It was Joker's turn to keep Josi, while Jo was making her usual rounds across the station and observing the recruits during their lessons. Joker, meanwhile, enjoyed his lesson-free afternoon in his own office, going through some filework. Josi's basket rested on his desk, allowing him to constantly keep an eye on his baby.

There was a pile of datapads waiting for his evaluation. His uncompromising efficiency allowed him to keep that pile quite small, of which Joker was personally very proud. He finished reading a report about a group of recruits handling a search and rescue operation a few solar systems away. They'd done a great job without any instructors helping them.

The next datapad was a report about the trial-in-absentia, which had been started during the restoration of Jo's body in the Greenland lab. Back then, when the war was barely over and the galaxy lay in ruins, ravaged by battles, people had tried to find someone to blame. Despite everything that she'd done, to some people Jo had seemed like a good choice at the time. A jury of seventy five members of different species sat down to evaluate Jo's actions from the moment she'd been made a Spectre for the first time. They called themselves 'independent reviewers', but Joker thought they were hardly more than Shepard-haters.

They wanted to see how many of her actions had been crimes of war, and if she had to be punished for them. In Joker's opinion they were paid for and supported by all the people in the galaxy who considered Jo a threat now and who believed she should have died and never come back. Her idea to add all species to the Council, to train a "private army" at her Academy, and the sheer amount of power she wielded just by being who she was, threatened a lot of rich and powerful people. Those people lost a lot of money and influence because of her and they wanted her gone.

Well, the 'independent reviewers' got what they deserved, when a large team of lawyers appeared at their sessions and took over Jo's defense. Liara had sent them. Therefore Jo and Joker had lived their life after her second resurrection in relative peace, only getting updates about the ridiculous trial now and then. But the public had lost all interest in it by now. News of the wedding, the Academy, the First Annual Victory Ball, the pregnancy and Josi's birth, followed by the huge hype around the epic vids in the making, took people's minds off the war and the Reapers. Some rich people were still losing their positions because of Jo's actions and policy, but more people grew into money and power in the last year alone thanks to her, and those didn't want her gone. Therefore the trial was finally wrapped up without any pomp or fanfare.

Joker read the verdict in the report: "Some of Commander Shepard's actions can be classified as crimes of war. However, nearly all of them could be explained by necessity. Had she chosen to act differently, in many cases the outcome would have caused more casualties than her chosen path did. Furthermore, the vast majority of her actions directly benefitted the galactic population. Her penance would usually have been to spend several years in a secure facility, but the jury felt that she had paid all her dues by dying in the final Reaper battle. Commander Shepard is cleared of all charges and would be subjected to no more persecution."

Joker snorted and threw the datapad in the 'done' box. As if a few hundred haters could really dislodge the hero of the galaxy from her position. She hadn't wanted a throne or a pedestal, choosing simple life instead, and that endeared her in the eyes of most.

Joker took the next pad waiting for his attention. He started reading. It took him several minutes to realise that not only did he have no friggin' idea what this report was about, he was also holding something quite questionable in his hands.

"Dex, what is this?" He addressed the camera in the top corner of his office. "If I'm reading this right, then back in September you found a comatose patient and decided to use his body as a sort of a… mobile platform. And I'm holding this report because the surgery you planned is finished and you're about to 'wake up' that body and install yourself on it? Is this about right?"

"Yes," Dex said. Joker got a feeling that the AI had been observing him closely, waiting for him to get to that particular datapad and estimating his reaction. "I talked to Jo about it before making any moves. The young man's body had been disconnected from life support machinery on schedule the day after his eighteenth birthday, which was in October. Per Jo's request I have sent in an anonymous request for the body to be kept in stasis for a few days, as Jo put it: to give his soul the chance to leave his body for real. After four days I had the body brought to Chrysalis and placed in a geth laboratory, where 46% of his brain was replaced by implants that allow me to interface with it. Now it's finished and I have been running tests and simulations for two days straight. I estimate the chance of success to be 93%."

"And I'm holding this datapad – why?" Joker frowned at the picture of the young man. A teenager, rather. A sleeping beauty.

"Well, if I want to enter this station in my new body, I'll need to get registered in the security system by Matty or someone ranking higher than him. Matty doesn't know yet and I want to surprise him, so you need to authorize my access, put in the DNA scan, palm prints, retinal scans, the whole works."

"But you spoke to Jo about it first. Why did you bring this to me now?"

"I wanted to see what you'd do. How you would react. As Jo's second in command you needed to know."

"Dex," Joker rubbed the bridge of his nose with his eyes closed. "Why are you doing this? I'm not talking you out of it, I want to hear your motivation."

The AI remained silent for several seconds. In most ways Dex acted completely human, even 'taking his time to collect his thoughts', while he clearly didn't need it. He was fully adjusted to interact with organics. EDI had never reached that level of integrity.

"I love Matt. It's as plain and simple as that. When he created me, he set me free, let me become my own person. I jumped from server to server, observed and collected information, and after a while I 'found out who I am', as you organics put it. I now have opinions, beliefs and a moral code. After defining myself I realised that I want companionship, too. And the only creature I desire to be near is Matt. It gives me pleasure to interact with him, spend time with him. But Matt is only human. When he created me, he was basically locked in that bunker with no chance to ever leave. I wanted to be with him and it was convenient to know that he was mine, whether he wanted to or not. But he is free now and there is nothing keeping him from leaving me if he wants to. And one day he will, because he is human and he needs companionship as much as anyone else. Organics need physical expression of companionship. Not only the sexual kind but simply having a focal point during a conversation. You remember how the Normandy crew started approaching EDI's mobile platform to talk, even though they could always simply talk to her sensors. A body gave them something to relate to."

"Of course I remember. I was the first one to appreciate that fine body sitting next to me all day."

"So you see, half of 'being with Matt' consists of physically being with him. He created me and let me go, after letting me know I was always welcome back. Now that he is no longer a prisoner, it is my turn to let him go. I will no longer keep him tied to his lab if he wants my companionship. But I don't have to say goodbye to him forever. I can simply try to join him in a human body. I can give us a chance to be together in every way. It would be cowardly of me not to try. Will the chemistry work? Will I be able to handle an organic body? Will I still love Matt when I'm installed in it? Will the body determine my sexual orientation? Will Matt be attracted to me in that body? You see, nothing is certain. But I need to do this."

"This reminds me of the story about Ariel, the little mermaid. She's in love with her prince and wants to be with him. She's a mermaid and has no legs. But at least she can breathe air as well as live under water. The prince can't live under water. So it's up to her to come to him. To get her legs, to meet him as an equal, and to give them a chance to be together."

"So you understand," Dex spoke softly. Joker couldn't deny that he did understand. Dex and Matt deserved their chance, no matter how crass the term 'recycled human body' sounded.

"Go ahead, Dex. Tonight, once Matt finishes his work and leaves, Jo and I will put in all your data and register you as a staff member of the station. Tomorrow you can start a day in your new body and take a shuttle to the station. And I'm going to record Matt's reaction from every possible angle. It's going to be epic!"

"I'm so glad to provide you with entertainment," Dex snorted, audibly relieved by Joker's final verdict.

"Where is this body now?"

"It has been moved this morning to a flat I purchased in a residential tower near the capital city."

"Have you tried using it yet?"

"No. But once we finish this conversation, I will."

"Do you want someone with you when you 'power up', so to speak? Me or Jo, maybe?"

"Link will be there to monitor the process. I don't need anyone else. Thank you, though."

"Whatever you feel is right," Joker agreed. He signed the filework and personally brought Jo the datapad when her rounds were over. She read everything quietly and nodded. As promised, after Matty went home, Jo and Joker registered a new person to have access to the Academy and wished Dex good luck with his new body.

In the morning, on their way to work, Jo read a message from Dex out loud for Joker to hear:

"Powered up fine. Tests are within normal range. Typing this with human fingers. Slow but the sensations are trippy! See you on the station for lunch!"

"This is really going to be epic," Joker concluded.

When they arrived at the station, the first person they saw was Matt, already waiting for them at the dock.

"You two," he pointed an accusing finger at them and waved them to step aside from the incoming traffic of other instructors. Then he got right in their faces: "I know you messed with my systems last night after I went home. What the fuck were you doing?"

"Sorry, Matty, we can't tell you," Jo tried to smile apologetically, but Matt was having none of that. His eyes shot lightning bolts and his fury made the air itself around him appear darker. Cold shivers ran down Joker's spine as one of his best friends drilled his skull with his intense glare.

"No?" Matty snapped. "Won't tell me a thing?" A hint of betrayal in his eyes was quickly extinguished by ice.

"Matt, it's not our secret to tell. We are both sworn to secrecy. And you'll find out what's going on today," Jo pleaded. Joker felt her shrink back from their friend's murderous intensity. "It's nothing bad."

"You know," Matt spat out, seeming perhaps a tiny bit mollified after Jo's words, but far from appeased. "I've never expected people I trust, whom I call friends, to go behind my back and violate the holiest of the holy things I hold dear. My systems. One way or another I will uncover this secret and the person who swore you to secrecy. I just don't understand how you managed to convince Dex to keep silent, too. He knows, but he won't tell me anything. So here's the deal: by the end of today someone will tell me what's going on."

There was no 'Or else' to that demand. Matt accepted nothing else but full compliance. He swirled around and left them standing alone in the hangar.

"He just scared the shit out of me," Joker stated carefully. This was the first time he'd seen the other man so agitated and he reminded himself: Matt didn't get his N7 badge for being a cute kitten or a geeky pushover. Joker's knees were still trembling.

"Me too," Jo whispered and Joker believed her. "Damn, I really hope that Dex shows up soon and nothing goes wrong."

The morning stretched impossibly long for Joker, who was dying to get an update. Dex-on-the-station behaved as always, being helpful and discrete. Nothing seemed amiss. But Joker's fingers tingled with the need to get his share of gossip. The anticipation was killing him.

Still, he forced himself into a composed, cool state when he finished his second class and headed towards the cafeteria. As always, Jo came in soon after him, carrying a basket with Josi, and leaned against him in the next chair. Karin, Tali, Matt and Michael Portman were already at the table, eating. All was quiet for a few minutes.

"Man, I think you have a stalker," Michael suddenly whispered, subtly pointing with his eyes behind Matt. Still fuming from this morning's disaster Matt turned around and looked. Jo and Joker locked their hands underneath the table and held their breath as one.

Matt did a double take. Just a few meters away from their table there was a young man leaning against the wall. A young man? Hell, he was barely more than a child! Cute button nose and cupid bow lips didn't help. The guy was about 175cm tall and rather very skinny, which was emphasised by the Academy's black uniform he wore. His alabaster skin reminded Matt of flowers that only bloom at night. The dark hair in an ultra-modern cut and the coffee-coloured eyes looked particularly striking against the ethereal background of pale skin. And those eyes were fixed firmly on Matt, as if the hundreds of people around them were nothing but air.

Transfixed by the stranger's intense stare, Matt slowly rubbed his forearm to chase away goosebumps.

"Wh…" he blinked in confusion and forcibly tore himself away from looking at the young man by the wall. He turned to Jo, bewilderment all across his face. "Jo, who is that? Why don't I know him? I know everyone on this station… What's going on?"

"Hello, Matty," a voice sounded right above Matt's head and the leader of the Intelligence branch froze. By now not only their table, but nearly half of the cafeteria were watching the dark-eyed young man, a complete stranger, step up right behind Matt's chair and slowly, reverently lift his hand. Everyone could see that he trembled when he slowly reached out. After hesitating twice those gentle fingers finally reached the fabric of Matt's shirt on his shoulder, a whisper of a touch, which nonetheless sent an electric shudder through poor Matt.

As if in a trance, Matt turned his head to look at those fingers. His heart was thudding heavily.

He didn't ask any questions. He was smarter than most people present and he could draw conclusions even in the state of utter shock and panicked perplexity. The person standing right behind him, whose warmth sent shivers through him, and who was touching him so worshipfully, was someone he was supposed to know. But he didn't, and the circle of his friends watching him with hungry expectation was only making it worse. Expectation. Something was expected of him, he could tell this much… He reached up quickly and grabbed the hand that was touching him. In the same movement he got up from his chair, kicked it aside and got right into the young man's face. Studying those big brown eyes up close didn't help him recognize the newcomer.

One hand still trapped by Matt, the young man simply stared in silence. The weirdness was starting to make Matt angry and he scowled. His fingers reached for a pressure point on the intruder's hand that would cause tremendous pain. But before he could start torturing the young man for information, his prisoner exhaled with great sorrow:

"Oh, Matty…" Disappointment flashed across the young face and the brown eyes suddenly filled with tears. "Oh…" The young man gasped and lifted his free hand to touch his eyes. He caught a tear with the tip of his forefinger and looked at it as if he'd never seen anything like it before.

It clicked in Matt's brain.

"Dex?" He whispered. Who else could say his name so intimately, touch him so reverently, and be astounded by something as simple as tears? His grip on the young man's hand instantly turned gentle.

The young man – Dex, there was no doubt about it anymore – stopped contemplating the wetness on his finger and flashed Matt a smile. Matt Cyco's entire world turned upside down in that moment, because it simply couldn't be possible…

Without losing sight of those big brown eyes or letting go of the soft hands, Matt hooked his foot against a chair nearby and pulled it closer. Then he gently guided Dex to sit in it, pulled up his own chair and sat, too, their joined hands on Dex's knees.

"I know what my heart and my eyes are telling me," he said, afraid to blink. "But my brain needs to catch up. What's going on? How are you human? What did you do? Be as technical as possible, I need intel."

Someone nearby chuckled softly, but Matt refused to be distracted by other people. He was aware, of course, of the complete silence in the cafeteria. Hundreds of people were focused on him and Dex's human body. None of that mattered.

"I can give you all the technical details once you get to your lab," Dex smiled adoringly. "The short version is: I found an unoccupied human body, modified it with implants and tech, downloaded myself into it and came to see you. I thought you didn't recognize me."

"Well, thank you for giving me a whole of five seconds to wrap my head around the nearly impossible before you gave up on me," Matt snorted. "It was you who asked Jo and Joker to secretly get into my systems last night, right? I thought they made you keep their secrets somehow, but all this time it was the other way around. They covered for you."

"Sorry about that. I wanted to surprise you…"

"And put me to a test. I guess I passed it, though. But to be honest, if it weren't for your smile, I probably wouldn't have…"

"My smile?" Dex, still crying and grinning at the same time, cocked his head. Matt's whole face and neck turned pink, then red. He looked down and said softly, so that people at other tables couldn't hear:

"Back on Earth, in our underground labs, we tried to merge a few times, right? Well…" He swallowed. "It didn't go very well, but there was one thing… When you entered my consciousness, I felt you smile. In my mind. I don't know how it's possible, theoretically or physically, but this new face of yours smiles exactly like you smile as an AI. Sorry, I can't explain it any better." He let go of Dex's left hand and ran his knuckles down the smooth, pale cheek.

They fell silent, simply taking each other in.

"So, what do you say?" Dex asked eventually, when the tears had dried and a devilish grin lifted the left side of his mouth.

"You did it for me?" Matt asked, more serious than his vis-à-vis.

"For the most part. But also for myself. I'm now the first official and registered AI-human hybrid. If you don't like this body, I won't abandon it, I'll just not show it to you anymore."

Matt remained silent for a while. Questions kept popping up in his head and most of them he could answer himself. Obviously, Jo and Joker were involved and had known about Dex's little project from its start. Jo would have never allowed an innocent person to be killed for Dex's caprice, so the body was probably free to use – whatever that meant. Also, she would have never allowed a child to be harmed in any way, so the body had to be of legal age, too. He knew already that the AI-organic interface was a very difficult thing to achieve and could only be accomplished by using lots and lots of implants. After Jo had died, some of her brain was actually replaced by Cerberus implants, which made it possible for her to interface so easily with the geth. His own attempts had mostly failed until now, so it stood to reason that Dex had somehow replaced a lot of the body's inner tissues with implants, so… So there was probably no chance to reverse whatever Dex had done. And that meant that no one would come to claim the body and take it away from them.

"Do you?" Dex asked with less self-assurance. "Like it, that is?"

Matt jumped to his feet and pulled Dex up as well.

"Jo, Jeff," he turned in the very last moment. "Thank you." With that he stormed out of the cafeteria and pulled Dex after him. The last thing his friends heard was an excited, boyish laughter.

The nearly five hundred people in the big room remained silent for a long time. Jo was quietly crying against Joker's neck. He'd always known that deep down she was a sucker for romance. She would always help couples, encourage them, do everything in her power to give someone a happy ending. Judging by the way the two young men had departed just now Joker did not doubt: Matt had liked Dex's human body a lot, and nothing would stand in the way of their romance anymore.

"Wow," Michael broke the silence at their table. All around them people were returning to their food and discussing the scene they'd just witnessed. "Love will find a way, I suppose… Though for Matt to recognize Dex in a completely random human body… That's incredible."

"As you said, true love will find a way. But let's be honest, Dex made it pretty obvious. He was making such awe-struck goo-goo-eyes at Matt that it was hard to mistake him for anyone else." Joker brushed Jo's face and hair with his free hand, drawing her even closer into his neck, and peppered soft kisses wherever he could reach. "Let me just say that at one point I'd had my own doubts, I didn't think I would be able to tell Jo's real feelings towards me." He was thinking back to the day when Jo and Justine appeared together on his screen for the first time after Justine's resurrection, and about how little it had taken him to tell the difference between the twin sisters. "But then I looked her in the eyes and I simply knew. Nobody else could ever look at me the way she does. So whatever happens between Matt and Dex, I personally wish them all the happiness."

"That's incredibly mature of you, Joker," Tali said. She and Karin were wiping away some errant tears, while Michael fell silent, deep in thought. "What happened to the snarky, sarcastic local gossip who couldn't hold a serious conversation to save his life?"

"He got married and had a daughter!" Joker flipped a napkin at the quarian girl. "Excuse us," he lifted Josi's basket onto the table and placed it before Karin. "Here you go. Jo and I need to go to her office right now and make slow, emotional love on her couch. See you."

Groans followed him and Jo as she let him drag her away just like Dex had been dragged away minutes before – with a big smile.

Later that afternoon, after their classes were finished, Jo and Joker sat in her office together, lazily coordinating some work and playing with the baby. Nobody had heard from Matt and Dex ever since the lunch break and the Moreaus wondered if they hadn't lost the leader of the Intelligence branch forever.

Usually, Jo didn't give away her private contact number easily, preferring messages that could be forwarded. Therefore she didn't get too many calls. And so, when her computer suddenly rang, she expected to see Wrex or Jess Akiyama or some other familiar face. Instead they faced a small group of complete strangers on the screen.

There were four people. A human man and an asari sat in the middle. They were flanked by a salarian man and a turian woman. The human man spoke up:

"Good evening, Commander Moreau, Instructor Moreau, little Josephina," he smiled. "My name is George Sarang. These are my associates. We are calling you with a request of a slightly different kind."

"Oh? How do you know what kind of a request is usual for us?" Jo teased the man. There was just something pleasantly open and simple in his manner of speech and general appearance. It was hard for her to hate him on sight. He was normal, civilian and very polite.

"If I had to guess, I'd say: number one request is 'Please, save my ass!', and number two is 'Die, bitch!'," George Sarang smirked. Joker barely hid a snigger.

"Well, you're not wrong," Jo conceded with a wicked grin of her own. "What can we do for you?"

"The short version is: we would like your endorsement. The longer version is: my associates and I belong to a group of like-minded people who truly appreciate everything that you have done in your life, Commander. We respect your hard work within the Alliance, and everything you have done after becoming a Spectre. We respect the achievements of every member of the Normandy team. In our everyday life we are all normal, regular people with jobs and families. In out free time, however, we like to gather and pay our respect to you for everything you did to save the galaxy."

"So… fans." Jo stated slowly. Seeing her reaction, George Sarang smiled again:

"We are not that kind of fans, Commander. I can see that you are thinking of Conrad Verner right now. Believe me, even among us he is famous for really blowing it. Not many civilians get a chance to meet you, let alone more than once; and he acted like a complete buffoon. We do not encourage people like him. Yes, we are fans. We are also serious, employed, respectable people who sometimes have fun dressing up as our favourite hero. Of course, it would be an honour to each of us to meet you, shake your hand and get a picture with you to brag about forever. But we are not stalkers, we would never show up at your house. We're not psychos who keep shrines in their closets. All we want from you is to recognize us as your official fan club. You know, of course, that there are thousands of Shepard-themed fan clubs across the galaxy and a lot of them overdo it, basically becoming Shepard religions. We know that you do not condone such behavior and I assure you: none of us are sheep who need a new Jesus to follow around. We're all smart and independent people who agree that you and your team are really amazing."

"Uhuh," Jo admittedly was confounded by the speech. Her experience with fans hadn't been great in the past and she wasn't sure how she felt about them. But if she'd had objections, this man had just addressed nearly all of them before she even voiced them. "So what kind of a club is it and what do you want me to do?"

"We are based right here, on Chrysalis, in the capital city. Recently we collected enough funds through membership fees and donations to acquire property and establish our HQ. It is now being remodeled to resemble the Normandy SR2 on the inside. Many members contribute to the construction through work hours or materials. We only accept members after a thorough background check to weed out people like Conrad Verner. It is not a requirement for membership, but most of us donate to the Aurora Foundation, and some of us actually work for the Foundation as independent contractors. We have 732 members at this moment, representing every species of the Council Space except elcor and vorcha, but I'm sure we'll get some of those at some point. We don't have an official name yet, but we would like to be The Official Fan Club. And that is, in short, the reason why we're calling you today. We would like you to openly acknowledge us and give us your endorsement."

"You said 'except elcor and vorcha'. Does that mean that you have geth members?" Joker frowned in confusion.

"Believe it or not, more than one geth. Even the rachni queen is an honorary member. Of course, she doesn't pay the membership fee, because reasons. But her Voice does, because she is a member."

"The asari who acts as the rachni queen's voice is a member of your club? Well," Jo whistled. "Colour me impressed. But usually when people want my endorsement they offer me something in return. For example a discount in their stores. What would I get out of this arrangement?" She was joking, of course – she didn't need anything from these people, but she was curious.

"First: anything you need. Just ask, and we'll all be happy to help in any way we can. Second: public relations. Instead of personally dealing with people who shout 'Die, bitch!' in public you could let us deal with them and we will spread the goodwill, delicately and sensibly. Third: a chance to tell your story your own way. Fourth: a chance to publically announce new things through us without facing a horde of reporters. Fifth: safe haven. If you ever want to escape your life and become invisible, why not come to a party at our HQ, where you'll be one Commander Moreau among two hundred others? We have some lookalike characters who look more like you than you do yourself. Nobody would bother you."

Jo slowly and silently bit on her lower lip, looking somewhere above the screen. Joker knew form her expression that she was thinking hard about some idea that just popped into her mind, but he didn't ask. Whatever it was, she would only tell him in private. Eventually Jo did turn to him and said:

"My love, the perks do seem like something we could benefit from. What do you say?"

"Technically, I'm the president and the most hardcore member of your fan club, girl," Joker said in all honesty.

"And I – yours. But I'm guessing that's not what these guys mean."

"Hey, I'm all for letting someone else deal with our announcements, if it gets me out of a press conference with reporters."

Jo nodded and switched to business:

"Mr Sarang, you have yourself the following deal: You submit the membership list, your club's financial report and manifesto to my Intelligence. My guys will check you out. If you are who you say you are and do what you say you do, then you'll get my stamp of approval. We may have some negotiable conditions, but there is one thing I will not budge from. It's costumes. When you say that some of you like to dress up like me, I understand that you're talking about the N7 armour. Since none of you can ever get a real, working set of armour from my Academy, I'm guessing that crafty people among you just make very convincing-looking copies of it. But that armour is meant for battle and if someone dressed in a good looking copy ends up in a dark alley facing thugs with guns, that person can be mistaken for a real N7 and get killed. Therefore, I insist that all your lookalike people make their armour differing in some visible way from the original. If you want, you can create your own club's logo and slap it on their collar or chest. I'm open for suggestions. But please understand that this is for your own protection."

"As long as you don't make us change the colour of the stripe on the arm…"

"That just looks weird. I wouldn't do that. Well, submit your files for inspection and I'll get back to you within a few days."

The fans, three of whom hadn't said a single word, signed off happily and Jo finally broke out in a mischievous smile:

"I'm hoping that they really do have parties with lookalike characters running around. Imagine: we could take Justine out for drinks to a place where nobody would even bat an eyelash at two identical looking Commanders."

Joker was stunned that he hadn't thought of that on his own.

"That would be a huge help in your sister's rehabilitation…" He mused. "If they're all that they promise to be, then they deserve some help from us just for giving us this opportunity. I'll get right on it, and Matt will be thrilled to hear about this!"