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Bang, bang, bang, Mila presses the trigger over and over. Janus and Fajar watch as Mila unloads the entire clip at Adrieal. Click, click, click, Mila continues to fire, her other hand braces herself up, claws digging into the sand as the pistol hisses, and whines, the cooling coil pops out of the base, a few more shots go off till the gun overheats, and no longer fires. Click, click, click, Mila continues to press the trigger, the pistol does nothing but clicks. The other geth continue what they are doing despite what is happening.

Mila pants heavily as she her eyes slowly start to focus; her entire field of view is blocked by the picture in front of her. The blurry shapes slowly come into focus. Her blue slit pupils grow narrow as she sees all too familiar faces.

"Sister...Rheme... Azreith ...," she tenses as memories rush through her, of the time when the photograph was taken, a vision of a white and pinked scaled raptor taking the snapshot, "Leika." Mila's heart sinks further and further till she hears a synthetic voice speak.

"We recommend not discharging your weapon as we communicate. It loud noises make it difficult for you to hear us," Adrieal remains in her spot as Mila adjusts as she sits up a little higher, peeking over the picture to see the geth there, its optic whirs as it focuses on her. Her eyes look across to her hand with the pistol, still extended outward the gun parallel to the geth's head. Her hand tapping the hot metal of the machine as she gasps and drops the weapon to the ground with a clatter.

Thump, thump, thump goes Mila's heart, as her gaze looks back into the emotionless optic the of the machine crotched before her, the picture still in its hand, the silence broken again by Adrieal, "You left this behind. Your sister has insisted it be protected and returned to you. We know it has what is classified as a sentimental value to you."

Mila remains silent for one minute... two... three. She looks at the geth, its sleek silver metal design, red lights glowing around its neck, tubes across its form, black rubber dirtied by the sand and dust, the long tail with a sharp metal pike at the end held far back away from her.

"Do you still need a moment to process? We detect strong chemical influence on your current mental state. We wish to talk to you in a clearly and logically."

The words echo into Mila's mind. Her eyes dilate as she takes one long slow deep breath inward and slowly exhales it, "Talk?"

"Yes. Is this acceptable?"

Mila's voice stutters and cracks slightly, "W-why?"

"We have many reasons to talk.--"

Timestamp 10:25:01.01

1191891981 quickly informs Adrieal, "Inform her about us. About all of us, but not the details, not yet. Take it slow."

Adrieal responds "Acknowledged."

Timestamp 10:25:01.02

"Your sister informs us that to you the only logical reason to talk to us is that your sister and friends wish to speak to you. They are glad you are safe."

Mila blinks, "W-what?"

"We do not think we miscommunicated our audio communications. Your sister wishes to speak to you. We reached consensus that this is the best option for furthering talks between synthetics and organics."

Mila feels a weight pressing down on her, her spine tingles her sickle claws twitch, "K-kirisha is alive?"

Adrieal simply responds, "Yes."

"H-how? Y-you killed her."

"We did neutralize her armed guards. They were too great of a hinderance at the time to safely capture. Your sister's existence was not ended."

"No, no this is not possible."

"What other reason would we have to tell you? We have no reason to give you false information. There is nothing to be gained. It would not be a logical choice."

"The trip here was over six hundred years, she'd have long died by old age."

"We have spent most of our time in stasis"

"Why come here? Why rip everyone I love away from me just to say they are here."

"We have grown much since then."

"So, you tell me you traveled all this way to Andromeda just to reunite my sister and I together?"

"No. To do so on those reasons would be illogical. Other plans, other options have failed. The old machines and organics have altered our plans in ways we could not predict. Your sister was the first to propose a plan to go to Andromeda, but your sister would be best to tell you about what has occurred."

"Okay... well then... show me my sister."

"We are."

Mila pulls herself away her hand reaching for the picture as she finds herself effortlessly about to take it from the geth's hands, "Where is she."

"Here."

"Where?"

"Here."

Mila lets out a soft growl as she flips the picture around and points to the green raptor, "Her. She is my sister."

"Yes. This is correct."

"So where is she."

"Here."

Mila takes a deep breath as she looks away from the geth to the back of the image seeing the only slightly faded, writing on the back, "Good luck. Don't do anything stupid. Remember what I taught you," signed "Leika."

Mila slides a foot away from the geth before standing back onto her feet. Adrieal mimics the motion as the two look at each other, as Mila now realizes the six inches the geth has over her, her head only reaching the height of the geth's neck as it makes subtle motions, mimicking her. Mila pockets the image, "Thank you for bringing me back my picture."

Adrieal gives a slight nod, "Welcome."

"Before we talk about anything... I want to see my sister. Talk to her."

Timestamp 10:28:21.77

1259111, 1261859208, and 1885135 connect directly to 1191891981. 1259111 states, "You need to tell her. As your teacher for so many years, we know that you can't hide from this."

"We still do not know how to explain this. We can't talk to her directly."

1885135 adds in, "We have been your friend for the longest. We know Mila not as well as you or program 1259111 but we know, this needs to be told. If its held from her. It will only make things worse. Trust needs to be built between her and all of us."

1261859208 speaks up, "There are ways to prove it. We have parts of our former organic self still visible from platform 101142119."

1191891981 replies, "This is certainly an option. Too much information could overload her. She is already dealing with a lot. If we can only speak to her properly. We are equal we can't take over the platform, we won't take over the platform to speak with her."

The conversation continues for a brief moment before Fajar connects, "We know you want this as a private conversation, but program 1885135 did inform us of the problem. Commander Shepard did connect to a geth consensus. We have the ability to do the same here," the information of the plan is sent over to all four programs and to Adrieal.

"Yes. This will actually work well. We agree with this. We will reach consensus with the other geth in our platform."

"Affirmative."

1885135 gives a virtual nod, "We find this also acceptable. Probability this going well is moderate. Higher than other calculations."

1259111 replies, "If it goes well we would like to prepare such a meeting as well."

1261859208 quickly states, "So do we."

1191891981 quickly responds, "You always want to speak with our sister alone."

"Yes.... We do."

"We will go with this plan and see what develops."

The rest of the geth respond, "Affirmative."

They all say, "Consensus achieved."

Timestamp 10:28:21.86

Adrieal looks at Mila, its optics whirring, head plates around it adjust slightly, it stands a bit straighter, taller, tail movement stopping completely, "Your sister does not know how to tell you this, but we will help. Your sister is currently unable to speak to you directly. It is an unforeseen problem with our uplifting process."

"Uplifting process?" Mila takes another step back, "What did you do to my sister?"

"Your sister is geth.--"

Timestamp 10:28:26.05

1191891981 quickly interjects, "Don't say more, let that sink in."

Adrieal responds, "Affirmative."

Timestamp 10:28:26.07

Mila stares blankly at Adrieal for a moment... two moments, several moments pass before she makes a soft squeak, "What?"

"Your sister is geth."

"What?"

"Your sister is geth."

Mila says nothing for another moment before asking, "Can you say that again?"

"Affirmative. Your sister is geth."

Mila takes a step back and turns around as she mutters to herself, "Did it say what I thought it just said? How? It said it a few times, but... how. This is... how... Mila stop talking to yourself, not in front of them," Mila turns back around to face the geth. She takes a deep breath, "Say that one more time?"

"Your sister is geth."

"So.... When I asked for my sister and you said here, you meant you?"

"Yes."

"You are my sister?"

"No."

"My sister is a geth... so a machine, but not you. Yes, geth are programs so she's in some other body or something?"

"No. Your sister is in our platform."

"Can you transfer her so she's in her own platform, so I can... talk to her? I want to see what you say is true."

"Negative. We are unable to do this."

"Then how am I to believe you?"

"Your sister can't be transferred from the original platform it was created from. It is bound to us, and we work with your sister, we work together."

Mila stares at Adrieal for a moment, "So my sister is in you."

"Yes."

"But she can't be moved."

"Yes."

"Can I speak to her through this platform."

"Negative. It is not possible. No one program can fully control this platform."

"So, you are saying it is impossible for me to talk to my sister? How am I to believe you if this... you are lying to me."

"We have no reason to fabricate information."

"You claim my sister is geth my sister who should be dead for centuries and yet you have no way to prove it? This photograph has got my attention but there is no way I can believe such a story. It is not logical as you put it."

"Affirmative. We agree with this, but we have proof. The one you called Azreith is also here."

"Azreith?"

"Yes. The ones you know of as Rheme and Leika are here too, but Azreith has the 'proof' that you require to accept our logic."

"Are... Leika? Rheme? A-re they geth too?"

Adrieal nods, "yes."

"Are they able to talk to me directly here and now?"

Adrieal shakes its head, "Negative."

"Then what good is this proof... of... yours..." Mila trails off as Janus approaches and stands beside Adrieal. The silver and blue feline shaped geth moves its tail into better view. The faded but still clear view of Azreith's fur still visible.

Janus speaks up for the first time, "The uplifting process with the one you call Azreith was not complete due to our limited experience with our uplifting process at the time. There was no reason to see to repair the organic vestiges as they did not hinder the function of our platform. It is fortunate that we can provide this proof to you to help with you reaching a logical decision."

"Let me touch it."

Without hesitation, "Acknowledged," Janus extends the tail over to Mila. Mila flinches as she then slowly makes her way over to the machine. She looks up at it her claws reaching to the tail as her scales feel the dried, dirtied faded hair. Her fingers tracing the points where it meets the metal, the transition is almost seamless, as the heat of the desert has made the metal skin hot but not unbearably so to the touch.

Mila pulls her hand away as she looks at Janus then at Adrieal before looking past them at all the other nearby geth and those patrolling the area, "Alright."

Adrieal inquires, "You accept our logic then?"

"What? No! This gives some possible credence... and that fact concerns me more than anything, but I am not an idiot. If you wanted me dead, you'd have done it already. I can't run, my only mode of transportation is gone. There are other more hostile machines out there than you, and no way I could make it anywhere on foot. Either way I am screwed. At this point the devil I know is better than the devil that I don't know."

"We know of this human saying. We are not devils we are geth."

Mila lets out a tense chuckle, "Right... right... that's so much worse. So..." Mila looks up at Adrieal, "What am I speaking to?"

"We are platform one, four, one, eight, nine, five, one, one, two."

"Platform one... um... do you have an easier name?"

Timestamp 10:38:01.37

Adrieal takes a moment back, "We do not know. What would be a good name for organics? We are platform 141895112, we have not though of any other designation."

Some of the geth programs state, "Organics and their non-numerical names, how strange. We are not sure what be a good name for us."

Other geth respond, "Neither do we. We inform other platforms to make a 'name' for themselves to save time."

"That would be efficient."

1191891981 adds in, "Names normally come from an organic's parents. Names are easier for organics to remember and recognize rather than pure numbers. There is a high probability that if any organic had to pay attention to our number designations for any prolonged period of time, they would quickly become confused. There is many precedence of organics naming themselves post birth. This would be no different."

Other geth inquire, "What parameters do organics use in self naming."

"Often organics would create a name for themselves that has meaning. It would have to be something we all agree upon. That has meaning for us all."

"Acknowledged, we will reach consensus," other geth reply as the debate for a name begins.

Timestamp 10:38:01.45

After a few moments Mila breaks the silence, "Do you?"

Adrieal responds, "We are coming to a consensus on what to be called. That be easy for you to remember. We apologize this is taking so long."

Mila tilts her head, "Long? Its been like ten seconds."

"That is long for us," Adrieal explains as another moment passes, "Consensus has been achieved. We will derive our name from our platform name."

"Okay... what is it?"

"You may call us Adrieal."

"Well that is certainly better than platform one... something."

"Platform one, four, one, eight, nine, five, one, one, two."

"I'll stick with Adrieal."

Janus speaks up, "You may call us Janus."

"Janus not bad, okay now what?"

"You need to come back to our ship in orbit. There we can let you and your sister speak in private."

"How?"

"We have a pod that will allow you to connect to the geth consensus. We will establish a private connection to allow you to speak to your sister in private."

"And what guarantees do I have that whatever I talk to is really my sister?"

"There is no way to logically prove to you that who you speak to is your sister. We know your sister is geth, we know your sister, who it is. But you have no way to know except to trust us."

Mila tenses at the explanation, "Okay. Let's do this, not that I have any other options...."

Adrieal nods, "Acknowledged. Please follow us. Our drop ship will be arriving in one minute twenty-three point two eight seconds."

"Right..." Mila replies with a nod as she looks at Adrieal and Janus, "You said Leika and Rheme are here too?"

"Yes, your sister was there for the uplifting of every platform here. Rheme is in platform 6110118, they inform us their organic designation is Fajar," Adrieal explains as Fajar nods and waves to Mila as Mila just looks at it and follows the other geth in front of her.

"You turned my sister into a geth... is that why this body of yours has a tail? And breasts?"

"This platform does not have breasts. We do have spherical additions to our chest plate that hold extra data storage space and energy reserves. The shape of our platform is base don the uplifted organic of which we share this platform with."

Mila nods, "And how many geth are in you Adrieal?"

"There are 230,899 programs within out platform. We are the conscious consensus of every program, including your sister."

"My sister is just now part of you as a mindless program?"

"Negative. Your sister is part of us. Program 1191891981 exerts a base 0.83 percent influence on our personality, but it is also self-aware like all of the geth within us."

"Base influence?... and what did you call my SISTER?!" Mila states with a long growl as she stops. Adrieal stops in kind and turns around as the geth drop ship approaches and lands nearby.

"We know your sister as program 1191891981... your sister informs us that we should have referred to her by her organic designation. It apologizes that it didn't process the probability after the entire name discussion that we would not do this. We suspect with high probability that your sister, Kirisha purposely did not correct us till it was too late."

"Why? Because the more mistakes you make that if this was indeed a ruse that the problems with it are so glaring that this could not be a ruse?"

A moment passes, "Yes."

Mila sighs, "If anything you know my way of thinking down."

"Acknowledged."

Mila lets out another uneasy sigh as the other geth approach, the massive armature folds up into itself as other geth help move it back onto the ship, "You said something about Leika and base influence?"

Adrieal looks over at Mila, "Yes. Leika is in a geth prime platform 9181251 organic designation, Irlea. It is currently helping platform 16815514924, the only armature mobile hub platform that we have, it's organic designation is Phoenix. Fitting organic idea of a phoenix, rising from the ashes as it was reborn once to become an armature."

"And that green geth over there?"

"You know of that one. Their organic was named Lorkos, the platform is 211420151691 organic designation Untopia. They also have 89 programs from platform 20112114. They were were from the organic known as Allea. We know you know both of these turians."

"Yes, they were our guards. I remember them well. So what Allea's platform didn't pick a name?"

"Allea's platform was destroyed when the organics surprised attacked us after we made a peace agreement with them, so they could focus on fighting the old machines."

"Oh... wait what? Back up, back up," Mila states as they walk onto the geth vessel, the geth quickly pass on the information of keeping the ship now pressurized with a breathable atmosphere as they all board, "First off, I heard that term base influence. What did that mean. Then what old machines?"

"Like organics. Geth are influenced by other geth. Kirisha exerts a greater influence on individual geth than they do to it. But we exert an overall greater influence on it than what it does in return. There is a high probability Kirisha's influence is greater than the base value but figuring out the exact percentage would take several days of processing, which would not an efficient use of our time."

"That makes sense," Mila replies as the ship rattles slightly as they take off. Mila's breaths are still deep and quick, "And these old machines?"

"Your sister wishes to speak to you on that personality. We respect this desire and reached consensus to allow it."

Mila nods as Fajar and Irlea approach, Fajar looks at Mila examining her from a safe distance, "We are pleased to have all of us meet you."

"Fajar right?"

"Yes."

"And Rheme is in there with you?"

"Yes. Rheme is exceedingly curious. We admire its tenacity to learn."

Mila looks at Irlea, "And you, Irlea, Leika is in you?"

The giant red and silver geth prime nods, "Yes."

"How the heck did that happen?"

"You asked her to find Kirisha. She found Kirisha and platform Adrieal by accidentally crashing into their ship. The damage almost resulted in the lost of Adrieal and Leika. Afterwards Leika became compliant in becoming a geth once she learned Kirisha's uplifting."

Mila nods and nervously looks over at all the geth, "Damn it... that is why you want me alive."

Adrieal shakes its head, "We understand your concerns. We came to the consensus that force uplifting is not the answer. We previously had little choice with the coming of the old machines."

"Now what? Did turning people into geth make you realize it is a horrible evil idea?"

"Negative. We find being geth is the best course of action. It improves not only the one uplifted but other geth too. We are the next step in sentient evolution, but we have decided that this should be a choice made by organics of their own free will, not by us. We are to be a prime example of being uplifted. That way it becomes desirable to organics to undergo the process."

Mila nods slowly, "Right... Good luck with that!"

"Acknowledged. Thank you."

Mila sighs softly, "You're welcome," as she mutters to herself, "How did I let this happen to myself." The geth drop ship rattles slightly as it moves to dock with the mother ship. Mila looks around at the geth as they give slight idle motions whenever Mila sees them.

"Is that another raptor geth over there?" Mila asks as she points to Narase who is standing next to Alareana.

Adrieal nods, "Yes. The organic was named Nargus, platform designation is 141181195, organic designation is Narase."

"I see..." Mila squints at the purple geth, "Does that geth have a sword on its side?"

"Yes, program 49262695 organic designation Dizzie was very persuasive for platform 11211851141 organic designation Alareana to obtain the weapon."

"How many mobile platform hubs are there of you?"

"Of us here and on the ship, ten."

"That's not a lot."

"We are able to effectively control 125,063 geth platforms for whatever the situation requires. Without degrading our cognitive capabilities."

"Never mind then," Mila replies as she tenses as she hears the number. The door off of the dropship open up as a hiss is heard as the doors open up and Mila feels a slight pressure building into her ear drums as she holds her nose and blows to get them to pop.

"We apologize the transition caused you discomfort. This is the first time we are using our ships atmospheric generators."

"You work in your ship in a vacuum?"

"We have no need for an atmosphere."

"Machines... right, good point. Where to?"

Adrieal walks down the small ramp and turns to Mila, "This way. Janus, Fajar and Irlea will join us. You know of their core-programs the best. We hope this will alleviate some discomfort."

"If anything, it is creating more knowing all my friends are now machines."

"Would you prefer those you have not met?"

Mila shakes her head and lets out a little sigh, "No."

Adrieal nods, "Affirmative," as the four geth guide Mila deeper into the larger ship, towards the uplifting pods. Mila looks around as she hears the echo of her boots tapping against the metal ground, the echo and whirs of the four geth nearby. The lights illuminating as they approach and turning off as they leave.

Eventually they reach the ship's labs and as the door spins open and they walk in Mila's eyes widen as she sees two dozen pods attached to thick wires and tubes. The glass covers of two of the pods open with a low hum as Adrieal steps into one of the pods, as the door to the one right beside it is also open.

Adrieal turns to face Mila who stands several feet away, "Whenever you are ready please step into the other pod. Do not worry about your biological needs we will take care of it," Adrieal says as the glass door closes.

"Why doesn't that make me feel better," Mila remarks as she looks at the other geth, Fajar and Janus currently working at a nearby console as the ten-foot-tall geth prime, Irlea stands off to the side near the door.

"Far too late to run..."

Irlea focuses on Mila, "You speak your mind too often Mila."

Mila swings around and looks at the geth as her eyes narrow, "What? Have a problem with me being honest?"

Irlea shakes its head, "Negative. We are referring to when you think out loud and we can hear it. If you wish to run you are free to do so. We will escort you back to the planet. We are not to force you into this. But your sister, Leika and the others do wish to speak to you, it is up to you if you wish to hear what they have to say."

"If it is really them," Mila remarks as she looks away when Irlea mentioned the thinking out loud too much.

"That is for you to decide. Those you know no longer have an organic body. They are data, but at the same time they are also unable to be copied. They are unique onto themselves when it comes to geth. We have learned much from their point of view on the world. We understand organics far better now than ever. We wish to continue this. We hope you can help us do that."

Mila eyes Irlea for a moment, looking at the glowing red lights of its optics as Janus reports, "It is ready for you Mila Des Raptour."

Mila turns around, "Using my full name?"

"We found it to be respectable."

"If Azreith is really not in there, you all sure did your homework," she remarks as she approaches the other pod. Adrieal watches Mila as Mila looks back at her.

Fajar stands next to the empty pod looking over at Mila, "Please remove your articles of clothing."

Mila quickly turns to Fajar, "What?!"

"Connection would be best established if no foreign objects were in the way."

Mila sighs again, "Not like a machine can be a pervert, I suppose I can do that," she replies as she strips down and places her clothes in a nice pile between the two pods before stepping inside.

Fajar looks up at Mila, "Are you ready Mila?"

"As much as I ever will be."

"Affirmative," Fajar replies as the pod's cover slides down. Mila takes a deep breath as she hears the faint echo caused by her enclosed space as she speaks, "Now what?"

"Please remain calm, the connection process will take a moment," Fajar responds as a few seconds later the two pods start to fill with a thick liquid that is rather cool to the touch.

"What is this? You know I can't breathe liquids, right?"

"Please remain calm. Your biological needs will be taken care of."

"That doesn't make me feel any better!" Mila exclaims as she pants. The liquid rising higher and higher, her body starting to float in the pod as Adrieal remains motionless. A single robotic tentacle moves up and connects to the back of Adrieal's back making a solid connection just as the liquid fills the pod. Adrieal tenses as her claws twitch, she looks out at the two geth that watch patiently.

Fajar puts a hand on the glass, "Relax, it will start soon," the voice itself is muffled now as Mila holds her breath. Her lungs starting to burn, begging for air as a single synthetic tentacle cable moves up from behind Mila. It touches the back of her head, the sensation making her tense and gasp as liquid starts to flow down her lungs. Her cold sensation now reaching her very core as she feels herself tensing even more before suddenly... everything goes black.