62

Platform Diagnostics...

Platform integrity: 73%

Plasma Blade: Critical damage!

Backup Battery: Critical damage!

Plasma reactor: No damage

Sensor systems: No damage

Central Processing Unit: No damage

Cooling system: No damage.

Voice modulator: no damage.

System reboot...

Reboot complete.

Platform activation.

Opening my "eye", I realised I was in our infirmary. Hovering above me were five mechanical "tentacles" specifically for me or for heavy surgery to assist Chakwas. Apparently, I was already repaired, and the only reason I survived was because the processor stayed. Unfortunately, I can't escape through the Virtual; I've tried. And that grenade launcher took a real beating. The shields were designed for ME weapons, so they didn't work against the missile. The hull's pretty fucked up. It looks like I've already been repaired, more or less, but I need to sit at the repair machine for another half an hour.

Suddenly Susie appeared before my eyes. Or rather, a hologram of her.

- Morning, Dad. Are you awake yet? - she began cheerfully.

- Morning? How long was I out? - I asked the most critical question.

- Seventeen hours. Your platform was a pile of scrap metal. Lucky the processor wasn't damaged," Susie reported, and I tried to get up, but before I could even put my feet on the floor, I fell off the bunk and onto the floor, noticing that I had a wire attached to my head. - Oops, sorry, I'll be right back. I'll calibrate the gyroscope," it took her 1.31 seconds, and then I calmly stood up, disconnected the wire, and headed for the exit.

- Where's Shepard now?

- In the conference room," Susie answered, and I went to Shepard's room without seeing Chakwas, who I wanted to say hello to.

****

Conference room.

- Ooh, Legatus. You're awake," Shepard said hello.

- Good afternoon, captain... Dr Solus? - I suddenly noticed Mordin.

- Is that the geth? - The Salarian asked briefly, turning to the captain.

- Yes. This is Legatus," Shepard replied.

- Nice to meet you, Dr Solus," I said and then asked. - When did you pick him up?

- I had to hurry. His hospital was attacked by the Collectors.

- Oh! - I was surprised again. How very sudden. - What did they want, doctor?

- They came. Demanded co-operation. The results of the research. A vaccine for the virus. The corpses. Patients. Threatened with guns. I had to kill them. Prepared for defence. The attack began. Broke through the defences. Almost everyone was dead. It was just me and the apprentice. Daniel Abrams. A capable man. He'll do great things. A little naive. Ah, sent out a distress signal. Shepard responded. She attacked behind enemy lines. Saved us. Thank you.

- Don't thank me. Thank the Legatus. The Collectors' weapons can penetrate any shield on mass effect. The Legatus has seen to that. With our new shields, we would have beaten that crowd. - Shepard explained. There's a reason I upgraded their armour with shields against the particle accelerator.

- And the beam weapons. Helped against their personal shields, which they set up on the fly," Tali added.

- And the vork. Your Vorka, Shepard," Mordin said.

- You used the crew of the Normandy? - I was surprised.

- Yeah. When you went offline, the Claws came at us. Those guys know how to attack. They arrived at us with SWAT shields. They realised that we couldn't hold back, so they called the whole crew of the Normandy to attack from the rear. It worked. It'll take them a long time to heal their wounds. Then we got a signal from the doctor. They attacked the bugs from several sides, got to the doctor, and ran as fast as they could from their reinforcements while burning down the whole clinic," Shepard said.

- Yeah. Vodka. Intelligent. Intelligible speech. Calculating and using tactics. Trained. Comparable to Special Forces. Never met one," Mordin finished.

- Well, no one's ever cancelled a boarding party. You have to be ready for anything," I said. - Well, has it been explained why we decided to take you? - I'm back on track.

- Yes. To defeat the Collectors. It's a dangerous mission. I'll do it. - Mordin said it at once, which surprised me.

- Just like that? Out of the blue.

- Yes. There's no point in staying on Omega. The clinic's been burned down. The patients are dead. Almost everyone in the quarantine area is quiet. There are only humans left. The virus isn't killing them. Neither does the Vork. So I'm with you.

- And Daniel? - I'm asking. It's still interesting.

- Sent him to Illium. Put in a good word for him. Wrote a recommendation. Made some connections. He's got a bright future. Omega's not for him.

- Out of the fire and into the fire. - Mordin gave me a sceptical look when I said that.

- You got a problem with that?

- He's going from a gangster's cesspool to a bureaucratic one. Life is no better there.

- The quality of life says otherwise. - Solus disagreed with me.

- On Illium, all intelligent people are deceived, kidnapped, tortured, interrogated, killed, buried, and in that order. They do the same thing on Omega. The only difference between Illium and Omega is that the former has quality alcohol and clean latrines. - my statement made everyone think, and Zaid was the first to respond.

- This is the first time I've ever said this, but I agree with the ghetto. Your boyfriend's gonna be in the wrong place.

- Don't worry, Dr Solus. My guys will look after him, and he won't even know it," I reassured the Salarian, and he was clearly relieved.

- Thank you," he said. - Only thing is, do you have a laboratory?

- What do you need it for? - Shepard asked.

- I'm always doing something. Inventing. Improving. Testing. Proving. Disproving. I don't just sit around. And then there's the homey atmosphere. I'm used to sleeping in labs.

- Don't worry; there's a lab just for you. When you come out of here, take a right," I said immediately.

- Thank you.

- Well, if it's all settled. You're all dismissed. Legate, stay - everyone left the conference room, and in seven seconds, the captain and I were alone.

- So," Shepard began calmly. - You know something about this virus and why the Collectors were there?

- Yes. The virus that's been affecting several areas of Omega was created by them. It causes mutations in the respiratory system that are incompatible with life in all races except humans and Vork. The Collectors most likely made the virus to cause mutations and then studied them.

- That's why they attacked Mordin's clinic. They wanted his results," Shepard realised.

- And more. They wanted everything-the results, the live patients, the biomaterial from the patients down to their faeces, vomit, and saliva. What they would do with them, I don't know, though I'd like to know.

- But why would they give themselves away like that? Wouldn't it be easier to hire someone? - the captain didn't understand.

- There is no one. The four largest factions were at war with the Archangel. The rest are sitting tight and would never go into the quarantine zone. No experience, no balls, no credibility in the eyes of Aria. Most likely, they decided to do everything quietly and didn't consider you. No, of course; for example, they could have hired a Vork a year ago, but we lured them all out and added brains.

- Torian," Shepard said suddenly, to my utter surprise. - Or Tori.

- Where are you from...

- Susie," Shepard answered briefly. - She also told me about Ghirla, Nargul, the Grey Mediator, and Xade.

- Does that information make you dizzy? - I teased her.

- Actually, I could barely sit up. Do you realise what kind of company you've gathered? I'm starting to feel like I don't belong here.

- Oh, don't give me that, okay? I've already explained what you're here for. I'm a Geth. And no matter what I do, no one will ever believe me, even if Xade gives them an oratorical speech. They'll think it's a hologram, and that's all it is. They'll listen to you.

- Oh, I see. All right, where do we go from here? - Shepard asked for business.

- Illium. We need to pick up three more people there," Shepard said, a little policlinic. She looked a little sad, and I knew what it was about.

- Illium? That's where... That's where... Liara is, isn't it? - Shepard said in a broken voice, but there was hope in that voice, too... hope. And it was a universal hope. It wasn't hard to guess that they were in for something serious. I had long ago realised that they were in love, of course, as evidenced by the fact that Liara often repeated the captain's name in her sleep. So I understood why it was so painful for Shepard to talk about it now.

- Yeah. I-I thought you were gonna take her on board?

- Of course! - Shepherd exclaimed immediately. A biotic like that would be helpful.

- Naturally," I agreed, not wanting to interrupt the spectacle. Shepard, you need to control your feelings, especially those of the heart.

- So that's settled. So, who are the other two? - She changed the subject, and I wanted to please her.

- The first one is an Azari. Justicar Samara. A powerful biotic. Yes, yes, we'll have two azari biotics. Only one is a maiden, and the other is a matriarch.

- Yeah, you're a masochist, too. - she joked.

- Why would I do that? - I was indignant, not to be left out.

- One has the wind in her head, and the other has bone marrow. You can imagine what that would be like. Considering they're biotic as hell... Yes, Legatus. You're a masochist.

- Well, Liara's a windbag. She's an information broker, and they know how to think with their heads.

- I see. How's she doing? Is she... Is she okay?

- Yeah, that's all I said. I couldn't tell her what Liara was doing right now. There were a lot of reasons. Fear for Shepard's health, fear for her sanity. And fear for Liara, who most likely loves Shepard. While I couldn't be sure, there were a ton of doubts. So I just couldn't go around telling Shepard the truth. Sometimes you have to keep silent than tell the truth, but at the same time, don't lie, or it will be worse. It's hard to do, balancing between not telling the truth and lying, but you have to at least try. - Working as an information broker...

- I've heard that before, Legatus. That's not what I meant.

- Oh, no, not that, no. Please, I beg you, don't. Don't ask me that. - What is it?

- It's just... I've been thinking... It's just... It's just two years, that's not short and-" I could see Shepard was afraid to say it. I even knew what she was afraid of. To ask if Liara had someone else. And damn it, but I can't lie. I can't lie to her. Physically I can, but mentally I don't think I can. I know it'll only make things worse. - Eh, is she in love with someone else? - That's the question we both exhaled. She, because she was strong enough to say it, and me, because she asked for love, not a boyfriend or something. I had to put on "The Jew," but I can't help it. I have to.

- No. She's not in love with anyone.

- She didn't? - Shepherd's voice was filled with joy. I don't even want to imagine what it'll be like when she finds out the truth. Maybe she won't. No, she will. I know she will. It's the law of meanness.

- Yeah," I said shortly.

- Okay. Thank you. So, who's the other one?

- Thayne Krios. Drell. The assassin.

- That's quite a contingent you're picking," Shepard observed.

- Not without it, captain. But he's a professional, and he knows what he's doing. We could use one of those.

- All right. You didn't go wrong with Zayed and Mordin. They're both excellent. I knew the GOR didn't keep fools around, but a professional like that... He's the only one who talks too much, but that's nothing.

- All great scientists always have oddities," I justified the Salarian. - Talking too much is the least of them.

- You're right. All right. Dismissed. - Shepard let me go, and I went for a walk around the ship. But as soon as I walked out of the conference room, I ran into Tali. The door behind me closed, so we stayed in this little corridor.

- Legatus, I... I wanted to talk," the Quarian began uncertainly.

- Oh, what about?

- Well... I wanted to say... Thank you for saving us and... me. - Tali said with a stutter.

- Oh, come on. It's okay.

- No, really. We were pretty banged up from the shockwave, and if he'd gone in there... Maybe Shepard, Garrus and Zayed would have survived, but... I would have been torn to pieces. So thank you.

- You're welcome, Tali. All right, I'm gonna go. - I said goodbye and went to see the Joker. I had to check on him on the new Normandy.

****

Frigate "Normandy-SR2". Conference room

Shepard

Shepard was going through the dossiers of two future crew members. And she didn't even know what was worse - a Justicar or an assassin. No, there was no doubt about their professionalism, but the rest... A Justiciar-matriarch and a maiden on the same ship... Yes, a hell of a mix.

Suddenly the door opened, and Tali entered the conference room.

- Oh, Tali. Come on in. I've been meaning to talk to you," Shepard chirped.

- I really did. I... I wanted to, too," Tali said, a little unsure, as she wanted to talk to Shepard frankly. - 'Let you go first.

- Okay. I wanted to ask you. What do you think of Legatus?

- What do you mean? - Tali immediately panicked.

- Well, in general terms. - the captain clarified.

- Oh, you... about that. To be honest, I didn't expect this. He's... He's better than most people I've ever met or known. And the minority is your team, Shepherd. You see, he's... He doesn't try to look into your soul, he doesn't interrogate you about anything, he's not meticulous, and he always talks business, but yet... He's a pleasure to talk to. He's always helping me figure things out.

- Is there a problem? - Shepard asked.

- Their plasma reactor alone. Adams and I tortured those poor Vorks for seven hours until we figured out how it worked.

- It's that complicated? - Shepard wondered, stressing the word "so."

- Yes. Even for me, it was a challenge. But now Adams and I are safe to follow him.

- Good. What did you want to talk about? - Shepherd changed the subject.

- I wanted to... Uh, anyway... Remember you and Legatus were arguing about... About me?

- Um, yeah, I did," Shepard replied as if it was no big deal, but then realised it was something else to Tali.

- 'Yeah... And you said then that... I'm... beautiful. Anyway, I was wondering... Did you say that because of my resemblance to the Azari, or did you mean me specifically... Here," Shepard saw one crucial thing - Tali found it incredibly difficult to discuss such a topic. She had realised it even back then, two years ago, when she had decided to take off her mask after Feros. Almost everyone said she was beautiful, which only embarrassed her. Migration Fleet and their culture.

- Tali, obviously, I was talking about you. You're the only Quarian I've ever seen without a mask. You and the Azari have much in common, but that's beside the point. So yes, I was referring to you.

- I mean... Do you like me? - Tali suddenly asked, making Shepard's eyes almost pop out of her orbits. - I mean... No! I mean... I mean, I don't mean what you think... I didn't mean that... I... Oh Kila, why did I start that... - as soon as Tali realised what she had said, she was horrified. Shepard, however, had nothing against it.

- Tali," Shepard took two steps towards the embarrassed Quarian and tried to look her in the eye. Which was difficult since she was still wearing the mask. Habit, what else can I say. - I can only say one thing. You are a lovely and attractive girl. And there's no need to be modest about it. And yes, I like you, Tali. Not like a girl likes a guy, but just like a pretty girl.

- Thank you, Shepard... I... Thank you," Tali reached for the captain after that, and the latter hugged her friend tightly. For some reason, Shepard felt good about embracing Tali. She didn't even know why, but she was the one Shepard didn't want to let go of the hug. As if she wanted to protect her from this world that was so cruel to her.

- You're welcome, Tali. And don't be afraid to talk to me about such... topics. Remember, I'm always with you.

****

Frigate "Normandie-SR2". Deck Three

When Shepard went down to the third deck to talk to Garrus, she immediately saw the following picture.

A crowd of Vorka had gathered around the table where Zaid was arm wrestling with the Kok.

- Come on! Come on! Come on! - the Vorka were shouting, but Zaid was winning. And after half a minute, Zaid triumphantly sealed the Vorka's arm to the table.

- YEAH! I told you I was warming up my hand that time! Ha ha! - Zaid cheered and then saw the captain -Shepard!

- Having fun, are you? - Shepard calmly sat at the table while the Vorka did their business.

- Oh, yeah. Do you want one? - Zaid offered Zaid a bottle of beer.

- No. I don't drink," Shepherd replied shortly.

- That's fine. You know, I'm gonna be honest with you. I used to think Vork were stupid animals, and I've spent my whole life as a mercenary. But today-- Eh, today I got that back.

- Which is rare, isn't it? - Shepard decided to clarify.

- Very rarely," the mercenary stressed the first word. - 'In my life, it's been... Er, three times. Including this one. And I got them back as soon as those Vorka started stacking bugs. As it turns out, they're better at fighting than the Blue Luminaries I raised alone.

- So you got nothing against the Vork?

I'd love to start my own gang with fighters like that. But Legatus won't let me," Shepard said, waiting for that word to turn the conversation on its head.

- Speaking of Legatus. How did you manage to owe him so much money?

- Oh, I knew you'd ask. Anyway, I was given an assignment. The employee's name was Liara T'Soni. Some Azari from Illium. The project was assembling a team to follow an ATI ship.

- "ATI"? - Shepard interjected.

- Oh, right, there's no extranet on the other side. "Araba Tecnologico Industriale. One of the largest and most mysterious corporations on Illium. Actually, that's why they hired me. We had to hijack their ship and deliver their cargo. T'Soni didn't know what kind of cargo, but it was up to us. They offered me a lot of money, and I even thought it was bullshit, but T'Soni was a good person, so I agreed. Anyway, we followed that ship all the way from Illium. Then they stopped to run out of engine power at the gas giant. Well, that's when we started. Except it all went wrong at once. We knocked down their shields for five minutes, then our engineer couldn't crack them, and then we had to dock on their side and burn three holes in the hull, which was another five minutes. And then the Geth. And with beam weapons. Bitch, it was a failure. A complete failure. And they didn't give a shit that there were only ten of them on the whole ship. By the time they were all killed, only three of us were left. Out of 30 fucking people. Anyway, I thought we'd accomplished our mission, but then," Zaid slammed his hands together, "all the equipment was locked down, and the display language was some kind of fucking cuneiform. The translator doesn't understand half of the words, we're trying to figure out what to do and how to get the ship to the rendezvous point, but we can't get out and transfer the cargo to the boat because the hold was protected by turrets right from the ceiling. And our engineer, the salarian, was one of the first to be killed, the geth knew who was a threat to them. So we started trying to solve the problem the old-fashioned way.

- In Russian? - Shepard asked, remembering how they'd fixed a diesel generator in their slum.

- No, that was a last resort. At first, they tried to figure out what it said from the translated words. Well, it was just a matter of trying to make the best of it," Zaid looked at Shepard, wanting her to continue.

- Same as always," Shepard replied.

- Wo. Cut the navigation and climate control and dumped all the fuel straight into space. Anyway, they started pushing all the buttons, and in the end, I got mad and started... the Russian method. And that's when we realised it was beginning to get totally... Erm, okay.

- Tell it like it is," Shepard said, and Zaid decided not to embarrass the captain.

- It's fucked! The cooling system's been shut down, and an emergency core shutdown has occurred. And I use the Russian method... Anyway, nothing else in the cockpit worked. The ship began to gravitate towards the gas giant. The two with me ran to the ship, but there was a problem; the Gett ship had chained our ship to itself and was now pulling it behind it. I just got in the escape pod and jumped out. And then watched as both ships exploded against the gas giant.

- And how did you get out? - Shepard asked.

- You wouldn't believe it. The geth rescued me. They took the escape pod, brought it back to Illium, and interrogated me about what, where, and when. I told them everything, and then the Legate came and calmly said, "You owe me ten billion. Believe me, I was totally freaked out by that. But he gave me a chance to repay the debt, and if everything works out, he'll pay me ten million. So I have little choice. I'm gonna be running under you.

- Oh, come on. You're a good fighter, Zayed, and you don't need supervision.

- Golden fucking words! - exclaimed Zaid.

- Well, go on," Shepard said goodbye and returned to Garrus.

****

The frigate Normandie-SR2. The main gun.

- Ohhhh, Gods damn you, what Abyss did the Legate get you from," Garrus cursed the gun as the door opened behind him. - Oh, Shepard. Hi.

- Hey, Garrus. How's it going?

- It's a total gruelling! It's also genius! - Garrus exclaimed, which left the captain stumped.

- Why so ambiguous?

- The Hierarchy would sell their souls to the Dark Spirits for such a tool. I'm trying to figure it out without Susie's help. It's so simple, and yet it's all about principles... Oh, to the Spirits! - Garrus dropped the matter and turned to the captain. - It's good to see you, Shepard. - Shepard immediately hugged Garrus, to which he didn't object much. - I never thought coming back from the other side was possible.

- Legatus didn't know that either until he tried it. - Shepard replied, to which Garrus smiled as much as his physiology would allow.

- Yeah. Who'd have thought it, huh? The Geth who once hijacked our Mako and whom we wanted to capture for the Council became our salvation.

- Salvation? From what? - Shepard asked, to Garrus's surprise, and the turian took the hint.

- Salvation from death," Garrus said with his eyes downcast. - You wouldn't have saved me if it wasn't for him.

- How did you end up like this?

- Oh, when you died, everything went downhill. The team went their separate ways, and I decided to return to SBC. But after the Geth attack, the bureaucracy just got tighter. You had to file a report for even going on patrol.

- And the madness got worse," Shepard said quietly.

- Exactly. That's why, a month later, I told the Dark Spirits to go to Terminus. Decided to finish some business, so to speak. Nail down some... individuals who were doing a lot of damage to the Citadel but who I never got to, even though I knew how to do it.

- Bureaucrats.

- Bureaucrats," Garrus agreed. - I killed seventeen people in all. Total scum, bastards, scumbags and the like. Drug dealers, slave traders, smugglers..." Garrus was silent, trying to control his emotions.

- You were taking revenge on them, weren't you? - Shepard asked calmly, deciding to listen to her friend.

- Yes. And I'm not hiding it. There's almost as much shit on the Citadel as on Terminus. Only a lot of it keeps the SBC in line, but it doesn't solve anything. Bribes, they're like that. We stormed a brothel once. For perverts. Minors, BDSM, sadism, red sand, fish tech, ridiculous, chains... - Garrus shook his head to the side to push away the evil thoughts, but he hardly succeeded. - Anyway, there were mostly Azari, turians, and humans. All with scars, some of them even from C-sections... Most of them are drug addicts, about a quarter of them minors... There was even an Azari who was fifty-three years old, a turian fourteen years old, and... a human girl... eleven years old... And then it turned out all the girls there were colonists from different colonies, kidnapped by the Batarians..." The captain's fists clenched involuntarily at the last word. - The Batarians kidnap them in Terminus and sell them for the Citadel's brothels. The Citadel! The cradle of the Council! That... That kind of thing just made me drunk... Honestly... I started drinking. The sight of those girls was... Eh, then I pulled myself together and got serious. A month later, I submitted a report to Palin. It showed that I had two traces that led to two... Persons," Garrus hissed. Shepard was even beginning to be afraid to talk about it further. Garrus's eyes had changed too much during the conversation. Now he just oozed hatred. - It was Kharg Bash'tul, and the second was Ligina T'Ligna. The first was a Batarian slave trader. The second was an Azari. A drug trafficker and prominent pharmacist on Thessia.

- Whoa... And you... Aren't you a little too... I mean... How did you know that? - Shepard wondered. Still, she realised that Garrus had pissed off some huge people with this investigation and report.

- Interrogated the director of that brothel. He didn't escape, and I have... Many methods of getting him to talk.

- You tortured him?

- Yes. I don't regret it. And my fellow officers helped. Mostly the ones who stormed the brothel with me. He died afterwards, but the pathologist... Well, she said he had a heart defect and everything. Anyway, Palin sent me to the Abyss. Far away for a long time and almost got me fired. Fortunately, the others stood up for me and threatened to fire me. Palin couldn't afford that, so they limited the punishment to a reprimand. Heh, it was an anniversary. Fifth reprimand on the record.

- I take it those two didn't get anything, huh? - Shepard knew the answer herself, but she had to ask.

- They didn't. And they won't. I killed them. One shot, one dead body. And I'm not hiding it. They deserved it. Them and 18 other leaders and scumbags like Salmon. Don't judge me!

- Garrus," Shepard interrupted the turian. - Who am I?

- ... - Garrus somehow failed to answer that, so Shepard continued.

- A Torphan butcher. Would you send such intelligent people to prison? I'm not judging you now; I realise you needed a team to do more things like this!

- I... I'm sorry... I'm just... I'm used to being judged by everyone for my vision of justice. And yes, I had a team. Ten sentients. We started by boarding smugglers' and slave traders' ships. Freeing slaves, burning drugs on the pirates' ships... Sometimes the pirates themselves... Then we decided to move to Omega. Killing evil where it's drunk, drugged and fucked... Getting these scum drunk was easy. And while they were writhing in convulsions from the poison, we attacked their ships and warehouses, burned all their cargo, and then disappeared to the lower levels. But then... Anyway... We ran into the Claws. They were able to surround us, but they didn't attack us. They threw chemical grenades at us. The filters didn't work, except they miscalculated one thing. The gas was created in the Hierarchy and has no effect on turians. They're the main contingent in the Claws and of ours... It was just me and Sidonis. We managed to escape through the sewers. Yes, yes, there are sewers on Omega. They followed us, and Sidonis was killed. I hid in the sewers. I hid so well that I got lost. I walked there for three days, knee-deep in the shit of every race there is," the turian hissed, remembering the most disgusting lines of his life. - Then I found some Drell who was trying to sneak into the Afterlife VIP area and kill an Azari. His name was Kolat. He helped me get out, and I started slaying criminals alone. The people nicknamed me "Archangel." They just needed a symbol they could rely on. I became that symbol. But it was only for a month, and then they got so fed up with me that they banded together to kill me. That bridge was my salvation. Just like you, Shepard.

- Not me, Garrus. The Legatus. He saved me, and he saved you. - Shepard corrected Garrus.

- And Tali," the turian added. - She was talking about what happened to her in the Fleet.

- Yes. He saved us all," the captain concluded.

- That's for sure. Well, thank you, Shepard, for listening to me. It's been a pleasure.

- You're welcome, Garrus. You're welcome.

****

Frigate "Normandie-SR2". Pilot's cabin.

Legate

- So you're quietly studying at Illium's most expensive and prestigious academy, and no one even realises you're an AI? Holy shit! - told Joker when the door to his cabin opened, and I saw Joker, who sat in his chair and conducted diagnostics and Susie, sitting nicely on the co-pilot's chair. Really here sat her hologram, but that's how it should be. It was her whim. She sits in place of the co-pilot and clicks on the holograms. Hologram clicking on holograms is a tautology.

- Yeah. Daddy took care of it. By the way, there he is," Susie turned her attention to me, and Joker immediately turned to me.

- Oooh, there's our geth," the Normandy pilot said with a smile, a genuine one at that.

- Yeah. How's the ship working out for you. Is everything working? - I asked as if I had come with an inspection.

- Everything's great! But the best part is the leather seat. God bless that cow that was slaughtered for me, - Joker begged, - Whoever read the charter, but the Alliance does not care about pilots. The whole seat is synthetic or leatherette. It's horrible!

- Because the arse doesn't breathe - it was not a question, but a statement of fact.

- Exactly! At least someone understands me! - exclaimed the Joker. - And the one who doesn't really have an arse.

- Hey, let's save the Goth anatomy lesson for later. How's the ship?

- Oh, don't worry about her. This baby's working just fine," Joker gently stroked the arm of his chair, purring dreamily.

- Now remember, the whole of Normandy is my daughter's body," the frigate's pilot fell into a stupor at that, and Susie smiled and covered her mouth with her hand.

- 'Errr...' was all Joker could say. - I... Ah, hell, you got me. Even Shepard never beat me like that.

- Well, I'm glad I tried.

- Yeah..." He got a little sad at those words and continued much more seriously. - Listen, I wanted to say thank you. For everything. For Normandy, for Shepard, for Chakwas and Adams... Really... If it weren't for you... I couldn't stand it... I was drinking... Really, I started drinking when I got my disability group. Chakwas tried to talk some sense into me, but she had problems. I don't blame her; she was told to leave me and not ruin her reputation. Scum. - Joker blurted out, gripping the arms of the chair tightly. - Anyway, it went on like that for over a year. And then... Then you called. There was a job on a fast frigate, Chakwas and Adams would be there too. At first, I thought it was a drunken dream. Then I woke up and looked at the message again. It's still the same thing. I looked at it like that for three days, and only then did I realise it was genuine and not from my imagination. And only then did I say yes. You should have seen my face when I was greeted by the Vorka. And then I was even more stunned when they were polite and well-meaning. God, that was something.

- I get it. They know how to surprise you. All right, I'll see you later.

- All right. Bye," I said goodbye to Joker, and then the airlock opened, and five Vorks came out, dragging the corpse of a Collector. We were still on Omega, as our group was burning bug corpses and had to deliver weapons samples and a relatively intact corpse. And they got one; sensors showed this bug's neck was broken. How'd they do that, huh?

- Oh, there you are! - I exclaimed. Okay, give me that one. I'll take him myself. Take the weapon to Tali'Zora.

- Yes, sir! - replied the older Vorka and handed me the corpse. I took him by the arms and dragged him across the floor to Mordin. Of course, yes, Xad had given me all the records that pertained to the Huskies of his cycle, but that was nothing compared to the autopsy and study on the test subjects. I also wanted to please Mordin. I had to show him what was interesting.

****

The frigate Normandie-SR2. Dr Solus' lab

When I got to the doctor's office, Shepard and Mordin talked about something.

- Oh, Legate... Um... And this... - Shepard looked at the corpse I was dragging across the floor and began to stammer.

- A gift for the doctor," I stopped next to the autopsy table and placed the corpse on it. - Almost a whole Collector. His neck was broken. We should get everything he knows from him. Will you do it, doctor?

- Sure. It's a good specimen. I'll get right on it. Yes, Legatus. Is there a question," Mordin asked in his usual manner?

- Of course.

- What am I here for? - the Salarian asked abruptly.

- Explain.

- My duties. Autopsy a corpse? You can do that. Treat the wounded? Dr Chakwas is an excellent specialist. I read her dissertation. I'm impressed. As a geneticist? Maybe. Curing disease? Unlikely. Connection to a secret project? Most likely. Cure genophage? Definitely. - Mordin inhaled as if he could smell my gasp. And he was right.

- Actually, it's not just him. Ardath-Yakshi syndrome. Kepral syndrome. Vrolick syndrome. Korpalis syndrome. We're going to Illium to retrieve two test subjects. Justiciar Samara's daughter has this syndrome. You can do whatever you want to her in the name of science. We'll kill her anyway, but at least she'll serve future patients. Thayne Krios is suffering from Kepral syndrome. He'll have to be careful, but I think he'll go along. Joker suffers from Vrolik syndrome. You can deal with him right away. And Garrus' mother has Corpalis syndrome. I think he can get her to send samples. And yes, you're right about the genophage.

- No.

- What is it? - Shepherd asked.

- Genophage. I'm not gonna treat it. It's necessary. Krogan is dangerous. Unpredictable. They could go back to war. The galaxy can't take it.

- Mordin," I interrupted the doctor. - Do you realise what the Salarian Alliance did when they created the genophage?

- Saved the galaxy. The threat of extermination. A forced measure. No alternative.

- No, Mordin. There was an alternative, but more on that later. By creating the genophage, you've robbed this galaxy of great power and a chance to defeat the Reapers.

- There is a chance of victory. You know that. You've done the math. The Geth always calculate everything. If they'd figured defeat, they wouldn't have tried to fight.

- You can't calculate the outcome of a battle, Mordin! No one, nothing and no one can ever calculate the outcome of a battle. It's impossible. You can't calculate all the factors. You can't foresee every force majeure. There is always a risk of defeat and a hope of victory. I'm preparing for war with the Reapers based on hope. Because we don't have Krogan. And that's why we need to cure them of the genophage. If you don't give them that, they'll fight on instinct. Self-preservation instincts are inherent in all living things. But if they are cured of the genophage... Then they will have hope. Hope for the future of their race. A brighter future. What do you think is a better motivator? Fear of being recycled into Huskies like they did to him? - I pointed a finger at the Collector but never took my eyes off the doctor. - Or the hope that an everyday life awaits them after victory? Not a life of mercenaries and thugs at strip clubs, but the life of a race that would begin to rebuild its civilisation and planet.

After that, the Salarian thought long and hard. If Shepard immediately agreed with me midway through the story, Mordin thought for three minutes.

- But the genophage was necessary. We didn't wipe out the Krogan. Just reduced the birth rate.

- No, Mordin. You Salarians just decided to play Gods," Shepard said suddenly, and I didn't hear anything good in her voice. - You could have done it in many ways. You could have made it so that the egg just wouldn't fertilise. You could have made it so that almost all krogan had no sperm. You could, after all, have made the krogan impotent. But no. You made krogan mothers give birth to dead babies. You made all krogan mothers get pregnant. And then you carried their baby under your heart for nine months and waited for it. Waiting and hoping and rejoicing and dreaming of the future. And then they would give birth to... a dead baby... They didn't hear the first scream... They just saw, already almost unconscious from the pain they were feeling and feeling nothing else... They saw a dead corpse. A tiny, bloody corpse that lies lifelessly in the doctor's arms and is nothing more to him than bio-waste to be cremated. So when you think of the virtues of the genophage, think of the thousands of mothers whom you Salarians have condemned to the fate of seeing their dead children!!!!

After this tirade, Shepard flew out of Mordin's lab in a flash. However, I could still see a single tear running down her cheek. Her heartbeat spoke for itself.

- Strange," Mordin summarised briefly.

- Strange what? - I asked, not understanding what the Salarian meant by "strange.

- Only humans and Azari carry a foetus for nine months. Krogan take an egg for three months, and then one more for the foetus to fully form," Mordin said, and I immediately realised what had happened to Shepard.

- Oooh, that's all I need," I said and hurried out of Mordin's lab.