Paradyce rants for hours about a Mass Effect headcanon

As for geth wanting to be accepted and a part of society... honestly? I think it fell flat due to the shift in ME3. I can see the potential on this idea as well, but it needed to be the concept we were building throughout the trilogy for it work well. Or, it needed at least twice the amount of content of what we got in ME3 to be decent (not to mention Citadel DLC omitting Legion completely). I often elaborate on this one on my own through some headcanons. Hell in them I elaborate more on the period of the Morning War (before, during and after), which is something I wish the own games would've done.
Pre-Morning War... what had the geth actually done? Other than asking if they had a soul, and showing some minute moments of sentience [youtube.com/watch?v=8Lc-HmUiD9o&t=14m50s], some quarians even thought fondly of them [youtube.com/watch?v=8Lc-HmUiD9o&t=12m20s, BTW I have FemShep and Tali Romance hacked in since ME2... and FemShep DOES say she has seen one unmasked quarian, hehehe]. Though obviously not everybody was on board with the idea and freaked the hell out [youtube.com/watch?v=wGwuhtGIQOg&t=9s]. And fear can lead to even worse things... [youtube.com/watch?v=8Lc-HmUiD9o&t=15m39s]
Just before the Morning War happened what I can only imagine was a Military takeover or somewhat Totalitarian regime. The geth, again, have done very little to nothing wrong. So obviously there was still a good number of quarians that thought they were harmless and actively defended them, but this went against the whole idea of getting rid of them, so they were silenced, in a matter of speaking [youtube.com/watch?v=yQKc1vXNmLQ&t=3m59s]. Whatever shape of goverment that survived the war probably erased these events from records, and hid the truth to their convenience. But of course the geth defenders wouldn't just keep quiet, and eventually a resistance network would form, even if it might ultimately be unsuccessful [youtube.com/watch?v=yQKc1vXNmLQ&t=7m20s].
So the resistance came down to near zero, the Morning War had already started, and all that's left are the other Quarians composed of multiple groups: the ones who know about the entire conspiracy leading the rest, soldiers following orders, and many civilians that either believe them, are unaware of how deep the rabbit hole goes, etc. The geth, cornered to a wall and with their survival at risk if they don't act, finally retaliate... hard, they push the remaining quarians to a breaking point... but they're unwilling to commit genocide, so they let the survivors go [youtube.com/watch?v=yQKc1vXNmLQ&t=8m43s], of course, the survivors' leaders paint a different picture, for almost 300 years, hence how the geth came to be known in the galaxy.
HEAVY HEADCANON FROM THIS POINT FORWARD... and I like to believe some resistance members and their geth did survive, not without its casualties, of course. Certainly not enough to repopulate Rannoch, and it's not like the quarians that escaped the planet can go near Rannoch and check. The geth somewhat honor the fallen from both sides [youtube.com/watch?v=JrRg2ZgY9tQ&t=1m50s], and life goes on, from their side, anyway.
One particular idea I have is there's ONE quarian survivor, a little girl, and a geth platform with barely enough programs in it originally belonging to her household. Her parents, part of the resistance, ask it to protect her little girl, and itself. And despite the odd, it succeeded. And then... well, being the only quarian in Rannoch with barely any idea of what's going on and only geth around is a hardship on its own, nevermind the war.
So the geth develop and learn as time goes on, this particular geth guardian and the consensus develop a unique mobile platform designed for geth programs to interface within itself, somewhat isolated but still being able to connect to the consensus: the very first concept of a geth gestalt consciousness (which would eventually become the basis of Legion's platform). Then I get kinda weird with two geth inside it working in tandem to simulate AI... or rather quarian behavior (in a kinda stupid, left-brain/right brain kind of way), it learns from the girl as well as other sources (vids, extranet, etc. the geth may not originally get it at first, but there are good enough guidelines and the girl being an organic helps her learn rather well) and it becomes a very, very, very weird parent-child relationship, which develops over time. They both grow from it, in very different ways.
Then during the phasee in which the girl becomes a teenager and until she gets older, they're relatively on leveled ground. There might be a rebel period, uncertainty about the principles of Pilgrimage, but the girl grows up rather well, all things considered, and while some programs may come and go from the geth platform, the original two always stay, and it learns more about organic behavior than anything. The relationship here might be of friends to siblings.
The now grown-up quarian then decides to return the favor. Now she's on the position of the parent, and it teaches as much of how being a organic is like to the geth, it learns a lot, both logical, and emotional, and is even capable of replicate, if not borderline feel, like an organic, with its limitations of course. A reversed parent-child relationship. It took years, but the level of comprehension between both organic and synthetic reaches its peak with them, unmatched by anyone else. Hell, it might even come to the point of alienating the geth platform to the rest of the geth. Near the end of it, the geth stops being just a geth, and that platform and particular 'becomes' a person, it gets a name, it gets a last name (the family name, finally becoming an official member of it after so long), it stops being it. It becomes a her. And now she's the girl, the teen, the young woman, confused, and learning how to be a person.
Of course, it'll be a while until the events of the games kick in, and I don't think quarians live that long. So... the child, the sole Rannoch survivor of the Morning War, passes away, peacefully. The geth by this point knows the feeling rather well, but she can't properly express it, she can't properly feel it. It even leads to something resembling depression, and isolation.
Fast forward to 2184? Maybe? The first game came and went, word of Shepard spread even to Rannoch, including their death. The 'Legion platform' is developed based on this geth platform, but to a greater degree, it is even 'invited' by the other programs to join, but it refuses. The geth programs, now partially a being of their own despite being only two programs, refuses it. The 'Legion Platform' might've housed 1185 geth programs, but now stays at 1183... two missing (that's my OSD about round numbers acting up, to be honest).
We're nearing 2186, Legion comes back, preparations are made for when the Reapers arrive, what Legion learned from outside the Veil is shared with the consensus... the geth platform is still 'depressed'. Time goes by... oh crap, the quarians are attacking the geth, and they're kicking their asses, their mega-structure is destroyed, not all programs could be saved, a devastating blow. Desperation time, the Reapers 'help', Legion becomes the beacon, but it manages to warn the solitary geth on the surface... doesn't work too well though because the upgrades are kinda strong, but due to the nature of her design, while one is possessed, the other fights back, basically rendering herself paralyzed, useless.
Control comes and goes, Legion is freed with part of the code inside them but the Reaper code is still being broadcasted, until Rannoch's endgame comes along, the geth are freed, so is the solitary geth, and it comes down to the ultimate decision, the code is spread to all geth, preparing to grant them free will.
Here, in... now HIS final moments, Legion becomes the first to attain free will, but knows it won't last because of what he must do to make sure all geth are get free will. I like to think that this particular platform design Legion and the solitary geth have, that allows the geth programs within it to interface so closely... has the unexpected effect of fusing them all into one being when the Reaper code is implemented. With that... Legion, for as long as it'll last, becomes the greatest, wisest geth of all, the smartest geth to ever live, he changes from 'we' to 'I'. The final words are crossed with Shepard and Tali... and the solitary geth receives a final message, before Legion disseminates himself, ending his personal existence so the other geth may be free. The solitary geth 'loses consciousness'.
When she 'wakes up', she notices the change, her platform is the one Legion was based on, what was originally two geth programs working in tandem is now one AI, one being. And due to it's particular, unique way she lived her life so far, she's absolutely different to the others. For all intends and purposes, she might as well be... a synthetic quarian, a synthetic sentient being that's more closely related to an organic that anything else... and now with about 300 years worth of feelings that were not dealt with being finally able to be expressed, they hit her like a truck. That can't be easy to handle.
Resetttling on Rannoch is underway, preparations for the upcoming battle are being sorted out, most of the quarian ships unfit to server the war are landing, the Normandy stays for a while as well to resupply and repairs provided by the geth. The now pseudo-quarian still deals with her feelings, but eventually Legion's final messages inspires her, to honor her long-passed family, and to ensure her future and the future of others, she prepares to join the war.
For as little as EDI and Legion interacted after the Collector Base until his passing (which honestly is quite a lot for AIs), a lot of info was shared and elaborated upon, also thanks to the consensus, including specifications for EDI's Eva platform. And the geth have the equipment to develop a similar, improved and customized model of said platform for her to inhabit, to become her own body. She receives it, downloads herself into it, that is her now. And prepares her old body for its final destination, to be buried alongside her family.
She parts away as quarian settlers start to arrive to her 'home', among them Shala'Raan and Zaal'Koris, them being the admiral best fitted for the job. Despite her unique appearance, she makes her way along other geth boarding a vessel that would take her to the port, where most the geth and quarian forces are, Normandy included. Still, hoping that her home and the resting place of her family is respected. Both admirals arrive to the otherwise unnoticed house in the area, inspect it, and reflect on the legacy the mere existence of this house symbolizes. Eventually they take a look at the resting place of the long-passed quarian, the unlikely survivor of the Morning War, and what's carved in that particular tombstone, shocks then, for more reasons than one.

The family emblem... and the family name, all too familiar...

Zorah.