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Shepard immediately proceeded to the cockpit, where she stood next to the pilot.

"WHAT THE HELL!!!" she shouted right over Joker's ear.

"Well, here's the admiral himself. And there's his ship - ICC "Rome", " Shepard looked ahead and saw an Alliance cruiser approaching them. And now she understood that things were bad. If it's the admiral himself - it's always bad.

"Normandy, you are being hailed by "Rome", requesting docking permission," suddenly the cruiser pilot's voice could be heard. Joker looked at Shepard, and she nodded in approval.

"Rome, this is Normandy, docking is permitted," Joker said, and Shepard immediately began to wonder why the hell the admiral had shown up.

30 minutes later

Shepard, Ashley, and Kaidan stood near the airlock waiting for the disinfection procedure to finish. All the aliens were successfully hidden in the medbay under the guise of already being patients. It's better if they don't irk the admiral. Finally, the procedure was over, and the door opened. And then Shepard was shocked again. In front of her were Admiral Hackett, former captain of the "Normandy SR-1" Anderson, and some guy from the Defense Committee, whom Shepard hated. This was Jim Hraston - a coward, a whiner, a suck-up, a skilled liar, and just a nasty person. He was the one who advocated sending Shepard to the tribunal for the operation on Torfan, and generally shouted that this was a failure for all the Alliance's Armed Forces. And he's also gay. There was no discrimination in the Alliance anyway.

"Admiral Hackett, Frigate Captain of the "Normandy-SR1" Jane Shepard, Systems Alliance Military, sir," Shepard said, giving a military salute.

"At ease, captain," Hackett replied, returning the salute. "Well, captain. Let's proceed to the meeting room. Just you. There's no need for the rest," Hackett's voice was steady and monotonous, but Jane still felt that something unpleasant was about to happen. Anderson's face didn't promise anything good either.

A stifling silence reigned in the meeting room. Shepard turned to the trio of high-ranking officials, but they were silent, staring at her. Jane decided to start the conversation anyway.

"So, gentlemen. As I understand it, you didn't just come here for no reason," Jane started, forcing them to answer her questions.

"That's correct, captain. The matter is very... Delicate, in many aspects," Hackett began and Jane already understood that the matter was of utmost importance.

"Delicate?" Jane wondered.

"Yes, the matter concerns that geth you managed to capture on Rannoch," Hraston chimed in. Jane could barely suppress her urge to vomit from his slightly squeaky voice. His red hair, blue eyes, pale, snow-white skin, and freckles all over his face only added to her desire to vomit.

"In short, Shepard, the Alliance wants to get him."

"That's it! We're screwed!" Shepard thought to herself. "Why on earth did I order to stall for time?! I could have told Joker to drain the engine at night and then fly around the Terminus so they wouldn't catch up. But no, I had to order Joker to get some sleep. Fool! What a fool I am!!!" Jane was mentally screaming at herself while the trio waited for her reaction. On her face, it was only expressed by the fact that she dropped her gaze as if in thought.

"And how do you imagine that?" Shepard asked directly, however, it seemed that Hackett and Anderson were prepared for this, but Hraston was not.

"It's very simple, Shepard. You hand over the geth to us…

"I have an assignment from the Council to bring this geth to the Citadel, and now you're suggesting I fail the assignment. You do understand that I have the right to refuse you?" It was initially unclear whether it was a question or a statement of fact. However, it eventually became clear that it was a question.

"Yes, we understand that, but…" Hackett tried to start as politely as possible, but finding the right words was difficult, and Hraston was not particularly keen on keeping quiet.

"No 'buts', Shepard. Even though you're a SPECTRE, you're still a soldier of the Alliance, and handing over the geth is not a request, it's an order!

"Hraston, I asked you!" Hackett suddenly growled, but it didn't have a strong effect on Hraston. After all, he's from the Committee, and even Hackett isn't all-powerful before him. "Listen, Shepard. Your appointment to the SPECTREs has greatly helped the Alliance, I admit. But there's another problem. We're far behind in technology compared to other races, especially the Council races. If the Alliance gets this geth... Shepard, it's a treasure trove of the latest technology. Can you imagine how much this would help the Alliance?

"And do you realize how much my failure on the first mission will harm the Alliance? And then the Galactic Council of Intelligence will find out what's going on, and the Council will send me packing. And that would be the second failure of the Alliance to join the SPECTRE. No offense, Anderson," Shepard apologized to Anderson, who stood slightly behind Hackett.

"No problem, I understand," Anderson said quickly, not to distract anyone.

"Shepard. We can keep the information secret from the GCI.

"Don't flatter yourself, or the Alliance for that matter. You know as well as I do that our intelligence is bad, as in 'couldn't be worse'! Every third person in the Alliance is ready to sell it out, and every fourth is already doing it. So if you convince me to give the geth to the Alliance in defiance of the Council's orders, the Galactic Council of Intelligence will know the next day, at most in two.

"You're questioning your loyalty to the Alliance and humanity in general, Shepard," Hraston said. Shepard was on the edge, so her eye began to twitch nervously and one corner of her mouth crept up, revealing artificial teeth and making her face look furious and full of anger.

"Let's stop here. We still have plenty of time. Captain, think it over, and we'll sit in the dining room for now," Although Anderson, who tried to defuse the situation so that Shepard wouldn't snap at Hraston, was the lowest in rank among the three, his voice sounded like an order. At least, that's what Jane thought. Hackett, however, understood that this was a hint that trouble was unavoidable and therefore needed to be slowed down.

"Yes, let's do that. Think it over, Shepard. You have until the evening," said Hraston, after which the trio left, leaving Shepard with some very unpleasant thoughts.

After the meeting, Jane went to her cabin. Fortunately, there was a personal shower there, and now she wanted to be alone, take a hot shower, and think. However, as soon as Jane opened the door to the cabin, Anderson stood before her. Of all people, he was the last one she expected to see.

"Anderson?" Shepard was surprised.

"Shepard, we need to talk," said Anderson, trying to make his voice as friendly as possible.

"Yes, I got that," Jane said in a dry voice, not in the mood to talk to anyone who had come, although she was somewhat glad to see Anderson. At least, she could be frank with him.

"Shepard, I…"

"Maybe you could start by explaining what that jerk is doing here?" Anderson immediately understood who Jane was talking about. If anyone deserved that title, it was Hraston, and he lived up to it with flying colors.

"Listen, Shepard, I tried to prevent him from coming with us. Hackett also wanted this, but it was an order from the Committee, and you know that even Hackett is not all-powerful," Anderson tried to defend himself, but he knew that to Shepard, this was just noise. She hated this... man, and for good reason.

"Oh, and what do you order me to do? Be a good girl and follow the 'order of the Alliance'?! " Even though Shepard was speaking in a half-whisper, Anderson could hear the sarcasm mixed with anger in her voice. "You know what?! I don't give a damn about this order! This Committee! And I want to see that jerk in a bloody pulp!!! So you can roll back to your ship!!! You're not getting the geth, got it?!

— Jane, calm down! — Anderson growled, causing Jane to stop venting her anger, though she still glared at him. — Don't make decisions when you're heated. Think everything through, or else...

— Or else what? — Jane suddenly asked. — What will happen to me? Will you accuse me of treason and send me to a tribunal just because I'm trying to serve? Is that what you'll do?

— Damn it, you're on about this again! — Anderson said angrily. — How many times do I have to tell you that the trial after Torfan was a mistake?!

— A mistake. Damn, what a mistake! A mistake during which I was smeared with shit of all sorts and colors! A mistake during which I almost went off the rails! You know, I had a private, his name was Drake, Private Drake Diltrin. Do you know what happened to him? While the trial was going on, he slit his wrists. And then the Alliance used it as evidence that I was guilty! He saved my life by taking a bullet in the liver, and they declared him a traitor! And no one was bothered by the fact that they were doing this posthumously! And do me a favor, remind me, who was the main instigator of the trial?

— Argh, Shepard, don't...

— Say it.

— Jim Hraston.

— Exactly! — Shepard hissed every word. — And now this bastard is giving me orders? Have they completely lost their minds at the Alliance?! And since when do I have to hand over the geth to my own detriment, to a country that treats me like a piece of shit?!!! — And after that, Jane stared at Anderson, waiting for his answer.

— Jane, I know what it's like. When you're fighting for humanity, and it throws you to the curb.

— I don't recall the Alliance treating you like that.

— Not with me, but some of my subordinates were often literally thrown out on the street. But listen, you're not serving the Alliance.

— Then who am I serving? — Anderson knew Shepard knew the answer, but it had to be said.

— Humanity, — Anderson said with a bit of pride.

— Ooooh, humanity! I don't remember humanity being grateful to me! Has anyone ever said "thank you" to me? Just walked up to me and said "Thanks for saving my ass in some galaxy shit"? I've never been thanked. What's more, I was just sent to hell. You know, did I ever tell you about the incident in the cafe? I once went to a cafe in dress uniform when that damned trial was finally over. Five minutes later, the manager comes up to me and politely asks me to fuck off. And to the question "why?" he politely replied that I was scaring off the customers! The customers, for god's sake! The very customers whose asses I was busting. And do you know where the cafe was?

— On Elysium, — Anderson uttered the name of the planet where this unpleasant incident took place.

— Oh, so you do know that story.

— Yes, Jane. You broke that administrator's jaw. Then you broke a leg of each of the two security guards. Then the police arrived, after which you were released because in that squad were those who defended Elysium, just in a different squad.

— Correct. You've done your homework on my life story. Now answer my question — why the hell do I need this humanity?

Anderson didn't know the answer to this question. He had never faced such a dilemma. After the war with the Hierarchy, he was often recognized and treated to drinks because he was considered a hero. Many of his friends were treated the same way. The same was true for the defenders of Shanxi, who were also considered heroes who were betrayed. But General Williams was not treated that way. Everyone who could, considered him a traitor. That's why he even started drinking, thankfully, his friends quickly figured it out. But Jane had a different problem. She tore herself apart three times for the sake of surviving and just protecting people. And after Torfan, because of Hraston, she was treated like shit. And the name "Torfan Butcher" even became a common noun. And all because of Hraston. And he just enjoyed it. He liked to show off in front of his superiors, using any means. And Jane just became one of those means. A tool for his self-aggrandizement in front of his superiors, though he couldn't get much higher — a member of the Defense Committee, only the head of the committee itself was higher, and then a pension of 50,000 credits a month. But Hraston forgot that Jane is a human too. And she also wants to live. However, now she has to live in the army, because she has no life as a civilian and is unlikely to have one.

As soon as Anderson looked at the person in front of him, he didn't see Captain Shepard, but Jane. A girl who was barely holding back tears, as she now closed her eyes, remembering how the journalists treated her. Anderson knew for sure that this was what she was remembering, as there were not many memories that could bring her to such a state.

— Jane, — David began softly. — Come here, — he had long noticed this peculiarity in Jane.

She always felt better from hugs. He didn't know why, but it often helped. Now Anderson hugged Jane, and she didn't resist much. She just pressed into him, as the only one who could understand her, and was silent.

Half an hour later,

Jane was sitting on her bed, thinking. Thinking about her life. Why did she fight on Torfan? What was she doing on Elysium? What drove her on Akuze? Why did she even join the Alliance? However, her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of the door opening. Shepard looked up and instantly stood at attention. Hackett entered her cabin.

— Sir! — Shepard gave a military salute, but Hackett didn't respond, trying to stop her.

— Leave it, Shepard.

— Sorry, sir. Habit, — Jane tried to justify herself.

— It's fine. I used to be the same. Anyway, why I came. I'm not expecting an answer from you right now. I... we would like to... talk to the geth. Is it possible? — Hackett asked with hope in his voice.

— Of course! We've activated it a long time ago. Just be careful. Tali has already talked to it, and after that, she drank and went to the infirmary.

— Who-who, excuse me? — Hackett didn't understand the name.

— Ah, Tali'Zorah. The Quarian. She helped find evidence against Saren. Excellent engineer.

— I see. I thought quarians die from alcohol consumption.

— No. They can drink turian alcohol, but if this alcohol is bought in the port area, even on the Citadel, you understand... the booze there is something else...

— Yes. Who better than me to know... — Hackett said, remembering the time he decided to celebrate his promotion there. He regretted it...

Shepard, Hackett, Anderson, and Hraston descended the stairs to the brig. Opening the door to one of the four cells, they found a strange sight — a geth sitting on the floor, leaning against a biotic field, doing nothing else. All four slowly approached the geth and looked at the piece of paper lying next to it, which had something drawn on it. It depicted a human. A girl. Only later did they all notice that she was wearing a hood and a suit, as well as lines on her forehead. Only now did they all understand that this was a quarian, but without a mask. The drawing, surprisingly, was well done. Underneath the sheet of paper, more drawings were visible, but this didn't interest Jane right now. She was interested in this geth.

— Can I talk to you? — Jane asked. However, the geth didn't respond. It didn't even move. — Can you hear me? — Jane said again. This time she squatted down and began to look closely at the geth. Zero emotions. — Hey, we're here. You don't have to pretend, I know you can hear me, — Jane said with a bit of anger, and suddenly she noticed something. It was just a fraction of a second, but still too strange. Black spots appeared on its white body for a fraction of a second. Small, long, and they were there for just a couple of milliseconds. But where did they come from? And what were they, in general? Suddenly, these black spots appeared a little lower, again for a fraction of a second. And then Jane realized what it could be. Interference!

Jane immediately stood up, walked over to the terminal, and with a few presses deactivated the field.

— WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! — Hraston immediately shouted, but Jane ignored it. She walked up to the geth and touched it. But instead of feeling cold metal, her hand felt absolutely nothing. Her hand passed through the geth. After moving her hand inside the geth a couple of times, Jane realized everything again and was horrified — it was a hologram.

— DAMN IT!!! — Jane couldn't help herself. Hackett and Anderson also started swearing, but to themselves, and Hraston was already ready to squeal with righteous anger.

— Shepard, what does this mean?! WHERE IS THE GETH?! You will answer for this to the Committee!!!

— Will you finally shut your trap!!! — Jane burst out and ran upstairs. All three ran after her.

10 minutes earlier

After doodling on all the sheets, I finally started thinking about how to escape. From what I understood from eavesdropping on all of Normandy, thanks to good hearing that could be amplified, Anderson, Hackett, and some Hraston had arrived on the ship. I didn't remember him, but it seemed he was some hotshot from the Defense Committee, whom Shepard hated. However, another very bad thing was becoming apparent from all this - they had come for me. And being a prisoner of the Alliance didn't seem like a good prospect. So, I had to run.

But first, I needed to buy some time. Digging into my memory, I was able to find a good way. So I had to take out a little device, the size of an iron ruble and three times as thick, which could generate a hologram. Okay, now I need to disable the camera that I'm sitting back to. Hitting the floor between my legs with all my might so that the camera doesn't see, I punched a hole in it, and there I saw lots of wires. I sent the same lightning from my hand into them, which I used to hack the door, and in ten seconds I controlled some systems. For example, cameras, the shield itself, and... the water temperature in the shower and the flushing system in the toilet. And who, for God's sake, did the wiring on this ship? Jamshut and Ravshan headed by foreman Leonid? Okay, then let's continue. I make the camera show one picture in which I'm just sitting. Done, now I can even dance lezginka, no one will notice. Now I set up the hologram so that "I" sit with my back to the entrance. Now I turn off the shield. Okay, I set a timer for one minute for it to turn back on, as I can't control it remotely. I crawl out of the "circle", wait a minute to make sure it activates. Everything works as it should.

Now I just need to crawl out of here.

Opening the door, because it won't open from the inside until someone enters, I immediately found myself in a room with three more doors. Okay, I don't remember this part. I hope I don't crawl out near the dining room where this whole delegation will be eating. I go up the stairs, open the door. Thank God, I was in the hangar. I look around, but I don't see anyone - no Ashley, no Garrus, no Rex, no quartermaster. No one. And rightly so, everyone is sitting in the med bay right now. As far as I understand, everyone is playing poker, and Chakwas is scolding Garrus for giving Tali brandy. The quartermaster, by the way, is with them. And rightly so, this smuggler definitely shouldn't get in Hackett's way, let alone this Hraston.

In short, I run up to the Mako, open it, and climb inside. Closing the door, I look around. It's the same inside as in the other Mako, which I took from the batteries. But that one, apparently, was some kind of unsuccessful prototype, which was then fixed with snot, saliva, and chewing gum, because now I was sitting in just a baby. Even though the Mako is "mine"... Ah, don't get distracted! Now we need to find out where we are. Well, forgive me, Joker, but it's time to hack Normandy and all her systems. Luckily, they fixed me up well on Rannoch.

Okay, within a minute I was controlling all of Normandy's systems, but still let Joker steer. Although, what am I talking about? He's now docked to a ship, the cruiser Rome, whose systems I now also happily control. There was good news. Both ships were not in space, but already in the atmosphere, as Joker had discharged the engines before docking. Yeah, a height of 125 km above the surface. However, there was another good piece of news - the planet was icy, which means the landing would be soft, and the cold didn't bother me at all.

As soon as I land, I'll have to wait for my own. I have no doubt that they will arrive, but I'll have to run from Shepard and the team. They absolutely cannot be killed, so there will be a lot of running. Luckily, my strength allows it.

I was about to run when I suddenly heard the elevator open and four people coming. Cracking the door open, I saw all three guests and Shepard descending. Okay, here it comes. I waited three minutes, and then, Shepard's sweet scream, then Hraston's scream, then Jane again, and then I hear steps. Well, it's time to run. I start the Mako, open the door and wait. All four of them run out and see me.

"Bye, losers!" I shout to them and close myself in.

The hangar begins to open, and I back up. All four are in total shock. The Mako crashes into the elevator, after which I slam the pedal to the floor, and the armored personnel carrier rushes towards freedom. After five seconds, the Mako flew out of Normandy and headed down into free flight.