Take a deep breath.

Talon Shepard spared a glance over her shoulder, ensuring that no one else but Admiral Anderson's corpse remained behind her.

This had been a long stretch. She knew she'd failed once again. The Reapers had triumphed and taken over Earth, destroyed Thessia and wiped out the majority of the Council races. Somehow, they were able to send the Crucible crashing down into the ruins of London. Considering how far it had fallen, the Crucible being in one piece could be considered a miracle...if you weren't asking the people on the ground.

She had taken a few more precautions before embarking on the suicide mission again. Heavier armor and shields, upgraded her combat and defense drones, but Anderson didn't make it, again, and she was still injured; thought not as bad as last time. There was no need for her to subject herself to mortal wounds if it would only cost her more time than she cared to waste.

"Damn it." Her eyes narrowed at the doors ahead. It didn't matter how many times she'd seen this happen, how many times she walked through that door and began a descent into her own personal hell, watching Anderson die was hard, but no matter what she said, she could never convince the Admiral to stay behind and let her handle things once boots touched the ground.

What kind of a leader would he be if he were to let her march in there and take all the glory? That had been his excuse anyway. She couldn't very well tell him she'd be going in to never come back out. He'd have had her retained and gone in there himself.

There would be no more Reaper foot soldiers to fight here. All that awaited would be inside that door was the AI that had thrown her into this hell hole in the first place. She couldn't waste any more time thinking about one of the few men who had been like a father figure to her, didn't have time to worry if Garrus, who made sure to clear the way through a wave of husks for for her in that last push, made it out alive.

Opening the door to the inner chambers, all she could think about was making sure she had one more chance. She had to convince the AI one more time that this universe was worth saving.

"You failed Commander Shepard, just as I thought you would." the voice was that of a child, strange and devoid of emotion. His appearance that of a small boys wearing dark jeans and a white hoodie. The boy she had failed to save before. He had told her each time that she couldn't save him, and each time he had been right.

He wouldn't even look her way. Instead he was worked on a console in front of him, and already Shepard could feel the all-too-familiar movement that meant the Crucible would be moving from the crater it created on Earth and flying quickly backwards into its orbit. Shepard could just see it's innocent smile as it said, "Shall we try this again?"

That's right. This is all a game to you. So you could have the world you wanted. "I know who you are," Shepard said simply, tired but determined.

The child looked up from its console, having finished what it was set out to do. "Oh? Then I guess it's time to start off with a clean slate and destroy this universe. Initiating - "

"Wait!" Shepard held (up a hand), holding her breath. When the child didn't continue she exhaled and nervously licked her lips. "I want to make a deal," she offered, gathering her courage.

The AI remained silent for a moment, "If you want to make a deal..." it paused, "then you would be reacting outside what I could predict. What is your desire? If you knew who I was..." it amended, "Then you would understand why I'm doing what I'm doing, with your knowledge you should want to destroy what I am now."

"Not necessarily. I've gone back in time three times now, and fought the Reapers four. Every time, I saw my comrades die, my planet taken, my..." She hesitated, sucking in a breath. "I want to go back. But I can't continue playing this game, being a part of your experiment. You knew from the first time we met," she spat, "that the knowledge you gave me would ensure that I continued to fail."

The AI remained silent.

"Allow me to add my own variables." Shepard placed a hand on her hip.

"Interesting." it responded, almost instantly. "and what other variables would you need?"

"Only two." Shepard grinned. "First, I want my omni-tool to include all the data that's inside it now."

"And the other?" it asked after a second of consideration.

Shepard began to move towards the platform in front of her. Looking ahead, there were three pillars, each with something like a laser radiating upwards. One red, one blue, one green. She walked towards the blue light, with no hesitation. "My memory," she continued, "I want it altered. If it's connected to the Reapers or to Cerberus - the death of my friends, the fate of Earth if I fail, events leading to the death of my teammates, all the people that I failed - I want it gone. Completely."

"It is true, I have sent you without the intentions of succeeding, but the knowledge I provided should not have been a hindrance. If I do this, then I won't be able to send you back another time should you fail."

"That because you've spent too much time as a machine." She closed her eyes and sighed. Opening them again, and stared down the shaft at the blue light. "Knowing what happened put on too much pressure. I became too focused on saving lives and not completing the mission, or vise versa" she frowned, there was no balance in her past choices. "I took shortcuts, and made things worse than they originally were. I'm willing to risk it."

"I see." the AI paused momentarily. "I will accept your requests. Prepare for transit."

Shepard took one last look out the window to her side. The Normandy flew within Earth's orbit, meeting up with a shuttle. She wondered numbly if maybe it was a rescue. She closed her eyes, spread her arms wide, and fell into the light.

The AI waited until her organic data had been fully disintegrated, then began the upload into the Crucible's mainframe and network. As it began to alter Shepard's memory, it understood why she had been so confident. "I see," the AI said quietly, its voice more mature now. Feminine.

The AI was sure that no matter what happened this time, it would be the last time she would become the Catalyst.

"Initiating self-destruct and overwrite sequence Phi."

The countdown began, and the AI pulled up a picture on a screen. It seemed so long ago that it had been taken. The smiles of the people she loved, reflecting her own wishes and desires at that time.

"You were wrong Talon Shepard. I have not forgotten what it is like to be human." she mused to herself.