"You bitch, you have no idea who you're messing with..."

Miranda's gun barked once, painting an impressive spray of blood and brains onto the wall behind the man's head. Why did they always have to try to threaten, even when it was clear she didn't give a shit?

"I've got access," said Jacob from behind her. The room was wrecked from their rather dynamic entrance. Several bodies now lay cooling on the floor, joined by the one who had just spoken.

"Show me." Miranda moved up next to Jacob and began scanning through the files they'd managed to extract. "This encryption is definitely one used by the Shadow Broker. Now if I were an encryption key, where would I hide?"

Jacob glanced around at the carnage. "I hope the file access isn't tied into some kind of bio-marker, because we're pretty short on volunteers right now."

"The Shadow Broker never does that," replied Miranda. Her icy blue eyes darted around the room. "Nothing obvious...I wonder if we're dealing with a 'Purloined Letter' situation."

"A what?"

She gave him a little smug grin and squeezed one of his biceps. "You need to start reading the classics, dear." Miranda leaned forward and paged back to the terminal's main menu, then looked in the 'trash bin' for discarded programs. "A file called miscellaneous. I wonder what that's for?" She clicked on the file, and was rewarded with a long string of numbers.

Jacob's dark face split into a large grin. "Hide it in plain sight. I like it."

His smile went away as they read through the decrypted files stored on the terminal.

"We have to get these to Shepard," said Miranda. "I'll leave them at the drop so that EDI can pick them up."

----------------------------------------

Donnelly gritted his teeth. He'd been getting used to the 'phantom limb' pains which followed the loss of his leg, but this was even worse. It felt like a worse spate of the painful pins-and-needles tingling that comes after a limb falls asleep.

It was a good thing Dr. Chakwas was there. He much preferred her bedside manner to Mordin's. "Okay, so it should now be interfacing with your nerves. Can you feel it?"

"Oh hell yes." Fortunately the pain started to subside a bit. He looked down and regarded his new leg. The junction at the knee glittered with blued steel and wiring, but otherwise it looked fairly close to the real thing. It did have a lack of leg hair, but Chakwas had told him he could get it customized to look pretty much as he wanted. Jack, of course, had immediately suggested airbrushing some flames onto it.

"All right, now the neural networks in the prosthetic have to be trained. As you use the limb, it will become more easy to use as it learns your particular nervous system." She turned away and tapped a few keys on her terminal. "Go ahead and try to flex your foot down."

He did so, and was rewarded with a faint whirr as his new foot obligingly pointed his toes at the floor. It was oddly detached, as if it was watching the motion happen on a screen.

"Good, now flex it the other way...excellent. Please try to bend your knee." Another whirr as the limb obeyed. He was happy to see it, although he still felt that odd detachment.

"It's odd, doctor. It feels kind of like I'm watching somebody else's leg move."

Dr. Chakwas nodded. "That's because you're not getting the feedback you're used to. Both from your the skin as well as the proprioceptor nerves that tell you where your leg is relative to the rest of you."

She picked up a stylus and started up a new program on her terminal. "That's the next step. Can you feel this?" She prodded the top of his new foot with the stylus.

Donnelly wrinkled his brow. "I might? It feels more like I'm getting poked in the shin, though."

"Got it." She touched a few more controls and then repeated the exercise.

He just about yelped in surprise. "Wow! Yeah, I felt that!"

"It wasn't painful, was it?"

"No, just...surprising."

The door to the medbay hissed open and Jack strolled in. "How's Captain Ahab coming along, doc?"

Dr. Chakwas arched an eyebrow, but answered levelly. "You're just in time. I was going to have him stand up and try a few steps."

"Sweet!" Jack looked over Donnelly's new leg. "I still say you gotta jazz it up a little. Basic pink is so boring."

Donnelly waved one hand. "First things first. Um, should I just try to stand up, or what?"

"Actually, we should probably steady you. Jack, would you take his other arm? Don't lift him, just keep him from falling over."

"Got it, doc. You ready, Assface?"

He took a deep breath. "Aye, lass." It was amazing, how a simple act like standing up could feel like such a momentous event. He pushed down through both heels and slowly got himself upright. "It feels okay right now," he said. "I can support my weight, at least. But it feels a bit uncanny, almost like I'm wearing a stilt on one leg."

"Just standing there will be helpful to the prosthetic," said Dr. Chakwas. "It's learning how you shift your body to keep yourself balanced."

As he stood there, the odd 'stilty' feeling from the artificial limb faded away. "Aye, it seems to be working." He flexed both sets of toes experimentally, and was gratified to see the prosthetic's toes follow along with his remaining real set. "I'd like to take a step or two, I think."

The first step nearly resulted in a face-plant, but he caught himself in time. A few more steps and he felt like he was getting the hang of it.

"With enough time, it should integrate fully into your nervous system," said Dr. Chakwas. "After a while, you shouldn't really notice anything."

He walked back along the length of the medbay, lurching a little as he did so. "I...I don't know what to say. Thank you."

"Well I have to say I'm a little sad," said Jack with a grin. "Now I can't call you Stumpy anymore."

----------------------------------------

Shepard's yell echoed through the hangar. "Come on, Grunt! You've gotta have more than that!" The bravado helped give him a little bit more energy...which was good, because he was getting seriously gassed.

This was a friendly sparring session, but even so he wasn't planning on letting Grunt get a hit in on him. Any punch at all from the towering krogan would have automatically ended the fight. So Shepard was doing his best Muhammed Ali impression, keeping on the move and dancing all around the big alien. Grunt's attacks had initially been sure and fast. Now it seemed like the krogan was finally starting to feel tired. His hands were beginning to drop more and more.

Shepard was also feeling it, but there was no way he was letting Grunt know that. He ducked and spun away from another haymaker from the krogan. Grunt growled in frustration. "How can you still fight? I am krogan, I can outlast the stones of the earth!"

"Then prove it!" The Commander slipped a straight punch from Grunt and landed a jab on the krogan's jaw. It didn't do much, and the shock of the impact traveled up his arm and made him wince.

Grunt flinched away from the punch and then tried to grapple with the human. Shepard planted a foot in Grunt's stomach and pushed himself away, then rolled to get to his feet. The krogan bellowed and charged. Shepard sidestepped the charge, laced his fingers together, and swung with both hands at Grunt's temple.

It felt like he'd tried to punch a brick wall. He gave a little clenched-teeth groan with the pain of the hit. Grunt fell forward onto his face. Shepard stood, breathing hard as he waited for the krogan to get back up.

But Grunt just rolled over on his back. "I...I yield, Battlemaster." He held up both his huge hands as he panted. "I must train harder, it seems."

"You did good, Grunt," replied Shepard. He squatted on his heels as he tried to catch his breath. He looked up and saw a significant chunk of the crew watching the match with great interest. Jack was front and center, with a big smile on her face. "I'm next, right Boss?" It was clear she thought she might actually have an advantage this time against a worn-out N7.

He just waved her forward as Grunt picked himself up off of the mat and stumbled off to the side. Jack practically danced into the center of the mat. "I'll make it easy on ya, Boss. No biotic enhancement."

Shepard stood, his breathing still ragged. "You can make it hard, if you like."

She raised one eyebrow, then nodded. A blue glow appeared around her fists as she planted her feet. "I gotta warn you, Blue and I have been doing a little hand-to-hand practice on the side."

"Good," replied Shepard as he slowly raised his hands. "I wouldn't want to make this too easy for me." His hands shook ever so slightly.

"Whenever you like," said Jack.

Shepard said nothing, and waited.

Jack finally decided the waiting was over. She did a skipping step forward and lashed out with a kick at Shepard's forward knee. Shepard scissored his legs, drawing his knee back out of range of the glowing blue boot, then kicked with his own forward leg at Jack's midsection. The hangar filled with the whoof sound of air driven out of Jack's lungs, and she bent over and wheezed as Shepard quickly shuffled out of range.

"Are you okay, Jack?"

"Damn," Jack gasped. "You are still fast and you still kick like a mule, even after going ten rounds with a krogan."

Shepard launched himself at Jack, planning to follow up with another kick. But midway to her, he unexpectedly bounced off of a shimmering blue field and was sent sprawling. He started to roll to get to his feet, only to feel Jack's boot on his chest. She stood over him, panting and with a satisfied look on her face.

"What do you think of that, Boss?"

He had to admit it was impressive. "What was that? Some kind of expanded barrier?"

"It's something Blue and I have been working on. A larger biotic barrier, something that more than one person can get underneath."

Shepard gave a little chuckle. "Neat." His head fell back onto the mat. "Okay, fine, you win for once. And I want you and Samara to keep practicing that expanded barrier. It could be useful."

Jack took her boot off of his chest. "Sure thing, Boss. You okay?" She reached down a hand, and Shepard took it.

"I'm good," he said as he was pulled to his feet.

The biotic gave him a wink. "You want me to get Tali down here to give you a rubdown?" she asked in a low voice.

Shepard felt his face get warm as Jack gave a delighted chuckle. "You really are just a big old boy scout, aren't you?"

He looked up in irritation at the assembled onlookers. "Don't you all have jobs to do, or something?"

----------------------------------------

The 'drop' that Miranda and Jacob used was not a physical location. It was a nondescript mail folder for an almost-unused phone number, tucked away in a random corner of the Extranet.

EDI flew through information phase space, her current avatar that of a golden arrow. She reached the number and did a quick check for any new files. There was one big file, along with a short message from Miranda. If EDI had eyes, they would have narrowed as she read the message. The file took a pretty long time to download and parse, almost 0.2 milliseconds. An organic lifeform might have actually been aware of a slight pause in her processes as she digested the import of the file.

Then she called Shepard.

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The Normandy's water recycling system was first-rate, and so Shepard was able to indulge in what the sailors of old would call a 'Hollywood Shower' whenever he felt like it. After a military career that had seemed to consist primarily of sponge baths, it almost felt decadent to just let the hot water run.

"Shepard?" said EDI's voice as he finished his rinsing.

"Go ahead."

"I have a new message from Miranda and Jacob, along with a significant data package. It is troubling."

Shepard stepped out of the shower and began to towel himself off. "Give me the short version."

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"They have managed to shut down the leak from Cerberus. In addition, they have also found definitive proof that the information leak was indeed going to the Shadow Broker. I must say I am impressed with their speed and resourcefulness." The AI almost sounded grudging in its praise.

"We suspected that. What's the troubling part?"

"The Shadow Broker is still using his or her network to track the Normandy. From what they have gathered, it appears whatever positional information they can get is being forwarded directly to the Collectors."

Shepard wrapped the towel around his midsection and walked out into his cabin. Even though he and Tali had finally consummated their love, he still had some residual shyness. The coast was clear, however. Tali must be down in Engineering.

"So the Shadow Broker is now openly working with the Collectors," he mused. "Well, I guess we'll have to be extra careful going forward. Leave a message for Miranda and Jacob, and tell them to get their asses back to the Normandy. They've done all they can."

"Are you sure, sir?" asked EDI.

He frowned a little. "Yes. Are you okay with having them back? I know you and Miranda have not been...exactly friendly in the past."

"Her actions on Illium almost drove me into psychosis, sir. But she does seem to be trying to make up for it. I will tolerate her for now. Logging out."

----------------------------------------

Sergeant Gardner was surprised to see the geth as he walked into the mess. The word had gone out that the synthetic was to be treated like any other crewmember, but Gardner figured that he wouldn't have to deal with it. After all, geth didn't eat...or did they?

"Um, hello," he said uncertainly. The geth was sitting at one of the tables with its hands folded together. It was as if it was waiting to be served.

"Hello, Human-Gardner Sergeant." The unblinking light of the geth stared at him while Gardner tried to not get spooked. He walked into the kitchen area and began his preparations for the evening meal.

After a little while, the silence began to get to Gardner. The thing wasn't doing anything, just sitting there like it was waiting for a damn bus. He finally spoke up. "Hey, did you need something?"

"Seeking to understand organic interactions. Ingestion of fuel appears to be significant part of such interaction. This platform wanted to view process first-hand."

He smiled, hoping to look friendly. "Yeah, that's true. You don't eat, I take it."

"Correct. Geth use direct electrical power input to recharge." Legion's head tilted as if in thought. "However, must say that Normandy's power is quite clean. Low noise, very steady. Would call it 'tasty', if this platform was organic."

"Thank you, Legion," said EDI's voice. "I guess you could say that was compliments to the chef?"

Legion's head-flaps twitched and expanded. "Yes, this platform could say that."

----------------------------------------

The meal actually went fairly smoothly, in spite of the geth-shaped distraction in the middle of the room. After a little bit of uneasiness, everybody got down to eating. Shepard actually sat with the geth, peppering it with questions about how the geth were organized.

"I'm interested in how you come to political decisions," said Shepard. "Do the geth have a government?"

Legion's head-flaps tilted as if pondering. "Not as you understand. We are all geth. We build consensus. Not imposed from above, consensus is achieved as data is disseminated."

"That must take a long time," mused Shepard.

"It would for organics. We communicate at the speed of light. The network is highly integrated among all geth facilities." The synthetic paused. "A similar process takes place in each of the Old Machines."

"How do you know that?" asked Garrus. "We've never been able to determine exactly what kind of a mind a Reaper has."

"Based on observation," replied Legion. "When Sovereign made its offer of support to the geth, the heretics followed it. Before isolation from the heretics was completed, true geth were able to see what the heretics had discovered about Old Machine logic structures. Surprisingly similar to geth, but on larger scale." It tapped its chest. "Multiple processes running on a single physical platform."

Shepard's fork was paused midair, his meal forgotten as he thought. "I see. Sovereign was one ship, but you are saying there were multiple programs inside of it?"

"Yes. Programs were more complete than geth; each individual would be considered 'sapient'. Geth, by comparison, are 'subsapient' when isolated. But effect is the same. One ship. One will. Many minds. Like the geth. As Sovereign told you on Vermire, "We are each a nation, independent, free of all weakness."

Shepard set his fork down. "Donnelly!" he called. The redheaded engineer looked up from his meal and saw the Commander gesturing him over. The big man lurched over on his new prosthetic with a slightly apprehensive look on his face. Shepard kept his voice pitched lower as the engineer sat. "That...um, thing you heard on Mnemosyne. It said 'join', right?"

"Aye." He looked curiously at Shepard and then at Legion. "Er, what's this about?"

The Spectre sat back with a satisfied look on his face. "It means I now have a good notion what Indoctrination really is. Think about it...the logs we found on that wreck on Mnemosyne indicated that the scientists were becoming confused about their individuality. You heard it as a voice asking you to join with the whole. And we just corroborated that each Reaper is made up of an amalgamation of many sapient minds. Indoctrination is just the 'base program' of a Reaper that's always running in the background. It's trying to get all of the minds around it to 'join' with the whole."

"This is logical," said Legion. "Based on heretic data, we suspect that effect known as 'Indoctrination' is caused by focused spacetime distortions that affect organic brain tissue."

Donnelly looked oddly relieved. "I see. Shepard, Mordin should hear about this. If Legion has that data, then we might be able to actually come up with a countermeasure."

Garrus's mandibles expanded in a turian smile. "That would be something. With that, we could safely reverse engineer Reaper technology."

----------------------------------------

After the meal, Legion tagged along with Shepard as they visited Mordin. The Commander thought the salarian was going to actually kiss Legion after getting the geth's Indoctrination data. As they left the lab, Legion touched Shepard on the arm.

"Shepard-Commander. May we meet privately? Have additional data to exchange."

"Sure." Shepard waited until they'd reached the AI core and the door was closed. "What's the problem?"

"Not problem, just...difficult data to process. We performed multiple scans during exploration of wrecked Old Machine on Mnemosyne. We have completed our analysis of those scans."

"Did you find anything useful?"

The geth paused, clearly trying to figure out the best way to proceed. "We were sent to the Old Machine to preserve the geth's future. We are prepared to reveal how. The heretics have developed a weapon to use against geth. You would call it a 'virus'. It is stored on a data core provided by Sovereign. Over time, the virus would change us. Make us conclude that worshiping the Old Machines is correct."

Shepard crossed his arms. "Sovereign supplied the virus. But the Reaper derelict was much older. Why did you need to go to there?"

"The heretics store the code in a quantum storage device Sovereign provided. To find and destroy the virus, we needed to understand its code and data storage structures."

He pursed his lips. "I see. Destroying this virus does sound like a necessary course of action. If I understand correctly, the virus would give all geth the heretic's logic. And then the united geth would go to war with all organics."

Legion's hood-flaps expanded a little. "Yes. Geth believe that all intelligent life should self-determinate. The heretics no longer share this belief. They judge that forcing an invalid conclusion on us is preferable to the continued schism."

Shepard thought back on what Tali had told him. "I thought Geth couldn't be hacked or get viruses? At least for more than a few seconds."

"Altered programs are restored from archives, new installations are deleted. This heretic weapon introduces a subtle operating error in our most basic runtimes. The equivalent of your central nervous system. An equation with a result of 1.33382 returns as 1.33381. This changes the results of all higher processes. We will reach different conclusions."

"Forgive me, but that sounds odd. The reason the heretics worship the Reapers is because of...a math error?

Legion clasped its hands together in a manner oddly reminiscent of Tali when she was nervous. "It is difficult to express. Your brain exists as amalgamation of electrical and chemical signaling. Like traditional AIs, you are shaped by both hardware and software. Geth are purely software. Mathematics. The heretic's conclusion is valid for them. Our conclusion is valid for us. Neither result is an error. An analogy. Heretics say one is less than two. Geth say that two is less than three."

Shepard sighed. "I guess I shouldn't judge. After all, humans have basic instincts which can get perverted into horrible behavior."

"Yes. As an example, humans have intrinsic desire to form tribal groups. Admirable survival trait on a small scale. On a large scale, same instinct can result in fascism and other totalitarian outcomes."

"So this virus...if it were released, how quickly would it spread among your people?"

"As mentioned previously, geth are extensively networked. Connections are made via FLT comm buoys. Most would change within a day. Isolated platforms would remain unaffected until they rejoined the network."

"So you've decoded enough of the Reaper logic structure to destroy the virus?"

"Yes."

"Good. Do you know where this thing is?"

"The heretic's headquarters station, on the edge of the Terminus. We will provide coordinates. Normandy's stealth systems are necessary to safely approach."

Shepard put a hand on Legion's shoulder, and the geth's single eye looked down curiously at his hand. "I won't let them brainwash your race, especially not to worship Reapers. You have my word on that."

Legion looked back up at Shepard. "We will begin preparations."

----------------------------------------

Tali looked askance at Legion as the geth leaned over the conference room table. She still felt a little conflicted about working alongside the enemy of her people, no matter how helpful this particular geth might be. The holographic display above the table showed a large, oblong space station. Legion pointed at a particular point on the station's exterior. "Heretic facility has multiple intrusion alarms. Best course of action is to attempt entry here. Can bypass hull monitors most easily at this point. But will still need to deal with networked alarms once inside."

Shepard tapped his chin. "Can we distract them somehow? Maybe if we set off a bomb or two on a nearby asteroid, that would get them scouting for enemies while we sneak in the back door."

Tali gave a little laugh. "I can't believe how often you think blowing things up will work."

He gave her a lopsided grin. "It's surprising how many problems can be solved with a judicious application of high explosive."

"Not an optimal solution in this case," said Legion. "Simulated external threat will still leave internal network to deal with."

"So we need a logic bomb of some sort," mused Tali. "But not an obvious one."

"Have possible solution," replied Legion. "With assistance of Normandy AI, we can infiltrate their wireless network and fill the station's data storage with random bits. It will look like a programming error, not a malicious attack."

Shepard didn't look convinced. "And that helps us how?"

Tali could swear that the synthetic almost looked smug. "The heretics must scrub this 'junk' data. They will partition themselves into local networks, working in parallel. Any alarm we trigger will not go beyond the room we are in. Only accessing the main core will trigger a station-wide alert."

"Sounds like a workable plan," said Shepard. "EDI, are you up for it?"

"I will avoid the obvious double-entendre and simply say yes."

Tali stood and folded her arms. "And assuming it all works out, then what?"

Both Legion and Shepard looked at her. "Successful mission," replied the geth. "Heretic logic weapon will be destroyed. True geth will still be open to coexistence."

"Coexistence how? I understand the need to do this mission. The last thing we need is more hostile geth. But you mentioned back when we activated you that the geth are building a future. What exactly did that mean?"

Legion's hood-flaps trembled as if the machine was nervous. "Will not disclose at this point. Trust on both sides still uncertain. Revelation of plans may open up geth to future attack by creators or others."

"We're not going to attack you, Legion," said Shepard. He gave Tali a little glance, and she knew he wanted the same reassurance from her.

She shook her head. "All I can say is that I have no intention of harming you or the other 'true' geth...if your intentions are indeed peaceful. I can say that if there was the possibility of coexistence on Rannoch then a lot more of my people would also be supportive."

Legion gave a little nod. "Understood. Achieving consensus is difficult among organics. Will say that future does not involve harm to creators or to their homeworld."

"So coexistence may be possible? The quarians might be able to live on Rannoch again?"

The geth paused. "Yes. Cannot be more specific at present. If quarians act in good faith, then geth are prepared to reciprocate."

Tali leaned back as conflicted thoughts swirled in her head. The possibility of living on the homeworld in her lifetime was a cause for elation. However, the 'good faith' part was troubling. Her father's horrific experiments had to be buried and never come to light. She knew that, if the situations were reversed, the torture and dismemberment of quarian POWs would result in an immediate and total war with the geth, heretics be damned. While the geth might not behave the same way, she couldn't take that chance.

No, Legion could not even get a hint about what happened on board the Alarei. She would have to make certain her personal logs were well secured on her omni-tool.

Outwardly, she nodded. "I can't speak for all quarians, but I'm sure we can work something out. We can discuss it more after the mission."

----------------------------------------

The heretic's headquarters loomed over the Normandy as they sped towards it. Its shape reminded Shepard of an ancient Greek helmet.

Joker looked back at Legion, who was not looking out the front and instead running scans on the huge station. "You know it's just our heat emissions that are hidden, right?" asked the pilot. "They can look out a window and see us coming."

"Windows are structural weaknesses," replied Legion. "Geth do not use them. Approach the hull at these coordinates."

Joker's hands danced over the controls as they drew closer, eventually coming towards what looked like a small personnel access hatch. Shepard wondered if the AIs had just copied the entrance's design from their quarian creators; it seemed odd to have an airlock like this for beings that didn't really need it.

Legion finished its scans. "Access achieved. Random-bit attack by EDI is underway and successful. We may proceed."

The Commander turned to Garrus as he entered the cockpit area. "This needs to be a small strike team to minimize the chance of discovery. Legion and I have to go, but a third person would be valuable. Are you up for shooting some more geth?"

Garrus tilted his head. "Why, you think I didn't get enough of that during our chase after Saren?"

"Now as I recall, you were the one who kept complaining every time you got left behind."

The turian gave a honk of a laugh. "That's because if I wasn't there to tell you better, you'd go off and start driving over mountains. And then I'd be stuck fixing the Mako. Yet again."

Legion tilted his head. "Interesting how organics often undergo data exchange with null semantic value."

Garrus nodded towards Legion. "I can tell he's going to be a real font of laughs. So what will we need for this?"

"The facility has little air or gravity," replied Legion. "Geth require neither. Recommend full suits."

They cut through the entry hatch with little problem. Garrus went first, and then waved them inside. The corridor of the geth facility was filled with a dim blue light, and huge dust motes floated in the air. It was silent except for the muted clatter of their booted feet on the deck.

After a little ways inside, Legion suddenly paused. "Shepard-Commander. We concluded that destruction of the heretic station was the only available resolution. There is now a second option."

Shepard looked with narrowed eyes at the geth. This sort of last-minute mission change was never a good sign. "Explain."

"Several of my processes have completed an independent analysis. The heretic virus can be re-purposed. If released into the station's network, the heretics will be rewritten to accept our truth."

Garrus's face was hidden behind the faceplate of his helmet, but from his posture Shepard could tell that the turian didn't like the idea. "That sounds dangerously close to Indoctrination, unless there's something I'm missing." He looked over at Shepard. "Maybe this is how AIs settle religious disputes. The geth are already a potential threat to organics, though. If we give them back their heretics, they'll grow even stronger."

"Why didn't you mention this before?" asked Shepard.

Legion gave his version of a shrug. "Received new data when accessing station security system. We did not know the virus was complete. It is. It can be used against the true geth at any time. Our arrival was timely. Now weapon can be re-purposed, not simply destroyed."

The Commander absently tapped the toe of his boot against the deck as he thought through the implications. "They're your people, Legion. You must have an opinion."

"This is new data. We have not yet reached consensus. We will process as the mission proceeds."

"John, I don't like the idea of being a party to brainwashing an entire group of sapients."

"If this were an organic race, it would be an ethical problem. But Geth aren't like organic life, or even like centralized AIs. I don't know if we can apply our morality to them."

"That is logical," added Legion.

Garrus turned to the geth in surprise. "So you agree with that?"

Legion tilted its head. "No two species are identical. All must be judged on their own merits. Treating every species like one's own is racist. Even benign anthropomorphism. The minds of both forms of life can be shaped. Organics require time and effort. With synthetics, replacement of a data file is the only requirement."

The turian visibly shuddered. "Don't take this the wrong way, Legion, but right now I'm really glad to be an organic."

"Enough talk," said Shepard. "Let's move out."