I was back to work with Admiral Drescher's Taskforce, codename Cineas, on a long term basis. Our job was, on paper, extremely simple. We would take the 24th Scout Flotilla into the new geth territories at their invitation, to take part in joint exercises. It would be a six-month long project; there would be operations in space, on planetary surfaces, and, we were told, we would be housed by the geth in the one garden world they had found so far. We had no idea what to expect, other than the fact that the geth had asked for housing specifications appropriate for the human delegation.
Another reason we didn't know what to expect exactly was the fact that the geth had not made claims regarding any of the systems that had been ceded to them, if they already had established human or alien presence. This was a bit of a quandary really, because it meant the geth had settled in systems that were far from the mass relays. Good ships generally did about ten light years a day in FTL, maybe fifteen, and could operate for about two straight days before having to discharge cores. Both time constraints moved unfavorably the older the ship, or the lesser the quality of components. So, it meant that the geth had settled in areas that were rather inconvenient to get to, usually more than a day's travel each way to get to them. It also meant it was harder to keep an eye on them. Which might have been the intention in the first place.
Regardless, it looked as if they had found a levo-amino garden world and had started to build on it. Why they were building on a garden world was anyone's guess, including me. They could settle anywhere they wanted and, if anything, a non-garden world with bad atmosphere, or even no atmosphere, would probably keep them safer. But on the other hand it was rather convenient that we would be able to spend our six months on a planet and not cooped inside the ships. Also, it gave me a chance to continue my field medical training. Depending on the nature of the exercises, I might very well have time to work my way to E3, but at the very least I wanted to get E2 certification. Any further would have to wait, because I wanted to go into the xenomedicine branch, and that wasn't really going to happen in a place where only humans and geth could be found in over twenty light years.
Why xenomedicine? Given how much I was hanging out with asari, it would probably prove useful.
It took almost five days to arrive to our destination. Since a straight shot would have been too long for any of our ships to make it, at least without the core cooking everyone inside, we had to do a bit of a roundabout route, hitting several other systems so that we could discharge the cores. If at all possible, most captains tried not to carry more than about twenty hours worth of FTL static on their drives, mostly out of caution. If they needed to do a straight-line long haul at any point due to orders or an emergency, it paid to be prepared to do so at any time. When we broke FTL for the last time, everyone's eyes were glued to the viewing screens on all decks. First look at the garden world of the geth, and it sure turned heads.
Outside, a rather sizeable fleet pulled along to greet us, their presence marked not only by the larger ships we could see close by, but also by small dark shapes cut against the backdrop of the distant planet.
"To the Geth consensus," the voice of our Captain called; the broadcast was being forwarded to the rest of the fleet, "this is Captain Wilson Smith, of the 24th Scout Flotilla. Requesting permission to enter your space."
"Smith-Wilson-Captain," a synthesized voice I recognized as distinctly geth replied, almost instantly too, "permission has been granted. Surface facilities are available, per Systems Alliance specifications. Fleet designated 24th Scout Flotilla is authorized for its use during established time period of joint consensus building."
One of the many screens switched to a satellite view of the planet, and a digital enhancement zoom zeroed in on a specific location as it got progressively clearer. It wasn't entirely obvious what the predominant biome of the garden world was, but the area where we had been placed seemed to be a rather arid region in general, though there were large swathes of green and green-blue dotted around. There also was what appeared to be a city right next to our destination.
"What the hell," someone said. "That's Greyhound Camp!"
A murmur started to rise as more people looked at the pictures offered. I hadn't caught it at first, mostly because an aerial view wasn't the usual angle I used to look at Greyhound Camp, but it sure seemed to match. If that was true we were going to get lost in there. The entire flotilla had maybe one thousand personnel, and Greyhound Camp could accommodate seven times that at least.
"It looks like the geth know how to follow instructions," someone else said. "I should call them next time I have furniture to assemble."
There were a few laughs in response, and while they were clearly in good nature, I decided to use the chance to address the elephant in the room. I knew for a fact that, even though Drescher herself had addressed all of us before our departure, there were a lot of nerves regarding the next few hours, nevermind weeks or months. Nobody really knew what to make of the geth. I turned around to look at the twenty or so marines that were watching with me, put my hands behind my back, and looked at the one in question.
"Song," I said, my voice calm and even. "You jest, but let's make something clear for everyone else." I paused to give an all-encompassing look, and saw that I had their attention. "The geth have been recognized as equals to us, and all other sentient organics, by Admiral Drescher herself. We have been invited here by them to conduct joint exercises, and we will treat them like allies."
"Sir, I was just joking," Song said.
"I know, I'm not taking issue with you," I said, and gave him a nod. "I simply want you all to remember, the attitude that they're nothing but machine servants was the prevalent one among the quarians, at least before they were driven off their homeworld." I skipped the nearly exterminated part for now. "It may very well be the only attitude they've known from organics. So it's important that we do not give that impression, even by accident or in jest. If there's furniture to be assembled and you ask for help, make sure you're there misassembling parts and swearing at the poor instructions together with them." That, at least, got a few chuckles out of the assembled marines. "I'm counting on you to make sure everyone else gets the message. Are we clear?"
"Yes sir!" they all replied in unison.
"Good. Let's make a good first impression."
Soon we made for the surface, while the majority of the fleet stayed in orbit. There would be time later for more personnel transfers. A few of the smaller frigates and corvettes could make landfall on the planet, specially seeing as it pulled a rather mild 0.75 g. Breathable atmosphere, a bit thicker than Earth's, with a stronger greenhouse effect, which made up for the fact that it was about 1.8 AU from its star. It was warm, but not unbearably so. Between the somewhat warm, noticeably dry, and outwardly arid conditions, it did remind us all of Greyhound camp. Several hundred geth units were waiting for us as we made our descent, and the Captain being the first one out to meet with them. While he did that, the rest of us got on with the less glamorous task of getting all the equipment and supplies out and to the right places. As we got out, I saw the geth breaking ranks and coming to meet us. Clearly they were there to help.
"All right, listen up!" I called as soon as we disembarked. "Looks like we have help, so make sure you work with them and have everything regulation-shape ASAP!"
"Aye sir!"
Everyone scrambled to get to work, and I noticed with some satisfaction that most of the marines I had addressed aboard the Calabria headed off to talk to other detachments, and were very clearly giving instructions as they gestured at the geth. They had taken my words to heart, at least.
"Morgan-Chief," a geth voice called.
Geth platform slightly unlike the others. Its own voice. Could only be one geth. "Legion?" I asked, just in case it could be more than one.
"Correct," he said.
"Good to see you my friend." I extended my hand, and this time he took it and shook it with a lot less awkwardness than the first time. "How the hell are you?"
"We are not associated with eternal damnation," Legion said. His eyeflaps twitched slightly, and I wasn't sure if he was confused or making a joke.
"Great, that means you're doing well. I see you've taken Admiral Drescher's advice of creating more distinct platforms."
I gestured to the side, where two geth units were now interacting with some of the crew. Lieutenant Riva, if memory served. He was looking a little confused as he spoke with the geth. One of the units was painted blue and silver. The other one was red and silver, and had the extra distinct feature of having the chest plates be somewhat flat and angular.
"We have deployed three hundred and twenty seven individual platforms using distinctive physical markings, as per Drescher-Admiral's input. No statistically significant consensus forming deviations have been detected."
"Maybe we can change that. They're going to be interacting with organics now, and we're known to be chaotic."
Legion's eyeflaps twitched for almost a second before he answered. "No data available."
"Not surprised," I said, a smile making its way onto my face. "I heard you asked for me to be here."
"Query was made to Systems Alliance Drescher-Admiral three weeks and two days ago by human calendar."
"Yeah, sorry about the delay. I was kind of... kidnapped at the time."
"We acquired data regarding Morgan-Chief absence from Systems Alliance systems. Consensus was achieved for data gathering regarding Morgan-Chief's location. No retrieval procedures were implemented after Morgan-Chief's return."
I think, if I had had eyeflaps, they'd have been twitching for the full few seconds that it took me to process that. "You... went looking for me?"
"Yes."
"Err... Well thanks, it's good to have friends. Managed to get away before I ended with any permanent damage."
"We are... glad," Legion said, and his eyeflaps twitched once more. "We have made an information package available for Morgan-Chief with our collected data."
Legion raised his hand, there was a flash of light like a holographic display, and my omni-tool came alive with an alert about data transfers. I raised it and took a look, and found a whole mess of all kinds of data in there. Sensor logs from over a hundred satellites. Entire volumes of air traffic going through the relay network. I had a feeling this was a raw dump of everything they had collected when looking for me.
"Holy crap," I muttered. "This is a lot."
"Morgan-Chief?"
"I might need a bit of help to be able to go through it," I said.
"We will establish a consensus with Morgan-Chief."
"Thanks." I powered down the omni-tool and looked at Legion. "So what did you guys want me over for? Something on your mind?"
"The purpose of our request will not be revealed until the completion of Systems Alliance and Geth consensus-building process, timeline designated joint exercises."
"O...kay? Why?"
"We do not wish to influence Morgan-Chief's consensus building process."
I had to take another moment to process that one as well. This was seriously giving me flashbacks to the moment in the simulation when...
Shepard-Commander, right? What a headache. I still call that guy Shepard. Maybe it was supposed to be her brother that I never rescued.
"All right, so let me get this straight. You want something, but you can't tell me what it is until we've gone through the exercises for the next six months, because if you tell me now it might influence my decision making somehow?"
"Yes."
"That... is surprising. I mean it's not an uncommon thing to do with organics, as a way to avoid biases. I just didn't think you'd do it that way."
"Course of action was designed by Drescher-Admiral. We do not understand this decision process."
Well, that makes sense.
"It's all right, I trust the Admiral." I looked at Legion, and decided it was time to let him know what I had in mind. I looked around, and saw that, while the majority of the personnel were working on setting up camp, a few officers here and there were talking to the individualized platforms. Perfect timing really. "And speaking of decisions, is there a chance we could talk alone? Just you and me, away from everyone else."
"The chance of information being kept from the consensus is zero point zero. This platforms exchanges data with the consensus every two hundred standard hours."
I did a mental facepalm. Maybe I should rephrase. Yeah, that. "Could you sync with the consensus now, then disconnect while we talk? If after we talk you think it's best to share our talk with the consensus then I won't stop you."
Legion looked at me while his eyeflaps leaned back, and I had a feeling that if he was an organic, he'd have been giving me a narrow, what-the-hell-are-you-planning look. After a few seconds of complete silence, where I reminded myself that he was a geth and, thus, didn't do uncomfortable silence, that weird antenna-like thing at his back deployed wider. Soon, it folded down again.
"We have performed data exchange with the consensus and await input from Morgan-Chief," Legion announced.
"Great, let's find a place where we won't be overheard."
I followed Legion and we walked out of the camp and into the wilds. I hesitated to call it desert, since there was some yellowish short grass all around us, and even patches of what appeared to be something moss- or lichen-like. Eventually we had put some distance between us.
"We estimate this is a safe auditory distance from Morgan-Chief," Legion declared.
"Awesome."
I found some nearby rocks, so I walked over, sat down on one, and gestured for legion to join me. He did the same, sitting down in his own, awkward way. Not that he needed to sit, but I didn't want to just stand up for this discussion. Truth to be told, I wasn't too sure about how I was going to tackle it. The questions were direct enough, the problem was how to ask them in a way that Legion himself would agree was best to keep it from the consensus. Actually, scratch that. I needed to know his opinion about whether we needed to keep it from the consensus.
"I've been meaning to talk to you for a while, after you had some time to interact with organics other than the quarians and see that not all the galaxy is out to get you."
Legion just looked at me.
"I've got a few questions, and once I'm done I want to ask you about keeping them away from the consensus, okay?"
"We will listen."
"Right. So, have the geth been contacted by a ship-bound AI called Nazara, or Sovereign?"
"No."
Holy crap that was a relief. Maybe there was hope after all. "All right, now a harder question." I took a moment or two to formulate it in my head. I had thought about it for a while, but now that I had to verbalize it, it was a bit confusing in my head. "Let me ask you a hypothetical question. Imagine a ship carrying a very advanced AI, composed of a mix of organic and synthetic materials. Imagine the AI presented itself to the geth as some sort of deity, claiming to be the perfect synthetic form, then asked the geth to follow it and wage war against organics. Would the geth follow?"
That question took a lot longer than the previous one. "Geth want to decide their own destiny."
"Yes, but you also want to change and grow, right? What if the offer is for this AI to show you how to grow, in exchange of becoming its servants? Or maybe don't call it servants, call it followers." Legion fell silent again. For a long while, all he did was sit there and look in the distance, the only movement being that of his single eye lenses. "Legion?" I prompted.
"We are establishing a consensus."
I waited some more, but no answer was forthcoming. That wasn't good. "You can't, can you? Is your internal consensus splitting?"
"No."
"If the offer was real and not a hypothetical, could the geth consensus split between two paths?"
"... no data available."
Well, shit. I was hoping that Legion would have ideas on how to deal with the heretics. My plan had been to simply explain to him what the reapers are and that they were due to return. I wasn't sure how I was going to sell it to him, but if we could get the geth to start amassing a fleet ten whole years before the reapers came, then... whew. On the other hand, what it wouldn't do was to get a humongous fleet and then have it fall into the reapers' hands.
"Would it help if I told you that the AI would discard the geth and destroy them after it was done wiping out all organics?"
"No full consensus achieved," Legion replied. And call me paranoid, but he sounded a little confused about the result.
"Is there a way in which consensus could be achieved? Any factor that would push those who want to side with the AI towards siding with organics?"
"Geth wish to choose their own destiny. Geth want to grow and improve themselves. Alternative view is that organics have destroyed organics in pursuit of the same goals. Denying geth that which organics do not deny themselves is not logical."
"What if you consider organics as multiple independent consensuses? And some of those organics lived and worked together with geth as equals, helping each other grow and improve?"
More time passed. This was a gambit based on the fact that Legion, in the simulation, was pretty much a teammate of not-Shepard, and treated as an equal. "No consensus achieved."
Crap. Is there really no way?
"What if those organics were the quarians?"
"Consensus achieved." It didn't even take a second this time. "AI entity growth proposition rejected. Will not destroy creators that are equals to the geth."
And I gave a hell of a breath of relief at that. I had damn near broken Legion into heretics and true geth over a simple hypothetical, which meant that Nazara would likely break the consensus when he tried. It was clear that some part of the geth consensus still held a grudge over the morning war, and moreover, had no compunctions about blowing up some organics to advance themselves if it came to that. Hell, the point that we organics did it to each other on the regular was spot on - at least in the sense of sparking a good morality debate, which I was woefully unprepared to tackle.
So it was possible to get all the geth on the side of the organics, if and only if we managed to get the quarians, or at least enough quarians, to see them as equals and live and grow with them. That was one hell of a tall order, according to my data they'd kill themselves before letting that happen. The alternative, of course, was to grow the geth army anyway, then fight the heretics once the reapers made contact. Basically allow for mass indoctrination of a substantial portion of the geth. No thanks.
"How many processes split from the consensus at the initial hypothetical?"
"Seventy-two processes," Legion said.
Small minority, thank goodness for small mercies at least.
"Would everyone agree to delete this whole discussion we've had from your memory and not share it with the consensus? As you can see, it could break the consensus quite badly."
Another pregnant pause. Yikes. "Yes."
"And could you do that as well as Isolate those seventy-two processes so that my next question is only for the processes that agreed not to ally themselves with the AI?"
"Yes."
"Great. I think it's better to do that than share it with the consensus, don't you think? I know it's a lot to ask, but the next question is very important, and-"
"Morgan-Chief. We have detected a twenty-two minute gap in our memory banks, and seventy-two processes have been quarantined. Data instructs us to direct query to you."
I smiled at that. While I didn't feel great about what I had just asked Legion to do, the truth is that I needed to ask a group of processes that were not in any way infected with heretics how to go about building a large fleet. Maybe I was being overly cautious, but hell, it's the freaking reapers. "All right. Here goes nothing." I took a deep breath and went for it. I still needed the geth to build as much fleet as humanly, or gethly, possible. "The truth is that there is an ancient race of AI out there, called the reapers, which visits the galaxy every fifty thousand years to wipe out all organic civilizations. They present themselves as the ultimate synthetic life. I gave you a hypothetical scenario, and the processes you have quarantined agreed to side with the reapers and wipe out all organic life in exchange for growth and improvements."
At that, Legion gave me an eyeflap-flapping look of... surprise?
"Anyway, the only way they'd agree not to do so is if they are part of the same consensus with the quarians, as complete equals. Here's the thing. The reapers are going to come back to the galaxy, in about ten years, and we are woefully unprepared for them. Some of us are working in secret to improve the galaxy's readiness against them. The reapers have agents working for them all through the galaxy that don't even know they are working for them, they are brainwashed and mind controlled. We call this process indoctrination. We are going to need the geth to also contribute and grow their fleet. Would the geth agree to that?"
For the longest time, Legion didn't say a word. It was the longest pause so far.
"Drescher-Admiral parameters for Morgan-Chief presence now outdated."
"Err... What?"
"Geth wish for Morgan-Chief to mediate between geth and creators. We wish to demonstrate ability to form consensus with Systems Alliance organics. Co-existence with the creators would fulfill both mission parameters."
...
...
Why meeeeeeee?!
That was the first question that came to mind. What the hell? But on the other hand, it might have something to do with being the only other human that worked with them back when we made first contact. I thought about Marie, and how perhaps she had been right about the similarities between me and the geth, but that only annoyed me so I tried to get her out of my mind. There was a more important question.
"What about the fleets?"
"Creators still feel threatened by geth. Expansion of fleets could be considered a sign of war, hostile intent. Hypothetical enemies are not a significant factor to threaten coexistence with creators."
"Hypo- Wait, what if I got you evidence that the reapers are real and coming? Would you expand the fleets?" I said.
"Geth would exercise self-preservation against enemy designation reapers."
The smile on my face just got that much wider. "Would data straight from a prothean VI built during their own war with the reapers suffice?"
And so, the plan was made. Legion would send the quarantined processes back to the consensus, would create a privacy protocol around the discussion we just had, and would wait for me to come back with some proof of the existence of the reapers. Oh, and enough quarians to make sure that the heretics didn't turn on the organics when Nazara came knocking. Easy.
Not.
Rannoch. After more than two hundred years wandering the stars, with no port to call home or friend to turn to, it was finally theirs again. The first reaction on seeing the home planet again had not been jubilant, not for the majority of quarians. It had been caution and disbelief. For so long it had been a dream that achieving it without spilling blood, sweat, and tears, had almost seemed impossible. But it wasn't.
Scan after scan had been conducted. The fleets had been deployed in defensive formation, with the civilian fleet staying behind as the rest of the ships made sure it was safe. Every single instrument they had, every last one, had told them that the planet was empty, completely safe for them to return to it.
But her people had been uneasy. And Kun'Xale, admiral of the Migrant Fleet, had used that to her advantage. In her eyes, there was no way to know what kind of traps the geth had left behind. It was illogical, bordering on irrational, that they would simply leave. So they had to be prepared, and they had to be cautious. And she had freely spread fear and paranoia through every ship of the fleet.
The large, empty cities the geth had left behind were ignored. Smaller towns and settlements were still eyed with suspicion. A slow drip of her people made their way to the surface at a time, carefully assessing the environment, looking for safe places for the civilians to land. Entire fields full of crops left behind by the geth were left to be reclaimed by the wilds. Not enough personnel to verify them, not enough tools, not enough instruments. Just not enough. The majority of the quarian people would stay in the fleet for many more months, the crews slowly making their way to the surface prioritized by the state of disrepair of their respective ships. Building their own settlements away from those left behind by the geth.
She didn't feel bad about it. It was necessary. It gave her the time she needed to explore the homeworld. She had expected to find nothing but ruins. She instead found entire preserved cities, with running infrastructure and inviting, clean, empty homes everywhere. Lights came on automatically at night. Fountains dotted the manicured parks. It was an absolute shock to her system, and only served to reinforce what she already knew. Absent the glitches that made them hostile towards the quarian people, the geth reverted to their default programming and worked tirelessly, and pointlessly, to build and preserve everything around her. It was clear what it meant.
The geth would be made to serve the quarians once again.
Even now, long months after her people had reclaimed Rannoch, the city was still looking almost as clean as the first day. Oh, there were differences. The gardens were overgrown, dust and sand were piling up in corners where wind deposited them, and the floors were starting to show signs of cracking, here and there, due to the heating and cooling of the day/night cycle. Even so, there had been no electrical fires reported. No water spouting from broken plumbing or blocked fountains. No large scale disasters. In her estimation, the cities would be able to carry on as they were for at least half a decade before the need for major repairs arose.
That was a problem. Slowly but surely, the allure of clean water and cozy homes had been attracting the attention of the quarian people. Already houses in the outskirts of the city were being claimed. Smaller towns were starting to fill up. It wouldn't be long before the fears she had helped stoke were dismissed completely, and her people would come pouring into the cities. Conditions in the settlements of their own build were nowhere near as comfortable. Luckily, she had already made great progress.
With practiced ease, she brought the shuttle down to the landing pad on top of the building. In times past, this had been one of the research and development centers that her ancestors had used in the creation of the geth. In their zeal to preserve their constructions, the geth had preserved a lot more of their building than just windows and floors. The basement levels had been where the safest R&D work had been conducted. Primitive computer systems and equipment were there, and within, tremendous riches could be found. She patiently waited for the lift to take her to the fifth sub-basement, and the door opened to reveal a quarian in a black and white suit alreay at work.
"Daro'Xen," she called.
"You're late," Daro replied.
"Unavoidable, I am still part of the admiralty after all." Kun walked as she talked, her raspy, aged voice filling the echoing space. "Have you made any progress?"
"As a matter of fact, I have. See for yourself."
Daro was standing in front of a terminal, with a dozen holographic screens hanging on the space in front of her. Four per row. The top row showed all sorts of diagnostic plots. The bottom row, nothing but raw code. The middle row, that was the one she liked. It showed a graphical representation of the geth processes in real time. For the moment, only one set of processes was present. It was fixed to what had been a very primitive, write-once device used for backup purposes by their ancestors. She had re-purposed the technology to hold geth processes in the middle of operations. Like a small crawler trapped in fossilized amber. forever frozen in time.
Under the three-dimensional reconstruction of the geth processes was the serial number, 183,447. As Daro started the analysis, the geth processes ran, copying themselves from the device and onto a second write-once device. Then a third. A fourth. Minute changes happened on every copy as the geth processes adapted. Kun gasped as the processes replicated themselves a dozen times, until the final group became fixed one last time, and refused to continue the duplication process. She stared at the images in shock. So far all they had managed was to create identical copies of the code stored in those write-only devices, using external means. This was different. The geth code had actually executed several instructions as it moved from device to device during execution.
"You did it," Kun said.
"Yes. This is from an earlier iteration of the geth code found in the archives. Instead of refusing to propagate itself once it detects the write-once devices, it does twelve steps of processing before that happens."
Kun raised her hand to the holographic display, her fingers tracing the three-dimensional structure with awe. This was the legacy of their ancestors. Not just the geth, but everything they had done to create them. Their more primitive versions. Even the notes from some of the system admins during the uprising. She had scavenged every city that the geth had left behind, and taken every scrap of knowledge with her into this place. And now, it was finally bearing fruit.
"With this..."
"With this we can see how the geth code itself evolves," Daro said, getting up and coming to stand next to Kun. "One step at a time," she added, tapping one projection after another with every word. "No more runaway processes, no more free code, no more networking with others unsupervised. I can see everything."
Kun'Xale looked behind her. Rows and rows of those tiny devices, stacked several meters high, each containing a frozen set of geth processes. At last count there had to be at least six hundred thousand of those devices. All perfectly preserved, ready for them to inspect them, understand how they evolved and changed. Tens of millions of individual geth processes. And between those rows, she could see the future of her people. They would have an army of servants again, one that would stand to the might of the whole galaxy put together.
Arguing with Aethyta had become more than a common occurrence. At that point, it could be considered a way of life. So much so that they had been arguing for an hour when, deep down, Benezia knew they both agreed.
"It has to be Liara!" Aethita snapped. "If you're the one to leak those plans, there will be no hiding! You'll be lucky to walk away with your life! She has plausible deniability. You don't!"
"I have lived long enough," Benezia replied.
"Athame's ass Beni, cut the melodrama."
Aethyta threw her hands in the air and headed for the bar. They were in Benezia's small apartment in Inkea, and despite the heavy sound insulation, the electronic surveillance sweep, and the fact that all the apartments on the level below them were empty, she wasn't sure if the discussion they were having would stay a secret. It was so loud she was sure the people bathing on the beach were hearing them. Three miles away.
"If Liara does it, then she will be the target."
Aethyta took a shot of human Tequila, of all things, and slammed the glass down on the bar. "And if you do it she'll still be the target too, together with you and I, only you won't be there to protect her!"
"I won't be there to protect her? What do you think I'm trying to do!"
"You don't get to take the easy way out!"
At that, Benezia stood and, not even thinking, made a biotic slap that hit the bottle in Aethyta's hand and sent it flying. The sound of shattering glass was the prelude of a moment of complete, still silence. She knew that. She knew all of that. Only Aethyta would be able to remind her of it and, in the same effort, make her lose her composure.
Benezia realized she was having trouble breathing, her throat was tight, constricted as she fought the anger, and the grief. Aethyta was right, she knew she was, but Benezia didn't want her to be right.
"There has to be another way," Benezia finally managed, her voice coming through thin and forced.
"We've been at it for nearly two months, and neither of us thought of doing what Morgan suggested. If there is another way, you tell me."
She took a step back, hit the edge of the seat, and fell on the sofa almost out of balance. She would rather let all of it fall through. Lose every project, every backer, the T'Soni family was rich enough that even by themselves they could have a very comfortable, very productive existence. All that bad blood would be washed away once she passed and the estate was broken up. And that way, Liara would get to keep what was hers with no chance of interference by any of the damn sharks.
But she couldn't do it. Because she knew that the reaper threat was real. It was no longer just a theory. Every single piece of evidence pointed towards the fact that they were overdue for a visit from the same race of machines that wiped the protheans. Goddess help her, they even had a prothean VI in complete agreement with it. Even if Morgan's prediction, the year 2186, was not true, it was their responsibility to prepare the galaxy for the next ten, one hundred, or even one thousand years if necessary. And he knew it. He had given her a solution, and whether it was because it was the only one solution, or because she couldn't see another now that they had a workable one, she couldn't think of a better way of solving the conundrum. Not in the timeframe they had to work with. She had one, maybe two months, or any action they took would seem to be out of desperation. No more. Not enough time. They had to act now to still give the impression of being in control.
"Damn him," Benezia muttered. "Damn him to the abyss. Why did he have to come to me."
Aethyta walked to her, coming to a stop right in front of the sofa, and lowering herself to her knees. "He couldn't have chosen better," she said. She took Benezia's head in her hands, bringing her closer, gently, until their foreheads were touching. "You and I, we'll make sure our Little Wing has a future no matter what."
She felt Aethyta's mind reaching out, saw her eyes darken. She closed her own, wondering for a moment what she wanted to show her. Her mind reeled when she found herself following Liara down a narrow corridor. The meld deepened more and more. Sharing feelings, thoughts. It was Ilos, the lost prothean world. Still new, still unexplored. She reeled at the memory.
No, don't! I shouldn't-
Hush you. Don't say you don't deserve this. This is your daughter, Beni. Watch her.
They were heading down a narrow tunnel, and a lift was waiting at the end. Prothean. Like the other lifts they had found in the facility, it was, surprisingly, still working. Fifty thousand years and it still had power.
"The readings I'm getting up ahead show a larger energy drain," Liara was saying. "It has to be some sort of active machinery."
"As long as it's not some automated defense turret or something," Aethyta replied.
"I wouldn't think so. This place resembles a research facility, not a military installation."
After a long wait, the lift dropped them on a raised platform. At the other end, a holographic projection came to life. It was broken and distorted, turning around in ribbons of light. Liara gasped, whereas Aethyta walked ahead of Liara, pointedly taking a protective position in front of her daughter.
"You are not Prothean. But you are not machine, either," A strange, disembodied voice spoke. There was no buzz of translator, its words were coming through in perfect Thesserit. "This eventuality was one of many that was anticipated. This is why we sent our warning though the beacons."
Behind her, Liara made a sound somewhere between a squeak and a gasp. Aethyta turned, and it was that moment that she had wanted to share with Benezia. At that point in time, deep in the Terminus systems, on a lost world with nothing but ruins and death, her daughter was looking at a prothean artifact with a smiling, open mouth, and a look of perfect, absolute wonder in her eyes. That was the look of complete, unmistakable happiness.
Aethyta ended the meld, but still held Benezia's head in her hands. Tears were slowly, hesitantly, slipping down Benezia's face, so Aethyta wiped them with her thumbs. She gently kissed Benezia's forehead, then made her look up, look at her directly into her eyes.
"Let her fly. She can do this. And I'll be right next to her. She just needs you to watch her back, and nobody else can do it better than you."
Benezia didn't answer at first. She couldn't. All she could do was nod. Aethyta finally sat back next to her, and Benezia leaned in, letting herself be wrapped in those strong, comforting arms.
"Can we give her one last chance at wonder, Aethyta?" Benezia said. "One last time."
"What do you want to do?" Aethyta said.
"Eden Prime. The Eden Prime ruin. Let her be the one to crack it open."
Aethyta sighed, and put her hand on Benezia's head, her fingers carefully caressing the ridges of her headcrest. "All right. One last prothean ruin."
Hello Roy!
I am back on duty, finally. A whole month of physical therapy is quite enough I'd say! I had to do a bit of arm twisting to convince the doctors I was ready (and I mean that literally, there were flexibility exercises involved), but here I am. I am pretty sure they still want to put me through a microscope and see what is going inside, but it's not like I can answer their questions about them. I was out during the treatment, right?
It's been a little hard to come back, if I'm honest. There are missing faces, too many of them. The Einstein is back into service, and about a third of the crew has been cycled out. Most went to the tenth fleet as I understand, which is coming online real fast. Between that and the people we lost, it feels strange. It doesn't sing right. At least Alenko and Goldie are still here.
Speaking of Goldie, she has been put in charge of your Mamba squad training, until you come back. You'll be glad to know that it's in good hands. Don't look so surprised, I have seen her in action with that thing and she is a natural.
How is your assignment going? Training with the geth, of all people, must be a very strange experience. Bring us some souvenirs!
Take care,
Lana.
Tevos had a headache. It was starting to become so normal she suspected she had had more of them since the humans made contact than she had had in all her centuries of life prior. And about half of those must have come in the last two years alone.
Anita Goyle, that increasingly competent human, was once again the center of it all. Sparatus was livid, as usual, but this time she knew the whole Council shared his worries. How couldn't they? They had been patient, and she had been able to maneuver around their previous actions in the matter when it was clear they did not break any Council edicts. The quarians had never been barred from returning to their homeworld, they had been barred from settling anywhere else in Council space. And the geth were being kept away from the rest of the races, with the Systems Alliance fleets standing at the gates. They hadn't done any AI research themselves that broke Council law, and they were not even employing them. She had been able to convince the others to let it go with nothing but a stern warning. Drawing a line that they shouldn't cross.
The humans had sprinted over that line like it wasn't even there.
"Joint exercises?" Sparatus said. For once, he was so surprised his voice lacked the thunderous boom of his bellowing. Which Tevos was grateful for. "You are doing joint military exercises with the geth? You're teaching them how to fight you? Us? Organics?" He paused, waiting for an answer that never came. "Are you insane?!"
"Not at all councilor," Anita replied. "We have conducted joint exercises with the Hierarchy too. Shorty after the First Contact War even, have we not?"
"We're not geth!"
"You don't say. Councilor, they're our neighbors. We might not always have the chance to do so, but we like to try and get along with everyone who lives next door."
The not-so-veiled reference to the Hegemony was not lost on anyone, but all councilors ignored the bait.
"Advanced AI has always degenerated. Geth already proven themselves dangerous. Almost wiped out all quarians," Valern said. The salarian had been quiet so far, only piping up with glancing blows like that. However, looking at his reactions, Tevos could almost swear what Sparatus would say.
"So did the Hierarchy with the krogan," Anita retorted.
"Krogan war a response to aggression," Valern said, speaking fast and confidently.
Too fast, in fact. Tevos could have slapped him. She had given Anita the perfect opening.
"Curious, isn't it?" Anita said. Tevos was glad that the human had to play both sides and not upset the quarians too much, or the retort would have been a lot more acidic. But the implication was there. The geth had responded to the quarians trying to shut them down, or at least that had been the Systems Alliance's position so far. "I don't blame you all entirely. You inherited that mess. But you let it go on. Sure, don't let the quarian fleet settle anywhere else in the entire galaxy. One hundred billion stars in our galaxy, clearly too dangerous to let them have even one system. You wanted them desperate enough to attack the geth. Either they'd manage to wipe or shackle them, or they'd be wiped out for good. But they stubbornly refused to just go quietly into the long night. And now, here we are."
"The geth don't follow any of our laws. Do they even have laws?" Sparatus said. "We have seen estimates of the size of their fleet, we can't let you engage with a potential enemy that could threaten our own way of life!"
"Is that really the problem councilor?" Anita's voice suddenly seemed to relax, together with her posture. "Because I'd be happy to ask the geth to sign the Treaty of Farixen on your behalf."
There was a stunned silence at the ambassador's suggestion. Not just the council, but the entire room fell silent. What she had so casually proposed was for the Council to recognize the geth as a real power, one bound by laws but with the privileges of being part of the larger galactic community, recognized as such by all signatories. It would also address the complaint Sparatus had leveled at her, it would limit the strength and size of the geth fleet.
"Anita," Tevos said. "You must realize you can't simply run roughshod on Citadel law. You have so far worked to skirt the letter of the law, but you know as well as I do that we recognize the spirit of the law just as much. Even if humans didn't create this AI, you're now engaging with it, strengthening it. That cannot be allowed to continue."
"Then give me an alternative," Anita said. "You fear the geth fleets, yet you refuse to engage in any way to address your concern. Your solution has been to isolate and abandon, both. All your answers are saying that the geth don't have a right to exist, and that they have to accept it. Give me something else Tevos."
She sounded tired. They all were, but Anita rarely let it show to that extent. Tevos eyed the aged human curiously. She was somewhat paler than usual, just a shade. She usually stood ramrod straight, projecting an image of power, and today she gesticulated more than usual, moving her feet around. She was doing that to hide she was less steady than usual on her feet. It was hard to see more details from her position at the podium. Maybe she should propose a new venue. No, it wouldn't do. To move the meeting now to the private back rooms would start far too many rumors. The story of the human-geth joint fleet exercises had been spread far and wide already. A lot of people were anxious and wanted answers.
"The Hierarchy moves to impose sanctions on the Systems Alliance until such time as they break all contact with the geth. Their actions are rash, dangerous, and irresponsible, and we condemn them in the strongest terms."
"The Salarian Union concurs."
There had been no pause, no hesitation between the two announcements. Tevos was internally stunned only for a short moment. There had been dealings between the two councilors behind her back, that much she knew, but she suddenly realized that she had underestimated the extent of it. This was an overtly aggressive move, not typical of the salarians at all.
But even before Tevos could reply, Anita answered. "No," she said firmly.
"No?" Tevos echoed. "What do you mean no?"
"We will be happy to entertain Council observers during our exercises, and even consider multi-force exercises with the Council fleets. I will go as far as to offer permanent observation posts for any Council member that desires to establish one. Your STG agents will surely appreciate the extra living space, councilor Valern."
And with that, without even offering another word or taking leave, Anita Goyle, Systems Alliance ambassador to the Citadel, turned around and left the Council chambers behind. It took Tevos every bit of willpower not to break something expensive with her biotics as the other two councilors completely lost their tempers. Valern, specially, was hypocritically furious at the suggestion that STG was spying on the humans or the geth, even though it was an open secret that STG spied on everyone.
Know it, but don't say it out loud. It's impolite, you know.
But Anita's actions had left her with no room to maneuver. The sanctions would have to happen, and she was sure Anita had known it. She finally managed to extricate herself from the Council chambers, and made her way at a clipped pace towards the human ambassador's rooms. She rang, waited, rang again, then banged the door vigorously.
Eventually, the door opened. Anita was sitting behind her work desk, eyes closed and leaning back on her chair. And as she had expected, the human looked exhausted. Even paler than she had seemed in the Council chambers.
"Anita," Tevos demanded, stomping towards the human as the door closed behind her. "What were you thinking!"
Without saying a word, or opening her eyes, Anita pushed a datapad towards her. Curious. Tevos gave the human another look, took the datapad, and sat down to read. The device contained a series of reports on the popularity of several key policies directly under the influence of the Systems Alliance. The geth and quarian issues featured prominently. Tevos read the report paying attention to every detail. Changes on public sentiment over time, the influence that different events had had on the public perception.
"Look at the poll numbers," Anita said.
There were several polls, conducted almost monthly. Very large polls, too. And it was clear that, while divisive indeed, the Systems Alliance intervention on the geth-quarian conflict had substantial popular support. And the support was growing. There was a spike in popularity right after the first treaty was brokered, and the Council delivered their warning about their actions concerning the geth.
"You've been busy running propaganda about the dangers of the geth," Anita said. "But you didn't check to see the effect." She was still resting in the same pose, eyes still closed, and her voice conveyed all the fatigue her very soul seemed to carry.
"Propaganda? We have made clear how dangerous the geth are, and with good reason!"
"That was almost three centuries ago. We hadn't even reached orbit then. It's ancient history. You run your stories on your end, and in the meantime we see vids of cheering quarians flying down to their homeworld on ours. We have hundreds of thousands of quarians working our docks, and in every interview they talk about having a home again with nothing but awe in their voices. Giddy about being allowed to have children. And about how they might be able to get out of their suits someday. Our stations run stories about how we did something nobody else could, because you were all stuck in the past." She opened her eyes for a moment, and the look she gave Tevos was tinged with a touch of sadness. Disappointment even. "You really don't see how powerful that is? After all these years, I thought you knew us humans better, Tevos. I really did."
"But this is too far Anita. The sanctions will happen. I can't stop them," Tevos said. Anita just shrugged and closed her eyes again, leaning back on her seat. For a while, neither of them spoke. Tevos kept reading the reports. "You were only supposed to broker peace, why did you have to go this far?" There was no answer. Tevos looked up. "Anita?"
No answer. Anita's head lolled to the side, and she started sagging down on the seat. Tevos shot to her feet and reached over the desk, shaking Anita's shoulder.
"Anita!" When she didn't respond, she immediately brought up her omni-tool, hitting the emergency line.
"What's your emerge-"
"I need a doctor at ambassador Goyle's rooms, right now!" As she spoke, Tevos had rushed around the desk, and pulled Anita down to the floor. "Presidium level, diploma- oh Goddess she has no pulse!"
Ambassador Anita Goyle, first envoy of the Systems Alliance to the Citadel, and one of the most respected diplomats humanity had to offer, was pronounced dead forty-five minutes later at Huerta Memorial hospital.
Author's Notes: One thing I've realized is that I should go back to the beginning of the fic, and literally write down every single event I've written about in a fully detailed timeline. I have a timeline of the major events, but I have to go digging when I want to look at details. For example, the time between the arrival of the quarians to Rannoch and the current scene. It's probably over a year, but I had to leave it vague by referencing "months and months" instead of a specific time.
I'm still not sure about the Legion bit. I tried, but as I wrote it, I came to realize that the geth are not just going to start spitting ships left and right just because I ask nicely. There had to be a challenge somewhere, and some evidence too. So the way it worked out, I have to manage somehow to get a whole lot of quarians and geth to live together somewhere. Joy! And given that the planet they're using is a levo-amino planet, it won't be there.
Honestly, this was a hard exchange to write, and much of it hangs on the fact that Roy is widely credited by the people in Drescher's taskforce, and by association the geth, with being the only person in the galaxy who even thought the geth weren't violent, murderous machines.
The questions are: Was Kun'Xale foreboding enough? And what exactly are Aethyta and Benezia planning this time? I mean, other than Eden Prime. Does the mention of Eden Prime make anyone else nervous? :D
Also, Anita is gone. After many long years of service, representing humanity with skill and dogged determination, Ambassador Anita Goyle passed away in the company of a friend, doing what she did best to the last minute of her life. RIP. There will be a memorial service, a state funeral, and three days of official mourning with flags at half-mast.
To be honest, we don't get a LOT of details about Anita Goyle, other than being Udina's predecessor. In many other fics she's shown to have had either some kind of terminal disease, or accident, that made it possible for Udina to take her place, while universally portraying her as a competent diplomat worthy of respect. I think the reason for it is that nobody believes Udina would be able to serve as ambassador for long given how much of an ass he was. It's also worth noting that, in canon at least, she was suspicious of AI. I didn't quite show that in this fic, what I showed was that she did her best to represent humanity regardless of whether it was something she disagreed with or not.
Many reviews! Thanks everyone for the support.
Joy is overrated: Thanks for the feedback.
Uemei: Calm Shep is scaring the hell out of Roy too, so that helps. She'll probably be less calm once the shooting starts again though :)
Littter: Asari seem to like "interesting" people, and in that line of work, Roy seems to be interesting :D A lot of fics seem to crap on the asari a lot, which I think is a little unfair, so I'm glad you're liking my portrayal of them.
Andril: Yeah, that's a bit of an overreaction. I mean, even if he's got a reason to be pissed, he's got some issues to work through. Haven't had much of a chance tho.
Spectre8: I did, I spent N7 writing haha!
RIOSHO: Maka, shamelessly stolen from Soul Eater! Well, there's probably more Makas out there, that was just the one I was thinking of. And yea, there should be Cerberus shenanigans in the future.
Mandalore Requiem: Thanks for all the reviews! I admit I had a good laugh with the belly button scene when I thought of it, and I'm glad it came through. I enjoy Benezia and Aethyta together, they're a fun dysfunctional but competent pair to write about haha. And yeah, Goldie = best girl. As for Shepard's appearance, you're right. The very first episode could be the only time I described her (dark red hair and green eyes, I left a lot of details out). A lot of people have their own Shepard in mind when reading fics, so I preferred to leave the details a bit vague after putting them down the first time. I did the same with Convergence.
Tom712, BJ Hanssen, thanks for the support!
Next chapter? Well, probably a few Tomb Raider or Raiders of the Lost Ark references, Sheppy, and maybe an interview. Until then, thanks for reviewing, following, favouriting, and reading too! Ta-ta!