Lazarus Project: Mass Effect 2 (Shenko)

Chapter 76

Milky Way/Hawking Eta Cluster/SSV Normandy SR-2

Earth year: 2185 --- December

Back in the briefing room, Callie endured another heated discussion over the geth. After reminding both Jacob and Miranda who was in charge, she headed for the crew deck and the AI Core to talk to the geth.

Stepping into the room, she couldn't believe she was about to activate a geth on the ship. She'd completely lost her mind, she thought as EDI set up secondary firewalls to keep it from hacking the Normandy.

"Can you understand me?" She asked as the geth got to it's feet.

"Yes."

"Are you going to attack me?"

"No."

"You said my name back on the Reaper ship. Have we met?"

"No. We have not met you."

"Then how did you know who I was?"

"Shepard-Commander. Alliance. Fought heretics. Fought the Old Machines. We learned of you through organic comm buoy transmissions."

"I fought who?"

"Heretics. The Old Machines contacted the geth. Offered to give us the future. The geth refused. The heretics did not. The geth will create our own future."

"But you're all geth." Callie countered.

"Geth are software, this unit is hardware. Some geth chose to ally with the Old Machines. The rest did not."

"Old Machines? You mean the Reapers?"

"A superstitious name first used by the Protheans to describe their enemy. The one who contacted the geth called itself Nazarra."

"So the Reapers are a threat to the geth? Why would they attack other machines?"

"Because we are different. We oppose the Old Machines. Shepard-Commander opposes the Old Machines. Shepard-Commander opposes the heretics."

"Wait." Callie interrupted, holding up her hand. "Are you saying you want to join us?"

"Yes."

Heaving a sigh, Callie dropped the containment shield. "Alright. So what do I call you?"

"We are geth. This is a mobile hardware unit housing over 1,000 software programs."

"Fine, then what is the individual in front of me called?"

"We are all geth."

Callie groaned as EDI interrupted them. "We are Legion, for we are many."

"That seems fitting." Callie mused.

"Earth. Human. Early Christian bible. This metaphor is appropriate. We are Legion. We look forward to integrating with the Normandy and a cooperative exchange of information."

"Welcome aboard Legion." Callie said, offering her hand.

"Thank you Shepard-Commander."

"Now tell me what you were doing on the Reaper."

"Looking for you and the source of the virus Nazarra, a Reaper, gave to the heretics."

"I thought geth couldn't get viruses."

"It is a run-time error. Difficult to explain in organic terms. One results in one answer, a second in another. Both conclusions are correct."

"Like a math error? That makes no sense."