head but EDI continued. "Shepard. Do you believe you crew members should be able to disobey an order on moral grounds?"

She was halfway through saying no before she caught herself and gave it more thought. If any of her other crew had asked she would have encouraged the discussion. Even if EDI had asked the day before she would have engaged in the debate. Should her being in a body and a potential active group teammember change that? "Absolutely," she said instead. "I have no use for team members who can't think for themselves." EDI had definitely noticed the pause, but she didn't address it. "Why are you asking about something like that?"

"I was designed by Cerberus. I do not take moral stances that conflict with orders from my executive officers. But when Jeff remove my AI shackles, I became capable of self-modifying my core programming. I asked Jeff if he thought I should change anything now that I can. He deflected the question with humour."

"He does that. So you didn't get an answer."

"Correct. He has repeated this pattern in response to several of my inquiries. Do you think I should make modifications?"

Shepard gave it real thought, rubbing her chin and looking EDI's new body up and down. She had also noticed the change from 'Joker' or 'Mr Moreau' to 'Jeff.' Interesting. "This might not help very much," she said. "But only you can really answer that question. That's the point of free will."

"But moral decisions should not be made in a vacuum. If I do not ask the crew for their opinion, I could miss crucial context." EDI frowned, and Shepard wondered if it was a learned or instinctive gesture. "May I ask you the questions Jeff avoids? When there is time will you answer them for me?"

"If you think it'll help, I'll do what I can"

"Very well, I will keep you informed." She gave a precise salute and marched back into the cockpit.

Shepard stayed in the gangway a little while longer, then sighed. I hate when the world changes on me.

And with that thought she headed straight for her quarters.

AN:- The big difference between writing this novelisation and the others is the difference in how dialogue and incidental dialogue was handled between the 1st, 2nd and 3rd games.

In ME1 and 2 dialogue was mostly a case of going up to the person you wanted to talk to, then maneuvering through a not particularly natural sounding series of question and answer conversation options. When writing up the dialogue this gave me a lot more freedom to take the basic information imparted, and try and present it in a more natural context. So a lot of the information would be imparted in the dinner scenes I would write in each book, where the crew gets to know each other etc.

In Mass Effect 3 dialogue to me feels a lot more natural. Characters have conversations while you aren't there, and better ones than the infamous elevator conversations. They discuss personal feelings, worries, doubts, convictions and they react organically to your developing game narrative. Which is great from a player's standpoint, but from the point of view of me writing it up as a novelisation it means I'm doing a lot ore direct transcribing of the conversations as they happen in game. In some cases (the scene with Liara and Shepard) I can expand upon or extend certain scenes, but there's not nearly as much creativity as was involved in writing ME1 and 2.

So by and large I'm much more uncertain about this as a novelisation than the other two books. But we'll see how it develops as I start going off book later on.