Finally, the demonstrations on the Defrahnz had calmed. The fleet was mildly chaotic but stable. It was time to go confront the source of the problem. Even better, I could take a half-hour nap during the journey to the Iktomi.
If there's one thing that remains common between being a marine and being an admiral, it is the importance of getting sleep when you can. Especially when you were stuck dealing with a crisis all night instead of going home to your loving wife and daughter.
Upon arriving, I was greeted by Mirala at the door and ushered in, where I met Atton enjoying some Shirol. Kirah was apparently sleeping in, and I couldn't help but feel a stab of jealousy towards the child. Fortunately, Mirala and Atton have become surprisingly good friends. It was a much-appreciated chance to de-stress after last night.
Finally, Kirah entered the living area of the Vai's quarters. As genially as I could, I greeted the young prodigy. Although I couldn't help but snark a little at the end. "Ah, Kirah, it's good to see you. Slept well, did you?"
"In fact, I did!" He couldn't help but cheerfully reply.
"That's just great. Fantastic, even. Sadly, I can't say the same myself."
"Oh, sorry to hear that."
The genuine sympathy from a child did a lot to calm my frustrations. Still, I had a point to make. Kirah probably didn't mean for this to happen. He's more sensible than that, but he does need to be more aware of how much chaos he accidentally spawns and should take more precautions.
"Perhaps you should be. It's partly your fault, after all. Kirah, next time you want to announce something as chaos-inducing as proof of the existence of the soul, the Admiralty board and conclave would appreciate sufficient forewarning to prepare for it."
"Announce it; what do you mean? I mean, yeah, we blatantly succeeded, but we still need to begin looking at the data. So there's no way Daro or I would announce it."
"Kirah, the whole fleet knows. There's a video of Daro sitting in a pod with glowing polygons surrounding her. The Citadel would probably know by now if we were in comms range."
"Ah, I guess there's no way we're keeping it quiet then."
As suspected, Kirah is somewhat sensible, but inexperience leads him to make mistakes. I know what happened now.
"Did anyone remind Seiran'Ya and the rest of her team to keep it quiet?"
"Oh. I thought that would be obvious."
"Honestly, I would think so too, Kirah. Yet there's a reason we put warning labels on even the most obvious hazards. Now that the public knows, Daro has been crowing all morning about having gained immortality in the hall of scientific history. I've never seen her so happy in my life."
"That doesn't sound like Daro."
"Sure, it does; she just achieved one of her biggest childhood dreams. And now she won't shut up about being the only person in the galaxy proven to have a soul."
"Okay, that sounds more like her."
"Despite the headaches it has caused, I must congratulate you. That's an amazing achievement. However, I thought you were working on that anti-gravity technology?"
"We are. We're nearly done, in fact. You should know. We sent you a report when we started building our testbed production facility."
It was a comprehensive report. The Admiralty Board is pretty excited about the advantages it will give the fleet.
"Which is what I thought the strategic resources were for. Daro certainly made no efforts to correct that misinterpretation of the facts."
Which is a matter I need to speak to Daro about. There really was no need for deception. Kirah paid for it, and realistically, given that we were in the middle of a harvesting expedition, we restocked the losses within the day.
"Ah, sorry, but we're mostly documenting the production process, working any last unexpected kinks and finishing off the paper. We will probably be done around the time we have communications restored. That is why Daro was able to set up this whole experiment simultaneously."
"I really wish someone had told me exactly what you were doing. If nothing else, we would have ensured it did not come out prematurely and prepared for the announcement." I couldn't help but sigh. I may have slept at home last night in such a timeline. "In the future, I insist you keep me informed so we can prepare for the chaos you cause."
After a moment of silence, Kirah spoke up. "How bad is it out there anyway?" Contrition was apparent in his voice.
"There was a riot on the Defrahnz." I immediately reply.
"Those traditionalist nutjobs? Are they still upset they can only exile their 'undesirables' to other ships?"
Clearly, Kirah has heard of them before.
"Well, yes, they are, but this time they're insisting we restore our Rannochian religious practices."
"You mean the Imprint VIs?" he asks with some incredulity.
"Yes, I mean the VIs. Never mind the fact that they increase our vulnerability to Geth intrusion massively. Nor the fact we simply don't have the resources or space to spare to create and operate them as they want."
"What about the sane part of the fleet – by which I mean every other ship."
Clearly, Kirah is not yet aware of the reputation of the Iktomi in the broader fleet. He fits in well.
"Honestly, it's somewhat mixed." The puzzled look on his face prompted me to continue. "As you know, Quarian spirituality has always been a rather passive thing. We may no longer create VIs for our ancestors to possess as desired, but we have continued to respect our ancestors who watch out for us. The existence of the soul was never culturally in doubt."
Mirala, who had just returned with some Shirol, interrupted the conversation. "The Asari will be so smug when the proof gets out."
"Keelah, don't remind me. Since first contact, they've insisted that melding was a merging of souls."
"Hmm, synchronising souls is possible. I wonder if that's what they've been doing. It makes more sense to me than somehow biotically linking minds. Eezo is a magic material, but it's not that magic."
"Right, of course." I concede, as he just blurts out another hypothesis to explain the mysteries of the galaxy. I continued jovially. "Next, you're going to tell me Geth have souls too." I couldn't help but notice Kirah wince at that. "Geth don't have souls. They're just machines." I said to reassure myself as much as I was asserting a fact. Kirah didn't even try to hide his reaction to that. My confidence shattered. "Kirah, Geth don't have souls do they?"
"I would need to examine one to be sure, but the math suggests that they've likely been developing souls since shortly after the rebellion. So, probably - yes."
Kirah! Can't we ever just have a normal conversation without you overturning a core belief of my life. "Keelah Se'lai. Kirah, do you hate me?"
"No! Why would you think that."
"Because you give me as many headaches as the rest of the fleet combined."
Kirah seems so innocent. He is, in fact, just that. Yet, I must not forget he's a troublemaker of the most immense proportions.
"Kirah, let's keep that one quiet for a bit. Don't go spreading it around. The fleet can only handle so much chaos at once. So consider that an order."
"But-"
I cut him off before he could reply.
"Kirah, we can discuss the matter fully once I've had some proper rest. It's not an issue that can be swept under the rug. If there was ever some bait that would draw the Geth out of isolation, your discovery was it."
"Ah yeah, I suppose it would draw their attention in particular once it reaches the wider galaxy."
I should stop being surprised by the esoteric knowledge Kirah just seems to know. It's not strictly forbidden or even actively hidden, but much of our history with the Geth is buried in time and grief. It's not a topic most quarians ever stumble upon.
"I'll keep it quiet for now. Don't worry too much; I've got a plan! We can discuss it in full when you're better rested."
Somehow those words were a lot less soothing than I suspect he intended them to be. Regardless, I agreed with the sentiment. It was time to go home and get a few hours of sleep before returning to work.
