13

Shepard climbed the stairs to the main deck to inform the Council of everything that had happened on Rannoch. Jane decided that she needed to eat well first, and then chat with these degenerates. She had long noticed that it was much easier to go to the boss on the carpet with a full stomach than on an empty one. It would be good to have 100 grams, but Shepard herself once, in a fit of passion, organized a thorough search with the subsequent confiscation of all alcohol and the introduction of prohibition. Then she got so carried away that she almost took all the alcohol from Chakwas. It took half an hour to prove that alcohol is vital, regardless of any achievements in medicine. Shepard still agreed to let Chakwas keep the alcohol, but once came and asked why the crew's attendance in the medbay had increased threefold. In general, an hour later, Shepard still left the medbay, and then walked around like a shrew, so the crew avoided her in every possible and impossible way until the end of the day. Now, after three chicken cutlets, Shepard was ready for any brainwashing.

But as soon as Jane entered the meeting room, she saw Tali, who was sitting alone in her seat, hanging her head.

- Tali? - Jane did not expect to see Tali here between missions.

- Shepard. I ... I wanted to talk, - Tali immediately got up, but as soon as she started talking, she immediately hesitated. So, this is something that makes her worry.

- Yes? And what about? - Jane decided not to ask why she decided to talk here, not to come to the captain's cabin. After all, Tali still felt very awkward when talking to the crew. The only ones Tali communicated normally with were Liara, Garrus, and Wrex. Yes, with them, Tali had warm relations, she talked to them as if they were her own race.

- In general ... Uh, I wanted to thank you for taking those marines to the Normandy. They promised to disembark at the nearest spaceport. You don't have to worry, they won't interfere ...

- Tali, I'm least worried about these marines. Rex is with them now, teaching them how to play poker. He says beginners are lucky.

- Uh, Rex? - Tali asked in surprise, and Jane could swear that Tali just raised her eyebrow and grimaced.

- Yes. As he put it: "You are the only race with which the Krogan have no scores to settle." So he teaches them poker.

- I see ... Actually, I didn't come for this. I mean, not just for this ... In general ... I ...

- Tali. You don't have to worry. I'm not going to eat you. It would kill me. - Jane tried to defuse the situation, but Tali didn't appreciate the joke very much, although she understood what it was about.

- So, I ... - Tali began to wring her fingers, which indicated that she was already too nervous. Jane was about to reassure her, but Tali still found the strength to say. - I wanted to talk about the geth.

- Aaah, so that's what it is. God, Tali! Phew ... Why scare me like that, huh? I was already scared that you want to leave! Phew, you sure know how to scare ... Well, what did you want? - Jane asked with a smile, genuinely frightened by how long Tali had been dragging out the question. Jane really didn't want to part with this girl, who had become her best friend. And she never had one before.

- I wanted ... Uh, can you not tell the Council about the geth for now? And ... Can I activate it?

Now that's what really surprised Jane. She, of course, assumed that Tali would want to do this, but ... Ah, who is she kidding, she knew that Tali would want to do this, or even take the geth to the Fleet, but ... She still hoped that Tali wouldn't do it. But there was nothing to be done now.

- Ugh, I knew it ...

- Wait, Jane, I'm not asking to disassemble it or send it to the Fleet, I just ... I ... Hmrg ... - Tali growled angrily and just lowered her head, trying to come up with a way to explain to Jane what she wanted.

- You want to talk to it, - Jane finished for Tali. She understood everything right away. For Tali, it was too hard to say such a thing. And Jane understood her.

- Yes, - Tali replied dryly, not raising her head.

- Ugh ... Joker! - Shepard said, looking up at the ceiling. A habit.

- Yes, ma'am, - Joker replied immediately.

- How long will it take us to get to the Citadel?

- Two days, Captain.

- Fly around in the Traverse for a while. So that we are at the Citadel in a week. Oh, and stop by some spaceport to drop off passengers.

- With pleasure, ma'am! Flying - I'm always up for it. Oh, can we stop by Terra Nova? There's civilization there, and good bars.

- No, you know what cargo we have. But when we hand it over to the Council, then we'll relax there. Deal?

- OK! - Joker, and the whole team, were already used to the fact that Shepard used her authority only for punishment or in battle. In all other cases, she always tried to negotiate with everyone to reach an agreement. The entire crew loved her for that. Except for those times when she was angry at something or someone. Then everyone tried to avoid her by all means, because she didn't control herself at all. She could reprimand according to the strictest rules, or even lash out. The worst thing was when Shepard lined up the entire crew, even Joker, and started reprimanding everyone. Joker, however, got off with the least ... Except for that one case with the weed...

- So you... - Tali immediately asked after Joker disconnected.

- You have three days. Then I'll report to the Council. For now, let them think we're still on Rannoch...

- Thank you, Shepard! - Tali immediately cried out and hugged Jane tightly. Jane responded right away.

- Tali...

- Yes, Shepard.

- I asked you to call me Jane.

- Sorry... Jane.

ACTIVATING PLATFORM!

REBOOTING SYSTEM!

DIAGNOSTICS...

DIAGNOSTICS COMPLETE!

AVERAGE SYSTEM INTEGRITY RATING: 100%

The interference began to subside. In just a second, I could properly examine what was in front of me. And what I saw was the ceiling. But it was somewhat strange. All systems were working, which was a relief. I also realized that I was lying down. Well, it seems that I passed out because a live wire hit me. Well, such things happen in life.

Ah well, time to get up. At first, I played a little with the focus of my eye, which worked quite well. Then I moved my arms, then my legs, and finally lifted my torso. Surprisingly, I wasn't tied to the table I was lying on. Maybe I'm with the geth after all? Turning my head, I saw that I was locked in a biotic field. Getting off the table, I touched the field with my finger. It was impenetrable. Alright, so I'm captured. Now the question is, by whom? Answer options: a) Saren; b) Shepard; c) The Fleet; d) The Community. Well, I like everything except "A," and the Lord would have contacted me already. Option "C" also falls away - quarians would never leave a geth untied, even with a biotic field. So it's a 50:50 chance. Um, can I phone a friend?

In general, I couldn't even tell where I was by the surroundings. Ultrasonic vision didn't help - the field was jamming it. Night vision only showed bare walls. I was about to look the other way when suddenly the light turned on, making everything white as I had night vision on. I turned it off, and suddenly I heard footsteps. I turned my head just a few centimeters, and then I saw... Tali?

Yes, it was undoubtedly Tali: a purple suit, a perfect figure, a hood with patterns... Yes, it was her. I looked into her eyes, luckily I could see them, and she looked at me without looking away. I couldn't see how she looked at me - with surprise or disgust, but her heartbeat was already accelerated. It seemed like she was looking forward to talking to me. Well, yes, her first conversation with a geth. She walked around the field that confined me in a circular space, then stopped and began to simply stare at me. Just say something already! Maybe she's thinking about where to start? That's entirely possible. Should I start first? Nah, let her gather some courage.

And finally, after 12 seconds of a staring contest, she began:

— Do you understand me? — Tali started.

— Yes, although I would have preferred to greet first.

— Uh… What?

— What time is it now?

— What… Um… It's 21:35 ship time, — Tali was already completely thrown off by my manner of communication. Well, good. Why play a typical soulless robot? Maybe I want to befriend her. Hmm, or maybe help her with her Pilgrimage? But how? Oh well, I'll think of something later. For now, it's time to continue the conversation.

— Oh, well then good evening, Tali, — oh, how her eyes widened. This might not be a knockout, but it's a nice left hook to the jaw.

— You… You know me? — and her heart is pounding. And her hands are shaking a little. She could use a quarian equivalent of valerian right now.

— Of course. How can one not know the daughter of Admiral Rael'Zorah?

— You know my father? — oh, she said that with fear. She's worried about him.

— I know all the admirals of the Migrant Fleet: Daro'Xen, Zaal'Koris, Rael'Zorah, Shala'Raan, and Han'Gerrel, — now, just don't look at me like I'm the spawn of Hell. She's already afraid of me! Oh, I need to calm her down, or she'll faint. — My goodness, don't look at me like that. Am I that scary? — no, it didn't seem to help. Although after that question, she turned away, took a deep breath, slowly exhaled, and turned back to me. — You know, it seems we didn't start off right. Maybe we should start over?.. Hi. — And as a greeting, I raised my hand and spread my fingers, as if showing "five"... "three"? Darn it, I only have three fingers. Oh well, how do they teach children to count on their fingers?

— Hi...? — she couldn't even understand what to respond. It's like she should greet me, but I'm a geth. With manners and etiquette no worse than a normal sentient being. Yeah, you don't see that very often.

— Well… You probably didn't imagine our conversation going like this, did you?

— Yes, I… I thought you…

— An ordinary robot, who answers just like any other VI? — it seems I guessed her thoughts.

— Yes. Exactly. But you… You're like a living being…

— What do you mean, like? — this question will certainly make her think.

— Well, I mean, you're a robot, and robots…

— Don't have a soul? — soon it'll become a habit for me to interrupt her mid-sentence. For some reason, I find it enjoyable. — For your information, I do have a soul, and don't even try to convince me otherwise. Maybe we can talk about something else? Or do you have no questions for me at all?

— Well, actually I do… I've never talked to geth before, so… Ugh, fine. How did you manage to be able to talk, being all alone? Why did you spare the entire landing party but kill the commander? Where did you get the quarian frigate? What was that ship on Rannoch that crawled out from under the ground?

— Hey, hey, hey, can you please slow down? I may be a robot, but I don't particularly enjoy being bombarded with questions. You're not some kind of journalist, are you?

— N-no, but… Ugh, fine. But can you at least answer those questions? — oh, something is taking shape. According to my sensors, which could work through the field, her heart was working at its limit, and I don't need her to faint here. I definitely wouldn't be able to help her.

-… — I just stayed silent, waiting for the magic word, and looked at her as penetratingly as I could with my abilities.

— What? — Tali asked in confusion. It seemed like she understood that I was waiting for something.

— I'm waiting for the magic word.

— Wh-What? — Tali stuttered.

— You didn't say the magic word.

— Um… Please?

— Exactly. I don't want to lecture here, but saying the word "please" is still necessary. No offense if I offended you.

-… — it seems that now she's completely knocked out. She didn't expect that. Well, at least there's progress. Some progress.

— Alright. What did you want to know?

— Um… Phew. Okay, calm down, — Tali said to herself, and then gathered her strength. — So, where did you get the quarian frigate?

— I hijacked it from the Fleet. It's "Moreh" — Admiral Daro'Xen's frigate…

— What?!

— Yes-yes-yes. That's the one. Well, it was until they shot me down, and I crash-landed into that building. Oh, by the way, can I ask a question?

— Uh… Yes.

— You wouldn't happen to know if that frigate was insured, would you?

— What?

- Well, I've often heard that many organics are concerned about insuring their property. Especially movable property. So I asked, was that frigate insured? Of course, I knew it was impossible, but you have to somehow ease the tension. It seems to have worked. Although Tali didn't smile and took my question seriously, her heart rate dropped a little. To 10 beats per minute.

- No, we quarians don't insure anything. We don't even have money.

- Oh. I'm in trouble now, damn it Tali, stop taking everything literally. She doesn't understand jokes as well as Legion. And who else is a get here?

- Yeah... Um, how did you end up on the Normandy anyway?

- I don't remember it well. I mean, I have memories, but it feels like it wasn't me. I realized myself as a person precisely on the Normandy. If I judge by my memory, I was a geth infiltrator and was in a reconnaissance squad on an unknown planet. We stumbled upon a Creator landing party. We attacked. The landing party won, and then I woke up on the Normandy. As far as I understood, Admiral Daro'Xen was looking for a way to reprogram me, so she fixed me. But I didn't want that.

- What... What happened next? Tali was still interested in this story, and I decided to live up to her expectations.

- I escaped. Hid in the ventilation system. Ambushed a quarian. Knocked him out. Put on his suit, luckily the body structure allows it. Got to the captain's cabin. Took Admiral's daughter hostage. Her name is Lena. Ordered the admiral to announce the evacuation. Then sat everyone on the bridge in an escape pod. Then I left at light speed as far away from the Fleet as possible, well, somewhere like that. Of course, I decided not to mention the secret date of Kal and Lena. No need to ruin their love.

- And you didn't kill anyone? Oh, an unexpected question. I thought she would ask something else, but this. Well...

- Why? Yes, that's exactly the question that made poor Tali curse. A geth asks why he needs to kill. Now the conversation will go on. She won't leave me alone.

- Well... Um... You... You're a geth... If I had eyebrows, I would have raised one. I'm a geth, you see. That's it.

- So what? If I'm a get, does that mean I have to kill? You know what, Tali? I thought I was talking to a normal person, but nooo! If I'm a geth, then I'm some kind of butcher, right? Oh, you know, I didn't expect this from you, Tali. That's it, the conversation is over! And after that, I turned away demonstratively and crossed my arms. Oh, if only I had lips to puff them up, but I think it will do without them.

- Um... What's wrong with you? What's going on with you? Tali asked, puzzled once again.

- I'm offended, I dryly replied. Of course, my voice wasn't filled with emotions before, but still.

- Hey, I haven't asked everything yet. We... We just started!

- We're done already. I replied in the same way.

- Hey, but I... She stopped talking, as if she was thinking about something. She only continued after 7 seconds. "I'm sorry."

- What? Now I was surprised.

— I'm sorry for offending you, by the way, — oh wow, she's a quick learner. She already understands that she needs to treat me like an organic.

— It's alright, I forgive you, — after that, I turned to her. Pretending to be an offended geth is something else.

— So... Oh, right. I have a question... Anyway, do you know how Saren controls the geth? — now that's a relevant question.

— Um, can we invite Shepard here? I think it would be important for her to hear this too.

— I... don't think that's a good idea... She's busy right now.

— With what? — what could a captain, especially Shepard, be busy with that she wouldn't want to hear a geth's story about Saren?

— It's personal.

— Alright, alright, I get it. A fool wouldn't. A fool wouldn't understand. Anyway, in short, they followed him voluntarily.

— Voluntarily?

— Yes. Geths choose their own future. So a part of them separated from the consensus and followed the Sovereign.

— What? Hold on. Separated? So Saren doesn't control all the geth?

— No, of course not! Only five percent of the programs followed Saren. And they didn't follow him, they followed the Sovereign.

— And the Sovereign is...

— That huge dreadnought-squid that was on Eden Prime and Rannoch.

— Wait, you said they followed the Sovereign. But the Sovereign is a ship!

— Not exactly... The Sovereign is an Artificial Intelligence. Those geth who followed him, heretics, consider him the pinnacle of inorganic evolution and blah-blah-blah. In short, they worship him and are willing to fight for him until the end.

— Um... It's not easy to digest this information. But Tali is trying, and after 10 seconds, she understands everything. — So the geth didn't attack Eden Prime and don't serve Saren?

— The true geth, no. They have a policy of complete isolationism. They follow it to avoid provoking the Citadel Council. Especially the Hierarchy, although... — and I look up and to the side, like I know something but won't say it.

— What?

— Let's just say that if the geth clash with the Hierarchy, then... I'll bet on the geth. They already have a larger fleet than the Hierarchy, and soldiers too. But believe me, as long as you don't provoke them, they won't attack. They don't see any point in it.

— What could provoke them? — oh, another good question, and I know the answer.

— Well, for example, a huge fleet from the Citadel races crossing the Perseus Veil. They won't like that. Otherwise... They don't care about the Citadel or your Council. Although the concept of "not caring" applies to the geth with some stretch of the imagination. — oh, now Tali understands that it's a joke. Keep it up.

- And who is this Sovereign... who is he?

- Reaper," he replied, stumbling over the word again. Why was she so impressionable?

- And what does he want?" I thought about it for a moment. I knew what I was going to say to them, but then I decided against it. Shepard had to talk to this Prothean VI on Ilos herself, or she would doubt this invasion. Besides, if I told them everything, then what? Who would believe me? The Council knew how to persuade, and in the end, they could convince Shepard that they were right. Did I need that? No, so I wouldn't tell them anything. Almost nothing.

- Exterminate all sentient races in the galaxy.

- Why?

- Um... I don't know. Honestly, Sovereign didn't say.

- Wait, you said 'Sovereign didn't say.' How could you hear that?" Talia was not stupid. She figured it out quickly. At least she was asking intelligent questions. Now I understood why she was chosen for this team - she was cute, kind, and intelligent. I wish there was someone like her in my class. Oh, dreams, dreams...

- Um, yeah... Here's the thing. This platform used to be a heretic until it was taken down by a squad of the Creators. So... Yes, I know what Sovereign said.

- I see. And... You said you realized who you were on Moreh. In what sense did you realize it?" A smart girl, smart questions. Now I understood why she was chosen for this team - cute, kind, and intelligent. I wish there was someone like her in my class. Oh, dreams, dreams...

- Well, it's complicated... Anyway, let me start from the beginning. There's a certain number of programs, or Geth, on each platform. One program - one Geth. The number of programs is different. A Geth soldier or trooper has 100 programs...

- That's right.

- Let's continue. A Prime or a Juggernaut has 500, that's why they're so smart, and they make others smart. But I'm a special case. On Moreh, when I woke up, I felt that I only had one program - myself. How did it happen - I don't know. I only know one thing - I have a soul," and then, for some reason, she became sad. She closed her eyes, and then lowered her head. It's strange, what did I say? Although...

- Hey, what's wrong? Did I... Did I offend you somehow?

— No… It's just… That question… The one that started the war…

— "Does this platform have a soul?" Are you talking about that one?

— … — Silence and a sad sigh were my only response.

— Hey, Tali, I'm sorry if I offended you. I just…

— Just what? — Tali quickly interjected.

— Nothing… I don't want to talk about it with anyone.

— Listen, I won't tell anyone. I promise.

— Ugh… How can I refuse you… — With that, I simply sat down on the floor, leaned against the biotic field, and pulled my knees towards me. For some reason, I wanted to do that. I always did it when I felt sad. And now I was feeling sad too. — You know, everyone treats me like I'm a spawn of hell: the Creators hate me, everyone else fears me, and some just see me as a pile of scrap metal that only knows how to kill. You know how that feels… Hurtful?.. You even think of me as a killer… Even though I didn't kill those quarians, except for the commander. I killed him because he deserved it, but the rest… Why kill those who are just following orders and have no say in it? Or am I wrong?

— No… I mean, yes, you did the right thing by not killing them, but…

— That's not what I'm talking about.

— What do you mean? — Tali didn't understand me.

— You think of me as a killer, right?

— I… — Tali didn't know what to say. On the one hand, all geth were killers/jerks/drug addicts to her, to emphasize the necessary. On the other hand… She probably saw how I dealt with the landing party, so she saw that I only killed the commander, which means I'm not a killer. Hm, maybe she thinks I killed Ilos too? That's just what I needed. — Okay, I… I have to go. Thanks for talking.

— You're welcome. Oh, and Tali… Can I ask you for something?

— Sure, what is it?

— Can you give me some paper and a pencil, please?

— I… I'll try, — Tali replied, and then left the small room where I was sitting.

I hope she fulfills my request. I just really want to draw…