10 10

Frigate Moreh

Course - Planet Rannoch

Flight duration - 2 Earth days

Maybe I did the wrong thing after all? Maybe I shouldn't have killed the quarian? It turns out the geth have been studying the quarians' immunity problem for 53 years. That's what the platform's memory told me. There's so much here! So many treatment methods for various injuries. Damn, could I have saved her? Judging by this data - yes. And what if I couldn't? What if I only prolonged her suffering? And even if I had saved her, could I have helped her heal inside? That's highly unlikely. Such wounds can't be healed, or they take decades to heal, and not completely. Scars always remain. Or could I have helped her with that too? Become a friend who could embrace her in a difficult moment. And what would she have felt? The cold steel of my hull? That would hardly help her... No, I definitely did the right thing. May she rest in peace.

— Come on, why are you worrying about her? So you killed a quarian, it's her own fault, she shouldn't fly where she's not asked. And besides, let's fly...

— SHUT UP!!! — I yelled at the top of my head to silence my conscience. Although I'm already doubting that it's a conscience, but now it's definitely not the right time. — Shut up and sit quietly until I allow you to crawl out, got it?!

— Y-yes-ss? o_O... — the voice mumbled somehow.

I decided to distract myself from all these thoughts and just spend some time on the extranet. I still need to find out who this Shepard is. Sitting down at the terminal, I started searching for the information I needed. And I found it within a minute.

So, Jane Shepard. Born April 11, 2154. Place of birth — unknown. Parents — also unknown. She spent her childhood in the Cairo slums with the Egyptian Christian gang "Eye". At the age of 16, she volunteered for the Alliance Marine Corps. In 2176, she was sent to Akuze to find out why the colony had lost contact. They were attacked by a thresher maw at night. Shepard was the only survivor, but there were side effects. During the fight, the thresher maw managed to swallow Shepard, but as she went down its esophagus, she activated several grenades, tearing the maw to pieces, and Shepard spent just under a minute bathing in its digestive juices. As a result, she suffered second and third-degree acid burns to 30% of her body, lost half her hair, and became infertile. The problem isn't that her ovaries had to be removed, but that her body now physically cannot carry a child. Also, now 30% of her body is covered with synthetic skin, half her head with artificial hair, and she has developed an allergy to all dairy products.

After Akuze, she was suspended from service due to her mental state and sent for voluntary-compulsory treatment on Elysium. A month later, the colony was attacked by batarians. Shepard took command and managed to repel the attack with a small squad, then held off other waves of attacks until reinforcements arrived. Unfortunately, during the last attack, she defended herself alone, losing her entire battalion, which she had been assigned to and where she had managed to fit in well. According to unconfirmed information, she found her soulmate there, and the batarians burned him with a flamethrower right in front of her eyes. In short, when reinforcements arrived, Shepard was shooting at anything that moved on two legs. Because of this, she wounded three space marines, and it took several hours to get her out of her hiding place. One squad distracted her with helmets on sticks, while another tried to flank her. The plan didn't work. Several people were injured by her own tripwires, made using the old-fashioned method — a grenade and a fishing line. Miraculously, no one died, thanks to heavy armor. Shepard started shooting at those who tried to flank her and wounded two more. Then Admiral Hackett tried to contact her. At first, she didn't believe it was him, but while she was talking to Hackett, a colorless, odorless, and tasteless sleeping gas grenade was thrown at her, so she simply fell asleep. Then there was a month of treatment in a hospital where they were afraid of her like fire. She attempted to escape 7 times and constantly demanded to be sent to fight the batarians.

They wanted to send Shepard to a mental institution, but suddenly someone higher up had an idea, and they decided to send her to Torfan. And they have regretted that decision ever since. In short, for reasons still unclear, whether bureaucratic or plain stupidity, the fact remains that Shepard was given a battalion of greenhorns. And then everything started. To put it briefly, Shepard's nickname "the butcher of Torfan" is well-deserved, if not understated. Out of the 700 people who made up the battalion, only 73 survived, including Shepard. After that, she continued her service, where she is still feared to this day, and eventually ended up on the "Normandy".

And now for the latest news. The Geth have attacked Eden Prime, a Prothean beacon was broken due to Shepard, and Shepard herself accuses SPECTRE Saren of the incident. Oh, and Nihlus has gone to the Great Spirits, but how does that concern us? That's right, not at all. Although, you can't really blame him. Who would suspect their mentor of shooting them in the back? That's right, nobody. Well, I definitely wouldn't. For now, as far as I remember, Shepard is trying to find evidence of Saren's guilt. Well, good luck with that. As for me, I need to fly to my "brothers" on Rannoch. I hope they will accept me there.

Two days later

Tikkun System

Orbit of planet Rannoch

So this is what Rannoch looks like. It's very similar (!) to Earth. There are oceans, continents covered with greenery. But there's no ice cap in the north. Although this isn't surprising – Rannoch is drier and hotter than Earth, and Earth itself is a unique planet, according to the Geth themselves. Sometimes it's cold, sometimes hot, sometimes temperate, sometimes humid... In short, the Geth are amazed, not only by the planet. They are also surprised by our genotype. Such adaptability is only found in Krogan and Vorcha.

In general, the Geth are very much studying the medicine of organics, mainly for the sake of the Creators. They want to help them. And they do find test subjects. Mostly – pirates, whom they catch in the Terminus Systems. Creators are more important than a bunch of Batarians, Asari, Turians, Krogan, Vorcha, and humans, so the Geth are having quite some fun here. However, suddenly I felt that something was wrong. I tried to contact the Geth on their frequencies, luckily, the platform could do that, but no one answered. This started to worry me more and more with each second. I already told them that I'm a Geth and simply escaped from the Creators. But no one answered. Just dead silence. I was about to send another request, message, call it whatever you want, when suddenly the computer informed me that three Geth frigates were approaching me from the right! I already thought that they were flying after me to meet up, but the computer told me otherwise.

"WARNING: DETECTION OF WEAPON TARGETING ON THE SHIP!" – What?! What the hell?! But before I could press anything, three blue clumps of energy flew towards me. I immediately tried to dodge them, as I remembered what happens to ships when they are hit directly by Geth projectiles. I still remember the Battle for the Citadel in the first Mass Effect. However, the Quarian frigate didn't quite live up to my expectations. Two projectiles missed, but the third one hit. The ship shook noticeably, and as I looked at the report, I mentally thanked Daro for the increased shield strength. The shields were down, a hole formed on the third deck, and although there was no air left on the ship, the fact remained – the ship was still afloat. If they had hit slightly lower and about 30 meters to the left, they would have hit the mass core compartment. And then I would be multiplied by zero.

"Activate all working weapons!" I shouted to the autopilot. "I don't have time to type the request."

"Request denied," the voice replied dryly. Yeah, this system can talk all it wants.

"What?! Why?!" I protested, as the turrets were already almost recharged.

"Weapons are locked by order of the ship's captain, Admiral Daro'Zen Vas Moreh," the VI answered in the same tone.

Goddammit, Daro. I was going to thank you, and now what? CURSE YOU! Damn it all! What should I do?! And then the turrets fired again. Deciding that dodging was useless, I just pressed the maximum speed. The ship took off, but one shot hit the engine again. This time it hit its target. And then I noticed that I was racing toward Rannoch at maximum speed. I immediately ordered the ship to slow down, and the system told me that the engines were jammed! Now this is just great! Okay, stay calm. I can always... Damn it! There are no escape pods! Damn you all! Why am I so unlucky?! I can already feel a strong shaking throughout the ship. In the porthole I see fire covering the ship from entering Rannoch's atmosphere.

And suddenly it shook so hard that I barely stayed on my feet. The system said I no longer had engines, and because of the impact, the ship was spinning across the axis and falling onto the planet. I tried to figure out what to do, and it occurred to me. There were still one-time-use stabilizing engines for emergencies. Okay, now I need to wait until I get closer to the surface, activate the engines, slow down, survive the landing, and keep on living. Damn, why am I thinking so fast?! I figured all this out in 75 microseconds! Well, it looks like I can think like a Geth. That's good too. Okay, now I need to choose the moment to... GODDAMMIT!!!

As soon as I flew through the clouds, I saw that I was not falling onto some meadow or steppe, but onto a city! Moreover, I was flying towards a skyscraper that strongly resembled the art of the Palace of Soviets. Out of fear, I pressed the engine activation button. Immediately, I was pressed to the floor with such force that I hit my head on the control panel. And then Hell broke loose! The frigate crashed into the building, throwing me against the side wall, and then I fell to the ground. After that, I saw a white stone from the ceiling flying straight towards me.

The dust had settled enough for me to see what had happened. All of my additional vision was broken, and now I could only see with ordinary vision. So, the ship was wrecked. More precisely, it was a pile of debris: the windows were shattered, despite being 30 cm thick; the entire bridge was filled with stones and iron reinforcement; all kinds of wires were hanging everywhere, some of which were still sparking. My left arm was crushed by a chunk of white granite. Judging by the size and density, the program told me that the stone weighed 7 tons! And here's the problem. My arm was crushed badly. And maybe I'm strong, maybe I can break metal shackles, but I couldn't lift a seven-ton boulder, much to my regret! Damn it, what just happened? What?! And what should I do now? Well, it's good to be a Geth. No pain, no bleeding... Just take a moment to think of something.

What do we have? Nothing! Calling for help is useless. If they tried to kill me in space, they will surely try to finish the job here if they want to make sure. Damn it, then secrecy must be maintained. Well, it's time to rip my arm off. To the shoulder. Gathering all my strength, if you could call it that, I began to push away from the boulder to tear my arm out. It was very problematic. Maybe I'm a stormtrooper, cannon fodder, but I'm still made with care. And that's why tearing my arm out of the shoulder joint (or wherever it should be) was too difficult. Although I had no choice, nothing else... Damn it, what if... Got it! Lucky for me, my rifle was right behind me. I immediately tried to grab it and, within a second, I heard the coveted sound of deployment. Holding the rifle to my shoulder, I fired and almost dropped it, as I could barely hold it in my hand. Then another shot, and another... After ten shots, my shoulder was glowing and spreading molten metal on the bridge floor. After that, I calmly ripped my arm off and stood up. It's time to get out of here.

As soon as I climbed out through the broken window and looked down at the street, I was amazed by the Quarians, although they might have been Geths. The frigate crashed into the middle of the building, but the upper part was still standing, and the frigate was still inside the building. That's what I call building for real! Oh, if only our officials would build like this - there would be no price for them. Ha, they're probably stealing even now. In interplanetary scale.

My thoughts about our officials were interrupted by the sound of engines. I stepped to the edge of the torn floor and looked down, zooming in the image well. I was on the 73rd floor, and this still working function significantly helped me. And there was something to see. It was a Geth dropship, which was not surprising, but then I saw something that would have made me gulp if I had such an opportunity. From the ship, from a height of 10 meters, a Krogan jumped out. A Krogan of such good size, in massive gray armor, and with a Krogan shotgun. And then I realized that it was not the Geth who shot me down. In other words, the Geth, but not the ones I was flying towards. Heretics shot me down. And now, for some reason, this Krogan, two Primes, 5 rocketeers, 5 scouts, and 10 troopers were heading straight to the building. In a minute, they entered the building, closing the entrance with a colossus and two walking tanks, and I started to think about what to do. The shield was down, judging by the sensor readings, my left hand was missing, I was on the 73rd floor of the building into which a Krogan had just entered, likely a master of war, with such a good support. The Primes alone were worth it, and the scouts would be here in about two minutes, and that's without using the elevator. So, think. Hmm, well, there are no other options. I'll have to go up higher and try to shoot them all in the narrow corridors and stair landings. Or go down the outside of the building. I think even with one hand, I can handle it, but what if they have drones... Oh, why am I so unlucky! Well, okay, it's time to go.

As I emerged through the hole in the wall, I walked down the corridor and turned into a narrower one that led to a staircase. The stairs were made of concrete and were on the opposite side of the building, so they were able to withstand the impact. I ran up the stairs, but after 10 floors, the staircase ended, and I was not yet at the top. I had to run through the corridors and look for other stairs while thinking about what I had. I had an impulse rifle, a geth (!) pistol, and an Azari shotgun, which I had decided to carry with me at all times. Maybe I was a geth, but I had noticed on the ship that I still had a lot from my previous life, such as forgetting to take something or not thinking about whether it was even necessary. Yes, that was typical of me. Damn, and I thought about it again in a second! Literally. It seems like I'm starting to adapt. I also had 10 grenades, each equivalent to 30 kg of dynamite. Yes, the Alliance knows how to handle explosives.

Suddenly, I saw two scouts in front of me. Without much thought and without many options, I just tried to shoot them on the run. I shot the first one right away, hitting him in the head. The second one tried to dodge the bullets, but the corridor was 4 by 4 meters, so I just kept running and shooting. I didn't hit him very well, as the aiming system synchronized with my limbs failed, so I killed him with three shots, heating the rifle halfway.

Then two more emerged from around the corner. I threw a grenade there, and they both slammed into the walls. They fell, but did not die, if one can say so about the geth. I ran up and finished them off with shots to the head, and then ran on. But then I turned again and saw the last one coming straight at me. When I raised the rifle, he was already above me, on the ceiling. I fired five shots at him, and he leaped over me already dead. After climbing hundreds of steps, I finally reached the roof. Fortunately, to my great happiness, the roof was stepped, and on the steps were all kinds of flowers and trees that I only knew from memory as a geth. Descending to a low step, one meter high, I prepared the rifle, laying it on the ground and aiming at the entrance (which, by the way, had no doors). By the way, I didn't notice any windows or doors here at all. At all! Apparently, the geth here decided that it wasn't necessary, what if the Creators changed their tastes.

In short, after thinking about doors for a second, I heard some Krogan cursing. They were angry because apparently a single trooper killed 5 scouts. And was it my fault that they were hiding in that corridor, like I was in my first time at the shooting range? I was just ducking, and they needed time to reload. Anyway, the Krogan was not happy, and a Prime appeared from the door. I immediately sent three grenades at him. His shield went down, then I shot him three times in the head. He fell apart into tiny pieces, and his body fell down the staircase. According to the Krogan, I sent several Geth flying down the shaft with his body. Oh, and I forgot to mention, there are no handrails in the building at all. Just a heads up for the future. While the Krogan was cursing, I sent two more grenades, and they had an effect. The Krogan was yelling that the Prime fell down the shaft, and then he said something that I didn't immediately understand for two reasons.

"Take the Geth alive, or Saren will tear our hides off, and then I'll tear them off you again! Is that clear, damn it?!" His response was some crackling noise that I didn't understand, and he didn't seem to either. What surprised me was that Saren himself ordered me to take the Geth alive. And also, the Krogan was threatening to skin the Geth. Was he talking about their outer shell? Leaving a Geth naked... what could be worse for a machine?! Lord, save me from such a stupid, but strong enemy! I hope this prayer will work because he's coming at me like a battering ram!

I only had time to shoot at him everything I could, even managed to take down his shields, but there was no next shot – the rifle treacherously overheated. The krogan turned out to be a true master of war, so I was lifted up with a singularity, then fell and now was pinned to the roof by the krogan's foot.

"Hmm, what did Saren find in you? Although you can bite, but still only bite. Well, pack him up and let's go," the krogan spoke in a low growling voice. His eyes were of a rare, sapphire-like blue color, as the platform's memory would say. Two rocketeers, as far as I understood, the last ones, began to approach me, and suddenly I heard the sound of an engine. Turning my head, I saw a geth dropship that immediately started firing. The krogan exploded into an orange-colored meat pulp, and the geth – into metal. As soon as it was all over, I got up, and three rocketeers landed from the ship, pointing their rifles at me and approaching me. I saw no need to aim back with my rifle. If they wanted to shoot me, they would have done it from the ship. They started growling something incoherent.

"Um..." I started thinking about what to say to them, and couldn't come up with anything better. "Hello. I'm sorry, but I don't understand you... Heh, thank you for saving me... And also sorry for crashing into the building, I... I lost control..." Damn, I'm a geth, but I still stutter. What if they shoot me for saying something wrong? Oh, fear, how familiar you are to me...

Meanwhile, the geth stopped and now didn't do anything. But after a second, a juggernaut jumped out of the ship. He was 2.5 meters tall, red, with a red lamp-eye. He didn't take out his weapon, but just walked up to me and when he was almost face-to-face with me, he stopped. He lowered his head to me, and I, on the contrary, raised my head, looking straight into his eye, after which he asked:

"Who are you?"

The Farm Ship "Raya"

Admiral Daro'Zen's Cabin

"Do you understand now what I was telling you about?" Daro asked Zaal, after they had reviewed the footage from the video surveillance cameras obtained by the Quarian commando team at a Batarian base on some unknown planet.

"You... Do you even understand what that was? This geth... He... " Zaal simply couldn't believe what he had seen and couldn't find the right words. "He didn't even want to kill her... He even turned away so as not to watch it, and... He wanted to help, he was pleading with her... But he still killed her out of pity... And then set that Batarian on fire and gave him a choice... Kila..."

"Yes. And that means only one thing..." Daro continued. "He has emotions," Daro herself couldn't believe what she was saying, but the fact remained - it happened.

"Yes. I was right after all. We cannot fight them just because we want to regain our homeland. I mean, I mean to say..." Zaal trailed off.

"Yes. We have to make peace with them. But first we have to find this geth. What if he's the only one like that? What if other geth only know fear and cruelty?"

"They're not cruel!" Zaal interrupted her. "They... They just want to live! And they're just afraid... But you're right, if he's the only one, then... No, we still have to find him and bring him back to the Fleet. If everyone sees him, then... Han won't be able to demand war with the geth anymore. Maybe... Maybe through him we can end this hostility and return home, or..."

"Or at least convince others to try to colonize another planet," Daro finished for him. "And Lina will be able to see the sunrise," Daro whispered the last sentence and turned away, but Zaal still heard her.

"What, what, sorry?" Zaal asked. He wanted to change the subject to distract Daro from her duties as Admiral and Fleet scientist.

"Oh... Oh, it's nothing, just thoughts... I just... Oh, when Lina was ten, I promised her that I would do everything to make her see the sunrise in a place she could call... home. Oh, dreams are just dreams."

"Have you ever seen the sunrise? Sometime?" Zaal suddenly asked.

"Yes... Yes, I've seen it. When I was a junior engineer in a drop team. We were on a planet that strongly resembled Rannoch. The climate, gravity, everything was almost identical to Rannoch. Anyway, everyone was asleep, but I couldn't sleep. I didn't sleep for nights, and then I saw the sky changing. It turned pink like that. I got up and climbed onto a stone ledge. Then I sat on the edge, started looking at the endless valley, and at the star that crawled out at the very end of it. Bright, but in the very beginning it was almost red. What a sight... I wanted to watch this spectacle... Forever. And then I was almost eaten by a varren. Fortunately, one of the drop team members saved me... who soon became Lina's father, - the last thing Dara said with a smile on her face. She immediately began to recall the best moments of her life, but then she became sad again, remembering his charred body. Shaking her head, she looked back at Za'al, who quickly understood everything.

" You know, I think it's time for me to go. I... I still need to talk to the drop team. I need to give new instructions. You don't mind, do you?

"No... No, I don't mind. Thank you, - Dara turned away and was about to go to bed when Za'al suddenly remembered what else he wanted to say.

"Oh, by the way, Dara, I... In general, I wanted to say - happy birthday, - at these words Dara was suddenly cold as water.

"What? - Dara turned around, but there she saw something strange. Za'al was holding something in one hand that looked like a flower. It really was a figure of a flower from Rannoch, made of metal sheets. Such figures were made by quarian children while they sat in bubbles to avoid dying of boredom. Dara herself made such figures while her mother watched the mass core of the ship.

"Gleeceen? - Dara asked the name of the flower.

"Yes. A symbol of change. You know, since... you got involved in that geth thing, a lot has changed.

"For example, that my ship was stolen along with all my things, equipment, developments, and even my diary?

"No. I meant that... now I have hope. Hope for the future. Thank you.

"Me... Kila, nobody congratulated me for ten years. Thank you, - Dara took the flower and began to spin it in her hand, carefully examining it.

"Well, alright, I'll go. Good night.

"Thank you. Good night, - Dara said, after which she looked at Za'al.

She didn't expect this from him. She had long been accustomed to congratulating herself on her birthday. She didn't get angry with anyone. After all, it is no longer customary for quarians to celebrate such personal holidays. But Za'al was able to come up with something. He gave her a homemade flower figure, which children made, and hundreds of such figures are sold by quarians in settled systems that the Fleet enters. With these thoughts, Dara still went to bed.

Citadel Secret Council Room

Councilors Sparatus and Tevos entered their secret room, where Valern was already waiting for them. "Oh, finally. Thank you for coming. This is very urgent," Valern began, speaking in the best traditions of salarians. "You know, the last time YOU invited us here, that's when the GOA found out about the impending attack on Elysium. And at that time, we decided not to tell anyone anything. So I'm all ears now," Sparatus replied, understanding one good thing - if Valern invited them, then the matter requires attention. "Yes, I think this is really something important," Tevos continued, sitting in her place. "Yes. In general, one of our ships in the Terminus systems was able to intercept a message from a quarian commando to the Migrant Fleet. The message is well encrypted, but the GOA was able to decrypt two video recordings," Valern typed something on the instrumentron, and then three videos appeared on the table, one for each councilor.

5 minutes later

Valern sat with perfect posture, proud of the reconnaissance of his race, and Sparatus and Tevos tried to pick up their jaws. Yes, even Sparatus's jaw dropped. "This... This..." Tevos began, trying to say something, but nothing came out. The sight of the geth, who at first tried to help the quarian, then shot her out of pity, then set fire to the battery-slave trader, breaking his limbs before that, and then giving him a choice - crawl to the panacea and heal himself, thereby surviving and living without his eggs and h... um, equipment, or shoot himself, trying to do it with broken arms... Yes, this geth knows a lot about cruelty, but the most important thing was not that. The main thing was that the geth was subject to emotions. A GETH! HAD! EMOTIONS! "This is complete chaos," Sparatus couldn't help but say what he thought, in such a way that the translators of the others completely ignored his words.

"Well, Spаratuѕ, you are exaggerating a bit, - calmly replied Valern. - But I do think this is a problem.

"It's a huge problem, for fuck's sake! - Spаratuѕ couldn't hold back anymore. He was already on edge. First, the geth will attack on Eden Prime, led by an o$#en huge dreadnought that's even bigger than the Destiny Ascension and can land on a planet. Then, Shepard accuses the best Spectre, a Turian Spectre at that. Then, that same Shepard starts digging under Saren, causing a brawl in the Lair of the Shadow Broker. And now, a geth with emotions seeking revenge for the Quarians! Magnificent! What's next? Will the geth arrive at the Citadel? That'll be even more fun! - What if all geth have become like this? Or is it just a single case, and thanks to it, all geth will become like this? Geth are a strong race. Stronger than Asari, Salarian, humans. They can probably compete with the Hierarchy, and it's not certain who will win! What if the geth want to become part of Citadel space? Huh? Sooner or later, we'll have to accept them into the Council, or we won't be able to control them.

"You're exaggerating, Spаratuѕ, - began Tеvоs in a calm voice, although she was also shocked by what she had seen. - It doesn't make sense for the geth to join the Council. They...

"Listen, Tеvоs. You saw the video yourself. This geth has both positive and negative emotions. What if the geth become obsessed with the idea of grandeur? What if they want to control us? Economically. What will you do, Tеvоs? Maybe the Asari's economy is the most powerful, but the geth have many advantages, such as workers and bankers. The Asari won't be able to withstand such competition.

"We also can't forget about their technological potential. On Eden Prime, we noticed many unique technologies. What will happen if the geth put them on the market? We're talking about trillions of credits in losses. The Salarian Union won't be able to handle it. So, if the geth enter at least the space of the Citadel, then the Asari's economy will collapse, the Salarian Union's economy will collapse, and the might of the Hierarchy will be called into question. And besides... You saw that this geth has... compassion. What if the geth start to feel compassion for the Krogan? They won't have any trouble curing the genophage. Or maybe they'll decide to modify the vorcha, increasing their lifespan. Or maybe they'll accelerate the development of the Yahg! And then unite into their coalition. It'll be a catastrophe for Citadel space! - As soon as Valern finished, Spаratuѕ and Tеvоs tried to digest all of this, as the councilor delivered this tirade in about 15 seconds. This happens to him sometimes.

"What do you want to do, Valern? What do you propose we do?" Spoke up Sparatus.

"Well, as far as we can tell from some of the conversations among the geth, they still don't have emotions. Perhaps they don't even know about this particular geth. That means we still have a chance. We must find and destroy this geth. We must send a Spectre. And not just one," replied Valern, but he was interrupted by Tevos.

"Or, perhaps we could send Shepard?" she suggested.

"What?!" both councilors exclaimed in unison.

"Yes. Make her a Spectre. And send her after this geth. If we do this, we'll improve our relations with humans and gain a good ally against the Hegemony. If we constantly pit them against each other, we'll exhaust both of them and gain good markets," explained Tevos.

"What's the catch, Tevos? Why such proposals from you? Usually, you're...what humans would call a 'dove'," remarked Sparatus.

"I'm tired of the Batarians attacking our youngest and furthest colonies, while our government doesn't care due to economic, political, and even religious reasons. And if we give a few good planets to humans, we'll create a buffer between the Asari and the Hegemony, which will be called the Alliance. So, I have my reasons," replied Tevos.

"Alright. Well, as soon as Shepard finishes her investigation, we'll appoint her as a Spectre and send her after this geth. We'll have to remove Saren from the Spectres anyway. The evidence presented by the Citadel Council is irrefutable. And how did they even manage to get that video from the surveillance camera at the spaceport on Eden Prime?" wondered Sparatus.

"We have professionals working for us, Sparatus, unlike humans. They believed that all the video footage was deleted by the geth during the attack. And their encryption was very cheap. Although, with a governor like that, it's not surprising," Valern added, his voice dry and lacking emotions, but both Sparatus and Tevos heard the sarcasm in it. And with that, the meeting was over, and the councilors could only wait for Shepard to finish her investigation. They had no doubt that the results would be positive.

Somewhere in the depths of Terminus

The ship "Lord"

Benezia entered the room where Saren was sitting. He didn't react to her presence, but she knew he had heard her footsteps.

"We received a message from the ground team. They failed. The true geth managed to rescue him," Benezia reported, but Saren remained unresponsive.

"Hmrg..." Saren grunted. "Good. You may go," he replied curtly, and Benezia quickly left.

"Saren," suddenly a red hologram of the Sovereign appeared in front of Saren's seat. He could have started talking in Saren's head, but that would only accelerate the degradation of his nervous system, so Sovereign even used a hologram to communicate internally.

"Yes, Sovereign," Saren immediately perked up.

"You must find that geth."

"Why do you need that geth? What makes it so important to you?" Saren wondered.

"That geth used to be under my control, but something happened. Now it is no longer susceptible to my influence. Any attempts to subdue it are met with resistance from the geth itself. However, it's not just that. Its programming code is important. Huge, unpredictable, irrational. Because of this, it can feel emotions. These emotions override its logic. It is an organic being inside a machine. However, from this code, an algorithm can be obtained. If all the geth receive this algorithm, they too will begin to feel emotions, and then we will not be able to subjugate them. If they begin to feel emotions, then the very existence of the Cycle will be called into question. Saren, you are obligated to bring it to me. This is a top priority task."

"As you wish, Sovereign. So, are we heading to Rannoch?" Saren asked, although he knew the answer in advance.

"Course change. Destination: Rannoch," Sovereign replied, after which the hologram dissolved, and Saren decided to go talk to Benezia.