Chapter 11 – Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

The first thing Rorie had wanted to do when she'd woken, was to visit Joker. Given the way she'd reacted to spotting Jack dozing on the couch, Terra thought it was probably a good idea to get her out of the apartment before she realised James was there, too; being jumped on by an over-excited youngster was probably more than a hung-over Vega could handle right now.

So here they were, after Rorie's exuberant vid-call with daddy (who looked as tired as Terra felt), a rushed breakfast, and a warning call to Chakwas that they were on their way. Jack entertained Rorie out in the corridor while Chakwas went in to wake Joker with Shepard close behind.

Despite knowing that Joker was returning to consciousness for the first time since his ordeal, Terra was startled when he woke with a strangled cry and desperate eyes, the heart monitor sounding out his distress. He was disoriented, and Terra knew the fear on his face was for her daughter.

Chakwas firmly pressed him back into the sheets. "Settle down, Jeff. Everything's fine."

"Joker." Shepard made her presence known, but was instantly cut off as Joker grabbed her wrist, despite his braced arm.

"Shepard! Tell me you have Rorie! Is she okay?"

Shepard placed her hand over his in reassurance. "She is. Just very worried about you."

Joker sank back in tremendous relief, a wave of self-condemnation flooding him as he faced Shepard. "I'm so sorry. I let you down again. I had no business being near her. I was useless! I couldn't protect her!"

Hearing him blame himself made Terra's hatred of the Leviathans deepen, but she focused on her friend, and she held his hand in her two. "Joker. She's alive. Unhurt. You did great. Thank you," she finished, with true sincerity, determined that he understand the important role he had played in Rorie's survival.

"Now then, Jeff, there'll be no more of that nonsense," admonished Chakwas. "Aurora is waiting to see you."

"If you feel up to it," stressed Shepard.

Joker pulled himself together, inwardly bemoaning the fact that it would be handy if he could do the same to his aching broken bones so easily. He needed to see for himself that Rorie was well. At his nod to Chakwas, she opened the door.

Rorie ran in, happiness spreading across her face when she saw Joker. "Uncle Joker! You awake now?"

Joker raised his hands as if to say 'isn't it obvious?' "I've got my eyes open, don't I?"

Shepard lifted Rorie up so she could sit carefully on the edge of the bed, swinging her legs. "You fell over," she murmured, sadly.

"Yeah. Clumsy, huh?" he half-joked. Inside, he felt nauseous from the residual memory of knowing he was losing consciousness amidst the almighty pain when there was a gunman aiming at Rorie. He didn't know what had happened to change the dire circumstances his failing body had left behind, but it had been good, because here she was - whole. "Sorry I left you," he told her, quietly.

"You didn't leave me," she frowned. "You were there all the time. Did you forget?"

Joker laughed at the earnest, confused and 'you're a bit silly, Uncle Joker' look she was giving him. It then turned to pure concern as she looked at the heavy-duty bandages that wrapped his limbs, and the monitors that constantly read his vitals.

"Sorry, Uncle Joker," Rorie said, sorrowfully.

Puzzled, Joker glanced at Shepard, who seemed just as baffled by Rorie's apology. He took the little hand that was fidgeting with the edge of the sheet that covered him. "Sorry for what?"

"Not protecting you."

"Protecting me!?" blurted out Joker, stunned.

This was the first time Terra had seen this guilt her daughter harboured and it took her breath away. "Sweetheart…" She gently turned Rorie's face towards her, her heart wrenching at the watery eyes that met hers. "What happened wasn't your fault."

"I didn't use my bah-rer to help Uncle Joker," she whispered.

Kissing her forehead, Shepard then hugged Rorie close. "Remember what Grandpa Hackett said to you when things got scary?"

Her little head nodded. "Be brave and stay safe."

"That's right." Shepard kept her tone quiet and soft. "And he also told you that keeping everyone else safe was not your job."

Joker cleared his throat. "You're not Alliance yet, Pip-squeak. Remember? That's our job. Okay?" He squeezed the little hand in his when she nodded back at him, churned up inside that she was feeling the same blame about what happened to him, as he did over her.

"Does it hurt?" she asked him.

"Not too bad. Doc must have me on lots of meds. Seeing you makes me feel much better, though."

That made Rorie smile at both him and her mother, her conscience cleared by her grown-ups words.

"Careful, Joker. You're getting sappy in your old age," Jack interrupted, her voice a little hoarser than usual after Rorie's confession.

Joker saw her for the first time, leaning against the far wall with her arms crossed. An opportunity to lighten the situation had just presented itself. "Hey, the psychotic biotic's turned up. For the record, I'm nowhere near hitting forty."

"Ooh, Kaidan's going to thank you for that," laughed Shepard, at the thought of her husband who would be hitting 40 next birthday.

"Not like he can break any more bones," Joker shrugged, then winced. "You know if you were hoping to join in the action, Jack, you've got shoddy timing."

"Shut up. Like I could know a ton of zombies were about to attack. No one told me the Leviathans were back," she said pointedly, in Shepard's direction.

"I'm surprised you risked coming in here. They like to keep psychotics in a special ward. You'd get a room all to yourself."

Jack glared back at Joker, then made a rude gesture when Rorie was turned away.

"Uncle Joker! Where's your hat!?" Rorie gasped in horror. "You always wear your hat!"

"Cap. And I don't always wear it. It falls off if you sleep in it."

"You've actually tried it, haven't you?" teased Shepard, then grinned at the poorly executed look of innocence Joker gave her.

Chakwas liberated his cap from a cupboard. "Here." She passed it to Rorie who placed it gently on his head.

"That's better," she smiled. "Now you look right."

"Thanks, Pip-squeak. Feels right, too. Now all I need is my cockpit and-" He stopped at the thought of Edi. Was she confined to the ship again? He was going to ask but Rorie suddenly cried out and clutched her own head.

"Oh no! I lost my hat!"

"Cap. Don't worry about it. I can always get you another."

"Really?" she beamed.

"Of course. That's if… you know… you feel safe enough to come out with me."

"Uh huh." Rorie responded without hesitation. "And Antie Edi, too."

Joker appreciated her resounding trust in him. It had bothered him that she might associate him with danger. "Is Edi's body functional again?" he asked Shepard.

"She will be soon!" Rorie answered for her, excitedly. "Antie Bynn is fixing her, like Antie Karin is fixing you! Everyone will be better again and we can go get another hat! Cap," she quickly corrected before Joker could, then smiled, happily.

"I've got it on good authority that Edi will have all her faculties available to her by the end of the day," confirmed Shepard, then addressed Rorie. "And that shopping trip will have to wait until Joker's fully healed, sweetheart. It'll take more time than Edi."

"Okay."

Chakwas moved towards the bed. "Now, I have some checks to do on Uncle Joker, so why don't you go enjoy your day together and come back later?"

Rorie leaned forward and kissed Joker's cheek. "I love you, Uncle Joker," she whispered, secretively.

"Love you, too," he whispered back, giving her a wink.

Shepard bent to copy her daughter's kiss. "That makes two of us."

Joker lifted his head to look expectantly at Jack.

"Yeah, right," Jack retorted.

Shepard lifted Rorie off the bed. "Get back on your feet quickly, Commander. The Normandy needs her pilot."

"You got it. Hey, you're not heading out on any missions, are you? I mean, I know you've got Altair..." He shuddered at the thought, then winced again as he jostled his aching bones.

"The Normandy without you? That would be going against nature," Shepard jibed.

"You're right. The galaxy would probably implode," he said, with mock graveness. "Good. Because, you know, I said I was with you, whatever, so..."

"Understood. Broken bones no obstacle," smiled Terra. "Thank you, Joker."

Then they were gone and Joker missed them. He looked up at Chakwas who was already running her omnitool over him. "This must be your dream come true. Me at the mercy of your medical whims."

"Yes, Jeff. I'm ecstatic that you broke almost every major bone in your body. The gunshot in your back that narrowly missed your heart was especially pleasing." Chakwas oozed satire.

Joker drew back as far as he could. "Okay. Geez! Chill out, Doc. Need some of my medication?"

Chakwas simply gave him a small content smile. "It's good to have you back, Jeff."

oOo

Liara sat inside the new building. It was as beautiful as the first had been; elegant lines synonymous with asari design, set amongst the picturesque vista – the only construct for as far as the eye could see. However, she couldn't appreciate any of it, her mind elsewhere. Soon she would have answers, and her mouth went dry at the thought.

She looked through her messages, already opened but it gave her something to do.

Dr T'Soni,

Request for visitation with resident: approved.

Please note there is a limit of two hours in order to maintain our residents' routines. We appreciate your co-operation in this matter.

Superintendent Yala Drayus.

A small part of her had almost hoped that she'd be denied, but here she was - a step closer to the truth. The next message was her response from Shepard.

Liara,

Do what you need to do. I know it must be important. Please take care. I'll be here when you're ready.

Terra.

Liara realised that she never called Shepard by her first name. It seemed too intimate. A name used by the man she loved, and her father. Liara didn't read more into it than it was. Shepard was simply being more personal. Liara truly treasured the friendship and the family that Shepard had brought into her life but she would be lying if she said that it was easy to know Shepard would never feel the same way as Liara did about her. Maybe, in retrospect, that was more of a blessing…

An asari matriarch came to a stop in front of her. "Dr T'Soni, I am Superintendent Drayus. If you would follow me, Falere is ready to receive you."

"Thank you, Superintendent."

Anxiety heightened within Liara as she stood. It felt like she was on trial, the sentence looming. Would it be freedom or a life-sentence? She feared the latter as she started her walk through the monastery.

oOo

The Admiralty's headquarters on Rannoch was simply the repurposed vessel, Neema. It stood proudly overlooking the valley that was the centre of Rannoch's first established city; a nostalgic reminder of a way of life that was very different to the one they had now.

In the centre of the Admiralty's private chamber, the four admirals stood in a ring, at what looked like podiums, facing towards each other, a fifth place glaringly vacant.

Kaidan waited while Han'Gerrel looked over the evidence that his own son had gathered against him. A large window had been cut into the hull, providing a sweeping view of the city below, and Kaidan had meandered over to take it all in.

It was so very different now. The previously empty land now a growing metropolis. It had been a long time since he'd visited Rannoch. That had been a sombre affair as he and Terra joined the admirals to bury and honour Tali, interred in the land she had claimed to build her home during the fight for Rannoch. Kal'Reegar's remains were placed beside her. That plot would always be left untouched.

Returning his attention to the room, Kaidan saw Gerrel sag at first, his head turning slightly towards Clay who was staring at his feet having placed himself in the corner of the room with his arms behind his back. Kaidan had suggested the boy wait outside to avoid the discomfort of facing his father, but Clay had insisted on seeing this through to the end.

There were no helmets to hide faces on their home-world, and though they still wore their suits, gloves were not a part of it. Gerrel had the same strong jaw and nose he'd given his son, his face more creased with frown lines, and the beauty of his quarian eyes somehow muted with severity, making them more ominous.

Kaidan saw the silent accusation and disappointment thrown at Clay. Then Gerrel exhaled heavily before straightening, his stance turning defensive.

"I apologise for misleading the Council."

"So it's true!" Raan exclaimed, obviously having hoped that it was all a misunderstanding. Her ebony hair was worn long and braided, her features petite. "Han! Why!?"

"Because, Raan, someone has to keep an eye on the geth. You really think that all of this will last!?" Han flung his hand towards the window, and the scene beyond.

Keeping quiet in order for Koris and Raan to have their say, mindful not to overstep his place, Kaidan glanced back out at the distant figures of both quarians and geth. Though he couldn't be sure, it seemed like the bustle of the city had suddenly slowed, but Koris' voice brought his attention back to the room.

"Is there a reason why it wouldn't? Everything the geth have done has been offered to us with more civility and grace than we should ever have expected to receive after the way they've been treated."

"They've been treated!? We were the ones exiled from our own planet, Koris!"

"Because we attacked them!"

"That's in the past," intervened Kaidan. "Going over the same arguments gets us nowhere. The facts are that the geth offered peace, and you took it, Gerrel. What have the geth done since then to make you seek ways to destroy them now?"

"They're smart, Alenko. Everyone sees them as helpful, but I see them making us dependant on them. Maybe we're safer behind our masks, safe from biological attacks-"

"That's ludicrous!" Koris protested. "You're seeing enemies where there are none."

"Am I? Or are you just blind to them? It's my duty to keep my people safe. To protect our home. Re-gaining Rannoch hasn't changed that. I would be re-miss in my role if I didn't have plans in place to deal with a possible threat. Alenko, surely as a soldier you understand that. They were against us for so long. How do I just forget all that? How can everyone place so much trust in them?"

Returning to the circle and bracing himself on the podium where Tali should have stood, Kaidan looked directly at Gerrel, deciding to get to the crux of the matter. "I want to know exactly what you have planned."

Gerrel looked overlong at Xen, then gave her a small nod. "Very well."

Kaidan had thought Xen would be involved with this. Things suddenly got a lot more serious when she brought up a holo projection via the interface set within the centre of their circle. An image of the Crucible.

oOo

Walking back into the apartment gave Shepard a little premonition of what it would be like to have a teenager in the house. Music blared out and as she followed the grunting noise, she passed the bathroom, seat up on the toilet. Entering the guest room, the sheets were unmade, clothes discarded on the floor. It was far from the orderly space that was drummed into every soldier from day one of training, and it spoke volumes about James' state of mind. His back to her as he hauled his weight up to the bar across the closet entrance and down again, James' pace was relentless, punishingly so, his attention so focused that he had no idea she was there.

"James?"

He looked over his shoulder at the apex of his lift, gave her a huge grin, and dropped to the ground. "Lola. Wondered where you all got to. Hope you don't mind, but I borrowed Loco's clothes."

Shepard hadn't noticed the familiar jogging bottoms. "No problem."

"I'm thinking that I should cook you something good, no? I mean, come on, cereal for breakfast, Lola? That's no way to start the day! You've got a growing biotic to feed!" He passed her as he crossed the room.

She wasn't buying this display of cheerfulness. Even for James, it was over the top. "James-"

"Should probably go take a shower first-"

"James," she insisted, then softened her voice when he stopped. He was standing in the doorway now, his head down, shoulders slumped. "What are you doing?"

He sighed heavily. "Just trying to keep going, you know? Gotta put it behind me… It's just raw right now."

It made her sad to see him hurting, and she rested her hand on his shoulder. "Okay."

James turned to her, shame seeping into his face. "Thanks for getting me off the hook with C-Sec. Pretty dumb, huh?"

She chose not to say anything about Kelham. "Not your finest moment, I'm sure."

Before he could say more, there was a shriek and the rapid beat of rushing feet.

"Uncle James!" squealed Rorie, jumping up and wrapping herself round his thigh.

James pulled Rorie up with a huge grin. "Hey, Nugget! You left me home alone!"

"Were you scared?" Rorie asked with big worried eyes. "Don't worry. I'll take care of you," she assured James.

James had to blink a few times at that. He hid it behind another goofy smile. "I know I can count on you, Nugget. Now, how would you like…pancakes?"

"I love pancakes!" bounced Rorie in his arms.

"Wow! It's like I read your mind or something!" grinned James, and he started for the kitchen.

"So, Lola…who looks the best in them, huh?" He turned, walking backwards, his eyes pointedly going down to the clothes he wore. "I can give you the back view again. Tell the truth now," he teased.

Fighting her grin, she merely arched a brow. "Sorry, Casanova, but I'm squarely in camp Kaidan."

"Ah, should have guessed." He turned forwards again. "You know what loyalty is."

Terra didn't miss the heaviness in those murmured words, or the slight hitch in his voice at the end.

"Hey, Bella! I woke up in your bed this morning but you weren't there! What gives?" James shouted over to Jack who was messing about with the music, clearly finding nothing she was happy with judging from the scowl on her face.

"Don't make me slap you. And stop calling me that."

"Aw, come on! I was about to cook you pancakes."

"Pancakes?" Jack came over and sat in one of the stools.

"Yep. Every biotic needs a good pancake in their life. Right, Nugget?"

"Uh huh," she nodded, seriously.

James placed her on the ground and began raiding the kitchen.

Coming up behind him, Terra spoke quietly. "James. Are you sure you're okay?"

He paused only briefly. "I will be," he said, honestly. "Go relax, Lola. Spend time with Rorie while you wait. Brunch will be served shortly."

Accepting that, she backed away. "Still haven't seen you cook anything without eggs, though," she chimed as she scooped up Rorie and tickled her on the way to the second lounge.

"That day will come," promised James, with a smile. He set his ingredients down on the counter in front of Jack, ready to get to work.

"So…can't hold your liquor, lightweight?" Jack said, casually, while she tried to spin an egg.

"Just went a little crazy is all. Won't happen again." He snatched up the egg and cracked it into the bowl one-handed.

"You mean the whole drunkenness thing, or allowing yourself to be stabbed in the back?"

"Do I sense a hint of cynicism in you there? Don't hand out your heart?"

"You've proved I'm right. You got burned."

"Yeah, but if you don't take risks how are you ever going to know if you're letting something good slip by?"

"Forget it, shit-for-brains. Don't get taken in by all that crap. It doesn't happen."

"So you think Lola and Loco will fall apart too some day?" He found it interesting how Jack's face went wistful.

"Never. The only thing that will separate those two is death," she conceded. "But they're anomalies, Vega. Freaks of nature. People who come from loving families, went through a ton of shit, and still came out of it sane. That's not me." She looked him over. "Or you."

"I'm not sane?"

"No one can be that damn jolly, Vega."

"You're too mistrusting."

"Best way to survive."

Considering that, James took himself over to the hob, and poured his mixture into the pan, still dented from when he'd used it to entertain Jack's varren. "Hey, where's Eezo?"

"Left him at Grissom. Keeps the kids on their toes," she smiled to herself.

The sound of laughter had them both grinning over at Shepard and Rorie who were sitting on the floor beneath the large entertainment screen, playing 'rock, paper, scissors' for the first pancake, only for Rorie to keep changing the rules every time her mother had the winning hand. It was currently best out of ten.

"I think it's worth the punt," stated James. "Look at them, Bella." He jerked his chin towards Shepard and Rorie. "Don't you want that? Family. I love being a small part of their lives. Just think what it would feel like to have one all your own."

Jack felt strange inside. It wasn't somewhere she'd ever let her thoughts go, because it wouldn't happen. She forced out a retort. "Shit, Vega. You're a freaking romantic."

"Come on, Bella," teased James as he dished up. "Don't tell me you don't want a little romance in your life. Huh? Pancake?" He offered her a plate which she instantly took.

Fork in hand Jack halted at the pancake on her plate, looking up at him with an exaggerated sneer. "You made them into hearts?"

"Just for you," James winked. "Grubs up!" he shouted out. Sitting beside her, he reached for syrup, and Jack put her hand out to stop him.

"I think you need to lay off the sweet stuff before you overdose."

James just smirked at her, then welcomed Rorie onto his lap, Shepard sitting on his other side with an appreciative hand on his forearm that also managed to tell him she was there for him. He knew that. When he tucked into his meal, he decided that last night was just a part of life. He'd made a bad choice, but from the company he now kept, he also knew he could make good ones. There was still hope for him yet.

oOo

"What the hell is going on?" demanded Kaidan, tearing his eyes away from the Crucible image. It was Xen who answered him.

"As you know, the Crucible is a remarkable piece of engineering, sending out a pulse of energy that brought the Reapers to a complete standstill. It was tailored specifically to take them out without destroying everything else the rest of the galaxy depended on. The only way it could do that was if it was a very clever nano-virus – one that could discriminate - and that got me thinking… What if we could use that same virus and alter it to affect another precise target?"

Kaidan was stunned. Clay had been right… A virus distributed in the right way could be a very fast way of bringing down the geth. Once again, he was battling to think the facts through. "How could you even begin to duplicate something like that? It only fired once, and with the Crucible due to be dismantled, it's also the last time."

"I had a very sophisticated recording device I created for encounters with the geth. Any information we could pick up was vital to developing countermeasures and weapons against them. That same device picked up detailed readings from the Crucible's pulse as it surged over us all. It gave us the perfect jumpstart. We could never have gotten such advanced technology within my lifetime, certainly."

"So that's what all your research has been on. Altering this virus."

"Yes. In fact, we've done it." Xen smiled triumphantly, her naturally wide eyes almost wild, matching her wavy deep-red hair.

"You succeeded?"

"Indeed. It was ready to deploy three weeks ago."

"Keelah!" A flustered Raan looked between each of her fellows like they had shed their skins and had turned out to be something else entirely.

Gerrel squared his shoulders, his posture proud and unrepentant. "We've since been embedding it at all the key sites on all worlds inhabited by the geth."

"Their servers," murmured Kaidan. He could see some of those structures from here. They stood amongst the quarian buildings they had helped construct. Had Gerrel and Xen learned nothing from the past? "This is wrong. They've done nothing."

"They will," stated Xen. "Just look at history. It tells us everything we need to know. The Reapers turned on their masters and wiped them out. Your prothean told me of another race subjected to the same fate. Now we have the geth. History tells us that all synthetics turn against organics. You've already had dealings with the most ancient organic race known. They've had millennia to witness the natural progression of creating artificial life and they deduced the same thing. I don't think we should be ignoring them."

"Are you kidding me?" said Kaidan, with disbelief. "You're quite prepared to ignore your own history, but you'll listen to the Leviathans? Did you both have blindfolds on when the Reapers rolled through!? The Leviathans didn't learn a damned thing, either, no matter their millennia of experience, and that led to their own demise, just like your actions nearly led to yours the first time, and you're on the precipice of doing it again!"

"We're simply correcting our mistake," defended Gerrel. "The geth should never have been created. Our ancestors panicked; reacted without strategy. This time, it will be done cleanly, efficiently. They'll shut down before they're even aware. We're in no risk."

"They've achieved consciousness now," argued Kaidan. "You don't own them anymore. What right do you have to destroy them when they're innocent of any wrongdoing?"

"It's a pre-emptive strike."

"It's murder," Clay insisted. The whole room turned to him.

"Clay-"

"No father. You made the right decision over the skies of Rannoch that day. Don't fall into that delusional pit you've lived in for so long. Not again. Look at what we have now!"

"Our people are thriving," tried Raan. "They're happy, Han."

"You're a fool, Raan, if you believe the geth aren't bearing any ill-will over the Morning War."

Xen moved closer to a terminal. "I say, why wait? We could deploy the virus now and all of this pointless conversation will be over. The quarian people can move on."

"I think they don't have much capacity to feel 'ill-will'," reasoned Koris. "All they want is to live, and they respect those that gave them that life. Living in co-operation was a way to honour their creators who tried to save them, and they have no reason to harm us. Don't do this!"

Gerrel was motionless, his eyes down. "We have to. With no geth, there's no threat."

Kaidan was astounded. Nothing was getting through, and the extent of Clay's problem with his father was obvious. He doubted his words would have any more impact than Gerrel's, yet if they couldn't stop this the geth would pay the ultimate price. "You've ignored the Leviathan threat to kill a race who don't deserve it. What's more, you're placing the quarian race apart from the rest of the galaxy again."

"For removing a synthetic race? They weren't given an embassy, they don't come under the same protective laws."

"But you do have laws to conform to. The geth have been officially recognised as a race by the Council, regardless that they haven't been awarded an embassy."

"You're wasting your breath, Kaidan." Clay's words were spoken calmly, quietly, but once again they drew everyone's attention. "My father won't change his mind, and neither will Admiral Xen." He brought his arms from behind his back, his omnitool open, and he stared defiantly back at his father. "And now everyone knows it."

A small frown formed as Gerrel looked at his son. "What have you done?" he asked cautiously.

Clay swallowed before speaking. "This whole meeting has been transmitting on every channel we have-"

"What!?" Gerrel surged forward, grasping his son's arms.

The atmosphere became charged, and Kaidan understood why. Clay had just forced Gerrel's hand.

"Xen!" Gerrel had swung away to face his co-conspirator.

Xen was already at a terminal. "Unleashing the virus… Now."

"No!" Koris begged.

"Wait!" implored Kaidan, but he was unable to reach Xen before she initiated the virus. It seemed unbelievable that the situation had degraded in such a short amount of time. How the hell had it come to this!? He could only watch, futilely, as a holo depiction of the various geth servers became swiftly covered by the red representation of the virus. In a matter of seconds, the geth had been wiped out...

Kaidan's first thought was how Terra was going to react, knowing that her friend, Legion, had sacrificed himself only for it to end like this.

Raan's hands covered her mouth as she stared at the red mass on the holo. Koris had one hand gripped into his greying hair as he slowly shook his head in disbelief at Xen and Gerrel. Clay looked ashen.

This was something Kaidan could have never anticipated when he'd set foot back on Rannoch, nor imagined he would ever be witness to. "I'm returning to the Citadel to inform the Council," he sighed, wearily.

"Alenko, please," pleaded Koris, his face one of a desperate man. "Our people-"

"Will make their own judgement on Admirals Gerrel and Xen, I'm sure. I shall be advising the Council that they consider this an act of genocide…by two individuals."

"Making us out to be nothing but terrorists, Alenko?" sneered Gerrel. "We've secured our people's future."

"No. You've just set them back. The geth have been invaluable to you."

Kaidan trudged towards the exit, wondering how many inert geth he would have to step over on route to his shuttle. He wanted off this planet – it was all so tragic. Tali would be turning in her grave at this.

The door slid open as he neared, but the sight that greeted Kaidan made him halt in his tracks.

Five geth Primes stood there - fully functional.

oOo