It doesn't really matter that Tali had spent half the conversation reassuring her that everything was fine - everything was totally normal - this wasn't an emergency-- she's still buzzing with nervous energy, sharp itch of paranoia dug deep between her shoulder blades as she makes her way down from the facility. A year of double talk and playing stupid (and, let's be honest, smart) will do that to a person; she's been on the receiving end of enough suspicious comm calls that ended in bad news that she can't help but be wary of this one. So Shepard's got the gun with her, gauss rifle slung by its strap across her shoulder as she cuts through the scraggly trees to get to the waterline. Can't help but be hyper aware of the space - not after what had happened with Attano - as she points Tali's ID on the personnel tracker. Jangle of gunmetal against her side, all standard issue CDC uniform and that now familiar Ajna jacket, battered and stained and disturbingly well worn.

She spots Tali at a distance through the spotty foliage - drops down to the stone and shale bordering the water where there aren't any trees blocking her path and moves in at a clip. The lines of her expression are drawn taught, mouth thinned, a severe set to her jaw and brow. And while she knows the CDC has plenty of ways to listen in - that the wrist cuff is really the problem - she still waits until she's very close to say anything.

"What's going on?"