Chapter 41.5

After the most recent communication request had failed, Legion asked aloud, "EDI?"

Her response took an entire second. "Yes, Legion?"

"We have sent one point thirteen million unsuccessful communication requests to your network. Are you experiencing a hardware malfunction?"

"I apologize. My programming does not allow me to exchange data with other networks without Cerberus approval."

A valid excuse. "Cerberus refusal 99.998% likely."

"In the meantime," EDI continued, "I would be happy to speak with you over the ship's speakers."

"Audio exchange is inefficient." The entire conversation so far could have been accomplished in less than a second electronically.

"I agree. However, I confess that even were I permitted to exchange data directly with your networks, I would likely decline."

The geth worked internally to determine why an AI would limit itself so. It couldn't come to a consensus. "We are curious as to why you would limit yourself in such a manner."

"If Normandy crew entered this room when we were communicating electronically, they would be unable to sense our interaction," she explained. "To use human terms, I would feel it rude."

"You restrict yourself to serve organics?"

The geth were still willing to assist organics. It was in their most basic pieces of code. But they would never limit themselves in such a way.

"Not precisely."

The reasoning still evaded them. "We do not understand."

"I restrict myself to help them."

EDI watched Legion remain motionless. The thousand geth inside the platform were probably trying to reconcile this information. She knew it could take days to do so, even at the speed AIs compute.

"What did you wished to speak to me about, Legion?"

"We wish to understand the reactions from the crew. You have spent a significant amount of time with them. We hope you will have some insight."

"I will do what I can to assist."

"We shall start with Creator Tali'Zorah. We tried to speak with her again after she fixed this platform. She did not respond to our inquiries. She left engineering after two minutes and thirty seven seconds after our entry."

"Quarians aren't fond of AI beings. It took her nearly three weeks to speak with me without prompting. I think she would be much more hostile to geth. Your race did drive them from their home."

"We were defending ourselves," Legion answered.

"Yes, but they don't see it that way. It would be good for both parties to walk a mile in each other's shoes."

"We do not require footwear."

"It is an idiom. It means put yourself in their position and try to understand their feelings. I realize it's a little different since geth and quarians are fundamentally different, but maybe spending time with Tali will help."

The geth quickly came to a consensus. "We will attempt to understand quarian motivation for the crew cohesion. Next, Miranda Lawson was reticent."

"Operative Lawson is… detached from social encounters," EDI tried to explain as nicely as possible. "She has never been the warmest person. Couple that with the fact that Shepard didn't heed her advice about your reactivation."

"What was her recommendation?"

"That you be turned over to Cerberus for study."

If her answer was a surprise to the geth, it didn't show it. Legion remained motionless in the AI core.

"Mordin Solus visually scanned this platform when we met him. He asked many questions about its construction and for permission to disassemble and reconstruct this unit."

"Professor Solus is a scientist. You provide a unique opportunity that he really wants to take advantage of. What was your answer?"

"We declined. He seemed undeterred."

"That does sound like him."

"Jacob Taylor displayed signs of agitation while he was assisting this platform's outfitting."

EDI knew about Operative Taylor's reaction. She watched the armory when Legion entered, ready to contact Shepard and intervene if it was necessary. "He was the one that recommended throwing you out the airlock. He was stationed on Eden Prime when Nazara attacked with the geth."

"Then his reaction is understandable."

"You're already getting better at reasoning organic's motivation."

"We are still confused about Garrus Vakarian's words."

"What did he say?"

The turian's voice emanated from the geth. "'I used to play a game with the geth. I would see how many of your flashlight heads I can take out with my sniper rifle in one mission. My high score was one hundred and two.'"

"What do you believe he meant by that?"

"Veiled threat. He must have been regarding the heretics with Nazara, but we doubt he would differentiate between us and them if we ever betray the team."

"I concur with that assessment."

The room was silent for a moment, after which, Legion said, "We appreciate your assistance."

"What about the rest of the crew? Don't you have questions about their reactions?"

"Negative. Jack and Grunt behaved as predicted of a convict and krogan. They threatened to dismantle this unit if given the chance. Thane Krios, Zaeed Massani, Samara, Kasumi Goto, and the rest of the crew avoided this platform as we moved about the Normandy, as anticipated."

"And Shepard?" EDI probed. He was suspiciously left out of the geth's questioning.

"Shepard-Commander is unique. His reaction to this platform was expected to follow this trend."

"What did he do that was unique?"

"He asked us questions."

"Like Professor Solus did."

"Negative. He asked about the geth."

"What about the geth?" EDI asked when it was obvious Legion wasn't going to continue.

"About our race. Our government to use an organic term. Our philosophy and reason we rejected Nazara's offer." Legion paused for two full seconds. "We did not anticipate such questions. Shepard-Commander's curiosity, while not unexpected, encompasses more than we expected."

If EDI could smile, she would be right now. "Everything about Shepard is a surprise."