The Illusive Man knew the Normandy would need all the help it could get. There was no doubt that Shepard would put together a remarkable team, she had the tenacity and leadership for it, but finding suitable candidates was another. They had to be the right ones.

Going through dossiers of potential candidates was a tedious task, but one he trusted only himself to do. The flagged files dwindled, most going into the useless folder, some into the 'useful, but not for this mission' folder, and a scarce few that he would eventually send to Shepard once they had more intel.

A comm message beeped on his omnitool for a priority watch. Cerberus had set priority watch to certain names and phrases when first established, and sorted the facts accordingly (they were an intelligence operation first and foremost). For something to have notified him was big.

"Breaking: Release of Elijah Kamski's Estate to Earth Alliance for Museum Use."

The Illusive Man sucked in a breath. And released it.

Elijah Kamski.

The man was the most noted genius of the 21st century, having created mankind greatest creation. Then had to watch as mankind destroyed his life's work. The Android Revolution. The Android Genocide. Anything related to the man or Cyberlife was flagged for investigation.

Since the Android Revolution, mankind had not been receptive to anything more than a VI with strict instruction codes. All Cyberlife products that weren't immediately destroyed following the companies business failure in the wake of the Android Revolution, were impounded by the US Department of Defense and Homeland Security. Around the world, governments had systematically sought out androids and destroyed them. Any technology recovered from Cyberlife factories was still jealously guarded.

Kamski eventually made a deal with the US Government, that in exchange for his help on going through the findings from Cyberlife, he would be able to keep one android to take care of his estate in the wake of his absence, and that he be able to take one Cyberlife product for himself. There was much arguing on the point that his android was already from Cyberlife, but the Government relented eventually.

Kamski requested the destroyed body of the RK800 prototype.

The Deviant Hunter.

The android that, had it not gone deviant, would have changed the tide of the revolution. That did change the tide, just not for the masters.

But who were the masters now?

Many had tried to access the Kamski Estate throughout the decades. They were all rebuffed, declined, and in a few cases shot at (the Estate has remarkable security measures). To top it off, upon his death bed, Kamski left everything to his Chloe android. The public outcry to this could have been heard from the Citadel. No one could trust an android. What no one predicted, was that the android would input it's own deactivation code, ten years to the day of Kamski's death. A code with a built in self destruct sequence. The mess had delayed the catalogue of the Estate for weeks.

The body of the RK800 would be brought to a security warehouse for a complete meltdown, while a replica would go the Museum of Earth History with everything else from the estate. That was the official statement. A nicely wrapped package for the public to see. Who knew what state the RK800 would be in. According to intel, Thirium only lasted a few hours outside an androids body, but they never shriveled up.

The Illusive Man pondered the intel. However…

He looked again. The body of the RK800 was being moved off world. Off world? If the body of the RK800 was unusable, why move it off world? Unless it wasn't. Unless something had happened to it.

After all, who better to repair an android in secret than their creator?

Dossier: RK800, The Deviant Hunter

The RK800 Android, better known as the Deviant Hunter, successfully tracked down criminally deviant androids before and during the Android Revolution. His skills included tracking, combat capabilities, and interspecies relations. His body is being moved from Earth to the Moon Base for further study.

Shepard had seen and heard a lot in her time. Becoming the first human spectre, hunting down another spectre, being shot at by a race of sentient machines, being killed, and then being resurrected by a human terrorist organization tended to put things into a certain perspective. When Cerberus sent her dossiers, she usually took them with a grain of salt. Garrus had been a pleasant surprise, and the other crew members weren't bad. She got along with almost everyone. So when she received the dossier, she read. Shook her head, and read it again. Then immediately opened a link to The Illusive Man.

"I take it you received the new dossier."

She cocked her hip, arms crossed. "And I hope it's a joke. An android? On a ship full of humans? Would not be pretty."

"You're more forward than that Shepard, so don't play that card. You need the best, and he is the best. Infinite intelligence with the emotional capabilities of a human to attach himself to your cause."

"I need a soldier, not a cop. That's what he was during his time."

"And during the Revolution Markus had him hunting down deviants that were escalating the acts of terrorism towards humans. It took six snipers from four different countries to bring him down, and not before he managed to find and subdue two of them. His stamina isn't in question, neither is his intelligence, and his marksmanship is superb."

Shepard frowned. After all the years since the Android Genocide, humanity was still lukewarm regarding anything that looked remotely AI. Many of the crew were touchy about EDI as it was. She was a shackled AI. But an android? An AI with no limitations? It was a recipe for disaster, and that was regarding the humans. The other species on board wouldn't be thrilled either. Garrus would follow her lead she was sure, but she didn't know what his personal opinion would be (she could've known two years ago, but now?). Mordin would likely be ecstatic, it was well known that the STG had been trying to find intelligence on androids for years now, so he wasn't likely to pass up the opportunity. Grunt, well who knew?

And yet…

She also remembered when people told her she would never amount to anything. When she found out about how the council races looked down on the others. When she saw the discrimination for herself.

She looked down at the dossier.

"The choice is yours commander."

Closing the link, Shepard made her way to the helm.

Joker looked up at her. "What'd the dynamic douche want this time? Finally ask you to buy him his first Asari Lap Dance?"

Shepard smiled. "Set a coarse for the Moon Base in the Earth Alliance System."

"The Earth Moon? What are we picking up there, souvenirs from the First Moon Landing Museum?"

Shepard turned, walking out of the helm, and said, "An android."