Chapter Text
Dixie and EDI
As their shuttle entered the atmosphere of Fehl Prime, Dixie held tight to the arm rests of her chair as the mobile AI seated next to her piloted the tiny craft through the heat of reentry and the buffets and turbulence of the planet’s atmosphere until, with a frightening screech, the shuttle skidded on the ground before finally coming to a stop.
Out of breath, Doris fumbled with the releases of her restraining harness as she cried out in a mixture of exultation and relief, “We still alive? Tell me we made it!”
“We are on the surface.” EDI affirmed, deadpanning, “And you are still very much alive.”
“WE are alive, EDI.” Doris corrected with a fond grin on her face as her AI companion, freeing herself from her harness, rose to her feet. “You’re as much alive as anyone else, and don’t you forget it.” Gathering up her tools and weapons, the blonde engineer queried as she and EDI picked their way through the wreckage to the exit, “Do you know where we crashed? Or how far we are from the colony or Alliance base?”
“Not at this time.” EDI responded, “I would advise that we scout out the local area first.”
“Good idea.” Dixie agreed, “We might find us a landmark that’ll give us an idea as to where to go.” Watching as her companion kicked the shuttle’s door out, the ex-Cerberus engineer grinned, “Not bad.” Taking a deep breath, the southern belle stepped out of the shuttle, her visor automatically darkening in reaction to the bright light coming from the planet’s sun, now high in the sky. “Looks like it’s about noon.” Glancing at her temperature readout, the engineer, spotting a clump of trees, commented, “It’s hotter than a summer day in Florida. We ought to be able to find some shade over by those trees. What do you think? We can set up an SOS beacon there and wait for the colony or the base to send out a rescue party.”
“That would appear to be a prudent course of action.” EDI agreed as her partner gestured towards the trees.
“Okay, Sugar!” Doris exclaimed as she adjusted her carry bag, “Let’s get goin’.”
Normandy
“Our ship’s systems are back online.” Crewman Hadley reported, “But all of EDI’s higher functions are gone now.”
“What does that mean?” Shepard asked, addressing the individuals seated at the conference table with her.
“In short…” Crewman Matthews explained, “we’ve lost much of EDI’s cyberwarfare capabilities, as well as its ability to think and act independently. In other words, instead of an AI, we now have a highly advanced VI. Better than anything either Cerberus or the Alliance currently possesses, but…’
“Far less than what we had originally.” Shepard finished as she rapped her fingers on the table. “Any ideas on how this happened? EDI was supposed to be shackled. How did Whaley manage to free it?”
“We haven’t discovered how yet.” Leng reluctantly admitted. “We’re currently examining what we can piece together from the surveillance footage that she hasn’t tampered with to try to put together a coherent picture.”
“What have we picked up?”
“I remember that she threw a cover over whatever she was working on very quickly when I entered her workroom yesterday.” Markham recounted, his expression displaying both shock and anger at his former teammate’s betrayal. “When I asked her what she was doing, she said that it was something she was putting together to aid us on future missions.”
“And you didn’t think to pursue the subject?” Leng sharply inquired, “Or to inform either Commander Shepard or myself?”
“I’m sorry, Sir.” Markham apologized, “At the time I didn’t think it necessary. None of us knew what she was planning to do. We…I…thought she was loyal to the team. Loyal to Cerberus.”
“She took me by surprise too, Sirs.” Barrett interjected, entering the discussion in defense of his teammate. “I know she was spending a lot of time in her hole…but…” he shrugged his shoulders, “she was always there when she wasn’t on a mission or hanging out with us.”
“Her roommates and Crewman Hawthorne say the same thing.” Leng declared, backing up the specialist’s report. “When she wasn’t in her lab, she tended to socialize with the rest of her team.”
“I don’t know if this is important or not…” Ben remarked.
“Go ahead and tell us, Markham.” Shepard urged, “It could be.”
“Well…Sirs…” The sniper stammered slightly, “She did put us off when we asked her to join us for a late snack just before everything happened. And…” he hesitated until Leng pressed him to continue, “I remember that she looked upset at the briefing and a little after…when you issued your instructions about the colonists.”
“That’s right.” Barrett corroborated, “She was looking kinda unhappy about it.”
“You spoke to her before all this went down, didn’t you Mr. Leng?” Shepard inquired as she turned her attention to her XO.
“I did.” The Cerberus assassin confirmed. “I had a hunch something was wrong about her…about the way she was acting…so, I called her into my office for a talk.”
“I remember you telling me about that.” The commander recalled. “You told me that she had doubts about the mission—about our orders concerning the colonists.” Nodding her head, she mused, “That supports what Markham and Barrett have said.” Motioning for her XO to continue, Shepard urged, “What else?”
“While I was still suspicious of her…” Leng admitted, “I didn’t think that I had enough to go on to warrant taking action other than monitoring her more closely.” Taking a deep breath and exhaling, the trained killer made a rare apology, “I should have gone with my first instincts. I’m sorry.”
“She surprised all of us.” Shepard responded, accepting Leng’s explanation. “She obviously had this planned for a long time.” Shifting the subject, the clone inquired, “But to go back to what we were talking about earlier, how did she manage to walk away with EDI’s sentience?”
Crewman Patel replied as she called up a holographic image. “While we haven’t been able to figure out how Whaley was able to free EDI from its shackles, I think we do have a pretty good idea as to how she got away with it. Walk away was exactly what she did. I was able to reconstruct some fragments from the surveillance footage that she didn’t completely erase.”
“No…can’t be…” Markham gasped as he focused on the constantly derezzing image.
“It’s a mobile platform.” Leng concluded.
“Yes, Sir.” Patel affirmed, “From what little we’ve been able to piece together, it seems that Whaley was able to construct a mobile platform for EDI’s core, giving it the appearance of a human female. She had to have been working on this for a long time.”
“Probably before she came aboard.” Leng speculated. “We knew she was a talented engineer when we recruited her, but had the Illusive Man been aware that she was that gifted, he’d have immediately put her into research and development instead of the field.”
“We all dropped the ball on this.” Shepard concluded as she signaled that the meeting was over. Leng…Markham…Barrett…stick around. The rest of you can go.” After the crewmen had left, the redhead issued her instructions. “We are going to proceed with the Fehl Prime mission as planned. The Illusive Man has further instructed that Whaley is to be classified as a deserter. While he would prefer that she be captured for interrogation, he has authorized her termination if necessary. For added incentive, a sizable bounty has been placed on her head with the bounty being larger if she is taken alive, but dead or alive, she is now a very wanted woman.”
“Not only are we after her.” Leng concluded, “So also is every single bounty hunter in the Traverse. She has nowhere to run.”
“Understood, Commander.” Her team crisply acknowledged.
“As far as we’re concerned, Ma’am.” Markham declared with a scowl, “She’s nothing more than a traitor. You don’t have to worry about either of us pulling the trigger if we have to.”
“I’m just hoping it’s one of us who gets her first.” Barrett growled.
“Glad to hear that.” Shepard replied, “You’re dismissed.”
After the door closed behind the two betrayed friends, the commander turned to her XO. “Keep an eye on them. While I think they are loyal and their anger at being betrayed is genuine, I don’t want any chances taken. Be ready to act if either or both of them try to double cross us too.”
Nodding his head once in acknowledgement, Kai Leng replied in the affirmative, “Already done, Sir. Surveillance on them has been increased and safeguards are in place should they prove disloyal.”
“Good. Get the team ready to roll. I want to begin the mission as soon as possible. Dismissed.”
Fehl Prime—Doris and EDI
“Whew!” Dixie took a swig of water as she sat down underneath a shade tree. “Ah’m gonna take a quick breather before I set up that beacon.”
“I can do that for you.” EDI offered as she scanned the immediate environment. “There are no threats currently within range.”
“I don’t wanna put you out none.” The southern-born engineer responded as she munched on a ration bar. “You wanna take a break, go right on ahead.”
“It is no problem.” The mobile AI answered back as she began the process of setting up the distress beacon. “I do not tire as you do.”
“Wish I could keep going on like that.” Doris chuckled as she took another swig of water.
“May I ask a question?” EDI asked as she continued to set up the signaling device.
“Shoot.” Doris smiled as she took another bite from her ration bar.
“Why would I want to shoot you?” EDI deadpanned.
“Huh? What are you talking…” As it dawned on her that her companion had told a joke, Dixie laughed heartily, “That’s a good one, EDI.”
“Thank you.” The AI responded, “May I ask another question?”
“Sure, sweetie.”
“Why do you always call people pet names like sugar, honey and sweetie?”
Chuckling, Doris took another swig of water and explained, “It’s a Southern thing. My Momma used to do that all the time, so I got in the habit of doin’ the same. Why?” The southern belle asked, “You don’t like it?”
“Just the opposite.” EDI answered back, “I think I…prefer…it when you do that.”
“All right, sugar, I’ll keep on doin’ it then.” Dixie replied as the beacon began transmitting. “Now we just sit back and wait. All goes well, someone’ll be comin’ for us soon. When they do…” The ex-Cerberus operative cautioned, “Don’t forget the cover story we came up with before we began this crazy caper.”
“My name is Edi. We’re both running from Cerberus and we have information that there is going to be an attack on the colony very soon.”
“Right.” Doris affirmed, “We cooperate with them as much as we can, but there’s one thing we can’t do…”
“I cannot allow myself to be examined too closely by a medical doctor.” EDI declared. “While my synthetic outer layer provides more than adequate camouflage and I am capable of mimicking respiration and a heartbeat…”
“If a doctor carries out anything more than a brief looksee, they’ll see right through it.” Doris concluded, “So…we gotta do whatever we can to keep that from happening.”
“This is the Fehl Prime Colony. We have detected a possible shuttle crash in your vicinity. Are you the survivors?”
“Affirmative.” Dixie quickly responded, “There are two of us. Can you send someone to pick us up?”
“Do you have need of medical assistance?”
“Negative. But we have information vital to the colony’s security.” Dixie pleaded, “Please send someone as soon as possible.”
“This is Shuttle FR-2. We can swing by to pick them up and scope out their wreckage on our way to pick up Dr. Treeya and her people, if you’d like.”
“Works for me.” The ground control operator replied and then relayed the news to Dixie, “We have a shuttle in your vicinity enroute to your location. Just stay put. Someone will be there shortly.”
“Thanks.” Dixie heaved a sigh of relief, “Ya’ll are the greatest.” Leaning back against the trunk of her shade tree, the southern belle took another swig of water and opened another ration bar. “Our ride’s on its way, sweetie. We might as well take it easy ‘til they get here.”
As the rescue shuttle landed, Dixie rose to her feet. Speaking to EDI in a low voice, she advised, “We’re wearing Cerberus uniforms, so don’t make any sudden movements and let me do the talkin’—okay?”
“Understood, Doris.” EDI replied as a pair of Alliance marines approached, weapons drawn.
“Keep your hands in the air and clear of your weapons.” The first marine ordered.
“We’re Cerberus deserters.” Doris called out as she followed the marine’s instructions to the letter. “We have important information.”
“What sort of information?” The marine demanded, continuing his interrogation while his companion searched both Doris and EDI, removing their weapons in the process.
“There’s gonna be an attack on the colony by the Collectors at almost any time.” Doris warned, “But that’s not all. A Cerberus commando team is probably on its way now to capture or kill Dr. Treeya and steal her data if we don’t stop them. Ah can upload the proof to your omnitool and you can see for yourself, Sergeant.” Dixie begged, “Please…at least look at it.”
After several moments of consideration, the marine officer nodded his head, “Go ahead. Reynolds! If this is turns out to be a double cross…”
“Gotcha, Sarge.” the marine tersely acknowledged, warning his prisoners in a low voice, “You pull anything, it’ll be the last thing you do.”
“No tricks.” Doris promised as she carefully and slowly manipulated her omnitool. “Promise. This will prove we’re tellin’ the truth.”
“Got it.” The sergeant declared, “Now…let’s see what we have.” The officer’s brow creased as he perused the data on his tool. After what seemed to be an eternity, but was actually only a few minutes, he commanded, “Stand easy, Reynolds. They’re telling the truth.” Activating his comm, the sergeant spoke into it. “Ruiz to Base…Ruiz to Base…Come in, Alliance Base.”
“Alliance Base to Shuttle FR-2. What is your status?”
“We’ve retrieved the crash survivors.” Sergeant Ruiz reported. “They say they’re Cerberus deserters and have information about a possible attack on the colony and dig site.”
“This is Captain Toni. Have you seen their intel and how accurate do you think it is, Ruiz?”
The sergeant replied, further advising, “I’ve seen the intel and it looks good. I think we should take it seriously, Sir.”
“Understood. Pick up Dr. Treeya and return with her and the deserters as soon as possible. I’ll put the colony on alert. Return to base as soon as you pick up the doctor and her people.”
“Acknowledged. We’re on our way to the dig site. Ruiz out.” Turning to the two deserters, the sergeant continued his interrogation. “Anything more we need to know?”
“I know we need to get to Dr. Treeya as soon as we can before Shepard and her team get here.” Doris replied, further urging, “And ya’ll need to get yourselves and as many colonists as you can outta here as soon as possible.”
“Doris is correct.” Edi interjected, speaking for the first time. “Time is of the essence.”
“We’re on our way.” Ruiz replied positively as he and his charges made their way to the shuttle. “But first, I need to know what and who we might be facing.”
“Ya’ll know about Shepard—right?” Doris asked.
“That she’s a clone or something or other…” Ruiz answered back with a nod of his head, “Yeah. We got the memo on that a while ago. What’s this Shepard capable of as compared to the original model?”
“She can do everything the old Shepard could do…” Whaley responded, “Plus they’ve put in some extra stuff.”
“Like what?”
“At least one behavioral monitoring chip.” Edi interjected, “Which has been triggered on a couple of occasions.”
“I think that might be what is causing those headaches she sometimes gets.” Doris conjectured.
“Affirmative.” Edi verified, “The headaches stem from her subconscious reacting to her environment and her actions.”
“That’s why Okeer said that she was only working at 95% of her capabilities.” Dixie concluded, Edi once again confirming her assumption.
“So, you’re saying that her programming isn’t as solid as Cerberus thinks?” Ruiz speculated only to be quickly disappointed by Edi’s response.
“Not at all.” Edi contradicted, “Her conditioning is very strong. What you witnessed, Doris, was nothing more than a subconscious reaction.”
“Like yawning after someone else does even though you’re not tired.” Reynolds interjected from the pilot’s seat of the shuttle.
“Precisely.” Edi affirmed, “Relying on her behavioral implant to fail would be a fatal error.”
“Then we won’t do that.” Ruiz declared as Reynolds called out.
“Sarge? Base is comming us. Patching it on the speakers.
“Alliance Base to Shuttle FR-2. This is Captain Toni. We are under attack. I repeat, the colony is under attack. Do NOT return to base or the colony. Go immediately to the dig site and retrieve Dr. Treeya. She is your first priority.”
“Permission to disagree, Captain. You’re gonna need every shuttle and marine you can get to evacuate the colonists before the spaceport’s overrun.” Sergeant Ruiz protested, only to be cut off by his superior before he could finish.
“It is vital that you retrieve Dr. Treeya and get her to safety.” Captain Toni declared. “The data she possesses is of vital importance. Do you copy?”
“Acknowledged.” Ruiz responded reluctantly as he turned to his pilot, “You heard the Captain, Reynolds. Floor it.”
Normandy
“Collector ship inbound.” Crewman Hadley called out. “They’re attacking the colony.”
“Have they detected us?” Shepard asked from inside the shuttle that she and her team were taking down to the surface.
“Negative.” Hadley responded, “The new stealth system’s working so far.”
“Keep a safe distance back.” Shepard ordered as she made her way to the front of the shuttle. “Set us down near the location of the Prothean ruins, Hawthorne.” Turning to her team, the commander scowled, “If we’re lucky, we won’t only secure the asari and her data, we’ll also get Whaley and that construct she built.”
“Got a score to settle with that bitch.” Barrett growled as he checked his weapon. Turning to his friend, the heavy weapons specialist asked, “You okay, Ben?”
“I’m fine.” Markham replied in a grim voice as he checked his rifle scope. “I get Dixie in my sights…I promise…I’ll drop her where she stands.”
“Lock and load!” Shepard commanded as Hawthorne guided the small craft to its destination. “We’ve got a job to do.”