4 Moon Ghost

4 Moon Ghost

--> Our mission to find Saren and stop him from using the Conduit remains our primary goal, but I have other duties as well. I’ve received a priority message from Admiral Hackett. The central VI on Luna Base has gone rogue; seventeen marines were killed by automated defences before they evacuated. Fortunately the station is on a closed network, so the VI can’t spread, but that also means it’s immune to remote shut down. Hackett could of course order the station bombed, but has prudently decided to instead send in a team to shut it down from the inside. That’s where I come in. Clearly Hackett could have ordered in a different team, and is taking opportunity to touch base and confirm the loyalty of the first Human Spectre. I approve whole-heartedly. Setting course for Luna.

--> We've shut down the VI.

Technically it was a mission not much unlike another. Land, break through the security, clear out automated defences, and shut down the servers inside. But despite the heavy defences mobilized against us, we only faced one enemy; the silent program we'd been sent to destroy. The desolate and barren moon was completely devoid of life but for my team and the hostile intelligence that awaited us in the bunkers below the surface. As we shut down the last server, it broadcast a signal before losing power, a series of zeros and ones, which translated spell one word: “help.”

The mission is over, but I can't set this conundrum to rest. It seems the VI on Luna had achieved at least rudimentary independence and awareness, enough to react defensively when it thought it was under attack from the training exercises, and enough to call for aid when all other options were exhausted, even though it had no reason to believe anyone could hear its plea, or hearing would be inclined to heed. Is it possible the VI was not merely an intelligence, but a person? Was there actually a sovereign self with its own perspective, watching helplessly as the team of avenging marines carved through its futile defences? What if it was not a simple malfunction and cold self-preservation that caused the intelligence to kill those seventeen soldiers, but genuine fear? 

How self-aware are the Geth? Are they more than just super-smart killing machines? Is it possible they’re actual persons, not just a sophisticated program with a built-in survival instinct?

These are troubling questions, a mystery whose answer I cannot riddle out with the information at hand. Until further relevant intelligence is obtained, I have no choice but to shelve it indefinitely. The whole matter is unsettling, to say the least. I don't like leaving the matter undecided. It's like deliberately turning my back on an armed hostile.

Ashley Williams has raised the question of non-Alliance personnel being allowed free access to the ship. I’d already asked Alliance High Command what my orders were on the subject when we first left the Citadel. I was told that all other considerations are secondary to diplomatic principle. As the first Human Spectre, my first priority is to look good for interspecies relations. Security considerations are left to my discretion. Apparently, discretion is taking a backseat to diplomacy, and the security of Normandy’s secrets takes second place to being seen as open and cooperative. 
 

I disapprove on principle, but in this specific instance I do not personally think the three individuals in question pose a security risk. Tali is Quarian, and Quarians have not exchanged hostilities with anyone other than pirates since their war with the Geth. Theoretically, Tali could of course sell secrets from the Normandy, but I sincerely doubt her the type of person to be so underhanded. Garrus is a Turian, infuriated by worthless rules but eminently principled. He could reveal no secrets to his people that they do not already know, and would likely pull his fangs out before selling secrets to a third party. Wrex is a Krogan, a mercenary, and likely wouldn’t understand the specifics of the Normandy’s systems if I had Engineer Adams spell it out for him. Moreover, all transmissions from the Normandy are screened by ship systems, and the datacores of all memory storage devices brought on board are monitored. As matters stand, I do not think allowing these three individuals aboard the Normandy constitute a serious threat to security. Nevertheless, I applaud Williams stepping forward and bringing the matter to discussion.

Ashley Williams is a remarkable woman. Even aside from her service record and what I saw of her on Eden Prime, there’s something about her: the way she stands, the she walks, in everything she does, that speaks of a discipline beyond the requirements of the service. There is something about her of the uncompromising idealist, willing to do anything that her conscience demands of her. Her strong impatience for anyone who fails to do the same is tempered with the fiercest empathy for innocents I’ve ever seen. I’ve learned something of why she drives herself so hard. Her grandfather was General Williams, the infamous commander of the Alliance forces at the disaster of Shanxi. Detachments dispersed, constant bombardment, and communications severed, the unfortunate general became the first and only human officer to surrender to Alien forces. The Williams family has been living under what Ashley describes as “the Williams curse” ever since. Ashley’s father never made rank above Serviceman Third Class. He told Ashley “a Williams has to be better than the best, if only to avoid suspicion.” His daughter achieving the rank of Gunnery Chief may seem only due justice, if that, given her service record and technical scores, but it was not easily won.

Garrus Vakarian has asked a favour. He’s thinks he’s tracked down the ship of a black-market organ dealer of atrocious method who evaded him in the past. Apparently, he’s had no luck convincing his superiors in C-Sec to confirm his suspicions and arrest the suspect. I’ve promised him that if our course takes us in that direction, we’ll make a detour. If Saren were not actively pursuing who knows what plot as I record this, I’d give the order to make the diversion immediately.

--> I’ve located both Kahoku’s missing team and Gavin’s missing brother. Both parties are dead. The civilian freighter fell prey to pirates. The missing marines had been killed by a Thresher Maw lurking in wait next to a distress beacon. The Thresher Maw is now dead, but searching the distress beacon and the surrounding area revealed little. Something doesn't add up here. I suspect some foul play is afoot.

Alliance High Command has analysed the Geth intel, and mapped out the locations of four Geth outposts, located in the Gagarin, Tereshkova, Hong, and Vamshi systems. Moving to engage.

--> After long and tedious searching and fighting, the newly formed Geth outposts have been found and eliminated. They were being coordinated from a central base in the Grissom system not revealed in the initial intelligence. When the last Geth soldier fell, the base transmitted a signal back towards the Perseus Veil. It wasn’t a message, not exactly; it was footage of a Quarian singing. Odd, to say the least.

It is unclear if these five bases were merely intended to be surveillance stations, or if they were to be used to launch an invasion. Neither one is going to happen now. The bases and the Geth units manning them are now rubble, and regular Alliance patrols in that sector will alert us should they again attempt to establish a foothold.

In the last base we found a veritable treasure trove of intel, data on the Geth that may reveal how they’ve evolved since driving out the Quarians. Multiple Alliance Scientists assigned to decrypting the information have personally thanked me for providing them with the data. Tali will be taking a copy of the information back with her when she returns to her people. It may take years to decipher all of it, but when that does happen, I shall be most interested to read the results.

I am now faced with a decision. Do I investigate the rumours of Geth activity on Noveria, or do I track down Dr. Liara T’Soni? 
 

Whatever the Geth are doing on Noveria, it is almost certainly my solidest thread to Saren. On the other hand, Dr. T’Soni is Benezia’s daughter as well as an expert on the Protheans. She may be our swiftest lead to Saren, or may have nothing whatever to do with him. Even if she has been thus far completely isolated from her mother’s activities, and has no information on Saren, she might know something else pertinent to this investigation.

Given her location somewhere in the Artemis Tau Star Cluster, Navigator Pressly has narrowed down the search for the Asari doctor considerably. Considering her interests, she can most likely be found on the planet Therum in the Knossos system. The planet has a largely-intact Prothean ruin.

I’m ordering the Normandy to Therum. I may be off on a wild goose chase and wasting valuable time, but I have a feeling I’m not.

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