Facegate

 “FACEGATE”

INT. SHEPARD’S APARTMENT – LIVING ROOM – NIGHT
The party is loud. JACK pushes through the crowd with a bottle of Serrice Ice. WREX follows, amused and already half‑buzzed.

JACK
(raising her voice)
Shepard! Hey! We gotta talk. Grunt just yelled something across the room, and I need answers.

WREX
He said Tali showed you her face. Her real face. No visor. No filters. The actual thing.

Shepard freezes mid‑sip. Across the room, TALI stiffens like someone just unplugged her suit.

SHEPARD
…Grunt needs a muzzle.

WREX
So it’s true! I knew it! I wanna see it.

JACK
Yeah, me too. I’ve earned this. I’ve been shot, stabbed, set on fire—show me the damn face.

Tali tries to quietly back out of the room. She immediately bumps into GARRUS, who was calibrating the snack table.

GARRUS
Whoa—Tali? You okay?

TALI
No. Shepard told one person. One! And now the krogan and the tattooed maniac want a viewing.

JACK
Hey! I’m not a maniac. I’m a professional maniac.

WREX
And I’m just curious. Quarians are mysterious. Like pyjaks that can build starships.

TALI
We are not pyjaks!

LIARA drifts over. JAVIK appears because he senses “foolishness.” JOKER limps in with a drink.

JOKER
Okay, what’s happening? And is it something I can mock?

SHEPARD
Everyone relax. Go back to partying.

WREX
Not until I see the face.

JACK
Same. I wanna know if she’s got mandibles.

TALI
I DO NOT HAVE MANDIBLES!

Shepard steps between them.

SHEPARD
Tali showed me her face because she trusted me. It was private. Personal.

JACK
So… like tits?

SHEPARD
JACK.

WREX
If it’s that big a deal, we can make it a ritual. Krogan do face‑showing rites.

TALI
You absolutely do not!

WREX
We could start.

GARRUS
Look, Tali doesn’t have to show her face. It’s her choice.
(beat)
But if she did, hypothetically, I’d like to see it too.

TALI
GARRUS!

GARRUS
Scientific curiosity!

Jack leans in, grinning.

JACK
C’mon, Tali. We’re your crew. Your messed‑up, emotionally stunted, occasionally violent family. Let us see the mug.


Tali throws her hands up.

TALI
Fine! FINE! But only if Shepard says it’s okay.

Everyone turns to Shepard like she’s about to choose a dialogue wheel option that determines the fate of the galaxy.

SHEPARD
Tali… it’s your face. Your call.

Tali breathes, nods.

TALI
Then the answer is no. Absolutely no. Not happening.
(beat)
Unless everyone here agrees to never mention this again.

Wrex thinks, then grins.

WREX
Deal.
But only if you let me take a picture of Shepard’s face when she tries my new krogan liquor.

SHEPARD
Wait—what?

JACK
Oh, hell yes. That’s fair.

TALI
…Acceptable.