"These seats are really comfortable. Don't get me wrong, the last Normandy chairs were good, but this is next level" I sink into my cozy little piece of heaven. I can feel the fascia relaxing. Joker needs to talk to me more often.

The pilot with glass bones replies "I know. Sometimes I would get bed sores. The commander would have to massage them away. Now those little clotty circles never appear. I still make Shepard massage me from time to time."

"Oh, I may have to take advantage of that. I'm not a big fan of the leather" I lean forward slightly and pull the back of my shirt down.

"It's premium quality. What's not to love?"

I answer "It sticks to my skin and when I move it tugs."

"I could see how that would be annoying" Joker said.

EDI appears in front of me "there are products that will assuage the stickiness as you would put it."

"Ehh it's fine. I'm not up here much. I don't want to be a financial burden."

"Dude, they spent billions of credits to bring back Shepard. I don't think the illusive man will care. And what do you mean you don't come up here much. You took a four-hour nap here this morning."

"Getting up early to cook breakfast made me sleepy. Plus, it's not my fault EDI's singing is so relaxing."

"I am not capable of singing. That was merely certain tones in a melody designed to promote a calm environment."

"You might need to start doing that again. It is taking freaking forever to get into the citadel" we have been floating outside the hangar nearly forty minutes.

"They beefed up security after Shepard's funeral and being a xenophobic organization ship raises a few alarm bells" Joker said.

"It's the principal. It's nothing but security theater. If the reapers attack, they ain't waiting in an entry line."

EDI comments "Saren's attack has caused stress in the citadel population. This has translated into increased species bigotry and rising crime. The illusion of safety has reduced tension and saved citadel authority a significant sum. It's believed a calm population will be more productive and this translates into more resources for the upcoming reaper war."

"I just want to see the inside of the citadel. Joker where is the horn? EDI softly sings and I yawn. I fake snore to mess with the pilot. A hard thud hits the back of my chair and I jump awake. I look around frantically.

"What is it? The Vietcong?"

Commander Shepard walks into my view. "Wake up. Kelly finished altering the jacket Thane gave you. Go put it on and meet us back. Want you looking good for your date."

"You have a date?" Joker asks like he is shocked.

"No. Shep wants me to flirt with the asari councilor so he can be a spectre again. Don't tell him this but I'm going to ask the council to make me a spectre. While I basically am, I can commit any crimes and not face the consequences, I would like it so the police wouldn't harass me" I explain to the pilot.

"I'm right here" Shepard said.

"Which is really important why you don't tell Shepard" I said to the pilot. I get up from nap time and head to seamstress in chief Kelly. The sanguine therapist sees me and knows exactly what I want. As I make my way towards her, she bends down and picks up a box that was out of view. She holds it out for me to throw the lid up and behind me to reveal my new outfit. I pull it out and let gravity unfold my pseudo loyalty mission skin. It looks amazing. It has elements of Thane's coat but enough differences to make it appear something a modern person would wear on the streets. The tips on the shoulders were removed along with the deep v neck. There are a few added patches of blue that will help the ground crew differentiate between Thane and I, besides one being a lizard person. I put it on, and it feels fantastic.

"I love it. It looks amazing. How did you do this?" I ask the very happy redhead.

"I worked part-time as a seamstress at my mother's shop. This is some of my best work. This is so you. The asari councilor is one lucky lady" Kelly said.

"My charms are for everyone with eyes. I'm going to keep this forever. Did you remove the poisoned blades?" I joke.

"Yes. Thane showed me and I think I removed all of them" Kelly said.

"Were there serious poisoned blades?" I thought Thane was kidding.

"You should be going. Have fun" she waves goodbye.

"That doesn't answer my question" I walk back and group with Shepard, Garrus, and Thane. I saw Garrus pass when I was trying on my new coat. Thane is completely undetectable when I'm distracted. He really is a good assassin.

"Looking good *********" Garrus said.

"I concur. The style indicates you have a keen taste" Thane indirectly compliments himself.

"Clever dictation frog man. What's the story with this guy you're after? Are we heading there right after checking in?" I ask Garrus.

"His name is Lantar Sidonis. He was a member of my vigilante crew on Omega until he betrayed us. An explosion killed everyone else while I was on a case. I trusted him like a brother. There were no warnings or signs. He stabbed us in the back. And to answer your question, no. My former C-sec acquaintance said Sidonis will be at a specific bar in six hours. He makes repeat visits. We'll meet with the council first and get Shepard's status restored so we can conduct our mission without the authorities in the back of our heads" Garrus explains.

Joker yells loud enough for us to hear "we're through. You can leave anytime. Bring me back a souvenir."

Shepard turns "I bought you a spaceship model. Where did it go?"

"That was back on the original Normandy and it's floating through space currently" Joker answers.

"The exposure to cosmic rays have disintegrated your toy long ago" EDI comments.

"See even the AI agrees I need a new one" Joker said.

"That is right. I forgot. I'll see what they have" Shepard said.

I show concern for my friend "not used to the future yet?"

"Nope. What happened five years ago feels like one or two to me."

"You will adjust. We should go" we enter the decontamination room and go through the cleaning cycle. Garrus talks to the receptionist, and I stroll around the lobby and notice the changes. It feels like an airport. Thane mentions he spots at least a dozen security flaws he could exploit. Shepard points to where he and Kasumi met. He tells me the story of how she hacked the advertising board, and they had a conversation through it. The staff complained to him afterwards. Prompting him to leave.

Garrus and Shepard chat with some old friends and the cool jacket brothers just stood back and look amazing. We should write songs and sell CDs. My boss and the turian exchange omni tool addresses then we proceed to the human embassy. Shepard asks for us to wait outside while he talks to now councilor Anderson. Commander Shepard takes a deep breathe then charges in. I take rest on a wall then slowly slide down to the floor to sit. As we wait, Garrus and I inform Thane about their close relationship and can only imagine the tension between the two right now. Thane's eye shimmer a hint of regret. He's thinking about his son and their strained relationship.

An uncomfortably long time passes till the door opens. Anderson looks pleased and Shepard is clearly relieved. I pull myself up and Anderson is shocked at my transformation. He stands speechless. It's weird to see this heroic masculine role model be taken aback.

"We might have to use your image for recruitment posters" Anderson said.

"HA! You would get a lot of women signing up" I said.

"I'm sure we would. You're an inspirational young man. Hello Garrus, it is good to see you again. I'm thankful to you for helping Shepard when he needed it and it's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Thane. Everyone please, step into my office and I'll call the rest of the council. I told them about your circumstances and are awaiting us." We walk into the spacious human councilor office. Anderson desperately tried to cover the luxurious decor with alliance banners and other objects you would find on a ship. Must feel closer to home. Anderson and Shepard stand in front of a special camera and holographic images of the rest of the councilors appear. They can't see us.

"Hello councilor Anderson. It's good to see you as always. Commander Shepard. To be honest I did not think you would actually appear. You were declared KIA. While you're not the first spectre to reappear during my career, the circumstances are concerning" the asari councilor said.

"Believe me, Even I do not like it. Cerberus rebuilt me from the ground up and I don't truly understand how, nor do I wish to know. I have been investigating the terminus systems for reaper activity. We believe the collectors are working for them and capturing human colonists for an unknown purpose" Shepard explains.

"Ah Yes the reapers. An ancient machine race that appears once every 50,000 years to eradicate all life in the galaxy. Oh we have dismissed that claim" the turian councilor waves his hand.

"What?! You saw Sovereign attack the citadel. Hell, he nearly killed all of you!" Shepard screams in shock and frustration.

"Commander Shepard, please calm down and allow us to explain. We collected fragments of the Saren's ship you called sovereign and had it analyzed. The material is unlike anything we have seen before, but our scientists believe it could have been a geth creation" the salarian councilor said.

"How could you say that? What about the VI we found? The reapers are real and are coming. We have to prepare!" Shepard yells. Anderson gives him a stern look and he calms down.

"Please allow us to finish. The geth are a machine race who can think much faster than organics and whose progress is not limited by factors such as sleep, politics, or working hazards that we are aware of. Our scientists believe it would be possible to recreate the material found in Saren's ship however the cost would be astronomical and time consuming. And as I mentioned before, Saren was a master manipulator and has used disinformation campaigns in the past on several missions. It is not impossible he convinced geth leaders to secretly construct his ship and convince others to follow his lead into taking control over the mass relays and granting him power over the galaxy. I've witnessed several other attempts centuries ago that fortunately were stopped before any damage occurred. The reality is we cannot commit to preparing a war for an enemy we have no concrete evidence of" the asari councilor said.

"That is not how the Geth work. They have a hive mind who freely exchange information. It would be impossible for them to build Saren's ship and believe it to be a reaper since they know they constructed it" I yell.

"Who is that?" The turian councilor asks. I step onto the holographic platform so they can see me.

"Hey did you miss me?" I cross my arms and cockily lean back.

"*********?! Is that you? You're alive? the turian councilor mandibles flip flop all over the place.

"Why shouldn't I be?" I ask.

"These seats are really comfortable. Don't get me wrong, the last Normandy chairs were good but this is next level" I sunk into my cozy little piece of heaven.

The pilot with glass bones replies "I know. Sometimes I would get bed sores. The commander would have the massage then away. Now those little clotty circles never appear. I still make Shepard massage me from time to time."

"Oh I may have to take advantage of that. I'm not a big fan of the leather" I lean forward slightly and pull the back of my shirt down.

"It's premium quality. What's not to love?"

I answer "It sticks to my skin and when I move it tugs"

"I could see how that would be annoying" Joker said.

EDI appears in front of me "there are products that will reduce that will prevent the stickiness as you would put it"

"Ehh it's fine. I'm not up here much. I don't want to be a financial burden."

"Dude, they spent billions of credits to bring back Shepard. I don't think the illusive man will care. And what do you mean you don't come up here much. You took a four hour nap."

"It's not my fault EDI's singing is so relaxing."

"I am not capable of singing. That was merely certain tones in a melody designed to promote a calm environment."

"You might need to start doing that again. It is taking freaking forever to get into the citadel" be have been floating outside the hangar nearly forty minutes.

"They beefed up security after Shepard's funeral and being a xenophobic organization ship raises a few alarm bells" Joker said.

"It's the principal. It's nothing but security theater. If the reapers attack, they ain't waiting in a entry line."

EDI comments "Saren's attack has caused stress in the citadel population. This has translated into increased species bigotry and rising crime. The illusion of safety has reduced tension and saved citadel authority a significant sum. It's believed a calm population will be more productive and this translates into more resources for the upcoming reaper war."

"I just want to see the inside of the citadel. Joker where is the horn? EDI softly sings and I yawn. I fake snore to mess with the pilot. A hard thud huts the back of my chair and I jump awake. I look around frantically.

"What is it? The Vietcong?"

Commander Shepard walks into my view. "Wake up. Kelly finished altering the jacket Thane gave you. Go put it on and meet us back. Want you looking good for your date."

"You have a date?" Joker asks like he is shocked.

"No. Shep wants me to flirt with the asari councilor so he can be a spectre again. Don't tell him this but I'm going to ask the council to make me a spectre. While I basically am, I can commit any crimes and not face the consequences, I would like it so the police wouldn't harass me" I explain to the pilot.

"I'm right here" Shepard said.

"Which is really important you don't tell Shepard" I said to the pilot. I get up from nap time and head to seamstress in chief Kelly. The therapist sees me and knows exactly what I want. As I make my way towards her, she bends down and picks up a box that was out of view. She opens it up and I find my new outfit. I pull it out and let it unfold. It looks amazing. It has elements of Thane's coat but enough differences to make it appear something a modern person would wear on the streets. There are a few added patches of green that will help the ground crew differentiate between Thane and I, besides one being a lizard person. I put it on and it feels fantastic.

"I love it. It looks amazing. How did you do this?" I ask the very happy redhead.

"I worked part-time as a seamstress at my mother's shop. This is some of my best work. This is so you. The asari councilor is one lucky lady" Kelly said.

"My charms are for everyone with eyes. I'm going to keep this forever. Did you remove the poisoned blades?" I joke.

"Yes. Thane showed me and I think I removed all of them" Kelly said.

"Were there serious poisoned blades?" I thought Thane was kidding.

"You should be going. Have fun" she waves goodbye.

"That doesn't answer my question" I walk back and group with Shepard, Garrus, and Thane. I saw Garrus pass when I was trying on my new coat. Thane is completely undetectable when I'm distracted. He really is a good assassin.

"Looking good *********" Garrus said.

"I concur. The style indicates you have a keen taste" Thane indirectly compliments himself.

"Clever dictation frog man. What's the story with this guy you're after? Are we heading there right after checking in?" I ask Garrus.

"His name is Lantar Sidonis. He was a member of my vigilante crew on Omega until he betrayed us. An explosion killed everyone else while I was on a case. I trusted him like a brother. There were no warnings or signs. He stabbed us in the back. And to answer your question, no. My former C-sec acquaintance said he'll be at a specific bar in six hours. He makes repeat visits. We'll meet with the council first and get Shepard's status put back so we can conduct our mission without the authorities in the back of our heads" Garrus explains.

Joker yells loud enough for us to hear "we're through. You can leave anytime. Bring me back a souvenir."

Shepard turns "I bought you a spaceship model. Where did it go?"

"That was back on the original Normandy and it's floating through space" Joker answers.

"Right. I'll see what they have" Shepard said.

I show concern for my friend "not used to the future yet?"

"Nope. What happened five years ago feels like one or two to me."

"You will adjust. We should go" we enter the decontamination room and go through the cleaning cycle. We walk around the lobby and notice the changes. It feels like an airport. Thane mentions he spots at least a dozen security flaws he could exploit. Shepard points to where he and Kasumi met. He tells me the story of how she hacked the advertising board and they had a conversation through it. The staff complained to him afterwards. He quickly left.

Garrus and Shepard chat with some old friends and the cool jacket brothers just stood back and look amazing. My boss and the turian exchange omni tool addresses then we proceed to the human embassy. Shepard asks for us to wait outside while he talks to now councilor Anderson. I slowly slide down to the floor and sit. As we wait, Garrus and I inform Thane about their close relationship and can only imagine the tension between the two right now.

An uncomfortably long time passes till the door opens. Anderson looks pleased and Shepard is clearly relieved. I pull myself up and Anderson is shocked at my transformation. He stands speechless. It's weird to see this heroic masculine role model be taken aback.

"We might have to use your image for recruitment posters" Anderson said.

"HA! You would get a lot of women signing up" I said.

"I'm sure we would. You're an inspirational young man. Hello Garrus it is good to see you again. I'm thankful to you for helping Shepard when he needed it and it's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Thane. Everyone please step into my office and I'll call the rest of the council. I told them about your circumstances and are awaiting us." We walk into the spacious human councilor office. Anderson desperately tried to cover the luxurious decor with alliance banners and other objects you would find on a ship. Must feel closer to home. Anderson and Shepard stand in front of a special camera and holographic images of the rest of the councilors appear. They can't see us.

"Hello councilor Anderson. It's good to see you as always. Commander Shepard. To be honest I did not think you would actually appear. You were declared KIA. While you're not the first spectre to reappear during my career, the circumstances are concerning" the asari councilor said.

"Believe me, I don't even like it. Cerberus rebuilt me from the ground up and I don't truly understand how nor do I wish to know. I have been investigating the terminus systems for reaper activity. We believe the collectors are working for them and capturing human colonists for an unknown purpose" Shepard explains.

"Ah Yes the reapers. An ancient machine race that appears once every 50,000 years to eradicate all life in the galaxy. Oh we have dismissed that claim" the turian councilor waves his hand.

"What?! You saw Sovereign attack the citadel. Hell, he nearly killed all of you!" Shepard screams in shock and frustration.

"Commander Shepard, please calm down and allow us to explain. We collected fragments of the Saren's ship you called sovereign and had it analyzed. The material is unlike anything we have seen before, but our scientists believe it could have been a geth creation" the salarian councilor said.

"How could you say that? What about the VI we found? The reapers are real and are coming. We have to prepare!" Shepard yells. Anderson gives him a stern look and he calms down.

"Please allow us to finish. The geth are a machine race who can think much faster than organics and whose progress is not limited by factors such as sleep, politics, working hazards that we are aware of. Our scientists believe it would be possible to recreate the material found in Saren's ship however the cost would be astronomical and time consuming. And as I mentioned before, Saren was a master manipulator and has used disinformation campaigns in the past on several missions. It is not impossible he convinced geth leaders to secretly construct his ship and convince others to follow his lead into taking control over the mass relays and granting him power over the galaxy. I've witnessed several other attempts centuries ago that fortunately were stopped before any damage occurred. The reality is we can not commit to preparing a war for an enemy we have no concrete evidence of" the asari councilor said.

"That is not how the Geth work. They have a hive mind who freely exchange information. It would be impossible for them to build Saren's ship and believe it to be a reaper since they know they constructed it" I yell.

"Who is that?" The turian councilor asks. I step onto the holographic platform so they can see me.

"Hey did you miss me?" I fold my arms and cockily lean back.

"*********?! Is that you? You're alive?" The salarian councilor said. The three of them are in disbelief that I am alive.

"Why? shouldn't I be?" I ask.

"We looked for your body in the Normandy wreckage and among others could not find you" the turian councilor said.

"I was at Shepard's funeral?" whoever they put in whatever job position deals with that responsibility needs to be replaced.

"No, you weren't. I would have remembered" the asari councilor said.

"Is that a hint? Oh… why is that my favorite asari? I was at Shepard's funeral. Remember at the hotel? Afterwards I went with Wrex to Tuchunka. I lived there for years until Shep came and asked for my help. Things happened and he asked me to come back, and I said yes."

"You were at the private funeral…" the turian councilor realizes the confusion"...This is embarrassing. He rubs his mandible.

"Why?" I sense something coming.

"We couldn't find any records of you. When the time came to build the memorial, we only put your first name on your plaque" the salarian councilor explained.

"YOU TRIED TO BURY ME?!"

The asari puts her hands up to try to calm my holographic anger. "No no no. We were trying to honor you as the rest of the crew. It is a beautiful marble sign with your name in gold." GOLD!

"Oh…. Where is it? I'd like to visit my grave" I want to see how it compares to my other ones.

The salarian councilor asks "Why weren't you aboard the Normandy when the collectors attack?"

Shepard answers "you told me only to bring trained crew so I had to let go of Wrex and *********"

"You don't have training?" The turian councilor asked me.

"Not ones you know about."

"Commander Shepard, ********* was a significant party member. I personally read reports of his actions on and off the battlefield out of curiosity. We would have let you keep ********* if you wished" the salarian councilor said. I turn to my nearly dead commander. Steam is coming out of my ears.

"Did you just want me off the ship? Was my eccentric yet charismatic personality too much?!" Anderson guards Shepard. The human councilor would have said something if I didn't press my finger on his chapped lips and shushed him.

"I swear to God I would have kept you on if I knew I could. This is a whole big misunderstanding" Shepard said. His apologetic eyes stare into my irritated ones. I say nothing for a moment to build up tension.

...

"Alright I forgive you. You owe me one. You said I have a grave? Where is it?"

"Councilor Anderson will escort you afterwards. We should return to the matter at hand. Commander Shepard, given the highly unusual circumstances, your spectre status is questionable" the asari councilor said.

"The precedent is you still have spectre status unless the council revokes it, however the association with Cerberus, a highly dangerous and xenophobic organization gives us reason to take your status and jail you if we see fit" the turian councilor sounds happy.

"Before we make any decisions, I think we should hear from councilor Anderson about his views of Cerberus. This is not the only xenophobic organization in the galaxy as there are several more such as the batarian government and the pro turian movement that formed from the relay incident. Councilor Anderson, what do you make of Cerberus?" The salarian councilor asks.

"Officially Cerberus is listed as an anti-alien terrorist organization in the alliance. My race's world governments are more interested in establishing friendly relationships with other species to promote trade. However, division in nearly every way you can think of plague our species. There's a substantial portion who believe Cerberus to be a contingency in case a conspiracy emerged between our governments against the common man. This is not all. Cerberus has on occasion saved human colonists from slaver attacks and protected earth's interests from multiple external threats. This has given them a positive reputation despite their horrendous methods. They have conducted illegal experiments such as the thorian creeper ones and will completely ignore any council regulations. I should mention multiple trade agreements would have been signed if not for their sabotage. Given recent events, I truly think Cerberus has Earth's best interests in mind. The issue is they believe the ends will justify the means. Many of our history's most evil tragedies came from this line of thinking" Anderson explains.

"Commander Shepard has demonstrated to be an excellent spectre who tries to avoid breaking laws if he could. A rarity. I should mention he could have chosen to let us die in the citadel attack and humanity likely would have gained control" the asari councilor mentions.

"That's because I need the support of the other species in order to fight the reapers. Humans can't do it by themselves" Shepard said.

"He does appear to believe the reapers are real, despite our thoughts on the matter" the turian councilor comments.

The salarian councilor asks "commander Shepard, if we allowed you to retain spectre status, what would you intend to accomplish?"

"The collectors are going to make a run soon. We don't know where, but they have a pattern of attacking human colonies every 4-5 months. The next attack is believed to be a remote colony deep into the terminus system, closer to the galactic core. I put a team together of the best people and *********, I could find. We'll patrol the area and fight back. I'll forward any and all information we have on the collectors" Shepard said.

"HEY!" I shout.

"Allow us to discuss this matter privately" the asari said. Now is my chance.

"Before you go, I want to talk to you" I walk up to the holographic asari.

"Me?" She excitedly asks.

"Yeah. I haven't seen you in forever. You're still as gorgeous as the day you gave me that ointment. Thanks again for that" I wink at her. She bites her lips.

"What is happening?" The salarian councilor asks.

"Yo- You're welcome. You look different since last we spoke" she mumbles.

"Tuchunka living. I'm not sure what happened but I am better than ever. It's a shame you can't see me in person. I got so muscular" I roll up my sleeves and show the guns. Her holographic hand reaches for my bicep. I flex it when she nearly touches me, and she retreats with a squeal. She covers her hand with her mouth and looks away.

"Why are you covering that cute smile? Don't be afraid to feel good. Drop your hand and let me see it" I seductively look into her pale holographic blue eyes.

"Am I really your favorite asari?" She innocently asks.

"Right on the money. I didn't really interact with Liara that much and I'm mad at Samara. She stopped me from getting laid."

"Mornith would have killed you!" Shepard yells.

I look back and shout "I would have been fine with it!"

"This isn't Samara the Justiciar would it?" She asks.

"Yeah, it's her. Wears a weird head piece and red outfit. Talks about the code a lot. We hunted one of those asari succubus and killed her."

"What is a succubus?" She asks.

"Humans have evil mythological creatures called demons. A succubus is a female demon that drains the life of someone through sex. Sounds like one of your hidden people, doesn't it?"

Her eyes give me a shocked look realizing I know what an Ardat Yakshi is.

"Anyway, I might have a thing for asari now and I'll let you suck the life out of me if you know what I mean" I feel guilty for playing with her feelings. I'm not actually expecting anything to happen, but if she wants it, I won't say no. She liked me before my metamorphosis. The rules say it's ok.

"I-I-I…" it's cute when they're speechless.

"Compose yourself," the turian councilor whispers.

"We can figure something out later. As a favor to me, could you let Shepard keep his spectre status? It would mean so much to him. You know he's a good person who's trying to help out humans. Please Girl?" I go to reach for her hands when she frantically hits a button, and the council disappears. GOT HER! I turn around and hold both hands in the air. I high five Garrus and Thane. I grasp their weird fingers and victory shake. I turn to face Shepard and Anderson whose jaws are glued to the floor. I confidently walk up to my commander and look Shepard deeply in his eyes. I point to him and say,

"You're welcome."