The air was tense; thanks to the mass effect field, the high winds didn't blow them off the platform. The coordinates that EDI put in Kacey's hardsuit computer showed that they were nearly there. Kacey kept her rifle up as she cautiously moved into the area, keeping an eye out for their mystery sniper. With no enemy in sight, Kacey gestured for Garrus and Tali to move forward. Kacey moved forward, unaware of the husks coming up behind until they shot dead behind her. Kacey turned, rifle raised, and found a lone geth on a platform above them.
"Shepard-Commander." It said before leaving.
"The sniper was a geth? Pretty sure geth don't speak." Garrus said.
"It shouldn't be able to talk." Tali mused, "A single geth has no more intelligence than a varren."
The groans of husks and abominations interrupted their conversation. The swarm of husks made their way towards the trio. Kacey and Garrus fired concussive shots before opening fire on the horde. Kacey ran backwards as she shot each husk with a well placed headshot, being mindful of her ammo count. She kicked away the husks while reloading her rifle, trying to avoid getting swarmed by husks.
Becoming more frustrated at the endless horde of husks, Kacey switched over to her shotgun, blasting the husks clean in half with each shot. Adding inferno ammo caused each and every husk to catch fire and cause it to spread. Tali's combat drone did help keep some of the husks occupied while Garrus and Kacey fired more bullets and concussive shots to cause the husks to disperse and kill them.
Even when scions showed up, Kacey whipped out the Collector Beam and disintegrated the Reaper monsters. Kacey never thought she would have to deal with something more aggravating than husks, but the scion proved her wrong. She skirted around cover, avoiding its blasts and firing back as much as she could. Once she finally destroyed the scion, she led Garrus and Tali through the door at the end before any more husks appeared.
Behind the door was a small hall, with a short, black device sitting on a nearby terminal. Kacey picked up the device as Tali came over, taking a look at the small device.
"This must be the IFF." Tali said.
"Looks like the science team was successful." Garrus replied, "Still haven't found the science team though."
…
"How many people were on that fucking science team?!" Kacey shouted as she fired another concussive shot into the endless horde.
They had entered the room, only to find the lone geth doing something by the terminal, and letting them in, only to get knocked out by the husks. Thus, led to the fight with a horde of husks. Kacey found herself running low on thermal clips as she tried to fight the husks while simultaneously trying to destroy the Reaper's mass effect core. Easier said than done; the husks were relentless and it was clear that all three of them were struggling.
It got to the point that Kacey started kicking and punching them, using hit and run tactics before unloading her remaining bullets into the core, praying that it would finally be destroyed. Even Garrus began to unload into it in an attempt to shut it down.
Kacey kicked a husk back off the platform and used the last of her bullets to destroy the core, causing it to explode.
"Wait. What do we do with the geth?" Garrus asked.
"Leave it there!" Shouted Tali, "You know what they are! If it gets into Normandy's computers…"
"You said it yourself, no one's ever found one intact." Kacey replied.
"That's true, but…I'm not sure it's worth the risk, Kacey."
"There's no time to debate it, Tali. Come on!" Kacey replied, "Grab it and let's bail!"
…
Kacey didn't get much chance to relax once she returned to the Normandy; Miranda and Jacob were already in the Briefing Room, arguing over the geth that Kacey had thrown through the airlock. Tali and Garrus were already going through the psych eval with Chambers while Kacey stood in the Briefing Room, bored as hell, barely listening to Miranda and Jacob argue.
"I think we need to discuss the unique piece of salvage we recovered." Miranda said, "For now, we've stored it in EDI's AI core. We need better equipment to fight the Reapers. An intact geth would be invaluable to Cerberus' cyberweapons division."
"We'll have to disagree on that, ma'am." Jacob countered, "I saw enough of these things on Eden Prime. Space it."
"Cerberus has a long-standing cash bounty for an intact geth." Miranda continued, dismissing Jacob's statement, "I assure you, the reward is significant."
"I've killed hundreds of these things, but I've never had a chance to talk to one." Kacey mused, "This one tried to communicate with us. Hell, it probably saved our lives. Why?"
"Reactivating the geth is a risk." Miranda said with a disapproving look, "If you do so, it should be for humanity's best interests and not your curiosity."
"I still think 'our best interests' involve an airlock." Jacob scoffed.
"I'm not deciding one way or the other until I know what we've got here." Kacey said firmly, "I want to start it up, interrogate it."
"If we activate it, there is no guarantee we can deactivate it again." Miranda argued.
"Bullets can." Jacob replied.
"That's not what I—"
"Thank you—both of you—for your recommendations." Kacey replied, "I've made my decision."
"Tali's going to freak when she hears about this." Jacob mused, "So, what about this Reaper IFF?"
EDI's holographic interface appeared, "I have determined how to integrate it with our systems. However, the device is Reaper technology. Linking it with the Normandy's systems poses certain risks."
"I trust you, EDI." Kacey replied, "I trust you won't let anything happen to the ship."
"Understood, Shepard. It may take several hours before the IFF is ready for shakedown. I will alert you as soon as it is ready."
"Sounds good. Until then it's business as usual." Kacey said, "Crew dismissed."
…
"How long is this going to take?" Kacey complained as she paced back and forward in the Med-Bay.
"Pacing isn't going to make it go any faster." Garrus mused, "You did suggest this in the first place."
"Yeah, but I didn't think it would take this long." Kacey replied.
"I still can't believe you're going to activate that geth." Tali said.
"I'll be careful."
"That's not what I'm worried about." Tali replied.
"Look, I get why you're worried, But I think it's worth at least finding out why it helped us." Kacey explained, "And why it spoke to us. Is that not worth finding out?"
Tali sighed, "I guess…"
Suddenly the door opened and Chambers walked in, holding her datapad. She looked relaxed and relieved as she addressed the trio, "So, I've got your results; all three of you are clear."
"That's good to hear." Kacey replied.
"And reassuring." Garrus mused.
Kacey was relieved by the news and quickly excused herself from the conversation and headed to the AI core, where the deactivated geth laid still at the back. Kacey prepared to activate the geth as a barrier appeared between her and the geth.
"I have isolated our systems and erected additional firewalls." EDI said, "I am prepared to resist any hacking attempt."
"Okay. I'm activating it now." Kacey replied.
Kacey used her Omni-tool to turn the geth back on; she had to admit that her curiosity was getting the better of her. But she had too many questions that she couldn't let go of about what it was doing on the derelict Reaper. Once on, the geth carefully stood up, looking directly at Kacey, silent and unmoving. After a few minutes of silence, Kacey addressed the synthetic.
"Can you understand me?" Kacey asked.
"Yes." The geth said.
"Are you going to attack me?"
"No."
"You said my name on the Reaper. Have we met?" Kacey asked.
"We know of you." It replied.
Kacey crossed her arms, "You mean I've fought a lot of geth."
"We have never met."
"No, you and I haven't." Kacey continued, "But I've met other geth."
"We are all geth, and we have not met you." The geth replied, "You are Shepard. Commander. Alliance. Human. Fought heretics. Killed by Collectors. Rediscovered on Old Machine."
"I fought whom?"
"Geth build our own future. The heretics asked the Old Machines to give them." The geth said, "They are no longer part of us. We were studying the Old Machine's hardware to protect our future."
"So you aren't allied with the Reapers?" Kacey asked.
"We oppose the heretics. We oppose the Old Machines." The geth explained, "Shepard-Commander opposes the Old Machines. Shepard-Commander opposes the heretics. Cooperation furthers mutual goals."
"Are you asking to join us?"
"Yes."
"Okay." Kacey said, deactivating the barrier, "Then what should I call you?"
"Geth."
"I mean you. Specifically."
"We are all geth."
Kacey sighed, "What is the individual in front of me called?"
"There is no individual. We are geth. There are currently 1183 programs active within this platform."
"My name is Legion, for we are many." EDI chimed.
"That works." Kacey mused.
"Christian Bible, the Gospel of Mark, chapter five, verse nine." The geth mused, "We acknowledge this as an appropriate metaphor. We are Legion, a terminal of the geth. We will integrate into Normandy. Alert: Shepard-Commander, we have completed our analysis of the Reaper's data core."
"You have?" Kacey said shocked that Legion had already processed the data, "Did you find anything useful?"
"We were sent to the Old Machine to preserve the geth's future." Legion explained, "We are prepared to reveal how. The heretics have developed a weapon to use against geth. You would call it a 'virus'. It is stored on a data core provided by Sovereign. Over time, the virus will change us. Make us conclude that worshipping the Old Machines is correct."
"So, the virus would give all geth the heretic's logic." Kacey mused, "And all geth would then go to war with organics."
"Yes. Geth believe all intelligent life should be self-determinate. The heretics no longer share this belief. They judge that forcing an invalid conclusion on us is preferable to a continued schism."
"Do you know where this thing is?"
"The heretics' station, on the edge of the Terminus." Legion explained, "We will provide coordinates. Normandy's stealth systems are necessary to safely approach."
"We'll stop them, Legion. I won't let them brainwash your race, especially not to worship Reapers. You have my word on that." Kacey promised.
"We will begin preparations." Legion mused as Kacey left the AI Core.