Lazarus Project: Mass Effect 2 (Shenko)

Chapter 27

Milky Way/Hades Gamma/Minuteman Station

Earth year: 2185 CE --- April

As the room faded to black, Callie realized there was someone waiting behind her. Turning, her eyes fell on a familiar face, one she'd never expected to see on a Cerberus station.

"Joker?" Callie exclaimed, the weight on her shoulders easing at the sight of him. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing." He said, breaking into a smile.

"I got lucky, with a lot of strings attached." Callie said, falling into step beside him as they headed back up the stairs.

"Tell me about it. I saw you get spaced." Joker said, his tone light.

"What about Cerberus?" Callie asked, changing the subject. "Do you trust them?"

"I don't trust anyone who makes more money than me, but they're not all bad. They gave me a job, let me fly again. Then there's this." He said, drawing her attention to a plate-glass window overlooking the docking bay.

Beyond the glass hovered a sight Callie never thought to see again. It was her ship, almost exactly like the Normandy, larger than the original, but the same sleek style.

"They only told me last night." Joker whispered, overcome by the sight of his baby.

"Guess we'll have to give her a name." Callie whispered back.

----xxx----

On board her new ship, the SSV Normandy SR-2, Callie walked with Jacob and Miranda as they discussed the mission and the specs of Callie's new ship.

"It must take more than just the three of us to run a ship this size." Callie said as they reached the CIC, a larger and brighter space now than what she remembered.

"This ship has a full crew Shepard." Miranda said.

"I am fully equipped to handle the responsibilities of any and all crew Commander." Interrupted a female voice coming from the ship's intercom.

"Who are you?" Callie asked, suspicious, as a holo of what looked like a ghostly blue image of a giant microphone appeared above the CIC console.

"I am EDI." The voice replied.

"EDI is a fully evolved AI." Miranda said from Callie's left.

"Joker's not going to like this." Callie muttered, shaking her head in disbelief.

"We'll let you get settled Shepard." Miranda said. "We have a lot of work to do. Jacob and I will be at our stations should you wish to speak with us.

Callie nodded, watching them leave the CIC before heading back to the bridge to talk to Joker.

"Can you believe this Commander?" Joker cried. "It's just like my baby, but with leather seats! Military might hold the standard on hardware, but they could care less if the seats breathe."

"Good to see you're keeping everything in perspective Joker."

"Exact replication was not our intention Mr. Moreau." EDI said, interrupting. "Seamless improvements were made."

"And there's the downside." Joker muttered. "I liked the Normandy when she was beautiful. And quiet. I got along just fine without some A.I. telling me the door is ajar."

"Cerberus disagrees Joker." Callie reminded him. "If you don't like it, turn the sound off."

"It's not the same thing, it's still watching me. Like that creepy kid in comp-sci who just stares at you, and you wanna punch him, but he sets fires and stuff. Okay, maybe that went a bit far, but you know what I mean." Joker pouted.