[...wait what. He takes a moment to mentally rewind the conversation, and- oh. He was never really specific on that count, was he.]

No, I mean, Chief and I were the ones facing the Fatal Five. [That was nearly a year ago. It feels like it's been forever and simultaneously no time at all.] Armor lock as a feature is built into Freelancer armor - it was meant to be a failsafe to lock down rogue agents or stop training exercises that had gotten out of control. [Not that it was ever used for either of those purposes.] It can be shut down with the correct override phrase, but if we can design an external device that can circumvent that, then we might be able to stop this fight before it starts.

The Meta is easier to surprise than you'd think. [Which is one of the reasons Wash is still alive after facing him half a dozen times.]