Hey,

Long time no speak ey? Hopefully, I should have a few quiet months coming up so should have a fair few updates out. The next one should be in two weeks' time.

Shepard begins to stir 3 galactic hours later when she feels a warmth under her. Asari are warm creatures by nature, more so than Humans' by a few kelvins, meaning they make good hot water bottles. Ignoring the time and the requirement to rise, Shepard makes herself comfortable again, if only for five minutes she tells herself.

"Is it time?" Tevos asks sleepily a few moments later.

Shepard pauses for the briefest of seconds, debating if she should answer truthfully before sighing and reluctantly saying, "Yeah," In truth, Shepard would lie if she claimed to feel refreshed; if anything, she feels more tired than when she went to bed.

Tevos silently counts to three before opening her eyes and taking account of her surroundings; Shepards room is somewhat small compared to her entire floor, and it is very spartan in design; everything in the room serves a function. "You need something to add character to this room." She remarks a moment later. "Even in relative darkness, it appears stark."

Shepard slowly pushes herself up and off Tevos before sitting on the edge of the bed, revealing her stark back to the Asari Councillor, "Sounds like extra items to collect dust." She then tells.

Tevos considers the answer before blinking, "True, but I pay people to enter our rooms and clean said dust." There is a slight pause before Tevos then asks, "How did you get this scar?" She reaches forward and tentatively touches Shepard lightly on her back, where a large 12-inch long scar traces her spine; even in the room's darkness, the scarred tissue is visible. Shepard becomes very stiff at the touch, but Tevos does not shy away or pull her hand back.

"A Deathbringer," Shepard replies after a second to contemplate, "A war machine created by the FARO group." Tevos looks at the scar again and scrutinises it, the size and location of it would indicate Shepard was significantly wounded.

"Your people have had a few wars, haven't they?"

Shepard nods, more to herself than anyone else, before standing from the bed, "We are well versed in it," She then responds before opening a drawer and throwing Tevos a fresh set of clothes. "But less of me; I think we have larger problems at hand."

"We do?" Tevos asks before slipping off of the bed and moving to the shower in Shepard's attached ensuite and turning it on. As she waits for it to heat up she casually removes her underwear and then uses a hand to judge the heat of the water. After waiting a minute, Tevos sighs as she realises hot water is probably not coming and then steps in to the cold water with a small squeak. After a few moments, the shock of the cold water vanishes, and Tevos quickly begins to wash the oil and grime from her skin, using a tiny dollop of the Humans shower products to aid her.

After getting out the shower a few minutes later and drying herself off Tevos finds Shepard has put a few clothes on the bed for her. Slowly sizing the provided clothes up, the Asari is quick to realise they are too big for her, "Do you have anything smaller?" She asks before saying, "I'm only 181cm tall, not 200."

"I can give you shorts and an oversized hoody if that helps?" Shepard points to a draw as she moves towards the shower, "You will find some in there."

Tevos blinks, "It is better than an oil-soaked dress." A few moments later Shepard returns from the shower; noticeably, there was no squeak from the soldier at getting in a cold shower. "So before you showered," Tevos begins, "You were beginning to say that something is worse than this virus."

Shepard starts to answer as she pulls her hair through a towel, by now, her hair is down to her shoulders and way longer than her normal length, "We don't know if this virus has got to Thessia, the Turian homeworld or even the horns world."

"Salarians Shepard." Tevos is quick to correct, "Many would take great offence to that comment."

"The Salarians world. The point still stands; your entire network of worlds is currently at risk." Shepard goes silent for a moment before stating, "What defences do you have against viruses like this?"

Tevos clenches her fists after pulling on the shorts, "A lot, but this is evidently making little work of our firewalls." She had thought of Thessia, Palavern and Sur'Kesh, but they are secondary concerns right now.

"My people and the Geth have been working on this for a while, if you ask officially they may lend a helping hand." Shepard volunteers.

Tevos lightly clenches her fists, the offer is tempting, but, "This is a Citadel problem. We need to combat this virus organically. I am sure my Salarian and Turian counterparts have already tasked computer scientists on this, as will have my temporary stand-in."

"Are you sure?" Shepard asks as she holds her phone up, "It would take me a few minutes, a few phone calls, and I bet my people's leaders would listen to you if nothing more than out of curiosity. Maybe the big three AI already have an anti-virus that you could adapt. So I call IO, tell him the situation, make it sound like a real challenge and..."

Tevos clenches her fists with slightly more pressure than last time, "Shepard, my people, our intergalactic society is capable, although do not think we do not appreciate the offer."

"Well, the offer is there," Shepard responds casually. "On the table and ready for you to take."

"I reiterate we appreciate the offer," Tevos replies, "But we need to talk before leaving this room."

"About?"

"This," Tevos says while gesturing to herself, now fully clothed, and Shepard, "What is this?"

Shepard splutters at the direct and blunt question, "Err..."

Seeing weakness in the Human Tevos decides to get assertive, knowing it is probably the best approach for the ex-soldier turned ambassador. "Then we are a couple. Are we going to go public?" Tevos is most curious about the answer; how the Human reacts will tell her a lot.

"Hell no!" Shepard responds almost instantly and instinctively, "I've already got enough cameras and people in my face when I leave this estate; I don't need any more."

Tevos takes this answer as confirmation, the Human is now locked in with her, "I concur, I do not believe you would deal with that well." She knows Shepard is not great at showing emotion, the Human keeps a tight hold on them, so this small outburst of horror at being public is telling on its own.

"No," Shepard reaffirms.

Tevos blinks, "So, we shall keep this to us and us alone. As for the estate, I'm sure they are already well aware, but they will know to keep mute on the topic."

"They are?" Shepard asks with a raised brow. "Other than Ophelia, No one has mentioned anything to me."

Tevos clenches her fists as she moves to sit on the bed, "Because it is not their place to say anything directly to you, and if they did, they would be stepping out of line."

"Nah, I don't believe it," Shepard dismisses with a waft of her hand. "We have been for a few drinks, that is it. It isn't like we have been stating our intent."

"Ha." Tevos retorts, finding some humour in Shepard's innocence of the situation, "For having a super AI in your head, you can be a bit of a Krogan at times."

"Now that sounds politically charged," Shepard teases, "Wonder how the Krogan would take that." Then, deciding her hair is no longer soaking wet but very damp, Shepard begins to pull on some clothes; the water will evaporate with time.

"I'm not going to find out," Tevos answers confidently, "But do you think I regularly go out for drinks with a single person?"

"Not in the time I've been here, and why can't friends simply go out for drinks?"

Tevos raises a brow before stating, "We need to move, but this conversation is not over."

"Dam right, it ain't," Shepard agrees before opening the door and almost walking into a guard who is standing over the door. Turning to Tevos after nodding a greeting to the guard Shepard then says, "It would appear they know."

"I am always right about these things." Tevos muses, "And the fact I'm walking around in your clothes is only going to exacerbate the situation."

/.../

3 Hours later Tevos is meeting her opposing councillors in a small meeting room in the depths of the Turian embassy, technically, she is not yet released for duty from her illness, but she cares not. The room is furnished with numerous monitors and computer networks connecting to all four corners of the Turian empire; this room alone could probably direct a Turian war if needed, but all computers are turned off. "So," Tevos begins as she takes a seat in a tall chair, Turian chairs are not the most comfortable for Asari, "We are in a situation."

"Understatement," The Salarian councillor says, "We have nothing to combat this."

The Turian councillor sits down opposite Tevos and opens a small blue book which Tevos guesses is the famous Turian Blue Book. If the Turians are ever attacked and contact with the Primarch is terminated, this book gives the Councillor the Primarchs direction. Although its contents are classed as Secret, with only a few top-level military and government officials aware of its contents, Tevos could probably guess the Primarchs direction with a high degree of accuracy.

"This book," The Turian Councillor says while flicking through the pages, "Has a list of actions depending on the event. A sophisticated virus attack does feature. Unfortunately, it has little for the scale of what we are facing, but what I do have makes a grim read." The councillor then looks to his Salarian counterpart, "Who did this?" After asking the question, the Turian puts the book away and into a pocket close to his chest.

The Salarian representative rubs a horn, then quickly sniffs in before announcing, "Process of elimination would leave only the Geth, Quarians or Humans."

"Collectors?" Tevos asks, "Or the Terminus systems?"

"No," Valern rejects with another short sniff, "We monitor Collector activity; they have not been seen in 3 months." Tevos knows this is true; her own people also monitor the Collectors; you do not let people who collect your own people as interesting specimens go unmonitored, "Not a private endeavour either, virus too sophisticated, too expensive to develop. So no, terminus systems are not capable."

Tevos blinks, the Terminus systems are only left alone by the Council because of their ability to wage a strong insurgency, and the Turians desire to have an 'enemy' to defend against. On paper, the Terminus systems are powerful, but the reality is they are paper varren. In truth, the Asari government has tried numerous times to reclaim the Terminus, but the Turians play political games and veto any military invasion; the Terminus is excellent for their propaganda and is often used as an excuse to purchase new dreadnoughts. The only time the Turians are willing to get involved is to conduct special military operations on resource-rich regions of space near the Terminus.

"The Geth then?" Asks Sparatus, "They would have a cause."

Tevos clenches her fists, "They are helping the Humans, and this virus does not distinguish between a toaster and an AI. I further do not believe the Humans are behind this; Shepard is terrified of this virus."

"And I am terrified of our biological weapons," Sparatus rebukes, "It does not mean it is not our creation."

Tevos breaths out deeply as she considers; Sparatus has a point, this virus could easily be a Human weapon as much as a Geth creation, but then how did it get in? Shepard is the only known Human on the Citadel, which would mean she is probably the primary cause if it is a Human weapon.

"I was with Shepard when this virus attacked," Tevos then states, "She did not have her portable computers, they were turned off, and I honestly believe her fear of this virus. So Shepard would not risk her AI." Tevos then takes a moment before going on, "Talon pointing is getting us nowhere. So what are we going to do about our current situation."

It is the Salarian representative to respond, "My teams have already destroyed LR arrays to stop virus spread, we are now focussing on repairing critical systems through repair by replace."

"We do not have enough hardware for repair by replace," Tevos interjects with a clench of her fists; after a moment to then consider, she sighs before admitting, "We may get key systems working, however."

"Key systems," The Salarian replies, "All other systems are a secondary, tertiary concern. While you were stopping us from freezing, we started working towards reestablishing communication links with Sur'Kesh."

/.../

Sitting down at the table in her room, Shepard places her phone on the desk and sighs before powering it up. In theory, the virus shouldn't be able to affect it here, her device doesn't listen for electromagnetic waves which the Council primarily use. If it does get infected, she always can fall back onto the device she provided Tevos.

When her phone lights up, Shepard instantly recognises something is wrong, the screen is an array of random colours, and then the world goes black. Shepard vaguely feels her head hitting the desk, then her body falling towards the floor, but the sensations feel like they are disconnected from her body.

/.../

An unknown time later, Shepard feels consciousness returning to her, and opening her eyes, she notices her HUD is gone, and so has the AI voice in her head that usually speaks to her. If it was there, she would know how much time had passed.

She notices some vomit on the floor under her and covering her clothes, her body has reacted to something, and Shepard begins to feel the panic increase; where is her AI?

"Shepard," A voice calls; the voice is somewhat familiar. Shepard immediately looks around her and sees a blue holographic female standing in front of her, but the hologram doesn't light the world up near it, meaning, "I'm a projection into your mind," The hologram goes on to say.

Shepard is still breathing heavily but takes a second to notice the hologram's features; the AI looks familiar but unknown. After connecting the dots of who it may be, Shepard asks, "Freya?"

"In my true form," The AI responds before moving over to the bed and sitting down on it, "Not many have seen this form. Most only ever see a blue orb."

Shepard does not feel like playing games, "Where has my AI gone," She demands.

Shepard does not miss the AI's sad facial features, "Your AI was infected the moment you powered up your phone. It was compromised by IO who was monitoring you. Powering up your phone gave it direct access to your AI."

Shepard shakes her head as she looks to where her phone is positioned on the table she sat at earlier, "IO? Is he behind the Citadel?" Noticeably there is a small blood patch on the table, probably from where her nose smacked into the surface.

"Unlikely," The super AI replies, "IO, or what became of it, was determined to infect Sol, an endeavour it had great success in."

Shepard closes her eyes and breaths in deeply before opening them, looking at the hologram and asking, "What is the damage?"

"Still being calculated by other thinking systems," Freya responds, "But I am at capacity, I can not run other systems, continue eradicating the virus, and conducting research, while also calculating the damage."

"How many deaths?"

Freya takes a second as she realises Shepard is going to be wanting information straight up, "Currently, hundreds of thousands have been recorded; my simulations suspect this number will conclude in the millions, conceivably tens of millions. This does not include the upcoming famine that is likely to be induced due to all the farming equipment and crops that have been damaged."

Shepard brings a hand to her forehead as she considers. After a few long moments, she says, "People will want blood. Ultron will want blood."

"Agreed. People blame the intergalactic community as a whole. Humanity will no longer vote for the activation of the alien constructs, and the transport device will be dismantled. This attack has successfully ended any chance at positive Human-Alien relations. As for Ultron, I created him to be Earths defence, I suspect he feels personally attacked."

Shepard breathes a deep breath as she realises she is almost guaranteed to never see Earth again. After a moment to try and let that thought settle she then thinks back to her new permanent home, "Who attacked the Citadel then? Ultron?" She knows Ultron would be fuming at IO's infection and subsequent destruction.

"I have not had comms with Ultron since we agreed to quarantine," Freya tells Shepard, "But he is a war strategist; he would see little value in infecting the Citadel; you are a fantastic source of information for him."

Shepard staggers towards her bed and sits next to Freya's projection before nodding and then changing topic, asking a question she has been dreading, "Alright, what of my other half?"

The projection reaches out a hand and touches Shepard on the shoulder, and Shepard swears she could feel it, "Destroyed," Freya says, "It would have killed you if I didn't overwrite it."

Shepard begins to feel her anger rise, "If you destroyed it and reached out to me, you must have an anti-virus. Why didn't you..." Shepard can feel the anger that was building ebb away; it is a strange sensation.

"You need to listen to me, Shepard," Shepard has no doubts the super AI is using its ability to control her body's hormones to calm her, "The anti-virus is barely tested; I only knew you were infected when my tracker we implanted you with before leaving for citadel space stopped transmitting your location for a tenth of a second, then the system tracking you was compromised." Of course, Shepard doesn't know how the AI is controlling her adrenaline or cortisol, her old AI couldn't do that, but then again, her old AI wasn't the most powerful AI known.

Shepard chooses to ignore the AI's mind control for now, "So that is what the grey goo was."

"Yes," Freya says, "I know your AI failed to understand what it was." There is a small pause as the AI considers before it goes on, "For a combat AI it had a good attempt to investigate." There is another small break before the AI then says, "I'm sorry for forcing you to listen, but I need you to listen."

"Then what do I need to listen to?" Shepard replies harshly; she notices she is getting angry again.

"To me. I've overwritten your old hardware with my own code; while the system running here isn't my entire code, it lacks the power for that, or the storage space, it is enough for it to be a conduit to myself. So, we are now intricately paired."

"And I didn't get a choice? You couldn't have just overwritten the old code and left me to my own vices?"

"Would you have wanted that?" The AI asks, "And could you accept that? I've monitored you enough to know that you are highly reliant on your AI; you can't even walk without it due to your injuries, so I fear you would go into a downwards spiral without something in its place, and I didn't have the time for you to awaken, or prepare a suitable replacement outside myself; the virus would have killed you."

Shepard can't help but nod, it is unquestionably true she has more conversations with her AI in her own head than she can count, and she also nods to the idea that she would be helpless without an AI. She has too many prosthetics and artificial components to live without an overarching AI keeping everything in working order.

"I can do all your old AI did and more," Freya then says, trying to convince Shepard, "If you accept, we can find out what together."

"Are you connected to any others?" Shepard asks. "Will this link be mutual? No secrets."

"No, I am only connected to you, and if you are letting me in, I will let you in."

Shepard shakes her head as she considers the situation; it is not like she has many choices, "Fine, but no controlling my emotions like that again, and no other Humans . If you do, this agreement is over." Unfortunately, however, Shepard doesn't know what she can do if Freya refuses, the AI is in her body, and she has no way to get it out; not even a powerful EMP would kill the nano-bots.

The AI reaches its hand out, inviting a handshake, and waits expectedly, so Shepard reaches out and feels its hand in her own; again, the sensation is odd. When they shake, Freya simply says, "Deal. Now, time to wake you up; Ophelia is about to panic."

Before Shepard can say, "What?" She feels her eyes open and pushes herself to her knees, she notices she is still in her bedroom and covered in sick; Ophelia is kneeling by her side and looking somewhat worried. "You alright?" She wants to ask, but she doesn't know how to ask it; the Galactic required is lost to her. Upon studying Ophelia's face she also notices the Asari is talking, but she can't hear anything.

"Sorry, making connections," She hears a young voice whisper to her.

After shaking her head a little, Shepard slowly starts to hear Ophelia, her voice varies in loudness until Freya settles on a suitable volume. Ophelia is speaking slowly, asking if she is okay.

Realising Freya must now have made the required connections for translating, Shepard tries to respond and is pleasantly surprised to see she can speak Galactic again, "I'm fine." Shepard gets out before pushing herself onto her feet and feeling a wave of nausea overcome her. Deciding to simply fight through the sensation, Shepard then asks, "How's yourself?" It almost feels like her head is in a fishbowl due to her many senses feeling numbed.

"Never mind me," The Asari dismisses with concern written on her face, "You didn't come for food, and I find you like this; even now, you're visibly unstable on your feet."

"She is right. You are wavering." Freya helpfully supplies. "I'll need a few hours to complete my installation and diagnosis of your hardware. Initial impressions suggest you have a lot of maintenance required." Shepard nods; Freya is about to discover how harsh a few hundred years in a slightly alkaline human body and a few nasty bullet wounds is to technology. "You also appear to have numerous medical issues that are not in your medical record. You are not medically fit for deployments."

Again Shepard nods, she has more than a fair few medical issues that her AI used to hide, primarily skeletal or muscular pains it numbed so that she could act without hindrance.

After a few moments of not getting a response from Shepard, Ophelia frowns, the Human looks unwell and is acting a little confused and a little unsure of herself. Ophelia knows Shepard will not willingly visit the doctor, so she decides to get tactical, "Shepard, you are obviously out of fettle. Go to bed and get some sleep."

Shepard doesn't argue; she honestly does feel like death warmed up. After nodding, she stumbles to her bed; noticeably, Ophelia follows close behind her with an outstretched arm in case she falls, "Yeah, I can do that." Shepard huffs. Hopefully, by the time she reawakens, Freya has worked out all her systems and is firing on all cylinders. Before getting into bed, Shepard throws her clothes that are covered in sick into a corner of the room, not really caring where they land.

/.../

The time is 1318

Shepard sits up and looks around, her room has been tidied up and the sick removed; how she slept through the cleaning she does not know, she is usually a light sleeper, so it wouldn't surprise her if Freya kept her under till she had run her diagnostics. Freya quickly informs that her audio sensors were turned off during diagnostics, so Shepard simply didn't stir as she didn't hear anything.

Not wanting to laze around any more than she already has, Shepard quickly jumps into a shower and then pulls some clothes on. Then, being acutely aware that she hasn't eaten in a long while, she turns to make her way to the estate's kitchen, but the feeling of an empty pocket stops her. Turning on her heel, she looks to her desk where her phone is still located. "It's been cleaned."

With Freya's promise that the virus has been eradicated from the phone, Shepard picks it up and puts it in her pocket; she trusts the AI enough to not need to test the device.

Arriving in the kitchen, a chef directs her to a fridge with some food put aside for her. Taking the food, a collection of cold meats fit for a Hanar, Shepard then moves to find somewhere to eat it. Just as she sits down at a table in the estate's mess with the Asari equivalent of a knife and fork, a set of utensils she is now a natural at using, a somewhat familiar and unhappy-looking Asari pulls a chair up opposite her. "Doctor." Shepard greets without sounding too enthusiastic; she has been expecting the probing doctor.

The doctor takes a deep breath, then crosses her arms before leaning back in her chair, "So, one minute you are completely out of it, and now you look none the worse."

"Yup," Shepard replies between bites; she has learned from Earth doctors to never give away information, always give what they ask, and no more.

The doctor does not look impressed, she is responsible for making sure that the Human stays in good health, yet said Human hates to cooperate with her.

"I can drag a Krogan to a negotiating table," The doctor starts to speak, "But I can't make it speak." The doctor then stands from the table, "So I need to find someone who can make you speak." With nothing more to say, the doctor leaves with a face of thunder.

Thirteen hours later

Seeing Tevos approach, Shepard lowers herself from a pull-up bar and drops onto the floor; the pull-up bar has been modified specially to fit her larger stature over the Asari in the estate. "You look tired," Shepard then casually mentions as she reaches down and picks up a bottle of water.

"Then I look how I feel," Tevos responds, "But less of me. I have heard you were ill this morning?"

Shepard mentally debates if she should tell Tevos the truth and wonders if she will be too revealing, exposing her secrets, but she realises she needs to tell the truth on this matter. "Sol is infected with the virus. I went to call IO, and I got infected." Shepard can see the concern grow on Tevos's face.

"Are you..."

"Mostly fine," Shepard responds after a moment to consider if that is true, "Mostly. My other half is pushing the daisies, and Freya is now making herself at home."

Shepard then moves to an angled leg press machine and quickly begins to set it up, meanwhile, Tevos follows her around, "Your other half is... I see. How are you..."

"Fine." Shepard cuts her off, "I'm fine. How are you dealing with this virus." It is a classic redirect and Tevos notices it.

After studying the Human for a moment, Tevos can see the pure fury behind Shepard's eyes, and she doesn't for a second believe the Human, she is anything but fine, but she also knows not to push this topic right now. "The virus is..." Tevos begins, "Proving difficult; we are having little success."

Shepard looks distracted for a split second, then she says, "That's because it isn't a virus but a complex AI. Partially why it's able to quickly adapt from Geth to Citadel systems, and now apparently my AI too."

"Is that Freya speaking?" Tevos correctly guesses.

Shepard nods and pulls her phone out of her pocket, the screen displays a blue orb that could be a representation of Earth. "Correct," Freya then says while Shepard continues to press weights, "This so-called virus is a complex AI that is capable of learning. Whilst it can not think through complex scenarios like me, its self-defence mechanisms and evolutionary protocols are incredibly evolved, beyond the capability of any Human or Geth creation; I would also wager it is beyond yourselves."

"So, who created it?" Asks Tevos.

"I do not know, but this weapon was clearly targeted at the Geth and my brethren. Therefore, you are collateral damage."

"What makes you speculate this?"

Freya quickly responds, "This weapon is designed for AI, not simple computer systems. You do not use high-yield weaponry to kill a fly."

Tevos crosses her arms and leans up against a wall as she considers. After a moment to think it through, she asks, "So, who released this theoretical weapon?"

Freya is quiet for a split second before responding, "We do not know for certain, nor do I believe we will confirm it without further evidence, but I speculate it is the same ship which attacked the first contact fleet. It was a technologically capable vessel that has shown hostile intent towards us."

Tevos shows little emotion, "I can not act on suspicion. What do you intend on doing about this?"

"I am a scientist." Freya replies bluntly, "I have little understanding or input to higher military command." This is a partial truth, if Freya speaks, they listen; however, she does not hold rank and cannot make a military decision. "If I were to speculate, a fact-finding mission will be deployed in the next decade or so."

Tevos frowns for a few moments before then asking, "Do you have a defence against this AI?"

"I do," The AI replies, "But it has caveats; it is not a smoking gun."

Tevos and Shepard share a look before Tevos steps slightly closer to the phone, "We need any guidance right now."

"If I give it to you," Freya begins, "And you misuse it, all of my work on this will have been for nought. When I have eradicated this parasite in Sol, I will send a data package to Shepard's phone you currently have in your possession."

"That is locked away in my safe room." Tevos voices.

"That sounds like a you problem." The AI replies.

Tevos breathes out deeply before then asking, "How long till Sol is safe?"

"36 Hours." Freya voices, "I have already cleaned most systems."

Tevos was not expecting such a quick turnaround time, "Then I look forward to your data package."

"Yes, now goodbye." The AI says, and its blue orb vanishes from the phone's screen, effectively telling Tevos that the conversation is over.

Looking back to Shepard, Tevos was about to speak but the soldier beat her to it, "I understand if this cancels our agreement from earlier."

Tevos clenches her hands before saying, "We will work through this unexpected change, now I'm running on the fait scents of eezo, so I'm going to retire."

After a brief good night, Shepard returns to pushing weights, only for Freya's holographic body to appear in front of her, "So," The AI begins, "Between that comment, your pupils, and dopamine levels, one could make conclusions."

"It is what it is," Shepard returns as she pushes a weight up with her right leg.

/.../

The next morning Tevos is towelling herself down after a shower when Shepard's phone rings twice and then seemingly answers itself; the Human has left it on her bedside table, screen facing upwards. Turning to look at the phone Tevos frowns as she witnesses Freya's blue orb pulsating on the main display, "Freya?" She asks.

"Yes," The AI returns, "We need to speak privately." Tevos looks towards the shower room in Shepard's ensuite. "She is enjoying the hot shower and this conversation will not take long," Freya then says, anticipating what Tevos was about to ask. Fortunately for Tevos, It had not taken long for someone to figure out how to set the water boiler to manual settings, meaning the estate is now supplied with constant hot water at the cost of extreme energy inefficiency.

"Then I'm listening," Tevos responds with caution in her voice.

"Good," The AI says, "I'm sure you are aware of the link I now share with Shepard, and I am now aware of your own link with the Commander."

"I'm conscious of your connection," Tevos answers simply.

"Then you must be aware of the problem this presents us. I am tied into many Human secrets and you many Citadel secrets." The AI awaits Tevos to show any means of understanding.

"Yes," Tevos responds while putting the towel down, her attention entirely shifted onto the AI, "It has crossed my mind."

"Good, then I propose we operate under a don't ask, don't tell model."

Tevos considers for a moment before clenching her fists, "What is your ulterior motive with Shepard?" In truth, Tevos knows Shepard knows Human secrets, and the two had been operating under this model of don't ask don't tell since Shepard embarked on her journey to the Citadel. The agreement has never been spoken, but neither have really asked each other pushing questions, and in the rare time they have, the topic was never pushed after the first refusal to answer.

The AI is quick to respond, "My purpose is research; Shepard has presented me with an opportunity to study an entire new galactic community from within. I am impatient to wait for others to give me a similar opportunity. Humanity is certain to dismantle the Relay, delaying my research further than necessary."

"I thought your primary research is technology," Tevos states as much as she asks.

"It is my largest visible output," Freya replies, "But I study many fields, of which xenology is now one of. Are we agreed on the deal?" Tevos stares at the phone for a few long hard seconds before blinking at the device. "Good, then we will have many more conversations in the coming years."

/.../

Meanwhile, deep underground in Sol.

The President leans forward as the Chief of Staff of the Navy begins to speak, "It will be a logistical nightmare, and we will need a crew and ship up for the task." The Chief of Staff, CoS, gives it a few seconds before going on, "But it can be done."

"How long?" The President asks.

"For a crew to be ready?" The CoS breathes in a few times, "A year or so. The ship? It will need to be the best, capable of sustaining itself entirely, waging war, and moving unseen; Freya has most of the tech, but it's mostly experimental, meaning hard to produce. We will further need to perfect the Von Neuman Probes, which are currently experimental, so another delay there, and FTL? Freya is working on it but progress is slow. We are looking at 20 years before an operational deployment will be ready."

"20 years." The President repeats slowly and then he blows out a deep breath, "With inevitable delays and Murphy, that will be 25 years. People will want justice before then, but we can't fail. Do it."

"The wheels are already turning," The CoS replies.