Shepard gave a relieved sigh when he peeled the final layer of armour away from his body, glad to store in away with the rest in his storage locker. He took a glance at the chest plate, frowning at the sight of the extensive damage it had sustained, noticing a scorch mark that had almost completely shredded the N-7 badge. He made a note of wear and tear, making sure to send it down to the armoury for the necessary repairs, not wanting to risk heading into battle with compromised armour plating.
Stripping off his undersuit, Shepard walked back over to his bathroom, dragging his weary body into the shower. As soon as the warm droplets poured across his skin, Shepard could feel a certain level of tension draining away, providing him with a brief respite from the sheer chaos that enveloped the galaxy at large.
To say that the war had been a disaster would have been a complete understatement. Almost every charted system had reported some form of reaper presence as the months passed, with some far more devastated than others. Earth had become ground zero for the invasion fleet, with certain rumours claiming that Harbinger itself was stationed somewhere in the Sol system. Shepard tried to not dwell on the situation on Earth, knowing that there was nothing he could do for his homeworld other than uniting the embattled species, along with discovering the secrets of the Crucible. But with Anderson right in the middle of the fray, holding down a foothold in London, it was difficult for Shepard to remain so disconnected.
For the remainder of what became a therapeutic session beneath the cascading stream of water, Shepard let his mind go blank, purging any thoughts of the war, just for a short while at least. Just when he finally found himself letting go, losing himself in his own little world, a chime rang out in the bathroom, breaking him from his serenity. Aware that he couldn't just ignore the attempt to reach him, Shepard reluctantly reached out of the shower and tapped the communications panel that had been built into the bathroom.
"Shepard here, is it important?" Shepard asked, keeping his voice as even as he could.
"Not if you're preoccupied, Shepard," EDI's voice politely answered, "I wouldn't wish to distract you from you're work."
"No, I'm not busy," Shepard sighed, wondering whether the AI had yet more bad news to relay to him regarding the status of the war. "Just trying to unwind. What is it EDI."
"I cannot really explain it over the channel, it is of a more personal matter," EDI explained, sounding more unsure of herself than Shepard had ever heard, piquing his interest in an instant. "I was wondering whether you had time for a face to face meeting to discuss it, preferably in private."
"Er, yeah, I'm just in the shower at the moment. If you want, you can make your way up to my quarters, the door's unlocked," Shepard offered, his mind swirled with possible topics the AI wanted to bring up. "Would that be alright with you?"
"Of course, Shepard. I'll be with you shortly," EDI replied with distinct gratefulness, cutting off the channel soon thereafter.
Shepard tried to get back into his calm mindset, but it proved futile. He spent the rest of the time simply washing away the dirt and grime that had accumulated during his skirmish with the reaper ground forces. Shutting off the shower, he stepped back out and stood beneath the automated dryer, wrapping a synthetic fabric robe across his body once the full body sweep was complete. Just before he exited the bathroom, he heard the distinct clunk of the main door's opening and closing cycle.
When he emerged, Shepard's eyes quickly found their way over to the unshackled AI, who stood in front of the elaborate fish tank, observing the gentle movement of the diverse range of creatures within. It gave Shepard a brief moment to appreciate the sight, examining every contour of her recently acquired mobile platform. The sleek, glossy grey and black design created a tantalising sight, with curves and shapes that would have rivalled the body of even the most voluptuous of Asari matriarchs.
Part of him knew that the body itself was essentially a casing, lacking the natural qualities and flaws of an organic body. Yet, just like many of the male crew members, he couldn't help himself from devouring the vision of EDI in motion, from the subtle movement of her wide hips, to the spring plates that acted as invisible heels to enhance her dexterity and movement. Despite the ownership of a humanoid form still being a recent occurrence for her, Shepard couldn't deny that EDI had adapted to it like it was second nature, displaying an elegance in her posture, along with an undeniable femininity that was all her own.
"EDI? You wanted to see me?" Shepard announced his presence, leaning against his display of model ships.
"Yes, I'm glad you could make time for me," EDI turned, flashing a gentle smile, one Shepard imagined she had spent a fair amount of time trying to perfect since obtaining the platform. "There was no other member of the crew that I could trust for this inquiry."
"I see, so is this a delicate matter?" Shepard asked, still curious as to what a being with limitless access to the millions of petabytes of data the Extranet had to offer could possibly want from him.The
"That would be a fair assumption," EDI nodded, displaying a nervous behaviour that Shepard didn't realise she was capable of, "it's something that had been a persistent distraction from my usual operations in recent weeks. But over the last forty-eight hours, it's become too palpable to ignore."
"Wow, this must really be something," Shepard gave her a comforting smile, padding over to his bed, perching himself right on the edge. "I didn't think you could get distracted, I always thought that you were able to compartmentalize these things until a solution finally made itself known."
"Typically, you would be correct in your summary," EDI agreed, striding over to the bed, standing before Shepard with a formal stance, linking her hands behind her back, "in my digital form, such a thing could be done in a fraction of a series mili-second. But since installing myself into this body, I've found basic processing to become somewhat of a struggle."
"I don't know, that sort of sounds like the norm for most organics," Shepard grinned, glad to see a small smile rise on EDI's face. "Do you want to take a seat? We don't really need to adhere to formalities when we're in private, we are friends after all."
"Thank you," EDI swept over and planted herself down next to him, crossing her expertly manufactured legs. Despite her slender frame, the weight of EDI caused the mattress to compress by a fair amount.
"I've never been the best at dealing with personal issues, but I'll try my best," Shepard promised. "What was the issue."
