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“There won't be an Earth left to save...” — Spoilers for Mass Effect 3 follow. |
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The Geth VI is a network of geth virtual intelligences created by the "true" geth to study the Reapers. If Legion was sold to Cerberus or was never activated, it is first encountered during the mission to disable a geth dreadnought. The Geth VI also accompanies Commander Shepard into the geth server and provides support during the assault on the Reaper base on Rannoch.
If Legion became part of Shepard's team but did not survive the suicide mission, Tali (if she is present on the geth dreadnought) refers to the VI as a "backup" of Legion, comparing it to how her people had once been known to create virtual reconstructions of dead individuals.
Mass Effect 3[]
The Geth VI is, for the most part, physically identical to Legion. Non-standard elements of the Geth VI's armor, such as Shepard's N7 armor shoulder piece and the hole in the geth's torso, are recreated via hologram. Aboard the Normandy SR-2, it explains that it is also a unique mobile platform containing 1,183 geth programs, made for the similar purpose of studying the Reapers and communicating with organics. A notable difference is the Geth VI's absence of data on events occurring after Saren Arterius' assault on Eden Prime. This lack of experience results in the geth consensus having a more negative view of organic civilizations. The Geth VI is less friendly toward Shepard than Legion had been, and it is unable to comprehend why Legion had cooperated with the Commander.
Legion "Backup"[]
When first encountered, if Shepard agrees with Tali about the VI being a construct and not the real Legion, the VI acknowledges the alliance between Shepard and the unit Legion and offers a similar cooperation. Otherwise, if Shepard is quick to trust the VI, the "backup" will state that they are not Legion. In any case, Shepard will keep calling it Legion, and the Geth VI will continue insisting it is not Legion.
If Shepard dealt with the geth heretics, the Geth VI cannot understand why Legion deferred the choice of the heretics' fate to an organic. Shepard explains that the geth processes within Legion were deadlocked; Legion deferred to the Commander either because it judged this to be a better option than simply "flipping a coin", or because it proposed working together to resolve the issue and Shepard accepted. The VI may respond with skepticism to preferring organic input, or it simply reiterates that it is not Legion.
The last memory of the "backup" VI dates back to when it was at Eden Prime searching for Shepard. It can confirm the actions taken in the heretic base through satellite archival recordings as well as from the mobile platform being aboard the Normandy, but not what happened during the events themselves.
Priority: Rannoch[]
The final operation on Rannoch can end in one of two ways if the Geth VI is present, with a peaceful outcome not being possible. If Shepard chooses to let the geth die, the Geth VI will violently assault Shepard, coldly stating its people "were correct to distrust organics"; it will attempt to upload the Reaper upgrade code before being attacked and killed with a knife in the back by Tali, who claims either that the real Legion would have understood or—if Legion was never encountered—that she "knew that thing would turn on us". If Tali is not present, Shala'Raan will kill the geth with a shotgun. In orbit over Rannoch, the quarians will emerge victorious over the geth fleet. If Shepard chooses to upload the Reaper code and save the geth, then the Geth VI dissolves itself into the consensus to achieve true intelligence for all other geth after saying that their "skepticism was misplaced" and thanking Shepard. The upgraded geth then emerge victorious over the quarian fleet.
Trivia[]
- If the geth platform is recognised by Shepard as Legion, subtitles and mouse-over will still refer to the Geth VI as "Legion". If Legion was never activated or sold to Cerberus in Mass Effect 2, the geth platform is only referred to as "Geth VI" in-game, and Shepard is totally unfamiliar with its design, calling it a "holographic reconstruction". Javik will still refer to the geth as "Legion" if interacted with on the Normandy following Priority: Geth Dreadnought, even in games where in-universe awareness of Legion shouldn't be possible (i.e. Legion was never activated, as is the case in a non-imported default game, or it was sold to Cerberus).