Epilogue

… Or is it?

Finn awoke to find himself on the couch in his quarters. Kyra was nestled against him for warmth, and for good reason; she was wearing a green satin costume that did a bad job of covering her skin.

Viridia had danced again, and sang as well, before the two shared a few drinks as they cuddled on the couch and talked. Not about their recent adventure; they had repeated that tale more times than they cared to count to seemingly everyone, especially Darsan (who, to be fair, was feeling a little left out, even if Tuck had managed a good Viceroy Spritzer). No, they spoke about their first meeting, about the time they spent together on Neukaara and the Citadel, about Eri and Xyn's flowering romance (both laughing even though the pun was unintentional). They had talked long into the night about life, the universe, and everything as they lay there, each enjoying the other's warmth.

He found himself telling her things he had only told Jake … and even a few things he hadn't: his worry for his sister, who he had just learned was both engaged and pregnant; his fears about the upcoming conflict and the possible loss of friends, and the lingering sadness he still felt from the passing of his mother. She told him things as well: her worries for her own siblings; missing her parents back on Rannoch, and concerns she had about friends she left on Omega.

As they lay there together in the darkness of his quarters, Finn realized just how deeply he loved her. He had been reluctant to say it before, but he'd never felt so complete as when they were together. They picked on each other, they occasionally fought, and Kyra seemed to be getting more and more enjoyment out of bopping him on the head, yet they were still friends.

He remembered trying to ask her how quarians proposed without seeming suspicious, but she had already been fast asleep, with Finn only moments behind.

As he lay in the darkness, caressing her satin-covered arm, he thought about the big question. Was he ready to commit to her?

She let out a single loud snore that made him chuckle quietly and rub her hair with gentle fingers. It wasn't commitment that scared him, or even the thought of settling down and no longer flying. If anything, that just increased the appeal; his recent streaming experience scared him, and he had told Kyra as much. Sure, it was easy to laugh at fate after all the chaos in his life, but he knew sooner or later, that strange luck that led him to where he was might run out.

But was he too afraid to even try? To afraid to at least ask her, with the understanding that they would have to wait until Cerberus was gone? As he stared at her sleeping face, he found himself truly wondering for the first time.

"Psst."

Finn frowned as a thin stream of light escaped from his bedroom door. A one millimeter thick section of Glen was visible through his door, looking back at him.

"Psst. Finn. Finn, can you hear me?"

Annoyed at having to leave his comfortable seat, Finn carefully extracted himself from Kyra and laid her carefully on the couch. After covering her with a blanket, he paused and looked at her again before carefully moving a stray hair out of her face.

"Finn! Finn, Finn, Finn, Finn, Fi-"

"I'm up already!" Finn whispered back, not bother to hide his annoyance.

He carefully padded out of the room on his bare feet and opened the door wide enough for him to pass through. Shutting it again so the light wouldn't bother Kyra, Finn turned to Glen and asked, "What?"

"Uh, look, I'm sorry about bothering you, but this is kinda important. I mean, I don't want to go to Liara because it's gonna be all awkward and all, but-"

"It's fine." Finn said, "What is it?"

"Come with me."

She led him to the lift, where Hylia was waiting for them. For reasons of which Finn was unaware, her hands were covered with what looked like purple dish gloves.

"Wash a lot of dishes at this hour?" Finn asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

She blushed and quickly pulled off the gloves. "Sorry; I was handling some … things that were on the League's ship."

"What kind of things?" Glen asked curiously.

"Uh, possibly volatile things. Things that might be a teensy weensy bit unpredictable." She gave them a bright smile. "Can never be too careful, right?"

"Uh, right." Finn said as he stepped into the lift.

The three of them rode the lift down to engineering in silence. Every time Finn tried to ask what was going on, Glen just shook her head and said, "It's easier just to show you." Eventually, Finn just gave up.

Once they had stepped from the lift onto the engineering deck, Glen turned quickly to face Finn.

"Look, you remember when you were attacked on the bridge of the Meridia?"

"You mean when the Cerberus operative nearly stabbed me in the back?" Finn said, "Yeah, that kinda sticks with you for awhile."

"Heh. Right. Well, you remember I came up to the bridge and started to say something?"

"Vaguely." Finn said, rubbing his forehead. He hadn't drunk enough alcohol to have a hangover, but it did leave him with a bit of a headache. "What's your point?"

"Right." Glen said, clapping her hands together. "I forgot at the time, but when I remembered, I was gonna tell you straight away. Then we got all mixed up with the Saints and Councilor Raine, and I forgot again, but I knew I would, so I kept, er, a part. The important part. And I isolated the console! Very important! Don't want it planting any viruses, no sirree."

"And?" Finn said, wondering why Hylia wasn't similarly annoyed by this.

"Er, well, I brought it here, cause … well, it asked for you."

It took Finn a few moments to work through Glen's words to find the problem, but when he figured it out, he felt his blood run cold. "It … asked for … Glen, what the hell are you talking about?"

Glen seemed to struggle for a few moments before letting out a sigh and stepping away from the console nearest the lift, where a head was currently staring at the three of them.

Finn stared back at the head for a few moments; it looked vaguely human, but it was covered with signs of cybernetic alteration, some seemingly at the nanoscopic level. Bursts of light moving in the circuitry indicated that it was active, prompting Finn to move closer for a better look.

It blinked.

Finn stumbled backwards with a yelp, nearly falling over one of Glen's heavy workboot-clad feet.

It blinked again, an almost curious expression on its face as it stared at them, seemingly unaware that it was a head attached to an isolated console.

"You found this on the Meridia?" Finn asked, struggling to keep his words coherent.

"That's what I … look, this guy attacked me at the same time the guy attacked you! I took him out, but he just kept standing up and coming after me again until I ripped his head off. After I dumped his body into the anti-matter purging system, he started repeating your name over and over again. I went to tell you, but we kept running into bigger problems."

"Bigger problems." Finn shook his head and said, "A Cerberus Assassin starts saying my name after you rip off his head, and you were distracted? I ... I just …"

Glen winced as though expecting a tirade, but Finn just let out a breath and said, "You know what, fine. We've been through a lot."

"Yeah, no time to lose our heads." Hylia said in a cheery voice.

She shrank under the withering stares Finn and Glen gave her. "Er, sorry … it just kinda slipped out."

Approaching the head again, Finn said, "Why would it say my name?"

"Finn Cresste?" The head said, it's tone definitely questioning.

Figuring it couldn't hurt, Finn said, "Yes, I'm Finn."

The eyes of the head closed.

Glen grabbed Finn's arm as strange noises emanated from the head. "Nice and easy, Finn."

The eyes opened wide, a strange light shining from their depths to the floor between the head and Finn. Everyone took a step back in surprise as a hologram of a middle-aged man appeared before them. He was seated in a chair and smoking what looked like a cigarette.

"Ah, Mister Cresste." The man said, a smile on his aged face. "I was hoping we would meet soon. We have a lot to talk about."

"Whoa." Glen said, squinting at him. "You really did survive, huh?"

"As acute an observation as I've come to expect from you, Missus Adams."

"Don't think being a projection of light won't stop me from punching you, you sack of-"

"Hey!" Finn said, grabbing Glen's arm and pulling her back. "You know him?"

"Yeah." Glen said, a dark look in her eye. "He's the Illusive Man."

Finn felt the temperature in the room drop.

The Illusive Man chuckled. "You can see why we need to speak. I really should thank you, Finn."

"For what?" Finn asked, trying to ignore the uncomfortable feeling growing in his stomach.

"For getting rid of Councilor Ghales. Jorgal would have been an easy enough puppet to control, but Ghales had plans. Small plans, but ones that might have proven problematic. I was considering having my associates eliminate him, but you saved both them and me the trouble. You did it for your own reasons, no doubt, but I appreciate it nonetheless."

"As a token of my thanks, let me give you a warning." He stared at Finn with his eyes, the same eyes as the head, Finn realized. "Your interference thus far has only created minor setbacks, which is why you're still breathing, but further meddling will result in severe consequences."

"Really?" Glen said. "You went to this much trouble just to threaten us personally? Hate to break it to you, but we know you've got a bunch of Reapers."

"You give me too much credit." The Illusive Man said. "I only have one … I only need one."

"But I saw the other facilities!" Finn said. "There were dozens, maybe hundreds of them!"

"And that is a mystery you may choose to try and solve." The Illusive Man said, his tone smooth and even. "Which brings us to the real purpose of my arrangement of this meeting."

The Illusive Man sat forward and stared directly at Finn. "The galaxy is going to change, Finn, and it will be done by my hand, that much is true … but tell me, Mister Cresste, are you certain what I plan isn't in the galaxy's best interest? You've seen a considerable amount of the universe in your travels, and will likely see much more in the days to come. Do you feel that everything is okay as is?"

"It's not perfect, if that's what you mean." Finn said, "But no more so than in your day."

"Exactly!" The Illusive Man said with surprising feeling in his voice. "Four hundred years, and the same problems persist. Ilium is a world of greedy corporations who only stop clawing at each other to squeeze every last credit from their customers. The Alliance makes a big show of protecting its citizens, but still leaves their colonies in the Terminus Systems woefully underprotected from the gangs, the slavers, and the pirates who still set up shop there. And Omega, an asteroid that should've been mined completely decades ago is still a wretched hive of scum and villainy."

Ignoring Glen, who just tried to cover her snort and ended up choking on a bit of spit, Finn said, "No one said the universe is a perfect place."

"But how much of that is because of us, Mister Cresste? How much of that have we, the humans, the turians, the asari … all of the species of our galaxy, how much of it have we done to ourselves?" He sat back in his chair and let out a sigh. "Finn, are you aware of ARKCON project?"

"You know about that?" Hylia said, looking more than just a bit stunned.

The Illusive Man took a puff of his cigarette. "I knew about it the whole time. The Ark Contingency, meant to save part of ourselves by shipping it off to Andromeda. Tell me, though; what is to stop them from making our mistakes there? Make no mistake, a few of my representatives are there with them, no doubt shaping the form of the civilization they make for themselves. My concern at the moment is for this galaxy."

"I don't know if there's an answer to your question." Finn said. "But that doesn't mean there isn't one."

"Well, I've found one, and I intend to act on it." To Finn's surprise, the Illusive Man's face softened. "Mister Cresste … Finn. I've read your file. I know about your life, about your mistakes, and all you've done to atone for them. If there were more like you in positions of power in this galaxy, people willing to admit their errors and work to fix them or in the very least atone, my plan would not be necessary."

"Wait, wait, wait." Glen said, "Are you seriously about to ask him to switch sides?"

"That implies there are sides to switch." The Illusive Man said, his eyes on Finn. "While I would never expect the assistance of Missus T'soni or her prothean husband, our goals are not all that different. They certainly aren't that different from the work of Missus Adams. How did you put it, Missus Adams? Small changes and fixes to make a better universe? I simply plan on using a bigger brush."

"I'd need to know more about the plan." Finn said, hoping for more information; Liara would need everything he could get.

The Illusive Man took another puff of his cigarette before saying, "You'll know it soon enough, Mister Cresste. Until then, consider this offer; your help in the coming days could reduce the death toll by no insignificant amount. You are a good man, Mister Cresste, and although the allegiance of some of those around you is questionable," The Illusive Man looked at Glen as he spoke, "I believe you all want to help make this galaxy a better place … not just for humanity, but for all species. Think on it; when you are ready to help shape a better galaxy, I'm certain you will find a way to contact me."

With that, the hologram vanished. The head blinked a few more times before closing its eyes for good, leaving Finn, Glen, and Hylia looking at each other with stunned expressions.

"So," Glen said eventually, "Who wants to tell Liara?"