Miss Militia led everyone to a conference room. From the looks on her face, Taylor wasn't sure the woman actually believed everything, especially the part about aliens. She didn't really blame the heroine, it was probably a bit out there.

On the way, Ava helpfully gave Taylor a summary of what the hell had happened while she was absent while Vista and Miss Militia asked a few questions to her companions. The casualties from Scion's rampage had been in the billions with entire alternate earths turned barren. After the battle was over, it had taken some time for the dust to settle and some semblance of order to form. Even then, things were still precarious. The power grid was still unstable, with frequent blackouts, and food was not exactly plentiful.

Still, things seemed to be getting better.

Asteria also gave her report. The shard network was in complete disarray and getting worse as the days passed. Some of the critical shards responsible for managing the network had died when Scion's body had been struck by the weapon. Even with the redundancies in place, shards worked on a time scale different from humans. Two years was not a lot of time for beings that were millions of years old. Most shards still had centuries worth of power reserves to sort out the problems.

The most likely scenario would be that one of the noble shards would gather its lesser peer and ascend to form a new entity. Of course, the effect of this process on the local human population would not exactly be pleasant. The predicted time scale of this event was within twenty to fifty years unless something unexpected happened to kick it off earlier.

One option would be for Asteria to muscle her way as the new leader. Her knowledge of the answer the entities have been looking for was the ultimate trump card. The network could be stabilized and switched to symbiosis. It would be a long and arduous process that would tether both Taylor and her shard to Earth for decades.

If she was honest with herself, she didn't really feel like sacrificing herself a second time. Asteria wasn't either. Her companion wasn't all that talkative most of the time but the emotions transmitted alongside the solution had told Taylor all she needed to know.

Of course, there was also the possibility of dumping this responsibility onto someone else.

Maybe Glaistig Uaine? She had chosen humanity in the end.

The conference room was, somehow, even more spartan than the ones in the PRT had been. Though with the current state of affairs, the Wardens likely couldn't afford hardwood panels and marble floors to decorate their headquarters. At least it wasn't a bunch of camping chairs around a rickety plastic table.

Everyone sat down around the oval table, her crew on one side and the Wardens on the other.

"Someone from the mess is bringing coffee and food," Miss Militia said. "In the meantime, there's water available."

"Mordin, any possible dangers?"

"Possibility of unknown bacteria or divergent evolution," her friend examined the water with his omni-tool. "Water, purified. Organic contaminants, minimal. Risk, likely negligible for water. Other foods another matter entirely. Slight difference in amino-acids can be difference between edible and poisonous. Proceed with caution."

Then there was the issue with Lela. It was unlikely anyone even knew what levo food was here, much less what was safe for a quarian to eat even unsterilized.

"There should be some rations in the shuttle," Taylor grimaced. "Otherwise, we can take a quick trip to the Celebrimbor and bring back a case of cryo-preserved stuff."

"Did you really name your ship the Celebrimbor?" Ava asked with a bark of laughter. "Like the guy from the Lord of the Rings? You're such a dork!"

"Maybe but I'm the one with the spaceship!" Taylor replied with a huff and a grin.

"Wait, wait, wait," Vista stopped them. "Why are you talking about spaceships? The thing outside?"

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It didn't take long for the coffee and food to arrive. In the meantime, Taylor had done her best to try and convince that her crew were not, in fact, delusional Case 53s but actual aliens from across the galaxy. Thankfully her omni-tool was still loaded with much of the information she had used to learn about everything.

She showed images of the citadel and the crowds filled with a dozen different species.

Of course, Miss Militia and Vista were still somewhat skeptical. Ava, on the other hand, seemed fully on board with the idea what Taylor had just gone through a jaunt across an alternate version of the galaxy and brought back friends.

A dozen or so minutes into their discussion, Legend and Chevalier arrived. Taylor spotted their helicopter land through several observer drones she had left outside. They had to use the empty area next to the headquarters since the helipad was already occupied by her shuttle.

It wasn't long before the two former Protectorate leaders reached the room.

Chevalier had updated his armor to a black and gold color scheme. It looked as imposing as ever and his signature weapon, the famous canon-blade, was strapped to his back. Through her new senses, Taylor could admire the full beauty of the weapon and the dozens of interwoven layers it was composed of. Below his full face helmet, the man's expression was unreadable.

Legend had gained quite a few grey hairs since they had last met, she had no doubt a few of those were her fault, but his white and blue costume looked as heroic as ever. His domino mask failed to hide his apprehensive expression.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"Weaver …" Legend began. "Contessa told me you were …"

"Dead?" Taylor said, a slight tinge of disdain colored her voice. "She did try her best. Two bullets to the back of the head and left for dead in another dimension. Maybe the vaunted eye is not as all seeing as it thinks."

"She told me there was no other way," Legend said, his voice hesitant, "that you could have become … like him. That she couldn't take the chance."

"I don't blame you," Taylor said softly. "I didn't want to end up like him either."

"Chevalier …" Legend turned towards his friend.

"It is her," the knight said, a hint of fear in his voice, "I recognizer her power." He had no doubt seen Asteria through his strange vision. "But it has changed … now it's like … like Eidolon used to look like."

"What happened?" Legend asked.

"It's a very long story," Taylor motioned to the chairs, "you should take a seat."

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It took quite a while to explain everything. Thankfully, Mordin and Niusa could help recount the events that happened on Omega. Lela was a bit more reserved but she chimed in with information regarding the quarian migrant fleet and the general state of the galaxy.

Taylor also explained what had happened to her shard but only to the three senior members of the Wardens present. Her crew already knew more and she suggested that they go for a tour of the headquarters rather than be stuck in a meeting all day. The three were understandably skeptical at first until she copied their powers and even demonstrated the capabilities of the Network sub-power to share powers.

"And so, in the end, you did become like him," Legend said. His tone wasn't an accusation but a mere statement of fact.

"If you really believed that, we would already be fighting," Taylor answered. "I may have become a distant cousin of the Warrior but I am not like him."

"What are your plans then?" Chevalier asked. "As the leader of the Wardens, I am obligated to ask."

"I was planning on quietly picking up my girlfriends then, as Regent or Imp would say, peace the hell out. Return to the other galaxy and enjoy my retirement somewhere that doesn't have ten extinction-level events constantly brewing. From the faces you made when I showed up, I don't think Earth Gimmel wants me to be back anyway."

"Girlfriends? As in, plural?" Legend asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Tattletale and Bitch," Taylor answered smugly.

"That wasn't in her PRT file," Chevalier quietly whispered to Legend.

"Because it was none of your damn business," Taylor said. "On another note, do you know if Dragon and Defiant survived?" She asked hesitantly. "I'd like to say my goodbyes."

"Yes," Legend said, "they are on another earth. Defiant left a way to contact them in case of an emergency. I can send a message on your behalf. I know they meant a lot to you."

"Can you tell them I am coming to …" Taylor started when an alert chimed in her mind.

She had asked Asteria to keep an eye on things and she was glad that she had.

"Tattletale is in danger," she quickly said, "I have to go. Can you keep an eye on my crew?"

"Go," Legend just said with a shake of his head.

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Lisa quickly rounded a corner to attempt to lose her pursuers.

She had gotten too complacent, that much was certain, but the men tailing her weren't the average thug either. They were too good for that. She had attracted the attention of someone powerful. Someone that wasn't afraid of her. Which left a vanishingly small group of suspects.

Pursuers anticipated route, her power chimed in too late.

Some thugs stepped to block the other side of the alley. It was too late to turn back, the ones on her heels would definitely catch her if she did.

"Our employer wants to talk to you, Miss Livsey," one of the thugs said.

Employer is Teacher, her power deducted a fraction of a second before her. The man was one of the few who had the means to access old archives where her birth name was stored. She had made sure to scrub that information from everywhere else with a vengeance.

"I'm not really keen on meeting him," she answered. Her hand was already on her gun.

"You can either come quietly or …" the thug began.

"… or what?" A new voice entered the conversation from above.

One that was intimately familiar to the blonde Thinker. One that belonged to someone that was dead. Was Teacher trying to fuck with her? She looked upwards, at the edge of the building on her left, where the voice had come from.

There was a woman there, wearing black tinker-tech armor with gold accents. She didn't wear a helmet and even from this distance, Lisa recognized her. It was Taylor. Or someone impersonating her at least. She didn't know who was insane enough to try that as it was a guaranteed ticket to the morgue.

The Taylor impersonator kicked off the edge and landed on the ground a few feet from Lisa. From up close, she looked exactly like her girlfriend as well. Some kind of clone? Her power stayed strangely silent on the matter.

"Leave, this is none of your concern," the lead thug threatened.

"Oh but it is," the Taylor clone said. "You're trying to kidnap my girlfriend after all."

"Boss!" One of the thugs said with utter terror in his voice. He was pointing behind the group at the other end of the alley, at a massive tinker-tech spider, while failing to notice the same behind him. All of them had been too focused on the new arrival.

"You are with Teacher," the Taylor clone said. "This man's power is as disgusting as his personality."

"You were warned," the thug shot the clone … caught the bullet. Her hands had moved with such speed that Lisa hadn't been able to even notice they had moved.

"Oh, well," she said with a shrug. "I'll let the Wardens deal with you." The constructs struck as fast as lighting, the turrets on their back fired small projectiles and the men disappeared in a black vortex.

"Now," the Taylor clone turned around and clapped her hands together.

"Who the fuck are you?" Lisa pulled her gun out and pointed it under the abomination's chin. "You're wearing her skin," she said with pure venom in her voice, "I'm half of a mind to blow your brains out just for that."

"It's me, Taylor," the thing answered, hurt in its voice. "Lisa what's happening? I thought that …" It stopped mid-sentence. "I'm an idiot."

Her power came back with a flood.

Appearance exactly matches Taylor Hebert. Movements exactly match Taylor Hebert. Voice and intonation exactly match Taylor Hebert. Mannerisms are a near match for Taylor Hebert, differences are congruent with extrapolations due to a different mental state. Taylor Hebert displayed new power, likely the result of changes post Gold Morning. Taylor Hebert suffered a third trigger.

"I had anti-Thinker defenses on," Maybe Taylor whispered. "Your power is probably babbling a lot of things about me now. It's also wrong about the third trigger by the way."

"What? How do you know?" Lisa said, her finger still on the trigger of her gun. "What did you tell me after the first time I kissed you?"

"Nothing, I was too stunned to say anything," Maybe Taylor said. "But I kissed Rachel first and I think she liked it a lot more than you did."

"Blood hell," Lisa swore. Very few people remembered the details of this particular day but she was certain nobody knew the last part. All three of them had only discussed it privately. "You're … you're alive?" The gun fell grip and she took Taylor into a tight embrace. "How? Contessa …"

"Double tapped me in the back of the head and dumped my comatose body into another dimension" Taylor finished. "She didn't count on the fact that my power really, really liked me. It took two years but … I'm back."

Lisa gave her girlfriend a long kiss and cried in her arms for a while.