I remember...the blue light. I remember it hurting a lot, and now...I'm alive? I think?
This is complicated...give me a moment...need to look around.
Yeouch...That didn't help. Think I just gave myself a headache. Kind of weird...considering I don't think I have a head...
Pretty sure I'm the Reapers. Like...all of them. Wish the Catalyst would have told me about how surreal this is.
This must have been how the Geth felt. Everything controlled by one consciousness...mine.
...wait...
...I...did it. I saved the galaxy. And I took control of the Reapers. I didn't know I did, I guess, but I was helping to rebuild...then I would leave?
...no, I don't think I'm doing that.
So many people gave their lives fighting these monsters. Anderson, Mordin, Legion...
...Thane...
We gave everything to save the galaxy from destruction. I can't just walk away and risk it falling apart.
I'm going to protect them. All of them.
I will be their Shepard.
...hah, Shepard. Guess being a benevolent machine goddess doesn't mean I lose my sense of humor.
---
"Whoa!"
Oriana Lawson's hands jumped off the keyboard as the screens containing her research suddenly flickered and changed without warning, depicting an indecipherable alphabet soup of runes and glyphs.
"What's wrong?" Miranda Lawson said as she strode up next to her sister.
"I don't know, I was working on decrypting the next set of data and I just lost control." Oriana tapped a few keyboard combos before throwing her hands in the air. "There must have been a virus in there or something, I don't know-"
"That isn't a virus..." Miranda realized, narrowing her eyes. Pulling up her omni-tool, she ran a few diagnostics on the system. "It's software."
"Well where is it coming from?" Orianna demanded.
"...the Reaper mainframe."
The moment she made that realization, the screens flickered again and returned to normal, showing the research Orianna was trying to complete.
"I'm going to run a diagnostics on the whole system," Orianna said, rapidly punching up the scanners. "I don't know what's going on but..."
*ping!*
Orianna's jaw dropped as the results of the full system sweep popped up.
"Don't...those usually take a couple hours?"
Miranda leaned over to look at the results. "That...that level of efficiency increase is impossible. The computers would melt if they ran that fast."
"Well everything's running perfectly. I...I think the Reapers just turbocharged all of our systems," Orianna realized. "We could do a day's work in fifteen minutes at these speeds."
On a whim, Miranda checked for news updates on her omni-tool. To her amazement, the information came in crystal clear on the first try, like she was standing right on the Citadel promenade, and it showed the same stories all around the galaxy. Every computerized system and mechanism had downloaded the Reaper's programming and supercharged their efficiency to absurd levels. Things would be getting so easy and simple that people would have to find other things to fill their time, it seemed. Utterly amazed, Miranda glanced out the window at the Reaper floating obediently outside the research station, a tear rolling down her cheek.
"Still full of surprises, aren't you Shepard?" Miranda choked.
---
"Javik, what are you doing?"
The Prothean looked up sullenly from the computer monitor. "Tracking the movements of the Reapers."
"You're lucky the new upgrades mean I can automate almost all of my Shadow Brokering now," Liara teased as she walked up behind Javik and wrapped her arms around him. "Speaking as someone who finds paranoia a valuable trait...you're being too paranoid."
"Bands of Reapers are going through asteroids, mining for rare minerals," Javik grumbled. "Possibly for construction of new superweapon?"
"Or they're gathering resources for industries to help them speed up too," Liara explained.
"Shepard should have let them die," Javik scowled. "It nauseates me to see them so highly regarded."
"Javik, these aren't the same Reapers you fought all those millennia ago," Liara responded coolly. "If anything, they're more Shepard then Reaper. Some people are even starting to call them Shepards, in fact." The Asari walked around to Javik's side and gave him a peck on the cheek, right below two of his eyes. "I understand not trusting the Shepards...but can you at least trust me on this? She wouldn't let the Reapers come back and undo everything she fought for."
The Prothean sighed, then finally closed out of the reports. "I will still be monitoring them, you know."
"Well I have something else you could monitor," Liara replied, stepping back and coyly undoing her bathrobe, letting it fall around her feet.
"I sincerely doubt you could have anything of interest to...monitor..." Javik stopped turning in the chair when he saw his lover standing there wearing nothing but a seductive smile.
"I...stand corrected."
---
"Wow, you've seriously run out of room?" Samantha Traynor said incredulously, thinking she misheard her friend over the din of the Citadel eatery.
"As incredible as it sounds, yes," Admiral Tali'Zorah repeated herself a little louder, sipping her fruity drink from the induction port "Our need for food supplies has gone drastically down over the last few days."
Samantha Traynor let out a low whistle, leaning back in her chair. "That's going to be interesting..."
"Whatever the Reapers are doing to the soil on Rannoch, it's been incredibly effective," Tali recounted. "We've hit levels of dextrograin and sugar production we weren't expecting to reach for years in a matter of weeks. We've even abolished the rationing system and we're still just overflowing with foodstuffs."
"That's nuts," Samatha replied. "Though not surprising, we're having the same issue with our own food supplies being over capacity."
Tali laughed. "I almost have to wonder where all that food is going to go."
"Thank goodness for the Reapers," Samatha said proudly.
There was a pregnant pause between the two, filled by the background noise in the restaurant.
"Hey, Tali," Samatha continued. "You don't think Shepard could still be...in there, do you?" She pointed up towards the sky.
"A lot of people think so," Tali suggested. "I'm hearing a lot of people call the machines 'Shepards' now."
"But what do you think?"
Tali stared down at her hands, lost in thought.
"I'd...like to think she's up there, taking care of us," Tali admitted. "It's...better then believing she's gone."
Samantha smiled. "I feel the same exact way."
"Ladies," the waiter interrupted. "Would you care to peruse the desserts menu? We have a two for one special going on, seeing as there's so much food to get rid of."
"I can't argue with that!" Samantha said, licking her lips.
(And after that doozy of a setup, consider this sort of a triple free choice, because there's really only one direction for this to go ;) )
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