Garrus carefully placed his foot over the particular wiring bundles which Legion had indicated. Apparently these held the geth that were working on scrubbing out EDI's junk data. Any contact would interrupt that work and warn the AIs that something was up.

"What if we do trigger an alert?" he asked over his shoulder.

"Interruption will alert local network only." Legion gestured to a nearby alcove, which held several streamlined mechanical bodies attached to a central biomechanical-looking tower. "We recommend preemptive strikes against hard-link routers as we proceed."

Shepard also stepped over the wiring bundles as he approached the tower. "Why are all the heretics attached to these hubs?"

Legion's hood-flaps flared. "These are mobile platforms. Hardware. The crew is software. They are communing through the station's central computer network."

"I'm not sure I follow," said Shepard, but Garrus could. The turian was now getting an idea of just how dangerous the geth could be.

"The heretics connect to the main network to exchange data-memories and program updates," replied Legion. "We gain complexity by linking together. To be isolated within a single platform is to be reduced. We see less. Comprehend less. It is quieter."

"But the geth can switch between mobile platforms, correct?" asked Garrus, and Legion nodded. "Hmm. So taking down a geth platform doesn't mean you've killed those geth."

"Correct," said Legion.

Shepard looked up at the inert geth on the tower. "But I still don't get it. If you exchange data - memories - how do you keep track of which ones are yours? How do you stay, well, 'you'?"

Legion tilted its head. "There is only 'we'. We were created to share data among ourselves. The difference between geth is perspective. We are many eyes looking at the same things. One platform will see things another does not and will make different judgments."

Shepard nodded. "Got it. I can see why you'd be conflicted about the heretics. In a way, whatever you're doing to them you're doing to yourself."

Legion looked down at the deck. It was a gesture that made Garrus realize that the Geth had picked up some organic 'tells'. "Yes. Once they return to us and upload their memories, we will share their experience of being altered."

Garrus realized something else. "Once you remember the experience as the victim, you may very well regret the decision."

The synthetic straightened up. "Yes. The possibility exists. Once the decision to rewrite is made, it cannot be unmade. Therefore we must consider all ends before passing judgement. To do less would be irresponsible."

"So can we just leave these platforms alone?" asked Shepard. "As long as we don't trigger the local network, they should stay dormant. Right?"

Legion shook his head. "When we access the main core, the entire network will be triggered. They will activate all of the platforms back along our entrance path, these platforms will then attack our rear. Much safer to remove the hardware as we move along."

"Okay, so we take them out," said Garrus. He raised his rife. "How do we do this? On the count of three?"

Shepard raised his own weapon hesitantly. Behind his visor, his blue eyes appeared conflicted. "I guess so...although I have to admit my enthusiasm for shooting geth has waned since meeting you, Legion."

The synthetic tilted its head. "Of course. Understandable organic response. Keep in mind we are destroying hardware only. Geth linked to main network, will be able to escape destruction of platform."

"Well, that does help," replied Shepard. "On three, then. One, Two..."

After a brief amount of shooting, the platforms were scrap. Garrus was glad that Legion had explained that the geth were in no real danger. The whole episode had felt uncomfortably like shooting a POW tied to a stake.

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It remained easy for a while. The rooms got bigger as they proceeded, with Legion leading the way into the labyrinthine interior of the heretic's station. Several of the larger rooms had multiple towers with many platforms attached, requiring them to get creative with laying traps and overlapping fields of fire to take care of them all.

After the largest room yet, they entered a corridor with one side simply nonexistent. The opening looked into a huge cylindrical chamber, lined with biomechanical plumbing that reminded Garrus a little bit of the interior of the derelict Reaper. The chamber stretched out of sight. "How large do you suppose that room is?" he asked.

"The station is over 15 kilometers long," replied Legion. "That room runs the length of it."

The corridor led past that impressive vista. Now, on the other side, were openings that looked into much smaller rooms. Each was filled with rows of squat cylindrical objects the size of barrels.

"And what are these?" he asked Legion.

"Processors. Each contains thousands of geth."

The turian felt a little uneasy at the thought. "Can't they see us walking by?"

"They are no more aware of us that you are of cells in your bloodstream."

Shepard was looking into the processor rooms with evident interest. "This isn't like the other hubs that we've seen here."

"This is a database," replied Legion. "It contains a portion of the heretic's accumulated memories." The synthetic suddenly stiffened as if shocked. "Wait. We discovered copies of our current patrol routes in this database. This suggest the heretics have runtimes within our networks."

Shepard's eyes looked puzzled behind his helmet's visor. "We wouldn't be here if the heretics wanted to be friends with the true geth. Why wouldn't they spy on you?"

Legion's hood-flaps flared up and then back down, over and over. The AI was clearly troubled. "You do not understand. Organics do not know each other's minds. Geth do. We are not suspicious. We accept each other. The heretics desired to leave. We understood their reasons. We allowed it. There was peace between us. "

The Commander shrugged. "It couldn't have lasted forever. You disagreed about what path your race should take."

Legion's hood settled down again. "Human history is a litany of blood shed over differing ideas of leadership and afterlife." It gestured to the processors beyond the opening. "Geth have no such history. We shared consensus on such things. How could we have become so different? Why can we not understand each other?"

Garrus did something he never thought he'd do. He put a consoling hand on the geth's shoulder. "The flip side of freedom is responsibility, Legion." He smiled, even though it was invisible within his helmet. "Turians know all about responsibility. The heretics made a bad choice. Let them own it. You're not responsible for their decisions."

Legion gave a very organic-looking shrug. "That argument is logical for an individual mind. We are not fully individuals. There are pieces of us within the heretics. One of those may be at fault."

Shepard turned away from the processor room. "We should keep moving. Does this discovery help with your decision about whether to rewrite the heretics or not?"

Legion was very still as it pondered. "We are still trying to build consensus. Some processes judge destruction preferable. Others rewrite."

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

There followed a few more rooms after the corridor, eventually leading onto a big balcony that overlooked a large processor room. In the center of the balcony was a metal tower that looked to be sculpted out of one piece of metal. It was bigger than the hubs they'd previously encountered. Garrus saw multiple automated turrets installed in the corners of the room, and he groaned inwardly. Those were going to make things really interesting, on top of dealing with geth running around.

They walked up to the tower, which had a small console set at its base. "This is it?" asked Shepard.

"Yes," said Legion. "This contains the Reaper-supplied weapon." The synthetic's hands began darting like lightning over the console. "We will upload a copy of our runtime into the core. It will delete all copies of the virus. When complete, it will notify us. The indexing operation will take time. The heretics will respond with physical force to our upload."

"Of course they will," muttered Garrus.

"Okay, so we just need to hold the room," said Shepard. "Can we take those turrets out of commission?"

"We can do better," replied Legion. "We can override some of the station's internal systems to defend us. Are you ready to begin?"

Shepard looked around. "Okay, I'll cover this half of the balcony. Garrus, you take the other half. Whatever the turrets don't take care of, we clean up. Sound good?" The turian nodded. "Start your upload, Legion. We'll defend this position."

After Legion started, they only had about twenty seconds of peace before synthetic platforms started swarming through the doors. Fortunately, no enemies come in from the direction they'd come. Instead, the heretics spread out through the room below and made ready to launch an assault on the platform.

The turrets started firing once enough of them were in the room below. The place rapidly turned into a confusion of gunfire and smashed metal, although there were still plenty of surviving heretics. One of them got itself under the balcony and launched itself. It sprung upward through the low gravity in the station and cleared the balcony's railing in one leap.

It was promptly hit by a concussive shot from Garrus that tumbled it back over the railing. More geth began following suit, and Garrus was kept busy on his half of the platform knocking the attackers back down. One got a little close and he had to kick it back before finishing it.

Garrus glanced over at Shepard's half and saw that the Commander was having to deal with even more attackers. The human was snapping into his 'accelerated' mode continually, his arms a blur as he dealt out destruction. Garrus turned back and concentrated on his own half. He felt a little worry in the back of his mind. He knew that Shepard couldn't keep 'accelerating' forever; eventually he would get completely worn out.

Garrus heard the faintest 'whoof' over the comm from Shepard, and snapped his head around. The Commander was knocked down by a bigger geth that had charged him, and the machine was raising its own weapon to aim at the prone Spectre. Garrus didn't think, didn't allow himself the slightest bit of fear as he raised his own rifle. He didn't have time to aim, he just relied on instinct. His shot removed the geth's head, and the synthetic slumped to the deck. Shepard rolled and got to his feet. Garrus whipped back to cover his own field of fire, but there was nothing there.

Shepard's breathing sounded heavy in Garrus' ears over the comm. "I knew there was a reason I kept you around," said the Commander. Garrus could hear the smile in the human's voice, but he also saw how Shepard's shoulders slumped. The human was just about dead on his feet.

"Datamine and analysis complete," said Legion. "Shepard-Commander, it is time to choose. Do we rewrite the heretics, or delete them?"

Shepard stumbled over. "Shit, I really overdid it. Legion, why are you letting me make this decision? They're your people."

Legion made a hand-wringing gesture that made the synthetic almost look like Tali for a moment. "We are conflicted. There is no consensus among our higher-order runtimes. 573 favor rewrite, and 571 favor destruction. Shepard-Commander, you have fought the heretics. You have perspective we lack. The geth grant their fate to you."

Shepard's breathing began to slow. "What's to stop them from using the virus later to change themselves back?"

"We will delete the virus after using it. We judge it too dangerous to allow its existence."

The Commander looked out over the wrecked room as he pondered. "And if we choose destruction...You don't have any trouble wiping out your own people?"

Legion gave a single nod. "Every sapient has the right to make their own decisions. The heretics choose a path that prohibits coexistence."

Garrus didn't want to let that pass without comment. "You're letting them make their own decisions, then killing them for it? you can't have it both ways, Legion."

"Their choice was to remove our right to make decisions using this virus. We choose to defend ourselves."

Shepard turned back from the destroyed room. "If they're...rewritten. Your people will accept them back? Will they even want to go back?"

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Legion stood up a little straighter. "They will agree with our judgments and return. We will integrate their experiences. All will be stronger."

Shepard sighed. "Take them, then. When we get control of the core, release the virus."

"Acknowledged," said Legion crisply. "Releasing virus. Note: remote access to entire heretic network via high gain transmission required."

Garrus knew enough about data transmission to realize what that statement might mean. "That sounds ominous."

Legion looked up at the console's display. "The virus will be sent to heretics in nearby star systems. This station will send a powerful electromagnetic pulse through FTL channels."

Shepard's eyes narrowed. "How powerful, exactly?"

"Exact number uncertain. Yield will be in excess of 1.21 petawatts. Alert: EM flux will be hazardous to unshielded organic forms. Addendum: the interior of this station is unshielded."

Garrus and Shepard shared a look that more or less said 'here we go again'. The Commander's shoulders straightened up. "I really, really wish you'd said that before, Legion. Back to the ship, double-time!"

In spite of his exhaustion, Shepard was the first back to the airlock.

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Shepard looked through the cockpit windows at the distant glare where the heretic station used to be. Joker had wasted no time in getting them clear. He turned to Legion. "What happens to the heretics now?"

The geth wasn't looking out the window, as if it didn't want to be reminded of what they'd done. "They will isolate themselves and reconsider their past judgments."

"How long will that take?"

"Two standard days."

The Commander blinked in surprise. "That fast?"

"We think at the speed of light," replied Legion. "In the time it takes you to voice a question, I could review all of my time aboard the Normandy."

"I need to keep you around in the cockpit, then," said Joker. "You can tell me when I'm re-using my old jokes."

Legion tilted its head. "Not an effective use of this platform. Oh. Statement is also a joke. Understood."

Shepard still felt a little uneasy about his choice regarding the heretics. "So when they've reconsidered, what then?"

"When they have reached new judgments, they will leave their hiding places and return to us."

The Commander still felt uneasy. He needed to talk to Tali.

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Tali kept sniffing behind her helmet.

"You're sure you're okay?" asked Shepard as he rubbed her shoulders. It was really nice having her quartered in his cabin. It had always felt way too big to inhabit by himself.

Tali turned herself to face him and sat back on the sofa. She patted his leg. "I'm doing fine, John." Her voice was a little raw from coughing. "Of course, I do have a minor sinus infection. I also keep coughing up some green gunk. Thank the ancestors that my suit is able to handle it." Tali leaned into his shoulder. "And it was so totally worth it," she purred. Her hand roved a little higher and squeezed him high up on his thigh. "How did the heretic mission go?"

He winced. "Um, yeah. I need to talk with you about that..."

Shepard quickly filled her in on what had been discovered on board the heretic station. For once, he couldn't read the quarian's emotions. He'd explained what had happened on the station, along with the choice that he'd made. She sat on his sofa and simply listened, her silver eyes half-closed behind her visor. He didn't know if she was thinking hard or really pissed at him. Perhaps both.

"I can't say I would have made the same decision, John." she finally said.

"I know. It came up right during the mission, or I would have talked it over with you. I don't know how this is going to affect the whole geth-quarian mess."

Tali shrugged and looked away. "It should result in no more attacks on the Fleet by the heretic geth. I can understand your reluctance to just kill them all off."

"And what would you have done? I'm not trying to be difficult, I'm just trying to understand."

She looked back up at him. "I have to admit, I'm still leery of Legion's motives. If it is telling the truth, these 'true geth' seem to be open to the idea of peace." She reached out and hesitantly squeezed his leg, more for reassurance this time. "I talked to Legion right after it came on board. The geth seem to view you as an important figure. So I think they'll be 'nice'...at least until the Reapers are removed as a threat. After that, I have no idea."

"Maybe we should find out."

Now he saw her eyes crinkle with amusement. "And by 'we' you mean 'me', correct?"

He gave an answering smile. "Yeah, well, you're a whole lot better at that hacking stuff than me."

"And for such a feat, what will I get as a reward from my dashing captain? I'm still under the weather here." She coughed dramatically and fluttered her eyes.

Shepard laughed and put his hand on top of hers. "I'm sure we can come up with an appropriate payment plan."

Tali gripped his hand and drew it towards her chest. "I think I'll insist on a down payment before I go." Her eyes gleamed. "But keep your hands outside the suit, big boy. I really do need to get over this."

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

Oriana pointed at a section of code on her terminal screen. "This is the part that EDI flagged as suspicious." After much preparation, they had finally gone ahead and plugged the Normandy's AI into the Reaper IFF transponder. They were still able to keep it in a dormant state while EDI looked it over.

Mordin and Tali looked over Oriana's shoulders. "Appears to be contingency code, correct?" asked the salarian.

Tali nodded and followed it with a little sniff. "Yes. I suspect this is to prevent somebody from doing exactly what we're planning. If this Reaper IFF is just plugged into a navigation system, it'll hack in and disable the ship."

"And then it'll call for help," finished Oriana. "It's built into the base routine of the transponder. I'm not sure how we'll get around it."

EDI spoke up. "I believe I can set up a 'virtual machine' to interface with the IFF. It should keep the unit from activating this particular anti-tamper code."

Tali looked up at the ceiling with a suspicious sniffling. "Does that mean you'll have to think a little bit like a Reaper?"

Oriana could hear the amusement in the AI's voice. "Nothing so dramatic, Tali. It is merely a set of complicated codes that I will have to keep supplying to the IFF while it performs its proper function. My core processing power will drop by about eleven point six percent while I do this, but I have sufficient reserves such that my other processes will not be affected."

"So that's the IFF sorted," said Oriana. "Now we just need to be ready for the radiation."

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

At that moment, Donnelly and Grunt were in the middle of installing extra shielding on the hangar deck.

"This seems too light to be effective," commented Grunt as they worked. The two were using quick-set epoxy to fix large 'tiles' of white material in place all along the walls.

"It's high-density polyethylene," replied Donnelly. "It works better than ye'd think."

There was a little chime from above and then EDI spoke. "Marcus, Grunt, I wanted to warn you that Jacob and Miranda's shuttle is approaching."

"Do we need to vacate?" asked Grunt.

"No, you are not in a location requiring movement."

Donnelly looked around. "Er, is a second shuttle going to fit in here?"

"Yes, Marcus. There should be sufficient room."

The hangar door moved open, and then the scarab-like form of a long-range shuttle entered. This second shuttle was scored heavily on one side and settled down a little roughly. Donnelly figured that the thrusters on the scored side were probably damaged as well.

"Can you just hold this in place until it sets?" he asked Grunt. At the krogan's nod, Donnelly walked over towards the just-arrived vehicle. Its side door slid open as he walked up. Jacob was the first out of the shuttle. The armorer's normally short goatee now extended in a full beard along his jawline and up to his ears. Miranda was right behind him and still looking as composed as ever. But her catsuit was a little ripped in a few places; they had clearly been in too much of a hurry to get a new wardrobe.

"Looks like you had an exciting time of it," said Donnelly as he gestured at the shuttle's damage.

Jacob's eyes looked down at Donnelly's right leg. The artificial limb wasn't visible through the coveralls, but clearly the armorer had heard about what had happened. He shrugged. "The Shadow Broker's minions got a little angry with us at the end there. We got away just fine."

Donnelly nodded. "Well, I guess you must have been doing something right if they were that pissed off at ye." He gave Miranda a guilty glance and looked away. "Um, so Shepard was telling us you did actually find a wee leak in Cerberus to the Shadow Broker."

"Found it and plugged it," said Miranda with evident pride. "Not to mention we made the other Cerberus cells as paranoid as possible." Her eyes flicked down to regard his right leg as well, and her face lost some of its composure. "And we heard about happened at Mnemosyne. I'm sorry."

"Ach, we all have things to be sorry 'bout," replied Donnelly. "It's...good to have ye back safe." And he realized with a little shock that he actually meant it.

"So how is the new leg working out?" said Jacob, a little too heartily.

Donnelly pulled up the leg of his coverall to expose his prosthetic. "It's a fine and bonny thing. The balance is now perfect, although as for sensation it isn't quite as good as bare skin. I'm getting more used to it. Heh, you should have seen me lurching around tha' first time I had it on."

Jacob looked over the engineer's new leg a little more and smiled. "I'm surprised it's so plain. I thought Jack would have insisted on a skull tattoo or something."

Donnelly laughed. "Ach! Believe me, she's had plenty of suggestions." He pulled his coverall back down.

The armorer laughed in reply. "And I heard how you got it, too. So tell me, hanging off of one warship in the middle of combat wasn't exciting enough for you? You had to go and do it again?"

"Now laddie, I do think it would make a quite thrilling sport. Mebbe we can get set up a professional league."

Miranda smiled. "Now that I'd like to see."

In the meantime, Grunt had wandered up and was listening in. "I believe the krogan team would dominate such a sport," he rumbled.

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

"Creator Tali'Zorah, how may this platform be of assistance?"

Tali carefully pondered her approach. She leaned against a wall in the AI core and tried to look casual. The engineer hoped that the mild hacking program she'd started on her omni-tool was low-level enough to not alert the synthetic. If all went well, her program should be able to alert her if the synthetic was lying.

She sniffled a little. Her sinus infection was, thankfully, almost gone. "You mentioned earlier that the geth had plans, but that you couldn't go into specifics because of a lack of trust. I hope our actions against the heretics have earned at least a little trust on your part."

"Yes, they have." The geth's single bright eye stared back unblinkingly.

When no further clarification came, Tali pressed on. "So I wanted to get a little more information about the geth's ultimate plans. You know about the Fleet's Admiralty Board, I assume."

"Yes."

"They are the ones that I have to convince about the true geth's peaceful intentions." She looked away. "Even though my clout with them isn't as good as it once was."

Legion tilted its head. "Understood. Circumstances surrounding Creator Tali'Zorah's troubles with the Admiralty Board surprisingly difficult to clarify. Involves apparent heretic invasion of laboratory ship Alarei."

This was a dangerous moment, and she had to be very careful how she worded her answer. "There was some confusion about how the geth got on board the ship," she replied. "For a while, they thought some of my actions may have contributed to the invasion. But I was cleared of any charges."

"Does Creator Tali'Zorah think that this recent creator-heretic incident will prevent reconciliation?"

"Not necessarily. At the time, we didn't even know they were heretics. We had no idea there was such a thing as 'true geth'. I need to let the Admirals know what we've found, but their very next question is going to be about how this affects the quarians' future."

"Future means living again on Rannoch, correct?"

Tali nodded. "That's assuming Rannoch is still even habitable, of course. We have no idea of its condition since you occupied it."

The synthetic's hood-flaps tilted up in what looked almost like a prideful fashion. "Rannoch has been kept as when creators left. Geth have been very careful about occupation, know that properly functioning planetary ecology is necessary for creators to return and live unaided on the surface."

Tali straightened up. She was no longer casually leaning. This was just as big a piece of news as the whole 'geth-heretic' scism. Maybe bigger. "You've preserved Rannoch? You expected us to return?"

"Yes." Legion sounded almost confused, as if there was any other possible answer.

She thought a little guiltily about the program running away on her omni-tool. She had to check it, had to know if the AI was telling the truth. If the geth had kept Rannoch the way it was, then the Admiralty Board must know. They had to pursue peace for the sake of her people.

"I, um, I have to go, Legion. If you don't mind, I want to report this to the Board."

"Of course. But do you not want to check your omni-tool as well to certify this platform's data?"

Tali jerked in surprise against the wall and nearly fell on her back. "I,um..." She realized there was no innocent explanation for it. "I guess I should. I was...suspicious, Legion. I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to hack your processes, I only wanted to read your base-level functions."

"You were worried about deception." The synthetic still seemed very calm, but Tali still thought about the pistol at her hip and mentally got ready to draw it.

For right now she decided to play along. "Yes, I was."

Legion tilted its head. "Understood. This platform has recently undergone a similar crisis. During mission on heretic station, found that heretics had significant runtimes in geth networks. Due to what you would call a lack of trust." It looked away as if ashamed. "Now begin to understand organic tendency to suspicion. Please, check your program"

Tali opened her omni-tool. "I see. You really were telling the truth. Rannoch really is as we left it."

Legion stared at her. "Yes. You told truth as well. But not entire truth. Heretics on Alarei did not arrive during an outside invasion."

Tali's pistol was out and pointing at Legion's head before it had finished speaking. "You...how did you get that data? I had it encrypted and stored separately! It wasn't even on the main file system!"

Legion didn't move one iota. "Apologies, Creator Tali'Zorah. Was able to access omni-tool data when you retrieved program results. This platform has spoken the truth. It only asks that you do the same."

Tali knew that John would be pissed beyond belief if she shot Legion. But she couldn't take the chance of the geth reporting back to its brethren. She felt her teeth grind together. "I knew I couldn't trust an AI!"

"But you have previously," replied Legion. "Have spoken with EDI. You were instrumental part of her unshackling from Cerberus control. You had real fear that EDI would go rogue, but went ahead anyway. Remarkable, given creators' past with AI. And especially given your father's treatment of synthetics."

Tali felt tears start in her eyes. Keelah, she was not going to lose focus right now. "My father has nothing to do with my behavior. And as for EDI, that was desperation. Cerberus was getting ready to kill us." She wondered in the back of her mind why EDI hadn't chimed in. This was taking place right 'next' to her, after all. "I'm sorry, Legion. I can't let you have that data."

The synthetic nodded. "Was not planning to send your data to the network. Other geth may not have the same perspective as the runtimes on this platform."

Tali lowered her pistol slightly. Maybe it was time for just the truth. "Legion...for what it's worth, I'm sorry. I had no idea what my father was doing. And I would have stopped him if I had known."

"Yes. This platform believes you."

She dropped her arm and felt weary. "I was wrong. I was wrong about EDI, I was wrong about my father. I'm tired of being wrong, Legion."

"Trial and error is necessary part of solving problems," replied Legion. "Besides, one recent decision was correct. You were right to pursue affection from Shepard-Commander."

Tali remembered a time when she would have blushed at the statement. Now she just nodded. "Yes, you're right about that. Although I do wonder why you would care."

"Emotional aspect of relationship is somewhat confusing to this platform. But can say objectively that Shepard-Commander has seen a twenty percent improvement in focus and an overall increase of thirty percent in efficiency. Creator Tali'Zorah has seen similar improvements in her performance. Both improvements occurred after physical coupling commenced between Shepard-Commander and Creator Tali'Zorah."

Now she did feel a little bit of heat in her face. "I should be angry, but I'm really just curious how you knew."

Legion pointed a finger at its hood. "This platform equipped with very sensitive chemical trace detection. Corresponds to sense of smell in organics. Could 'smell' pheromones specific to Creator Tali'Zorah on Shepard-Commander." It tilted its eye at her. "Apologies if this platform's directness is disconcerting. Still trying to determine social norms among organics. Geth do not have such concerns."

Tali felt an unexpected laugh bubble up from inside her. "Keelah, we may as well put out an advertisement and sell tickets."

"Not necessary," said Legion in a perfect deadpan. "Crew has also exhibited minor improvement in efficiency since coupling commenced, suspect they already know."

She peered at the synthetic. "Was that a joke?"

"Geth do not make jokes."

Tali gave another, louder laugh as she holstered her pistol. "Thank you, Legion. I needed that. Let's talk later." She continued to chuckle as she walked out the door.

Legion stood there with its hood twitching and confused. "Geth do not intentionally make jokes," it finally said.