Author's note: This chapter was the hardest so far to staple together; so many little snippets of conversation. Bleargh. Enough talk, let's push through exposition to action!

Shepard hugged the Illusive Man and let her tears flow freely. As soon as she saw him, she knew who he was. She felt their connection; he was still her mentor. More importantly, he knew who he was.

"Senex. Oh, Old Man, I missed you so much."

The Illusive Man stood patiently, hugging Shepard back. He was smiling.

"My name in this life is Jack Harper, known as the Illusive Man, but you can always call me Senex."

They stood together for several minutes, until Shepard's tears slowed. They broke apart, but he still kept a hand on her shoulder.

Shepard sniffed, and rubbed her eyes. Her smile gleamed. "Hello Jack Harper. In this life, I am Janice. I was Amanda, and before her, Mercedes. I am known as Jane Shepard, but you can always call me Amanda." Her smile grew even bigger. Her voice rose in an excited laugh, "I did it, Old Man, I did it! I'm finally earning my redemption; purging my Avatar from my pasts' corruption. I'm winning!"

The Illusive Man's grasp on her shoulder tightened, and he closed his eyes in relief.

"I was always worried. I knew I was never meant to save Amanda. Of course I wanted her saved, but hiding her memories of life as Mercedes was only a temporary solution. My true goal was to provide her the tools to save your own Avatar." He opened his eyes, and smiled. "And now look at you. Bright. Grown into your power and belief. Balancing life and death as you dance through the stars." His eyes sharpened, and he looked closer at her. He frowned. "Janice, you're still steeped in death resonance. The Jhor hasn't left you yet from your journey back to life?

Shepard's smile turned into a rueful grimace.

"Yeah. About that. It seems that killing Voormas - saturated in death resonance, in the realm of Entropy itself may not have been the healthiest of decisions. I have Jhor stuck in my pattern for the next few cycles, at least. One of the reasons I joined the Alliance military actually; if I am going to be surrounded by death in life, I may as well make it my day job."

Shepard shrugged.

"It's not so bad. With Voormas gone forever, his memetic poisoning of necromancy started failing so I'm not consumed with the desire to tear down the Shroud and set the dead against the living. I just need to focus on keeping myself balanced, and spend some time dead every once in a while to stop it from overwhelming me. It's what helps me come back so easily as well."

The Illusive Man's smile became serious. He turned, and walked over to where a bottle of brandy sat next to two glasses. He filled them both, and brought them back. He handed one to Shepard.

"You're going to need this."

Shepard raised an eyebrow at him and then took the glass of brandy.

"What's the bad news, Old Man?"

He sighed.

"You know how happy I am to see you alive and well. I didn't know the Commander Shepard tearing through the galaxy was you, until everything that was happening with Saren and Sovereign was over. I was reaching out to contact you when you were killed. Of course I immediately took steps to reclaim your body. At the very least, I could bury you next to Senex and Amanda on Earth."

He took a sip of brandy, and continued.

"But there were others who were also looking for your corpse. I wouldn't let you be taken. There's a reason we need you back in life…"

Shepard waited patiently for him to continue, gently swirling the brandy in her glass.

He stared out the window for a moment. The star outside glowed red; roiling blue flames flickering across its surface.

"Let me give you some background information first. I created Cerberus as a new group separate from the Traditions once humans discovered alien life. As a group, Cerberus was committed to the advancement and preservation of humanity; a guardian of the threshold for the influx of new ideas threatening to poison humanity's beliefs. In many ways Cerberus was still an anti-Technocracy group but things were changing. At the time the Technocracy had been losing their hold on controlling humanity; between conflicts with the Traditions, internal schisms, dealing with other supernatural entities and organizations, and then suddenly multiple alien paradigms, the technocrats had taken a beating. But do you really think the Ascension war was over?"

Shepard shrugged. "It seemed that if the war was still going on, it was localized to Earth. The Alliance seemed free from any Technocratic clutches. I didn't see any sign of human will workers in the galaxy. Regardless, I was still growing and learning; time enough to go back once I had grown into my fullness. Then the Reapers came." Shepard's face went grim. "Except now we know that the Mass Effect is not multiple alien paradigms but really all the Reaper's belief system. It insinuated itself into every race's reality." She raised her glass, considered the brandy, then lowered it again.

The Illusive Man nods. "I first noticed when human biotics started appearing; our paradigms were being overrun. That's when Cerberus became primarily an anti-alien organization instead of anti-Technocracy. We had to stop the erosion of human beliefs, but it wasn't enough. Looking back, I can see that the pressure of consensual reality pushing humanity to accept the Mass Effect was so strong because it wasn't a diverse set of alien paradigms, but really one galaxy wide, ancient, belief system. Aliens and their beliefs weren't the problem. When I realized this, Cerberus dropped all anti-alien projects; now we saw the true threat: the Reapers. But since humanity believes in the Mass Effect, we are now trying to stop the Reapers from within their own belief system. Something I don't know can be done."

"You're getting away from the point. This is all bad, but what's the really bad news, Old Man?"

He sighed, and swallowed the rest of his whiskey.

"The unimaginable happened. The Technocracy discarded the precepts of Damian, stating they have been fulfilled. Then they aligned their paradigm to match the galactic standard instead of continuing to oppose it. And in doing so, they joined the Citadel Council. Now that they have embraced ideological extinction, and with Council assistance over the last two years you were dead, the Technocracy has gained direct control of the Alliance. "

Shepard stared at him in horror, and then drained her brandy in one gulp. Jack Harper walked back to the table, brought the brandy back with him and refilled Shepard's glass.

"That's not the bad news."

Shepard looked at him in disbelief, glass already halfway again to her lips.

"It gets worse?"

"While you were dead, humanity has been under attack. Entire colonies are disappearing, human colonies. We believe the abductions are being done by someone, or something working for the Reapers, like Saren was working with Sovereign. Not only that, but the Technocracy is doing it too; we have traced three colony-wide abductions to this unknown source. The other fourteen were done by the Technocracy. "

Shepard understood. "The Reapers are being used as a scapegoat."

Jack Harper nodded. "Actually they are publicly blaming Cerberus, playing up our new anti-Alliance slant and letting the 'deeper truth' be that the Reapers are the ones doing the abductions. We need to find out why the Technocracy wants to steal hundreds of thousands of humans. They are up to something big. Why would they radically shift their beliefs on their core dogma? It doesn't bode well, especially when they should know that the Reapers corrupt and indoctrinate everyone in close contact with them."

Both of them sighed. Jack Harper turned to the window, and Shepard joined him. They looked out at the star, endless patterns of heat twisting on itself for several minutes, comfortably drinking brandy and enjoying each other's presence.

The Old Man smiled.

"I have one last lesson to teach you, Janice; mentoring."

Shepard blanched. "You want me to take over Miranda's apprenticeship? No way, I don't think she could ever respect me."

Jack Harper's smile grew. "When I first saw her, I thought she was you. Reborn fresh into the world once more, and still found her way to me, again. Fate."

His smile turned serious. "She's smart. Dedicated. Quick to learn. Willing to take on the burdens of saving reality, no matter the personal cost. Ferociously protective of her family. Sound familiar?"

Shepard groaned. "She's also dismissive, has no respect for those who haven't earned it, and has no qualms over suddenly dispensing violent justice. Yeah I can see we're similar."

Harper put his hand on her shoulder. "I think it's more than that. I think she really might be your reincarnation. Your souls feel too similar."

Shepard almost staggered. Her face went pale. "But I'm still alive. And my Avatar is still with me, so I'm not like a vampire; living but with no soul."

The Illusive Man nodded. "But aren't souls timeless even though we exist in time? Your travels through the labyrinth of time may look different when seen from a timeless point of view. Maybe when you die for good your soul travels from when you left?"

He took a sip from his drink, the continued. "Or, it could be related to your purification. As you burn corruption from your soul, maybe small pieces of your soul flake off; enough to spark a reincarnation. But regardless, you are correct; even if you share a soul, your Avatar is with you; she won't be able to cast magic. Yet. Maybe you should introduce them to each other."

He stared at her calmly.

"I could be wrong in this, but it feels right. Talk to her, build a rapport. Maybe this is the culmination of Mercedes's redemption. I found Miranda, and trained her with the tools she needs to excel in this time, but I felt I was just holding her in trust. For you; your own cycle of self redemption taken to the next level. The same way I was just holding Amanda in trust." He looks at Shepard, smiling at her flabbergasted expression. "Maybe I still have a few more lessons to teach you, then. Reincarnation, Amanda, is like shuffling cards. The order of things may change, and what you see when you deal them out also changes, but the deck remains the same. Even if I'm correct, this changes nothing between us. But why don't you go and find out for yourself?"

Shepard blinked.

She found herself leaning on the wall outside of the Old Man's office. She stood there for a minute, then shrugged. The Old Man always enjoyed blowing Amanda and Mercedes's mind. She's used to it by now. Shepard stumbled off in the direction of Miranda's office. She should probably try to make friends with her new self. He was right; it did make sense in the twisted way destiny and fate liked to work. She wouldn't be surprised. Inside her head, Amanda and Mercedes snickered at her.

Shepard arrived at Miranda's office, and collapsed in a chair. Miranda didn't seem very happy to see her.

Twenty minutes later of awkward conversation later, the Illusive Man's voice crackled over the speakers.

"Shepard, Miranda. The colony of Freedom's Progress has just gone dark."

Shepard gratefully leapt out of her chair. Hopefully she and Miranda could bond together over killing something. After all, it worked for her and Mercedes. And Amanda as well, come to think of it. Who knew collaborative murder was such a good way of getting to know yourself?